System and method for building a deployable component based application

• US 7,895,566 B2
• Filed: 03/10/2005
• Issued: 02/22/2011
• Est. Priority Date: 03/10/2005
• Status: Active Grant

• Current Assignee: Malikie Innovations Limited (Key Patent Innovations Limited)
• Original Assignee: Blackberry Limited
• Inventors: Cacenco, Michael V., Shenfield, Michael, Goring, Bryan R.
• Primary Examiner(s): Dam; Tuan Q
• Assistant Examiner(s): Smith; Cheneca
• Application Number:
  US11/076,054
• Publication Number:
  US 20060206890A1
• Time in Patent Office: 2,175 Days
• Field of Search: None
• US Class Current: 717/107
• CPC Class Codes: G06F 8/20 Software design
• CPC Class Codes: H04M 1/72406 by software upgrading or downloading

Abstract

A system and method for assembling an application bundle representing an application including a first component having definitions expressed in a structured definition language and optionally a second component having a series of instructions, such that the application bundle is for provisioning on a device for assisting in message communication over a network between the device and a datasource. The system and method comprises a build service interface for receiving a series of elements of the application, the elements including mapping and interface information of the datasource and a description of the first component. The system and method also have a build engine coupled to the build service interface for assembling the received elements as the application bundle, wherein the application bundle is subsequently deployable to an application bundle storage.

Claims

1. A computing device for assembling an application bundle representing a client application including individual components having definitions expressed in a structured definition language for defining configuration details of the client application, the individual components of the application bundle for provisioning on a client device for assisting in processing at least one received message over a network when originating from a data source, the computing device comprising memory for storing instructions and a processor for executing the instructions to implement:

a validator for validating a design time model defining the client application, the design time model including a data component, a presentation component, a message component, and a workflow component;

a generator for generating a mapping and interface information from the design time model;

a build service interface for receiving a plurality of application elements of the client application, the application elements including the mapping and interface information of the data source and definitions of the data component, the presentation component, the message component, and the workflow component, the mapping and interface information including mapping descriptors corresponding to the data source, the mapping and interface information used by a server in mediating network communication including the at least one received message between the client device and the data source and by an application gateway to coordinate the message communication between the client device and the data source; and

a build engine coupled to the build service interface for assembling the received application elements as the application bundle;

the application bundle being subsequently deployed to an application bundle storage for use by at least one of the server and the client device.

2. The computing device of claim 1, wherein the mapping and interface information describes the communication of messages between the data source and the application when provisioned on the client device.

3. The computing device of claim 2, wherein the mapping and interface information is included in a data source description in a Web Services Definition Language (WSDL) format.

4. The computing device claim 2, further comprising the application elements as files of the application bundle.

5. The computing device of claim 4, wherein the files are configured for assembling in a folder structure of the application bundle, the folder structure for providing a generic location of the application elements in the application bundle.

6. The computing device of claim 5, wherein the application bundle uses a Java Archive format.

7. The computing device of claim 2, wherein the application bundle further includes application elements selected from the group consisting of:

a resource element for defining a static dependency of a runtime environment of the client device;

a localization element for containing localization information of a language supported by the application;

a code element for containing instructional code segments of a second component of the application having a series of instructions that operate on the structured definition descriptors of the first component;

an IDE tag element for containing information about the developer of the application bundle and a utility employed by the developer in developing the mapping and interface information of the data source and the description of the first component; and

a security element for signing the application bundle to inhibit unauthorized access to the application bundle contents.

8. The computing device of claim 5, wherein the build service interface and the build engine are included in a build service configured as a utility separate from a developer utility for developing the application elements.

9. The computing device of claim 5, wherein the build service interface and the build engine are included in a build service configured as part of a developer utility for developing the application elements.

10. The computing device of claim 2, further comprising a security service coupled to the build engine, the security service for providing a security element for including in the assembled application bundle, the security element for inhibiting unauthorized access to the application bundle contents.

11. The computing device of claim 10, wherein the security service includes further functionality selected from the group consisting of:

generating IDE (integrated design environment) information for including in a manifest element;

generating a signature element for containing a digest of entries appearing in a manifest element of the application bundle;

generating a signature block element for containing a signature generated over the signature block element, the signature generated using a public key certificate also included in the signature block element;

generating modified manifest signing information such that of a manifest element of the application bundle is modified to include an element name, a digest name, and an element digest for each element included in the application bundle; and

initializing a security infrastructure of the computing device.

12. The computing device of claim 10, wherein the security service is responsible for initializing a security infrastructure of the security service configured as a build utility separate from a developer utility for developing the application elements.

13. The computing device of claim 10, wherein the security service is responsible for initializing a security infrastructure of the security service configured as part of a developer utility for developing the application elements.

14. The computing device of claim 12, further comprising the security service configured for communication with a keystore of the build utility having a public key certificate for verifying the signature of the security element.

15. The computing device of claim 14, further comprising the keystore configured for having a public/private key pair that is uniquely generated for the build utility.

16. The computing device of claim 14, wherein the security service has the ability to request, store and use the public/private key pair associated with the keystore.

17. The computing device of claim 16, further comprising the security service configured for interaction with a trust certification authority for setting up a configuration of the security service.

18. The computing device of claim 17, wherein the setting up includes generation of a new public private key pair, generation of a public key certificate request, and installation of the signed public key certificate.

19. The computing device of claim 14, wherein the keystore is protected by a first password and the private key of the key pair is protected by a second password different from the first password, the passwords for inhibiting the keystore from being copied and reused on another build utility installation.

20. The method of claim 14, further comprising protecting the keystore by a first password and protecting the private key of the key pair by a second password different from the first password, the passwords for inhibiting the keystore from being copied and reused on another build utility installation.

21. A method for assembling an application bundle representing a client application including individual components having definitions expressed in a structured definition language for defining configuration details of the client application, the individual components of the application bundle for provisioning on a client device for assisting in processing at least one received message over a network when originating from a data source, the method comprising:

validating a design time model defining the client application, the design time model including a data component, a presentation component, a message component, and a workflow component;

generating a mapping and interface information from the design time model;

receiving a plurality of application elements of the client application, the application elements including the mapping and interface information of the data source and definitions of the data component, the presentation component, the message component, and the workflow component, the mapping and interface information including mapping descriptors corresponding to the data source, the mapping and interface information used by a server in mediating network communication including the at least one received message between the client device and the data source and by an application gateway to coordinate the message communication between the client device and the data source; and

assembling the received application elements as the application bundle;

the application bundle being subsequently deployed to an application bundle storage for use by at least one of the server and the client device.

22. The method of claim 21, wherein the mapping and interface information describes the communication of messages between the data source and the application when provisioned on the client device.

23. The method of claim 22, wherein the mapping and interface information is included in a data source description in a Web Services Definition Language (WSDL) format.

24. The method of claim 22, further comprising storing the application elements as files of the application bundle.

25. The method of claim 24, wherein the files are configured for assembling in a folder structure of the application bundle, the folder structure for providing a generic location of the application elements in the application bundle.

26. The method of claim 25, wherein the application bundle uses a Java Archive format.

27. The method of claim 22, wherein the application bundle further includes application elements selected from the group consisting of:

a resource element for defining a static dependency of a runtime environment of the client device;

a localization element for containing localization information of a language supported by the application;

a code element for containing instructional code segments of a second component of the application having a series of instructions that operate on the structured definition descriptors of the first component;

an IDE tag element for containing information about the developer of the application bundle and a utility employed by the developer in developing the mapping and interface information of the data source and the description of the first component; and

a security element for signing the application bundle to inhibit unauthorized access to the application bundle contents.

28. The method of claim 25, wherein the steps of receiving and assembling are implemented on a build utility separate from a developer utility for developing the application elements.

29. The method of claim 25, wherein the steps of receiving and assembling are implemented on a build service as part of a developer utility for developing the application elements.

30. The method of claim 22, further comprising the step of providing a security element for including in the assembled application bundle, the security element for inhibiting unauthorized access to the application bundle contents.

31. The method of claim 30, further comprising acts selected from the group consisting of:

generating IDE (integrated design environment) information for including in a manifest element;

generating a signature element for containing a digest of entries appearing in a manifest element of the application bundle;

generating a signature block element for containing a signature generated over the signature block element, the signature generated using a public key certificate also included in the signature block element;

generating modified manifest signing information such that of a manifest element of the application bundle is modified to include an element name, a digest name, and an element digest for each element included in the application bundle; and

initializing a security infrastructure of a build utility for implementing the receiving and assembling steps.

32. The method of claim 30, further comprising initializing a security infrastructure of a build utility separate from a developer utility for developing the application elements.

33. The method of claim 30, further comprising initializing a security infrastructure of a security service configured as part of a developer utility for developing the application elements.

34. The method of claim 32, further comprising the communicating with a keystore having a public key certificate for verifying the signature of the security element.

35. The method of claim 34, wherein the keystore is configured for having a public/private key pair that is uniquely generated for the build utility.

36. The method of claim 34, further comprising requesting, storing and using the public/private key pair associated with the keystore.

37. The method of claim 36, further comprising interacting with a trust certification authority for setting up a security configuration of the build utility.

38. The method of claim 37, wherein the setting up includes generation of a new public private key pair, generation of a public key certificate request, and installation of the signed public key certificate.

39. A tangible computer readable medium comprising instructions for assembling an application bundle representing a client application including individual components having definitions expressed in a structured definition language for defining configuration details of the client application, the individual components of the application bundle for provisioning on a client device for assisting in processing at least one received message over a network when originating from a data source, the instructions, when executed by a processor on a computing device cause the computing device to implement:

a validator for validating a design time model defining the client application, the design time model including a data component, a presentation component, a message component, and a workflow component;

a generator for generating a mapping and interface information from the design time model;

a build service interface for receiving a plurality of application elements of the client application, the application elements including the mapping and interface information of the data source and definitions of the data component, the presentation component, the message component, and the workflow component, the mapping and interface information including mapping descriptors corresponding to the data source, the mapping and interface information for use by a server in mediating network communication including the at least one received message between the client device and the data source; and

a build engine coupled to the build service interface for assembling the received application elements as the application bundle;

the application bundle being subsequently deployable to an application bundle storage for use by at least one of the server and the client device.