SYSTEM AND METHOD FOR NETWORK-BASED COMPUTING
A network-based computing system that automates, simplifies, and optimizes the compilation, deployment, and execution of an application by any type of a client machine connected to a server via any type of a network connection. The system includes a client runtime environment, a server runtime environment and an object-oriented markup-business logic binding mechanism. The client runtime environment manages client side code and screen definitions. The server runtime environment dynamical compiles code to ensure client platform compatibility. The system delivers network applications on demand, by separating them into lightweight modules and delivering these modules.
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This application is a continuation of U.S. application Ser. No. 10/754,782 filed on Jan. 9, 2004 and entitled “System and Method for Network-Based Computing” which is commonly assigned and the contents of which are expressly incorporated herein by reference.
FIELD OF THE INVENTIONThe present invention relates to a system and a method for network-based computing, and more particularly, to network-based computing that provides network applications that can be automatically deployed, compiled, and executed by any type of a client machine connected to a server via any type of a network connection.
BACKGROUND OF THE INVENTIONA typical computing system includes hardware and software components. Hardware components include computing devices such as personal computers (PC), mainframe computers, and computing circuits, among others. The basic architecture of a computing device includes a central processing unit (CPU), which executes instructions, and a memory unit, which stores instructions and data. Instructions and data are transmitted from the memory unit to the CPU and the results of the CPU operations are sent back to the memory unit. Software components are application programs, which contain the set of instructions that are executed by the CPU unit. Application programs include among others, system programming software, drawing software, word processing software, spreadsheet evaluation software, enterprise resource management software, customer relationship management software, data analysis software, customer self-help software, network and storage management software, mathematical and scientific software. A computer programmer develops an application program by first coding a set of instructions in a source file using the grammar rules of a programming language. In the example of
A network-based computing system includes a central server and a plurality of computing devices, i.e., client machines, that are connected with each and to the server via a network. Application programs are stored in the central server and can be deployed to the client machines via the network. Alternatively, application programs can be installed in the client machines via a manual distribution of computer readable media such as CD or floppy disks containing the compiled application code. Network-based computing is used for large enterprises that have multiple computing devices in multiple locations that interact with each other and with the server via a network connection. An application program in the network-based computing system includes a server program that is stored in the server and a client program that is stored in the memory of a client machine. The server program runs on the server and the client program runs on one of the client machines. Large enterprises utilize network-based computing to run enterprise application such as SAP's Enterprise Resource Planning software and custom internal applications. For example, a financial services company may utilize an internal Investment Portfolio Management application to perform stock analysis. When a portfolio manager wants to do a specific stock analysis, he starts the client program for the Investment Portfolio Management application in the client machine. The client machine loads the multi-megabyte client program, and then receives and processes the portfolio manager's requests. The client machine may also send further requests to the server program via the network to gather any necessary data. Next, the client program receives the necessary data, analyzes the data and presents the result in an appropriate format to the portfolio manager.
Processes associated with network-based computing include application development, application deployment, and application execution, among others. Application development refers to the coding, compiling, and debugging of the server and client programs that can be run by the server and the various configurations and operating systems of the client machines, respectively. Application deployment refers to the distribution and installation of the various client programs in the various client machines. Application execution refers to the execution of the compiled server and client programs by the server and the various client machines of the network, respectively.
The main issues with the application development for a network-based computing system involve around client platform and device configuration incompatibilities. Client platform incompatibilities include different operating systems and different hardware. The operating systems may be various versions of Windows, Mainframe, Macintosh, Unix, Linux, and Palm™. The different hardware may be Pocket PCs, desktops, laptops, workstation, phone systems, personal digital assistants (PDA) and smart television sets. Device configuration includes the specific settings that a given application may require, such as the Dynamic Link Library (DLL) version and registry for typical Windows applications. For companies with thousands of users and client machines, client platform and device configuration incompatibilities result in a significant amount of complexity and increased costs for the development of network applications.
The main issues with the application deployment in a network-based system involve around the distribution of the client program to thousands or even hundreds of thousands of client machines and the confirmation that each client machine always contains the most appropriate version of the application. The following approaches are the most commonly used today for handling code distribution and configuration:
a) CD/Floppy disk distribution and manual installation and configuration: Information System (IS) personnel install the compiled client program from a CD or floppy disks directly onto the client computer and manually configure the application for each client computer. This manual process is repeated every time the code is upgraded. Considering that an enterprise can have thousands of desktop computers distributed in many different offices, this approach is very inefficient, time consuming and costly.
b) Manual network download, installation and configuration: This approach enables an end user to download and install the client program into his computer over a Local Area Network (LAN), a Wide Area Network (WAN) or the Internet. However, considering that the client program can be easily tens of mega bytes, downloading such a big file and configuring the application can take each user up to several hours to achieve. Considering an enterprise that has thousands of users, the amount of productivity loss due to this manual downloading process can be significant. Furthermore, in cases where the network connection is slow and has limited bandwidth (i.e., dialup or wireless connection), this is simply not a viable option.
The issue with the client program execution is that the current program execution model requires loading almost the entire program into memory before the user is able to run the application. As was mentioned above, client programs are typically multi-megabyte files and loading such big files into memory creates lengthy delays for users. Further, this execution model creates increasing demands on hardware because it requires faster CPU, bigger memory, more storage, and a faster network, all of which translate into costs and performance issues.
Alternative approaches to this static network-based computing system include the Java™ Applet approach and the Hyper Text Markup Language (HTML) web page approach. In the Java™ Applet approach the client component of a network application is written as a Java™ Applet, and the end users can access this application without the need to install it in advance. However, Java™ Applets have severe technical limitations that restrict its practical use to simple application only. For complex enterprise applications, the Java™ Applet not only performs poorly but also can easily have a footprint in excess of 1 MB, which requires lengthy downloading which in turn effectively prevents users from using it over the Internet or WAN. In addition, Java™ Applets require a Java™ Virtual Machine (JVM™) on the client machine. The JVM™ incompatibilities and lack of JVM™ on some machines both add to the failure of wide adoption of Java™ Applets for enterprise applications.
In the HTML web page approach companies use HTML for publishing simple application screens. In this approach, the entire application is running on the server. Each screen is formatted into an HTML web page and displayed in a web browser. Some simple client-side logic can be added to the HTML page using technologies, such as JavaScript™. However, this approach is limited to applications that require minimal user interactivity and functionality. Network applications using this approach sacrifice many of the features and functionality associated with client-side computing, such as offline computing, drag&drop, multiple windows, spreadsheet behavior, among others. The “click and refresh” user interaction model associated with web browsing is not suitable for network applications because this model not only consumes significant bandwidth by sending and re-sending redundant information, but it also significantly lowers user productivity by keeping users waiting with every mouse click. In this scenario, the client-side business logic is also limited because a scripting language, such as JavaScript™, does not scale well to a large team of developers, unlike the more robust Object-oriented programming (OOP) languages like Java™ and C++. As a result, HTML is used only for simple applications. Important applications are still being written as traditional Client/Server applications using OOP languages.
In summary, the current approaches for network-based computing are costly, inefficient and complicated for developers. In order to use an application, users have to go through a lengthy downloading, configuration and loading process. Whenever a new version of the application is available, users have to go through the same process again. Platform incompatibilities often prevent many users from being able to run the application at all. Companies often have to maintain a significant technical support team to manage and deal with application configuration and management. Desktops need to be constantly upgraded to keep up demands from bigger and bigger client programs. For users that are distributed over a wide area network (WAN) or even the general public Internet, where bandwidth is very limited, the current approaches are simply not viable options. Though there are alternative approaches, like HTML, which can significantly lower the client footprint and reduce the client incompatibility problem, such approaches are not able to deliver the functionality and performance required for most business applications.
Accordingly, there is a need for a network-based computing system that automates, simplifies, and optimizes the compilation, deployment, and execution of an application by any type of a client machine connected to a server via any type of a network connection.
SUMMARY OF THE INVENTIONIn general, in one aspect, the invention features a computer application program including at least one markup document, at least one business logic component associated with and applied directly to the at least one markup document and an object oriented binding mechanism binding the at least one markup document to the at least business logic component and the reverse.
Implementations of this aspect of the invention may include one or more of the following features. A client runtime environment (CRE) may receive and convert the at least one markup document into an object-oriented representation. The object-oriented representation may include one or more markup objects, one or more user interfaces, and one or more data sets. The at least one business logic component may include one or more methods used as event handlers for a markup object event. The object oriented binding mechanism may include invoking the one or more methods by the one or more markup objects by firing a markup object event. The object oriented binding mechanism may further include accessing and modifying the one or more markup objects by the at least one business logic component via an Application Program Interface (API). The API may be a markup object API or a Document Object Model (DOM) API. The one or more markup objects may include a parent markup object and a child markup object and the child markup object may have one or more markup object properties inherited from the parent markup object. The one or more markup object properties may be a user interface definition, a data set definition or an event handler definition. The parent markup object may have one or more user interface definitions, one or more data definitions and one or more event handlers and the child markup object may inherit the one or more user interface definitions, the one or more data definitions and the one or more event handlers from the parent markup object. The one or more markup objects may include a parent markup object and a child markup object and the child markup object may overwrite one or more markup object properties of the parent markup object and replace them with one or more markup object properties of the child markup object. The at least one markup document may be written in a markup language including among others, XML, XUL, SVG, Xforms, XAML, HTML, HTML related languages, text, or combinations thereof. The one or more business logic components may be written in a programming language including among others, Java™, JavaScript™, J#, C#, C+, C++, Visual Basic, ActionScript, XSL, XQuery, or XPath.
In general, in another aspect, the invention features a network application program having one or more modules wherein each module includes at least one markup document, at least one business logic associate with the at least one markup document and an object oriented binding mechanism binding the at least one markup document to the at least business logic component and the reverse.
In general, in another aspect, the invention features a method of binding a markup document with one or more business logic objects including coding the markup document using a markup language, coding the one or more business logic objects using an object oriented programming language and associating the markup document with the one or more business logic objects. Next, constructing an object oriented representation of the markup document thereby generating one or more markup objects. Next, firing one or more markup object events by the object oriented representation thereby invoking the one or more business logic objects for processing the events and finally manipulating the markup objects by the one or more business logic objects. The business logic objects may manipulate the markup objects via a markup object API or a Document Object Model (DOM) API.
Among the advantages of this invention may be one or more of the following. The computing system enables partitioned delivery and execution of a network application from a central server to any client machine connected to the server via a network connection. The network connection may be a low bandwidth network. The client machines may include any type of computing platforms and devices. The network application includes markup documents, business logic components and an object-oriented binding mechanism binding the markup documents to the business logic components and the reverse. The markup documents may be scripted using any type of a markup language including among others, XML, XUL, SVG, Xforms, XML related languages, HTML, HTML related languages, text, and combinations thereof. The business logic components may include source code scripted in any programming language including among others, Java™, JavaScript™, J#, C#, C+, C++, Visual Basic, ActionScript, XSL, XQuery, and XPath. A compiler system converts the source code to any type of executable bytecode. This compiler system configuration provides flexibility in both the programming side of the application and the execution side of the application.
The details of one or more embodiments of the invention are set forth in the accompanying drawings and description below. Other features, objects and advantages of the invention will be apparent from the following description of the preferred embodiments, the drawings and from the claims.
Referring to
Referring to
The client machine 220 includes a client runtime environment (CRE) 224 that runs outside the client web browser 230 and client-side application code 222 (or client-side business logic). In other embodiments the CRE runs inside the client web browser 230. The client side application code 222 includes Extensible Markup Language (XML) documents and procedural code. The client machine 220 is protected by a client side firewall 244 and the web server 219 is protected by a server side firewall 242. The CRE 224 processes markup documents and executes the client-side application code 222. The CRE 224 includes a client cache 226, a communication module 225, a state synchronization and persistency module 228 and other functional modules 227 such as an XML parser, a user interface, storage, security, and an execution engine. The XML Parser is responsible for parsing XML documents that come from the application server 210. The parsing results may be stored in the client cache 226 as part of the application's client side state. The user interface module is responsible for displaying the user interface and interacting with the user according to the application's XML description. The execution engine module is capable of running client side application code 222. The client cache 226 maintains the application's client side state and is updated by the CRE automatically. The synchronization and persistency module 228 is responsible for synchronizing the client cache 226 with the application server 210, and saving and/or retrieving the client cache 226 from persistent storage.
The CRE 224 is centrally managed by the SRE 214. The CRE 224 is automatically downloaded from the application server 210 and installed in the client machine 220 the first time a user access a client application. After the initial installation, the SRE 214 automatically manages the versioning and updating of the CRE 224. Different CREs 224 are used for the different client platforms. For example, different CREs are used for a Java™ Virtual Machine, a NET CLR, or a Flash Player. The executable application code formats of these three client platforms are: Java™ bytecode, .NET CLR bytecode and Flash bytecode, respectively. The application code 222 is delivered in three different executable code formats for these three client platforms, accordingly.
Referring to
The server compiler 216 includes a plurality of specific universal compilers including among others, a universal Java™ Bytecode compiler 312, a universal .NET CLR (Common Language Runtime) compiler 314, a universal JavaScript™ compiler 316, a universal Flash SWF compiler 318, and a universal XML compiler 320. The server compiler 216 also includes a server compiler control logic 310 that detects the type of the client platform, invokes compiling and caching of a client platform appropriate executable code and delivers the appropriate executable code to the corresponding client platform. When the server compiler 216 receives a request from a certain client machine, the control logic 310 first characterizes the client machine to see which executable format is supported by this client machine. If a compiled executable code of the supported format is available in the server cache 218 and the source file has not changed since last compilation, the server compiler control logic 310 sends the cached executable code to the client machine directly. If the source file has been changed since the last compilation, the control logic 310 prompts the server compiler 216 to retrieve the source file, compile the source file into the appropriate executable code, cache the executable code in the server cache 218 and send the executable code to the client machine.
Each universal compiler receives an input file written in any programming language, such as Java™, C#, JavaScript™, C+, C++, Visual Basic, and delivers an output file in one executable format specific to a certain client platform. The input files 302, 304, 306 and the output files 332, 334, 336, 340 may also include markup documents written in XML.
Referring to the example of
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The compiled bytecode files 332, 334, 336, 340 may be stored in the server cache 218, shown in
This invention utilizes object-oriented programming methodology to develop object-oriented application programs. Object-oriented application programs typically model a problem using an “object model” that defines classes of objects representing elements of the problem. A class of objects is defined in terms of the relationship of the class to other classes, the data and properties (or attributes) associated with objects in the class, and the operations (or tasks) that can be performed on objects in the class. During execution of an object-oriented application program, instances of the classes in the object model, referred to as “objects,” are produced and manipulated. Computation on these “objects” is performed by calling on “methods” defined in business logic components associated with these “objects”. For example, in an accounting management program, the various accounts are defined as the program objects. Each object, i.e., account, has attributes including account name, account number, amount deposited in the account, among others. Tasks associated with these account objects may be “get account number”, “set account name”, “set account amount”, among others. Objects interact with each other and with the business logic code via events or messages. An object may fire an event (or send a message) in order to modify its own properties, or state. Events are received and processed by the subprograms or business logic components associated with these objects. Object-oriented programming languages are well known in the art and are described in “Programming languages” Chapter 11, p 435-483, edited by Robert W. Sebesta.
Referring to
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In the business component to markup objects binding 530, business logic components 540 can access and modify the markup objects 510 via a markup object Application Program Interface (API), or a Document Object Model (DOM) API, 531. In one embodiment, the CRE 224 parses and stores the markup document 550 into a DOM, and exposes this DOM as a set of API that can be invoked by business logic components 540. Business logic components 540 invoke this DOM API to programmatically manipulate the markup document 550 stored in the DOM. This feedback mechanism via the markup object API 531 may be “a form validation” process or an internal calculation that will result in modifying the markup objects 510. In an example of a “form validation” process the user enters in the UI a phone number that has three digits. The business logic component recognizes that a three digit phone number is not valid, rejects the input, displays an error in the UI and requests a valid phone number.
This two-way binding mechanism 500 enables the clear separation of business logic, presentation and data. The HTML and JavaScript™ interaction models in web browsers share a similar architecture. However, the present invention differs from these prior art models because it allows for object-oriented binding. The markup documents are converted into object oriented representations (markup objects) and the business logic components become program objects as well. The object-oriented binding is then a binding between these objects, i.e., the markup objects and the program objects. In the prior art example, the business logic is written as scripts, which are not object oriented, and the binding is a binding between program methods to HTML objects. This object-oriented binding of this invention allows for the development of complex applications and provides programming language and execution format independence. In other words, the business logic code may be written in any programming language including Java™, JavaScript™, C#, J#, VB, and C+, and the markup documents may be written in any markup language including XML, text, and HTML, among others. If the programming language is not object oriented, the source code can be compiled by the universal compiler into an object oriented executable code. Several XML specifications may be used including XUL (XML User Interface Language), SVG (Scalable Vector Graphics) and XForms. The combination of these XML languages creates a rich environment that supports all functionalities of all network applications including typical Windows graphical user interface, forms, 2D graphics and animation.
A code example 600 of the markup-business logic binding mechanism 500 is shown in
Application programs are typically multi-megabyte files. Loading such big files into memory creates lengthy delays for users and places great demands on the hardware components because it requires faster CPU, bigger memory, more storage, and a faster network, all of which translate into costs and performance issues. The present invention solves these problems by separating the application code into small independent modules each of which can be downloaded and executed independently. Referring to
Referring to
Once the appropriate modules are brought in the active memory of the client machine the user interacts directly with the application through client events. Client events include among others, entering text in a screen field, moving the mouse over text or a screen button, clicking the mouse, highlighting a button in the screen, drag & drop, a window is hidden, and new data is available.
Other embodiments are within the scope of the following claims. For example, instead of downloading one module at a time, the server may package a group of modules together, or all modules together into one deployment module and downloads this deployment module to the client machine. This is particularly useful for the purpose of offline computing where all required offline computing functionality and data can be packaged into one deployment module and downloaded to the client machine at once. After such downloading, the deployment module can run on the client machine without any connectivity until further modules or data are required.
Several embodiments of the present invention have been described. Nevertheless, it will be understood that various modifications may be made without departing from the spirit and scope of the invention. Accordingly, other embodiments are within the scope of the following claims.
Claims
1. A computer application program stored in a computer comprising:
- at least one markup document;
- at least one business logic component associated with and applied directly to said at least one markup document; and
- an object oriented binding mechanism binding said at least one markup document to said at least business logic component.
2. The computer application program of claim 1 wherein a client runtime environment (CRE) receives and converts said at least one markup document into an object-oriented representation comprising one or more markup objects, one or more user interfaces, and one or more data sets.
3. The computer application program of claim 2 wherein said at least one business logic component comprises one or more methods used as event handlers for a markup object event.
4. The computer application program of claim 3 wherein said object oriented binding mechanism comprises invoking said one or more methods by said one or more markup objects by firing a markup object event.
5. The computer application program of claim 4 wherein said object oriented binding mechanism further comprises accessing and modifying said one or more markup objects by said at least one business logic component via an Application Program Interface(API) and wherein said API comprises one of a markup object API or a Document Object Model (DOM) API.
6. The computer application program of claim 5 wherein said one or more markup objects comprise a parent markup object and a child markup object and wherein said child markup object comprises one or more markup object properties inherited from said parent markup object and wherein said one or more markup object properties comprise one of a user interface definition, a data set definition or an event handler definition.
7. The computer application program of claim 6 wherein said parent markup object comprises one or more user interface definitions, one or more data definitions and one or more event handlers and wherein said child markup object inherits said one or more user interface definitions, said one or more data definitions and said one or more event handlers from said parent markup object.
8. The computer application program of claim 7 wherein said one or more markup objects comprise a parent markup object and a child markup object and wherein said child markup object overwrites one or more markup object properties of said parent markup object and replaces them with one or more markup object properties of said child markup object.
9. The computer application program of claim 1 wherein said at least one markup document is written in a markup language comprising one of XML, XUL, SVG, Xforms™, XAML, HTML, XHTML™, HTML related markup languages, text, or combinations thereof.
10. The computer application program of claim 1 wherein said at least one business logic component is written in a programming language comprising one of Java™, JavaScript™, J#, C#, C+, C++, Visual Basic™, ActionScript, XSL, XQuery, or XPath™.
11. A method for developing a computer application program comprising:
- providing at least one markup document;
- providing at least one business logic component associated with and applied directly to said at least one markup document;
- providing an object oriented binding mechanism binding said at least one markup document to said at least business logic component; and
- storing said computer application into computer memory.
12. The method of claim 11 further comprising receiving and converting said at least one markup document into an object-oriented representation by a client runtime environment (CRE), wherein said object-oriented representation comprises one or more markup objects, one or more user interfaces, and one or more data sets.
13. The method of claim 12 wherein said at least one business logic component comprises one or more methods used as event handlers for a markup object event.
14. The method of claim 13 wherein said object oriented binding mechanism comprises invoking said one or more methods by said one or more markup objects by firing a markup object event.
15. The method of claim 14 wherein said object oriented binding mechanism further comprises accessing and modifying said one or more markup objects by said at least one business logic component via an Application Program Interface(API), wherein said API comprises one of a markup object API or a Document Object Model (DOM) API.
16. The method of claim 15 wherein said one or more markup objects comprise a parent markup object and a child markup object and wherein said child markup object comprises one or more markup object properties inherited from said parent markup object, and wherein said one or more markup object properties comprise one of a user interface definition, a data set definition or an event handler definition.
17. The method of claim 16 wherein said parent markup object comprises one or more user interface definitions, one or more data definitions and one or more event handlers and wherein said child markup object inherits said one or more user interface definitions, said one or more data definitions and said one or more event handlers from said parent markup object.
18. The method of claim 17 wherein said one or more markup objects comprise a parent markup object and a child markup object and wherein said child markup object overwrites one or more markup object properties of said parent markup object and replaces them with one or more markup object properties of said child markup object.
19. The method of claim 11 wherein said at least one markup document is written in a markup language comprising one of XML, XUL, SVG, Xforms™, XAML, HTML, XHTML™, HTML related languages, text, or combinations thereof.
20. The method of claim 11 wherein said at least one business logic component is written in a programming language comprising one of Java™, JavaScript™, J#, C#, C+, C++, Visual Basic™, ActionScript, XSL, XQuery, or XPath™.
21. A network application program stored in a server memory comprising one or more modules wherein each module comprises at least one markup document, at least one business logic associate with and applied directly to said at least one markup document and an object oriented binding mechanism binding said at least one markup document to said at least business logic component.
22. The network application program of claim 21 wherein said network application program is deployed in a network computing system by first separating said network application into said one or more modules and then downloading separately each of said one or more modules to one or more client machines.
23. The network application program of claim 22 wherein each of said client machines comprises a client runtime environment (CRE) and said CRE further comprises a storage for caching said downloaded one or more modules.
24. The network application program of claim 23 wherein said CRE executes said downloaded one or more modules independently of each other.
25. The network application program of claim 24 wherein said CRE executes said downloaded one or more modules offline.
26. The network application program of claim 25 wherein said server further comprises a compiler system receiving a plurality of input files, and converting any of said plurality of input files into a plurality of output files, respectively, wherein said plurality of input files comprise said network application written in a plurality of different programming languages, respectively, and said plurality of output files comprise a plurality of corresponding executable codes of said network application, respectively.
27. The network application program of claim 26 wherein each of said one or more client machines comprise an execution engine receiving one of said output files and executing said corresponding executable code.
28. The network application program of claim 27 wherein said server is connected to said one or more client machines via a low bandwidth network connection.
Type: Application
Filed: Sep 12, 2008
Publication Date: Jan 1, 2009
Applicant: NEXAWEB TECHNOLOGIES, INC. (Burlington, MA)
Inventor: COACH K. WEI (BOSTON, MA)
Application Number: 12/209,826
International Classification: G06F 9/54 (20060101);