FRAMEWORK FOR DEPENDENCY MANAGEMENT AND AUTOMATIC FILE LOAD IN A NETWORK ENVIRONMENT

• US 20150100879A1
• Filed: 10/09/2013
• Published: 04/09/2015
• Est. Priority Date: 10/09/2013
• Status: Active Grant

• Current Assignee: Cisco Technology, Inc. (Cisco Systems, Inc.)
• Original Assignee: Cisco Technology, Inc. (Cisco Systems, Inc.)
• Inventors: Nandagopal, Lokesh Kumar, Eliyot, Deepesh
• Granted Patent: US 9,785,452 B2
• Time in Patent Office: Days
• US Class Current: 715/235
• CPC Class Codes: G06F 16/957 Browsing optimisation, e.g. caching or content distillation
• CPC Class Codes: G06F 9/44521 Dynamic linking or loading; Link editing at or after load time, e.g. Java class loading

Abstract

An example method for facilitating a framework for dependency management and automatic file load in a network environment is provided and includes deriving dependencies and loading methods of JavaScript files and Cascading Style Sheets (CSS) files referenced by an application source code executing at a browser on a client in a network environment, where the dependencies and loading methods are derived according to a map file accessed from a server, and automatically loading the JavaScript files and CSS files according to the dependencies and loading methods. In a specific embodiment, the map file comprises an Extensible Markup Language (XML) configuration file, which is generated by parsing each JavaScript file for the dependencies and the loading methods. In another embodiment, the map file comprises a JavaScript Object Notation (JSON) file, which is generated by parsing each JavaScript file and CSS file for methods and class names, respectively.

Claims

1. A method, comprising:

deriving dependencies and loading methods of JavaScript files and Cascading Style Sheets (CSS) files referenced by an application source code executing at a browser on a client in a network environment according to a map file accessed from a server; and

loading the JavaScript files and CSS files according to the dependencies and loading methods.

2. The method of claim 1, wherein the map file comprises an Extensible Markup Language (XML) configuration file, wherein the XML configuration file is generated by parsing each JavaScript file for the dependencies and the loading methods.

3. The method of claim 1, wherein the map file comprises a JavaScript Object Notation (JSON) file, wherein the JSON file is generated by parsing each JavaScript file and CSS file for methods and class names, respectively.

4. The method of claim 3, further comprising reverse mapping the JSON file at the client to derive the dependencies and loading methods.

5. The method of claim 4, wherein the JSON file specifies substantially all JavaScript files and CSS files to be loaded asynchronously and certain other JavaScript files and CSS files to be loaded directly at initial application load, wherein any JavaScript files and CSS files excluded from asynchronous loading and loading directly at initial application load are specified in a separate exclusion file located at the server.

6. The method of claim 5, wherein substantially all JavaScript files and CSS files that are to be loaded asynchronously are lazily loaded with timestamps.

7. The method of claim 1, wherein deriving the dependencies and loading methods of the CSS files comprises:

parsing the map file, wherein the executing application source code specifies onload of a page in the application;

determining related class names used on the page;

reverse mapping the map file using the class names to determine respective CSS files; and

asynchronously loading the CSS files based on the reverse mapping.

8. The method of claim 1, wherein deriving the dependencies and loading methods of the JavaScript files comprises:

intercepting a JavaScript call in the executing application source code;

checking the JavaScript call for dependency resolution according to the map file, wherein the map file specifies a first set of dependent JavaScript files to be lazily loaded and a second set of dependent JavaScript files to be loaded during initial application load;

lazily loading the first set of dependent JavaScript file; and

loading the second set of dependent JavaScript file during initial application load.

9. The method of claim 1, further comprising lazily loading substantially all dependent JavaScript files if the map file is not found.

10. The method of claim 9, wherein the JavaScript files are lazily loaded according to a dependency tree, wherein the dependency tree is generated at the server by parsing substantially all JavaScript files referenced by the application source code.

11. Non-transitory media encoded in logic that includes instructions for execution that when executed by a processor, is operable to perform operations comprising:

deriving dependencies and loading methods of JavaScript files and CSS files referenced by an application source code executing at a browser on a client in a network environment according to a map file accessed from a server; and

loading the JavaScript files and CSS files according to the dependencies and loading methods.

12. The media of claim 11, wherein the map file comprises an XML configuration file, wherein the XML configuration file is generated by parsing each JavaScript file for the dependencies and the loading methods.

13. The media of claim 11, wherein the map file comprises a JSON file, wherein the JSON file is generated by parsing each JavaScript file and CSS file for methods and class names, respectively.

14. The media of claim 11, wherein deriving the dependencies and loading methods of the JavaScript files comprises:

intercepting a JavaScript call in the executing application source code;

checking the JavaScript call for dependency resolution according to the map file, wherein the map file specifies a first set of dependent JavaScript files to be lazily loaded and a second set of dependent JavaScript files to be loaded during initial application load;

lazily loading the first set of dependent JavaScript file; and

loading the second set of dependent JavaScript file during initial application load.

15. The media of claim 11, wherein the operations further comprise lazily loading substantially all dependent JavaScript files if the map file is not found.

16. An apparatus, comprising:

a memory element for storing data; and

a processor that executes instructions associated with the data, wherein the processor and the memory element cooperate such that the apparatus is configured for;

deriving dependencies and loading methods of JavaScript files and CSS files referenced by an application source code executing at a browser on a client in a network environment according to a map file accessed from a server; and

loading the JavaScript files and CSS files according to the dependencies and loading methods.

17. The apparatus of claim 16, wherein the map file comprises an XML configuration file, wherein the XML configuration file is generated by parsing each JavaScript file for the dependencies and the loading methods.

18. The apparatus of claim 16, wherein the map file comprises a JSON file, wherein the JSON file is generated by parsing each JavaScript file and CSS file for methods and class names, respectively.

19. The apparatus of claim 16, wherein deriving the dependencies and loading methods of the JavaScript files comprises:

intercepting a JavaScript call in the executing application source code;

checking the JavaScript call for dependency resolution according to the map file, wherein the map file specifies a first set of dependent JavaScript files to be lazily loaded and a second set of dependent JavaScript files to be loaded during initial application load;

lazily loading the first set of dependent JavaScript file; and

loading the second set of dependent JavaScript file during initial application load.

20. The apparatus of claim 19, further configured for lazily loading substantially all dependent JavaScript files if the map file is not found.