Abstract:
A distributed web CGI architecture is disclosed. According to one embodiment of the present invention, distributed web common gateway interface architecture includes a primary network having a primary server ( 304 ). A database ( 210 ) communicates with the primary server ( 304 ). A plurality of secondary networks ( 202 ) are provided, with at least one secondary server ( 302 ) in the secondary network ( 202 ). In another embodiment, a method for the distribution of data files in a distributed organization is provided. The distributed organization has a multiple networks that communicate with the primary server. The method involves the steps of (1) validating a data file at a secondary server in one of the networks; (2) correcting defects in the data file if the validation fails; (3) releasing a validated data file to the primary server; (4) and transferring the validated data file to the primary server.

Description:
This application claims priority under 35 USC § 119(e)(1) of provisional application No. 60/173,751, filed Dec. 30, 1999. 
    
    
     BACKGROUND OF INVENTION 
     1. Field of the Invention 
     This invention relates to the field of Internet technologies for computer systems; specifically, it relates to a distributed web CGI architecture. 
     2. Description of the Related Art 
     User Interface through web browsers, such as Netscape® and Internet Explorer®, is becoming a standard for Client/Server applications. A Client/Server application typically performs three types of operations, including Application Logic, Presentation Logic, and Data Management Logic. 
     Application Logic represents the behavior of the system, Presentation Logic represents the User Interface of the system, and Data Management Logic represents the managing the data in a Database Management System, such as Relational DBMS or Object Oriented DBMS. A Web Browser can be used to perform the Presentation Logic of a Client/Server application. This can be done using HTML documents that are dynamically generated. These documents may contain HTML tags and JavaScript code that is read by the Browser to render Graphical User Interface. This type of interface may be referred to as a Web User Interface (“WUI”). A WUI consists of HTML tags, HTML form elements, and JavaScript code. All of these may reside in a HTML document. 
     A Common Gateway Interface (“CGI”) is a technique used to construct a WUI to an application. When a user invokes any operation in the WUI, the Web Browser sends the request to the Web Server, which in turn invokes CGI programs. The CGI programs perform the requested task, and send the result back the Web Server. The result is expressed in terms of HTML documents. The Web Server sends the dynamically-generated HTML documents to the Web Browser which, in turn, renders the WUI. In this process, the CGI program might need to access the DBMS to have the Data Management Logic performed. 
     SUMMARY OF THE INVENTION 
     Therefore, a need has arisen for distributed web CGI architecture. 
     According to one embodiment of the present invention, a distributed web common gateway interface architecture is disclosed. The distributed web common gateway interface architecture includes a primary network having a primary server. A database communicates with the primary server. A plurality of secondary networks are provided, with at least one secondary server in the secondary network. 
     In another embodiment, a method for the distribution of data files in a distributed organization is provided. The distributed organization has a multiple networks that communicate with the primary server. The method involves the steps of (1) validating a data file at a secondary server in one of the networks; (2) correcting defects in the data file if the validation fails; (3) releasing a validated data file to the primary server; (4) and transferring the validated data file to the primary server. 
     According to another embodiment of the present invention, a method for the distribution of data files in a distributed organization is provided. The distributed organization has a plurality of networks that communicate with a primary server, and each network has a web browser running on it. The method involves the steps of (1) entering a URL of a data management system for a primary server in a web browser; (2) entering user information; (3) entering metadata for a data file to be transferred to the primary server; (4) validating the data file at the secondary server; (5) correcting errors responsive to a failed validation; (6) releasing the validated data file; (7) transferring the validated data file to the primary server; and (8) storing the data files in the primary server. 
     A technical advantage of the present invention is that a distributed web CGI architecture is disclosed. Another technical advantage of the present invention is that a secondary server is used to validate data files before they are transferred to a primary server. Another technical advantage of the present invention is that errors are detected before the file is transferred, saving time and bandwidth. 
    
    
     
       BRIEF DESCRIPTION OF THE DRAWINGS 
         FIG. 1  illustrates a portion of a computer, including a CPU and conventional memory in which the presentation may be embodied. 
         FIG. 2  illustrates a Data Management System for a Distributed Organization. 
         FIG. 3  illustrates a Data Management System for a Distributed Organization according to one embodiment of the present invention. 
         FIG. 4  is a flowchart illustrating the process of one embodiment of the present invention. 
         FIGS. 5   a - 5   d  are exemplary screen shots that are provided to the user according to one embodiment of the present invention. 
     
    
    
     DESCRIPTION OF PREFERRED EMBODIMENTS 
     Embodiments of the present invention and their technical advantages may be better understood by referring to  FIGS. 1  though  5 , like numerals referring to like and corresponding parts of the various drawings. 
     The environment in which the present invention is used encompasses general distributed computing system, wherein general purpose computers, workstations, or personal computers are connected via communication links of various types, in a client-server arrangement. Programs and data, many in the form of objects, are made available by various members of the system for execution and access by other members of the system. Some of the elements of a general purpose workstation computer are shown in  FIG. 1 , wherein processor  101  is shown, having input/output (“I/O”) section  102 , central processing unit (“CPU”)  103 , and memory section  104 . I/O section  102  may be connected to keyboard  105 , display unit  106 , disk storage unit  109 , and CD-ROM drive unit  107 . CD-ROM unit  107  can read a CD-ROM medium  108 , which typically contains programs and data  110 . 
     Referring to  FIG. 2 , distributed organization  200  with many development centers  202  located geographically is depicted. Development centers  202  may be located in different countries and continents. Development centers  202  produce deliverable files  204  as part of their work. Examples of deliverable files  204  include files created by CAD tools in a design organization. Deliverable files  204  may be files with sizes ranging from a few kilobytes to over several hundred megabytes, or larger. Deliverable files  204  may be sent via network  208  to database management system (DBMS)  210 , which may be located at a central location, where they are stored and managed for long term needs. 
     The process of managing the deliverable files of an organization or a company can be done using Web Browsers within an Intranet. An Intranet is a network of computers based on TCP/IP protocol belonging to an organization accessible only by the organization&#39;s members or employees. This is advantageous because of availability of Web Browsers in most of the computer platforms and the wide acceptance of Web Browsers among the user community. Development centers  202  use the WUI of a Client/Server application to send deliverable files  204  and associated information to central location  210 . The associated information to a deliverable file includes information, such as the employee identification information, a list of new features that were added, etc. This associated data for a deliverable file can be called “metadata.” Both deliverable file  204 , and its metadata, are stored in DBMS  210 . Users  212  may send deliverable file  204  and its metadata to the DBMS  210  by completing a HTML form of the WUI. 
     Users  212  may enter the metadata and specify the path for deliverable file  204  in the HTML form. The Web Browser reads the file specified, and transmits the complete HTML form (including deliverable file  204 ) to Web Server  206 . Web Server  206 , in turn, hands over the incoming data to CGI program  214 , which receives deliverable file  204  and its corresponding metadata and stores in DBMS  210 . These systems are commonly referred as “Data Management” systems. 
     The required time for this release operation primarily depends on the time taken to transmit deliverable files  204  to DBMS  210 , assuming the time required to store deliverable files  204  in DBMS  210  and to transfer and store the metadata is relatively very small. The transmission time depends on several factors, including, inter alia, network bandwidth between the development center  202  and DBMS  210 , size of deliverable file  204 , and number of other operations which are sharing the bandwidth. It is possible that it might take up to a few hours for the complete operation. 
     Considering the required amount of time to perform the operation, it is important that only the correct deliverable files are transmitted over the network. This means the deliverable files need to be checked against the expected specification before they are transmitted. This process is called the “validation” of deliverable files. It is not possible to do this validation in a WUI because Web Browsers generally cannot read/write files, and cannot create and run new processes on the machines where they are running. It is not possible to run any validation logic on the file before starting transfer of that file to the Web Server. This forces the validation to be shifted to the CGI program residing at the Server side, which performs validation before storing the deliverable files in the DBMS. If the validation fails, the deliverable file needs to be corrected and released again from its respective development center. This is done by generating a HTML page which contains the validation errors for the given deliverable files. Users can then correct deliverable files and resubmit the deliverable files and its metadata through the WUI. 
     The Data Management System depicted in  FIG. 2  has several disadvantages. First, it has a slow response time. Users who release deliverable files come to know about the validation failure and the cause for it only after the transfer through the network is complete and validation logic is performed at the Web Server side. This may take several hours when the size of the deliverable files are in megabytes. 
     Next, network bandwidth is wasted. When the validation fails, the deliverable file has to corrected and released again from its respective development center. Thus, network bandwidth that was consumed to transfer the faulty deliverable files is wasted. 
     Referring to  FIG. 3 , a system for data management for a distributed organization according to one embodiment of the present invention is provided. The above-identified problems may be solved if it the validation process is performed before the transfer of deliverable files is started. This will ensure that no faulty files are sent through the network. Moreover, users will come to know about validation errors much quickly. In a typical Client/Server application where the client program is implemented using X Window system, client code can be modified to perform the validation. The X Window system provides a network transparent graphical user interface primarily for the UNIX® operating system. X provides for the display and management of graphical information, much in the same manner as Microsoft Windows® and IBM&#39;s Presentation Manager.® 
     According to one embodiment of the present invention, secondary server  302 , that performs the validation, is provided. Secondary server  302  may be placed in the same network in which the web browser is running. Secondary server  302  includes web server  206  and CGI programs  214 , which implement the validation logic. Secondary server  302  may be installed in each of network  202  from where deliverable files  204  may be released. 
     When user  212  releases deliverable file  204 , user  212  may complete a HTML form and specify a path for deliverable file  204 , as well as entering metadata for deliverable file  204 . Once the HTML form is complete, user  212  can submit for validation of the deliverable file  204 . The form is submitted to the corresponding secondary server  302 , located in the same network  202 . Secondary server  302  performs the validation process, and communicates the results to user  212 . 
     In one embodiment, users  212  may be required to login into the “Data Management” systems before then can start sending deliverable file  204 . User  212  may be identified by an identification, such as his or her employee number, and a password. During login, user  212  can identify the network from which he/she is logging in. Examples for the network can be “india.company.com” (Company India), “japan.company.com” (Company Japan), “dal.company.com” (Company, Dallas, US), etc. This information can be used in forming the “action” URL (Uniform Resource Locator) for validation. This URL will contain address of the nearest secondary server  302  which can perform the validation logic. This URL will be generated by primary server  304  as part of the response to the Login request. In other words, users  212  initially contact primary server  304  for login operation, and specify the network from which they are logged in. The network in which primary server is running may be referred to as the primary network, and the primary network may or may not include its own secondary server  302 . 
     Primary server  304  may respond with the URL of the secondary server  302  that is closest, geographically, to user  212 . At best, secondary server  302  will be in the same network  202  from which users  212  are logged in. Primary server  304  maintains the list of secondary servers  302  to implement this. 
     If the validation is successful, user  212  may submit the same form for “Release,” in which case the HTML form is submitted to primary server  304 . When submitting the form for both “Validate” and “Release” operations, the selection of the server will be transparent to user  212 . 
     Based on the operation selected, forms may be submitted to different servers. In this example, secondary server  302  will receive deliverable file  204  in the minimum time because it will be a file that may be accessed within that network  202 . 
     Web Server  206  and the associated CGI programs  214  along with DBMS  210  is known as primary server  304 . Primary server  304  implements all the capabilities of the system. Secondary servers  302  generally are scaled down version of primary server  304  performing only the validation logic. In one embodiment, there is one primary server  304 , and there can be a plurality of secondary servers  302  for each of the network  202  from where deliverable files  204  are released. 
     This architecture results in a set of distributed Web CGI servers and solves the problems associated with the typical CGI architecture for data management applications. 
     The advantages of the present invention are as follows. First, network traffic is optimized. The transfer of faulty deliverable files between geographically separated Web Browser and Web Server is eliminated. This reduces amount of network transfer, which is a critical factor for Client/Server applications. Second, response time for users is increased. Users who send deliverable files though the WUI get much faster response on the validation phase because it is done by the secondary server with minimum/no network transfer. Third, because validation is done by secondary servers and no faulty deliverable files will reach the primary server, load on primary server is reduced. 
     Referring to  FIG. 4 , a method of transferring data using a distributed Web CGI Architecture according to one embodiment of the present invention is provided. The data may be in the form of deliverable files. 
     In step  402 , the URL of the data management system in the web browser is loaded. Users may enter the URL in the URL location field of Web Browser, or they can select the URL from a collection of “bookmarks” that may be stored in the Web Browser. 
     In step  404 , the user provides information to the system, including, inter alia, user identification, password, and network identification, and submits the HTML form to the Primary Sever. 
     Referring to  FIG. 5   a , an exemplary screen shot for steps  402  and  404  is provided. URL  502  is loaded into the web browser. Employee identification and password are entered in user id space  504  and password space  506 , respectively. The user selects the network  508  from which the user is logging in from. The user logs in to the network by selecting login button  510 . 
     Referring again to  FIG. 4 , in step  405 , the primary server in turn returns a menu of operations that users may invoke. These operations may include validate a file, release a file, download an existing deliverable file, search for a deliverable file, generate various reports on the available deliverable files such as list of deliverable files released during given time period, list of deliverable files released from a particular geographical development center, etc. For the validate operation, the action URL (the Web Server and the CGI program that will process the request) points to the Secondary Server. 
     In step  406 , the user selects the operation to perform. Generally, the user will validate the file before the user releases the file. In one embodiment of the present invention, the user is not permitted to release the file until the file is validated. 
     If the user chooses to validate the file, in step  412 , the HTML form is submitted to the secondary server, which reads the files and performs validation. Referring to  FIG. 5   b , an exemplary screen shot of step  412  is provided. Primary server  512  is identified for the user. The user inputs metadata  514  into text boxes, such as the Design Data Name, Design Data Version, and Notes. The text boxes in which metadata  514  is entered may be pre-formatted for uniformity. Other metadata may be entered. 
     Path  516  may be provided for the user to enter the location of the design file. A “browse” option may be provided, as is known in the art. 
     The user may select the operation  518  to perform. In the figure, the user may select between “validate” and “release.” Once the user selects the operation, the user may click on “submit” to execute the operation. 
     Referring again to  FIG. 4 , in step  414 , if the validation is successful (pass), the system returns to step  406 , where the user can choose to release the file. If the validation failed, in step  418 , any identified errors are corrected, if possible. The system then returns to step  406 , where the user may select to release the file. 
     The results of the validation may be provided for the user. Referring to  FIG. 5   c , an exemplary screen shot of a Validation Design Data screen is provided. The address of the secondary server  520  is provided for the user. Validation output  522  is displayed. In the figure, the file had multiple errors, all of which are identified for the user. The user may be requested to correct the design and revalidate the data before releasing the file. “Go back” button  524  may be provided to allow the user to return to the previous screen. 
     Referring again to  FIG. 4 , in one embodiment of the present invention, if the errors could not be corrected in step  418 , the system may prevent the user from releasing the file. 
     If, in step  406 , the user chooses to release data, the network, in step  408 , transfers deliverable files to the primary server. Next, in step  410 , the network stores the deliverable files in the primary server. 
     According to one embodiment of the present invention, the user may be provided with release design data. Referring to  FIG. 5   d , an exemplary screen shot of step  410  is provided. In this figure, the user is provided with message  526 , which informs the of the status of the release of the file. 
     While the invention has been described in connection with preferred embodiments and examples, it will be understood by those skilled in the art that other variations and modifications of the preferred embodiments described above may be made without departing from the scope of the invention. Other embodiments will be apparent to those skilled in the art from a consideration of the specification or practice of the invention disclosed herein. It is intended that the specification is considered as exemplary only, with the true scope and spirit of the invention being indicated by the following claims, without departing from the scope claimed below.