Abstract: A method and apparatus for creating a base class and derived classes in an object-oriented computer programming environment that allows an application program to manipulate external data connections in a similar manner. The base class includes sufficient functionality for all external data connections regardless of the protocol of the data transfer mechanism that is utilized for the external data connection such that the specific function calls required from the application to implement each data transfer mechanism is hidden from the application. Thus, the application sees all external data connections as being similar because the application issues function calls only to the base class.

Abstract: A system for sharing an interface between objects is described herein that saves significant mounts of system resources, such as memory, in an object oriented system. The interface shared by the system described herein is an interface containing methods that perform a drag and drop operation. In addition, since one instance of the interface is shared among multiple objects, the system centralizes the processing performed by the methods of the interface. This centralization includes centralizing storage and state information associated with the processing of the methods of the interface, thereby further reducing utilization of system resources. The centralized processing occurs in a system where operations are performed on objects in a distributed manner (i.e., on an object-by-object basis).