Method for sharing an object between applications
View Patent ↗An object sharing system instantiates or defines an object container that can be cloned and return a reference to a “saved” object, allowing an object to be passed between applications while maintaining a consistent reference to the object. The object sharing system places a reference to an object in the object container. A serialization module serializes the object container; the serialized object container is passed to a second application comprising the object sharing system. A deserialization module in the second application deserializes the object container, instantiating an object container clone and extracting a reference clone. The reference clone allows the second application to manipulate the saved object as desired without further interaction with the first application.
1. A method of sharing an object between a plurality of applications in a single virtual processing environment, comprising:
selecting an object to be shared;
executing a first application and a second application in a virtual machine in memory on a computer processor;
instantiating a container that contains an original reference to an object of the first application in the virtual machine;
associating, with said container, a parameter responsive to an instantiation time of said container;
storing a hash key associated with said container;
creating a trusted dictionary to pass the object between the plurality of applications while maintaining a reference to the object;
determining if the object can be serialized;
serializing the container;
transferring the serialized container to the second application within the same virtual machine;
instantiating a container clone; said container clone, comprising a reference clone, wherein said reference clone is used by the second application to access or manipulate said object;
deserializing the transferred serialized container by the second application with a deserialization module; and
extracting the reference clone from the deserialized container;
retrieving the object using the hash key associated with said container;
verifying that the object will be retrieved from a correct class storage area;
wherein the extracted reference clone allows the first application to share the object with the second application, by comparing and matching a parameter responsive to an instantiation time of the extracted reference clone and a parameter responsive to an instantiation time of the original reference and by comparing and matching a hash key associated with the extracted reference clone and the hash key associated with said container;
and wherein the extracted reference clone shares at least one variable in common with the original reference using a reference to a class variable;
removing the object from the class storage area when there are no more references to the object;
extending the method of sharing an object to all objects passed from one application to another application; and
sharing the object with a plurality of applications.
2. The method according to claim 1 , wherein serializing the container comprises creating a trusted dictionary, encrypting the container, and converting the original container to a sequence of bytes.
3. The method according to claim 1 , wherein the object to be shared is not amenable to serialization.
4. The method according to claim 1 , wherein deserializing the container comprises decrypting the container.
5. The method according to claim 1 , wherein deserializing the container comprises cloning the container.