Dynamic object linking interface

Details Dynamic object linking interface Dynamic object linking interface

1997-09-12

2001-01-09

Feild, Joseph H. (Department: 2771)

Data processing: database and file management or data structures

Database design

Data structure types

C345S215000, C345S440000

Reexamination Certificate

active

06173297

ABSTRACT:

FIELD OF THE INVENTION
The present invention relates to a computer software integration and more particularly to a method of sharing and manipulating software objects between a number of different, independent software applications.
BACKGROUND OF THE INVENTION
In the computer industry today, software applications exist which service a wide variety of user needs. Individual applications are typically optimized so as to excel in a particular functional area, while offering sub-optimal or minimal performance in other functional areas. For example, spreadsheet applications are typically adept at producing data tables and graphs of the data in these tables, but perform rather poorly when called upon to produce an intricately formatted text document. On the other hand, word processing applications tend to handle the production of highly formatted text documents with ease, but generally handle data tabulation and graphing functions poorly. Given this strong division of functionally among applications, the typical user often requires some degree of information sharing among the various applications being employed. Application integration strategies allow some degree of information sharing by allowing the user to invoke a single application which, in turn, calls upon associated specialized applications are required. However, the efficient and user-friendly sharing of information between different applications continues to prove a stumbling point for the computer industry as a whole.
In 1992 Microsoft Corp. released a protocol, Object Linking and Embedding (OLE), that enables one application to use the services of other applications through a nearly transparent interface. The OLE protocol allows applications which support the protocol to incorporate objects which contain links to other applications. Objects, as the term is used herein, can include text, charts, graphs, spreadsheet tables, bitmap images, vector drawings, sound bites, video clips, programs, and nearly anything else that can be displayed, controlled, or manipulated by a software application.
In the OLE protocol, the object that contains the linked or embedded objects is referred to as a container object. A container object contains other objects that are still connected to the original application that created them, where the connections can either be a linked connection or an embedded connection. Linked connections are connections where the actual data associated with the contained object resides in another, separate object. In such a case, the information necessary to establish and maintain a linked connection is simply a reference to the contained object. Embedded connections, on the other hand, are connections where the actual data associated with the contained object resides within the container object. In either case, the contained object can only be edited by the application that originally created it.
OLE and OLE-type integration strategies allow the user to focus on the central task at hand, without requiring explicit knowledge or control of the applications needed to accomplish the task. In the case of OLE, the applications required to perform a given task are brought to the user in a preferred format or context, when necessary. Also, files tend to be more compact when the linking-type application integration strategies are employed because linking to an object allows an application data file to reflect information about the linked object without having the object's data physically stored and maintained in the data file.
OLE and OLE-type integration strategies constitute a significant step towards effective integration of a variety of individual software applications. However, these type integration strategies necessarily require that certain data be stored with a linked or embedded object, thus providing the information necessary for tracking the embedded or linked object back to the originating application. More particularly, both embedding and conventional linking create “hard” connections between the linked/embedded object and the application which originally created the object. That is, the connection is to a specific application that does not change. Thus, the linked/embedded object requires a pre-defined connection path to the outside application.
From a user's perspective, it is desirable to have a more flexible arrangement, one where the connection between objects and applications did not need to be pre-defined. Therefore, there exists a need for an application integration method that is capable of efficiently operating when there are no pre-defined connections between an object and any other application defined within the computer operating system.
SUMMARY OF THE INVENTION
The present invention is an object-linking interface for a computer system which dynamically links a selected target object from a host application with a second user application. The dynamic object linking operating environment includes a plurality of means testers, each of which is associated with a specific user application, and an object mapper. The object mapper passes a copy of the target object to each means tester. Each means tester thereafter tests the target object to determine the suitability of the associated application for processing the target object and generates a likelihood score indicating the suitability. The object mapper queries each means tester to obtain its likelihood score and identifies, based upon said likelihood scores, one or more applications suitable for processing the target object. The object mapper may select a recruited application automatically or may suggest a list of candidates for a user to select a recruited application from. The target object is then passed to the recruited application for processing by that application to create a return object. The return object is then passed to the host application to supplant the target object. In this manner, a target object is dynamically linked to an outside application, i.e., the recruited application. The identity of the recruited application will depend on the content of the target object and may vary from one object to another and from time to time.


REFERENCES:
patent: 5680619 (1997-10-01), Gudmundson et al.
patent: 5734905 (1998-03-01), Oppenheim
patent: 5872973 (1999-02-01), Mitchell et al.
patent: 5935210 (1999-08-01), Stark
patent: 5937409 (1999-08-01), Wetherbee
patent: 5946699 (1999-08-01), Sawashima et al.

Affiliated with

Also associated with

Rating

Dynamic object linking interface does not yet have a rating. At this time, there are no reviews or comments for this patent.

If you have personal experience with Dynamic object linking interface, we encourage you to share that experience with our LandOfFree.com community. Your opinion is very important and Dynamic object linking interface will most certainly appreciate the feedback.

Rate now

Comments { 0 }

Profile ID: LFUS-PAI-O-2552246