Program language binding generation for system interfaces

• US 8,825,708 B1
• Filed: 04/30/2008
• Issued: 09/02/2014
• Est. Priority Date: 04/30/2008
• Status: Expired due to Fees

• Current Assignee: NetApp, Inc.
• Original Assignee: NetApp, Inc.
• Inventors: Sunday, Joseph
• Primary Examiner(s): Perveen, Rehana
• Assistant Examiner(s): Hershley, Mark E
• Application Number:
  US12/113,179
• Time in Patent Office: 2,316 Days
• Field of Search: 707/796
• US Class Current: 707/796
• CPC Class Codes: G06F 8/36 Software reuse

Abstract

A solution is introduced to generate structured program language bindings for system interfaces in various kinds of programming languages, which provides a higher level semantic view for system integration. The primary goal of the language bindings is to present a view of the system interfaces as Java objects rather than message building primitives. Consequently, a system developer or integration programmer can focus on functions of the interfaces required for the integration and no longer have to deal with the construction and processing of messages of the interfaces.

Claims

1. A system, comprising:

a processor;

a storage server configured to process a request for operation of the storage server and provide a response to the request;

a system interface embodied in a computer readable storage device configured to manage operation of the storage server; and

a language binding module that, when executed by the processor, generates a class of a first programming language for a method in the system interface, the generating including modeling the method in the system interface as the class of the first programming language, the method of the system interface being of a second programming language different from the first programming language, and wherein the storage server is further configured to

receive, from a client application, the request for management or operation of the storage server via the class generated for the method in the system interface, and

provide the response to the client application, the response including data that is configured to be extracted by the client application using the generated class.

2. A system as recited in claim 1, wherein:

the system interface, the language binding module, and the client application each runs on a computing device, a communication device, a storage device, or any electronic device capable of running a software component.

3. A system as recited in claim 1, wherein:

the storage server, the system interface, the language binding module, and the client application communicate with each other over a network.

4. A system as recited in claim 3, wherein:

the network is one of;

a local area network (LAN), wide area network (WAN), metropolitan area network (MAN), global area network such as the Internet, a Fibre Channel fabric, or any combination of such networks.

5. A system as recited in claim 1, wherein:

the first programming language is Java or C#.

6. A system as recited in claim 1, wherein:

the class generated by the language binding module supports upward compatibility.

7. A system as recited in claim 1, wherein:

the class that is generated for the method of the system interface is declarative.

8. A system as recited in claim 1, wherein:

the language binding module generates a set of runtime classes to marshall and un-marshall XML messages through the interface.

9. A system as recited in claim 1, wherein:

the language binding module utilizes an integrated development environment (IDE).

10. A system as recited in claim 1, wherein:

the language binding module verifies usage of the method of the system interface based on semantics of the generated class.

11. A system as recited in claim 1, wherein:

the language binding module maps an annotation and/or type of definition of the interface to a programming language construct.

12. A system as recited in claim 1, wherein:

the client application sets and gets a parameter of the method via the generated class of the method.

13. A method, comprising:

identifying a method of an interface for management and operation of a storage server;

issuing a request to manage or operate the storage server via a class of a programming language generated for the identified interface method, wherein the generated class supports upward compatibility, wherein the class is generated by modeling the interface method as the class of the programming language, the interface method being of a first programming language different from the programming language of the class;

receiving a response to the request from the storage server; and

extracting data from the response using the class generated for the interface method.

14. A method as recited in claim 13, further comprising:

generating a set of runtime classes to marshall and un-marshall XML messages through the interface.

15. A method as recited in claim 13, further comprising:

utilizing an integrated development environment (IDE) for modeling the interface method.

16. A method as recited in claim 13, further comprising:

verifying usage of the interface method based on semantics of the generated class.

17. A method as recited in claim 13, further comprising:

mapping an annotation and/or type of definition of the interface to a programming language construct.

18. A method as recited in claim 13, further comprising:

setting and getting a parameter of the method via the generated class.

19. A storage server, comprising:

a processor configured to enable a client application to perform a storage management operation on a storage subsystem coupled to the storage server, wherein the storage subsystem includes a plurality of non-volatile mass storage devices;

a storage interface through which the storage server accesses the storage subsystem; and

a file system manager embodied in a machine readable device wherein, in operation;

accepts a request for one of the set of storage management operations from the client application via a class generated for a method of the storage interface, wherein the class is generated in a first programming language, wherein the class is generated by modeling the method of the storage interface as the class of the first programming language, the method of the storage interface being of a second programming language different from the first programming language,

performs the storage management operation on a storage location on the storage subsystem in response to the request from the client application, and

provides a response to the client application via the generated class.

20. A storage server as recited in claim 19, further comprising:

a network interface through which the client application communicates with the storage server over a network.

21. A storage server as recited in claim 19, wherein:

each of the plurality of mass storage devices in the storage subsystem is one of;

a magnetic disk, an optical disk such as a compact disk-read only memory (CD ROM) or a digital versatile/video disks (DVD)-based storage, a solid state device, a magneto-optical (MO) storage, a tape-based storage, or any other type of non-volatile storage device suitable for storing large quantities of data.

22. A system, comprising:

means for identifying a method of an interface for management and operation of a storage server;

means for generating a class of a programming language for the identified method of the interface, the generating including modeling the method of the interface as the class of the programming language, the method of the interface being of a first programming language different from the programming language, and wherein such modeling achieves upward compatibility;

means for issuing a request to manage or operate the storage server via the class of the interface method;

means for processing the request and providing a response to the request; and

means for extracting data from the response using the class of the interface method.