Automated generation of transformation chain compatible class

• US 9,658,836 B2
• Filed: 07/02/2015
• Issued: 05/23/2017
• Est. Priority Date: 07/02/2015
• Status: Active Grant

• Current Assignee: Microsoft Technology Licensing LLC (Microsoft Corporation)
• Original Assignee: Microsoft Technology Licensing LLC (Microsoft Corporation)
• Inventors: Poozhiyil, Suraj T., Mital, Vijay, Abraham, Robin
• Primary Examiner(s): Khatri, Anil
• Application Number:
  US14/791,143
• Publication Number:
  US 20170003940A1
• Time in Patent Office: 691 Days
• Field of Search: 717107-116, 717136-143
• CPC Class Codes: G06F 8/30 Creation or generation of source code
• CPC Class Codes: G06F 8/34 Graphical or visual programming
• CPC Class Codes: G06F 8/40 Transformation of program code
• CPC Class Codes: G06F 9/4494 data driven

Abstract

Automatically generating a software class that is compatible with a transformation chain class library. Such may be used to further populate the transformation chain class library with additional classes of software that was not originally generated as a transformation chain. In response to receiving a software representation, a dependency is identified in the software representation. It is then determined that the dependency corresponds to a dependency element of a transformation chain class of the transformation class library. Then, a software class is generated that corresponds to the software representation and that includes a dependency element that corresponds to the identified dependency, and that is recognized by a merging module as being compatible with the dependent element of the transformation chain class of the transformation chain class library. The software class may then be added to the transformation chain class library.

Claims

1. A method for dynamically generating transformation chain compatible classes from legacy software in a computer system, the computer system comprising

a controller, system memory, an operating system and a transformation chain class library containing a plurality of transformation chain classes, wherein at least one of the plurality of transformation classes is combinable with at least one other of the plurality of transformation classes to form a transformation chain, the method comprising:

receiving, at an input interface, a software representation of software not created in transformation chain class form and identifying a dependency in the received software representation that is structured to be interpretable as being compatible with at least one dependency element of at least one transformation chain class of the transformation chain class library;

determining that the dependency corresponds to the at least one dependency element of the at least one transformation chain class within the transformation chain library,

generating a modified software class that has at least one dependency element that corresponds to the identified dependency and that is structured to be interpretable by a merging module as being compatible with the dependency element of the at least one transformation chain class of a transformation chain class library;

outputting, at an output interface, the modified class; and

adding the modified software class to the transformation chain class library.

2. The method in accordance with claim 1, the software representation being an object class.

3. The method in accordance with claim 1, the software representation being an object model.

4. The method in accordance with claim 1, the software representation comprising markup.

5. The method in accordance with claim 4, the at least one dependency element being included based on analysis of the markup.

6. The method in accordance with claim 4, the markup indicating a sharability of an object or portion thereof.

7. The method in accordance with claim 1, the modified class having a plurality of dependency elements that are each structured to be interpretable as being compatible with at least one dependency element of at least one transformation chain class of the transformation chain class library.

8. The method in accordance with claim 1, the modified class being a transformation chain class having at least one node having endpoints.

9. The method in accordance with claim 1, the modified class being a transformation chain class having a plurality of nodes.

10. The method of claim 1, further comprising forming a transformation chain application by combining the modified software class with at least one other of the plurality of transformation chain classes within the transformation chain class library.

11. A method, executed at a computing system including one or more processors, for creating a transformation chain that includes at least one class derived from a software representation not in transformation chain form, the method including:

an input interface that accesses a software representation of software not in transformation chain form;

creating at least one modified software class that has at least one dependency element that is structured to be compatible with at least one dependency element of at least one transformation chain class of a transformation chain class library; and

adding the modified software class to the transformation chain class library.

12. The method in accordance with claim 11, wherein the system is further configured to merge transformation chain instances along dependency elements in response to user interaction.

13. The method of claim 11, further comprising forming a transformation chain application by combining the modified software class with at least one other of a plurality of transformation chain classes within the transformation chain class library.

14. A system comprising:

one or more processors; and

one or more computer-readable storage media having one or more computer-executable instructions that are structured such that, when executed by the one or more processors, cause the computing system to perform a method for generating a software class that is compatible with a transformation chain class library, the method comprising;

receiving a software representation of software not created in transformation chain class form;

identifying at least one dependency in the received software representation;

determining that the at least one dependency corresponds to at least one dependency element of at least one of a plurality of transformation chain classes of a transformation chain class library;

generating a software class that corresponds to the software representation and that includes a dependency element that corresponds to the identified dependency, the dependency element of the generated software class being structured to be compatible with the at least one corresponding dependent element of the at least one transformation chain class of the transformation chain class library; and

adding the generated software class that corresponds to the software representation to the transformation chain class library.

15. The system in accordance with claim 14, the method further forming a transformation chain application by combining the generated software class with at least one other of the plurality of transformation chain classes within the transformation chain class library.