Mechanism for automatically establishing connections between executable components of a hypertext-based application

• US 6,272,673 B1
• Filed: 11/25/1997
• Issued: 08/07/2001
• Est. Priority Date: 11/25/1997
• Status: Expired due to Term

• Current Assignee: International Business Machines Corporation
• Original Assignee: AlphaBlox Corp. (International Business Machines Corporation)
• Inventors: Dale, Geoffrey W., Swenson, Eric J., Skok, Michael J., Stave, Matthew, Boehm, Jeffrey S., Poonen, Sanjay J.
• Primary Examiner(s): Powell, Mark R.
• Assistant Examiner(s): DAS, CHAMELI
• Application Number:
  US08/978,062
• Time in Patent Office: 1,351 Days
• Field of Search: 395/701, 717/1, 717/2, 717/11
• US Class Current: 717/100
• CPC Class Codes: G06F 8/34 Graphical or visual programming

Abstract

A mechanism for automatically establishing connections between executable components of a hypertext-based application is provided. An application created using the mechanism includes a plurality of hypertext-based pages, at least some of which incorporate executable components. The application is invoked by a hypertext request for a page from a browser running on a client tier. An application server responds to the request by retrieving the requested page and assigning any components incorporated therein to the proper tier for execution. The mechanism provides a single model by which any executable component can be specified by an application developer for execution on any tier on the network or made subject to an automatic, dynamic tier assignment by the application server. Components of a given application can be distributed across, and specified for execution on, three or more different tiers and moved from tier to tier. An application developer can use a conventional hypertext editor to integrate selected components into extended hypertext pages to create an application.

Claims

1. A method of automatically establishing a connection between executable components of a software application, the software application including a plurality of executable components, the method comprising the steps of:

issuing a request from a first component of the plurality of executable components, the request specifying a set of criteria;

identifying a second component of the plurality of executable components which satisfies the set of criteria; and

providing to the first component, asynchronously with the request, information identifying the second component.

2. A method according to claim 1, wherein if the second component is instantiated subsequent to the issuing of the request, the step of providing information identifying the second component to the first component comprises the steps of:

waiting for the second component to be instantiated; and

in response to instantiation of the second component, providing the information identifying the second component to the first component.

3. A method according to claim 1, further comprising the steps of:

unregistering the second component, including removing the second component from a set of registrations; and

in response to unregistering the second component, providing a notice of unregistration to the first component.

4. A method according to claim 1, wherein if more than one of the components satisfies the set of criteria, the method further comprises the step of providing to the first component information identifying each of the plurality of components which satisfies the set of criteria.

5. A method according to claim 1, wherein the software application comprises a set of hypertext-based pages, and wherein each of the components is referenced by at least one of the set of hypertext-based pages.

6. A method according to claim 1, further comprising the steps of:

maintaining a registration of each of the plurality of components in a set of registrations;

wherein the step of identifying the second component comprises the step of using the set of registrations to identify the second component based on the set of criteria.

7. A method according to claim 6, further comprising the step of creating a director object in response to the software application being invoked, the director object for maintaining the set of registrations.

8. A method of enabling a target computer to establish a connection between components of an application, the application including a plurality of executable components, the method comprising the step of transmnitting sequences of instructions from a host computer to the target computer, the sequences of instructions including instructions which, when executed on the target computer, cause the target computer to perform the method recited in claim 1.

9. An apparatus for establishing a connection between executable components of a software application, the software application including a set of hypertext-based pages and a plurality of executable components, wherein each of the executable components is referenced by at least one of the set of hypertext-based pages, the apparatus comprising:

means for issuing a request from a first executable component of the plurality of executable components, the request specifying a set of criteria;

means for identifg a second executable component of the plurality of executable components which satisfies the set of criteria; and

means for providing, asynchronously with the request, information identifying the second executable component to the first executable component.

10. An apparatus according to claim 9, wherein the set of criteria comprises a name of one of the plurality of executable components.

11. An apparatus according to claim 9, wherein the set of criteria comprises a name of an interface.

12. An apparatus according to claim 9, further comprising:

means for waiting for the second component to be instantiated if the second component is instantiated subsequent to the issuing of the request; and

means for providing the information identifying the second component to the first component in response to instantiation of the second component.

13. An apparatus according to claim 9, further comprising:

means for unregistering the second component, including removing the second component from the set of registrations; and

means for providing a notice of unregistration to the first component in response to unregistering the second component.

14. An apparatus according to claim 9, further comprising means for providing to the first component information identifying a plurality of the components which satisfy the set of criteria when more than one of the components satisfies the set of criteria.

15. An apparatus according to claim 9, further comprising:

means for maintaining a registration of each of the plurality of components in a set of registrations; and

means for using the set of registrations to identify the second component based on the set of criteria.

16. An apparatus according to claim 15, further comprising means for instantiating and maintaining director object, the director object for maintaining the set of registrations.

17. A method of automatically establishing a connection between executable components of a software application, the software application including a plurality of executable components, the method comprising the steps of:

issuing a request from a first component of the plurality of executable components, the request specifying a set of criteria;

identifying a subset of the plurality of executable components, the subset including more than one of the plurality of executable components satisfying the set of criteria; and

providing to the first component information identifying each of the components of the subset.

18. A method according to claim 17, wherein the step of providing to the first component information identifying each of the components of the subset comprises the step of providing information identifying at least one of the components to the first component asynchronously with the request.

19. A method according to claim 17, further comprising the steps of:

unregistering a second component of the plurality of components, the second component included within said subset, including removing the second component from the set of registrations; and

in response to unregistering the second component, providing a notice of unregistration to the first component.

20. A method according to claim 17, wherein the software application comprises a set of hypertext-based pages, and wherein each of the components is referenced by at least one of the set of hypertext-based pages.

21. A method according to claim 17, further comprising the steps of:

maintaining a registration of each of the plurality of components in a set of registrations;

wherein the identitying step comprises the step of using the set of registrations to identify said subset.

22. A method according to claim 21, further comprising the step of creating a director object in response to the software application being invoked, the director object for maintaining the set of registrations.

23. A method of enabling a target computer to establish a connection between executable components of a software application, the software application including a plurality of executable components, each of the components for performing a function during execution of the software application, the method comprising the step of transmitting sequences of instructions from a host computer to the target computer, the sequences of instructions including instructions which, when executed on the target computer, cause the target computer to perform the method recited in claim 17.

24. An apparatus for automatically establishing a connection between executable components of a software application, the software application including a set of hypertext-based pages and a plurality of executable components, wherein each of the executable components is referenced by at least one of the set of hypertext-based pages, the apparatus comprising:

means for issuing a request from a first executable component of the plurality of executable components, the request specifying a set of criteria;

means for identifying a subset of the plurality of executable components, the subset including more than one of the plurality of executable components satisfying the set of criteria; and

means for providing to the first executable component information identifying each of the executable components of the subset.

25. An apparatus according to claim 24, wherein the set of criteria comprises a name of one of the plurality of executable components.

26. An apparatus according to claim 24, wherein the set of criteria comprises a name of an interface.

27. An apparatus according to claim 24, wherein the means for providing to the first component information identifying each of the components of the subset comprises means for providing information identifying at least one of the components to the first component asynchronously with the request.

28. An apparatus according to claim 24, further comprising:

means for unregistering a second component of the plurality of components, the second component included within said subset, including removing the second component from the set of registrations; and

means for providing a notice of unregistration to the first component in response to unregistering the second component.

29. An apparatus according to claim 24, further comprising:

means for maintaining a registration of each of the plurality of components in a set of registrations; and

means for using the set of registrations to identify said subset.

30. A apparatus according to claim 28, further comprising means for creating a director object, the director object for maintaining the set of registrations.

31. A mechanism for enabling a software application to be created, the mechanism comprising:

means for enabling an application developer to include a plurality of executable components in the software application without any person having to specify connections between any of the components in code, wherein at least two of the plurality of components require a connection to each other during execution of the software application; and

means for enabling the connections required by the components to be established automatically during execution of the software application without using any program code based connections between the components.

32. A mechanism according to claim 31, wherein the software application includes a set of hypertext-based pages, the mechanism further comprising means for enabling the developer to assign the components to particular pages of the set of hypertext-based pages.

33. A mechanism according to claim 31, wherein the means for enabling the connections required by the components to be established automatically during execution of the software application comprises means for enabling the connections to be established automatically in response to a signal for initiating execution of the software application.

34. A machine-readable program storage device tangibly embodying sequences of instructions, the sequences of instructions executable by a processing system to perform steps for enabling a user to assemble a software application, the steps comprising:

enabling the user to include a plurality of executable components in the software application without any person specifying connections between any of the components in code, wherein at least two of the plurality of components require a connection to each other during execution of the software application, such that the connections required by the components are established automatically during execution of the software application without using any code based connections.

35. A storage device according to claim 34, wherein the software application includes a set of hypertext-based pages, said steps further comprising enabling the user to assign the components to particular pages of the set of hypertext-based pages.

36. A method of assembling a software application, the method comprising the steps of:

displaying a set of identifiers on a display device of a processing system, each identifier corresponding to one of a plurality of executable components of the software application;

receiving first user input specifying at least one selection from the set of identifiers;

receiving second user input and, in response to the second user input;

identifying a subset of the plurality of executable components to be included in the application based on the first user input, the subset including at least one pair of executable components requiring a connection to each other for execution of the application, wherein the application includes no specification of the connection; and

automatically establishing the connection.

37. A method according to claim 36, further comprising the step of causing each of the executable components of the subset to be executed in response to the second user input.

38. A method according to claim 36, wherein the step of establishing the connection comprises:

issuing a request from a first executable component, the request specifying a set of criteria;

identifying a second executable component which satisfies the set of criteria; and

providing, asynchronously with the request, information identifying the second executable component to the first executable component.

39. A method according to claim 36, wherein the step of establishing the connection comprises:

issuing a request from a first executable component, the request specifying a set of criteria;

identifying which of the plurality of executable components satisfy the set of criteria; and

providing to the first executable component information identifying the executable components which satisfy the set of criteria, wherein the executable components which satisfy the set of criteria may include a plurality of executable components.

40. A method of executing a software application, the method comprising the steps of:

displaying a graphical user interface on a display device, the graphical user interface including a set of options;

receiving first user input specifying at least one selection from the set of options;

receiving second user input for executing the software application; and

in response to the second user input;

identifying a plurality of executable components to be included in the software application based on the first user input, wherein at least two of the plurality of executable components require a connection to each other for executing the software application;

assembling the application by establishing any connections required by the plurality of executable components without using a specification of connections between any of the plurality of executable components; and

causing the plurality of executable components to be executed.

41. A method according to claim 40, wherein the step of establishing any connections required by the plurality of executable components comprises:

issuing a request from a first executable component of the plurality of executable components, the request specifying a set of criteria;

identifying a second executable component of the plurality of executable components which satisfies the set of criteria; and

providing, asynchronously with the request, information identifying the second executable component to the first executable component.

42. A method according to claim 40, wherein the step of establishing any connections required by the plurality of executable components comprises:

issuing a request from a first executable component of the plurality of executable components, the request specifying a set of criteria;

identifying a subset of the plurality of executable components which satisfy the set of criteria; and

providing to the first executable component information identifying each of the executable components of the subset, the subset including a plurality of executable components.

43. A computer system comprising:

a processor; and

a storage facility coupled to the processor, the storage facility having stored therein an application and an infrastructure, the application including a plurality of executable components and a set of hypermedia-based pages referencing the executable components, the plurality of executable components including a first executable component, such that when the application is executed,

the first executable component initiates a request for a connection to at least one other of the plurality of executable components by issuing a request specifying a set of criteria for the connection,

the infrastructure maintains registrations of the plurality of executable components,

the infrastructure identifies at least one of the plurality of executable components which satisfies the set of criteria based on the registrations, and

the infrastructure provides to the first executable component, asynchronously with the request, information identifying each of the executable components which satisfy the criteria.

44. A computer system according to claim 43, wherein if none of the plurality of executable components satisfies the set of criteria, the infrastructure waits for instantiation of a second executable component which satisfies the set of criteria and, in response to said instantiation, provides information identifying the second component to the first component.

45. A computer system according to claim 43, wherein the set of criteria comprises a name of one of the plurality of executable components.

46. A computer system according to daim 43, wherein the set of criteria comprises a name of an interface.