Patent Document

FIELD OF THE INVENTION  
         [0001]    The invention relates to the field of computer software and software design, particularly but not solely the design and development of Object Oriented GUI-based client applications.  
         BACKGROUND OF THE INVENTION  
         [0002]    Most modem computer software design is based on the concept of modularity: the idea that separating a large piece of software into its constituent parts makes development and maintenance of the system much easier to manage.  
           [0003]    Client/Server architecture is a logical extension of this idea. In a client/server system not all of the modules need necessarily exist or execute on the same machine. The client, which might be simply a desktop personal computer, can request information or services from a server, which might be a high powered computer running a database program and managing the storage of a vast amount of data. In this way clients and servers can run separately on the hardware and software platforms most suitable for their functions while co-operating to perform a task. Alternatively both client and server applications may run on the same machine.  
           [0004]    The client application commonly manages the user interface side of the task. It accepts and verifies data entered by the user, dispatches requests to server applications and sometimes executes business logic. The design and development of a client application is a complicated task in and of itself. However, using the popular Object Oriented programming paradigm this task can also be simplified and separated into its constituent parts.  
           [0005]    The essential elements of each use case or task to be managed by the client application can be divided between three types of “objects” each containing its own data and methods. A View object is responsible for presentation details or the User Interface (UI), which is generally a Graphical User Interface (GUI). A controller or handler object is responsible for managing the execution and co-ordination aspects of the business case. Finally a Business Object Implementation object is responsible for the business data and business logic aspects of the process or use case.  
           [0006]    The purpose of this division is to simplify the structure of the application and to remove contact between the UI and the business logic. FIG. 1 shows the typical inter-relationships between the Business Object Implementation object or Business Object(s)  10 , the View object  20  and the Handler object or Handler  30 .  
           [0007]    The view essentially presents the data or business object but in theory is not concerned with the business logic (which operations are to be performed on that data or what it is for). The view is usually made up of GUI components, for example data display fields, data entry fields, menus and buttons. It is the view object or sub-system with which the user interacts. The user may enter some data, for example, and press a button.  
           [0008]    The handler is responsible for the coordinating of the sequence of actions that need to be performed to implement the use case. The handler, which is always “listening” to the view for relevant events, is notified that the user has requested some action to be performed and passes the data and instructions for this action to the appropriate Business Object Implementation.  
           [0009]    The Business Object Implementation object processes any business logic that may have been requested by the user. The View and Business Object Implementation objects can communicate directly to ascertain when the View should refresh itself, or their communication can be coordinated by the handler. The View then refreshes itself from the updated data provided by the Business Object Implementation and the user is presented with the results of their request.  
           [0010]    It will be appreciated from this description that while the division of the client application into Business Object Implementation, View and Handler provides a conceptually simpler structure, the interactions between the objects or sub-systems must be carefully managed, planned and implemented.  
           [0011]    In theory the design of the application is separated into three steps, namely view design, handler design and business object design. However in reality, because of the essential interrelationships between these sub-systems, developers often find themselves mixing these steps into one. Thus development and maintenance once again become complex and some of the advantages of using this model are lost.  
           [0012]    It would be useful to have a model using this division of the essential elements of an application into Business Object Implementations, Views and Handlers which could isolate the GUI from any business logic to some extent and allow for substantially independent development of the three classes of object or sub-systems.  
         SUMMARY OF THE INVENTION  
         [0013]    In broad terms in one form there is provided a method of developing a computer software system comprising: defining a first interface between a proposed view sub-system and a proposed business logic sub-system, defining a second interface between a proposed handler sub-system and the proposed business logic sub-system, creating the view sub-system in accord with the second interface, and creating the handler sub-system in accord with the second interface.  
           [0014]    In broad terms in another form the invention comprises a computer software system comprising a view sub-system including presentation objects which provides a user interface, a business logic sub-system including business case objects which hold business data and implement business functions, a handler sub-system including controller objects which control actions of the view sub-system and actions of the business logic sub-system, a data interface through which the view sub-system obtains business data for the presentation objects, and a business interface through which the handler sub-system invokes business functions.  
           [0015]    In broad terms in another form the invention comprises a computer program comprising at least one view object including presentation objects which provide a user interface, at least one business object holding business data and implementing business functions, at least one handler object which controls the actions of at least one of the view objects and the actions of at least one of the business logic objects, a data interface through which the at least one view object obtains business data for the presentation objects, and a business interface through which the at least one handler object invokes business functions. 
       
    
    
     BRIEF DESCRIPTION OF THE DRAWINGS  
       [0016]    Preferred forms of the invention will now be described with reference to the accompanying figures in which:  
         [0017]    [0017]FIG. 1 shows a prior art application having sub-systems;  
         [0018]    [0018]FIG. 2 shows an arrangement of typical computer equipment which could be used to carry out the invention;  
         [0019]    [0019]FIG. 3 shows a block diagram of a computer network arrangement;  
         [0020]    [0020]FIG. 4 shows a computer application having sub-systems and interfaces;  
         [0021]    [0021]FIG. 5 shows an alternative computer application having sub-systems and interfaces;  
         [0022]    [0022]FIG. 6 shows operation of the application in more detail; and  
         [0023]    [0023]FIG. 7 shows a sequence in an exemplary customer data use case. 
     
    
     DETAILED DESCRIPTION  
       [0024]    [0024]FIG. 2 shows preferred system architecture for the invention. The computer system  40  typically comprises a central processor  50 , a main memory  60  for example RAM, and an by input/output controller  70 . The computer system  40  also comprises peripherals such as a keyboard  80 , a pointing device  90  for example a mouse, touch pad or track ball, a display or screen device  100 , a mass storage memory  110  for example a hard disk, floppy disk or optical disc, and an output device  120  for example a printer. The system  40  may also include a network interface card or controller  130  and/or a modem  140 . The individual components of the system  40  may communicate through a system bus  150 .  
         [0025]    Preferably the invention is implemented on a computer running an operating system with a Graphical User Interface such as OS/2, Mac OS or Microsoft Windows.  
         [0026]    Components  50 ,  60 ,  70 ,  80 ,  90 ,  100 ,  120 ,  130 ,  140  and  150  may be set up as a stand-alone computer or may be connected to further components in a network. The invention may be implemented on such a stand-alone machine or may be distributed across a network.  
         [0027]    [0027]FIG. 3 shows a preferred network set-up for the invention. Client systems may run on various clients, for example  160 A,  160 B,  160 C,  160 D,  160 E and  160 F, which each may comprise a personal computer or workstation described above. Each client is interfaced to a server machine  250 . Each client  160  may be connected directly to the server, may be connected through a local area network or LAN or may be connected through the Internet. Any combination of wired or wireless networks may be used.  
         [0028]    Clients  160 A and  160 B for example, are connected to a network  170 , such as a local area network or LAN. The network  170  may be connected to a suitable network server and communicate with the server machine as shown. Client  160 C is shown connected directly to the server. Clients  160 D,  160 E and  160 F are shown connected to the server through the Internet  190 . Client  160 D is shown as connected to the Internet  190  with a dial-up connection and clients  160 E and  160 F are shown connected to a network  200  such as a local area network or LAN, with the network  200  connected to a suitable network server  210 .  
         [0029]    Preferably the invention is implemented using an Object Oriented programming language, for example the Java programming language, although any appropriate object oriented programming language may used.  
         [0030]    [0030]FIG. 4 shows a preferred arrangement of objects in a client application running on a client  160  and/or server  250  according to the invention. The application uses three classes of objects which are referred to as three sub-systems, namely View  300 , Handler  320  and Business Object  340 .  
         [0031]    The application may be thought of as being made up of a plurality of use cases or tasks. A use case may be for example finding a list of customers satisfying a given search criterion or may be changing customer details.  
         [0032]    Each use case is captured as a handler  320  which is responsible for coordinating and controlling the flow of the use case. Once the application identifies the use case, it creates an appropriate handler and passes control to it. In fact the application itself could be thought of as a handler.  
         [0033]    It should be noted that more than one handler may be required to successfully complete a task. The handlers involved will usually need to communicate with each other which they do by passing command objects. A command object contains data that needs to be handed from one handler to another to continue processing.  
         [0034]    The view  300  is generally comprised of various user interface (UI) components through which the user can receive appropriate input cues and output information. The View sub-system  300  is responsible for display and presentation aspects of the use cases. The handler  320  must create the appropriate views for the use case and respond to any events in them.  
         [0035]    The Business Object sub-system  340  is where the business logic of the use case is carried out and business data is processed. The Business objects in the Business Object sub-system  340  could optionally be divided into corresponding business data objects and business logic objects. The handler  320  must create appropriate business object peers for the use case and invoke the appropriate methods in them. The handler must also handle errors.  
         [0036]    It will be appreciated that more than one business object may participate in a single view for a single use case. It is also possible that a single business object may participate in more than one view in the application.  
         [0037]    The interactions which are possible between the three sub-systems are defined by interfaces, for example, a first Data Object interface  400  between the View sub-system  300  and the Business Object(s) sub-system  340  and a second Business Object Interface  420  between the Handler subs-ystem  320  and the Business Object(s) sub-system  340 .  
         [0038]    The Business Objects sub-system or class  340  implements a first interface, for example the Data Object Interface  400 , and a second interface, for example, the Business Object interface  420 . This means that methods defined in the interfaces  400  and  420  are implemented in the Business object and can be called by the other sub-systems. The view sub-system  300  is designed to be able to access the data from the Business Object at  340  but only by calling the methods defined in the Data Object Interface  400 . The Handler sub-system  320  is designed to be able to access the logic in the Business Object at  340  but only by calling the methods defined in the Business Object Interface  420 . Thus, once the interfaces have been agreed upon, the Views and the Handlers can be developed quite independently of the Business Object Implementations, but a View  300  must be designed in accord with the agreed Data Object interface  400  and a Handler  320  must be designed in accord with the agreed Business Object Interface  420 .  
         [0039]    [0039]FIG. 5 shows another embodiment of the invention. In this embodiment the sub-systems  300 ,  320  and  340  have been further isolated from each other by introducing a third interface, for example, a Listener Interface  440  defining methods which are implemented in the Handler sub-system  320 , and can be called by the View sub-system  300  and a fourth interface, for example a View interface  460  defining methods which are implemented in the View sub-system  300  and can be called by the Handler sub-system  320 .  
         [0040]    In this embodiment, all of the sub-systems can now be developed with a large degree of independence, but the View  300  must now be designed in accord with both the Data Object interface  400  and the Listener interface  440 . The Handler sub-system  320  must be designed in accord with both the Business Object interface  420  and the View interface  460 .  
         [0041]    Through the use of the Listener and View interfaces, the dependency between the View  300  and the Handler  320  has been totally eliminated. The View and its UI components have now also been effectively isolated from any business logic. The view is now only concerned with presentation and the input and display of data.  
         [0042]    The Business Object is a largely independent entity in each embodiment of the invention. It does not need to be aware of either the view and its UI components or the Handler and its process control responsibilities. It is only responsible for the execution of business logic and the maintenance of the business data objects.  
         [0043]    The execution of a possible client application according to one aspect of the invention will now be described by way of example only.  
         [0044]    [0044]FIG. 6 shows the operation of a client application which has been designed according to one preferred form of the invention for a generic use case. The example uses three of the interfaces described above, namely the Data Object Interface  400 , the Business Object Interface  420  and the Listener Interface  440 . A further View interface could be added with only small modifications.  
         [0045]    The client application is started at  601 . The handler  320  for the default use case creates an appropriate View  300  at  602  and then associates itself as a listener in step  603 . The handler  320  then creates an appropriate Business Object Peer  340  according to what Business Object or Objects are relevant to the current use case and view. At step  605  the handler  320  informs the View  300  about the appropriate Business Object  340  and then instructs the view to refresh itself at step  606 .  
         [0046]    At this point the UI components are visible on the screen and the application is ready to receive user input. The user may for example enter a key to search. This may be step  607 . The view may now send the data entered through the Data Object interface  400  to the Business Object Data Peer at step  608 . At step  609  the user may press the OK button triggering action in the handler. The “Ok pressed” event may be fired at  610  which the Handler receives through the Listener Interface  440 .  
         [0047]    Having identified the “OK Pressed” event, the handler now calls a method defined in the Business Object Interface to retrieve the Business Object details. The business object sets about retrieving the required data according to the search key which was set by the view at step  608 . In this example the retrieval request goes through a translation process at  612  and is sent to a server where the data can be retrieved using native database access at  613 . When the handler receives notification that the retrieval request has returned at  614  it instructs the view to refresh at  615 . The View  300  retrieves the data with which to refresh itself at  616  via the Data Object Interface  400 .  
         [0048]    This example illustrates the way in which business data now flows only through the Data Object Interface while business logic is only initiated through the Business Object Interface.  
         [0049]    [0049]FIG. 7 shows a specific use case data flow sequence for customer details. The sequence follows the same steps as those set out above but with the objects instantiated. The Customer object has been divided into a Customer Object Data Peer and a Customer Object Logic Peer.  
         [0050]    In this example the user wishes to retrieve details about a customer. The user enters the known information for the customer, for example the customer&#39;s name, at step  701  and then presses the retrieve button at step  702 .  
         [0051]    The Customer View is responsible for data and sets the name search key in the Customer Data Peer at  703  and returns at  704 . Once the search key is set, the Customer Handler which is responsible for logic may call the retrieve method in the Customer Data Peer at  705 . This request and the data peer involved are now passed through the CustomerBusinessLogicPeerProxy at  706  and the CustomerBusinessLogicPeer at  707 . Finally the retrieve request is sent to the database at  708 .  
         [0052]    The data returns along the same route as the request. The data is passed from the database to the CustomerBusinessLogicPeer at  709  where the Customer Data Peer is populated with the data, the Customer Data Peer then passes on to the CustomerBusinessLogicPeerProxy at  710  and returns in its new state at  711 . The Customer View can now refresh itself from the Customer Data Peer on instructions from the handler at  712 . Finally the user receives the data as it is displayed by the View.  
         [0053]    Through the use of interfaces as described above the invention defines two facades to business object implementation objects: a data facade and a logic facade.  
         [0054]    The data facade is used by the view objects to represent the business object in a tangible form to the end user while the logic facade is used by the handler objects to trigger the invocation of some business logic. Such an invocation of business logic would typically be a call to the server to retrieve details according to some valid business rules.  
         [0055]    This design isolates presentation from business logic to some extent. The usage of interfaces to provide two different facades to the same business object eliminates the need for extra data objects to capture the data represented by a business object implementation object.  
         [0056]    The design also allows the design work which must go into a client application to be divided between designers from different skill groups. A user interface design team may deal with presentation aspects while a business logic implementation team deals with the logic.  
         [0057]    The foregoing describes the invention including preferred forms thereof. Alterations and modifications as will be obvious to those skilled in the art are intended to be incorporated within the scope hereof, as defined by the accompanying claims.

Technology Category: 3