Component architecture in a computer system
AssigneeNovell, Inc.
InventorsCarlos A. Nevarez, Chris Andrew
Life of this patent
Estimating the term…
Abstract
Methods, configured media, and systems are provided for connecting disparate software components in a network or other computer system. A language adapter maps programming language constructs to a general object-oriented interface. An object model adapter maps the general object-oriented interface to specific object models such as the Java/RMI model or a CORBA model. The system dynamically wraps non-object components, such as scripts, in a object wrapper as needed to make them accessible through the language adapter and the object model adapter. In this manner, a language-vendor-independent bridge is provided between components written in different programming languages, and the components also gain access to objects written in object models favored by various vendors.
Claims24
A distributed computing system component architecture for use on a computer network, the architecture comprising:
- a language adapter containing at least one language template, each language template specifying at least one mapping between a programming language construct and at least one of an object and an object method;
- an object model adapter containing at least one object management library, each object management library containing at least an object creation function, an object deletion function, and an object method invocation function;
- and
- a core which registers language templates and object management libraries, automatically translates between programming language constructs and object management library function calls, and provides automatic bridging to at least one reusable component by dynamically wrapping the reusable component in an object if it is not already an object so as to package the formerly incompatible component as a reusable object universally available within the distributed computing system, whereby the architecture allows a user to access the reusable component by invoking one or more methods of the object.
A method for connecting disparate components, the method comprising the steps of:
- registering at least two object management libraries for at least two corresponding disparate object models;
- for each object model, obtaining at least one model-specific reusable component which is specific to that object model;
- and
- for each model-specific reusable component, dynamically wrapping the reusable component in an object if it is not already an object and then invoking one or more methods of the object through the corresponding object management library, thereby making the model-specific reusable component of each object model accessible to the model-specific reusable component of the other object model so as to package the formerly incompatible component as a reusable object universally available within a distributed computing system, such as to allow a user to access the reusable component by invoking one or more methods of the object.
A computer storage medium having a configuration that represents data and instructions for connecting disparate components in a NetWare computer network, comprising:
- registering at least two component connection aids, each aid comprising at least one of an object management library for a corresponding object model and a language template for a corresponding computer language;
- for each component connection aid, obtaining at least one aid-specific reusable component which is specific to that aid;
- for each aid-specific reusable component, dynamically wrapping the reusable component as needed, thereby making the aid-specific reusable component of each component connection aid into an object which is accessible to the aid-specific reusable component of the other component connection aid so as to allow for the connection of disparate software components;
- and then after the wrapping step
- invoking one or more methods of at least one such object.
Dependencies are inferred from the claim text.