Method and system to dynamically alter application functionality at runtime in a constrained and secure manner

Abstract

The present disclosure provides a method and system for dynamically updating an application functionality in a secure and constrained manner comprising a cloud service for generating dynamic code fragments and receiving reports, an agent manager in communication with the cloud service receiving code fragments from the cloud service and passing reports thereto, and an in-application agent in communication with the agent manager for receiving dynamic code fragments therefrom and passing reports thereto for dynamically updating the application functionality in which the in-application agent is embedded.

1 . A system for dynamically updating application functionality, the system comprising:
 an in-application agent for executing code fragments for dynamically updating the application functionality in which the in-application agent is embedded and for generating reports characterizing the application functionality;   a cloud service for generating dynamic code fragments and receiving the reports;   an agent manager in communication with the cloud service for receiving the dynamic code fragments from the cloud service and passing the dynamic code fragments received to the in-application agent and for receiving reports from the in-application agent and passing the reports received to the cloud service.   
     
     
         2 . The system of  claim 1  wherein the in-application agent includes a link manager for communications with the agent manager. 
     
     
         3 . The system of  claim 1  wherein the in-application agent includes hooks into the web application. 
     
     
         4 . The system of  claim 1  wherein the cloud service generates and updates the dynamic code fragments in response to application level and external data sources. 
     
     
         5 . The system of  claim 1  wherein upon receiving the new dynamic code fragments, the in-application agent updates a configuration to use the new dynamic code fragments. 
     
     
         6 . The system of  claim 1  wherein the in-application agent uses hooks to execute the code fragments. 
     
     
         7 . The system of  claim 1  wherein the in-application agent generates the reports locally. 
     
     
         8 . A method of dynamically updating an application functionality, the method comprising:
 embedding an in-application agent into an application;   generating dynamic code fragments in a cloud service;   providing these generated fragments to the in-application agent;   the in-application agent receiving these fragments for updating the functionality in which the in-application agent is embedded.   
     
     
         9 . The method of  claim 8  further comprising:
 the in-application agent executing new code fragments; 
 generating a report; and 
 sending it to the cloud service. 
 
     
     
         10 . The method of  claim 9  further comprising the step of the cloud service, upon receiving the report, having the possibility of generating a new code fragment and sending the new code fragment to the in-application agent. 
     
     
         11 . The method of  claim 8  further comprising:
 the cloud service receiving new information; 
 generating new code fragments; and 
 sending the new code fragments to the in-application agent; and 
 the in-application agent executing the new code fragment. 
 
     
     
         12 . A non-transitory computer readable medium comprising instructions in code which when stored in a memory of a computing device and executed by a processor of the computing device cause the computing device to:
 execute an in-application agent embedded in an application, the in-application agent including:   an in-app library for storing dynamic code fragments;   a fragment processor for adding the dynamic code fragments to the application and for generating one or more reports;   a link manager for receiving new dynamic code fragments from a cloud service generated in response to the one or more reports;   one or more hooks in the application enabling the processor to inject the new dynamic code fragments into the web application.   
     
     
         13 . The computer readable medium of  claim 12  wherein the link manager communicates with the cloud service by communicating via an encrypted link with an agent manager.