Patent ID: 7752214

Claim:
A computer program product comprising an extended environment data structure that is part of a digital asset tangibly stored on a storage medium in a source computer, having a memory and a processor and at least one network connection, of a Component Distribution Server system that improves the distribution of the digital asset over one or more multi-tiered networks, the data structure comprising said computer program product including: one or more common descriptors to provide a unique identification of the digital asset on the multi-tiered networks, wherein the digital asset is a component of an application and has an asset type defined by an asset boundary and at least two asset layers including a logic/data layer having information that includes a function of the asset and an extended environment layer comprising said extended environment data structure to support the logic/data layer function on the source computer; one or more base environment descriptors to identify a required base execution environment on one or more target computers, the base execution environment being required to execute the digital asset on a respective target computer that has at least one of a different computer hardware, software, or operating environment, wherein the base execution environment includes one or more other digital assets effective to create the base environment on the target computer deployed to the respective target computer from one or more Enterprise Information Systems (EIS) on the source computer; and one or more transform descriptors to enable on the source computer translation and change processes of the digital asset to transform the digital asset from a digital asset that performs the asset function that is included in the logic/data layer thereof on an EIS execution environment on the source computer into a processed digital asset, having a processed extended environment including a processed extended environment data structure, that performs the asset function on the target base execution environment on the target computer upon distribution thereto in the Component Distribution Service system; wherein the digital asset is organized with at least one other digital asset transformed in the EIS environment on the source computer as at least one distributable package according to a package boundary determined by the asset boundary of at least one of the digital assets.