Providing real-time widgets in a web application framework

• US 8,689,234 B2
• Filed: 11/25/2009
• Issued: 04/01/2014
• Est. Priority Date: 11/25/2009
• Status: Active Grant

• Current Assignee: Red Hat, Inc. (International Business Machines Corporation)
• Original Assignee: Red Hat, Inc. (International Business Machines Corporation)
• Inventors: Macken, Luke J.
• Primary Examiner(s): Tang, Kenneth
• Application Number:
  US12/626,471
• Publication Number:
  US 20110126213A1
• Time in Patent Office: 1,588 Days
• Field of Search: None
• US Class Current: 719/313
• CPC Class Codes: G06F 16/9577 Optimising the visualization of content, e.g. distillation of HTML documents
• CPC Class Codes: G06F 2209/545 Gui
• CPC Class Codes: G06F 9/452 Remote windowing, e.g. X-Window System, desktop virtualisation protocols for virtual reality H04L67/131
• CPC Class Codes: G06F 9/54 Interprogram communication

Abstract

A method and apparatus for providing real-time widgets in a web application framework is described. In one embodiment, the method includes storing a topic in a framework widget. The method may also include receiving a data message, at a user computer system, from a message broker of a real-time web applications framework corresponding to the topic. In one embodiment, the method may also include executing one or more callback functions, specified by the framework widget, to process the data message in response to receiving the data message.

Claims

1. A method comprising:

providing, by a server computing device of a web application framework, a framework socket in a web page rendered on a client device, the framework socket to communicably couple a framework widget to a message broker of the server computing device, wherein the framework widget comprises a web application embedded in the web page;

providing pointers to store in the framework widget, the pointers pointing to web application code in the web application framework, wherein the web application code is client-side scripting language logic that interfaces with the client device and is provided to the framework widget from a middleware of the server computing device as the framework widget is delivered to the client device;

opening, by the server computing device, a communication connection between the framework socket and one or more proxies of the server computing device;

providing, by the proxies of the server computing device, protocol translation between the framework socket of the client device and the message broker of the server computing device;

storing, by the server computing device, a topic in a memory associated with the framework widget;

sending, by the message broker, a data message corresponding to the topic to the framework widget, wherein the data message is sent from the message broker in real-time without being requested by the framework widget;

receiving, by the server computing device from the framework widget, a callback function pointer to a callback function related to the data message sent to the framework widget, wherein the callback function comprises at least a portion of an application code library; and

providing, by the server computing device to the framework widget, callback function code that executes the callback function specified by the received callback function pointer, the callback function code to perform additional processing of the data message to alter a display of the data message at the framework widget on the client device.

2. The method of claim 1, further comprising the framework widget displaying the data message after the data message has been processed by the callback function code.

3. The method of claim 1, wherein the topic is an abstraction of a messaging queue.

4. The method of claim 3, wherein the messaging queue is an application layer protocol for message exchange middleware.

5. The method of claim 1, wherein the framework widget is embedded in the web page displayed in a web browser by the client device.

6. The method of claim 1, wherein the web application framework is a real-time web application framework.

7. A non-transitory computer readable storage medium that provides instructions, which when executed on a processing device-cause the processing device to perform operations comprising:

providing, by the processing device of a server computing device of a web application framework, a framework socket in a web page rendered on a client device, the framework socket to communicably couple a framework widget to a message broker of the server computing device, wherein the framework widget comprises a web application embedded in the web page;

providing pointers to store in the framework widget, the pointers pointing to web application code in the web application framework, wherein the web application code is client-side scripting language logic that interfaces with the client device and is provided to the framework widget from a middleware of the server computing device as the framework widget is delivered to the client device;

opening, by the server computing device, a communication connection between the framework socket and one or more proxies of the server computing device;

providing, by the proxies of the server computing device, protocol translation between the framework socket of the client device and the message broker of the server computing device;

storing, by the server computing device, a topic in a memory associated with the framework widget;

sending, by the message broker, a data message corresponding to the topic to the framework widget, wherein the data message is sent from the message broker in real-time without being requested by the framework widget;

receiving, by the server computing device from the framework widget, a callback function pointer to a callback function related to the data message sent to the framework widget, wherein the callback function comprises at least a portion of an application code library; and

providing, by the server computing device to the framework widget, callback function code that executes the callback function specified by the received callback function pointer, the callback function code to perform additional processing of the data message to alter a display of the data message at the framework widget on the client device.

8. The non-transitory computer readable storage medium of claim 7, wherein the operations further comprise the framework widget displaying the data message after the data message has been processed by the callback function code.

9. The non-transitory computer readable storage medium of claim 7, wherein the topic is an abstraction of a messaging queue.

10. The non-transitory computer readable storage medium of claim 9, wherein the messaging queue is an application layer protocol for message exchange middleware.

11. The non-transitory computer readable storage medium of claim 7, wherein the framework widget is embedded in the web page displayed in a web browser by the client device.

12. The non-transitory computer readable storage medium of claim 7, wherein the web application framework is a real-time web application framework.

13. A system of a web application framework comprising:

a memory; and

a processing device communicably coupled with the memory, the processing device to;

provide a framework socket in a web page rendered on a client device, the framework socket to communicably couple a framework widget to a message broker of the system, wherein the framework widget comprises a web application embedded in the web page;

provide pointers to store in the framework widget, the pointers pointing to web application code in the web application framework, wherein the web application code is client-side scripting language logic that interfaces with the client device and is provided to the framework widget from a middleware of the server computing device as the framework widget is delivered to the client device;

open a communication connection between the framework socket and one or more proxies of the system;

provide, by the proxies, protocol translation between the framework socket of the client device and the message broker of the system;

store a topic in a memory associated with the framework widget;

send a data message corresponding to the topic to the framework widget, wherein the data message is sent from the message broker in real-time without being requested by the framework widget;

receive, from the framework widget, a callback function pointer to a callback function related to the data message sent to the framework widget, wherein the callback function comprises at least a portion of an application code library; and

provide, to the framework widget, callback function code that executes the callback function specified by the received callback function pointer, the callback function code to perform additional processing of the data message to alter a display of the data message at the framework widget on the client device.

14. The system of claim 13, further comprising the framework widget displaying the data message after the data message has been processed by the callback function code.

15. The system of claim 13, wherein the topic is an abstraction of a messaging queue.

16. The system of claim 15, wherein the messaging queue is an application layer protocol for message exchange middleware.

17. The system of claim 13, wherein the framework widget is embedded in the web page displayed in a web browser by the client device.

18. The system of claim 13, wherein the web application framework is a real-time web application framework.