Native objects accessible by platform neutral API

• US 8,060,856 B2
• Filed: 11/18/2005
• Issued: 11/15/2011
• Est. Priority Date: 11/18/2004
• Status: Active Grant

• Current Assignee: Meta Platforms, Inc. (f/k/a Facebook, Inc.)
• Original Assignee: AOL Inc. (Apollo Global Management, Inc.)
• Inventors: Johnson, Brian Regan, Packard, Gary Wayne, Eaves, Donald S., Besbris, David G., Zhang, Xiaopeng, Robinson, John D.
• Primary Examiner(s): Dao; Thuy
• Assistant Examiner(s): CHOWDHURY, ZIAUL A.
• Application Number:
  US11/281,936
• Publication Number:
  US 20060179440A1
• Time in Patent Office: 2,188 Days
• Field of Search: None
• US Class Current: 717/106
• CPC Class Codes: G06F 2209/462 Lookup
• CPC Class Codes: G06F 8/65 Updates security arrangements therefor G06F21/57
• CPC Class Codes: G06F 8/658 Incremental updates; Differential updates
• CPC Class Codes: G06F 9/445 Program loading or initiating bootstrapping G06F9/4401; security arrangements for program loading or initiating G06F21/57
• CPC Class Codes: G06F 9/44536 Selecting among different versions
• CPC Class Codes: G06F 9/465 Distributed object oriented systems remote method invocation [RMI] G06F9/548
• CPC Class Codes: G06F 9/485 Task life-cycle, e.g. stopping, restarting, resuming execution G06F9/4881 takes precedence
• CPC Class Codes: G06F 9/5055 considering software capabilities, i.e. software resources associated or available to the machine
• CPC Class Codes: G06F 9/541 via adapters, e.g. between incompatible applications
• CPC Class Codes: G06F 9/545 where tasks reside in different layers, e.g. user- and kernel-space
• CPC Class Codes: H04L 51/00 User-to-user messaging in packet-switching networks, transmitted according to store-and-forward or real-time protocols, e.g. e-mail
• CPC Class Codes: H04L 51/04 Real-time or near real-time messaging, e.g. instant messaging [IM]
• CPC Class Codes: H04L 67/51 Discovery or management thereof, e.g. service location protocol [SLP] or web services
• CPC Class Codes: H04L 69/24 Negotiation of communication capabilities

Abstract

An object is developed using an operating system neutral application programming interface (API). The object is complied for a designated operating system that includes native objects and supports an API for accessing native objects of the operating system. The compiled object includes logic code, a native object interop for accessing the logic code using the API for accessing native objects of the operating system, and a platform-neutral interop for accessing the logic code using the operating system neutral API.

Claims

1. A method for creating an object, the method comprising:

developing an object using an operating system neutral application programming interface (API);

designating an operating system, the operating system supporting a native object model used by native objects and supporting an API for accessing native objects of the operating system;

determining the native object model used by the designated operating system; and

compiling, with a processor, the object for the designated operating system according to the determined native object model to generate a compiled object of the native object model, the compiled object comprising;

logic code;

a native object interop for accessing the logic code using the API for accessing native objects of the determined native object model used by the designated operating system; and

a platform-neutral interop for accessing the logic code using the operating system neutral API, wherein the platform-neutral interop is layered on top of the native object interop and translates between the operating system neutral API and the API for accessing native objects.

2. The method of claim 1 further comprising:

designating a second operating system, the second operating system including native objects and an API for accessing native objects of the second operating system; and

compiling the object for the second operating system to generate a second compiled object, the second compiled object comprising;

the logic code;

a second native object interop for accessing the logic code using the API for accessing native objects of the second operating system;

the platform-neutral interop for accessing the logic code using the operating system neutral API.

3. The method of claim 1 wherein the native objects are Component Object Model (COM) objects.

4. The method of claim 1 wherein the native objects are Distributed Objects (DO) objects.

5. The method of claim 1 wherein the operating system neutral API is an abstraction of the APIs for accessing native objects of the operating system.

6. The method of claim 1 wherein developing the object using an operating system neutral application programming interface (API) comprises statically linking to a library that implements the operating system neutral API.

7. The method of claim 1 wherein the compiled object is linked to a client at runtime and is executable by the client.

8. A processing system comprising:

a processor for determining a native object model used in a designated operating system;

a storage storing the operating system, the operating system including native objects having a native object model and supporting an application programming interface (API) for accessing native objects of the operating system; and

a memory, the memory storing an object that includes;

logic code;

a native object interop for accessing the logic code using the API for accessing native objects of the determined native object model used by the designated operating system; and

a platform-neutral interop for accessing the logic code using an operating system neutral API, wherein the platform-neutral interop is layered on top of the native object interop and translates between the operating system neutral API and the API for accessing native objects.

9. The system of claim 8 wherein the native objects are Component Object Model (COM) objects.

10. The system of claim 8 wherein the native objects are Distributed Objects (DO) objects.

11. The system of claim 8 wherein the operating system neutral API is an abstraction of the APIs for accessing native objects of the operating system.

12. The system of claim 8 wherein the compiled object is linked to a client at runtime and is executable by the client.

13. A non-transitory computer-usable medium, the medium having code embodied thereon for implementing an object, the code comprising:

a code segment for receiving a designation of an operating system that supports a native object model used by native objects;

a code segment for determining the native object model used by the designated operating system;

a code segment for implementing logic code;

a code segment for implementing a native object interop for accessing the logic code using an API for accessing native objects of the determined native object model used by the designated operating system; and

a code segment for implementing a platform-neutral interop for accessing the logic code using an operating system neutral API, wherein the platform-neutral interop is layered on top of the native object interop and translates between the operating system neutral API and the API for accessing native objects.

14. The medium of claim 13 wherein the native objects are Component Object Model (COM) objects.

15. The medium of claim 13 wherein the native objects are Distributed Objects (DO) objects.

16. The medium of claim 13 wherein the operating system neutral API is an abstraction of the APIs for accessing native objects of the operating system.

17. The medium of claim 13 wherein the compiled object that is linked to a client at runtime and that is executable by the client.