Methods and systems for conducting a remote desktop session via HTML that supports a 2D canvas and dynamic drawing
Examples of methods, systems, apparatus, and machine-readable storage media are provided to facilitate access and control of a remote desktop of a remote machine by a web browser at a client device through a transcoding server without installing proprietary plug-ins or protocols on the client device. A transcoding server may translate user input requests from a web browser into input calls compatible with a remote desktop display protocol. The transcoding server may receive remote desktop drawing commands from the remote machine and translate the remote desktop drawing commands into web browser drawing updates compatible with the web browser. A transcoding server may communicate with is web browser via HTTP and communicate with a remote machine via a remote desktop display protocol. A web browser may be an HTML5 browser. A transcoding server may send drawing coordinates to the web browser via an HTTP header and may use long polling.
1. A method of conducting a remote desktop session comprising:
receiving, at a transcoding server, a request from a client device for access and control of a remote desktop of a remote machine, the transcoding server having a protocol translation functionality configured to translate a first protocol to a second protocol;
receiving, at the transcoding server, a remote desktop drawing command from the remote machine in response to the request;
translating, at the transcoding server, the remote desktop drawing command into a drawing update compatible with HTML, wherein the drawing update comprises an image file and drawing coordinates for the image file, wherein translating the remote desktop drawing command into the drawing update comprises:
translating, at the transcoding server, the remote desktop drawing command into a Java graphics drawing command;
updating, at the transcoding server, a portion of a Java bitmap using the Java graphics drawing command, wherein the Java bitmap is off-screen in a drawing commands queue of the transcoding server and represents an entire image of the remote desktop of the remote machine
placing, at the transcoding server, the drawing coordinates into a cookie; and
providing, at the transcoding server, the drawing update to the web browser in response, wherein the response comprises the cookie;
wherein the transcoding server is an intermediary between the remote machine and the client device, and wherein the transcoding server is physically separate from the remote machine.
2. The method of claim 1 , further comprising:
generating coordinates for the updated portion of the Java bitmap based on the Java graphics drawing command; and
forming an image file based on the updated portion of the Java bitmap.
3. The method of claim 2 , further comprising obtaining drawing coordinates for the image file based on the coordinates for the updated portion of the Java bitmap.
4. The method of claim 3 , wherein the drawing coordinates are compatible with HTML5.
5. The method of claim 1 , wherein the request from the client device is from a web browser that temporarily comprises JavaScript client code during the remote desktop session.
6. The method of claim 1 , further comprising:
receiving, at the transcoding server, a drawing request from a web browser of the client device, and
providing a drawing update from the transcoding server to the web browser in response to the drawing request from the web browser.
7. The method of claim 1 , further comprising receiving, at the transcoding server from the client device an initial HTTP request comprising a uniform resource locator (URL) of the remote machine.
8. The method of claim 1 , wherein the transcoding server comprises a Java compatible web application container.
9. A machine-readable non-transitory storage medium encoded with instructions executable by a processing system, the instructions comprising code for:
receiving, at a transcoding server, a request from a client device for access and control of a remote desktop of a remote machine, the transcoding server having a protocol translation functionality configured to translate a first protocol to a second protocol;
receiving, at the transcoding server, a remote desktop drawing command from the remote machine in response to the request;
translating, at the transcoding server, the remote desktop drawing command into a drawing update compatible with HTML, wherein the drawing update comprises an image file and drawing coordinates for the image file, wherein translating the remote desktop drawing command into the drawing update comprises:
translating, at the transcoding server, the remote desktop drawing command into a Java graphics drawing command;
updating, at the transcoding server, a portion of a Java bitmap using the Java graphics drawing command, wherein the Java bitmap is off-screen in a drawing commands queue of the transcoding server and represents an entire image of the remote desktop of the remote machine
placing, at the transcoding server, the drawing coordinates into a cookie; and
providing, at the transcoding server, the drawing update to the web browser in response, wherein the response comprises the cookie;
wherein the transcoding server is an intermediary between the remote machine and the client device, and wherein the transcoding server is physically separate from the remote machine.
10. The machine-readable non-transitory storage medium of claim 9 , wherein the instructions further comprise code for:
generating coordinates for the updated portion of the Java bitmap based on the Java graphics drawing command; and
forming an image file based on the updated portion of the Java bitmap.
11. The machine-readable non-transitory storage medium of claim 10 , wherein the instructions further comprise code for obtaining drawing coordinates for the image file based on the coordinates for the updated portion of the Java bitmap.
12. The machine-readable non-transitory storage medium of claim 11 , wherein the drawing coordinates are compatible with HTML5.
13. The machine-readable non-transitory storage medium of claim 9 , wherein the request from the client device is from a web browser that temporarily comprises JavaScript client code during the remote desktop session.
14. The machine-readable non-transitory storage medium of claim 9 , wherein the instructions further comprise code for:
receiving, at the transcoding server, a drawing request from a web browser of the client device, and
providing a drawing update from the transcoding server to the web browser in response to the drawing request from the web browser.
15. The machine-readable non-transitory storage medium of claim 9 , wherein the instructions further comprise code for receiving, at the transcoding server from the client device an initial HTTP request comprising a uniform resource locator (URL) of the remote machine.
16. An apparatus for conducting a remote desktop session comprising:
a non-transitory memory;
a processor communicatively coupled to the non-transitory memory, the processor located at a transcoding server, the transcoding server having a protocol translation functionality configured to translate a first protocol to a second protocol, the processor configured to:
receive a request from a client device for access and control of a remote desktop of a remote machine;
receive a remote desktop drawing command from the remote machine in response to the request;
translate the remote desktop drawing command into a drawing update compatible with HTML, wherein the drawing update comprises an image file and drawing coordinates for the image file, the processor further configured to:
translate the remote desktop drawing command into a Java graphics drawing command;
update a portion of a Java bitmap using the Java graphics drawing command, wherein the Java bitmap is off-screen in a drawing commands queue of the transcoding server and represents an entire image of the remote desktop of the remote machine
place the drawing coordinates into a cookie; and
provide the drawing update to the web browser in response, wherein the response comprises the cookie;
wherein the transcoding server is an intermediary between the remote machine and the client device, and wherein the transcoding server is physically separate from the remote machine.
17. The apparatus of claim 16 , wherein the processor is further configured to:
generate coordinates for the updated portion of the Java bitmap based on the Java graphics drawing command; and
form an image file based on the updated portion of the Java bitmap.
18. The apparatus of claim 17 , wherein the processor is further configured to obtain drawing coordinates for the image file based on the coordinates for the updated portion of the Java bitmap.
19. The apparatus of claim 18 , wherein the drawing coordinates are compatible with HTML5.
20. The apparatus of claim 16 , wherein the request from the client device is from a web browser that temporarily comprises JavaScript client code during the remote desktop session.