Inter-application communication on mobile platforms

• US 8,839,266 B1
• Filed: 07/31/2013
• Issued: 09/16/2014
• Est. Priority Date: 07/31/2013
• Status: Active Grant

• Current Assignee: Vmware LLC (Broadcom, Inc.)
• Original Assignee: VMware, Inc. (Broadcom, Inc.)
• Inventors: Dhurvasula, Harish, Partridge, Brian
• Primary Examiner(s): Ho, Andy
• Application Number:
  US13/955,985
• Time in Patent Office: 412 Days
• Field of Search: 719/310, 719/313
• US Class Current: 719/310
• CPC Class Codes: G06F 13/00 Interconnection of, or transfer of information or other signals between, memories, input/output devices or central processing units interface circuits for specific input/output devices G06F3/00 ; multiprogram control therefor G06F9/46; multiprocessor systems G06F15/16
• CPC Class Codes: G06F 9/541 via adapters, e.g. between incompatible applications
• CPC Class Codes: G06F 9/547 Remote procedure calls [RPC]; Web services

Abstract

Applications executing in a mobile device utilize a protocol for inter-application communication to overcome restrictions of a sandboxed environment. Applications advertise their exposed capabilities using structured definition files, which are consumed by other applications. Applications can invoke the advertised capabilities by exchanging inter-application communication (IAC) messages in the form of URLs or other platform-specific mechanisms. URL messages are formatted according to parameters and URL schemes specified by the provided definition files.

Claims

1. A method for inter-application communication on a mobile device having an operating system that provides a sandboxed environment, the method comprising:

retrieving, at a first application executing on the mobile device, a definition for an integration point that specifies functionality provided by another application executing on the mobile device;

determining a second application that implements the integration point is available on the mobile device based on the retrieved definition;

generating a first URL string based on the retrieved definition for the integration point, wherein the first URL string comprises at least one parameter specified by the definition for the integration point; and

invoking the integration point by opening the first URL string using a system call of the operating system of the mobile device.

2. The method of claim 1, further comprising:

registering a URL scheme for the first application with the operating system of the mobile device;

modifying the first URL string to include a callback URL parameter having the URL scheme for the first application; and

receiving a request, from the operating system, to handle opening a second URL string, wherein the second URL string is generated based on the callback URL parameter and is responsive to the opening of the first URL string.

3. The method of claim 1, wherein the receiving the definition for the integration point further comprises:

retrieving a structured file specifying a plurality of integration point definitions from a central repository accessible to the first application and to the second application.

4. The method of claim 1, wherein the determining the second application that implements the integration point is available on the mobile device based on the retrieved definition further comprises:

determining a URL scheme identifier associated with the integration point based on the definition for the integration point; and

determining the URL scheme identifier is registered with the operating system of the mobile device.

5. The method of claim 1, further comprising:

responsive to determining the second application that implements the integration point is available on the mobile device, executing a workflow that includes invocation of the integration point at the second application based on the definition of the integration point.

6. The method of claim 1, wherein the first URL string comprises a task identifier parameter associated with invocation of the integration point and assigned by the first application.

7. The method of claim 1, wherein the first URL string comprises a plurality of callback URLs specifying a plurality of integration points to be executed upon success of the integration point.

8. A method for inter-application communication on a mobile device having an operating system that provides a sandboxed environment, the method comprising:

transmitting, at a first application executing on the mobile device, a definition for an integration point implemented by the first application, wherein the definition specifies a URL scheme associated with the first application;

registering the URL scheme associated with the first application with the operating system of the mobile device;

receiving a request, from the operating system, to handle opening a first URL string generated by a second application, wherein the first URL string comprises the registered URL scheme and at least one parameter specified by the definition for the integration point; and

executing a handler method associated with the integration point using the at least one parameter specified by the definition for the integration point.

9. The method of claim 8, wherein the transmitting the definition for the integration point further comprises:

transmitting a structured file specifying a plurality of integration point definitions to a central repository accessible to the first application and the second application.

10. The method of claim 8, wherein the first URL string comprises a task identifier parameter associated with the invocation of the integration point and assigned by the second application.

11. The method of claim 8, further comprising:

determining the first URL string comprises a callback URL parameter associated with the second application;

generating a second URL string based on the callback URL parameter and based on the definition for the integration point; and

invoking a return to the second application by opening the second URL string using a system call of the operating system of the mobile device.

12. The method of claim 11, wherein the second URL string comprises a task identifier parameter extracted from the first URL string and associated with the invocation of the integration point.

13. The method of claim 8, further comprising:

determining the at least one parameter of the first URL string comprises a plurality of callback URLs;

determining a next URL of the plurality of callback URLs;

generating a second URL string based on the next URL, wherein the second URL string comprises a parameter specifying the plurality of callback URLs excluding the next URL; and

invoking a second integration point by opening the second URL string using a system call of the operating system of the mobile device.

14. A non-transitory computer-readable storage medium comprising instructions that, when executed in a computing device, for providing inter-application communication on a mobile device having an operating system that provides a sandboxed environment, by performing the steps of:

retrieving, at a first application executing on the mobile device, a definition for an integration point that specifies functionality provided by another application executing on the mobile device;

determining a second application that implements the integration point is available on the mobile device based on the retrieved definition;

generating a first URL string based on the retrieved definition for the integration point, wherein the first URL string comprises at least one parameter specified by the definition for the integration point; and

invoking the integration point by opening the first URL string using a system call of the operating system of the mobile device.

15. The non-transitory computer-readable storage medium of claim 14, further comprising:

registering a URL scheme for the first application with the operating system of the mobile device;

modifying the first URL string to include a callback URL parameter having the URL scheme for the first application; and

receiving a request, from the operating system, to handle opening a second URL string, wherein the second URL string is generated based on the callback URL parameter and is responsive to the opening of the first URL string.

16. The non-transitory computer-readable storage medium of claim 14, wherein the receiving the definition for the integration point further comprises:

retrieving a structured file specifying a plurality of integration point definitions from a central repository accessible to the first application and to the second application.

17. The non-transitory computer-readable storage medium of claim 14, wherein the determining the second application that implements the integration point is available on the mobile device based on the retrieved definition further comprises:

determining a URL scheme identifier associated with the integration point based on the definition for the integration point; and

determining the URL scheme identifier is registered with the operating system of the mobile device.

18. The non-transitory computer-readable storage medium of claim 14, wherein the first URL string comprises a task identifier parameter associated with the invocation of the integration point and assigned by the first application.

19. The non-transitory computer-readable storage medium of claim 14, wherein the first URL string comprises a plurality of callback URLs specifying a plurality of integration points to be executed upon success of the integration point.

20. A non-transitory computer-readable storage medium comprising instructions that, when executed in a computing device, for providing inter-application communication on a mobile device having an operating system that provides a sandboxed environment, by performing the steps of:

transmitting, at a first application executing on the mobile device, a definition for an integration point implemented by the first application, wherein the definition specifies a URL scheme associated with the first application;

registering the URL scheme associated with the first application with the operating system of the mobile device;

receiving a request, from the operating system, to handle opening a first URL string generated by a second application, wherein the first URL string comprises the registered URL scheme and at least one parameter specified by the definition for the integration point; and

executing a handler method associated with the integration point using the at least one parameter specified by the definition for the integration point.

21. The non-transitory computer-readable storage medium of claim 20, wherein the transmitting the definition for the integration point further comprises:

transmitting a structured file specifying a plurality of integration point definitions to a central repository accessible to the first application and the second application.

22. The non-transitory computer-readable storage medium of claim 20, wherein the first URL string comprises a task identifier parameter associated with the invocation of the integration point and assigned by the second application.

23. The non-transitory computer-readable storage medium of claim 20, further comprising:

determining the first URL string comprises a callback URL parameter associated with the second application;

generating a second URL string based on the callback URL parameter and based on the definition for the integration point; and

invoking a return to the second application by opening the second URL string using a system call of the operating system of the mobile device.

24. The non-transitory computer-readable storage medium of claim 23, wherein the second URL string comprises a task identifier parameter extracted from the first URL string and associated with the invocation of the integration point.

25. The non-transitory computer-readable storage medium of claim 20, further comprising:

determining the at least one parameter of the first URL string comprises a plurality of callback URLs;

determining a next URL of the plurality of callback URLs;

generating a second URL string based on the next URL, wherein the second URL string comprises a parameter specifying the plurality of callback URLs excluding the next URL; and

invoking a second integration point by opening the second URL string using a system call of the operating system of the mobile device.