Method, system, and computer program product for simulating an online session

• US 9,720,990 B2
• Filed: 04/17/2013
• Issued: 08/01/2017
• Est. Priority Date: 06/13/2002
• Status: Active Grant

• Current Assignee: Salesforce.com, Inc.
• Original Assignee: Salesforce.com, Inc.
• Inventors: Hopkins, Christopher D.
• Primary Examiner(s): Tran, Quoc A
• Application Number:
  US13/865,126
• Publication Number:
  US 20130239007A1
• Time in Patent Office: 1,567 Days
• Field of Search: 715201-203, 715736, 715740, 715745, 709213-229, 434118, 434362
• CPC Class Codes: G06F 16/00 Information retrieval; Database structures therefor; File system structures therefor
• CPC Class Codes: G06F 16/214 Database migration support
• CPC Class Codes: G06F 16/2372 Updates performed during offline database operations
• CPC Class Codes: G06F 16/2379 Updates performed during online database operations; commit processing
• CPC Class Codes: G06F 16/27 Replication, distribution or synchronisation of data between databases or within a distributed database system; Distributed database system architectures therefor
• CPC Class Codes: G06F 16/95 Retrieval from the web
• CPC Class Codes: G06F 3/0484 for the control of specific functions or operations, e.g. selecting or manipulating an object, an image or a displayed text element, setting a parameter value or selecting a range
• CPC Class Codes: H04L 41/145 involving simulating, designing, planning or modelling of a network
• CPC Class Codes: H04L 41/22 comprising specially adapted graphical user interfaces [GUI]
• CPC Class Codes: H04L 43/00 Arrangements for monitoring or testing data switching networks
• CPC Class Codes: H04L 63/08 for authentication of entities cryptographic mechanisms or cryptographic arrangements for entity authentication H04L9/32
• CPC Class Codes: H04L 63/102 Entity profiles
• CPC Class Codes: H04L 67/01 Protocols
• CPC Class Codes: H04L 67/02 based on web technology, e.g. hypertext transfer protocol [HTTP]
• CPC Class Codes: H04L 67/14 Session management for real-time applications in data packet communications networks H04L65/1066
• CPC Class Codes: H04L 67/561 Adding application-functional data or data for application control, e.g. adding metadata
• CPC Class Codes: H04L 69/329 in the application layer [OSI layer 7]
• CPC Class Codes: H04L 9/40 Network security protocols

Abstract

A method and system for conducting an offline session simulating an online session between a client and server in a network environment. The client imports data and functional logic from the server prior to going offline. The imported functional logic is embedded into a format or document that is capable of being interpreted and performed by the local interface at the client that is used to interact with server during an online session. Whether offline or online, the user utilizes the same local interface at the client to transmit instructions to the functional logic in order to manipulate the data. In an offline session, such instructions cause the imported and embedded functional logic to execute, thereby manipulating the data that is imported at the client. Known synchronization methods may also be used in order to maintain consistency and coherency between the imported data at the client and the database at the server.

Claims

1. A method, comprising:

storing, at a server computer system, functional logic associated with a database;

invoking, at the server computer system, at least a portion of the functional logic in response to a request received, via a database API, from a client computer system to manipulate data in the database;

sending, by the server computer system to the client computer system;

data from the databases;

at least a portion of the functional logic associated with the database;

user customization data that specifies a manner in which data is displayed by a local interface of the client computer system; and

instructions that specify a directory structure to be established at the client computer system for storing data from the database, wherein the data, the at least a portion of the functional logic, the user customization data, and the instructions sent by the server computer system allow the client computer system, while offline, to invoke, via a local version of the database API, the at least a portion of the functional logic to;

display data according to information specified in the user customization data; and

modify data; and

after the client computer system returns online, performing, at the server computer system, a synchronization process by receiving data from the client computer system that was modified while offline.

2. The method of claim 1, wherein client computer system is configured to allow a user to modify data by selecting from one or more options through a web browser while offline.

3. The method of claim 1, wherein the database is a relational database management system.

4. The method of claim 1, wherein the data sent by the server computer system includes a markup language.

5. A non-transitory, computer-readable medium having instructions stored thereon that are capable of being executed by a server computer system to perform operations comprising:

invoking functional logic to manipulate data in a database associated with the server computer system;

allowing a client computer system to establish one or more communication channels through a network that connects the client computer system to the server computer system, wherein the one or more communication channels are based on a database API associated with the database;

sending to the client computer system;

data from the database;

at least a portion of the functional logic;

user customization data that specifies a manner in which data is displayed by a local interface of the client computer system; and

instructions that specify a directory structure to be established at the client computer system for storing data from the database, wherein the data, the at least a portion of the functional logic, the user customization data, and the instructions sent by the server computer system allow the client computer system, while offline, to invoke, via a local version of the database API, the at least a portion of the functional logic to;

display the data sent by the server computer system according to information specified in the user customization data; and

modify the data sent by the server computer system; and

after the client computer system returns online, performing a synchronization by receiving data from the client computer system that was modified while offline.

6. The computer-readable medium of claim 5, wherein the operations further comprise:

generating a set of extensible stylesheet language (XSL) templates, wherein the XSL templates are included in the user customization data.

7. The computer-readable medium of claim 5, wherein the at least a portion of the functional logic is expressed in a scripting language.

8. A non-transitory, computer-readable medium having instructions stored thereon that are capable of being executed by a client device to perform operations comprising:

while the client device is online;

sending, to a server computer system via a database API, a request to manipulate data stored in a database associated with the server computer system, wherein the server computer system is configured to invoke functional logic to manipulate the data;

receiving, from the server computer system;

data from the database;

at least a portion of the functional logic;

user customization data that specifies a manner in which data is to be displayed by a local interface of the client device; and

instructions that are executable to establish a directory structure; and

executing the instructions to establish the directory structure for storing the received data;

while the client device is offline;

invoking, via a local version of the database API, the at least a portion of the functional logic to

     1) display received data according to information specified in the user customization data and

     2) modify received data in response to requests received from a user via the local interface; and

after returning online, sending modified data to the server computer system.

9. The computer-readable medium of claim 8, wherein the user customization data includes layout information, and wherein the invoking further comprises:

generating, based on the layout information, a set of templates usable to display received data.

10. The computer-readable medium of claim 8, wherein the sending modified data further includes:

establishing a communication channel for sending modified data between the client device and the server computer system using a remote procedure call (RPC) protocol.