Patent ID: 8127304
Filing Date: 2012-02-28
Classification: G06F

Abstract:
1. A method, comprising: maintaining, by an application server, session information for sessions initiated by user interfaces at client computers to access functions and operations of an application program, wherein the session information for the sessions comprises session identifiers provided to the user interfaces at the client computers to use to access the application program and context information comprising recent settings and variables resulting from at least one interaction between the client computers and the application program occurring during the sessions; receiving a first request from a requesting user interface comprising one of the user interfaces in one of the client computers via a network protocol directed to the application program, wherein the network protocol comprises a stateless network protocol; generating an additional session identifier to identify an additional session initiated by the requesting user interface for the application program providing the first request; generating additional state information and additional context information for the additional session to use to invoke the application program, wherein the additional state information is used to identify a user of the requesting user interface to the application program and wherein the additional context information provides information to enable a stateful session between the requesting user interface initiating the additional session and the application program; saving the additional state information and the additional context information as saved state information and saved context information in an instance of session information for the additional session initiated in response to the first request, wherein the saved context information indicates a state of settings and variables used by the application program to process the first request of the additional session; in response to a second request including received data from the requesting user interface at one of the client computers, including the additional session identifier created during the first request, loading the saved context information for the settings and variables for the additional session identified by the additional session identifier into an application program runtime environment to reinstate the saved context information, including application program specific settings and variables resulting from the processing of the first request, to allow the requesting user interface making the second request to access the application program in a same context as the first request via the stateless network protocol; mapping the received data in the second request to application variables; using the saved state information and the saved context information loaded in response to the second request to communicate the application variables to the application program; using, by the application program, the saved state information and the saved context information for the additional session loaded in response to the second request; and saving the context information for settings and variables used by the application program to process the second request including the received data.