Page function architectural framework
View Patent ↗An architectural software framework is provided for creating Web-style application software incorporating protocols and means for expansion and interfacing with other Web-style programs, as well as a reusable basic programming structure, including abstract and concrete data types, that assist in building Web-style applications. The architectural software framework includes a page function and frame. Each Web-style application includes one or more page functions which communicate via the frame.
1. For use in a computer system including a display, a user input facility, and an application for presenting user interfaces on the display, one or more page functions of a web-style application being stored on a computer-readable storage medium as a data type, each page function comprising:
a set of exposed attributes accessible externally to the page function of the web-style application, a first subset of the set of exposed attributes defining types of information receivable by the page function, a second subset of the set of exposed attributes defining types of information returnable by the page function;
a set of page function services including an activate service and a complete service, both services being invocable to execute a decision including at least one of a decision to finish, a decision to show a user interface page, and a decision to create a new page function, wherein upon a first page function of the web-style application executing the decision to create a new page function, the activate service of a second page function of the web-style application is invoked such that control passes to the second page function, and further upon the second page function executing the decision to finish, the complete service of the first page function is invoked such that control passes back to the first page function without displaying a launching page of the web-style application; and
a binding selectively coupled to a user interface page, such that upon the binding being coupled to the user interface page and upon the page function executing the decision to show a user interface page, the user interface page is displayed, and such that upon the binding not being coupled to the user interface page, the user interface page is not displayed.
2. The computer-readable storage medium of claim 1 , wherein the activate service has a set of parameters, each corresponding to one of the first subset of exposed attributes.
3. The computer-readable storage medium of claim 1 , wherein the complete service has a set of parameters, a portion of the set of parameters identifying another page function created by the page function to perform a second task, another portion of the set of parameters corresponding to one of the second subset of exposed attributes.
4. The computer-readable storage medium of claim 1 , further comprising an identifier for identifying each instance of the page function.
5. The computer-readable storage medium of claim 1 , wherein the binding is not coupled to a user interface page such that no user interface page is displayed while the page function is active.
6. The computer-readable storage medium of claim 5 wherein the second page function becomes active when control passes to the second page function and the second page function becomes inactive upon executing the finish decision.