System and method for developing and deploying computer applications over a network

Abstract

A stateful method of processing an XML markup document within a distributed computing system, includes the steps of: receiving the XML markup document by the CRE, parsing and holding the XML document's state by the CRE, receiving XML commands by the CRE, performing operations comprised in the XML commands upon the XML document by the CRE, and then updating the XML markup document's state by the CRE.

1 . A stateful method of processing an XML markup document within a distributed computing system, wherein said distributed computing system comprises at least a client machine having a Client Runtime Environment (CRE), said method comprising:
 receiving said XML markup document by said CRE;   parsing and holding said XML document's state by said CRE;   receiving XML commands by said CRE, and performing operations comprised in said XML commands upon said XML document by said CRE; and   updating said XML markup document's state by said CRE.   
   
   
       2 . The method of  claim 1  wherein said XML markup document is written in a markup language selected from a group consisting of XAML, XML User Interface Language (XUL), Scalable Vector Graphics (SVG), XForms, XML related languages, Hyper Text Markup Language (HTML), HTML related languages, text, and combinations thereof. 
   
   
       3 . The method of  claim 1  wherein said CRE holds said XML markup document's state in a Document Object Model (DOM). 
   
   
       4 . The method of  claim 1  wherein said XML commands comprise at least one of operations of add, remove, update, insert, delete, sort, or search. 
   
   
       5 . An improved Extensible User-Interface Language (XUL) including a series of Extensible Markup Language (XML) tags for allowing different operating platforms to exchange data that describe a user interface (UI) of an application, wherein said improved XUL is designed to run in a distributed computing system, said distributed computing system having at least a server having a Server Runtime Environment (SRE) and at least a client machine having a Client Runtime Environment (CRE) and wherein said client machine is adapted to connect to said server via a network, and wherein said improved XUL comprises:
 means for adding, removing and updating UI components on the fly using XML instructions;   customized features that require custom coding; and   means for providing server-side integration, wherein said CRE routes events of interest back to said SRE.