Abstract:
Systems and methods for providing remote access to an application program. A server remote access program may cooperate with display data interception application to provide display data to a client computing device. The client computing device may connect to the application at a Uniform Resourced Locator (URL) using a client remote access application to receive the display data. The client remote access application may provide user inputs, received at the client computing device, to the application to affect the state of the application.

Description:
CROSS-REFERENCE TO RELATED APPLICATIONS 
       [0001]    This application is a continuation of U.S. patent application Ser. No. 13/586,007, filed Aug. 14, 2012, and entitled “Non-Invasive Remote Access to an Application Program.” The present application also claims priority to U.S. Provisional Patent Application Nos. 61/523,632 and 61/523,644, each filed on Aug. 15, 2011 and entitled “Non-Invasive Remote Access to an Application Program.” The above-referenced applications are incorporated herein by reference in their entireties. 
     
    
     BACKGROUND 
       [0002]    Ubiquitous remote access to application programs and data has become commonplace as a result of the growth and availability of broadband and wireless network access. In addition, users are accessing application programs and data using an ever-growing variety of client devices (e.g., mobile devices, table computing devices, laptop/notebook/desktop computers, etc.). Data may be communicated to the mobile device from a remote server over a 3G and 4G mobile data networks or wireless networks such as WiFi and WiMax. Most mobile devices have access to the Internet and are able to interact with various types of application programs. 
       SUMMARY 
       [0003]    Disclosed herein are systems and methods for providing remote access to an application program executing on, e.g., a server. In accordance with some implementations, a method of providing remote access to at least one application program is disclosed. The method may include providing a server remote access program at a server computing device; enumerating at least one Uniform Resource Locator (URL) that is associated with the at least one application program; receiving a communication from a client at the at least one URL; intercepting display information associated with the at least one application program associated with the at least one URL; and communicating the display information to the client computing device using the server remote access program. 
         [0004]    In accordance with other implementations, there is provided a method for providing remote access to an application program. The method may include providing a server remote access program at a server computing device; receiving a communication at the server computing device from a client computing device to access the application program; intercepting display data associated with the application program; and communicating the display data to the client computing device. 
         [0005]    In accordance with yet other implementations, there is provided a method for providing remote access to an application program. The method may include providing a server remote access program at a server computing device, the server computing device hosting the application program; providing an display data interception scraping application that receives display data associated with the application; receiving a request at the server computing device from a client computing device, the request being made at an enumerated Uniform Resource Locator (URL) in order to access the application program; and communicating the display data from the server computing device to the client computing device. 
         [0006]    Other systems, methods, features and/or advantages will be or may become apparent to one with skill in the art upon examination of the following drawings and detailed description. It is intended that all such additional systems, methods, features and/or advantages be included within this description and be protected by the accompanying claims. 
     
    
     
       BRIEF DESCRIPTION OF THE DRAWINGS 
         [0007]    The components in the drawings are not necessarily to scale relative to each other. Like reference numerals designate corresponding parts throughout the several views. 
           [0008]      FIG. 1  is a simplified block diagram illustrating a system for providing remote access to an application program via a computer network; 
           [0009]      FIGS. 2A-2C  are simplified block diagrams illustrating operation of a screen scraping application and server and client remote access program(s); 
           [0010]      FIG. 3  illustrates a state model of the system of  FIG. 1 ; 
           [0011]      FIG. 4  illustrates a flow diagram of example operations performed within the system of  FIGS. 1-3 ; 
           [0012]      FIG. 5  illustrates a flow diagram of example operations performed within the system of  FIGS. 1-2 ; and 
           [0013]      FIG. 6  illustrates an exemplary computing environment. 
       
    
    
     DETAILED DESCRIPTION 
       [0014]    Unless defined otherwise, all technical and scientific terms used herein have the same meaning as commonly understood by one of ordinary skill in the art. Methods and materials similar or equivalent to those described herein can be used in the practice or testing of the present disclosure. While implementations will be described for remotely accessing and viewing application programs, it will become evident to those skilled in the art that the implementations are not limited thereto. 
         [0015]    Referring to FIGS.  1  and  2 A- 2 C, there is illustrated a system  100  for providing remote access to an application program via a computer network. The system  100  may include one or more server computing devices  102 A,  102 B and one or more client computing devices  112 A,  112 B,  112 C . . .  112 N. The client computing devices may include, but are not limited to, a wireless handheld device such as, for example, an IPHONE  112 A or a BLACKBERRY  112 B connected via a communication network  110  such as, for example, the Internet, to the server computing device  102 A and/or the server computing device  102 B. Similarly, the client computing devices may also include a desktop/notebook personal computer  112 C or a tablet device  112 N that are connected by the communication network  110  to the server computing device  102 A and/or the server computing device  102 B. It is noted that the connections to the communication network  110  may be any type of connection, for example, Wi-Fi (IEEE 802.11x), WiMax (IEEE 802.16), Ethernet, 3G, 4G, etc. 
         [0016]    The server computing device  102 A may be connected to a first Local Area Network (LAN)  109 A and the server computing device  102 B is connected to a second Local Area Network (LAN)  109 B that are connected to the communications network  110 . It is noted that any number of server computers may be connected to the communications network  110  in accordance with the present disclosure.  FIG. 6  illustrates an exemplary computing device that may be used as the server computing device  102 A, the server computing device  102 B, or the client computing devices  112 A,  112 B,  112 C . . .  112 N. 
         [0017]    As shown in  FIG. 1 , a client remote access program is executed on a processor  118 A,  118 B,  118 C . . .  118 N of the client computing devices  112 A,  112 B,  112 C . . .  112 N. The client remote access program is provide as executable commands stored in memory  120 A,  120 B,  120 C . . .  120 N of the client computing devices  112 A,  112 B,  112 C . . .  112 N. The client remote access program communicates with a user interaction program such as, for example, a web browser or native application. The user interaction program may display the screen data (from the server computing device  102 A or  102 B), or receive user input data for interacting with the first and the second screen scraping application using, for example, a graphical display with touch-screen  114 A,  114 N, a graphical display  114 B, or a keyboard  116 B,  116 C of the client computing devices. 
         [0018]    The server remote access programs  107 A and  107 B and the client remote access program may be implemented using standard programming languages and communication is enabled using standard communication technologies such as, for example, Hyper Text Transfer Protocol (HTTP), virtual private networks (VPN), and secure socket layers (SSL) which are well known to those skilled in the art. Further, an instance of a server remote application may be provided on a different server than the server executing the screen scraping application. In such an implementation, screen data may be communicated over a direct or networked connection between the server executing the screen scraping application and the other server executing the server remote application. In some implementations, the server remote access programs  107 A and  107 B and the client remote access program enable the implementation of aspects of the present disclosure as a retrofit to existing technologies on the server side as well as on the client side. 
         [0019]    As shown in  FIG. 2A , in accordance with some implementations, the server computing device  102 A may execute a screen scraping application  105 A that monitors a display interface generated by an application program  103 A for events that may cause the pixels in the display to change. The screen scraping application  105 A is stored in memory  106 A and executed on the processor  104 A of the server computing device  102 A. As events occur, the screen scraping application  105 A reads the changed regions of the display from a frame buffer (not shown), and may compress the screen image data, and send the compressed image data to the respective server remote access program  107 A. The server remote access program  107 A is stored in the memory  106 A and is executed on the processor  104 A of the server computing device  102 A. In accordance with the present disclosure, the interaction of the screen scraping application  105 A with the application program  103 A provides for a non-invasive implementation to enable remote access to the application program  103 A, as described below. 
         [0020]    To provide remote access to the application program  103 A, communication is established between, e.g., the client computing device and the server computing device  102 A at an enumerated URL associated with the application program  103 A. In particular, the communication is enabled by the server remote access program  107 A and the client remote access program, as shown in  FIG. 2A . The communication may be over any type of network, as noted above. It is noted that any of client computing devices  112 A,  112 B,  112 C . . .  112 N may be the client device illustrated in  FIG. 2A . 
         [0021]    During a remote communications session with the client computing device, the server remote access program  107 A receives screen data from the screen scraping application  105 A. Upon receipt, the server remote access program  107 A generates presentation data  109 A of the screen image data and transmits the same to the client remote access program. 
         [0022]    Optionally or additionally, the presentation data  109 A may be generated according to hardware capabilities of the client computing device  112 A,  112 B,  112 C or  112 N, for example, accounting for processing capacity, memory size, type of graphical display, and type of user interface. Thus, the server computing device  102 A may scale or resize the screen data that is communicated to the client computing device such that the screen data is displayed on the client computing devices  112 A,  112 B,  112 C . . .  112 N in accordance with the characteristics of the device. As such, each type of device that is participating in the collaborative session presents the user interface having a device-appropriate resolution based on information contained in the state model of  FIG. 3 , described below. For example, presentation data generated and transmitted for a laptop computer are different from presentation data generated and transmitted for a handheld device such as, for example, an IPHONE. 
         [0023]    In some implementations, the presentation data  109 A is generated based on a selection of a window or display region of the application program  103 A. For example, a selection of a region or window to be displayed on the client computing device may be received at the server computing device  102 A. The server computing device  102 A may then crop the screen data such that only the selected region or window is generated in the presentation data  109 A and communicated by the server remote access program  107 A to the client remote access program. 
         [0024]    In some implementations, the presentation data  109 A may also be provided to the server computing device  102 A. This enables a user at the server computing device  102 A to see what is being displayed at the client computing devices  112 A,  112 B,  112 C or  112 N. 
         [0025]    With reference now to  FIG. 2B , in some implementations, the client computing device  112 A,  112 B,  112 C or  112 N may interact with both application programs  103 A and  103 B running on the server computing devices  102 A and  102 B by accessing the application programs  103 A and  103 B at a respective enumerated URL associated with each of the application programs  103 A and  103 B. As such, the client computing device  112 A,  112 B,  112 C or  112 N may participate in a collaborative session with the server computing device  102 A and  102 B, and may present a view containing the display of the application programs  103 A and  103 B. 
         [0026]    Optionally or additionally, the display of the application programs  103 A and  103 B may be presented through a process called recombination, which may be based on information contained in the state model of  FIG. 3 , described below. With recombination, the application programs  103 A and  103 B are seamlessly integrated into the same user interface of the client computing device  112 A,  112 B,  112 C or  112 N such that views of both application programs  103 A and  103 B may be presented simultaneously. Optionally or additionally, functionalities and controls associated with the application programs  103 A and  103 B may be combined within the same user interface. 
         [0027]    As shown in  FIG. 2B , in accordance with some implementations, the server computers  102 A and  102 B execute respective screen scraping applications  105 A and  105 B that monitor a display interface generated by an application program  103 A and  103 B for events that may cause the pixels in the display to change. As events occur, the screen scraping applications  105 A and  105 B read the changed regions of the display from a frame buffer (not shown), and may compress the screen image data, and send the compressed image data to the respective server remote access program  107 A and  107 B. As noted above, the interaction of the screen scraping applications  105 A and  105 B with the application program  103 A and the application program  103 B, respectively, provides for a non-invasive implementation to enable remote access to the application program  103 A and the application program  103 B. Other aspects of the environment of  FIG. 2B  operate in a substantially similarly fashion, as described with regard to  FIG. 2A . 
         [0028]    With reference now to  FIG. 2C , in some implementations, two or more of the client computing devices  112 A,  112 B,  112 C . . .  112 N may collaboratively interact with the application program  103 A running on the server computing device  102 A by accessing the same enumerated URL. As such, each of the client computing devices  112 A,  112 B,  112 C . . .  112 N (and the server computing device  102 A) participating in a collaborative session may present a synchronized view of the display of the application program  103 A that is made available at an enumerated URL. Alternatively, the client computing devices may interact with the application program  103 B running on the server computing device  1028 . 
         [0029]    During a remote communications session with the client computing device, the server remote access program  107 A receives screen data from the screen scraping application  105 A. Upon receipt, the server remote access program  107 A generates first presentation data  109 A of the first screen image data and transmits the same to the client remote access programs  112 A and  112 N. Other aspects of the environment of  FIG. 2C  operate in a substantially similarly fashion, as described with regard to  FIG. 2A . 
         [0030]    The environment of  FIG. 2C  further provides for collaborative browsing (co-browsing) of the application program  103 A. For example, user of client computing device  112 A and a user of the client computing device  112 N may wish to participate a session that includes the application program  103 A at the server computing device  102 A. The client computing device  112 A and the client computing device  112 N may remotely access the application  103 A using a client remote access program that communicates with a user interaction program such as, for example, a web browser. Co-browsing of the application program  103 A enables users at both the client computing device  112 A and the client computing device  112 N to interact and view the same documents, images, etc. on the user&#39;s respective web browser. Thus, if the user client computing device  112 A requests information from the application program  103 A for display, the other browser in the session running on client computing device  112 N will receive the same information. 
         [0031]    In such an implementation, the remote access program  107 A may act as a proxy server to intercept requests from the various web browsers in a co-browsing session. A web browser, once configured to use the remote access program  107 A as a proxy server, sends a complete URL request to the remote access program  107 A. The remote access program  107 A then retrieves screen data from the screen scraping application  105 A associated with the application program  103 A, and sends the result of the request back to the web browsers. 
         [0032]    The web browsers may execute a client remote access program (e.g., Flash, Silverlight, Java) to enable the co-browsing session to receive information. Additionally or alternatively, HTML5 may be used to enable the web browser to natively receive information. As such, the web browser may be the client remote access program. 
         [0033]    In some implementations, users co-browsing within the system  100  may be interacting with plural application programs  103 A and  103 B (e.g., a hybrid of the environments of  FIG. 2B and 2C ). Accordingly, the present disclosure may provide for recombination of the application programs  103 A and  103 B, where the applications are seamlessly integrated into the same user interface, which is presented on each of the client computing devices  112 A,  112 B,  112 C . . .  112 N participating in the co-browsing session. Recombination may be provided based on information contained in the state model of  FIG. 3 , described below. 
         [0034]    In some implementations, the operation of the remote access program (server and client) is performed in cooperation with a state model  300 , as illustrated in  FIG. 3 . When executed, the client remote access program updates the state model  300  in accordance with user input data received from a user interface program. The remote access program may generate control data in accordance with the updated state model, and provide the same to an application program running on the server computing device  102 A or  102 B (via the screen scraping application). The application program may be any application running on the server computing device  102 A or  102 B with which an end user interacts using one of the client computing devices  112 A,  112 B,  112 C . . .  112 N. 
         [0035]    Upon receipt of application data from the screen scraping application, the server remote access program updates the state model  300  in accordance with the screen or application data, generates presentation data in accordance with the updated state model, and provides the same to the user interface program on the client computing device. The state model  300  comprises an association of logical elements of the application program with corresponding states of the application program, with the logical elements being in a hierarchical order. For example, the logical elements may be a screen, a menu, a submenu, a button, etc. that make up the application program user interface. This enables the client device, for example, to natively display the logical elements. As such, a menu of the application program  103 A that is presented on a mobile phone will look like a native menu of the mobile phone. Similarly, the menu of the application program  103 A that is presented on desktop computer will look like a native menu of the desktop computer operating system. In accordance with aspects of the present disclosure, the screen image may be communicated as a single logical element in a separate channel to the client. The screen image may be referenced in the state model to enable the client remote access program to retrieve the screen image from the separate channel and display it on the client. As such, the screen will have a substantially similar appearance on each of the client computing devices  112 A,  112 B,  112 C . . .  112 N, although it may be scaled according to the characteristics of each device. 
         [0036]    The state model  300  is determined such that each of the logical elements is associated with a corresponding state of the application program. The state model  300  may be determined such that the logical elements are associated with user interactions. For example, the logical elements of the application program are determined such that the logical elements comprise transition elements with each transition element relating a change of the state model  300  to one of control data and application representation data associated therewith. 
         [0037]    In some implementations, the state information may include a reference or references to one or more rectangular regions that comprise the screen image generated by the application program. A control may be provided by the client remote access program to enable a user to select among the one or more rectangular regions for display at the client device. In some implementations, the control may provide a selection among one or more rectangular regions of screen image data created by plural application programs (e.g.,  103 A and  103 B) for selection by a user. 
         [0038]    In some implementations, as noted above with regard to  FIGS. 2A-2C , the state information may include information about a state of a display of the client computing device. For example, display resolution may be maintained in the state model  300 , which may be used as part of the refactoring of the presentation data in accordance with the client computing device&#39;s capabilities. The state model may also include information that may be used for recombination purposes. 
         [0039]      FIG. 4  illustrates an operation flow diagram  400  of processes performed to provide remote access to a server-based application program utilizing the state model  300 . At  402 , a remote access program is provided at a server computing device. For example, server remote access program  107 A may be provided on the server computing device  102 A to enable remote access by client computing devices running a complementary client remote access program. 
         [0040]    At  404 , a communication is received from a client. A user may contact the server computing device  102 A using the user interaction program on a client computing device. The client may also provide information to the server remote access program  107 A about the client computing device&#39;s characteristics and capabilities. 
         [0041]    At  406 , the screen associated with the application is scraped. The display generated by the application program  103 A scraped by the screen scraping application  105 A. At  407 , the screen may be scaled or cropped, if desired, by the application program (service). At  408 , the presentation data is generated for communication to the client. In accordance with the client computing device&#39;s characteristics and capabilities, the service (i.e., screen scraping application) may scale or crop display information that is provided to the client computing device such that it is appropriately sized for the client computing device. 
         [0042]    At  410 , the state model is updated. As described above, the state model  300  is determined such that each of the logical elements is associated with a corresponding state of the application program. The screen image, which is communicated in a separate channel, may as a single logical element that is referenced in the state model. At  412 , the presentation data and the state model are communicated to the client. The communication may be over the communications network  110 . At  414 , the screen data is retrieved from the separate channel and presented on the client device for viewing. 
         [0043]    In accordance with some implementations, a user may interact with the application program  103 A through the user interaction program and the cooperation of the client and server remote access programs. As such, the user interaction(s) may be used to update the state model at  416 , which may be returned to the server computing device  102 A to update the application program  103 A. 
         [0044]    Thus in view of the above, there is provided a system and method for non-invasively providing remote access to an application program running on a server. 
         [0045]      FIG. 5  illustrates an operation flow diagram  500  of processes performed to provide remote access to a server-based application program. In some implementations, the server remote access programs  107 A and  107 B generate one or more Uniform Resource Locators (URL) by which the client computing device is able to connect to one or more application programs running on the server computing device  102 A or  102 B. Each application program may have a unique URL associated therewith. The URLs are communicated to a client computing device to enable a user to select and interact with one or more of the application programs on the server computing device. For example, in the user interaction program, icons, links, menu items, etc. may be presented that represent each of the enumerated URLs. A user may select the URL by a selection of the appropriate icon, link, menu item, etc. 
         [0046]    In the operational flow  500 , the URL mechanism described above is employed to provide remote access to the server-based application program. At  502 , a remote access program is provided at a server computing device to enumerate one or more URLs associated with one or more applications. For example, server remote access program  107 A may be provided on the server computing device  102 A. A URL may be accessed within the user interaction program on a client computing device to access, e.g., the application program  103 A running on the server computing device  102 A. The server remote access program  107 A may determine which application programs are running on the server computing device  102 A to enumerate the URL associated with each of the applications and to provide access to the determined application programs at the URL. 
         [0047]    At  504 , a communication is received from a client. A user may contact the server computing device  102 A by connecting to one or more of the enumerated URLs that are provided in the user interaction program on a client computing device. The client may also provide information to the server remote access program  107 A about the client computing device&#39;s characteristics and capabilities. 
         [0048]    At  506 , the screen associated with the application is scraped. The display generated by the application program  103 A scraped by the screen scraping application  105 A. At  508 , the presentation data is generated for communication to the client. In accordance with the client computing device&#39;s characteristics and capabilities, the server computing device  102 A may scale, resize or crop display information that is provided to the client computing device such that it is appropriately sized for the client computing device. 
         [0049]    At  510 , the presentation data is communicated to the client. The communication may be over the communications network  110 . At  512 , the screen data is presented on the client device for viewing. In accordance with some implementations, a user may interact with the application program  103 A through the user interaction program and the cooperation of the client and server remote access programs. As such, the user interaction(s) may be used to access one or more URLs presented in the user interaction program. At  514 , a connection may be established via a selected URL such that the user may interact with a different application or currently with multiple applications. Further, more than one client computing device may remotely interact with an application program in accordance with  FIG. 3  to provide a collaborative environment where plural client computing devices concurrently interact with the application program at an enumerated URL. 
         [0050]    Thus in view of the above, there is provided yet another system and method for non-invasively providing remote access to an application program running on a server. 
         [0051]      FIG. 6  shows an exemplary computing environment in which example embodiments and aspects may be implemented. The computing system environment is only one example of a suitable computing environment and is not intended to suggest any limitation as to the scope of use or functionality. 
         [0052]    Numerous other general purpose or special purpose computing system environments or configurations may be used. Examples of well known computing systems, environments, and/or configurations that may be suitable for use include, but are not limited to, personal computers, server computers, handheld or laptop devices, multiprocessor systems, microprocessor-based systems, network personal computers (PCs), minicomputers, mainframe computers, embedded systems, distributed computing environments that include any of the above systems or devices, and the like. 
         [0053]    Computer-executable instructions, such as program modules, being executed by a computer may be used. Generally, program modules include routines, programs, objects, components, data structures, etc. that perform particular tasks or implement particular abstract data types. Distributed computing environments may be used where tasks are performed by remote processing devices that are linked through a communications network or other data transmission medium. In a distributed computing environment, program modules and other data may be located in both local and remote computer storage media including memory storage devices. 
         [0054]    With reference to  FIG. 6 , an exemplary system for implementing aspects described herein includes a computing device, such as computing device  600 . In its most basic configuration, computing device  600  typically includes at least one processing unit  602  and memory  604 . Depending on the exact configuration and type of computing device, memory  604  may be volatile (such as random access memory (RAM)), non-volatile (such as read-only memory (ROM), flash memory, etc.), or some combination of the two. This most basic configuration is illustrated in  FIG. 6  by dashed line  606 . 
         [0055]    Computing device  600  may have additional features/functionality. For example, computing device  600  may include additional storage (removable and/or non-removable) including, but not limited to, magnetic or optical disks or tape. Such additional storage is illustrated in  FIG. 6  by removable storage  608  and non-removable storage  610 . 
         [0056]    Computing device  600  typically includes a variety of tangible computer readable media. Tangible computer readable media can be any available media that can be accessed by device  600  and includes both volatile and non-volatile media, removable and non-removable media. 
         [0057]    Tangible computer storage media include volatile and non-volatile, and removable and non-removable media implemented in any method or technology for storage of information such as computer readable instructions, data structures, program modules or other data. Memory  604 , removable storage  608 , and non-removable storage  610  are all examples of computer storage media. Tangible computer storage media include, but are not limited to, RAM, ROM, electrically erasable program read-only memory (EEPROM), flash memory or other memory technology, CD-ROM, digital versatile disks (DVD) or other optical storage, magnetic cassettes, magnetic tape, magnetic disk storage or other magnetic storage devices, or any other medium which can be used to store the desired information and which can be accessed by computing device  600 . Any such computer storage media may be part of computing device  600 . 
         [0058]    Computing device  600  may contain communications connection(s)  612  that allow the device to communicate with other devices. Computing device  600  may also have input device(s)  614  such as a keyboard, mouse, pen, voice input device, touch input device, etc. Output device(s)  616  such as a display, speakers, printer, etc. may also be included. All these devices are well known in the art and need not be discussed at length here. 
         [0059]    It should be understood that the various techniques described herein may be implemented in connection with hardware or software or, where appropriate, with a combination of both. Thus, the methods and apparatus of the presently disclosed subject matter, or certain aspects or portions thereof, may take the form of program code (i.e., instructions) embodied in tangible media, such as floppy diskettes, CD-ROMs, hard drives, or any other machine-readable storage medium wherein, when the program code is loaded into and executed by a machine, such as a computer, the machine becomes an apparatus for practicing the presently disclosed subject matter. In the case of program code execution on programmable computers, the computing device generally includes a processor, a storage medium readable by the processor (including volatile and non-volatile memory and/or storage elements), at least one input device, and at least one output device. One or more programs may implement or utilize the processes described in connection with the presently disclosed subject matter, e.g., through the use of an application programming interface (API), reusable controls, or the like. Such programs may be implemented in a high level procedural or object-oriented programming language to communicate with a computer system. However, the program(s) can be implemented in assembly or machine language, if desired. In any case, the language may be a compiled or interpreted language and it may be combined with hardware implementations. 
         [0060]    Although the subject matter has been described in language specific to structural features and/or methodological acts, it is to be understood that the subject matter defined in the appended claims is not necessarily limited to the specific features or acts described above. Rather, the specific features and acts described above are disclosed as example forms of implementing the claims.