System and method of mapping between software objects & structured language element-based documents

A computer-implemented method for converting structured language elements of a document to a data structure representing a software object, the method comprising:

• (a) reading each of the structured language elements of the document;
• (b) determining a property, selected from a set of available properties defined by the data structure of the software object, associated with structured language elements of the document;
• and
• (c) populating the properties of the data structure representing the software object with structured language element values from the document.

A system for converting a software object (116) containing properties to a document (118) defined by structured language elements, the system comprising:

• (a) a document template (112);
• (b) a handler interface (114-1)for providing a representation of the structured language elements of the document (118) based on call backs made by the document template (112);
• (c) a mapping module(114-2, 114-3), in communication with the handler interface (114-1), for converting properties of the software objects (116) to structured language elements recognized by the document (118);
• and
• (d) an output target class (114-4), in communication with the mapping module (114-2, 114-3), for writing the structured language elements generated in step (c) to the document (118).

A system for converting a document (108) containing structured language elements to a software object (110), the system comprising:

• (a) a parser (104) for obtaining events representative of features of the document (108);
• (b) an input source class (106-1) for reading the document (108);
• (c) a content handler class (106-2), in communication with the input source class (106-1), for implementing a buffer for the events obtained by the parser (104);
• and
• (d) a mapping module (106-3, 106-4), in communication with the content handler class (106-2), for converting the events obtained by the parser (104) to properties for the software object (110).

A method of converting a software object having properties to a document represented by structured language elements, the method comprising:

• (a) supplying the software object to an instance of an invoked mapping interface;
• (b) compiling and executing a template using an instance of an invoked container;
• and
• (c) writing the document to a specified output stream using the compiled template.

A method of converting a document containing structured language elements to a software object, the method comprising:

• (a) supplying the document to an instance of an invoked mapping interface;
• (b) registering the mapping interface as a content handler;
• (c) parsing the document using an instance of an invoked parser;
• and
• (d) populating the software object with properties associated with structured language elements parsed from the document through call backs made to the mapping interface.

A computer program product for converting a data structure representing a software object to structured language elements of a document, the computer program product comprising computer readable program code devices for:

• (a) generating a structured language element template document;
• (b) reading properties from the software object, the properties being associated with the structured language elements of the document;
• (c) using the properties, obtaining constructs defined by the structured language elements based on the association between the properties and the structured language elements;
• and
• (d) populating the structured language element template document with the constructs.

A computer program product for converting structured language elements of a document to a data structure representing a software object, the computer program product comprising computer readable program code devices for:

• (a) reading each of the structured language elements of the document;
• (b) determining a property, selected from a set of available properties defined by the data structure of the software object, associated with structured language elements of the document;
• and
• (c) populating the properties of the data structure representing the software object with structured language element values from the document.