Interactive web application editor

A non-transitory computer-readable storage medium storing instructions for interactive editing of one or more UI components of one or more running instances of a web application which, when executed by a set of one or more processors of one or more servers, cause the one or more servers to performing operations comprising:

• establishing an editing session between a plurality of end stations corresponding to running instances of a web application on the plurality of end stations,
• wherein each of the plurality of end stations participating in the editing session operates as a sender, a receiver, or a combination thereof,
• wherein a user interface (UI) of the web application is dynamically generated at runtime for running instances of the web application on the plurality of end stations using a respective UI definition file corresponding to each of the plurality of end stations that stores an externalized, parameterized representation of the web application without application code and that fully defines the web application including its structure, behavior, and appearance, and includes a set of one or more UI components that are UI building blocks to be presented within the web application, and
• wherein the respective UI definition file corresponding to each of the plurality of end stations is configured for dynamic generation of application code representing the set of one or more UI components comprising at least one of HyperText Markup Language (HTML) and Cascading Style Sheets (CSS);
• receiving a client edit message from a first end station of the plurality of end stations,
• wherein the client edit message describes a modified first value for editing a first UI component corresponding to a Document Object Model (DOM) element of the running instances of the web application on the plurality of end stations,
• wherein the modified first value corresponds to a set of parameters of the respective UI definition files of the plurality of end stations that define the first UI component, and
• wherein the modified first value is generated using an interactive editor configured to allow editing of the first UI component;
• and
• transmitting a server edit message describing the modified first value received from the first end station to one or more other end stations of the plurality of end stations, wherein the transmitted server edit message is configured to facilitate modifying the respective UI definition files on the one or more other end station participating in the editing session to reflect the modified first value to dynamically regenerate the running instances of the web application on the one or more other end stations based on the respective modified UI definition files.

A server for interactive editing of one or more UI components of one or more running instances of a web application which, comprising:

• a processor;
• and
• a non-transitory computer-readable storage medium coupled to the processor and containing instructions executable by said processor whereby said user end station is operative to:
• establish an editing session between a plurality of end stations corresponding to running instances of a web application on the plurality of end stations,
• wherein each of the plurality of end stations participating in the editing session operates as a sender, a receiver, or a combination thereof,
• wherein a user interface (UI) of the web application is dynamically generated at runtime for running instances of the web application on the plurality of end stations using a respective UI definition file corresponding to each of the plurality of end stations that stores an externalized, parameterized representation of the web application without application code and that fully defines the web application including its structure, behavior, and appearance, and includes a set of one or more UI components that are UI building blocks to be presented within the web application, and
• wherein the respective UI definition file corresponding to each of the plurality of end stations is configured for dynamic generation of application code representing the set of one or more UI components comprising at least one of HyperText Markup Language (HTML) and Cascading Style Sheets (CSS);
• receive a client edit message from a first end station of the plurality of end stations,
• wherein the client edit message describes a modified first value for editing a first UI component corresponding to a Document Object Model (DOM) element of the running instances of the web application on the plurality of end stations,
• wherein the modified first value corresponds to a set of parameters of the respective UI definition files of the plurality of end stations that define the first UI component, and
• wherein the modified first value is generated using an interactive editor configured to allow editing of the first UI component;
• and
• transmit a server edit message describing the modified first value received from the first end station to one or more other end stations of the plurality of end stations, wherein the transmitted server edit message is configured to facilitate modifying the respective UI definition files on the one or more other end station participating in the editing session to reflect the modified first value to dynamically regenerate the running instances of the web application on the one or more other end stations based on the respective modified UI definition files.