Patent Publication Number: US-2023135201-A1

Title: Enforcing eula version aware application response

Description:
BACKGROUND 
     The present invention relates generally to the field of software management, and more particularly to enforcing End-User License Agreement version aware application response. 
     An end-user license agreement (EULA) is a license that gives a user the right to use a software application in some manner. EULAs are designed to enforce specific software use limitations, e.g., only using the software on one computer. By entering into the agreement, the user is given permission to use and benefit from the software. Typically, a EULA includes clauses that restrict the usage of the software. These clauses may include the granting of licenses, infringement information, restrictions on how the application can be used, termination of licensing, and other limitations and disclaimers for the warranties and liability. 
     SUMMARY 
     Embodiments of the present invention disclose a method, a computer program product, and a system for enforcing EULA version aware application response. In one embodiment, responsive to receiving a request from a user to access an application, details of an End User License Agreement (EULA) are sent to the application. A response is received from the application based on the details of the EULA. A message is sent to the user, where the message contains the response from the application. 
    
    
     
       BRIEF DESCRIPTION OF THE DRAWINGS 
         FIG.  1    is a functional block diagram illustrating a distributed data processing environment, in accordance with an embodiment of the present invention. 
         FIG.  2    is a sequence diagram that illustrates an example of an application for communicating EULA requirements between a web client and an application using a secure gateway, in accordance with an embodiment of the present invention. 
         FIG.  3    is a flowchart depicting operational steps of the web reverse proxy, on a computing device within the distributed data processing environment of  FIG.  1   , for communicating EULA requirements between a web client and an application using a secure gateway, in accordance with an embodiment of the present invention. 
         FIG.  4    is a sequence diagram that illustrates an example of an application for communicating EULA requirements between a web client and an application using a secure gateway, in accordance with another embodiment of the present invention. 
         FIG.  5    is a flowchart depicting operational steps of the web reverse proxy, on a computing device within the distributed data processing environment of  FIG.  1   , for communicating EULA requirements between a web client and an application using a secure gateway, in accordance with an embodiment of the present invention. 
         FIG.  6    depicts a block diagram of components of the computing devices executing the web reverse proxy within the distributed data processing environment of  FIG.  1   , in accordance with an embodiment of the present invention. 
     
    
    
     DETAILED DESCRIPTION 
     An end-user license agreement (EULA) is a license that gives a user the right to use a software application in some manner. EULAs are designed to enforce specific software use limitations, e.g., only using the software on one computer. For a variety of businesses, like consumer goods or in-person services, it is logical to prevent a user from purchasing or using services unless they accept an updated EULA. However, in an increasingly online world where users and clients rely on application programming interfaces (APIs) from a variety of sources, or where APIs are accessed in an automated fashion, blocking access until a singular version of the EULA is accepted may not be practical and does not take into account that APIs could be versioned, i.e., the API is versioned in-sync with the EULA version. 
     If instead the API is versioned in-sync with the EULA version, the consumer does not lose access to the API when a new version of the EULA is released, the specific changes in the EULA as they relate to the API will be clearer, consumers will have more confidence in the stability of the API, and providers are still protected by their EULAs. The present invention is a computer-implemented method, a computer program product, and a system to enable an application to communicate EULA requirements to a secure gateway. In the present invention, the application determines the EULA requirements that must be enforced, while the secure gateway manages the EULA process, including presenting the EULA to the user, tracking acceptance of the EULA, and enforcing EULA acceptance. 
     In the present invention, applications are provided with EULA acceptance details for the authenticated user session by the secure gateway. The details include whether the user has accepted the EULA, and the version of the EULA that the user has accepted. The application uses this information to limit the capabilities of the application based on the version of the EULA which has been accepted, or it can return to the secure gateway details of the EULA requirements necessary for the user to access the application. In an embodiments, these EULA requirements may be returned by the application in designated Hypertext Transfer Protocol (HTTP) headers. In another embodiment, these EULA requirements may be returned as a query string argument in a Uniform Resource Locator (URL) string. 
     The present invention provides several benefits over traditional EULA models. It provides a method for versioning the EULA and keeping track of which version of the EULA has been accepted by a user. In an embodiment, the secure gateway is responsible for managing the EULA process. In an embodiment, the application controls whether the EULA which has currently been accepted by the user is adequate to allow access to the application and perform the requested operations. 
     The following is an example of the basic flow of the present invention. In this example a user, via a web client, makes a request to a secure gateway for an application resource as an authenticated user. The secure gateway determines the version of EULA that has previously been accepted by the user. The EULA version and acceptance status is added to a request header and the request is forwarded to the application. The application checks the EULA version which has been accepted by the user. In this example, the application determines that it requires a higher version to be accepted before the resource can be returned. 
     In an embodiment, the application will continue to block access by the user until it determines that the correct EULA version has been accepted by the user. In this embodiment, the secure gateway presents the corresponding EULA version to the web client, for the user to accept. Once the user has accepted the corresponding EULA version, the web client sends a notice of that acceptance to the secure gateway, which stores the acceptance/version. The secure gateway sends the EULA information to the application as HTTP headers in the request, and the application returns the application resource that was initially requested by the user via the web client. This embodiment is illustrated in the sequence diagram of  FIG.  2    below and explained in the flow chart diagram of  FIG.  3    below. 
     In another embodiment, the user will be blocked from any features of the application not supported by the version of the EULA currently accepted by the user. In this embodiment, the application returns the version of the resource that corresponds to the EULA version that has been accepted, and the secure gateway returns the application response to the web client. The user is then allowed to use the features of the application that correspond to the version of the EULA that the user has accepted. This embodiment is illustrated in the sequence diagram of  FIG.  4    below and explained in the flow chart diagram of  FIG.  5    below. 
     In various embodiments, the secure gateway stores the EULA versions for each application and each user. In an embodiment, the secure gateway provides updated EULA versions for applications to each user of those applications to allow the user to accept the updated EULA. In an embodiment, the secure gateway tracks the updated EULA for each application by monitoring responses from each application to each request from a user, and extracts the latest EULA version for each application. 
       FIG.  1    is a functional block diagram illustrating a distributed data processing environment, generally designated  100 , suitable for operation of web reverse proxy  112  in accordance with at least one embodiment of the present invention. The term “distributed” as used herein describes a computer system that includes multiple, physically distinct devices that operate together as a single computer system.  FIG.  1    provides only an illustration of one implementation and does not imply any limitations with regard to the environments in which different embodiments may be implemented. Many modifications to the depicted environment may be made by those skilled in the art without departing from the scope of the invention as recited by the claims. 
     Distributed data processing environment  100  includes computing device  110  connected to network  120 . Network  120  can be, for example, a telecommunications network, a local area network (LAN), a wide area network (WAN), such as the Internet, or a combination of the three, and can include wired, wireless, or fiber optic connections. Network  120  can include one or more wired and/or wireless networks that are capable of receiving and transmitting data, voice, and/or video signals, including multimedia signals that include voice, data, and video information. In general, network  120  can be any combination of connections and protocols that will support communications between computing device  110  and other computing devices (not shown) within distributed data processing environment  100 . 
     Computing device  110  can be a standalone computing device, a management server, a web server, a mobile computing device, or any other electronic device or computing system capable of receiving, sending, and processing data. In an embodiment, computing device  110  can be a laptop computer, a tablet computer, a netbook computer, a personal computer (PC), a desktop computer, a personal digital assistant (PDA), a smart phone, or any programmable electronic device capable of communicating with other computing devices (not shown) within distributed data processing environment  100  via network  120 . In another embodiment, computing device  110  can represent a server computing system utilizing multiple computers as a server system, such as in a cloud computing environment. In yet another embodiment, computing device  110  represents a computing system utilizing clustered computers and components (e.g., database server computers, application server computers, etc.) that act as a single pool of seamless resources when accessed within distributed data processing environment  100 . 
     In an embodiment, computing device  110  includes web reverse proxy  112 . In an embodiment, web reverse proxy  112  is a program, application, or subprogram of a larger program for enforcing EULA version aware application response. In an alternative embodiment, web reverse proxy  112  may be located on any other device accessible by computing device  110  via network  120 . 
     In an embodiment, computing device  110  includes information repository  114 . In an embodiment, information repository  114  may be managed by web reverse proxy  112 . In an alternate embodiment, information repository  114  may be managed by the operating system of the device, alone, or together with, web reverse proxy  112 . Information repository  114  is a data repository that can store, gather, compare, and/or combine information. In some embodiments, information repository  114  is located externally to computing device  110  and accessed through a communication network, such as network  120 . In some embodiments, information repository  114  is stored on computing device  110 . In some embodiments, information repository  114  may reside on another computing device (not shown), provided that information repository  114  is accessible by computing device  110 . Information repository  114  includes, but is not limited to, license data, EULA version data, client data, application data, user data, authentication data, secure gateway data, API data, and other data that is received by web reverse proxy  112  from one or more sources, and data that is created by web reverse proxy  112 . 
     Information repository  114  may be implemented using any volatile or non-volatile storage media for storing information, as known in the art. For example, information repository  114  may be implemented with a tape library, optical library, one or more independent hard disk drives, multiple hard disk drives in a redundant array of independent disks (RAID), solid-state drives (SSD), or random-access memory (RAM). Similarly, information repository  114  may be implemented with any suitable storage architecture known in the art, such as a relational database, an object-oriented database, or one or more tables. 
       FIG.  2    is a sequence diagram that illustrates an example of an application for communicating EULA requirements between a web client and an application using a secure gateway, in accordance with an embodiment of the present invention. In the embodiment illustrated in  FIG.  2   , the application will continue to block access by the user until the web reverse proxy indicates the correct EULA version has been accepted by the user. 
     Web sequence diagram  200  includes Web Client  202 , which is typically operated by the user. Web sequence diagram  200  also includes Web reverse proxy  112 , the program that runs on the secure gateway, e.g., computing device  110  from  FIG.  1   , which will handle requests to, and responses from the protected application, and Application  206 , the application being protected by the web reverse proxy. In an embodiment, web reverse proxy  112  acts as an API gateway between the user and the application. In an embodiment, web reverse proxy  112  is a terminating server, and contains business logic, e.g., logic to determine when to authenticate, etc. 
     The reference designators  302  through  314  represent the steps in the flow diagram of  FIG.  3    and are explained below. 
       FIG.  3    is a flowchart depicting operational steps of the web reverse proxy, on a computing device within the distributed data processing environment of  FIG.  1   , for communicating EULA requirements between a user, via a web client, and an application using a secure gateway, in accordance with an embodiment of the present invention. In an alternative embodiment, the steps of workflow  300  may be performed by any other program while working with web reverse proxy  112 . It should be appreciated that embodiments of the present invention provide at least for communicating EULA requirements between a user and an application using a secure gateway. However,  FIG.  3    provides only an illustration of one implementation and does not imply any limitations with regard to the environments in which different embodiments may be implemented. Many modifications to the depicted environment may be made by those skilled in the art without departing from the scope of the invention as recited by the claims. 
     In the embodiment illustrated in  FIG.  3   , the application will continue to block access by the user until it determines that the user has accepted the correct EULA version. 
     It should be appreciated that the process depicted in  FIG.  3    illustrates one possible iteration of the operational steps performed by web reverse proxy  112  for communicating EULA requirements to a secure gateway, which repeats each time a web client requests access to an application served by the secure gateway. 
     In an embodiment, web reverse proxy  112  receives a web request from a web client for an application resource as an authenticated user. In an embodiment, web reverse proxy  112  passes the web request, including the EULA version that has been currently accepted by the user, to the application. In an embodiment, web reverse proxy  112  receives a response from the application with the EULA version it requires the web client to accept in order to access the application. In an embodiment, web reverse proxy  112  presents the corresponding EULA version to the web client for the user to accept. In an embodiment, web reverse proxy  112  receives a notification from the web client that the user has accepted the version of the EULA that was received from the application. In an embodiment, web reverse proxy  112  sends the EULA information to the application as HTTP headers in the request. In an embodiment, web reverse proxy  112  receives the response from the application and returns the application response to the web client. In an embodiment, web reverse proxy  112  then ends for this cycle. 
     Web reverse proxy  112  receives a web request (step  302 ). In an embodiment, web reverse proxy  112  receives a web request from a user via a web client for an application resource as an authenticated user. In an embodiment, web reverse proxy  112  determines the version of the EULA that has previously been accepted by the user. In an embodiment, web reverse proxy  112  adds the EULA version and acceptance status to a request to the application. 
     Web reverse proxy  112  passes the web request to the application (step  304 ). In an embodiment, web reverse proxy  112  passes the web request, including the EULA version that has been currently accepted by the user, to the application. In an embodiment, web reverse proxy  112  passes the web request as an HTTP header. In another embodiment, web reverse proxy  112  passes the request to the application using any means as would be known to a person of skill in the art. 
     Web reverse proxy  112  receives the version of the EULA required (step  306 ). In an embodiment, web reverse proxy  112  receives a response from the application with the EULA version the application requires the web client to accept in order to access the application. 
     Web reverse proxy  112  sends the new EULA to the web client (step  308 ). In an embodiment, web reverse proxy  112  sends a message to the user via the web client to present the corresponding EULA version to for the user to accept. 
     Web reverse proxy  112  receives the EULA acceptance from the web client (step  310 ). In an embodiment, web reverse proxy  112  receives a notification from the web client that the user has accepted the version of the EULA that was received from the application in step  306 . 
     Web reverse proxy  112  passes the EULA acceptance to the application (step  312 ). In an embodiment, web reverse proxy  112  sends the EULA information to the application as HTTP headers in the request. In another embodiment, web reverse proxy  112  sends the EULA information to the application using any means as would be known to a person of skill in the art. 
     Web reverse proxy  112  receives a response from the application (step  314 ). In an embodiment, web reverse proxy  112  receives the response from the application and returns the application response to the web client. In an embodiment, web reverse proxy  112  then ends for this cycle. 
       FIG.  4    is a sequence diagram that illustrates an example of an application for communicating EULA requirements between a web client and an application using a secure gateway, in accordance with another embodiment of the present invention. In the embodiment illustrated in  FIG.  4   , a user requests, via a web client, access to an application, and the application produces a response for the client which is based on the version of the EULA which has previously been accepted by the user. In this embodiment, if the application detects that an older version of the EULA has been accepted, the application constructs a response based on the older EULA version. For example, the response may indicate that certain fields in an API response are excluded because those fields require a later EULA. In an embodiment, an additional HTTP header maybe added to the response which indicates the EULA version which would need to be accepted in order to receive the complete response. 
     Web sequence diagram  400  includes Web Client  202 , which is typically operated by the user, web reverse proxy  112 , the program that runs on the secure gateway, e.g., computing device  110  from  FIG.  1   , which will handle requests to, and responses from the protected application, and Application  206 , the application being protected by the web reverse proxy. The reference designators  502  through  506  represent the steps in the flow diagram of  FIG.  5    and are explained below. 
       FIG.  5    is a flowchart depicting operational steps of the web reverse proxy, on a computing device within the distributed data processing environment of  FIG.  1   , for communicating EULA requirements between a user, via a web client, and an application using a secure gateway, in accordance with an embodiment of the present invention. In an alternative embodiment, the steps of workflow  500  may be performed by any other program while working with web reverse proxy  112 . It should be appreciated that embodiments of the present invention provide at least for communicating EULA requirements between a web client and an application using a secure gateway. However,  FIG.  5    provides only an illustration of one implementation and does not imply any limitations with regard to the environments in which different embodiments may be implemented. Many modifications to the depicted environment may be made by those skilled in the art without departing from the scope of the invention as recited by the claims. 
     In the embodiment illustrated in  FIG.  5   , the user will be blocked from any features of the application not supported by the version of the EULA currently accepted by the user. 
     It should be appreciated that the process depicted in  FIG.  5    illustrates one possible iteration of the operational steps performed by web reverse proxy  112  for communicating EULA requirements to a secure gateway, which repeats each time a user requests access to an application served by the secure gateway. 
     In an embodiment, web reverse proxy  112  receives a web request from a web client for an application resource as an authenticated user. In an embodiment, web reverse proxy  112  passes the web request, including the EULA version that has been currently accepted by the user, to the application. In an embodiment, web reverse proxy  112  receives a response from the application acknowledging that an incorrect EULA version was accepted, and an HTTP header that contains a link to current EULA version. In an embodiment, web reverse proxy  112  then ends for this cycle. 
     Web reverse proxy  112  receives a web request (step  502 ). In an embodiment, web reverse proxy  112  receives a web request from a user via a web client for an application resource as an authenticated user. In an embodiment, web reverse proxy  112  determines the version of the EULA that has previously been accepted by the user. In an embodiment, web reverse proxy  112  adds the EULA version and acceptance status to a request to the application. 
     Web reverse proxy  112  passes the web request to the application (step  504 ). In an embodiment, web reverse proxy  112  passes the web request, including the EULA version that has been currently accepted by the user, to the application. In an embodiment, web reverse proxy  112  passes the web request as an HTTP header. In another embodiment, web reverse proxy  112  passes the request to the application using any means as would be known to a person of skill in the art. 
     Web reverse proxy  112  receives a response from the application (step  506 ). In an embodiment, web reverse proxy  112  receives a response from the application acknowledging that an incorrect EULA version was accepted. In an embodiment, the response from the application is a subset of the complete set of features supported by the application, where the subset is the allowable features that the user may access based on the version of the EULA that has previously been accepted by the user. In this embodiment, the user may access the application but only use the subset of features that are allowable with the version of the EULA that has previously been accepted by the user. In an embodiment, the response includes an HTTP header that contains a link to current EULA version. 
     In this embodiment, the application detects that an older version of the EULA has been accepted, and the application then constructs a response based on the older EULA version. For example, the response may indicate that in an API response certain fields are excluded because those fields require a later EULA. In an embodiment, an additional HTTP header maybe added to the response which indicates the EULA version which would need to be accepted in order to receive the complete response. 
     In an embodiment, web reverse proxy  112  sends the response based on the older EULA version to the web client. In an embodiment, web reverse proxy  112  also sends the additional HTTP header to the web client which indicates the EULA version which would need to be accepted in order to receive the complete response. In an embodiment, web reverse proxy  112  then ends for this cycle. 
       FIG.  6    is a block diagram depicting components of computing device  110  suitable for web reverse proxy  112 , in accordance with at least one embodiment of the invention.  FIG.  6    displays computer  600 ; one or more processor(s)  604  (including one or more computer processors); communications fabric  602 ; memory  606 , including random-access memory (RAM)  616  and cache  618 ; persistent storage  608 ; communications unit  612 ; I/O interfaces  614 ; display  622 ; and external devices  620 . It should be appreciated that  FIG.  6    provides only an illustration of one embodiment and does not imply any limitations with regard to the environments in which different embodiments may be implemented. Many modifications to the depicted environment may be made. 
     As depicted, computer  600  operates over communications fabric  602 , which provides communications between computer processor(s)  604 , memory  606 , persistent storage  608 , communications unit  612 , and I/O interface(s)  614 . Communications fabric  602  may be implemented with any architecture suitable for passing data or control information between processors  604  (e.g., microprocessors, communications processors, and network processors), memory  606 , external devices  620 , and any other hardware components within a system. For example, communications fabric  602  may be implemented with one or more buses. 
     Memory  606  and persistent storage  608  are computer readable storage media. In the depicted embodiment, memory  606  comprises RAM  616  and cache  618 . In general, memory  606  can include any suitable volatile or non-volatile computer readable storage media. Cache  618  is a fast memory that enhances the performance of processor(s)  604  by holding recently accessed data, and near recently accessed data, from RAM  616 . 
     Program instructions for web reverse proxy  112  may be stored in persistent storage  608 , or more generally, any computer readable storage media, for execution by one or more of the respective computer processors  604  via one or more memories of memory  606 . Persistent storage  608  may be a magnetic hard disk drive, a solid-state disk drive, a semiconductor storage device, read only memory (ROM), electronically erasable programmable read-only memory (EEPROM), flash memory, or any other computer readable storage media that is capable of storing program instruction or digital information. 
     The media used by persistent storage  608  may also be removable. For example, a removable hard drive may be used for persistent storage  608 . Other examples include optical and magnetic disks, thumb drives, and smart cards that are inserted into a drive for transfer onto another computer readable storage medium that is also part of persistent storage  608 . 
     Communications unit  612 , in these examples, provides for communications with other data processing systems or devices. In these examples, communications unit  612  includes one or more network interface cards. Communications unit  612  may provide communications through the use of either or both physical and wireless communications links. In the context of some embodiments of the present invention, the source of the various input data may be physically remote to computer  600  such that the input data may be received, and the output similarly transmitted via communications unit  612 . 
     I/O interface(s)  614  allows for input and output of data with other devices that may be connected to computer  600 . For example, I/O interface(s)  614  may provide a connection to external device(s)  620  such as a keyboard, a keypad, a touch screen, a microphone, a digital camera, and/or some other suitable input device. External device(s)  620  can also include portable computer readable storage media such as, for example, thumb drives, portable optical or magnetic disks, and memory cards. Software and data used to practice embodiments of the present invention, e.g., web reverse proxy  112 , can be stored on such portable computer readable storage media and can be loaded onto persistent storage  608  via I/O interface(s)  614 . I/O interface(s)  614  also connect to display  622 . 
     Display  622  provides a mechanism to display data to a user and may be, for example, a computer monitor. Display  622  can also function as a touchscreen, such as a display of a tablet computer. 
     The programs described herein are identified based upon the application for which they are implemented in a specific embodiment of the invention. However, it should be appreciated that any particular program nomenclature herein is used merely for convenience, and thus the invention should not be limited to use solely in any specific application identified and/or implied by such nomenclature. 
     The present invention may be a system, a method, and/or a computer program product. The computer program product may include a computer readable storage medium (or media) having computer readable program instructions thereon for causing a processor to carry out aspects of the present invention. 
     The computer readable storage medium can be any tangible device that can retain and store instructions for use by an instruction execution device. The computer readable storage medium may be, for example, but is not limited to, an electronic storage device, a magnetic storage device, an optical storage device, an electromagnetic storage device, a semiconductor storage device, or any suitable combination of the foregoing. A non-exhaustive list of more specific examples of the computer readable storage medium includes the following: a portable computer diskette, a hard disk, a random access memory (RAM), a read-only memory (ROM), an erasable programmable read-only memory (EPROM or Flash memory), a static random access memory (SRAM), a portable compact disc read-only memory (CD-ROM), a digital versatile disk (DVD), a memory stick, a floppy disk, a mechanically encoded device such as punch-cards or raised structures in a groove having instructions recorded thereon, and any suitable combination of the foregoing. A computer readable storage medium, as used herein, is not to be construed as being transitory signals per se, such as radio waves or other freely propagating electromagnetic waves, electromagnetic waves propagating through a waveguide or other transmission media (e.g., light pulses passing through a fiber-optic cable), or electrical signals transmitted through a wire. 
     Computer readable program instructions described herein can be downloaded to respective computing/processing devices from a computer readable storage medium or to an external computer or external storage device via a network, for example, the Internet, a local area network, a wide area network and/or a wireless network. The network may comprise copper transmission cables, optical transmission fibers, wireless transmission, routers, firewalls, switches, gateway computers and/or edge servers. A network adapter card or network interface in each computing/processing device receives computer readable program instructions from the network and forwards the computer readable program instructions for storage in a computer readable storage medium within the respective computing/processing device. 
     Computer readable program instructions for carrying out operations of the present invention may be assembler instructions, instruction-set-architecture (ISA) instructions, machine instructions, machine dependent instructions, microcode, firmware instructions, state-setting data, or either source code or object code written in any combination of one or more programming languages, including an object oriented programming language such as Smalltalk, C++ or the like, and conventional procedural programming languages, such as the “C” programming language or similar programming languages. The computer readable program instructions may execute entirely on the user&#39;s computer, partly on the user&#39;s computer, as a stand-alone software package, partly on the user&#39;s computer and partly on a remote computer or entirely on the remote computer or server. In the latter scenario, the remote computer may be connected to the user&#39;s computer through any type of network, including a local area network (LAN) or a wide area network (WAN), or the connection may be made to an external computer (for example, through the Internet using an Internet Service Provider). In some embodiments, electronic circuitry including, for example, programmable logic circuitry, field-programmable gate arrays (FPGA), or programmable logic arrays (PLA) may execute the computer readable program instructions by utilizing state information of the computer readable program instructions to personalize the electronic circuitry, in order to perform aspects of the present invention. 
     Aspects of the present invention are described herein with reference to flowchart illustrations and/or block diagrams of methods, apparatus (systems), and computer program products according to embodiments of the invention. It will be understood that each block of the flowchart illustrations and/or block diagrams, and combinations of blocks in the flowchart illustrations and/or block diagrams, can be implemented by computer readable program instructions. 
     These computer readable program instructions may be provided to a processor of a general-purpose computer, a special purpose computer, or other programmable data processing apparatus to produce a machine, such that the instructions, which execute via the processor of the computer or other programmable data processing apparatus, create means for implementing the functions/acts specified in the flowchart and/or block diagram block or blocks. These computer readable program instructions may also be stored in a computer readable storage medium that can direct a computer, a programmable data processing apparatus, and/or other devices to function in a particular manner, such that the computer readable storage medium having instructions stored therein comprises an article of manufacture including instructions which implement aspects of the function/act specified in the flowchart and/or block diagram block or blocks. 
     The computer readable program instructions may also be loaded onto a computer, other programmable data processing apparatus, or other device to cause a series of operational steps to be performed on the computer, other programmable apparatus or other device to produce a computer implemented process, such that the instructions which execute on the computer, other programmable apparatus, or other device implement the functions/acts specified in the flowchart and/or block diagram block or blocks. 
     The flowchart and block diagrams in the Figures illustrate the architecture, functionality, and operation of possible implementations of systems, methods, and computer program products according to various embodiments of the present invention. In this regard, each block in the flowchart or block diagrams may represent a module, a segment, or a portion of instructions, which comprises one or more executable instructions for implementing the specified logical function(s). In some alternative implementations, the functions noted in the blocks may occur out of the order noted in the Figures. For example, two blocks shown in succession may, in fact, be executed substantially concurrently, or the blocks may sometimes be executed in the reverse order, depending upon the functionality involved. It will also be noted that each block of the block diagrams and/or flowchart illustration, and combinations of blocks in the block diagrams and/or flowchart illustration, can be implemented by special purpose hardware-based systems that perform the specified functions or acts or carry out combinations of special purpose hardware and computer instructions. 
     The descriptions of the various embodiments of the present invention have been presented for purposes of illustration but are not intended to be exhaustive or limited to the embodiments disclosed. Many modifications and variations will be apparent to those of ordinary skill in the art without departing from the scope and spirit of the invention. The terminology used herein was chosen to best explain the principles of the embodiment, the practical application or technical improvement over technologies found in the marketplace, or to enable others of ordinary skill in the art to understand the embodiments disclosed herein.