Electrical computers and digital processing systems: multicomput – Remote data accessing
Reexamination Certificate
2003-04-29
2004-06-15
Lim, Krisna (Department: 2153)
Electrical computers and digital processing systems: multicomput
Remote data accessing
C709S229000, C709S227000, C709S218000, C709S219000
Reexamination Certificate
active
06751653
ABSTRACT:
BACKGROUND OF THE INVENTION
1. Field of the Invention
The present invention relates to the field of graphical and non-graphical software controls, and more particularly to a Data Socket client for accessing data from any of various locations and having any of various formats.
2. Description of the Related Art
In modern networked computer systems, the computer system may be required to obtain data from various sources, including local memory on the computer system, external data sources connected to the computer system, such as I/O devices connected to computer system ports, and other networked computer systems, such as computer systems connected to a LAN, WAN or to the Internet. When a program executing on a computer system is required to access data, the program is often required to account for the source or location of the data, opening and closing of files, the format of the data, and conversion of the data to readable formats, among others.
One of the biggest challenges in developing complex applications that are comprised of different components is sharing and exchanging information and data between the different components. Today, this task is solved using a number of different existing tools, including writing and reading files, DDE, ActiveX automation, http server and client tools, and more. In addition, measurement, as well as other engineering applications, often place some special requirements on sharing data, such as providing additional information qualifying the data.
Hence, an improved system and method is desired for providing programs with access to data from various sources and having various types or formats, wherein the access is provided invisibly to the user or programmer.
Background on component software concepts is deemed appropriate. Various object-oriented and component-based software standards have been developed in recent years. For example, Active X Controls, formerly called OLE controls, are software components that conform to a standard defined by Microsoft. In many ways, Active X controls are similar to traditional libraries. However, since the standard is well defined, there are many applications that can use any Active X control simply by providing support for the Active X standard. Applications or programming environments which support Active X controls are commonly referred to as “Active X Control Containers” or simply “containers”. Broadly speaking, a container is a software entity which holds software components. Examples of containers are Microsoft's “Excel” spreadsheet product, “Word” word processor, “Access” database product, and the Visual Basic programming environment. The Active X standard affords software application developers the opportunity to develop custom Active X controls to add into and use in their software applications.
Controls are typically objects and/or have object-oriented features. Therefore, each control has its own set of methods, events and properties. A method is a function which acts on or is performed by a particular control. For example, a control may possess a “move” method to move the control around on a display screen. An event is an action recognized by a control, such as clicking a mouse or pressing a key. A control has associated code which executes in response to an event recognized by the control. A property is the control's data (settings or attributes), such as color, shape or size. The properties of a control may be edited, i.e., changed to create the desired user interface. Controls may have custom properties that are specific to the control.
In order to incorporate a control into an application or a container, the control is placed or “dropped” onto a form. The control has associated properties, which are listed in the Properties window. The developer changes the properties by selecting a property field and changing the value. The control reflects the change when the developer enters the change into the Properties window.
SUMMARY OF THE INVENTION
The present invention comprises a Data Socket client and associated applications and/or tools which provide programs with access to data from various sources and having various types or formats, wherein the access is provided invisibly to the user. The Data Socket client, also referred to as DataSocket, allows the user or program to access any data source available on the user's machine as well as data anywhere on a network, such as a LAN, WAN or the Internet.
In the preferred embodiment, the Data Socket client addresses data sources or I/O sources using a URL (uniform resource locator), much the way that a URL is used to address web pages anywhere in the world. The present invention also includes new Data Socket URLs which allow the user to access I/O sources. When reading from an input source, the Data Socket performs all work necessary to read the raw data from various input sources and to parse the data and return it in a form directly usable by the user's applications. When writing to an output target the Data Socket performs all work necessary to format the data provided by the user into the appropriate raw format for the specific target.
The Data Socket client is preferably a Data Socket control or other type of re-useable software component. The Data Socket client includes a simple set of properties which provides ease of use. The Data Socket client includes a property referred to as URL which is used to specify the data source. The Data Socket client also includes a status property which informs the program using the Data Socket client as to the state of the connection, i.e., whether the socket is unconnected or connected.
In addition to properties, the Data Socket client includes a simple set of events. The primary event is referred to as “DataUpdated” The DataUpdated event is fired whenever the source to which the Data Socket client is connected has a new value to be used by the application program. The Data Socket client also includes an event referred to as “StatusUpdated”, which is fired whenever the status of the connection changes. This makes it easy for the client or the application using the Data Socket client to monitor this state and to provide information on the state at a very high level to the end user.
In order to use the Data Socket client, the user places the Data Socket client into a program and preferably configures a URL input mechanism, such as a URL text box. The user or programmer enters a URL into the URL text box associated with the Data Socket client. The URL can also be a standard Internet URL, such as http, ftp, file etc. As an example, the URL can begin with “file:”, signifying that a data file is the source of data. The remainder of the URL comprises a path that is meaningful to the machine where the data file resides. This includes files on the local machine or files addressable within the Internet that are accessible by the local machine. Thus the Data Socket client allows a program to address data or files locally, or from a server, or from a peripheral device.
Once the URL is provided, the Data Socket client examines the URL and determines if the Data Socket control can process the data. If so, the Data Socket client retrieves the data. During the data retrieval, the Data Socket client handles opening and closing of the file. The Data Socket client also converts the data to a format useable by the application. In the preferred embodiment, the Data Socket client obtains the data and converts it to a format referred to as a Flex Data object. Once the data has been received and converted, the Data Socket client generates an event to the application program, and the application can receive and process the data.
If the Data Socket client cannot recognize the raw data format, the Data Socket client preferably attempts to find a Data Socket extension or plug-in that can convert the raw data to data usable by the application using the Data Socket. The Data Socket client preferably identifies these extensions by the file suffix, or the mime type associated with the raw data stream. If the data socket
Hood Jeffrey C.
Lim Krisna
Meyertons Hood Kivlin Kowert & Goetzel P.C.
National Instruments Corporation
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