Method, apparatus, and system for implementing caching of view custom options in a framework to support web-based applications

1. A system, comprising:

a set of browser-side objects running on a browser residing on a client;

a remote procedure call (RPC) mechanism to enable re-targeting of methods from browser-side objects to a set of server-side objects managed by an object manager (OM) running on a server;

a notification mechanism to facilitate transmission of notifications from server-side objects to browser-side objects; and

a cache on the client to store custom options of views, wherein each view is a display panel comprising a particular arrangement of applets, and

wherein the client is to receive a request from a user to switch to a view, and to obtain custom options of the view from the server using the RPC mechanism and the notification mechanism, and to store the custom options of the view in the cache if the custom options of the view have not been cached.

2. The system of claim 1 , wherein the client flushes the cache, if the cache is full, to clear up storage space in the cache for the custom options of the view.

3. The system of claim 1 , wherein the client creates and displays the view using the custom options obtained from the server, obtains data for the view from the server, and populates the view with the retrieved data.

4. The system of claim 1 , wherein the client retrieves the custom options of the view from the cache, if the custom options of the view have been cached, to save a round trip to the server.

5. The system of claim 4 , wherein the client creates and displays the view using the custom options retrieved from the cache, obtains data for the view from the server, and populates the view with the data obtained from the server.

6. The system of claim 1 , wherein the applets are represented by browser-side objects capable of receiving notification from server-side objects using the notification mechanism and having methods that are capable of being retargeted to server-side objects using the remote procedure call (RPC) mechanism.

7. A method, comprising:

loading a set of browser-side objects on a browser running on a client;

enabling re-targeting of methods from browser-side objects to a set of server-side objects managed by an object manager (OM) running on a server using a remote procedure call (RPC) mechanism;

facilitating transmission of notifications from the server-side objects to browser-side objects using a notification mechanism;

receiving a request from a user to switch to a view, wherein the view is a display panel comprising a particular arrangement of applets;

obtaining custom options of the view from the server using the RPC mechanism and the notification mechanism if the custom options of the view have not been cached in a cache on the client; and

saving the custom options of the view in the cache if the custom options of the view have not been cached.

8. The method of claim 7 , further comprising:

flushing the cache, if the cache is full, to clear up storage space in the cache for the custom options of the view.

9. The method of claim 7 , further comprising:

creating and displaying the view using the custom options obtained from the server;

obtaining data for the view from the server; and

populating the view with the data obtained from the server.

10. The method of claim 8 , further comprising:

retrieving the custom options of the view from the cache, if the custom options of the view have been saved in the cache, to save a round trip to the server.

11. The method of claim 10 , further comprising:

creating and displaying the view using the custom options retrieved from the cache;

obtaining data for the view from the server; and

populating the view with the data obtained from the server.

12. A machine-readable medium comprising instructions which, when executed by a machine, cause the machine to perform a method comprising:

loading a set of browser-side objects on a browser running on a client;

enabling re-targeting of methods from browser-side objects to a set of server-side objects managed by an object manager (OM) running on a server using a remote procedure call (RPC) mechanism;

facilitating transmission of notifications from the server-side objects to browser-side objects using a notification mechanism;

receiving a request from a user to switch to a view, wherein the view is a display panel comprising a particular arrangement of applets;

retrieving custom options of the view from the server using the RPC mechanism and the notification mechanism if the custom options of the view have not been cached in a cache on the client; and

saving the custom options of the view in the cache if custom options of the view have not been cached.

13. The machine-readable medium of claim 12 , wherein the method further comprises:

flushing the cache, if the cache is full, to clear up storage space in the cache for the custom options of the view.

14. The machine-readable medium of claim 12 , wherein the method further comprises:

creating and displaying the view;

obtaining data for the view from the server;

populating the view with the data obtained from the server; and

applying to the view the custom options obtained from the server.

15. The machine-readable medium of claim 12 , wherein the method further comprises:

retrieving the custom options of the view from the cache, if the custom options of the view have been cached, to save a round trip to the server.

16. The machine-readable medium of claim 15 , wherein the method further comprises:

creating and displaying the view;

obtaining data for the view from the server;

populating the view with the data obtained from the server; and

applying to the view the custom options retrieved from the cache.