Method and system for generation of delegating implementation for IDL interfaces using inheritance

A method of generating an inheriting interface definition language (IDL) interface, comprising:

• identifying a plurality of parents for the inheriting IDL interface, wherein the inheriting IDL interface inherits directly from each of a plurality of parent interfaces corresponding to the plurality of parents;
• identifying the plurality of parent interfaces associated with the plurality of parents, wherein the plurality of parent interfaces comprise a plurality of concrete parent interfaces;
• computing a set of directly implemented methods for the plurality of parent interfaces;
• generating an implementation of the inheriting IDL interface with the plurality of concrete parent interfaces to generate a plurality of delegation fields, wherein the plurality of delegation fields create an instance for each of the plurality of parents in the implementation of the inheriting IDL interface;
• generating an initialization method and a setting method for each of the plurality of delegation fields in the implementation of the inheriting IDL interface;
• and
• generating indirectly implemented methods with a body that delegates functionality to one of the plurality of delegation fields, wherein the indirectly implemented method calls a corresponding directly implemented method in the plurality of parent interfaces using the one of the plurality of delegation fields,
• wherein the indirectly implemented methods are generated to guarded blocks,
• wherein generating the body comprises generating a full body implementation for each of the indirectly implemented methods, wherein the full body implementation comprises delegation source code, a delegation object attribute, and an initialize inheritance tree method, and
• wherein the type of delegation is one selected from the group consisting of none, static delegation, and virtual delegation.

A computer system adapted to generate an inheriting interface definition language (IDL) interface, comprising:

• a processor;
• a memory element, and
• software instructions for enabling the computer under control of the processor, to perform:
• identifying a plurality of parents for the inheriting IDL interface, wherein the inheriting IDL interface inherits directly from each of a plurality of parent interfaces corresponding to the plurality of parents;
• identifying the plurality of parent interfaces associated with the plurality of parents, wherein the plurality of parent interfaces comprises a plurality of concrete parent interfaces;
• computing a set of directly implemented methods for the plurality of parent interfaces;
• generating an implementation of the inheriting IDL interface with the plurality of concrete parent interfaces to generate a plurality of delegation fields, wherein the plurality of delegation fields create an instance for each of the plurality of parents in the implementation of the inheriting IDL interface;
• generating an initialization method and a setting method for each of the plurality of delegation fields in the implementation of the inheriting IDL interface;
• and
• generating indirectly implemented methods with a body that delegates functionality to one of the delegation fields, wherein the indirectly implemented method calls a corresponding directly implemented method in the plurality of parent interfaces using the one of the plurality of delegation fields,
• wherein generating the body comprises generating a full body implementation for each of the plurality of indirectly implemented methods, wherein the full body implementation comprises delegation source code, a delegation object attribute, and an initialize inheritance tree method.

A system for generating an implementation for an inheriting interface definition language (IDL) interface, comprising:

• means for identifying a plurality of parents for the inheriting IDL interface, wherein the inheriting IDL interface inherits directly from each of a plurality of parent interfaces corresponding to the plurality of parents;
• means for identifying the plurality of parent interfaces associated with the plurality of parents, wherein the plurality of parent interfaces comprise a plurality of concrete parent interfaces;
• means for computing a set of directly implemented methods for the plurality of parent interfaces;
• means for generating an implementation of the inheriting IDL interface with the concrete parent interfaces to generate a plurality of delegation fields, wherein the plurality of delegation fields create an instance for each of the plurality of parents in the implementation of the inheriting IDL interface;
• means for generating an initialization method and a setting method for each of the plurality of delegation fields in the implementation of the inheriting IDL interface;
• and
• means for generating indirectly implemented methods with a body that delegates functionality to one of the plurality of delegation fields, wherein the indirectly implemented method calls a corresponding directly implemented method in the plurality of parent interfaces using the one of the plurality of delegation fields,
• wherein means for generating the body comprises generating a full body implementation for each of the plurality of indirectly implemented methods, wherein the full body implementation comprises delegation source code, a delegation object attribute, and an initialize inheritance tree method.

A method for generating an inheriting interface definition language (IDL) interface comprising:

• generating at least one directly implemented method for each of a plurality of parent interfaces, wherein the inheriting IDL interface inherits directly from each of the plurality of parent interfaces corresponding to the plurality of parents;
• determining a plurality of inheritance relationships among the plurality of parent interfaces;
• generating at least one delegation field using the plurality of inheritance relationships, wherein the plurality of delegation fields create an instance for each of the plurality of parents in the implementation of the inheriting IDL interface;
• determining a type of delegation to apply to the at least one delegation field;
• generating at least one delegation method configured to delegate control to the at least one delegation field in manner defined by the type of delegation, wherein the delegation method calls a corresponding method in a corresponding parent interface using the at least one delegation field,
• wherein the at least one delegation field to which control is delegated is determined using the at least one inheritance relationship,
• wherein generating the body comprises generating a full body implementation for each of the plurality of indirectly implemented methods, wherein the full body implementation comprises delegation source code, a delegation object attribute, and an initialize inheritance tree method.