System and method that provide a self-contained demonstration

• US 8,770,982 B2
• Filed: 12/08/2006
• Issued: 07/08/2014
• Est. Priority Date: 12/08/2006
• Status: Active Grant

• Current Assignee: CA, Inc. (d/b/a CA Technologies) (Broadcom, Inc.)
• Original Assignee: CA, Inc. (d/b/a CA Technologies) (Broadcom, Inc.)
• Inventors: Lee, Patrick R., Defrang, Bruce A., Kooy, Darrell J.
• Primary Examiner(s): Thai, Xuan
• Assistant Examiner(s): GRANT, MICHAEL CHRISTOPHER
• Application Number:
  US11/608,543
• Publication Number:
  US 20080138775A1
• Time in Patent Office: 2,769 Days
• Field of Search: 434/118, 434/322, 434/350, 715/747, 715/744, 709/203
• US Class Current: 434/118
• CPC Class Codes: G09B 19/00 Teaching not covered by other main groups of this subclass teaching or practice apparatus for gun-aiming or gun-laying F41G3/26
• CPC Class Codes: G09B 5/02 with visual presentation of the material to be studied, e.g. using film strip

Abstract

A self-contained demonstration that demonstrates the functionality of an application module. More specifically, the functionality of the application module with respect to information within an external information source that is located remotely from the application module may be demonstrated. In some instances, the components of a system providing the self-contained demonstration may be installed and executed on a single device, while the external information source would be located remotely and externally from the single device. In order to demonstrate the functionality of the application module, the self-contained demonstration may enable the application module to interact with a local information source in substantially the same manner as the application module would interact with an external information source. The local information source may be installed locally on the single device, and may be a scaled-down version of an external information source.

Claims

1. A self-contained demonstration system, wherein the components of the self-contained demonstration system are installed and executed on a single device, the system comprising:

an electronic display that is associated with the single device and that displays a graphical user interface configured to receive input from users and provide output to users; and

a processor associated with the single device, the processor configured to execute computer program modules, the computer program modules comprising;

an application module configured (i) to receive, via the graphical user interface associated with the single device, user requests to access and/or manipulate information within an external database server hosting an external database, (ii) to generate requests for the external database server that request the external database server to provide access to the information within the external database and/or manipulate the information within the external database in accordance with the requests received from the user through the graphical user interface, and (iii) to convey, to the user through the graphical user interface, responses of the external database server to the requests generated by the application module,

wherein the external database server is logically and physically separate and discrete from the self-contained demonstration system and the single device, and is located remotely from the single device;

an interface module configured to format the requests generated by the application module into a format that is understandable to the external database server, and to format the response of the external database server to the requests into a format that is understandable to the application module, thereby enabling interaction between the application module and the external database server; and

a local information source that is located locally on the single device, the local information source being a scaled down version of the external database such that the organization and/or a type of information provided by the local information source is similar to the organization and/or a type of information included in the external database and the information provided by the local information source is limited relative to the information included in the external database,

wherein the interface module is further configured to format requests generated by the application module and responses of the local information source to the requests such that the application module and the local information source are enabled to interact in substantially the same manner as the application module would interact with the external database server, thereby providing the user with a self-contained demonstration of the operation of the application module with the external database server embodied in the single device.

2. The system of claim 1, wherein the local information source comprises a spreadsheet that is a scaled down version of the external database.

3. The system of claim 1, wherein interface module and the local information source are configured such that the information within the local information source is altered by the local information source as the local information source manipulates the information in accordance with the requests generated by the application module.

4. The system of claim of claim 1, wherein the interface module is further configured to interact with an external registry module associated with the external database server and located remotely from the single device, the external registry module storing a configuration setting of the external database server, and the interaction between the interface module and the external registry module comprising retrieving the configuration setting of the external database server from the external registry module by the interface module.

5. The system of claim 4, further comprising a local registry module associated with the local information source and located locally on the single device, the local registry module storing a configuration setting of the local information source, and wherein the interface module is further configured to retrieve the configuration setting of the local information source from the local registry module.

6. The system of claim 5, wherein the local registry module stores an extensible markup language file that contains the configuration setting of the local information source.

19. The system of claim 1, wherein the local information source is further configured to reset the information within the local information source subsequent to the alteration of the information within the local information source.

7. An electronically readable medium that is non-transient, and includes machine readable code, wherein the machine readable code is designed to execute installation of a self-contained demonstration system on a single device, the electronically readable medium comprising:

application code that effects the installation of an application module on the single device, the application module being configured (i) to receive, from a user through a graphical user interface device presented to the user on an electronic display associated with the single device, requests input by the user to access and/or manipulate information within an external database server hosting an external database, (ii) to generate requests for the external database server that request the external database server to provide access to the information within the external database and/or manipulate the information within the external database in accordance with the requests input by the user, and (iii) to convey, to the user through the graphical user interface associated with the single device, responses of the external database server to the requests generated by the application module,

wherein the external database server is logically and physically separate and discrete from the self-contained demonstration system and the single device, and is located remotely from the single device;

interface code that effects the installation of an interface module on the single device, the interface module being configured to format the requests generated by the application module into a format that is understandable to the external database server, and to format the responses of the external database server to the requests into a format that is understandable to the application module, thereby enabling interaction between the application module and the external database server; and

local information source code that effects the installation of a local information source code on the single device, the local information source being a scaled down version of the external database such that the organization and/or a type of information provided by the local information source is similar to the organization and/or a type of information included in the external database and the information provided by the local information source is limited relative to the information included in the external database,

wherein, upon installation, the interface module is further configured to format requests generated by the application module and responses of the local information source to the requests such that the application module and the local information source are enabled to interact in substantially the same manner as the application module would interact with the external database server, thereby providing the user with a self-contained demonstration of the operation of the application module and the external database server embodied in the single device.

8. The electronically readable medium of claim 7, wherein the local information source comprises a spreadsheet that is a scaled down version of the external database.

9. The electronically readable medium of claim 7, wherein the information within the local information source is altered as the information within the local information source is manipulated in accordance with the requests generated by the application module.

10. The electronically readable medium of claim 9, further comprising information resetting code that effects a resetting of the information within the local information source subsequent to the alteration of the information within the local information source.

11. The electronically readable medium of claim 7, wherein the interface module is further configured to interact with an external registry module associated with the external database server and located remotely from the single device, the external registry module storing a configuration setting of the external database server, and the interaction between the interface module and the external registry module comprising retrieving the configuration setting of the external database server from the external registry module by the interface module.

12. The electronically readable medium of claim 11, further comprising local registry code that effects the installation of a local registry module on the single device, the local registry module being associated with the local information source, the local registry module storing a configuration setting of the local information source, wherein the interface module is further configured to retrieve the configuration setting of the local information source from the local registry module.

13. The electronically readable medium of claim 12, wherein the local registry module stores an extensible markup language file that contains the configuration setting of the local information source.

20. The electronically readable medium of claim 7, wherein the local information source code is further configured to reset the information within the local information source code subsequent to the alteration of the information within the local information source code.

14. A computer-implemented method of providing a self-contained demonstration on a single device associated with an electronic display that presents a graphical user interface, and having a processor configured to execute one or more computer program modules, the method comprising:

receiving from a user, via the graphical user interface associated with the single device, a request to access and/or manipulate information;

executing, on the one or more processors of the single device, one or more computer program modules configured to generate a request intended for an external database server hosting an external database to provide access to information within the external database and/or manipulate information within the external database in accordance with the request received from the user, wherein the external database server is logically and physically separate and discrete from the self-contained demonstration system and the single device, and is located remotely from the single device;

executing, on the one or more processors of the single device, one or more computer program modules configured to format the request intended for the external database server into a format that is understandable by a local information source that is located locally on the single device, the local information source being a scaled down version of the external database such that the organization and/or a type of the information provided by the local information source is structurally similar to the organization and/or a type of the information included in the external database and the information provided by the local information source is limited relative to the information included in the external database; and

executing, on the one or more processors of the single device, one or more computer program modules configured to execute the request intended for the external database server on the information within the local information source to generate a response to the request.

15. The method of claim 14, further comprising conveying the response to the user on the graphical user interface of the single device.

16. The method of claim 14, wherein the local information source comprises a spreadsheet that is a scaled down version of the external database.

17. The method of claim 14, wherein the information within the local information source is altered during the execution of the request intended for the external information.

18. The method of claim 17, further comprising executing, on the processor of the computer system, a computer program module configured to reset the information within the local information source subsequent to the alteration of the information within the local information source.