Automatic software downloading from a computer network

• US 20050044541A1
• Filed: 09/20/2004
• Published: 02/24/2005
• Est. Priority Date: 12/12/1996
• Status: Active Grant

• Current Assignee: Microsoft Technology Licensing LLC (Microsoft Corporation)
• Original Assignee: Microsoft Corporation
• Inventors: Kindel, Charles E. Jr., Parthasarathy, Srivatsan, Partovi, Hadi, Slivka, Benjamin W.
• Granted Patent: US 7,634,772 B2
• Time in Patent Office: Days
• US Class Current: 717/173
• CPC Class Codes: G06F 8/60 Software deployment
• CPC Class Codes: G06F 8/61 Installation

Abstract

Methods and systems automatically download computer software components from a computer network like the Internet or an intranet. The methods and systems can be used to provide dynamic or interactive multimedia components in HTML documents with HTML <OBJECT> tags. The HTML <OBJECT> tags can contain parameters including uniform resource locators (URLs) which reference dynamic or interactive multimedia components on remote computers. Network browsers and other applications can obtain computer software components from a computer network like the Internet or an intranet in a uniform, portable, architecture-neutral, robust manner. The computer software components obtained can be used to provide a variety of new multimedia functionality to an application program.

Claims

1. A method of automatically downloading software on a local device from one or more computers, the local device and the one or more computers being connected to a computer network, the method comprising:

encountering an invocation of the software, wherein the invocation comprises an identity of the software and a version indication of the software; and

responsive to encountering an invocation of software, downloading the software from the one or more remote computers according to the identity and version indication.

2. One or more computer-readable media having computer-executable instructions for performing the method of claim 1.

3. The method of claim 1, wherein the invocation is operable to indicate one out of a plurality of identities and one out of a plurality of versions per identity.

4. The method of claim 3, wherein the invocation is operable to indicate more than one out of a plurality of versions per identity.

5. The method of claim 1, further comprising:

invoking the software.

6. The method of claim 1, further comprising:

automatically installing the software.

7. The method of claim 1, wherein the software comprises one or more software components.

8. The method of claim 1, wherein the invocation is in a hypertext OBJECT tag.

9. The method of claim 1, wherein the invocation is operable to prevent downloading of software from outside a local network.

10. The method of claim 1, wherein the invocation comprises at least one source for the software on the computer network.

11. The method of claim 1, wherein the invocation comprises at least one means for locating the software on the computer network.

12. The method of claim 1, wherein the encountering encounters the invocation in a web page.

13. The method of claim 1, further comprising:

locating the software via a network search path.

14. The method of claim 13, wherein the network search path comprises an ordered sequence of a plurality of network addresses.

15. The method of claim 13, wherein the network search path comprises a location specified in the invocation.

16. The method of claim 13, wherein the network search path is operable to omit a location specified in the invocation.

17. The method of claim 1, wherein the version indication indicates a latest available version of the software.

18. The method of claim 17, wherein the latest available version of the software is indicated via a sentinel value.

19. A method of invoking software, the method comprising:

encountering an invocation of the software, wherein the invocation comprises an identity of the software and a version indication of the software;

responsive to encountering an invocation of software, determining whether there is a version of the software existing on a local device that satisfies the version indication; and

responsive to determining that there is a version of the software existing on the local device that satisfies the version indication, invoking the version of the software existing on the local device that satisfies the version indication.

20. In a computer-readable medium, an invocation of software comprising:

an identity of the software; and

a version indicator for the software;

whereby, when encountered by a local device, the invocation initiates execution of a version of the software according to the version indicator, and, if a version of the software according to the version indicator is not available on the local device, downloading the software to the local device prior to execution.

21. The computer-readable medium of claim 20 wherein the version indicator indicates to obtain a latest version of the software without specifying a particular version.

22. The computer-readable medium of claim 20 wherein the invocation further comprises a location from which the software can be obtained via a network.