FR2892836A1 - Computer based application e.g. word processor, and remote site interaction method, involves translating elements derived from client application into representation by web site objects, and generating macro object having in linking objects - Google Patents

Abstract

The method involves translating elements (210) derived from a source spreadsheet program type client application (205) to a representation by set of V.D.O.M. elementary objects (220) of web sites. A W.H.O.L.E. macro object (230) consisting in linking elementary objects from the application is generated, where the macro object is incapable of being dissociated from other objects constituting the macro object. The elementary objects of the web sites are translated towards client elements when site is accessed by a word processor type client application (255).

Description

METHOD AND DEVICE FOR PROCESSING AN EVENT DETECTED AT THE LEVEL

THE INTERFACE OF A BROWSER

  The present invention relates to a method and an information processing device. It applies, in particular, to the treatment of events between a Web client, for example a browser, and a server using standard web technologies, the http protocol (acronym for Hyper Text Transfer Protocol for hyper text transfer protocol). ), the DOM-supported client, level 2 (DOM is the acronym for Document Object Model 15 for Document Object Model). The DOM is, for browsers, an internal object representation allowing a script, like Javascript (registered trademark), to interact with the memory representation of the HTML code (acronym for HyperText Markup Language for language with hypertext links), and thus of dynamically modify the page, the web server allowing the execution of script, as well as the modeling by objects 20 of a website. By event, is meant the intervention of a user on the graphical interface of a browser software or browser or any other asynchronous action in the program such as the arrival of data or the end of a stopwatch or timer. For example, this action is created by the movement of the mouse, pressing one of the mouse buttons or pressing a key on the keyboard. The application of the Internet called web operates on the basis of a client or browser, a server hosting the content to provide the client and a network for communication between the client and the server. The protocols involved in the context of the exchange of information between the client and the server include the http protocol. The latter does not make it possible to process a complex event system. The ability of this protocol to handle events is summed up as a GET or POST request that calls a new page to be loaded on the client by passing a set of field / value pairs. This very simple support for client event processing does not satisfy the realization of complex and highly interactive applications. Two major obstacles impede the proper functioning of such applications, firstly the full reloading of a page at each event causes graphic inconvenience for the user and behavior of the application that does not comply with the standards of the usual applications, on the other hand , it is impossible to deal with this system very fast events like moving the mouse. Indeed it is not conceivable to send a request to the server for each movement of the mouse.

  The present invention aims to remedy these disadvantages. For this purpose, the present invention is based on a representation of the content of site pages by objects, as disclosed in document FR 2797336, of the same inventor as the present invention, as to its ability to model an Internet site as a set of object. This document proposes a semantic extension of the DOM structure of browsers. The present invention aims to obviate these drawbacks or impossibilities by proposing a new event management system between a client and a server using the standard technologies of the web (HTTP protocol, Client supporting the DOM level 2 and javascript, Web server allowing the script execution), as well as the website modeling disclosed in document FR 2797336. This technology implements elements representative of the contents of the pages and the structure of the websites in databases located on a central server, said representative elements being constituted of: objects contained in a database, an object being an autonomous entity encapsulating functions for generating a computer code interpretable by a client navigation application, - attributes "of said objects, said attributes being modifiable parameters to constitute the interface of the object with respect to the user client applications, - structure data defining how the objects are positioned in a page as well as the structure of the different pages of sites between them. Each site owner can modify, via the Internet, the behavior of these objects by acting on their attributes through an object manager. It can also arrange, via the Internet, these objects freely in at least one page and arrange the pages between them by acting on the structure through an editor. The user's consultation of the site triggers the activation, on the central server, of a procedure of elaboration of dynamic pages by an application engine, based on the information contained in the databases of structure and objects , the dynamic pages are then interpreted by an HTTP server and transmitted as HTML to the client application.

  For this purpose, the present invention aims, in a first aspect, an information processing method, characterized in that it comprises: a step of detecting an event at the interface of a browser set implemented on a client terminal, - for at least part of the detected events, a step of managing this event, symmetrically, on the one hand, by a client process and, on the other hand, by an asynchronous server process to the process customer. The implementation of the present invention allows response times of the instant application insofar as the processing of the server does not lead to changes in the content of the graphical interface. As a result of the implementation of the present invention, the capture of the events is done relatively to the objects, for example the objects defined in the document FR 2797336, and the action that may result from the processing by the server of this event. acts on the rendering of this same type of object or other actions of treatment. According to particular characteristics, the processing of each event by the server does not result in the reloading of a page being displayed by the browser, unless the reloading is explicitly required by the client terminal. Thanks to these provisions, the management of the event by the server does not harm the interactivity of the client application. According to particular features, the method as briefly described above includes a step of processing, in the client terminal, any event detected to trigger either a direct action, action that does not require processing by the server, on an object the client interface, either storing data representative of the event, in a simple event stack, or the storage of data representative of the event, in a complex event stack. Complex events are events that contain additional information to the event itself. For example, the `onmoumouve 'event when the mouse is moving is a simple event, but` onmousmouve (x, y)' with x and y the coordinates of the mouse at the time of the event, is a complex event. According to particular features, the method as briefly described above comprises, for the events stored in the stack of simple events, a step of transmission to the server. According to particular characteristics, the transmission step is performed via a simple http request of type GET. According to particular features, the method as briefly described above comprises, for the events stored in the complex event stack, a step of serializing the data representative of the complex event and a step of transmitting serialized data to the server. .

  According to particular features, the method as succinctly set forth above includes, for the events transmitted to the server, a storage step, by the server, in at least one database associated with the stacks. According to particular features, the method as briefly described above comprises a step of generating a request for processing the events stored in each database, through an event handler. According to particular features, the method as briefly described above comprises, at the level of the event manager, a step of dynamic generation of a client script and a step of transmission, by the server, of said client script to the client terminal . According to particular features, the method as briefly described above includes a step of action, in the client terminal, client script on client objects to change the rendering. According to particular features, the method as succinctly set forth above includes a step of managing the following four types of events: i. client - client, direct action of an event on a client object on another client object or itself, ii. client - simple synchronous server, standard DOM event not involving other information than the receiver object identifier and the name of the event, requiring server processing whose result modifies the graphical rendering of the client interface, iii. client - complex synchronous server, non-standard DOM event or require more information than for point ii and iv. client - synchronous client I client - complex asynchronous server, a standard or non-DOM event having both a direct action on the client interface and a server processing whose result does not interfere with the client-client action. Other advantages, aims and features of the present invention will emerge from the description which follows, made for an explanatory and non-limiting purpose with reference to the appended drawing, in which FIG. 1 represents the block diagram of the invention. It is recalled that we denote by event, the intervention of a user on the graphical interface of a browser or browser. For example, this action is created by mouse movement, pressing one of the mouse buttons or pressing a key on the keyboard, or any other asynchronous action on the program such as the arrival of data or the end of a limer '. The information processing method that is the subject of the present invention comprises: a step of detecting an event at the interface of a browser implemented on a client terminal, for at least part of the detected events , a step of managing this event, symmetrically, on the one hand, by a client process and, on the other hand, by an asynchronous server process to the client process. Thus, the application can respond instantly since the server processing does not cause changes in the content of the GUI. As a result of the implementation of the present invention, the capture of the events is done relative to the objects, for example defined in the document FR 2797336, and the action that may result from the processing by the server of this event acts on the rendering of this same type of object or other processing actions. Preferably, the processing of each event by the server does not result in the reloading of a page being displayed by the browser, unless the reloading is explicitly required by the client terminal. The management of the event by the server does not affect the interactivity of the client application. It can be seen in FIG. 1 that three layers are used. These layers are the client Cl, the Internet network C2 and the server C3. The event 11 is captured on a graphical interface of the client and is managed by the internal logic of this graphical interface to be then intercepted by a client object modeling dispatcher 12 which decides what actions to take for this event. The dispatcher 12 performs a step of processing, in the client terminal, any detected event to trigger either a direct action, action that does not require processing by the server, on an object of the client interface, or the storage of data representative of the event, in a simple event stack, namely the storage of data representative of the event, in a complex event stack. Complex events are events that contain additional information to the event itself. For example, the event 'onmoumouve' when the mouse moves, is a simple event, but 'onmousmouve (x, y)' with x and y the coordinates of the mouse at the time of the event, is a complex event. Several cases are possible and are determined upstream by a compiler which analyzes the program code and generates the necessary program elements and, in particular, indicates the case in which one is located. In a first case, the action, or the event, does not have to be processed by the server and has no action on the client, a client-client action is then issued and acts on another object of the displayed page containing the objects 25.

  In a second case, the action is purely synchronous with the result of the server and does not require any additional argument than the event itself and the object on which it was intercepted. This event is then put into a FIFO (First First Out First Out) stack of simple events.

  At regular intervals, the browser scans this internal stack in order to transmit events to the server if there are any in the stack. The transmission of events to the server as well as the referent object identifier is done thanks to the ability of browsers to execute several http requests in the same instance of a browser. The process used to generate this query while the page is fully loaded can be multiple. It can be, for example, initiated in a frame (or frame) (new instance of loading a page in the browser) or by other techniques such as for example that known as remote scripting. Thus, an HTTP GET request is made in which the contents of the stack 13 which contains the events to be transmitted are transmitted.

  It is recalled that an HTTP request is a request according to the HTTP protocol, the basic protocol for data exchange between a web client and a web server, for example the version of this HTTP protocol vl.0 (RFC 1945) v.1.1 (RFC 2068). It can be seen, for example, in email addresses, commonly known as the URL, which stands for Uniform Resource Locator for Uniform Resource Locator, by the http: // header.

  It is specified that a simple request is a request of type GET followed by the uri (the uri is a subpart of the url, the one which refers to the document) that is to say '/ <document> ? <data> 'which means that we pass the data directly into the query information of the document which limits the amount of data transmitted (256 characters according to the specifications of the uri), unlike a request of type POST that allows pass data in arbitrary amount. A server script transfers the data of the request into a database 17 of the server associated with a stack of simple events 19, consecutively, a request generator 24 controls the processing of the event by the server manager 21. The manager Server Event 21 unpacks events. The processing processor executes the script associated with the event. The result is the dynamic generation of a client script that performs actions on instantiated objects on the client. Thus, the method that is the subject of the present invention comprises, in exemplary embodiments, a step of generating a request for processing the events stored in each said database, through an event manager. The event manager performs a step of dynamic generation of a client script, a step of transmission of this client script to the client terminal, being performed by the server. It follows a step of action, in the client terminal, the client script on client objects to modify the rendering. In a third case, the action is synchronous with the processing on the server and requires additional parameters to the object identifier and to the name of the event, or is not a standard event supported by the DOM. this is a so-called complex event. Complex events are events that include information that is complementary to the event itself. For example, the event 'onmoumouve' when the mouse moves, is a simple event, but 'onmousmouve (x, y)' with x and y the coordinates of the mouse at the time of the event, is a complex event. This event is materialized, client-side, by a Java Script object containing a number of information bases which are the Object Identifier, the type of event, the coordinates (X, Y) of the object and an additional data field containing an arbitrary amount of torque (tag, value) representing the parameters specific to this event.

  In this case, the event dispatcher 12 stores the event object in the FIFO stack of the complex events 14. At regular time interval, the browser scans this internal stack 14 in order to transmit the events to the server, if there are any. has in the pile. The transmission of events to the server can not, in this case, be a simple http request. Indeed the http protocol can not transmit java script objects directly to the server. A serializer 16 then transforms the objects of the stack 14 into a set of data transmittable by http. The serialization performed and the storage of the event in a database 18 of the server associated with a stack of complex events stored in the server, the request generator 24 controls the processing of the event by an event manager 21 of the server. The server's event handler 21 unpacks the events. The processor 22 executes the script associated with the event. The result is the dynamic generation of a client script 23 performing actions on the instantiated objects on the client terminal. In a fourth case, the action is synchronous to the client and asynchronous to the server processing. In this case, the dispatcher simultaneously generates a direct type event intended to be processed by the server. The condition for proper operation of the system is that the result of the server processing does not conflict with the Client-Client event. Thus, the implementation of the present invention makes it possible to manage the following four types of events: i. client - client, direct action of an event on a client object on another client object or itself, ii. client-simple synchronous server, standard DOM event not involving other information than the receiver object identifier and the name of the event, requiring server processing whose result modifies the graphical rendering of the client interface, iii . client - complex synchronous server, non-standard DOM event or requiring more information than for point ii and iv. client - synchronous client / client - complex asynchronous server, a standard or non-DOM event that has both a direct action on the client interface and a server process whose result does not interfere with the client-client action.

Claims (3)

  1 - Information processing method, characterized in that it comprises: a step of detecting an event (11) at the interface of a browser implemented on a client terminal (Cl) for at least a part of the detected events, a step of managing this event, symmetrically, on the one hand, by a client process and, on the other hand, by a server process (C3) asynchronous to the client process. 2 - Process according to claim 1, characterized in that the processing of each event (11) by the server (C3) does not result in the reloading of a page being displayed by the browser, unless the reloading is explicitly required by the client terminal. 3 - Process according to any one of claims 1 or 2, characterized in that it comprises a step of processing, in the client terminal, any event (11) detected 15 to trigger either a direct action, action not requiring processing by the server (C3), on an object of the client interface, or the storage of data representative of the event, in a simple event stack (13), or the storage of data representative of the event, in a complex event stack 1 (14). 4. Process according to claim 3, characterized in that it comprises, for the events (11) stored in the simple event stack (13), a step of transmission to the server (C3). Process according to claim 4, characterized in that the transmission step is carried out via a simple http request of the GET type. 6. Process according to any one of claims 3 to 5, characterized in that it comprises, for the events (11) stored in the complex event stack (14), a serialization step (16) of the data. representative of the complex event and a step of transmitting serialized data to the server (C3). 7. Process according to any one of claims 1 to 6, characterized in that it comprises, for the events (11) transmitted to the server (C3), a storage step, by the server, in at least one base data (17, 18) associated with the batteries (19, 20). 8 - Process according to claim 7, characterized in that it comprises, a step of generating request (24) processing events (11) stored in each said database (17, 18), through a event manager (21). 35 9 Procédé Process according to claim 8, characterized in that it comprises, at the level of the event manager (21), a step of dynamic generation of a client script (23) and a transmission step, by the server (C3), from said client script to the client terminal (Cl) .10 - The method according to claim 9, characterized in that it comprises an action step, in the client terminal (C1), of the client script (23) on client objects (25) to modify the rendering thereof. 11. Process according to any one of claims 1 to 10, characterized in that it comprises a step of management of the following four types of events (11): i. client (Cl) - client, direct action of an event on a client object on another client object or itself, ii. simple synchronous server-client (C3), standard DOM event not involving other information than the receiver object identifier and the event name, requiring a server processing whose result modifies the graphic rendering of the client interface, iii. client - complex synchronous server, non-standard DOM event or requiring more information than for point ii and iv. client - synchronous client / client - complex asynchronous server, event 15 standard or not the DOM having both a direct action on the client interface and a server processing whose result does not interfere with the customer action-client.