Patent Application
20060206862
In a modern programming environment, program frameworks (so-called frameworks) provide important functionalities for generating programs so that, for example, the programmer no longer needs to program certain input/output routines explicitly or even in hardware terms but can use prefabricated functions in the framework. Frameworks exist both in traditional procedural languages and in object-oriented languages. In principle, they can be designed independently of a programming language such as, for example, Cocoa by the company Apple or .NET by the company Microsoft, or closely associated with a programming language as is the case, for example, with Java. According to previous experience, the frameworks are changed every 5 to 10 years due to technical advances, so thoroughly that programs written in an old framework would have to be revised for the new framework.
The programming techniques used by the company Microsoft represent an example of such a transition. Currently, there are two different Microsoft technologies which can be utilized as aids in the programming of an application. The more recent one of these technologies is called NET framework and provides very good support in the programming of applications of any type. The code generated by use of the .NET framework is called “Managed Code” whereas the code not generated by means of the .NET framework is called “Unmanaged Code” and represents the older one of the two technologies.
During compilation, the “Managed Code” of an application generated by use of the NET framework is not converted into a sequence of machine instructions which could run directly on a particular computer but into an abstract intermediate code, the so-called “MSIL” (Microsoft Intermediate Language). At the run time of the program, this is in each case recompiled by the so-called Common Language Run Time (CLR), as necessary, and embedded into an executable environment. The background of this intermediate step resides in that it enables various programming languages to access the NET framework.
Since previous applications were mainly generated in unmanaged code, there is a large amount of unmanaged code today at the software companies. However, the new applications can be programmed more rapidly and more efficiently as managed code so that, in principle, it is desirable to use the new framework in this case. In principle, this also applies to other frameworks where in many cases however it would be advantageous to use the old code in order to use the software modules already in existence.
Conversely, it may also be reasonable to expand the preexisting software modules of the old framework, for example unmanaged software modules, by certain more recent functionalities, for example from the managed code area in order to make use of the advantages of the new framework such as, for example, of the .NET framework. Similarly, it is frequently the case that in the case of Windows programming, an unmanaged framework, by which unmanaged applications can be programmed, is to be expanded in such a way that it can also be used for generating managed applications, but the interior of the framework should still remain unchanged as unmanaged. In this case, the applications generated should be exclusively programmed in the NET framework so that the applications do not even notice that they are actually operated by older frameworks.
An object of at least one embodiment of the present invention is to provide a possibility by which the applications written in a new framework can operate within an older framework already in existence.
Further advantageous embodiments, aspects and details of the present invention can be obtained from the description and the attached drawings and listings.
At least one embodiment of the invention is based on the concept of providing an adapter which can integrate the new applications in the system from programs of an old framework.
Correspondingly, at least one embodiment of the invention is directed to a data processing system for integrating two program frameworks which exhibits the following:
A program framework or framework in the sense of at least one embodiment of the present invention is a framework as it is usually defined by experts in the field, and supports the development of programs by providing functions which can be used in own programs.
A data processing system in the sense of at least one embodiment of the present invention is a plurality of program components and associated run time environment which interact with one another.
A generic container in the sense of at least one embodiment of the present invention is a program component, an object or an application which can link a number of applications or other program components etc. with one another so that they can exchange information with one another and which provides the user with a uniform application interface via which he can call up the functions of the individual applications.
An application in the sense of at least one embodiment of the present invention is any coherent program code which is independently executable or is started by calling up other functions (e.g. DLLs, dynamic link libraries etc.). A communication between the applications is understood to mean that these produce information and forward it to the generic container which forwards it to a further application provided as destination addressee for the information. Examples of this information can be events, data and function calls.
A generic component is a program component such as an independent application, an object, an object group or a dynamic link library which can provide general functionalities for various other components or applications, respectively. It is characterized by the fact that it does not need to be changed in general, even when requirements (e.g. for actual programs) are changing since it is specified on an hierarchically higher level.
A new application, which uses the functionalities of the second framework, is understood to be a newly written application which is based on the second framework, i.e. has been programmed by means of this framework. The new application can also be programmed by means of a third framework based on the second framework, for example containing specific extensions for a particular application logic.
The most important components of the data processing system according to at least one embodiment of the invention are the generic component and the adapter component since these two—in cooperation—enable a new application to run together with old applications in the same generic container.
Providing the functionalities of the second framework by way of the generic component can be effected in various ways. Thus, the generic component can independently reconstruct, i.e. emulate with the aid of the functionalities of the first framework, all functionalities of the second framework in order to provide for smooth running. In a variant example of an embodiment of the invention, however, the generic component is only intended for starting a run time environment for the second framework and contains additional “kit functions” in order to link this run time environment to the generic container code.
The generic component can be, for example, a generically implemented software IC chip. The generic container can advantageously load the applications and the generic component in order to be able to carry out in this manner an interconnection between the individual applications and/or components and the generic container in a coordinated manner.
At least one embodiment of the invention can also be characterized by the fact that interfaces, which are intended for communicating events, are provided at the generic container, the applications, the generic component and/or the adapter component. Such events are to be understood in the sense of “events” of data processing and are generated by applications in particular cases. As a rule, current software systems are event-driven, i.e. the individual components of a software system respond to events which they receive from the outside.
The adapter component and the generic component can be combined in one unit so that no interfaces are necessary between them.
The adapter component is programmed by way of the second framework, in contrast to the generic component which is programmed by way of the first framework. It optionally implements the application-specific third framework based on the second framework or, respectively, the framework extension, if necessary. This framework allows applications to be generated which are based on it and which are exclusively implemented in the second framework. In addition, the adapter component is responsible for forwarding the notifications coming from the first framework such as, for example, events or commands for the applications in the second framework, and conversely.
In one example embodiment, the generic component can perform the compilation of a new application on its first call by the generic container which corresponds to the usual procedure of applications programmed with the .NET framework, which must be compiled from the MSIL (Microsoft Intermediate Language) into a machine language provided for a particular hardware environment. The adapter component, too, can be converted in this manner from IL code or another intermediate code or source text into machine instructions.
The generic container can preferably contain a user interface via which a user can input commands and data which are processed by the applications and/or the at least one new application and/or information is indicated to him which can be generated by the applications and/or the at least one new application. This defines the function of the generic container which serves as interface between user and the programs. The components of the system can be located on an individual workstation/computer and exchange communication via the operating system of the computer or can be designed as distributed system via a computer network and correspondingly use the network mechanisms of the data processing systems for interacting with one another.
The second and the third framework, respectively are preferably based on the NET framework of the Microsoft Corporation.
At least one embodiment of the invention is also directed to a method wherein everything that has been said with respect to the data processing system applies to the method and conversely so that they are alternately referred to.
The method according to at least one embodiment of the invention for integrating applications of a second framework into a functional group with applications of a first framework has the following steps:
The providing of the functionality advantageously includes the starting of a run time environment of the second framework and the setting up of communication channels for connection to the generic container.
In a further example embodiment, the generic component or the adapter component converts events of a framework into events of the other framework in each case and/or forwards them between components and applications of different frameworks.
The method according to at least one embodiment of the invention can also be characterized by the fact that the generic container loads applications implemented in the first framework and new applications into the resultant system.
The system and method according to at least one embodiment of the invention, described above, can be designed, in particular, as computer program product, with a computer-readable medium and a computer program and associated program code segments, the computer being caused to carry out the method according to at least one embodiment of the invention described above in accordance with data of the computer program, i.e. the program system.
An alternative solution to the object provides a storage medium which is intended for storing the computer-implemented method or system of at least one embodiment, described above, and can be read by a computer.
Naturally, it is also possible that more than two program frameworks can be integrated with one another in the inventive manner described above.
In addition, it is possible that the system according to at least one embodiment of the invention is constructed as a heterogeneous system and can be designed partially or completely in hardware and/or software modules distributed over a number of products or commercial units.
In the detailed description of the figure which follows, example embodiments, which are to be understood as to be not restrictive, and their features and other advantages are discussed by way of the drawing, in which:
The solution favored in accordance with at least one embodiment of the invention resides in that the traditional and the new functionalities such as, for example a business logic can be allowed to run side by side in a common container (e.g. a business logic container). Traditional applications can be accommodated together with new applications and can communicate with one another via the business logic container. The operation of at least one embodiment of the invention will be explained in greater detail with reference to an example in the text which follows.
On the left-hand side of
The container can notify the components in the case of certain events (framework callbacks 3). Such events are, for example, change of user or a request for preparing the component for a certain event such as, e.g. shut-down. The components 2 themselves can also send out events 4 (notification events) which are delivered by the generic container 1 to the other components of the data processing system when event patterns match.
Within a backend, i.e. an application in the sense of at least one embodiment of the present invention, commands 5 are typically processed. A command normally executes a computationally intensive “job”. Examples of commands of the application logic are a segmentation or the handling of the transfer of a medical image in the case of a medical application. However, the solution according to at least one embodiment of the invention can be used for applications of any fields of application and which are, therefore, highly variable.
The generic backend component 6 on the right-hand side also belongs to the first framework in which component 2 has also been programmed, but plays a special role in the system because it enables the actual application logic to be programmed in NET, in the example embodiment presently selected. This backend component 6 is here called generic backend component or generic component 6, respectively, because it acts itself as a generic container for the application logic in NET. The generic backend 6 represents a generically implemented software IC chip. For the generic container 1, on the other hand, this looks as if the generic component 6 were a conventional backend component, which it is, in the narrower sense, since it has been generated in the first framework, the traditional Microsoft programming environment in the present example.
The generic component internally generates the run time system of NET, the so-called Common Language Run Time (CLR) and hands over control to the adapter component 7, called “DotNetAdapter” in the present case of the .NET framework, which subsequently prepares an infrastructure which enables application developers to program their application logic in .NET. Notifications for the framework are forwarded by the generic container to the generic component 6 and from there to the adapter component 7.
Conversely, the events sent out by the new applications, for example .NET components, are forwarded via the adapter component 7 to the generic component 6 and from there to the generic container 1. This ensures the interoperability between the components in the so-called “unmanaged backend” or another older framework, and the application logic in .NET or other second frameworks.
The new application 8 also contains commands 5. The part-implementations of such commands are handled by business objects (BO) 9 if necessary. The framework notifications (events for the framework) are forwarded by the adapter component 7 to the so-called application object (AO) 10 so that the new application can correspondingly process it there in the case of NET.
Naturally, it is possible to provide, and embed in the generic container 1, more than one generic component 6 and such components can communicate with one another via events and are also notified by the traditional framework. Using the solution according to at least one embodiment of the invention, the developer of an application, hitherto written in an older framework, or of such a system, respectively, can profit from the possibly existing advantages of the more recent second framework.
As a rule, the situation in the case of Microsoft products is that in the case of unmanaged backend components, the developer himself had to determine the structure of his components whereas this is no longer necessary in the case of .NET components since there is much more structure in the application logic. It contains not only commands but also application objects such as business objects which supply part-implementations of the commands, and a dedicated application object which processes the notification of the framework without having to be programmed especially.
The architecture of the application lying over the adapter component is completely configurable in the case of the .NET framework. It is possible to specify an execution architecture by this means. The configuration file for this (in XML) looks as follows:
This configuration contains two “working boxes”. At operating system level, a working box corresponds to a thread or also to an execution path within an application. In the working boxes, business objects can be found which run in these threads. As can be seen from the listing, even the threading model can be configured. In addition, there is an object for processing commands and a global application object.
In the text which follows, code sections for the generic component, relevant to the performance of at least one embodiment of the invention, and the adapter component (DotNetAdapter) are presented in the programming language C++:
Using the generic component and the adapter component makes it possible to program the application logic of the applications of a first framework both by way of a first framework and by way of a second, for example more modern framework. The applications programmed in various technologies can communicate in the same manner as applications have previously communicated with one another within an application framework.
Thus, for example, a managed application of the NET framework includes architectural components which can be exclusively programmed in NET. This provides the application developer with the ability to decide himself whether he wishes to utilize, for example, the advantages of the .NET framework and, because of that, to program his application as “managed code” or wishes to stay with the old “unmanaged” technology. Interoperability with the old applications of the developer is given if the new application is programmed as “managed code”.
The realization of at least one embodiment of the invention does not require any basic changes in the previous prior art but, in principle, can also be inserted subsequently as module—particularly as modified or additional computer program product.
Finally, it should be pointed out that, in principle, the description of the example embodiments of the invention are not meant to be restrictive with regard to a particular physical implementation of the invention. In particular, it is clear to the relevant expert that the example embodiments of invention can be implemented partially or completely in software and distributed to a number of physical products, including also computer program products, in particular.
Any of the aforementioned methods may be embodied in the form of a system or device, including, but not limited to, any of the structure for performing the methodology illustrated in the drawings.
Further, any of the aforementioned methods may be embodied in the form of a program. The program may be stored on a computer readable media and is adapted to perform any one of the aforementioned methods when run on a computer device (a device including a processor). Thus, the storage medium or computer readable medium, is adapted to store information and is adapted to interact with a data processing facility or computer device to perform the method of any of the above mentioned embodiments.
The storage medium may be a built-in medium installed inside a computer device main body or a removable medium arranged so that it can be separated from the computer device main body. Examples of the built-in medium include, but are not limited to, rewriteable non-volatile memories, such as ROMs and flash memories, and hard disks. Examples of the removable medium include, but are not limited to, optical storage media such as CD-ROMs and DVDs; magneto-optical storage media, such as MOs; magnetism storage media, such as floppy disks (trademark), cassette tapes, and removable hard disks; media with a built-in rewriteable non-volatile memory, such as memory cards; and media with a built-in ROM, such as ROM cassettes.
Example embodiments being thus described, it will be obvious that the same may be varied in many ways. Such variations are not to be regarded as a departure from the spirit and scope of the present invention, and all such modifications as would be obvious to one skilled in the art are intended to be included within the scope of the following claims.
The present application hereby claims priority under 35 U.S.C. §119 on U.S. provisional patent application No. 60/657,415 filed Mar. 2, 2005, the entire contents of which is hereby incorporated herein by reference.
| Number | Date | Country | |
|---|---|---|---|
| 60657415 | Mar 2005 | US |
