Compiler and method for automatically building version compatible object applications

A method in a computer system of automatically compiling version compatible object servers, the method comprising the steps of:

• compiling a first program into a first version object server having a set of one or more interfaces, and a first type library containing type information of the first version of the object server;
• assigning a first unique type library identifier to the first type library;
• compiling a second program into a second version object server to be version compatible with the first version object server, said compiling into the second version object server comprising:
• compatibility checking the second program against the type information in the first type library to detect whether any version incompatible differences exist between the first and second version object servers;
• and
• if no version incompatible difference is detected, generating a set of interfaces for the second version object server so as to comprise interfaces that match each interface of the first version object server, generating a second type library containing type information for the second version of the object server, and assigning the first unique type library identifier to the second type library.

A method in a computer system of automatically compiling version compatible object servers, the method comprising the steps of:

• compiling a first program into a first version object server having a set of one or more interfaces, and a first type library containing type information of the first version of the object server;
• in compiling the first version of the object server, assigning unique interface identifiers in a one-to-one relationship to each interface of the first version of the object server;
• and
• compiling a second program into a second version object server to be version compatible with the first version object server, said compiling into the second version object server comprising:
• compatibility checking the second program against the type information in the first type library to detect whether any version incompatible differences exist between the first and second version object servers;
• and
• if no version incompatible difference is detected, generating a set of interfaces for the second version object server so as to comprise interfaces that match each interface of the first version object server, and assigning the same interface identifier to any interface of the second version of the object server which also is included in the set of interfaces for the first version of the object server as the interface identifier assigned to said any interface in compiling the first version of the object server.

A method in a computer system of automatically compiling version compatible object servers wherein the first and second versions of the object server each define one or more object classes, the method comprising the steps of:

• compiling a first program into a first version object server having a set of one or more interfaces, and a first type library containing type information of the first version of the object server;
• in compiling the first version of the object server, assigning unique class identifiers in a one-to-one relationship to the object classes defined by the first version of the object server;
• and
• compiling a second program into a second version object server to be version compatible with the first version object server, said compiling into the second version object server comprising:
• compatibility checking the second program against the type information in the first type library to detect whether any version incompatible differences exist between the first and second version object servers;
• and
• if no version incompatible difference is detected, generating a set of interfaces for the second version object server so as to comprise interfaces that match each interface of the first version object server, and assigning the same class identifier to any object class defined by the second version of the object server which also is defined by the first version of the object server as the class identifier assigned to such object class in compiling the first version of the object server.

A method in a computer system of automatically generating compatible versions of an executable program, the method comprising:

• generating a first set of one or more interfaces for accessing class members defined in a first version of an executable program;
• associating identifiers with the interfaces of the first version of the executable program;
• detecting any version incompatible differences between the first version of the executable program and source code for a second version of the executable program;
• if no version incompatible difference is detected,
• generating a second set of one or more interfaces for accessing any class members defined in the second version of the executable program, the second set comprising interfaces that match each interface in the first set;
• and
• associating the same identifiers with the interfaces of the second version of the executable program.

A compiler for automatically generating compatible versions of an executable program, comprising:

• a version compatibility analyzer for comparing types of class members in source code for a second version of the executable program against those in a first version of the executable program to verify whether the source code can be compiled into the second version of the executable program that provides at least each interface in the first version of the executable program;
• and
• a compatible executable program generator in communication with the version compatibility analyzer for, in response to a positive verification, generating a set of at least one interface in the second version of the executable program so as to comprise interfaces that match each interface in the first version of the executable program;
• wherein the compatible executable program generator associates a unique interface identifier with each different interface, whereby the interface identifiers associated with the interfaces of the first and second versions of the executable program differ from each other when any version incompatible difference is detected between the first and second versions of the executable program, and at least one interface identifier is associated with an interface in both the first and second versions of the executable program when no version incompatible difference is detected between the first and second versions of the executable program.

A compiler for automatically generating compatible versions of an executable program, comprising:

• a compiler option selectable by a user for causing the compiler to automatically compile modified source code into a second version executable program to be version compatible with a first version executable program;
• a compatibility checker operative to verify whether the modified source code can be compiled so as to produce the second version executable program that provides each interface of the first version executable program;
• a user perceptible notification operative in response to the compatibility checker producing a negative verification to provide notice to the user that the modified source code is incapable of being compiled into a compatible second version executable program;
• and
• an executable program code generator operative in response to the compatibility checker producing a positive verification to compile the second version executable program from the modified source code so as to have a set of interfaces that includes interfaces compatible with each interface of the first version executable program.