Data socket system and method for accessing data sources using URLs

• US 6,370,569 B1
• Filed: 11/03/1998
• Issued: 04/09/2002
• Est. Priority Date: 11/14/1997
• Status: Expired due to Term

• Current Assignee: National Instruments Corporation (Emerson Electric Company)
• Original Assignee: National Instruments Corporation (Emerson Electric Company)
• Inventors: Austin, Paul F.
• Primary Examiner(s): Lim, Krisna
• Application Number:
  US09/185,161
• Time in Patent Office: 1,253 Days
• Field of Search: 709/217, 709/218, 709/219
• US Class Current: 709/217
• CPC Class Codes: H04L 61/30 Managing network names, e.g. use of aliases or nicknames name-to-address mapping H04L61/45
• CPC Class Codes: H04L 69/16 Implementation or adaptation of Internet protocol [IP], of transmission control protocol [TCP] or of user datagram protocol [UDP]
• CPC Class Codes: H04L 69/162 involving adaptations of sockets based mechanisms secure socket layer H04L63/168
• CPC Class Codes: H04L 69/329 in the application layer [OSI layer 7]
• CPC Class Codes: H04L 9/40 Network security protocols

Abstract

A Data Socket client and associated applications and/or tools which provide programs with access to data from various sources and having various types or formats, wherein the access is provided invisibly to the user. The Data Socket client allows the user or program to access any data source available on the user'"'"'s machine as well as data anywhere on a network, such as a LAN, WAN or the Internet. In the preferred embodiment, the Data Socket client addresses data sources or I/O sources using a URL (uniform resource locator), much the way that a URL is used to address web pages anywhere in the world. The present invention also includes new Data Socket URLs which allow the user to access I/O sources.

Claims

1. A computer-implemented method for accessing data from a data source in a computer system, comprising:

including a software component in an application during development of the application, wherein the software component is operable to access data from a plurality of different data sources;

executing the application;

receiving a uniform resource locator (URL) which specifies the data source, wherein the URL is received in response to user input;

the software component connecting to the data source and receiving the data comprised in the data source using the URL; and

the software component converting the data into a format useable by the application after the software component connects to the data source and receives the data.

2. The method of claim 1, further comprising:

the application receiving and processing the data after said converting.

3. The method of claim 2, further comprising:

the software component notifying the application that the data has been obtained after the software component connecting to the data source and receiving the data;

wherein the application receives and processes the data after said notifying.

4. The method of claim 2, further comprising:

the software component generating an event to the application indicating that data is present after said converting; and

wherein the application receives and processes the data in response to the event.

5. The method of claim 2, wherein the software component connecting to the data source, the software component receiving the data, the software component converting the data, and the application receiving and processing the data are performed a plurality of times.

6. The method of claim 5, wherein the data is a continuous stream of data, wherein the software component returns the continuous stream of data to the application.

7. The method of claim 1,

wherein the software component connecting to the data source, the software component receiving the data, and the software component converting the data are performed without any user programming required.

8. The method of claim 1, wherein the format is a self-describing format.

9. The method of claim 1, wherein said converting comprises converting the data into a generic format.

10. The method of claim 1, wherein said converting comprises:

converting the data into a first format, wherein the first format includes the data and one or more attributes of the data.

11. The method of claim 10, wherein the data is measurement data, wherein the one or more attributes of the data include one or more of:

a timestamp, acquisition rate, quality of data, test operator name, and a unit under test (UUT) identifier.

12. The method of claim 1, wherein said converting includes converting the data into an array of numbers.

13. The method of claim 1,

wherein the data comprises waveform data;

wherein said converting includes converting the data into an array of numbers.

14. The method of claim 1,

wherein the data located at the data source comprises spreadsheet data in a tab delimited format;

wherein said converting comprises converting the spreadsheet data in the tab delimited format into a 2 dimensional array of numbers;

wherein the application is not required to parse the 2D array of numbers.

15. The method of claim 1, wherein the software component connecting to the data source includes extracting an access method from the URL, wherein the software component uses the access method to connect to the data source and receive the data.

16. The method of claim 15, wherein the access method is one from the group comprising:

http, ftp, file, or dstp.

17. The method of claim 15, wherein the data is comprised in a file, wherein the access method is http or ftp, wherein the software component connecting to the data source and receiving the data includes:

determining a file type of the file, where the file type is determined from one or more of a mime type, URL path suffix, or stream contents.

18. The method of claim 15, wherein the data is comprised in a file, wherein the access method is file, wherein the software component connecting to the data source and receiving the data includes:

determining a file type of the file, where the file type is determined from one or more of a file suffix or file contents.

19. The method of claim 1, wherein the data is comprised in a file, wherein the software component connecting to the data source and receiving the data includes:

determining a file type of the file, wherein the file has a first file type;

determining if the software component includes built-in support for the first file type;

converting the data into a pre-defined data format if the software component includes built-in support for the first file type.

20. The method of claim 19, wherein the software component connecting to the data source and receiving the data further includes:

determining if a file adapter is registered for the first file type if the software component does not include built-in support for the first file type; and

the software component using the file adapter to connect to the data source.

21. The method of claim 20, further comprising:

creating the file adapter in response to user input prior to executing the application, wherein the file adapter is adapted to connect to files of the first file type.

22. The method of claim 1, wherein the data is comprised in a file, wherein the software component connecting to the data source and receiving the data includes:

determining a file type of the file;

determining if the software component can understand the file type;

the software component notifying the application that the data cannot be obtained if the software component cannot understand the file type.

23. The method of claim 1, wherein the data is comprised in a file, wherein the file has a file type;

wherein the software component is adapted to use one or more user-created file adapter components for accessing files of one or more file types.

24. The method of claim 1, wherein the software component comprises a data socket client.

25. The method of claim 24, wherein the data source comprises a data socket server;

wherein the data socket client connecting to the data source comprises the data socket client connecting to the data socket server;

wherein the data socket client receives data from the data socket server.

26. The method of claim 25, wherein the data socket client connecting to the data source and receiving the data comprises the data socket server providing data to the data socket client.

27. The method of claim 25, further comprising:

a second data socket client writing the data to the data socket server.

28. The method of claim 25, wherein the URL includes a tag which identifies a storage location in the data socket server;

wherein connecting to the data socket server includes the data socket client subscribing to the tag;

wherein the data socket client receives data comprised in the storage location of the data socket server.

29. The method of claim 1, wherein the software component connecting to the data source includes extracting an access method, a host name and a path from the URL, wherein the software component uses the access method, the host name, and the path to connect to the data source and receive the data.

30. The method of claim 1, wherein the data source comprises a data server;

the method further comprising;

a plurality of software components connecting to the data server using the URL; and

the data server providing data to each of the plurality of software components.

31. The method of claim 1, comprising:

receiving a first uniform resource locator (URL) which specifies a first data source, wherein the first URL is received in response to user input;

the software component connecting to the first data source and receiving first data comprised in the first data source using the first URL;

receiving a second uniform resource locator (URL) which specifies a second data source, wherein the second URL is received in response to user input;

the software component connecting to the second data source and receiving second data comprised in the second data source using the second URL.

32. The method of claim 1, wherein said receiving the URL is performed prior to said executing the application.

33. The method of claim 1, wherein said receiving the URL is performed after said executing the application.

34. The method of claim 1, wherein the software component comprises a re-useable software component.

35. The method of claim 1, wherein the software component is an ActiveX control.

36. The method of claim 1, wherein the software component is a graphical program node;

and

wherein the application is a graphical program.

37. The method of claim 1, further comprising:

the software component monitoring a status of the connection to the data source; and

the software component notifying the application when the status of the connection changes.

38. The method of claim 1,

wherein the data source is a data server;

wherein the software component connecting to the data source and receiving the data comprised in the data source using the URL includes the data server providing data to the software component.

39. The method of claim 1, further comprising:

the software component receiving an indication that new data is present at the data source;

wherein the software component connects to the data source and receives the new data in response to the software component receiving the indication that the new data is present at the data source.

40. The method of claim 1,

wherein the application is a measurement application;

and

wherein the data is measurement data.

41. A computer-implemented method for accessing data from a data source in a computer system, comprising:

including a data socket client in an application during development of the application, wherein the data socket client is operable to access data from a plurality of different data sources;

executing the application;

receiving a uniform resource locator (URL) which specifies the data source, wherein the URL is received in response to user input;

the data socket client connecting to the data source and receiving the data comprised in the data source using the URL; and

the data socket client converting the data into a format useable by the application after the data socket client connects to the data source and receives the data.

42. The method of claim 41, wherein said converting comprises:

converting the data into a first format, wherein the first format includes the data and one or more attributes of the data.

43. The method of claim 41, further comprising:

the software component notifying the application that the data has been obtained after the software component connecting to the data source and receiving the data; and

the application receiving and processing the data after said converting.

44. The method of claim 43, wherein the software component connecting to the data source, the software component receiving the data, the software component converting the data, and the application receiving and processing the data are performed a plurality of times.

45. The method of claim 41,

wherein the software component connecting to the data source, the software component receiving the data, and the software component converting the data are performed without any user programming required.

46. The method of claim 41, wherein the format is a self-describing format.

47. The method of claim 41, wherein said converting comprises converting the data into a generic format.

48. A computer-implemented method for publishing data to a data target in a computer system, comprising:

including a software component in an application during development of the application, wherein the software component is operable to publish data to a plurality of different data targets;

executing the application;

receiving a uniform resource locator (URL) which specifies the data target, wherein the URL is received in response to user input;

the software component receiving data from the application;

the software component converting the data into a format useable by the data target; and

the software component connecting to the data target using the URL and publishing the data to the data target.

49. The method of claim 48, wherein the software component is a graphical program node;

and

wherein the application is a graphical program.

50. The method of claim 48, further comprising:

the software component monitoring a status of the connection to the data target; and

the software component notifying the application when the status of the connection changes.

51. The method of claim 48, wherein the software component receiving data from the application, the software component converting the data into a format useable by the data target, and the software component connecting to the data target using the URL and publishing the data to the data target are performed a plurality of times.

52. The method of claim 51, wherein the data is a continuous stream of data, wherein the software component publishes the continuous stream of data to the data target.

53. The method of claim 48,

wherein the software component receiving data from the application, the software component converting the data into a format useable by the data target, and the software component connecting to the data target using the URL and publishing the data to the data target are performed without any user programming required.

54. The method of claim 48, wherein the format is a self-describing format.

55. The method of claim 48, wherein said converting comprises converting the data into a generic format.

56. The method of claim 48, wherein said converting comprises:

converting the data into a first format, wherein the first format includes the data and one or more attributes of the data.

57. The method of claim 56, wherein the data is measurement data, wherein the one or more attributes of the data include one or more of:

a timestamp, acquisition rate, quality of data, test operator name, and a unit under test (UUT) identifier.

58. The method of claim 48, wherein said converting includes converting the data into an array of numbers.

59. The method of claim 48,

wherein the data comprises waveform data;

wherein said converting includes converting the data into an array of numbers.

60. The method of claim 48,

wherein the data target comprises a spreadsheet which is designed to receive spreadsheet data in a tab delimited format;

wherein said converting comprises converting the data into a tab delimited format;

wherein the spreadsheet is not required to parse the tab delimited format of the data.

61. The method of claim 48, wherein the software component connecting to the data target includes extracting an access method from the URL, wherein the software component uses the access method to connect to the data target and publish the data.

62. The method of claim 48, wherein the software component comprises a data socket client.

63. The method of claim 62, wherein the data target comprises a data socket server;

wherein the data socket client connecting to the data target comprises the data socket client connecting to the data socket server;

wherein the data socket client publishes data to the data socket server.

64. The method of claim 63, further comprising:

a second data socket client receiving the data from the data socket server.

65. The method of claim 48, wherein said receiving the URL is performed prior to said executing the application.

66. The method of claim 48, wherein the software component is an ActiveX control.

67. A memory medium comprising program instructions for accessing data from a data source in a computer system, wherein the memory medium stores:

a software component operable to be included in an application during development of the application, wherein the software component is operable to access data from a plurality of different data sources;

wherein the software component is operable to receive a uniform resource locator (URL) which specifies the data source, wherein the URL is received in response to user input;

wherein the software component is operable to connect to the data source and receive the data comprised in the data source using the URL; and

wherein the software component is operable to convert the data into a format useable by the application after the software component connects to the data source and receives the data.

68. The memory medium of claim 67,

wherein the software component is operable to monitor a status of the connection to the data source; and

wherein the software component is operable to notify the application when the status of the connection changes.

69. The memory medium of claim 67,

wherein the software component is operable to receive an indication that new data is present at the data source;

wherein the software component is operable to connect to the data source and receive the new data in response to the software component receiving the indication that the new data is present at the data source.

70. The memory medium of claim 67,

wherein the application is a measurement application;

and

wherein the data is measurement data.

71. The memory medium of claim 67,

wherein the memory medium further stores an application program;

wherein the application program is operable to receive and process the data from the software component after the software component converts the data into a format useable by the application program.

72. The memory medium of claim 71,

wherein the software component is operable to notify the application program that the data has been obtained after the software component connects to the data source and receives the data;

wherein the application program receives and processes the data after notification.

73. The memory medium of claim 71, further comprising:

wherein the software component is operable to generate an event to the application indicating that data is present after the software component converts the data into a format useable by the application program; and

wherein the application program is operable to receive and process the data in response to the event.

74. The memory medium of claim 71, wherein the software component is operable to connect to the data source, receive the data, and convert the data a plurality of times.

75. The memory medium of claim 74, wherein the data is a continuous stream of data, wherein the software component is operable to return the continuous stream of data to the application program.

76. The memory medium of claim 67,

wherein the software component is operable to connect to the data source, receive the data, and convert the data without any user programming required.

77. The memory medium of claim 67, wherein the format is a self-describing format.

78. The memory medium of claim 67, wherein the software component is operable to convert the data into a generic format.

79. The memory medium of claim 67,

wherein the software component is operable to convert the data into a first format, wherein the first format includes the data and one or more attributes of the data.

81. The memory medium of claim 67, wherein the software component is operable to convert the data into an array of numbers.

82. The memory medium of claim 67,

wherein the data located at the data source comprises spreadsheet data in a tab delimited format;

wherein the software component is operable to convert the spreadsheet data in the tab delimited format into a 2 dimensional array of numbers;

wherein the application is not required to parse the 2D array of numbers.

83. The memory medium of claim 67, wherein, in connecting to the data source, the software component is operable to extract an access method from the URL, wherein the software component uses the access method to connect to the data source and receive the data.

84. The memory medium of claim 83, wherein the data is comprised in a file, wherein the access method is http or ftp, wherein, in connecting to the data source and receiving the data, the software component is operable to determine a file type of the file, where the file type is determined from one or more of a mime type, URL path suffix, or stream contents.

85. The memory medium of claim 83, wherein the data is comprised in a file, wherein the access method is file, wherein, in connecting to the data source and receiving the data, the software component is operable to determine a file type of the file, where the file type is determined from one or more of a file suffix or file contents.

86. The memory medium of claim 67, wherein the data is comprised in a file, wherein, in connecting to the data source and receiving the data, the software component is operable to:

determine a file type of the file, wherein the file has a first file type;

determine if the software component includes built-in support for the first file type;

convert the data into a pre-defined data format if the software component includes built-in support for the first file type.

87. The memory medium of claim 86,

wherein the memory medium further stores a file adapter, wherein the file adapter is adapted to connect to files of the first file type;

wherein, in connecting to the data source and receiving the data, the software component is operable to;

determine if a file adapter is registered for the first file type if the software component does not include built-in support for the first file type; and

wherein the software component is operable to use the file adapter to connect to the data source.

88. The memory medium of claim 67, wherein the software component comprises a data socket client.

89. The memory medium of claim 88, wherein the data source comprises a data socket server;

wherein the data socket client is operable to connect to the data socket server;

wherein the data socket client receives data from the data socket server.

90. The memory medium of claim 67,

wherein the software component is operable to connect to the data source and receive the data comprised in the data source during execution of the application.

91. The memory medium of claim 67, wherein the software component comprises a re-useable software component.

92. The memory medium of claim 67, wherein the software component is an ActiveX control.

93. The memory medium of claim 67, wherein the software component is a graphical program node;

and

wherein the application is a graphical program.

80. The memory medium of claim 80, wherein the data is measurement data, wherein the one or more attributes of the data include one or more of:

a timestamp, acquisition rate, quality of data, test operator name, and a unit under test (UUT) identifier.

94. A memory medium comprising program instructions for accessing data from a data source in a computer system, wherein the memory medium stores:

a data socket client operable to be included in an application during development of the application, wherein the data socket client is operable to access data from a plurality of different data sources;

wherein the data socket client is operable to receive a uniform resource locator (URL) which specifies the data source, wherein the URL is received in response to user input;

wherein the data socket client is operable to connect to the data source and receive the data comprised in the data source using the URL; and

wherein the data socket client is operable to convert the data into a format useable by the application after the data socket client connects to the data source and receives the data.

95. A memory medium comprising program instructions for publishing data to a data target in a computer system, wherein the memory medium stores:

a software component operable to be included in an application during development of the application, wherein the software component is operable to publish data to a plurality of different data targets;

wherein the software component is operable to receive a uniform resource locator (URL) which specifies the data target, wherein the URL is received in response to user input;

wherein the software component is operable to receive data from the application;

wherein the software component is operable to convert the data into a format useable by the data target; and

wherein the software component is operable to connect to the data target using the URL and publish the data to the data target.

96. The memory medium of claim 95, wherein the software component comprises a data socket client.

97. The memory medium of claim 96, wherein the data target comprises a data socket server;

wherein the data socket client is operable to connect to the data socket server;

wherein the data socket client is operable to publish data to the data socket server.

98. The memory medium of claim 95, wherein the software component is an ActiveX control.

99. The memory medium of claim 95, wherein the software component is a graphical program node;

and

wherein the application is a graphical program.

100. The memory medium of claim 95,

wherein the software component is operable to monitor a status of the connection to the data target;

and

wherein the software component is operable to notify the application when the status of the connection changes.

101. The memory medium of claim 95, wherein the software component is operable to receive data from the application, convert the data into a format useable by the data target, connect to the data target using the URL and publish the data to the data target a plurality of times.

102. The memory medium of claim 101, wherein the data is a continuous stream of data, wherein the software component publishes the continuous stream of data to the data target.

103. The memory medium of claim 95,

wherein the software component is operable to receive data from the application, convert the data into a format useable by the data target, connect to the data target using the URL and publish the data to the data target without any user programming required.

104. The memory medium of claim 95, wherein the format is a self-describing format.

105. The memory medium of claim 95, wherein the software component is operable to convert the data into a generic format.

106. The memory medium of claim 95,

wherein the software component is operable to convert the data into a first format, wherein the first format includes the data and one or more attributes of the data.

107. The memory medium of claim 106, wherein the data is measurement data, wherein the one or more attributes of the data include one or more of:

a timestamp, acquisition rate, quality of data, test operator name, and a unit under test (UUT) identifier.

108. The memory medium of claim 95, wherein the software component is operable to convert the data into an array of numbers.

109. The memory medium of claim 95,

wherein the data target comprises a spreadsheet which is designed to receive spreadsheet data in a tab delimited format;

wherein the software component is operable to convert the data into a tab delimited format;

wherein the spreadsheet is not required to parse the tab delimited format of the data.

110. The memory medium of claim 95, wherein, in connecting to the data target, the software component is operable to extract an access method from the URL, wherein the software component uses the access method to connect to the data target and publish the data.