Automatic content completion of valid values for method argument variables
First Claim
Patent Images
1. A method for developing source code for a computer program;
- wherein the method comprises the steps of;
accessing a portion of source code through a code editor;
identifying code comprising a method argument, said method argument being of a type that has a defined range of values that are further restricted by information not available from a class definition;
invoking a property editor class method associated with the identified method argument to access a method argument variable;
invoking a property editor to display a list of allowable values for the method argument variable;
invoking a code generating method to return a snippit of source code that can be used to initialise the method argument variable with one of the allowable values; and
inserting the snippit of code into the method argument code, said inserted code defining allowable values for said method argument, said allowable values comprising a subset of said defined range of values for that type of method argument.
2 Assignments
0 Petitions
Accused Products
Abstract
The invention is directed to a method which derives from metadata definitions the allowable values for a method argument, where the allowable values are a subset or a restricted set of values from a defined range of values for that type of method argument. The subset of allowable values is then converted into a fragment of source code that can be used to initialize the argument variable with one of the allowable values when the method is invoked. The fragment of source code is inserted into the source code for that method argument using an editor tool. A system for implementing the method may comprise an integrated development environment (IDE) program.
-
Citations
16 Claims
-
1. A method for developing source code for a computer program;
- wherein the method comprises the steps of;
accessing a portion of source code through a code editor; identifying code comprising a method argument, said method argument being of a type that has a defined range of values that are further restricted by information not available from a class definition; invoking a property editor class method associated with the identified method argument to access a method argument variable; invoking a property editor to display a list of allowable values for the method argument variable; invoking a code generating method to return a snippit of source code that can be used to initialise the method argument variable with one of the allowable values; and inserting the snippit of code into the method argument code, said inserted code defining allowable values for said method argument, said allowable values comprising a subset of said defined range of values for that type of method argument. - View Dependent Claims (2, 3, 4, 5, 6, 7)
- wherein the method comprises the steps of;
-
8. A system for developing source code for a computer program, wherein the system comprises:
-
an editor tool for accessing a portion of source code from a source code file; means for identifying code comprising a method argument, said means being arranged to identify a method argument of a type that has a defined range of values that are further restricted by information not available from a class definition; processor means for invoking a property editor class method associated with the identified method argument to access a method argument variable; processor means for invoking a property editor to display a list of allowable values for the method argument variable; processor means for invoking a code generating method to return a snippit of source code that can be used to initialise the method argument variable with one of the allowable values; and processor means for inserting the snippit of code into the method argument code, said processor means being arranged to insert code defining allowable values for said method argument, said allowable values comprising a subset of said defined range of values for that type of method argument. - View Dependent Claims (9, 10, 11, 12, 13, 14)
-
-
15. A computer for developing source code for a computer program, wherein the computer comprises:
-
a machine readable medium for storing program code executable by a processor; and an editor tool for accessing a portion of source code from a source code file; wherein the processor executes the stored machine code in order to identify code comprising a method argument, said processor being arranged to identify a method argument of a type that has a defined range of values that are further restricted by information not available from a class definition, wherein the processor invokes a property editor class method associated with the identified method argument to access a method argument variable, said processor invokes a property editor to display a list of allowable values for the method argument variable, said processor invokes a code generating method to return a snippit of source code that can be used to initialise the method argument variable with one of the allowable values; and
said processor inserting the snippit of code into the method argument code, said inserted snippit of code defining allowable values for said method argument, said allowable values comprising a subset of said defined range of values for that type of method argument.
-
-
16. A machine readable medium comprising code executable by a processor of a computer for implementing the steps of:
-
accessing a portion of source code through a code editor; identifying code comprising a method argument, said method argument being of a type that has a defined range of values that are further restricted by information not available from a class definition; invoking a property editor class method associated with the identified method argument to access a method argument variable; invoking a property editor to display a list of allowable values for the method argument variable; invoking a code generating method to return a snippit of source code that can be used to initialise the method argument variable with one of the allowable values; and inserting the snippit of code into the method argument code, said inserted code defining allowable values for said method argument, said allowable values comprising a subset of said defined range of values for that type of method argument.
-
Specification