INTERFACE INFRASTRUCTURE FOR CREATING AND INTERACTING WITH WEB SERVICES
BACKGROUND OF THE INVENTION
1 The Field of the Invention
[0001] The present invention relates to software development More particularly, the present invention relates to an Application Program Interface (API) that facilitates use of a software platform by application programs and computer hardware to create and interact in distributed computing activities
2 Background and Related Art
[0002] Computing technology has transformed the way we work and play Computing systems now take a wide variety of forms including desktop computers, laptop computers, tablet PCs, Personal Digital Assistants (PDAs), household devices and the like In its most basic form, a computing system includes system memory and one or more processors Software in the system memory may be executed by the processor to direct the other hardware of the computing system to perform desired functions
[0003] Software has been generally divided into "operating system" software and "application" software While it is not absolutely necessary for a computing system to have an operating system, operating systems are helpful in general purpose computing systems as they manage and control the computing hardware and perform generalized system tasks such as file management, thread scheduling, multitasking, and the like The application
software may perform more specialized tasks and, when necessary, may call upon the system level functions offered by the operating system The presence of an operating system makes application development much more streamlined, since basic functions do not need to be redeveloped for each application
[0004] The operating system makes available many core functions to application software Application developers can cause the application software to call upon the functions exposed by the operating system, by drafting source code that complies with an Application Program Interface (API) During runtime, the application program calls upon the operating system when executing the processor-level instructions compiled from that source code Accordingly, application software requests resources by calling individual API functions API functions also serve as the means by which the operating system may provide any related information back to the application software The term API is used to refer to a single function call to the operating system, as well as the collection of possible function calls to the operating system In addition, the term API is applied to both the source code representation of the function call as well as the m-memory representation of the function call
[0005] Over the past few years, the universal adoption of the Internet, and networking technology in general, has changed the landscape for computer software developers Traditionally, software developers focused on single-site software applications for standalone desktop computers, or LAN-based computers that were connected to a limited number of other computers via a local area network (LAN) These applications utilized well-defined APIs to access the underlying operating system of the computer [0006] As the Internet evolved and gained widespread acceptance, the industry began to recognize the power of hosting applications at various sites on the World Wide Web (or
simply the "Web") In the networked world, clients from anywhere may submit requests to server-based applications hosted at diverse locations and receive responses back in fractions of a second These Web applications, however, were typically developed using the same operating system platform that was originally developed for standalone computing machines or locally networked computers Unfortunately, in some instances, these applications do not adequately transfer to the distributed computing regime The underlying platform was simply not constructed with the idea of supporting limitless numbers of interconnected computers
[0007] To accommodate the shift to the distributed computing environment being ushered in by the Internet, Microsoft Corporation developed a software platform known as the " NET" Framework (read as "Dot Net") or Microsoft® NET Microsoft® NET is software for connecting people, information, systems, and devices The platform allows developers to create Web services that will execute over the Internet This dynamic shift was accompanied by a set of API functions for the NET Framework [0008] As use of the NET Framework has become increasingly common, ways to increase the efficiency and/or performance of the platform have been identified The inventors have developed a unique set of API functions to allow for such increased efficiency and/or performance
BRIEF SUMMARY OF THE INVENTION
[0009] The principles of the present invention are directed towards a unique set of API functions that allows for increased efficiency and performance when interfacing with the NET framework using web services namespaces A web services namespace pertains to an infrastructure for enabling creation of a wide variety of applications, and the term 'Veb" in not intended to limit or in any way restnct application using the web services namespace to be used for Internet applications The infrastructure provides a foundation for building message-based applications of various scale and complexity The infrastructure or framework provides APIs for basic messaging, secure messaging, reliable messaging and transacted messaging In some embodiments, the associated APIs are factored into a hierarchy of namespaces in a manner that balances utility, usability, extensibility and versionabihty
[0010] Additional features and advantages of the invention will be set forth in the description that follows, and in part will be obvious from the description, or may be learned by the practice of the invention The features and advantages of the invention may be realized and obtained by means of the instruments and combinations particularly pointed out in the appended claims These and other features of the present invention will become more fully apparent from the following description and appended claims, or may be learned by the practice of the invention as set forth hereinafter
BRIEF DESCRIPTION OF THE DRAWINGS
[0011] In order to describe the manner in which the above-rectted and other advantages
and features of the invention can be obtained, a more particular description of the invention
briefly descnbed above will be rendered by reference to specific embodiments thereof which
are illustrated in the appended drawings, in which like reference numerals refer to like
elements Understanding that these drawings depict only typical embodiments of the
invention and are not therefore to be considered to be limiting of its scope, the invention will
be descnbed and explained with additional specificity and detail through the use of the
accompanying drawings in which
[0012] Fig 1 illustrates a network architecture in which clients access Web services
using conventional protocols,
[0013] Fig 2 is a block diagram of a software architecture for a network platform, which
includes an application program interface (API),
[0014] Fig 3 is a block diagram of unique namespaces supported by the API, each
namespace representing one or more function classes having a common charactenstic,
[0015] Fig 4 is a block diagram of an exemplary computer that may execute all or part
of the software architecture,
[0016] Fig 5 is a block diagram that descnbes aspects of programming interfaces in
accordance with one embodiment of the present invention,
[0017] Fig 6 is a block diagram that descnbes aspects of programming interfaces in
accordance with one embodiment,
[0018] Fig 7 is a block diagram that descnbes aspects of programming interfaces in
accordance with one embodiment,
[0019] Fig 8 is a block diagram that descnbes aspects of programming interfaces in
accordance with one embodiment,
[0020] Fig 9 is a block diagram that descnbes aspects of programming interfaces in
accordance with one embodiment,
[0021] Fig 10 is a block diagram that descnbes aspects of programming interfaces in
accordance with one embodiment,
[0022] Fig 11 is a block diagram that descnbes aspects of programming interfaces in
accordance with one embodiment,
[0023] Fig 12 is a block diagram that descnbes aspects of programming interfaces in
accordance with one embodiment,
[0024] Fig 13 is a block diagram that descnbes aspects of programming interfaces in
accordance with one embodiment,
[0025] Fig 14 is a block diagram that descnbes aspects of programming interfaces in
accordance with one embodiment,
[0026] Fig 15 is a block diagram that descnbes aspects of programming interfaces in
accordance with one embodiment, and
[0027] Fig 16 is a block diagram that descnbes aspects of programming interfaces in
accordance with one embodiment
DETAILED DESCRIPTION OF THE PREFERRED EMBODIMENTS
[0028] The principles of the present invention relate to a unique set of Application Program Interface (API) functions that allows for increased efficiency and performance when interfacing with the NET framework using web services namespaces A web services namespace pertains to an infrastructure for enabling creation of a wide vanety of applications The infrastructure provides a foundation for building message-based applications of various scale and complexity The infrastructure or framework provides APIs for basic messaging, secure messaging, reliable messaging and transacted messaging In some embodiments, the associated APIs are factored into a hierarchy of namespaces in a manner that balances utility, usability, extensibility and versionabihty [0029] In the described implementation, the network platform utilizes extensible Markup Language (XML), an open standard for describing data XML is managed by the World Wide Web Consortium (W3C) XML is used for defining data elements on a Web page and business-to-business documents XML uses a similar tag structure as HTML, however, whereas HTML defines how elements are displayed, XML defines what those elements contain HTML uses predefined tags, but XML allows tags to be defined by the developer of the document Thus, virtually any data items can be identified, allowing XML documents to function like database records Through the use of XML and other open protocols, such as Simple Object Access Protocol (SOAP), the platform allows integration of a wide range of services that can be tailored to the needs of the user Although the embodiments described herein are described in conjunction with XML and other open standards, such are not required for the operation of the claimed invention Other equally viable technologies will suffice to implement the inventions described herein
[0030] As used herein, the phrase application program interface or API includes traditional interfaces that employ method or function calls, as well as remote calls (e g, a proxy, stub relationship) and SOAP/XML invocations [0031] EXEMPLARY NETWORK ENVIRONMENT
[0032] Fig 1 shows a network environment 100 in which a network platform, such as the NET Framework, may be implemented The network environment 100 includes representative Web services 102(1), , 102(N), which provide services that can be accessed over a network 104 (eg, Internet) or using inter-process communication The Web services, referenced generally as number 102, are programmable application components that are reusable and interact programmatically over the network 104, typically through industry standard Web protocols, such as XML, Simple Object Access Protocol (SOAP), Wireless Application Protocol (WAP), HyperText Transport Protocol (HTTP), and Simple Mail Transfer Protocol (SMTP), although other means of interacting with the Web services over the network may also be used, such as Remote Procedure Call (RPC) or object broker type technology A Web service can be self-descnbmg and is often defined in terms of formats and ordering of messages
[0033] Web services 102 are accessible directly by other services (as represented by communication link 106) or a software application, such as Web application 110 (as represented by communication links 112 and 114) Each Web service 102 is illustrated as including one or more servers that execute software to handle requests for particular services Web services may be configured to perform any one of a variety of different services Examples of Web services include login verification, notification, database storage, stock quoting, location directories, mapping, music, electronic wallet, calendar/scheduler, telephone listings, news and information, games, ticketing, and so on
The Web services can be combined with each other and with other applications to build variably complex systems and intelligent interactive experiences
[0034] The network environment 100 also includes representative client devices 120(1), 120(2), 120(3), 120(4), , 120(M) that utilize the Web services 102 (as represented by communication link 122) and/or the Web application 110 (as represented by communication links 124, 126, and 128) The clients may communicate with one another using standard protocols as well, as represented by an exemplary XML link 130 between clients 120(3) and 120(4)
[0035] The client devices, referenced generally as number 120, can be implemented many different ways Examples of possible client implementations include, without limitation, portable computers, stationary computers, tablet PCs, televisions/set-top boxes, wireless communication devices, personal digital assistants, gaming consoles, printers, photocopiers, and other smart devices
[0036] The Web Service application 110 is an application designed to run on the network platform and may utilize the Web Service services 102 when handling and servicing requests from clients 120 The \feb Service application 110 is composed of one or more software applications 130 that run atop a programming framework 132, which are executing on one or more servers 134 or other computer systems Note that a portion of Web Service application 110 may actually reside on one or more of computers 120 Alternatively, Web Service application 110 may coordinate with other software on clients 120 or other computers to accomplish its tasks
[0037] The programming framework 132 is the structure that supports the applications and services developed by application developers It permits multi-language development and seamless integration by supporting multiple programming languages It supports open
protocols, such as SOAP, and encapsulates the underlying operating system and object model services The framework provides a robust and secure execution environment for the multiple programming languages and offers secure, integrated class libraries [0038] The framework 132 is a multi-tiered architecture that includes an API layer 142, a common language runtime (CLR) layer 144, and an operating system/services layer 146 This layered architecture allows updates and modifications to vanous layers without impacting other portions of the framework A common language specification (CLS) 140 allows designers of vanous languages to wnte code that is able to access underlying library functionality The specification 140 functions as a contract between language designers and library designers that can be used to promote language interoperability By adhenng to the CLS, Ubranes wntten in one language can be directly accessible to code modules wntten in other languages to achieve seamless integration between code modules wntten in one language and code modules wntten in another language One exemplary detailed implementation of a CLS is descnbed in an ECMA standard created by participants in ECMA TC39/TG3
[0039] The API layer 142 presents groups of functions that the applications 130 can call to access the resources and services provided by layer 146 By exposing the API functions for a network platform, application developers can create Web Service applications for distributed computing systems that make full use of the local and network resources and other Web Service services, without needing to understand the complex uiterworkings of how those network resources actually operate or are made available Moreover, the Web Service applications can be wntten in any number of programming languages, and translated into an intermediate language supported by the common language runtime 144 and included
as part of the common language specification 140 In this way, the API layer 142 can
provide methods for a wide and diverse vanety of applications
[0040] Additionally, the framework 132 can be configured to support API calls placed
by remote applications executing remotely from the servers 134 that host the framework
Representative applications 148(1) and 148(2) residing on clients 120(3) and 120(M),
respectively, can use the API functions by making calls directly, or indirectly, to the API
layer 142 over the network 104
[0041] The framework may also be implemented at the clients Client 120(3) represents
the situation where a framework 150 is implemented at the client This framework maybe
identical to server-based framework 132, or modified for client purposes Alternatively, the
client-based framework may be condensed in the event that the client is a limited or
dedicated function device, such as a cellular phone, personal digital assistant, handheld
computer, or other communication/computing device
[0042] DEVELOPERS' PROGRAMMING FRAMEWORK
[0043] Fig 2 shows the programming framework 132 in more detail The common
language specification (CLS) layer 140 supports applications wntten in a vanety of
languages 130(1), 130(2), 130(3), 130(4), , 130(K) Such application languages include
Visual Basic, C++, C#, COBOL, Jscnpt, Perl, Eiffel, Python, and so on The common
language specification 140 specifies a subset of features or rules about features that, if
followed, allow the vanous languages to communicate For example, some languages do
not support a given type (e g, an "int*" type) that might otherwise be supported by the
common language runtime 144 In this case, the common language specification 140 does
not include the type On the other hand, types that are supported by all or most languages
(eg, the "int[]" type) is included in common language specification 140 so library developers are free to use it and are assured that the languages can handle it [0044) This ability to communicate results in seamless integration between code modules wntten in one language and code modules wntten in another language Smce different languages are particularly well suited to particular tasks, the seamless integration between languages allows a developer to select a particular language for a particular code module with the ability to use that code module with modules wntten in different languages The common language runtime 144 allow seamless multi-language development, with cross language mhentance, and provide a robust and secure execution environment for the multiple programming languages For more information on the common language specification 140 and the common language runtime 144, the reader is directed to copending applications entitled "Method and System for Compiling Multiple Languages", filed 6/21/2000 (serial number 09/598,105) and "Unified Data Type System and Method" filed 7/10/2000 (serial number 09/613,289), which are incorporated by reference [0045] The framework 132 encapsulates the operating system 146(1) (e g , Windows®-brand operating systems) and object model services 146(2) (e g , Component Object Model (COM) or Distributed COM) The operating system 146(1) provides conventional functions, such as file management, notification, event handling, user interfaces (e g, windowing, menus, dialogs, etc), secunty, authentication, verification, processes and threads, memory management, and so on The object model services 146(2) provide interfacing with other objects to perform vanous tasks Calls made to the API layer 142 are handed to the common language runtime layer 144 for local execution by the operating system 146(1) and/or object model services 146(2)
{0046) The API 142 groups API functions into multiple namespaces Namespaces essentially define a collection of classes, interfaces, delegates, enumerations, and structures, which are collectively called "types", that provide a specific set of related functionality A class represents managed heap allocated data that has reference assignment semantics A delegate is an object oriented type-safe function pointer An enumeration is a special kind of value type that may take one of several predefined values represented by named constants A structure represents static allocated data that has value assignment semantics An interface defines a contract that other types can implement
[0047] By using namespaces, a designer can organize a set of types into a hierarchical namespace The designer is able to create multiple groups from the set of types, with each group containing at least one type, that exposes logically related functionality In the exemplary implementation, the API 142 is organized to include three root namespaces It should be noted that although only three root namespaces are illustrated in Fig 2, additional root namespaces may also be included in API 142 The three root namespaces illustrated in API 142 are a first namespace 200 for a presentation subsystem (which includes a namespace 202 for a user interface shell), a second namespace 204 for web services, and a third namespace 206 for a file system Each group can then be assigned a name For instance, types in the presentation subsystem namespace 200 can be assigned the name "Windows", and types in the file system namespace 206 can be assigned names "Storage" The named groups can be organized under a single "global root" namespace for system level APIs, such as an overall System namespace
[0048] By selecting and prefixing a top level identifier, the types in each group can be easily referenced by a hierarchical name that includes the selected top level identifier prefixed to the name of the group containing the type For instance, types in the file system
namespace 206 can be referenced using the hierarchical name "System Storage" In this way, the individual namespaces 200, 204, and 206 become major branches off of the System namespace and can carry a designation where the individual namespaces are prefixed with a designator, such as a "System " prefix
[0049] The presentation subsystem namespace 200 pertains to programming and content development It supplies types that allow for the generation of applications, documents, media presentations and other content For example, presentation subsystem namespace 200 provides a programming model that allows developers to obtain services from the operating system 146(1) and/or object model services 146(2) The shell namespace 202 pertains to user interface functionality It supplies types that allow developers to embed user interface functionality in their applications, and further allows developers to extend the user interface functionality
[0050] The web services namespace 204 pertains to an infrastructure for enabling creation of a wide variety of applications, e g applications as simple as a chat application that operates between two peers on an intranet, and/or as complex as a scalable Web service for millions of users The described infrastructure is advantageously highly variable in that one need only use those parts that are appropriate to the complexity of a particular solution The infrastructure provides a foundation for building message-based applications of various scale and complexity The infrastructure or framework provides APIs for basic messaging, secure messaging, reliable messaging and transacted messaging In the embodiment described below, the associated APIs have been factored mto a hierarchy of namespaces in a manner that has been carefully crafted to balance utility, usability, extensibility and versionabihty
[0051] The file system namespace 206 pertains to storage It supplies types that allow for information storage and retrieval
[0052] In addition to the framework 132, programming tools 210 are provided to assist the developer in building Web Services and/or applications One example of the programming tools 210 is Visual Studio®, a multi-language suite of programming tools offered by Microsoft Corporation [0053] ROOT NAMESPACES
[0054] Fig 3 shows the API 142 and one of its root namespaces, l e web services 204, in more detail In one embodiment, the namespaces are identified according to a hierarchical naming convention in which strings of names are concatenated with penods With this naming convention in mind, the following provides a general overview of selected namespaces of the API 142, although other naming conventions could be used with equal effect
[0055] The web services namespace 204 is identified by the root name "System ServiceModel" Within the "System ServiceModel" namespace are sub-namespaces for
• channels (I e "System ServiceModel Channels"),
• configuration (i e "System ServiceModel Configuration"),
• design (I e "System ServiceModel Design"),
• diagnostics (l e "System ServiceModel Diagnostics'), and
• security (i e "System ServiceModel Security")
[0056] In addition, within the "System ServiceModel Security" namespace is a sub-namespace for
• protocols (1 e "System ServiceModel Security Protocols"),
[0057] Additionally, there are additional namespaces that support functionality other
than and having utility outside of messaging These include
"System Security Authorization" "System Runtime Serialization', "System Transactions", "System 10 Log", "System Text" and "System XML"
[0058] Each of these illustrated namespaces and their corresponding core classes will now be described in further detail [00591 System ServiceModel
[0060] System ServiceModel is the root namespace that encapsulates all of the Service Model Specifically, this namespace represents the APIs that are utilized to wnte a distnbuted, message-passing application using Web Service messages This set of APIs is grouped together because it represents a logical, core layer of the Service Model, and it is possible to wnte an application using only those APIs and no other Service Model namespaces The core classes of this namespace include the following
• BasicProfileHttpBinding - Built in WS-IBP 1 1 binding
• BasicProfileHttpsBindmg - Built-m WS-I BP 1 1 binding over HTTPS
• ChannelPactory - Used to create the client-side runtime
• ContractDescnption - Descnbes a service contract Contains a collection of OperationDescnptions that each contains a collection of MessageDescnptions
• EndpointAddress - The EndpointAddress (and its contained class AddressProperties) represents the definition of the address of a Web Service It includes a number of aspects pertaining to the service's address, including its SOAP address (ActmgAs), it's transport address (Address), metadata-contributing headers (EndpomtHeaders),
metadata-agnostic headers (InstanceHeaders), security identity (Identity), and information about the Binding and Contract implemented at that endpoint
• IChannelFactory - The IChannelFactory interface represents the base interface for actively creating channels It has two sets of methods on it -CanCreateChannel(), which allows users to query whether a particular type of IChannel is supported, and CreateChannel( ), which allows users to create a particular type of IChannel to the specified endpoint
• IListenerFactory - The IListenerFactory interface represents the base interface for listening at a network address and creating IListeners It exposes types of functionality - ways to configure the network address (ListenUn, SetListenUn, SetUniqueListenUn) and ways to create IListeners (CreateListener( ), CanCreateListener())
IListeners are generally created on IListenerFactones by passing in a Message filter Messages that are received at a Listener Factory and that match a Listener's filter are delivered to that Listener This can be analogized to the way that TCP/IP works - a computer (Listener Factory) listens on a particular IP address Sockets bind to particular TCP ports (Filters) Packets that arrive on a particular IP address are demultiplexed to sockets based on port number, similar to the way that Messages that arrive at a particular Listener Factory are de-multiplexed to Listeners based on the Filters
IListenerFactones are generally used by acceptors of a communication pattern See IChannelFactory for details on how channels are actively created
• IntermediaryHttpBinding - Intermediary HTTP binding
• Intermediary!cpBinding - Intermediary TCP binding
• Message - The Message is the fundamental unit of communication between applications in the Service Model It is the container within which all data exchange between Web Services is encapsulated It is the Service Model equivalent of an IP packet The structure of a message loosely corresponds to that of the SOAP envelope A message contains both a set of message headers and a body, which correspond to the SOAP Header blocks and the SOAP Body, respectively The set of headers which can be included in a message is extensible Several default header types are defined and specified, specifically those related to message addressing and message expiration Others are defined by other Service Model components and/or by third-party developers
• MessageDescnption - Descnbes a service message
• MsmqsBinding - MSMQ integration binding
• NetMsmqBinding - MSMQ binding
• NetMsmqsBmding - Secure MSMQ binding
• NetNamedPipeBinding - Named pipe binding
• NetTcpBinding - Non interoperable TCP binding
• NetTcpsBindmg - Non interoperable TCPS binding
• OperationAttnbute - When used in accordance with the NET Framework Attribute model, this attribute marks a method as part of the service contract and allows the developer to configure aspects of the operation
• OperationDescnption - Descnbes a service operation Contains a collection of MessageDescnptions
• SecuntyBindingElement - This class and its related classes (SOAPAuthenticahonMode, SecuntyContextMode, ChannelSecuntyCredentials, ServiceSecuntyCredentials, ChannelSecuntyBehaviors, ServiceSecuntyBehaviors) provide the framework for configuring the SOAP security in the channel stack That is, they determine the type of security to be applied to the message
• ServiceContractAttnbute - When used in accordance with the NET Framework Attribute model, this attribute marks an interface as a service contract and lets the developer configure aspects of the contract
• ServiceDescnption - An ln-memory representation of a service's runtime requirements that can be used for various purposes including building a suitable runtime environment, generating metadata, and code or configuration information
• ServiceEndpoint - Represents a portal for communicating with the world and contains an endpoint address, a contract and a binding
• ServiceHost - A container for the runtime that provides a specific service type with communications ability
• WsHttpBinding - Interoperable WS (non BP) binding over HTTP
• WsHttpsBinding - Interoperable WS (non BP) binding over HTTPS
[0061] System ServiceModel Channels
[0062] System ServiceModel Channels is the main namespace for the Service Model
transport, reliability, and queuing Channel Factones and Listener Factones These classes
represent the concrete implementation of the Web Services communication sub-system This
set of APIs is grouped together because it represents a logical, holistic layer of
communication APIs for acting upon SOAP messages The core classes of this namespace
include the following
• BinaryMessageEncoder - The BinaryMessageEncoder represents an abstraction for converting a Message object into a series of octets using the NET-BinaryFormat encoding of the Message, and vice versa It defines methods for taking a Stream or ArraySegment and returning an instance of a Message object, and for taking a Message and writing that Message to a Stream or ArraySegment
• HttpChannelFactory - The HttpChannelFactory class represents the base class for actively creating HTTP channels HTTP channels are used to send message to and possibly receive responses from services using the SOAP-over-HTTP protocol
• HttpListenerFactory - The HttpListenerFactory class represents the base class for listening at an HTTP address for SOAP messages and accepting channels initiated to that address Messages communicated via the SOAP-over-HTTP protocol may be accepted on channel accepted off the HttpListenerFactory (and its helper IListener)
• NamedPipeChannelFactory - The NamedPipeChanneLFactory class represents the base class for actively creating Named Pipe channels Named Pipe channels are used to send messages to and possibly receive responses from services using the NET-MessageFraming protocol over Windows Named Pipes
• NamedPipeListenerFactory - The NamedPipeListenerFactory class represents the base class for listening at a Named Pipe address for SOAP messages and accepting channels initiated to that address Messages communicated via the NET-MessageFraming protocol over Windows Named Pipes may be accepted on channels accepted off the NamedPipeListenerFactory (and its helper IListener)
• RehableChannelFactory - The RehableChannelFactory class represents the base class for actively creating Reliable channels Reliable channels are used to send
message to and possibly receive responses from services using the WS-RehableMessaging protocol over any supported transport
• RehableListenerFactory - The Reliable class represents the base class for listening for new Reliable channels Messages communicated using the WS-RehableMessaging protocol may be accepted on channels accepted off the RehableListenerFactory (and its helper IListener)
• TcpChannelFactory - The TcpChannelFactory class represents the base class for actively creating TCP channels TCP channels are used to send messages to and possibly receive responses from services using the NET-MessageFraming protocol over a TCP stream
• TcpListenerFactory - The TcpListenerFactory class represents the base class for listening at a TCP address for SOAP messages and accepting channels initiated to that address Messages communicated via the NET-MessageFraming protocol over TCP streams may be accepted on channels accepted off the TcpListenerFactory (and its helper IListener)
• TextMessageEncoder - The TextMessageEncoder represents an abstraction for converting a Message object into a series of octets using the standard XML encoding of the Message, and vice versa It defines methods for talcing a Stream or ArraySegment and returning an instantiated Message and for taking a Message and writing that Message to a Stream or ArraySegment
[0063J System ServiceModel Configuration
[0064] The System ServiceModel Configuration namespace contains classes for storing persistent settings for Service Model applications These APIs are grouped together because they are pnmanly accessed after development of an application These classes are not used
by a developer when wnting a Service Model application, but rather after me application is written The separate namespace makes this distinction clear Core classes of this namespace include the following
• ServiceBmdingsSection - ServiceBindmgsSection contains all the configuration for a particular Service Model bindings The functionality of these configuration settings closely mirrors the functionality of the equivalent classes in the programming model
• ServiceModelSectionGroup - ServiceModelSectionGroup is a container class for all the Service Model configuration It is also an accessor class used when programmatically reading and writing all other Service Model configuration
• ServicesSection - ServicesSection contains all the configuration settings for implemented services in a NET Framework AppDomain
[0065] System ServiceModel Design
[0066] The System ServiceModel Design namespace contains the types that deal with transforming descnptions (ServiceDescnption and ChannelDescnption) These include ServiceLoader and ChannelLoader which create descnptions from code and config, and ServiceDescnptionlmporter and ServiceDescnptionExporter which import and export metadata and code generators It also includes types that build a runtime environment from ServiceDescnption and ChannelDescnption These types are grouped under one namespace because they all transform ServiceDescnption and ChannelDescnption in some way The namespace ends with Design because many of the scenanos it supports are stnctly design time scenanos or runtime scenanos that precede any message exchange (once may think of them as "an application setting itself up" scenanos) Core classes of this namespace include the following
• ChannelBuilder - Builds listener and channel stacks based on ServiceDescnption and ChannelDescnption
• ChannelLoader - Builds a ChannelDescnption based on a typed channel and associated binding
• ServiceDescnptionlmporter/Exporter - Generate ServiceDescnption from metadata and vice versa
• ServiceLoader - Creates a ServiceDescnption from service type and associated contracts and bindings
[0067] System ServiceModel Diagnostics
[0068] The System ServiceModel Diagnostics namespace exposes types that are used for momtonng and diagnosing Service Model applications through direct inspection and control of runtime state, and through a persistent stream of traces The scenanos an which these classes are used are related to observing and controlling the behavior of a Service Model application rather than creating the application The APIs are grouped into the namespace to clanfy that functional distinction Core classes of this namespace include the following
• IWSTransferContract - rWSTransferContract is an interface that implements the WS-Transfer protocol WS-Transfer is part of the WS-Management suite of protocols, and is used for inspecting running instances of Web Service applications
• MessageWnterTraceListener - MessageWnterTraceListener is an implementation of the Systems Diagnostics TraceListener class that is used for logging the Web Service's incoming and outgoing messages
[0069] System ServiceModel Security
[0070] The System ServiceModel Secunty namespace contains the types that pertain to message secunty It contains implementations of SOAP Message secunty, WS-Trust, WS-SecureConversations and other WS-* Secunty protocols It contains classes for obtaining secunty tokens, for senahzation of secunty tokens, for validating secunty tokens by calling into the types in the System Secunty Authonzation namespace and for performing authonzation checks by calling types in the System Secunty Authonzation namespace It also contains the secunty binding abstraction (a secunty binding is a message secunty pattern) Core classes in this namespace include the following
• SecuntyBindmgFactory - SecuntyBindingFactory is a framework to manage secunty templates (bindings) A secunty template (binding) is a particular formulation of a secure message compliant with SOAP message secunty protocols It secures outgoing message and venfies incoming message as per the template Tins class creates instances of SecuntyBindmg, an abstract base class that all secunty bindings denve from The SecuntyBindmg class provides the SecureOutgoingMessage and ValidatelncomingMessage functionah ty
• SecuntyBindmgFactory has specific implementations in the ServiceModel Secunty Protocols namespace Some of which are listed below
o - AnonymousOverAsymmetncSecuntyBindingFactory o - BasicOverAsymmetncSecuntyBindingFactory o - BasicOverSymmetncSecuntyBindingFactory o - BasicOverTransportSecuntyBindmgFactory o - CryptoOverAsymmetncSecuntyBindmgFactory o - CryptoOverTransportSecuntyBindingFactory o - SessionSecuntyBmdingFactory
o - SoapSecuntyBrndmgFactory
o - SyrnmetncSecuntyBindmgFactory
o - TransportSecuntyBmdingFactory
• SecuntyTokenAuthenticator - Token authenticators store the authentication settings that should be used for token validation and instantiates a token given it's type-specific parts
• SecuntyTokenProvider - SecuntyTokenProviders provide the functionality to obtain the secunty token to be used in authenticating a principal at the remote endpoint
• SecuntyTokenResolver - SecuntyTokenResolver is the public framework to create and match references to a token (and find out about prerequisite tokens)
• SecuntyTokenSenahzer - SecuntyTokenSenahzer senahzes SecuntyTokens into XML, desenahzes token XML into type-specific format-neutral parts, and invokes TokenAuthenticator to produce secuntyToken It also knows how to senalize and desenahze internal and external token references
[0071] System ServiceModel Secunty Protocols
[0072] This namespace contains specific implementations of SOAP message secunty
matching certain well defined and analyzed secunty patterns (called secunty bindings) It
contains concrete implementations of the framework defined in
System ServiceModel Secunty
[0073] System Secunty Authonzation
[0074] The System Secunty Authonzation namespace contains all the classes
responsible for the core secunty functionality involving secunty tokens, claims, and
authonzation This functionality is presented in a separate namespace than the Service
Model namespace to allow other messaging frameworks to utilize the secunty functionality it presents This namespace includes the following core classes
• IClaim - The basis of the secunty model is a claim - a statement that is made by an issuing party A claim is represented by an object which minimally implements the IClaim interface The IClaim interface in turn implements the IMatchPolicy interface This interface exposes the Match method This is used to determine if a specified claim "matches" the object implementing the Match method New interfaces are denved from IClaim to create a taxonomy of claims Ultimately objects implement these interfaces, which can themselves be denved into other interfaces This namespace defines four top-level types of claims identity, attnbute, issue, and access decisions Identity claims make statements about how to identify a party This can be a pnncipal or a key holder Attnbute claims are statements about an identity such as a phone number or birth date Issue claims indicate that the specified identity is allowed to issue a specific type of claim Access decision claims are nghts or capabilities that have been authonzed or conferred on the indicated identity
• IClaimSet - In this model a claim is just a single statement Consequently, the next logical component is a set of claims These are provided by objects which implement the IClaimSet interface A set of claims can have an arbitrary set of claims with the exception that it can only have a single key bearing claim
• ICrypto - The ICrypto interface represents the cryptographic operations that a key holder can perform The cryptographic operations could either be symmetric or asymmetnc
• ISecuntyToken - A security token is an object that supports the IClaimsProvider and
ICryptoProvider interfaces, meaning that it is a container of claim sets and exposes
cryptographic providers for cryptographic operations The Validate method is called
to check and validate a token Validation ensures that all issuing authority signatures
are confirmed and effectively merges those authorities' claim sets with its own so
that the issuance delegation chain can be validated as part of authorization
[0075] System Runtime Serialization
[0076J The System Runtime Senalization namespace contains the XML Formatter classes (the Service Model's main senalization engine), related classes, as well as custom attnbutes and interfaces used to mark senalizable classes - these attnbutes and interfaces form the Service Model's senalization programmmg model This namespace includes the following core classes
• DataContractAttnbute - This custom attribute is used to declare that a type is senalizable and is annotated according to the new Service Model senalization programming model, and to set certain senalization properties for the type
• DataMemberAttnbute - In the new Service Model senalization programming model, this custom attnbute is used to declare that a given field or property should be senahzed It can also be used to control certain senalization settings for the field or property
• KnownTypeAttnbute - This custom attnbute is used to add a type to the "known-types collection", which is the set of types that the senalization engine will try if it does not know which type to desenahze an object into
• UnknownSenahzationData - This class is used for round-tnpping information
between different versions of the same object when desenahzing an instance of a
newer version of an object into an older version, any information not understood by the older version gets stored in UnknownSenahzationData When the older object is serialized, the data stored in UnknownSenahzationData gets serialized as well, ensuring that no data is lost if the serialized data then has to be de-senahzed back into the newer version
• XmlFormatter - This class is the Service Model's main serialization engine - by
calling methods on this class, a serialization or de-senalization operation may be
initiated
[0077J System Transactions
[0078] The System Transactions namespace includes two child namespaces
System Transactions Isolation and System Transactions Recovery
[0079] System Transactions Isolation
[0080] The System Transactions Isolation namespace gives applications the ability to
isolate a resource among cooperating clients The types in it support isolation for volatile
and durable lockable resources, and vanable-granulanty resources support This namespace
includes the following core classes
• LockContext - Represents a client context on whose behalf resources are being locked
• LockManager - Representations a collection of locks, provides lifetime management of locks
• LockScope - Represents the boundanes of an operation on a resource
• ResourceLock - Represents a lock
[0081] System Transactions Recovery
[0082] The System Transactions Recovery namespace provides a logging object model that helps developers of resource managers The Log class supports different units of works, compensating records, and checkpoints This namespace includes the following core classes
• Log - Represents a resource manager's recovery log
• LogRecord - Represents a single record written to a recovery log
• SavePoint - Represents a save point in a unit of work, and provides methods to truncate, merge, and rollback logs
• UrutOfWork - Represents a logical unit of work in a resource manager's log, and provides methods for prepare, commit, and rollback the unit of work
[0083] System 10 Log
[0084] The System IO Log namespace contains classes that provide a simple interface to a record-onented sequential I/O system It also contains the managed interface to WINDOWS ® CLFS (Common Log File System) This namespace includes the following core class
• IRecordSequence - An interface that provides a record sequence abstraction
[0085] System Text
[0086] The System Text namespace houses the helper classes used by the Service Model XML Infrastructure components (Xml Readers and Wnters) to perform vanous forms of binary/text encoding and decoding (Base64 and BmHex) This namespace mcludes the following core classes
• Base64Encoding - Handles encoding and decoding of binary data in the Base64
format
• BinHexEncoding - Handles encoding and decoding of binary data m the BinHex
format
[0087] System XML
[0088] System Xml contains the Service Model "XML Infrastructure" - optimized XML Readers and Wnters used by the Service Model senalization but also useful independently The two sets of readers and wnters currently supported are performance-optimized readers and wnters for UTF8 text XML, as well as readers/wnters for the Service Model propnetary binary format This namespace includes the following core classes
• IXmlDictionary - A class implementing EXmlDictionary can serve as a repository of XmlDictionaryStnng objects
• XmlBinaryReader, XmlBinaryWnter - These classes read and write XML in Service Model's propnetary binary format
• XmLDictionaryReader, XmlDictionaryWnter - These abstract classes form a base for all other readers and wnters in this namespace, and introduce new methods to the standard XML reader and wnter API that allow for the use of stnng dictionanes (see XmlDictionaryStnng class) I e one can call WnteStnng with an XmlDictionaryStnng instead of a normal stnng, and the wnter, if it supports it, may wnte just the dictionary ID of the stnng (instead of the entire stnng), thereby achieving size savings
• XmlDictionaryStnng - This class essentially serves to combine a stnng with a unique ID number, such that if the stnng is wntten out multiple times (using an XML wnter that supports this feature) the stnng may only be wntten out once and then replaced by its unique ID in all subsequent uses in order to achieve size saving
• XmlUTF8TextReader, XmlUTF8TextWnter - These classes read and write XML in text format using the UTF8 encoding They are similar to the standard text XML readers and writers, but they are optimized for performance and denve from XmlDictionaryReader/Wnter which makes them usable in the optimized code path of the Service Model serialization engine [0089] EXEMPLARY COMPUTING SYSTEM AND ENVIRONMENT [0090] F'g 4 illustrates an example of a suitable computing environment 400 within which the programming framework 132 may be implemented (either fully or partially) The computing environment 400 may be utilized in the computer and network architectures described herein
[0091] The exemplary computing environment 400 is only one example of a computing environment and is rot intended to suggest any limitation as to the scope of use or functionality of the computer and network architectures Neither should the computing environment 400 be interpreted as having any dependency or requirement relating to any one or combination of components illustrated in the exemplary computing environment 400 [0092] The framework 132 may be implemented with numerous other general purpose or special purpose computing system environments or configurations 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, multiprocessor systems, microprocessor-based systems, network PCs, minicomputers, mainframe computers, distributed computing environments that include any of the above systems or devices, and so on Compact or subset versions of the framework may also be implemented in clients of limited resources, such as cellular phones, personal digital assistants, handheld computers, or other communication/computing devices
[0093] The framework 132 may be described in the general context of computer-executable instructions, such as program modules, being executed by one or more computers or other devices Generally, program modules include routines, programs, objects, components, data structures, etc that perform particular tasks or implement particular abstract data types The framework 132 may also be practiced in distributed computing environments where tasks are performed by remote processing devices that are linked through a communications network In a distributed computing environment, program modules may be located in both local and remote computer storage media including memory storage devices
[0094] The computing environment 400 includes a general-purpose computing device in the form of a computer 402 The components of computer 402 can include, by are not limited to, one or more processors or processing units 404, a system memory 406, and a system bus 408 that couples various system components including the processor 404 to the system memory 406
[0095] The system bus 408 represents one or more of several possible types of bus structures, including a memory bus or memory controller, a peripheral bus, an accelerated graphics port, and a processor or local bus using any of a variety of bus architectures By way of example, such architectures can include an Industry Standard Architecture (ISA) bus, a Micro Channel Architecture (MCA) bus, an Enhanced ISA (EISA) bus, a Video Electronics Standards Association (VESA) local bus, and a Peripheral Component Interconnects (PCI) bus also known as a Mezzanine bus
[0096] Computer 402 typically includes a variety of computer readable media Such media can be any available media that is accessible by computer 402 and includes both volatile and non-volatile media, removable and non-removable media
[0097] The system memory 406 includes computer readable media in the form of volatile memory, such as random access memory (RAM) 410, and/or non-volatile memory, such as read only memory (ROM) 412 A basic input/output system (BIOS) 414, containing the basic routines that help to transfer information between elements within computer 402, such as during start-up, is stored in ROM 412 RAM 410 typically contains data and/or program modules that are immediately accessible to and/or presently operated on by the processing unit 404
[0098] Computer 402 may also include other removable/non-removable, volatile/nonvolatile computer storage media By way of example, Fig 4 illustrates a hard disk dnve 416 for reading from and wnting to a non-removable, non-volatile magnetic media (not shown), a magnetic disk dnve 418 for reading from and wnting to a removable, non-volatile magnetic disk 420 (e g, a "floppy disk"), and an optical disk dnve 422 for reading from and/or wnting to a removable, non-volatile optical disk 424 such as a CD-ROM, DVD-ROM, or other optical media The hard disk dnve 416, magnetic disk dnve 418, and optical disk dnve 422 are each connected to the system bus 408 by one or more data media interfaces 426 Alternatively, the hard disk dnve 416, magnetic disk dnve 418, and optical disk dnve 422 can be connected to the system bus 408 by one or more interfaces (not shown)
{0099] The disk dnves and their associated computer-readable media provide nonvolatile storage of computer readable instructions, data structures, program modules, and other data for computer 402 Although the example illustrates a hard disk 416, a removable magnetic disk 420, and a removable optical disk 424, it is to be appreciated that other types of computer readable media which can store data that is accessible by a computer, such as magnetic cassettes or other magnetic storage devices, flash memory cards, CD-ROM, digital
versatile disks (DVD) or other optical storage, random access memories (RAM), read only memories (ROM), electrically erasable programmable read-only memory (EEPROM), and the like, can also be utilized to implement the exemplary computing system and environment
[00100] Any number of program modules can be stored on the hard disk 416, magnetic disk 420, optical disk 424, ROM 412, and/or RAM 410, including by way of example, an operating system 426, one or more application programs 428, other program modules 430, and program data 432 Each of the operating system 426, one or more application programs 428, other program modules 430, and program data 432 (or some combination thereof) may include elements of the programming framework 132
[00101] A user can enter commands and information into computer 402 via input devices such as a keyboard 434 and a pointing device 436 (e g , a "mouse") Other input devices 438 (not shown specifically) may include a microphone, joystick, game pad, satellite dish, serial port, scanner, and/or the like These and other input devices are connected to the processing unit 404 via input/output interfaces 440 that are coupled to the system bus 408, but may be connected by other interface and bus structures, such as a parallel port, game port, or a universal serial bus (USB)
[00102] A monitor 442 or other type of display device can also be connected to the system bus 408 via an interface, such as a video adapter 444 In addition to the monitor 442, other output peripheral devices can include components such as speakers (not shown) and a pnnter 446 which can be connected to computer 402 via the input/output interfaces 440 [00103] Computer 402 can operate in a networked environment using logical connections to one or more remote computers, such as a remote computing device 448 By way of example, the remote computmg device 448 can be a personal computer, portable computer,
a server, a router, a network computer, a peer device or other common network node, and so on The remote computing device 448 is illustrated as a portable computer that can include many or all of the elements and features described herein relative to computer 402 [00104] Logical connections between computer 402 and the remote computer 448 are depicted as a local area network (LAN) 450 and a general wide area network (WAN) 452 Such networkmg environments are commonplace in offices, enterprise-wide computer networks, intranets, and the Internet
[00105] When implemented in a LAN networking environment, the computer 402 is connected to a local network 450 via a network interface or adapter 454 When implemented in a WAN networking environment, the computer 402 typically includes a modem 456 or other means for establishing communications over the wide network 452 The modem 456, which can be internal or external to computer 402, can be connected to the system bus 408 via the input/output interfaces 440 or other appropriate mechanisms It is to be appreciated that the illustrated network connections are exemplary and that other means of establishing communication link(s) between the computers 402 and 448 can be employed [00106] In a networked environment, such as that illustrated with computing environment 400, program modules depicted relative to the computer 402, or portions thereof, may be stored in a remote memory storage device By way of example, remote application programs 458 reside on a memory device of remote computer 448 For purposes of illustration, application programs and other executable program components such as the operating system are illustrated herein as discrete blocks, although it is recognized that such programs and components reside at various times in different storage components of the computing device 402, and are executed by the data processor(s) of the computer
[00107] An implementation of the framework 132, and particularly, the API 142 or calls made to the API 142, may be stored on or transmitted across some form of computer readable media Computer readable media can be any available media that can be accessed by a computer By way of example, and not limitation, computer readable media may comprise "computer storage media" and "communications media " "Computer storage media" include volatile and non-volatile, 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 Computer storage media includes, but is not limited to, RAM, ROM, 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 a computer
[00108] "Communication media" typically embodies computer readable instructions, data structures, program modules, or other data in a modulated data signal, such as earner wave or other transport mechanism Commurucation media also includes any information delivery media The term "modulated data signal" means a signal that has one or more of its characteristics set or changed in such a manner as to encode information in the signal By way of example, and not limitation, communication media includes wired media such as a wired network or direct-wired connection, and wireless media such as acoustic, RF, infrared, and other wireless media Combinations of any of the above are also included within the scope of computer readable media
[00109] Alternatively, portions of the framework may be implemented m hardware or a combination of hardware, software, and/or firmware For example, one or more application
specific integrated circuits (ASICs) or programmable logic devices (PLDs) could be designed or programmed to implement one or more portions of the framework [00110] PROGRAMMING INTERFACES
[00111] A programming interface may be viewed as any mechanism, process, protocol for enabling one or more segment(s) of code to communicate with or access the functionality provided by one or more other segment(s) of code One type of programming interface is an application programming interface, which is typically called by applications Alternatively, a programming interface may be viewed as one or more mechanism(s), method(s), function call(s), module(s), object(s), etc of a component of a system capable of communicative coupling to one or more mechanism(s), method(s), function call(s), module(s), etc of other component(s) The term "segment of code" in the preceding sentence is intended to include one or more instructions or lines of code, and includes, e g , code modules, objects, subroutines, functions, and so on, regardless of the terminology applied or whether the code segments are separately compiled, or whether the code segments are provided as source, intermediate, or object code, whether the code segments are utilized in a runtime system or process, or whether they are located on the same or different machines or distnbuted across multiple machines, or whether the functionality represented by the segments of code are implemented wholly m software, wholly in hardware, or a combination of hardware and software
[00112] Notionally, a programming interface may be viewed genencally, as shown in Figure 5 or Figure 6 Figure 5 illustrates a programming interface Interface 1 as a conduit through which first and second code segments communicate Figure 6 illustrates a programming interface as comprising interface objects II and 12 (which may or may not be part of the first and second code segments), which enable first and second code segments of
a system to communicate via medium M In the view of Figure 6, one may consider programming interface objects II and 12 as separate programming interfaces of the same system and one may also consider that objects II and 12 plus medium M comprise the programming interface Although Figures 5 and 6 show bi-directional flow and interfaces on each side of the flow, certain implementations may only have information flow in one direction (or no information flow as descnbed below) or may only have an interface object on one side By way of example, and not limitation, terms such as application programming interface (API), entry point, method, function, subroutine, remote procedure call, and component object model (COM) interface, are encompassed within the definition of programming interface
[00113] Aspects of such a programming interface may include the method whereby the first code segment transmits information (where "information" is used in its broadest sense and includes data, commands, requests, etc) to the second code segment, the method whereby the second code segment receives the information, and the structure, sequence, syntax, organization, schema, timing and content of the information In this regard, the underlying transport medium itself may be unimportant to the operation of the interface, whether the medium be wired or wireless, or a combination of both, as long as the information is transported in the manner defined by the interface In certain situations, information may not be passed in one or both directions in the conventional sense, as the information transfer may be either via another mechanism (e g information placed in a buffer, file, etc separate from information flow between the code segments) or non-existent, as when one code segment simply accesses functionality performed by a second code segment Any or all of these aspects may be important in a given situation, e g , depending
on whether the code segments are part of a system in a loosely coupled or tightly coupled configuration, and so this list should be considered illustrative and non-limiting [00114] This notion of a programming interface is known to those skilled in the art and is clear from the foregoing detailed descnption of the invention There are, however, other ways to implement a programming interface, and, unless expressly excluded, these too are mtended to be encompassed by the claims set forth at the end of this specification Such other ways may appear to be more sophisticated or complex than the simplistic view of Figures 5 and 6, but they nonetheless perform a similar function to accomplish the same overall result We will now briefly describe some illustrative alternative implementations of a programming interface [00115] FACTORING
[00116] A communication from one code segment to another may be accomplished indirectly by breaking the communication into multiple discrete communications This is depicted schematically in Figures 7 and 8 As shown, some interfaces can be described in terms of divisible sets of functionality Thus, the interface functionality of Figures 5 and 6 may be factored to achieve the same result, just as one may mathematically provide 24, or 2 times 2 times 3 times 2 Accordingly, as illustrated in Figure 7, the function provided by programming interface Interfacel may be subdivided to convert the communications of the programming interface into multiple interfaces InterfacelA, Interface IB, Interface IC, etc while achieving the same result As illustrated in Figure 8, the function provided by interface II may be subdivided into multiple programming interfaces Ila, lib, lie, etc while achieving the same result Similarly, programming interface 12 of the second code segment which receives information from the first code segment may be factored into multiple programming interfaces I2a, I2b, I2c, etc When factoring, the number of interfaces included
with the 1st code segment need not match the number of programming interfaces included with the 2nd code segment In either of the cases of Figures 7 and 8, the functional spirit of interfaces Interfacel and II remain the same as with Figures 5 and 6, respectively The factoring of programming interfaces may also follow associative, commutative, and other mathematical properties such that the factoring may be difficult to recognize For instance, ordering of operations may be unimportant, and consequently, a function earned out by a programming interface may be earned out well in advance of reaching the interface, by another piece of code or interface, or performed by a separate component of the system Moreover, one of ordinary skill in the programming arts can appreciate that there are a variety of ways of making different function calls that achieve the same result [00117] REDEFINITION
[00118] In some cases, it may be possible to ignore, add or redefine certain aspects (e g , parameters) of a programming interface while still accomplishing the intended result This is illustrated in Figures 9 and 10 For example, assume programming interface Interfacel of Figure 5 includes a function call Square(input, precision, output), a call that includes three parameters, input, precision and output, and which is issued from the 1st Code Segment to the 2nd Code Segment If the middle parameter precision is of no concern in a given scenano, as shown in Figure 9, it could just as well be ignored or even replaced with a meaningless (in this situation) parameter One may also add an additional parameter of no concern In either event, the functionality of square can be achieved, so long as output is returned after input is squared by the second code segment Precision may very well be a meaningful parameter to some downstream or other portion of the computing system, however, once it is recogmzed that precision is not necessary for the narrow purpose of calculating the square, it may be replaced or ignored For example, instead of passing a valid
precision value, a meaningless value such as a birth date could be passed without adversely affecting the result Similarly, as shown in Figure 10, interface II is replaced by programming interface 11', redefined to ignore or add parameters to the interface Programming interface 12 may similarly be redefined as programming interface 12', redefined to ignore unnecessary parameters, or parameters that may be processed elsewhere The point here is that in some cases a programming interface may include aspects, such as parameters, that are not needed for some purpose, and so they may be ignored or redefined, or processed elsewhere for other purposes [001191 INLINE CODING
[00120] It may also be feasible to merge some or all of the functionality of two separate code modules such that the "interface" between them changes form For example, the functionality of Figures 5 and 6 may be converted to the functionality of Figures 11 and 12, respectively In Figure 11, the previous 1st and 2nd Code Segments of Figure 5 are merged into a module containing both of them In this case, the code segments may still be communicating with each other but the interface may be adapted to a form which is more suitable to the single module Thus, for example, formal Call and Return statements may no longer be necessary, but similar processing or response(s) pursuant to programming interface Interface 1 may still be in effect Similarly, shown in Figure 12, part (or all) of interface 12 from Figure 6 may be written inline into programming interface II to form programming interface II" As illustrated, programming interface 12 is divided into I2a and I2b, and interface portion I2a has been coded in-line with programming interface II to form programming interface II" For a concrete example, consider that the programming interface II from Figure 6 performs a function call square (input, output), which is received by programming interface 12, which after processing the value passed with input (to square it)
by die second code segment, passes back the squared result with output In such a case, the processing performed by the second code segment (squaring input) can be performed by the first code segment without a call to the programming interface [00121] DIVORCE
[00122] A communication from one code segment to another may be accomplished indirectly by breaking the communication into multiple discrete communications This is depicted schematically in Figures 13 and 14 As shown in Figure 13, one or more piece(s) of middleware (Divorce Interface(s), since they divorce functionality and / or interface functions from the original interface) are provided to convert the communications on the first interface, Interfacel, to conform them to a different interface, in this case programming interfaces Interface2A, Interface2B and Inlerface2C This might be done, e g , where there is an installed base of applications designed to communicate with, say, an operating system in accordance with an Interfacel protocol, but then the operating system is changed to use a different interface, in this case programming interfaces Interface2A, Interface2B and Interface2C The point is that the onginal interface used by the 2nd Code Segment is changed such that it is no longer compatible with the interface used by the 1st Code Segment, and so an intermediary is used to make the old and new interfaces compatible Similarly, as shown in Figure 14, a third code segment can be introduced with divorce interface DI1 to receive the communications from interface II and with divorce interface DI2 to transmit the interface functionality to, for example, interfaces I2a and I2b, redesigned to work with DI2, but to provide the same functional result Similarly, DI1 and DI2 may work together to translate the functionality of interfaces II and 12 of Figure 6 to a new operating system, while providing the same or similar functional result [00123] REWRITING
[00124] Yet another possible variant is to dynamically rewrite the code to replace the programming interface functionality with something else but which achieves the same overall result For example, there may be a system m which a code segment presented in an intermediate language (e g Microsoft IL, Java ByteCode, etc ) is provided to a Just-in-Time (JIT) compiler or interpreter in an execution environment (such as that provided by the "NET" Framework, the Java runtime environment, or other similar runtime type environments) The JIT compiler may be written so as to dynamically convert the communications from the 1st Code Segment to the 2nd Code Segment, 1 e , to conform them to a different interface as may be required by the 2nd Code Segment (either the onginal or a different 2nd Code Segment) This is depicted in Figures 15 and 16 As can be seen in Figure 15, this approach is similar to the Divorce scenario descnbed above It might be done, e g, where an installed base of applications are designed to communicate with an operating system in accordance with an Interface 1 protocol, but then the operating system is changed to use a different interface The JIT Compiler could be used to conform the communications on the fly from the installed-base applications to the new interface of the operating system As depicted in Figure 16, this approach of dynamically rewriting the mterface(s) may be applied to dynamically factor, or otherwise alter the mterface(s) as well [00125] It is also noted that the above-descnbed scenarios for achieving the same or similar result as a programming interface via alternative embodiments may also be combined in various ways, serially and/or in parallel, or with other intervening code Thus, the alternative embodiments presented above are not mutually exclusive and may be mixed, matched and combined to produce the same or equivalent scenarios to the generic scenarios presented in Figures 5 and 6 It is also noted that, as with most programming constructs, there are other similar ways of achieving the same or similar functionality of an interface
which may not be described herein, but nonetheless are represented by the spirit and scope
of the invention, 1 e , it is noted that it is at least partly the functionality represented by, and
the advantageous results enabled by, an interface that underlie the value of an interface
[00126] CONCLUSION
[00127] Although the invention has been described in language specific to structural
features and/or methodological acts, it is to be understood that the invention defined m the
appended claims is not necessarily limited to the specific features or acts described Rather,
the specific features and acts are disclosed as exemplary forms of implementing the claimed
invention
[00128] The present invention may be embodied in other specific forms without departing
from its spirit or essential characteristics The described embodiments are to be considered
in all respects only as illustrative and not restrictive The scope of the invention is,
therefore, indicated by the appended claims rather than by the foregoing descnption All
changes, which come within the meaning and range of equivalency of the claims, are to be
embraced within their scope
[00129] What is claimed and desired secured by United States Letters Patent is.

We Claim:
1. A method for creating an infrastructure interface comprising:
providing a first plurality of web services APIs, each of which being for writing a distributed, message-passing application, wherein each of the first plurality of web services APIs are represented with a first common namespace prefix corresponding with a System. ServiceModel namespace for logical grouping of the plurality of web services; and
providing a second plurality of web services APIs, each of which being for writing a distributed message-passing application and having certain common characteristics that are not present in all of the first plurality of web services APIs, wherein each of the second plurality of web services APIs are represented haying both the first common namespace prefix and a second common namespace prefix that is a sub-namespace of the first common namespace prefix.
2. The method as claimed in claim 1, wherein the first plurality of web services APIs are represented as source code.
3. The method as claimed in claim 1, wherein the first plurality of web services APIs are represented as compiled code.
4. The method as claimed in claim 1, wherein the first and second plurality of web services APIs are operable on the NET platform.
5. The method as claimed in claim 1, wherein the second common namespace is "System. ServiceModel.Channels" or is compiled from the text "System.ServiceModel.Channels".
6. The method as claimed in claim 1, wherein tte second common namespace is "System.ServiceModel.Configuration" or is compiled from the text "System.ServiceModel.Configuration".
7. The method as claimed in claim 1, wherein the second common namespace is "System. ServiceModel.Design" or is compiled from the text "System.ServiceModel.Design".
8. The method as claimed in claim 1, wherein the second common namespace is "System.ServiceModel.Diagnostics" or is compiled from the text "System.ServiceModel.Diagnostics".
9. The method as claimed in claim 1, wherein the second common namespace is "System.ServiceModel.Security5' or is compiled from the text "System. ServiceModel.Security"
10. The method as claimed in claim 9, wherein the second common namespace is "System. ServiceModel. Security.Protocols" or is compiled from the text "System.ScrviceModel.Security.Protocols".
11. The method as claimed in claim 1, comprising :
providing a third plurality of web services APIs, each of which being for writing a distributed message-passing application and having certain common characteristics that are not present in all of the first plurality of web services APIs, wherein each of the third plurality of web services APIs are represented having both the first common namespace prefix and a third common namespace prefix that is a sub-namespace of the first common namespace prefix.
12. The method as claimed in claim 11, comprising:
Providing a fourth plurality of web services APIs, each of which being for writing a distributed message-passing application and having certain common characteristics that are not present in all of the third plurality of web services APIs, wherein each of the fourth plurality of web services APIs are represented having both the first common namespace prefix, the third common namespace prefix and a fourth common namespace prefix that is a sub-namespace of the third common namespace prefix.
13. The method as claimed in claim 1, further
comprising :
providing a third plurality of web services APIs, each of which being for writing a distributed message-passing application and having certain common characteristics that are not present in all of the first or second plurality of web services APIs, wherein each of the third plurality of web services APIs are represented having both the first common namespace prefix, the second namespace prefix,
and a third common namespace prefix that is a sub-namespace of the second common namespace prefix.
14. A method for creating an infrastructure interface comprising:
providing a first plurality of APIs, each of which for implementing functions having first one or more common features, wherein each of the first plurality of APIs are represented with a first common namespace prefix for logical grouping of the first plurality of APIs; and
providing a second plurality of APIs, each of which for implementing functions having second one or more common features, wherein each of the second plurality of APIs are represented having both the first common namespace prefix and a second common namespace prefix that is a sub-namespace of the first common namespace prefix.
15. The method as claimed in claim 14, wherein the first plurality of APIs are represented as source code.
16. The method as claimed in claim 14, wherein the first plurality of APIs are represented as compiled code.
17. The method as claimed in claim 14, wherein the first and second plurality of APIs are operable on the .NET platform.
18. The method as claimed in claim 14, wherein the second common namespace is "System. Security.Authorization" or is compiled from the text "System.Security.Authorization".
19. The method as claimed in claim 14, wherein the second common namespace is "System.Runtime.Serialization" or is compiled from the text "System.Runtime.Seriahzation"
20. The method as claimed in claim 14, wherein the second common namespace is "System.Transactions" or is compiled from the text "System. Transactions".
21. The method as claimed in claim 14, wherein the second common namespace is "System.IO.Log" or is compiled from the text "System.IO.Log".
22. The method as claimed in claim 14, wherein the second common namespace is "System.Text" or is compiled from the text "System.Text".
23. The method as claimed in claim 14, wherein the second common namespace is "System.Xml" or is compiled from the text "System.Xml".
24. The method as claimed in claim 14, wherein the second common name.space is "System. ServiceModel" or is compiled from the text "System ServiceModel".
25. The method as claimed in claim 14, wherein the message- passing application implements Web Services.