Method and system for binding data in a computer system

A computer system for synchronizing consumer components comprising:

• a plurality of consumer components for presenting data to a user for display and modification;
• and
• a data source for storing data corresponding to the presented data, for maintaining an indicator to the stored data, for receiving requests to manipulate the data source and for sending a plurality of notifications to the consumer components, the requests for manipulation of the data source including modifications to the stored data and modifications to the indicator of the data source, the notifications for providing synchronization between the consumer components when presenting the stored data, the notifications further comprising:
• a first of the notifications for indicating that a request has been received by the data source to manipulate the data source, wherein in response to receiving the first notification the consumer components may cancel the requested manipulation;
• a second of the notifications for notifying the consumer components before the requested manipulation is performed, wherein the consumer components transfer the presented data of the consumer components to the data source when the presented data has been modified by the user;
• and
• a third of the notifications for indicating that the modified presented data of the consumer components has been transferred to the data source.

In a computer system, the computer system having a binding manager and a cursor, the cursor for storing a plurality of records of data, the binding manager for managing a bound control and the cursor, the bound control for presenting a record of data to a user, the cursor having a data reference for referring to a first of the stored records of data and for receiving requests to refer to a second of the stored records of data, the presented record being a copy of the first stored record, a method for communicating between the bound control and the cursor comprising the computer-implemented steps of:

• under control of the binding manager,
• retrieving the first stored record of the cursor;
• sending the first stored record to the bound control to be the presented record in the bound control;
• when the presented record is modified by the user,
• retrieving the presented record from the bound control;
• transferring the retrieved presented record to the cursor to overwrite the first stored record;
• when the first stored record is modified,
• retrieving the modified first stored record from the cursor;
• transferring the modified first stored record from the cursor to the bound control, wherein the bound control displays the modified first stored record as the presented record in the bound control;
• and
• when the data reference of the cursor receives a request to refer to the second stored record,
• after the cursor moves the data reference to refer to the second stored record,
• retrieving the second stored record from the cursor;
• and
• transferring the second stored record from the cursor to the bound control, wherein the bound control displays the second stored record as the presented record in the bound control.

In a computer system, the computer system having a plurality of binding managers for transferring data to and from a cursor, the cursor for receiving requests to perform operations and for generating a plurality of notifications, a first of the notifications for requesting permission from a binding manager to perform a requested operation, a second of the notifications for transferring data from the binding manager to the cursor, a third of the notifications for storing the transferred data into the cursor, a fourth of the notifications for transferring data from the cursor to the binding managers, a fifth of the notifications for notifying the binding managers that the data has been transferred from the cursor to the binding managers, the method comprising the computer-implemented steps of:

• receiving a request to perform an operation;
• after receiving the request to perform the operation,
• sending the first notification to the binding managers to request permission from the binding managers to perform the operation;
• after sending the first notification,
• receiving permission from the binding managers to perform the operation;
• after receiving the permission,
• sending the second notification to the binding managers to transfer data from the binding managers to the cursor;
• after sending the second notification,
• sending the third notification to the binding managers to store the transferred data into the cursor;
• after sending the third notification,
• performing the requested operation;
• after performing the requested operation,
• sending the fourth notification to the binding managers to transfer data from the cursor to the binding managers;
• and
• after sending the fourth notification,
• sending the fifth notification to the binding managers to notify the binding managers that the data has been transferred.

A data binding system comprising:

• a bound control for displaying data to a user, further comprising:
• a retrieve component for retrieving the displayed data from the bound control;
• a generator component for generating a notification when the displayed data has changed;
• a request component for requesting permission to edit the displayed data of the bound control;
• a cursor for storing data;
• and
• a binding manager for providing permission to edit the displayed data of the bound control, for receiving the notification from the bound control, for retrieving the displayed data from the bound control in response to receiving the notification and for storing the retrieved data in the cursor.

A data binding system comprising:

• a cursor for storing data, for receiving requests to perform an operation on the stored data, for performing the operation on the stored data, and for generating a notification when the operation is performed on the stored data;
• a bound control for displaying the stored data of the cursor;
• and
• a binding manager for requesting the operation to be performed on the cursor, for receiving the notification generated by the cursor, and for transferring the stored data to the bound control in response to receiving the notification.

A data binding system comprising:

• a cursor for storing data, for receiving requests to perform an operation on the stored data, for generating a first notification in response to receiving the request to perform the operation, for performing the operation and for generating a second notification after the operation has been performed;
• a bound control for displaying the stored data of the cursor, for generating a third notification when a request is received to modify the displayed data, for receiving permission to modify the displayed data in response to generating the third notification, and for generating a fourth notification when the displayed data is modified;
• and
• a binding manager for receiving the third notification from the bound control, for granting permission to the bound control to modify the displayed data, for receiving the fourth notification after the displayed data is modified, for transferring the displayed data to the cursor after the displayed data has been modified, for receiving the first notification, for receiving the second notification and for transferring the stored data from the cursor to the bound control in response to receiving the second notification.

A method in a computer system for synchronizing access to a server object by a plurality of client objects, the method comprising the computer-implemented steps of:

• receiving from each client object a reference for an event handler, wherein the event handler is a function for invocation;
• receiving a request to access the server object;
• and
• in response to receiving the request,
• invoking the event handler of each client object to notify the client object that a request to access the server object has been received;
• receiving from the invoked event handler of each client object an indication whether to proceed with the access;
• and
• when all client objects indicate to proceed with the access, performing the requested access of the server object.

A method in a computer system for synchronizing access to a server by a plurality of clients, the method comprising the computer-implemented steps of:

• receiving a reference to each client of the server;
• receiving a request to access the server;
• in response to receiving the request,
• notifying each client that a request has been received to access the server by utilizing the reference of the client;
• receiving from each notified client an indication whether to proceed with the requested access;
• and
• when all clients indicated to proceed with the requested access, performing the requested access of the server.

A method in a computer system for synchronizing access to a server by a plurality of clients, the method comprising the computer-implemented steps of:

• sending a request to access the server from a first of the clients;
• and
• each of the clients,
• receiving a notification of the request to access the server;
• determining whether to allow the access to occur;
• when the client determines to allow the access to occur,
• sending an indication that indicates the access is allowed;
• and
• when the client determines to not allow the access to occur,
• sending an indication that indicates the access is not allowed.

A method in a computer system for synchronizing access to a server by a plurality of clients, the method comprising the computer-implemented steps of:

• each of the clients,
• registering an event handler with the server;
• a first of the clients,
• sending a request to access the server;
• under control of the server,
• receiving the request;
• after receiving the request,
• invoking all of the registered event handlers wherein the event handlers return an indication of whether to allow the access to occur;
• determining whether the indications of all of the event handlers allow the access to occur;
• when all of the indications allow the access to occur,
• accessing the server;
• and
• when all of the indications do not allow the access to occur,
• cancelling the requested access of the server.

In a computer system, the computer system having a plurality of binding managers for transferring data to and from a cursor, the cursor for receiving requests to perform operations and for generating a plurality of notifications, the computer system comprising:

• means for receiving a request to perform an operation by the cursor;
• means for sending a first of the notifications to the binding managers to request permission from the binding managers to perform the operation after receiving the request to perform the operation;
• means for receiving permission from the binding managers to perform the operation after sending the first notification;
• means for sending a second of the notifications to the binding managers to transfer data from the binding managers to the cursor after receiving the permission;
• means for sending a third of the notifications to the binding managers to store the transferred data into the cursor after sending the second notification;
• means for performing the requested operation after sending the third notification;
• means for sending a fourth of the notifications to transfer data to the binding managers after performing the requested operation;
• and
• means for sending a fifth of the notifications to notify the binding managers that the data has been transferred after sending the fourth notification.

A computer-readable medium on which is stored a computer program for causing communication in a computer system between a bound control that presents a record of data to a user and a cursor that stores a plurality of records of data, the computer system having a memory containing a binding manager for managing the bound control and the cursor, the cursor having a data reference for referring to a first of the stored records of data and for receiving requests to refer to a second of the stored records of data, the presented record of the bound control being a copy of the first stored record, the computer program comprising instructions which when executed by the computer system perform the steps of:

• under control of the binding manager,
• retrieving the first stored record of the cursor;
• sending the first stored record to the bound control to be the presented record in the bound control;
• when the presented record is modified by the user,
• retrieving the presented record from the bound control;
• transferring the retrieved presented record to the cursor to overwrite the first stored record;
• when the first stored record is modified,
• retrieving the modified first stored record from the cursor;
• transferring the modified first stored record from the cursor to the bound control, wherein the bound control displays the modified first stored record as the presented record in the bound control;
• and
• when the data reference of the cursor receives a request to refer to the second stored record,
• after the cursor moves the data reference to refer to the second stored record,
• retrieving the second stored record from the cursor;
• and
• transferring the second stored record from the cursor to the bound control, wherein the bound control displays the second stored record as the presented record in the bound control.

A computer-readable medium whose contents cause a computer system to synchronize access to a server object by a plurality of client objects by performing the steps of:

• receiving from each client object a reference to an event handler;
• receiving a request to access the server object;
• and
• in response to receiving the request,
• invoking the event handler of each client object to notify the client object that the request to access the server object has been received;
• receiving from the invoked event handler of each client object an indication whether to proceed with the access;
• and
• when all of the client objects indicate to proceed with the access, performing the requested access of the server object.

A computer-readable medium whose contents cause a computer system to synchronize access to a server by a plurality of clients by performing the steps of:

• receiving from the server a notification that the server received a request from one of the plurality of clients to access the server;
• determining by all of the clients whether to allow the access to occur;
• when all of the clients determine to allow the access to occur,
• sending to the server an indication that indicates the access is allowed;
• and
• when at least one of the clients determines to not allow the access to occur,
• sending to the server an indication that indicates the access is not allowed.

A computer-readable medium whose contents cause a computer system to synchronize access to a server by a plurality of clients by performing the steps of:

• receiving a reference to each client of the server;
• receiving a request to access the server;
• in response to receiving the request,
• notifying each client that a request has been received to access the server by utilizing the reference of the client;
• receiving from each notified client an indication that indicates whether to proceed with the requested access;
• and
• when all the received indications indicate to proceed with the requested access, performing the requested access of the server.