Content management and transformation system for digital content
A transformation engine that enables content and information to be transformed from one format, a source format, to a format that is compatible with the requesting device, a destination format. Advantageously, various device types can access and share content via a network without concern as to the original format of the content. When a client device provides a request for content, the transformation engine identifies delivery characteristics of the client device, and identifies a source for the requested content. The transformation engine then transforms the source formatted content into a format identified through a best fit analysis of the delivery characteristics of the device.
1. A method implemented by a server, the method comprising:
receiving, by the server, a request for an application from a client device, the request identifying one or more client variables that describe the client device;
in response to receiving the request, obtaining a version of an application component of the application, the application component selected from among a plurality of available versions of the application, the versions being configured to operate in different environments, the obtained version of the application component being selected for the client device based on at least the one of the client variables;
determining, by the server, a destination environment of the client device, the determining based on at least one of the client variables;
invoking, by the server, the obtained version of the application component;
creating, by the server, based on the determined destination environment and using interim data resulting from the server invoking the obtained version of the application component, an application interface for the application component; and
packaging, by the server, the application interface for communication to the client device.
2. A method of claim 1 wherein:
the plurality of available versions of the application are available from a plurality of locations;
the obtaining includes querying a database that contains information about the plurality of locations; and
at least one of the plurality of locations is accessible via a network.
3. A method of claim 1 wherein the application interface is configured to be executed within a browser at the client device.
4. A method of claim 1 wherein the one or more variables describe hardware characteristics of the client device.
5. A method of claim 1 wherein the one or more variables also describe a network connection that communicatively couples the server to the client device.
6. A method of claim 1 wherein the one or more variables describe compression or decompression characteristics of the client device.
7. A method of claim 1 wherein the creating an application interface using the interim data comprises encapsulating the interim data in the application interface so that a result of invoking the obtained version of the application component is displayable at the client device without invoking the obtained version of the application component again.
8. A method of claim 2 wherein the request further includes data that describes a user of the client device and the querying is performed using the data.
9. A server comprising a processor and memory that stores instructions that, responsive to execution by the processor, cause the server to perform operations comprising:
receiving, by the server, a request from a client device, the request identifying one or more client variables that describe the client device and an application that is requested by the client device; and
in response to receiving the request, the server:
obtains, based on at least one of the client variables, a version of an application component of the application from among a plurality of versions of the application, the versions configured to operate in different environments;
determines a destination environment of the client device based on at least one of the client variables;
invokes the obtained version of the application component; and
creates, based on the determined destination environment and using interim data resulting from the server invoking the obtained version of the application component, an application interface for the application component.
10. A server of claim 9 wherein the obtaining includes querying a database that includes access information for each of the plurality of versions of the application.
11. A server of claim 9 wherein one or more of the plurality of versions of the application are accessible to the server via a network.
12. A server of claim 9 wherein the application interface is configured to be executed within a browser at the client device.
13. A server of claim 9 wherein the one or more variables describe hardware characteristics of the client device.
14. A server of claim 9 wherein the one or more variables also describe a network connection that communicatively couples the server to the client device.
15. A server of claim 9 wherein the one or more variables describe compression or decompression characteristics of the client device.
16. A server of claim 9 wherein the creating an application interface using the interim data comprises encapsulating the interim data in the application interface so that a result of invoking the obtained version of the application component is displayable at the client device without invoking the obtained version of the application component again.
17. A server of claim 9 wherein the request further includes data that describes a user of the client device and the querying is performed using the data.
18. A server of claim 17 wherein the data is a shared profile of user's common to a particular domain.
19. A method comprising:
receiving, at a server, a version of an application component selected from a plurality of versions of the application component, wherein the received version of the application component is configured to operate in an environment having a particular configuration attribute;
invoking, by the server, the obtained version of the application component to obtain interim data;
storing the interim data to be accessible to the server; and
responsive to a request received at the server that identifies the application component, one or more variables that describe one or more configuration attributes of a client environment, and data that describes a user of the client device:
obtaining the interim data based on the request;
creating, by the server, from the interim data and based on one or more of the configuration attributes of the client environment and the data that describes the user, an application interface for the application component; and
transmitting, to the client device, the application interface.
20. A method of claim 19 , wherein a format of the interim data is proprietary.
21. A method of claim 19 , wherein the data is a shared profile of users common to a particular domain.