Application wrapper methods and systems

Abstract

Methods and systems for optimally controlling the operation of object oriented computer software applications use what we call “application wrappers”. An application wrapper is a software application that gives programmers the ability to extend their programs' functionality beyond the rigid constraints placed on them by the computer system's operating system. An application wrapper is associated with each software application stored on the computer system and is loaded when the system is powered up. An object oriented display of the application wrapper is generated for the computer user, which can take almost any identifiable form. Application wrappers provide a computer user more rapid modular access to the functional and data files contained within said software applications, saving computer system resources such as RAM and processing time.

What is claimed is:  
     
         1 . A method of controlling object oriented computer software applications, comprising: 
 providing at least one application wrapper;    assigning at least one software application to each said at least one application wrapper;    providing a stable interface between an operating system and each said application wrapper so that changes may be made to either without affecting the functionality of the other;    generating a display of each said application wrapper for a computer user;    accessing data contained in each said software application in a modular format in response to computer user inputs to each said application wrapper; and    controlling the functionality of each said software application in a modular format in response to computer user inputs to each said application wrapper.    
     
     
         2 . The method of controlling object oriented computer software applications of  claim 1 , further comprising the step of starting at least one application wrapper upon power up of the computer system.  
     
     
         3 . The method of controlling object oriented computer software applications of  claim 1 , further comprising the step of providing a link between said operating system and each said software application wherein the operating system can ascertain if an object is one that each said software application can interpret.  
     
     
         4 . The method of controlling object oriented computer software applications of  claim 1 , further comprising the step of providing a link between said operating system and each said software application for notifying each said software application of changes in the operating system.  
     
     
         5 . The method of controlling object oriented computer software applications of  claim 4 , wherein said link notifies each said software application of a pending power down of the computer system.  
     
     
         6 . The method of controlling object oriented computer software applications of  claim 4 , wherein said link notifies each said software application of a power up of the computer system.  
     
     
         7 . The method of controlling object oriented computer software applications of  claim 1 , further comprising the step of generating at least one identifying means on a display for assisting the computer user in opening and gaining access to each said application wrapper.  
     
     
         8 . The method of controlling object oriented computer software applications of  claim 7 , wherein said identifying means is displayed on said display by an animated icon.  
     
     
         9 . The method of controlling object oriented computer software applications of  claim 7 , wherein said identifying means is selected from the group including sound, computer animation, static images and video images.  
     
     
         10 . The method of controlling object oriented computer software applications of  claim 1 , further comprising the step of generating a display of at least one help file of said software applications in response to computer user inputs to each said application wrapper.  
     
     
         11 . The method of controlling object oriented computer software applications of  claim 1 , wherein said data contained within each said software application comprises configuration settings.  
     
     
         12 . The method of controlling object oriented computer software applications of  claim 1 , further comprising the step of starting each said software application in response to computer user inputs to said application wrappers.  
     
     
         13 . The method of controlling object oriented computer software applications of  claim 1 , further comprising the step of exiting each said software application in response to computer user inputs to said application wrappers.  
     
     
         14 . The method of controlling object oriented computer software applications of  claim 1 , further comprising the step of communicating with other software applications on the computer system in response to computer user inputs to said application wrappers.  
     
     
         15 . The method of controlling object oriented computer software applications of  claim 1 , further comprising the step of deleting said software applications and all of their dependent objects from the computer system in response to computer user inputs to said application wrappers.  
     
     
         16 . The method of controlling object oriented computer software applications of  claim 1 , further comprising the step of linking a plurality of said software applications together so that an object is visible within each said software application without affecting the functionality of any software application.  
     
     
         17 . The method of controlling object oriented computer software applications of  claim 1 , further comprising the step of associating each application wrapper stored within the computer system to a common application wrapper database.  
     
     
         18 . The method of controlling object oriented computer software applications of  claim 17 , wherein said common application wrapper database is accessible by the computer user through an input device to change configuration settings and to access select data files associated with each application wrapper.  
     
     
         19 . The method of controlling object oriented computer software applications of  claim 18 , wherein said configuration settings and data files' include at least one database file selected from the group comprising a computer user's personal profile, a specific software application's bubble help, a plurality of settings to control an application wrapper's icon appearance and behavior, an option to launch the software application in a secure process, and a limit on said software applications allowable memory usage and priority.  
     
     
         20 . A method of controlling object oriented computer software applications, comprising: 
 providing at least one application wrapper;    assigning at least one software application to each said application wrapper;    providing a stable interface between an operating system and each said application wrapper so that changes may be made to either without affecting the functionality of the other;    generating a display of each said application wrapper for a computer user; and    accessing data contained in said software applications in a modular format in response to computer user inputs to each said application wrapper.    
     
     
         21 . The method of controlling object oriented computer software applications of  claim 20 , further comprising the step of starting at least one application wrapper upon power up of the computer system.  
     
     
         22 . The method of controlling object oriented computer software applications of  claim 20 , further comprising the step of providing a link between said operating system and each said software application wherein the operating system can ascertain if an object is one that each said software application can interpret.  
     
     
         23 . The method of controlling object oriented computer software applications of  claim 20 , further comprising the step of providing a link between said operating system and each said software application for notifying each said software application of changes in the operating system.  
     
     
         24 . The method of controlling object oriented computer software applications of  claim 23 , wherein said link notifies each said software application of a pending power down of the computer system.  
     
     
         25 . The method of controlling object oriented computer software applications of  claim 23 , wherein said link notifies each said software application of a power up of the computer system.  
     
     
         26 . The method of controlling object oriented computer software applications of  claim 20 , further comprising the step of generating at least one identifying means on a display for assisting the computer user in opening and gaining access to each said application wrapper.  
     
     
         27 . The method of controlling object oriented computer software applications of  claim 26 , wherein said identifying means is displayed on said display by an animated icon.  
     
     
         28 . The method of controlling object oriented computer software applications of  claim 26 , wherein said identifying means is selected from the group including sound, computer animation, static images and video images.  
     
     
         29 . The method of controlling object oriented computer software applications of  claim 20 , further comprising the step of generating a display of at least one help file of said software applications in response to computer user inputs to each said application wrapper.  
     
     
         30 . The method of controlling object oriented computer software applications of  claim 20 , wherein said data contained within each said software application comprises configuration settings.  
     
     
         31 . The method of controlling object oriented computer software applications of  claim 20 , further comprising the step of communicating with other software applications on the computer system in response to computer user inputs to said application wrappers.  
     
     
         32 . The method of controlling object oriented computer software applications of  claim 20 , further comprising the step of deleting said software applications and all of their dependent objects from the computer system in response to computer user inputs to said application wrappers.  
     
     
         33 . The method of controlling object oriented computer software applications of  claim 20 , further comprising the step of linking a plurality of said software applications together so that an object is visible within each said software application without affecting the functionality of any of said software application.  
     
     
         34 . The method of controlling object oriented computer software applications of  claim 20 , further comprising the step of associating each application wrapper stored within the computer system to a common application wrapper database.  
     
     
         35 . The method of controlling object oriented computer software applications of  claim 34 , wherein said common application wrapper database is accessible by the computer user through an input device to change configuration settings and to access select data files associated with each application wrapper.  
     
     
         36 . The method of controlling object oriented computer software applications of  claim 35 , wherein said configuration settings and data files include at least one database file selected from the group comprising a computer user's personal profile, a specific software application's bubble help, a plurality of settings to control an application wrapper=s icon appearance and behavior, an option to launch the software application in a secure process, and a limit on said software applications allowable memory usage and priority.  
     
     
         37 . A method of controlling object oriented computer software applications, comprising: 
 providing at least one application wrapper;    assigning at least one software application to each said application wrapper;    providing a stable interface between an operating system and each said application wrapper so that changes may be made to either without affecting the functionality of the other;    generating a display of each said application wrapper for a computer user; and    controlling the functionality of each said software application in a modular format in response to computer user inputs to each said application wrapper.    
     
     
         38 . The method of controlling object oriented computer software applications of  claim 37 , further comprising the step of starting at least one application wrapper upon power up of the computer system.  
     
     
         39 . The method of controlling object oriented computer software applications of  claim 37 , further comprising the step of providing a link between said operating system and each said software application wherein the operating system can ascertain if an object is one that each said software application can interpret.  
     
     
         40 . The method of controlling object oriented computer software applications of  claim 37 , further comprising the step of providing a link between said operating system and each said software application for notifying each said software application of changes in the operating system.  
     
     
         41 . The method of controlling object oriented computer software applications of  claim 40 , wherein said link notifies each said software application of a pending power down of the computer system.  
     
     
         42 . The method of controlling object oriented computer software applications of  claim 40 , wherein said link notifies each said software application of a power up of the computer system.  
     
     
         43 . The method of controlling object oriented computer software applications of  claim 37 , further comprising the step of generating at least one identifying means on a display for assisting the computer user in opening and gaining access to each said application wrapper.  
     
     
         44 . The method of controlling object oriented computer software applications of  claim 43 , wherein said identifying means is displayed on said display by an animated icon.  
     
     
         45 . The method of controlling object oriented computer software applications of  claim 43 , wherein said identifying means is selected from the group including sound, computer animation, static images and video images.  
     
     
         46 . The method of controlling object oriented computer software applications of  claim 37 , further comprising the step of generating a display of at least one help file of said, software applications in response to computer user inputs to each said application wrapper.  
     
     
         47 . The method of controlling object oriented computer software applications of  claim 37 , further comprising the step of starting each said software application in response to computer user inputs to said application wrappers.  
     
     
         48 . The method of controlling object oriented computer software applications of  claim 37 , further comprising the step of exiting each said software application in response to computer user inputs to said application wrappers.  
     
     
         49 . The method of controlling object oriented computer software applications of  claim 37 , further comprising the step of communicating with other software applications on the computer system in response to computer user inputs to said application wrappers.  
     
     
         50 . The method of controlling object oriented computer software applications of  claim 37 , further comprising the step of deleting said software applications and all of their dependent objects from the computer system in response to computer user inputs to said application wrappers.  
     
     
         51 . The method of controlling object oriented computer software applications of  claim 37 , further comprising the step of linking a plurality of said software applications together so that an object is visible within each said software application without affecting the functionality of any software application.  
     
     
         52 . The method of controlling object oriented computer software applications of  claim 37 , further comprising the step of associating each application wrapper stored within the computer system to a common application wrapper database.  
     
     
         53 . The method of controlling object oriented computer software applications of  claim 52 , wherein said common application wrapper database is accessible by the computer user through an input device to change configuration settings and to access select data files associated with each application wrapper.  
     
     
         54 . The method of controlling object oriented computer software applications of  claim 53 , wherein said configuration settings and data files may include at least one database file selected from the group comprising a computer user's personal profile, a specific software application's bubble help, a plurality of settings to control an application wrapper=s icon appearance and behavior, an option to launch the software application in a secure process, and a limit on said software applications allowable memory usage and priority.  
     
     
         55 . In a improved method of handling the operation of object oriented software applications in a computer system, the improvement comprising: 
 providing at least one application wrapper;    assigning at least one software application to each said application wrapper; and    providing modular access to each said software application in response to computer user input to each said application wrapper without the necessity of starting the entire software application.    
     
     
         56 . The improved method of handling the operation of object oriented software applications in a computer system of  claim 55 , wherein at least one application wrapper is loaded upon power up of the computer system.  
     
     
         57 . The improved method of handling the operation of object oriented software applications in a computer system of  claim 55 , a further improvement comprising providing modular access to the functionality of each said software application in response to computer user input to each said application wrapper without the necessity of starting the entire software application.  
     
     
         58 . The improved method of handling the operation of object oriented software applications in a computer system of  claim 55 , a further improvement comprising providing modular access to at least one data file of each said software application in response to computer user input to each said application wrapper without the necessity of starting the entire software application.  
     
     
         59 . The improved method of handling the operation of object oriented software applications in a computer system of  claim 55 , a further improvement comprising generating an identifying means of each said application wrapper on a display.  
     
     
         60 . The improved method of handling the operation of object oriented software applications in a computer system of  claim 59 , wherein said identifying means is generated on a display selected from the group including sound, computer animation, static images and video images.  
     
     
         61 . The improved method of handling the operation of object oriented software applications in a computer system of  claim 55 , a further improvement comprising generating a display of each said application wrapper in response to selection of said identifying means from the computer user.  
     
     
         62 . In an object oriented computer system comprising a central processing unit, program and data storage means, display means, an object oriented operating system, computer user input means, and at least one object oriented software application including a plurality of sets of functional instructions or data files for use by said central processing unit, the improvement comprising at least one application wrapper means for generating an output on said display means and for sending instructions to the central processing unit in response to computer user inputs through an input device to said application wrapper, means for retrieving at least one set of the plurality of sets of functional instructions and data files, and means for storing said at least one set of functional instructions and data files in random access memory for use by the computer user.  
     
     
         63 . A computer system including controlled object oriented software applications, the system comprising: 
 a central processing unit;    means for storing and retrieving programs and data connected with said central processing unit;    an operating system stored in said means for storing and retrieving programs and data;    an input device connected with said central processing unit;    a display connected with said central processing unit;    at least one software application stored in said means for storing and retrieving programs and data; and    at least one application wrapper associated with each said software application for providing modular access to each said software application.    
     
     
         64 . The computer system including controlled object oriented software applications of  claim 63 , wherein each said application wrapper provides modular access to at least one data file of each said software application.  
     
     
         65 . The computer system including controlled object oriented software applications of  claim 63 , wherein each said application wrapper can provide modular access to the functionality of each said software application.  
     
     
         66 . The computer system including controlled object oriented software applications of  claim 63 , wherein said computer system is adapted for operating a communications device.  
     
     
         67 . The computer system including controlled object oriented software applications of  claim 66 , wherein said communications device includes a cellular phone.