Systems and methods for linking software applications

• US 8,281,324 B2
• Filed: 09/30/2008
• Issued: 10/02/2012
• Est. Priority Date: 03/14/2008
• Status: Active Grant

• Current Assignee: Northrop Grumman Systems Corporation (Northrop Grumman Corporation)
• Original Assignee: Northrop Grumman Systems Corporation (Northrop Grumman Corporation)
• Inventors: Kaehler, Adrian, Hsu, Shi-Ping
• Primary Examiner(s): Truong, Lechi
• Assistant Examiner(s): Hoang, Phuong
• Application Number:
  US12/241,835
• Publication Number:
  US 20090235204A1
• Time in Patent Office: 1,463 Days
• Field of Search: None
• US Class Current: 719/328
• CPC Class Codes: G06F 2209/547 Messaging middleware
• CPC Class Codes: G06F 9/541 via adapters, e.g. between incompatible applications
• CPC Class Codes: G06F 9/546 Message passing systems or structures, e.g. queues

Abstract

A system is provided for linking software applications. The system comprises a message backplane configured to linked software applications by sharing messages associated with events occurring in a respective linked software application with one or more other linked software applications and a controller configured to instruct the message backplane to link software applications.

Claims

1. A system for linking software applications, the system comprising:

a memory to store machine readable instructions; and

a processing unit to access the memory and execute the machine readable instructions, the machine readable instructions comprising;

a message backplane configured to link software applications by sharing messages associated with events occurring in a respective linked software application with one or more other linked software applications; and

a controller configured to instruct the message backplane to link software applications, the controller comprising a GUI controller work space that contains icons that represent application programs that are currently running, wherein a user can drag one icon associated with a first application program over another icon associated with a second application program that causes the controller to instruct the message backplane to link events in the first and second application programs, wherein a user can select a given transformer from a given plurality of transformers to link data types of a first data type understandable by the first application program to data types of a second data type understandable by the second application program, wherein each of the given plurality of transformers specifies a first category of information to extract from the first data type and a second category of information to provide to the second data type;

wherein the first data type is an email comprising;

a name of a person; and

an e-mail address associated with the person;

wherein the second data type is a spreadsheet data set comprising;

a name of the person; and

a telephone number associated with the person;

wherein the first and second categories of information are the name of the person;

wherein the user can further drag a second icon associated with the second application program over another icon associated with a third application program that causes the controller to instruct the message backplane to link events in the second and third application programs, wherein the user can select another transformer from another plurality of transformers to link data types of the second data type understandable by the second application program to data types of a third data type understandable by the third application program, wherein each of the another plurality of transformers specifies a third category of information to extract from the second data type and a fourth category of information to provide to the third data type, wherein the third data type comprises a phone number lookup record, and the third and fourth categories of information are the telephone number associated with the person.

2. The system of claim 1, wherein a software application is configured to register with the message backplane to share messages associated with events in the software application with other registered software applications.

3. The system of claim 1, wherein the message backplane routes messages that have been transmitted from a front end to a back end of the first registered software application to a back end of the second software application, such that the back end of the second application extracts and responds to information of a type that the second software application understands and generates instructions to the front end of the second software application to cause events to occur in the front end of the second software application based on the received information.

4. The system of claim 1, wherein the message backplane monitors TCP/IP connections of software applications and transmits messages that have been transmitted from a front end to a back end of a first software application to a back end of a second software application via a TCP/IP connection.

5. The system of claim 1, wherein messages associated with events are transmitted employing an extensible markup language (XML) based message protocol.

6. The system of claim 1, wherein the machine readable instructions further comprise a message adapter configured to convert commercial off the shelf (COTS) application messages from a COTS application message format to a message backplane message format and message backplane message format to a COTS application message format.

7. The system of claim 1, further comprising a database accessible by the given transformer that contains a fourth data type that links data of the first data type to data of the second data type.

8. The system of claim 1, wherein the GUI controller work space includes a linking portion in which icons that represent linked application programs reside.

9. The system of claim 1, wherein a first graphical user interface (GUI) of the first application program is linked to a second GUI of the second application program when the message backplane links the first and second application programs, such that movement of one of the first and second GUIs causes concurrent movement of the other of the first and second GUIs.

10. The system of claim 9, wherein the first and second GUIs reside in a side by side relationship linked together by a graphical idiom that represents the linking of the first and second application programs.

11. A non-transitory computer readable medium having computer executable components for linking software applications, the non-transitory computer readable medium comprising:

a message backplane component configured to register software application programs for sharing messages and to capture and forward messages that are transmitted between a front end and a back end of a registered software application with other registered software applications; and

a controller configured to instruct the message backplane to at least one of register and unregister a given software application, the controller comprising a GUI controller work space that contains icons that represent registered software application programs that are currently running, wherein a user can drag one icon associated with a first registered software application program over another icon associated with a second registered software application program that causes the controller to instruct the message backplane to link events in the first and second registered software application programs, wherein a user can select a given transformer from a given plurality of transformers to link data types of a first data type understandable by the first registered software application program to data types of a second data type understandable by the second registered software application program, wherein each of the given plurality of transformers specifies a first category of information to extract from the first data type and a second category of information to provide to the second data type;

wherein the first data type is an email comprising;

a name of a person; and

an e-mail address associated with the person;

wherein the second data type is a spreadsheet data set comprising;

a name of the person; and

a telephone number associated with the person;

wherein the first and second categories of information are the name of the person;

wherein the user can further drag a second icon associated with the second registered software application program over another icon associated with a third registered software application program that causes the controller to instruct the message backplane to link events in the second and third registered software application programs, wherein the user can select a another transformer from another plurality of transformers to link data types of the second data type understandable by the second registered software application program to data types of a third data type understandable by the third registered software application program, wherein each of the another plurality of transformers specifies a third category of information to extract from the second data type and a fourth category of information to provide to the third data type, wherein the third data type comprises a phone number lookup record, and the third and fourth categories of information are the telephone number associated with the person.

12. The non-transitory computer readable medium of claim 11, wherein the message backplane monitors TCP/IP connections of registered software applications, extracts data types from messages passed between a front end to a back end of the first registered software application, builds a message based on the extracted data types and transmits the built message to a back end of the second registered software application via a TCP/IP connection.

13. The non-transitory computer readable medium of claim 11, further comprising a message adapter configured to convert commercial off the shelf (COTS) application messages from a COTS application message format to a message backplane message format and a message backplane message format to a COTS application message format.

14. The non-transitory computer readable medium of claim 11, further comprising a database accessible by the given transformer that contains a fourth data type that links data of the first data type to data of the second data type.

15. The non-transitory computer readable medium of claim 11, wherein a first graphical user interface (GUI) of the first registered application program is linked to a second GUI of the second registered application program when the message backplane links the first and second registered application programs, such that movement of one of the first and second GUIs causes concurrent movement of the other of the first and second GUIs, wherein the first and second GUIs reside in a side by side relationship linked together by a graphical idiom that represents the linking of the first and second application programs.

16. A method for linking software applications, the method comprising:

providing a GUI controller work space that contains icons that represent application that are currently running;

receiving instructions for linking events between two or more software applications in response to a user dragging, in the GUI controller work space, one icon associated with a first software application program over another icon associated with a second software application program;

selecting a given transformer from a given plurality of transformers to link data types of a first data type understandable by the first software application program to data types of a second data type understandable by the second software application program, wherein each of the given plurality of transformers specifies a first category of information to extract from the first data type and a second category of information to provide to the second data type;

wherein the first data type is an email comprising;

a name of a person; and

an e-mail address associated with the person;

wherein the second data type is a spreadsheet data set comprising;

a name of the person; and

a telephone number associated with the person;

wherein the first and second categories of information are the name of the person;

monitoring messages between a front end and a back end of each linked software application;

extracting data types of a given message provided in response to an event of a linked software application;

building a message based on the extracted data types based on the given transformer;

transmitting the built message to a back end of the second software application program in response to an event in the first software application program;

receiving instructions to link events in the second software application program and a third software application in response to dragging a second icon associated with the second software application program over another icon associated with the third software application program; and

selecting another transformer from another plurality of transformers to link data types of the second data type understandable by the second software application program to data types of a third data type understandable by the third software application program, wherein each of the another plurality of transformers specifies a third category of information to extract from the second data type and a fourth category of information to provide to the third data type, wherein the third data type comprises a phone number lookup record, and the third and fourth categories of information are the telephone number associated with the person.

17. The method of claim 16, wherein the monitoring messages comprises monitoring TCP/IP connections associated with a linked software application.

18. The method of claim 16, wherein the built messages are built employing an extensible markup language (XML) based message protocol.

19. The method of claim 16, further comprising converting the given message from a commercial off the shelf (COTS) application message format to a message backplane message format and converting the built message from a message backplane message format to a COTS application message format.

20. The method of claim 16, further comprising linking data types of the first data type to data types of the second data type via a third data type.

21. The method of claim 16, further comprising linking a first graphical user interface (GUI) of the first application program to a second GUI of the second application program, such that movement of one of the first and second GUIs causes concurrent movement of the other of the first and second GUIs.