Interface sharing between objects

In a computer system having a source object having data, a plurality of destination objects for receiving the data from the source object, and an interface with function members for transferring the data, a method for sharing an instance of the interface, comprising steps of:

• under the control of the computer system,
• creating the instance of the interface;
• exposing the instance of the interface by each of the destination objects;
• receiving a request by the computer system to transfer the data from the source object to an identified one of the destination objects;
• accessing the instance of the interface by the computer system;
• and
• invoking the function members of the instance of the interface by the computer system to transfer the data from the source object to the identified destination object.

In a computer system having a first window, a second window and an interface with function members for performing a drag and drop operation, a method comprising the computer-implemented steps of:

• creating an instance of the interface to be used by the first window and the second window;
• receiving a first request to perform a first drag and drop operation by the first window;
• performing the first drag and drop operation on the first window utilizing the function members of the instance of the interface;
• receiving a second request to perform a second drag and drop operation by the second window;
• and
• performing the second drag and drop operation on the second window utilizing the function members of the instance of the interface.

A data processing system comprising:

• a registry having entries that store references to windows and references to instances of an interface, the interface having function members for transferring data;
• an application program for displaying a plurality of windows and having a first component for creating an instance of the interface and a second component for creating an entry in the registry for each of the plurality of windows of the application program, each entry containing a reference to one of the plurality of windows and a reference to the instance of the interface;
• and
• a receive component for receiving a request to transfer data from a source to an identified one of the plurality of windows of the application program, for accessing the registry to determine the instance of the interface and for transferring the data from the source to the identified window utilizing the function members of the instance of the interface.

A data processing system comprising:

• an instance of an interface having function members for performing an operation on an object;
• application program having a plurality of objects, further comprising:
• a first object of the plurality of objects that exposes the instance of the interface;
• and
• a second object of the plurality of objects that exposes the instance of the interface;
• and
• a consumer component for accessing the instance of the interface, for invoking the function members of the instance of the interface to perform the operation on the first object and for invoking the function members of the instance of the interface to perform the operation on the second object.

In a computer system having a source window with data, a plurality of destination windows for receiving the data from the source window, an interface with function members for transferring the data, and an operating system for managing the destination windows, a method for sharing an instance of the interface between the destination windows, comprising the steps of:

• under the control of the computer system,
• creating the instance of the interface;
• for each of the destination windows,
• registering the instance of the interface with the computer system;
• receiving a request to transfer the data from the source window to a selected one of the destination windows in response to user input, the user input indicating a location of the selected destination window but not identifying the selected destination window;
• retrieving the instance of the interface registered for the selected destination window;
• and
• transferring the data from the source window to the selected destination window utilizing the function members of the retrieved instance of the interface, wherein each of the function members receives the location of the selected destination window and determines which of the destination windows is the selected destination window by querying the operating system with the location of the selected destination window.

A computer-readable medium containing instructions for controlling a computer system to perform a method, the computer system having a source object with data, a plurality of destination objects for receiving the data from the source object, and an interface with function members for transferring the data, the method for sharing an instance of the interface, comprising steps of:

• under the control of the computer system,
• creating the instance of the interface;
• exposing the instance of the interface by each of the destination objects;
• receiving a request by the computer system to transfer the data from the source object to an identified one of the destination objects;
• accessing the instance of the interface by the computer system;
• and
• invoking the function members of the instance of the interface by the computer system to transfer the data from the source object to the identified destination object.

A computer-readable medium containing instructions for controlling a computer system to perform a method, the computer system having a first window, a second window, and an interface with function members for performing a drag and drop operation, the method comprising the steps of:

• creating an instance of the interface to be used by the first window and the second window;
• receiving a first request to perform a first drag and drop operation by the first window;
• performing the first drag and drop operation on the first window utilizing the function members of the instance of the interface;
• receiving a second request to perform a second drag and drop operation by the second window;
• and
• performing the second drag and drop operation on the second window utilizing the function members of the instance of the interface.

A computer-readable medium containing instructions for controlling a computer system to perform a method for accessing server objects by a client, each of the server objects supporting an interface, and each of the server objects sharing an instance of the interface, the method performed by the client comprising the steps of:

• requesting access to the interface of a first of the server objects;
• receiving a first reference to the shared instance;
• requesting access to the interface of a second of the server objects;
• receiving a second reference to the shared instance;
• utilizing the first reference to the shared instance of the interface to access the first server object;
• and
• utilizing the second reference to the shared instance of the interface to access the second server object.

A method in a computer system for providing access to objects of a program, wherein the objects support an interface, the method performed by the program comprising the steps of:

• instantiating a plurality of the objects, each of the objects supporting the interface;
• creating one instance of the interface;
• and
• exposing the created instance of the interface by each of the objects, wherein the instance is utilized by a caller when accessing each of the instantiated objects.

A method in a computer system for accessing server objects by a client, each of the server objects supporting an interface, and each of the server objects sharing an instance of the interface, the method performed by the client comprising the steps of:

• requesting access to the interface of a first of the server objects;
• receiving a first reference to the shared instance of the interface;
• requesting access to the interface of a second of the server objects;
• receiving a second reference to the shared instance of the interface;
• utilizing the first reference to the shared instance of the interface to access the first server object;
• and
• utilizing the second reference to the shared instance of the interface to access the second server object.