COMBINED SERVER REQUESTS FOR COMPUTER-AIDED DESIGN (CAD) APPLICATIONS
BACKGROUND
[0001] Computer systems can be used to create, use, and manage data for products and other items. Computer-aided technology (CAx) systems, for instance, may be used to aid in the design, analysis, simulation, or manufacture of products. Examples of CAx systems include computer-aided design (CAD) systems, computer-aided engineering (CAE) systems, visualization and computer-aided manufacturing (CAM) systems, product data management (PDM) systems, product lifecycle management (PLM) systems, and more. These CAx systems may include components (e.g., CAx applications) that facilitate design and simulated testing of product structures and product manufacturing.
BRIEF DESCRIPTION OF THE DRAWINGS
[0002] Certain examples are described in the following detailed description and in reference to the drawings.
[0003] Figure 1 shows an example of a computing system that supports combined server requests for CAD applications.
[0004] Figure 2 shows an example of a computing system that supports generation, transmission, and processing of combined server requests for CAD applications.
[0005] Figure 3 shows an example of client-side insertions of variable placeholder keywords to support combined server requests for CAD applications. [0006] Figure 4 shows an example of server-side interpretations and processing of variable placeholder keywords to support combined server requests for CAD applications.
[0007] Figure 5 shows an example of client-side insertions of try-catch keywords to support combined server requests for CAD applications.
[0008] Figure 6 shows an example of server-side interpretations and processing of try-catch keywords to support combined server requests for CAD applications.
[0009] Figure 7 shows an example of logic that a client computing system may implement to support combined server requests for CAD applications. [0010] Figure 8 shows an example of a computing system that supports combined server requests for CAD applications.
[0011] Figure 9 shows an example of logic that a server computing system may implement to support combined server requests for CAD applications. [0012] Figure 10 shows an example of a computing system that supports combined server requests for CAD applications.
DETAILED DESCRIPTION
[0013] CAD systems and applications can be implemented in various ways. For instance, CAD applications may be offered as a cloud-based service, e.g., as a Software-as-a-Service (“SaaS”) offering in which centrally-hosted CAD servers interact with CAD application clients to provide CAD application functionality. In such client-server architectures, user access to CAD application features may consume network resources and bandwidth, especially as CAD application capabilities and model data continue to increase in complexity. Performing even basic 3D CAD operations via CAD thin clients may consume significant network resources, especially as multiple request-response communications may be required between CAD application servers and clients for even relatively simple CAD operations (e.g., selecting a CAD model part or geometry). These request-response communications between CAD clients and CAD servers may consume increased network bandwidth, and in turn reduce the efficiency and usability of cloud-based CAD applications.
[0014] Network latency issues may be increasingly prevalent when request- response communications for CAD applications are interdependent on one another. For instance, a CAD application client may send an initial request to a CAD server, and necessarily wait for a server response until further action can be taken. This may be the case since response data communicated the server response to the initial request may be required for a subsequent request from the CAD application client. In such scenarios, each request- response between the CAD client and server incurs a latency overhead, and such delays in interactive CAD applications can cause slowed application executions and adversely impact user experience, while also throttling a communication network resources.
[0015] The disclosure herein may provide systems, methods, devices, and logic for combined server requests for CAD applications. As described in greater detail herein, various combined server request features are described to support generation, interpretation, processing, and execution of combined server requests that include multiple server different requests embedded in a combined server request communication. In some implementations, combined sever requests may support the combining of CAD server requests with output dependencies, which may allow multiple, interdependent CAD server calls to be packaged into a single request communication. As such, the combined server request features described herein may improve CAD application network latencies and usability, e.g., by reducing a total number of communications exchanged between CAD application clients and CAD application servers. Without a need to create separate communications for each of the separate server requests needed to perform given CAD operations, the combined server request features described herein may improve CAD application efficiency without decreasing CAD application capabilities.
[0016] These and other combined server request features and technical benefits are described in greater detail herein. [0017] Figure 1 shows an example of a computing system 100 that supports combined server requests for CAD applications. The computing system 100 may take the form of multiple computing devices such as CAD application servers, compute nodes, desktop or laptop computers, smart phones or other mobile devices, tablet devices, embedded controllers, and more. In some implementations, the computing system 100 implements a SaaS-based architecture, cloud-based architecture, or any other server-client architecture to provide a CAD application and corresponding application features. As such, the computing system 100 may include any number of client computing systems, server computing systems, or any combinations of both.
[0018] As an example implementation to support any of the combined server request features described herein, the computing system 100 shown in Figure 1 includes a combined request generation engine 108, a combined request generation engine 110, and a combined request server engine 112. The computing system 100 may implement the engines 108, 110, and 112 (including components thereof) in various ways, for example as hardware and programming. The programming for the engines 108, 110, and 112 may take the form of processor-executable instructions stored on non-transitory machine-readable storage media and the hardware for the engines 108, 110, and 112 may include one or multiple processors to execute those instructions. Any such processor may take the form of single processor or multi-processor systems, and in some examples, the computing system 100 implements multiple engines using the same computing system features or hardware components (e.g., a common processor or a common storage medium).
[0019] In some implementations, a client computing system may implement the combined request generation engine 108 as well as the combined request communication engine 110, e.g., through hardware and programming that implements a CAD thin client or CAD webapp. A server computing system may implement the combined request server engine 112 and may do so to provide centralized CAD application features for any number of CAD application clients. The engines 108, 110, and 112 may exchange communications (e.g., CAD application requests and responses) through any number of communication networks, such as local area networks (LANs), wide-area networks (WANs), virtual private networks (VPNs), cellular networks, the Internet, and more. [0020] In operation, the combined request generation engine 108 may identify a CAD operation to be performed through a CAD application client, determine a first server request and a second server request to transmit to a server computing system in order to perform the CAD operation, and combine the first server request and second server request into a combined server request. Execution of the second server request may depend on an output from the first server request. In operation, the combined request communication engine 110 may transmit the combined server request, with the first and second server requests combined together, to a server computing system to perform the CAD operation. The combined request communication engine 110 may do so instead of sending separate server requests for the first server request and the second server request, which may thus reduce network latency for client-server CAD applications through combined server requests. [0021] The combined request server engine 112 may implement any number of CAD server features to receive, interpret, process, and respond to combined requests sent by client computing systems, doing so in any of the ways described herein. In operation, the combined request server engine 112 may interpret a combined server request sent by the combined request communication engine 110 and respond to the combined server request with a server response.
[0022] These and other combined server request features are described in greater detail next.
[0023] Figure 2 shows an example of a computing system 200 that supports generation, transmission, and processing of combined server requests for CAD applications. In the example shown in Figure 2, a client computing system 202 implements a combined request generation engine 108 and a combined request communication engine 110. Also shown in the example of Figure 2, a server computing system 204 implements a combined request server engine 112. [0024] The client computing system 202 may include programming and hardware to implement a CAD application client. A CAD application client may take various forms, for example as web applications (also referred to as webapps), thin client applications, application portals, or various other application implementations with relatively lesser code and functionality that instead rely up upon CAD application servers to implement and perform the CAD features of a CAD application. In that regard, the client computing system 202 may provide a front end portal to hosted CAD application via a application user interface (Ul), but operability, CAD features, and CAD data may be stored on a backend CAD application server (e.g., via the server computing system 204).
[0025] In the example of Figure 2, the client computing system 202 may present or otherwise visualize a CAD application Ul via an application window 210 (which, in Figure 2, depicts an example CAD model 212). Any CAD model data used to visualize the CAD model 212 may be temporarily accessed or used by the client computing system 202 for visualization, and permanent storage of CAD model data for the CAD model 212 may be handled by the server computing system 204. In a consistent manner, execution of CAD operations on the CAD model 212 may be performed at the server backend by the server computing system 204. In that regard, the server computing system 204 may serve as a CAD application server for a distributed CAD application.
[0026] To support such a client-server architecture and backend CAD operation functionality, the client computing system 202 may transmit requests to the server computing system 204 to perform various user-selected CAD operations. In conventional systems, even a given (e.g., single) CAD operation may require transmission of multiple requests by a client computing system 202, even to select a particular CAD object, mesh face, or other given CAD model portion. As used herein, a server request may refer to an atomic instruction that an application client may send to an application server for execution or processing. [0027] Each server request transmitted by a CAD application client may require preparation, configuration, and transmission of a separate request communication. As such, sending multiple server requests to execute even a single CAD operation on the CAD model 212 may be inefficient, consume increased amounts of network latency, result in sluggish application behavior, and reduce CAD application usability.
[0028] The combined request generation engine 108 may address such deficiencies and technical limitations by selectively combining multiple requests for CAD operations into combined server requests. Generation of a combined server request that batches, packages, embeds, or otherwise aggregates multiple CAD server requests into a single communication transmission may increase the efficiency of CAD application network usage and improve user experience by reducing application lag and increasing CAD application operation speeds.
[0029] To explain further, conventionally-implemented distributed CAD applications may require that application clients send multiple server requests to perform even a single CAD operation. These multiple server requests may require consecutive or serial execution due to output dependencies between the server requests. For instance, a CAD operation to create a point at a selected position on a particular CAD model may require multiple server request transmissions: (1) a first server request to access the particular CAD model, part, or face to create the point on; as well as (2) a second server request to create the point on the accessed CAD model. In such examples, a CAD application client may be constrained from sending the second server request to perform the point creation operation, since an input field for the second server request may require a CAD object ID returned from the CAD application server (through a server response for the first server request). As a continuing illustrative example referenced herein, a first server request and server response may be exchanged in Javascript Object Form (JSON) as follows:
Send:
{ "Class" : "CAD.PartCollection", "Work":{}
}
Return:
{
"Class": "CAD.Part", "Objectld":[[ "MyPart.prt"]]
}
In this example, the Send: JSON communication may form a server request to return the CAD ObjectID of a present working CAD part. The Return: response communication provided by a CAD application server may provide the requested objectID as [ ["MyPart.prt"]] . Only upon receiving such a server response with the CAD ObjectID may conventional CAD application clients generate and transmit a subsequent server request to create a point (or perform some other CAD operation) on the accessed CAD part. Continuing this illustrative example, a CAD application client may generate a subsequent server request and exchange communications with a CAD application server as follows:
Send:
{
"Class": "CAD.PartCollection",
"CreatePoint":{ "part": "Class": "CAD.Part",
"ObjectId": [[ "MyPart.prt"]]},
"coordinates":{"x":10.0, "y":20.0, "z":30.0}}
}
Return:
{
"Class" : "CAD.Point", "ObjectId":[[ "MyPart.prt"], "PointA" ]
}
In this example, the CAD application client may now populate the second server request with the Objectld received from transmitting the first server request, but must necessarily wait until a server response to the first server request is received and processed before generating and transmitting this second server request. As noted herein, repeated exchange of such server request and server response communication may require multiple series of communication exchanges between CAD application clients and CAD application servers, increasing CAD application latencies, reducing network efficiencies, and causing sluggish application behavior.
[0030] The combined request generation engine 108 may combine multiple server requests into a combined server request for transmission to a backend CAD application server. In the example shown in Figure 2, the combined request generation engine 108 generates the combined server request 220, which the combined request communication engine 110 may send to the combined request server engine 112 for processing by the server computing system 204. In this example, the combined request generation engine 108 packages two (2) different server requests into the combined server request 220 labeled in Figure 2 as Server RequestA and Server RequestB respectively. As contemplated herein, however, the combined request generation engine 108 may package three (3), four (4), or any other multiple number of server requests into a combined server request communication for a CAD application server.
[0031] In some examples, the combined request generation engine 108 may combine a first server request and a second server request into the combined server request 220 by packaging the first server request and the second server request in a request array embedded within the combined server request. For instance, the combined request generation engine 108 may utilize data structures supported by JSON or any other data-interchange communication protocols to batch multiple server requests into a single combined server request.
[0032] In some implementations, a combined server request may include combination data fields specifying properties of the combined request, e.g., a number of separate server requests packaged into the combined server request, request offsets in packet data, array indices, or any other relevant data for generated combined server requests. The combined request generation engine 108 may set the appropriate values of the combination data fields to support subsequent server-side processing of transmitted combined server requests. To address output dependencies between multiple server requests, the combined request generation engine 108 may insert keywords into a combined server request. A CAD application server may interpret inserted keywords to process the combined server request and do so without having to exchange additional inter-execution communications with the client computing system 202. Keyword insertions and interpretations are discussed in greater detail herein.
[0033] Continuing the example in Figure 2, the combined request communication engine 110 may transmit combined server requests to a CAD application server, such as the server computing system 204. The combined request communication engine 110 may support any number of communication technologies, formats, or protocols to transmit and receive data between CAD clients and CAD application servers.
[0034] The server computing system 204 may include any number CAD application servers and implement the combined request server engine 112 to interpret, process, and generate server responses for received combined server requests (such as the combined server request 220). In responding to the combined server request 220, the combined request server engine 112 may generate and provide a server response 230. The server response 230 provided by the combined request server engine 112 may acknowledge or respond (via a single response communication) to the multiple server requests embedded within the combined server request 220. As such, the client computing system 202 (e.g., via the combined request communication engine 110) may receive a server response 230 for the combined server request 220 instead of receiving separate server responses for each of Server RequestA and Server RequestB.
[0035] As noted herein, the combined request generation engine 108 may support combining of multiple requests into a combined server request through insertion of keywords. Such keywords may be used to flag output dependencies and trigger CAD application server functionality to correspondingly process combined server requests generated by the combined request generation engine 108. Various examples of client-side keyword insertions and server-side keyword processing to support combined server requests are presented next with reference to Figures 3-6. In particular, variable placeholder keywords are described in connection with Figures 3 and 4 and try-catch keywords are described in connection with Figures 5 and 6.
[0036] Figure 3 shows an example of client-side insertions of variable placeholder keywords to support combined server requests for CAD applications. The example in Figure 3 is presented using the combined request generation engine 108 and combined request communication engine 110 as an implementation example for a client computing system, though various other implementations are contemplated herein.
[0037] The combined request generation engine 108 may generate combined server requests that embed multiple server requests with output dependencies. In Figure 3, the combined request generation engine 108 generates a combined server request for the depicted server requests labeled as Server RequestA and Server RequestB. In this particular example, an input for Server RequestB depends an on output (e.g., server response) of Server RequestA, and thus an output dependency exists between Server RequestA and Server RequestB. For instance, Server RequestA and Server RequestB may take the form of the CAD Objectld and point creation server requests described in the JSON illustration described above. In such output dependencies, the output from Server RequestA (a first server request) may be used as an input to Server RequestB (a second server request).
[0038] To address the output dependency between Server RequestA and Server RequestB, combination of the Server RequestA and Server RequestB into a combined server request by the combined request generation engine 108 may include inserting a keyword into the combined server request. The inserted keyword may be configured such that a server computing system is configured to interpret the inserted keyword and respond by passing an output of Server RequestA as an input for execution of Server RequestB. As such, the combined request generation engine 108 may augment any number of the multiple server requests packaged into a combined server request via keyword insertion.
[0039] In the example shown in Figure 3, the combined request generation engine 108 generates the combined server request 310 that embeds Server RequestA and Server RequestB into a single server request communication. In doing so, the combined request generation engine 108 may alter Server RequestA through insertion of the variable placeholder keyword 321 and alter Server RequestB through insertion of the variable placeholder keyword 322. The variable placeholder keywords 321 and 322 may take the form of empty values or placeholder text without any particular attribute or value when the combined server request 310 is transmitted from a CAD client, but may be subsequently interpreted and populated by a CAD application server in the processing of the combined server request 310.
[0040] In some implementations, the variable placeholder keyword 321 inserted into a first server request (e.g., Server RequestA) may trigger server- side creation of a variable to subsequently populate with a value after execution of the first server request and prior to execution of the second server request (e.g., Server RequestB). This second server request may include an input that depends on an output or execution result of the first server request. The variable placeholder keyword 322 inserted into a second server request (e.g., Server RequestB) may trigger server-side lookup and replacement of a variable value populated through execution of a preceding server request (e.g., a first server request and in this specific example, Server RequestA). [0041] To further illustrate using an example JSON exchange, the combined request generation engine 108 may generate a combined server request with inserted variable placeholder keywords as follows:
Send:
{
{
"Class" : "CAD.PartCollection",
"Work":{} "%part":"$l"
},
{
"Class": "CAD.PartCollection",
"CreatePoint":{ "part":{ "$var":$1"},
"coordinates":{"x":10.0, "y":20.0, "z":30.0}}
}
}
In this illustrative example, the two different server requests to access a CAD Objectld and perform a point creation operation are packaged into a single combined server request. The combined request generation engine 108 may insert a variable placeholder keyword 321 into a first server request in the form of "%part" : "$l", which may trigger a server computing system to create a variable identified as $1 and to store the output of the first server request, e.g., to set the value of variable $1 to a CAD Objectld value for a CAD part that is output from execution of the first server request. Continuing this example, the combined request generation engine 108 may insert a variable placeholder keyword 322 into a second server request in the form of "$var" : $1", which may trigger a server computing system to lookup a variable identified as $1 and use the variable value of $1 as an input value to the second server request (such a lookup and replacement may occur prior to execution of the second server request).
[0042] Accordingly, the combined request generation engine 108 may generate combined server requests through insertion of variable placeholder keywords. The combined request communication engine 110 may transmit generated combined server requests (such as the combined server request 310) for processing and response by a CAD application server. Server-side interpretation and processing of variable placeholder keywords are described in greater detail next with reference to Figure 4.
[0043] Figure 4 shows an example of server-side interpretations and processing of variable placeholder keywords to support combined server requests for CAD applications. The example in Figure 4 is presented using the combined request server engine 112 as an implementation example for a server computing system, though various other implementations are contemplated herein.
[0044] Interpretation, processing, and response generation for combined server requests by CAD application servers may be implemented via the combined request server engine 112. In Figure 4, a server computing system (e.g., a CAD application server) implements the combined request server engine 112, and the combined request server engine 112 may process combined server requests with inserted variable placeholder keywords, such as the combined server request 310 as described in Figure 3 with variable placeholder keywords 321 and 322.
[0045] The combined request server engine 112 may identify received CAD application client communications as combined server requests in various ways. For instance, the combined request server engine 112 may do so by parsing communications received from CAD application clients to determine whether communications include a single or multiple server requests. In some instances, the combined request server engine 112 may examine combination data fields in received communications to determine a number of embedded server requests in the communication (and thus identify a combined server request when a combination data field indicates the client communication includes at least two different server requests).
[0046] In processing a combined server request, the combined request server engine 112 may parse out each individual request embedded in a received combined server request. In the example shown in Figure 4, the combined request server engine 112 may determine the combined server request 330 includes a first server request (Server RequestA) and a second server request (Server RequestB), and thus extract Server RequestA and Server RequestB from the combined server request 310 for processing and execution.
[0047] The combined request server engine 112 may pre-process server requests prior to server-side execution of the server requests. Pre-processing by the combined request server engine 112 may include any parsing, processing, or analysis of a server request prior to execution of the instruction/action specified the server request. For instance, pre-processing of a given server request by the combined request server engine 112 may include identification of any inserted keywords and performing of any server actions triggered by the identified keywords. Keyword formats, syntax, and characteristics may be pre-programmed into the combined request server engine 112 or otherwise configured via user input, system settings, or via other means.
[0048] Continuing the example in Figure 4, the combined request server engine 112 may identify any inserted keywords included in Server RequestA during pre-processing and respond accordingly. The combined request server engine 112 may pre-process Server RequestA prior to execution of Server RequestA, and in doing so identify variable placeholder keyword 321 as an inserted keyword (e.g., by recognizing the "%part":"$l" keyword consistent with the example described above in Figure 3). Responsive to identification of the variable placeholder keyword 321 , the combined request server engine 112 may create a variable to store the output of Server RequestA, for instance by creating a variable $1 in a variable data structure 420 implemented by the server computing system (e.g., as shown in the example of Figure 4). The variable data structure 420 may take the form of any suitable data structure, such as a database or lookup table in some implementations.
[0049] Variable creation by the combined request server engine 112 may be triggered by identification of the variable placeholder keyword 321 during pre processing of Server RequestA, and done so prior to execution of Server RequestA. After pre-preprocessing of Server RequestA., the combined request server engine 112 may execute Server RequestA. Upon execution, the combined request server engine 112 may store the output of Server RequestA. into the created variable (in this case $1, which may store the Objectld of a current CAD part accessed by a CAD client, for example). As such, the combined request server engine 112 may interpret the variable placeholder keyword 321 to allocate a variable and populate the variable with an output value of Server RequestA. The combined request server engine 112 may perform such variable creation and value population actions prior to execution of Server RequestB.
[0050] After execution of Server RequestA, the combined request server engine 112 may pre-process and execute Server RequestB. In pre-processing Server RequestB, the combined request server engine 112 may identify the variable placeholder keyword 322 in Server RequestB and respond accordingly. Identification of the variable placeholder keyword 322 may trigger the combined request server engine 112 to perform a server-side lookup and replacement of a variable value into the server instruction specified in Server RequestB, and the combined request server engine 112 may do so prior to execution of Server RequestB. In particular, the variable placeholder keyword 322 may cause the combined request server engine 112 to replace a field in Server RequestB with a variable value that stores the output of Server RequestA (as stored in variable $ l in the example of Figure 4). By doing so, combined server request processing by the combined request server engine 112 may address or resolve the output dependency between Server RequestA and Server RequestB
[0051] To illustrate through the continuing JSON example presented herein, the combined request server engine 112 may extract and pre-process Server RequestB as the following string:
{
"Class": "CAD.PartCollection",
"CreatePoint":{ "part":{ "$var":$1"},
"coordinates":{"x":10.0, "y":20.0, "z":30.0}}
}
Responsive to identification of the variable placeholder keyword 322 (in this case, { "$var" : $l" } ) during pre-processing, the combined request server engine 112 may look up a variable value specified by the variable placeholder keyword 322 and further update Server RequestB by replacing the variable placeholder keyword 322 with the variable value obtained via look up. In this example, the combined request server engine 112 may replace the keyword { "$var":$1" } with the variable value of "Class": "CAD.Part", "Objectid": [[ "MyPart.prt"]] (that is, the output of Server RequestA stored in the variable data structure 420 via variable $1).
[0052] The combined request server engine 112 may alter a server request during pre-processing by replacing a variable placeholder keyword of the request with an obtained variable value. In the JSON example described herein, the combined request server engine 112 may update Server RequestB as follows, prior to execution of Server RequestB:
{
"Class": "CAD.PartCollection",
"CreatePoint":{ "part": "Class": "CAD.Part",
"ObjectId": [[ "MyPart.prt"]]},
"coordinates":{"x":10.0, "y":20.0, "z":30.0}}
}
Such server request update or altering by the combined request server engine 112 may, in effect, pass an output of a previously executed server request as an input to a server request to be subsequently executed. In such a way, variable placeholder keywords may provide server-side support for addressing output dependencies between multiple server requests packaged into a single combined server request communication. After the pre processing and server request replacement/update triggered by the variable placeholder keyword 322, the combined request server engine 112 may execute Server RequestB and provide the execution result of Server RequestA, Server RequestB, or both as a server response 430 to a CAD application client (e.g., via transmission to the combined request communication 110 of the client computing system described in Figure 3 that transmitted the combined server request 310).
[0053] In any of the ways described herein, the combined request generation engine 108, combined request communication engine 110, and combined request server engine 112 may support combined server request features for output dependencies in which the output from a first server request is used as an input to a second server request. The combined server request features presented herein may additionally or alternatively support output dependencies in which the output from a first server request is evaluated as a condition of whether to perform a second server request, as described next with regards to try-catch keywords described with reference to Figures 5 and 6.
[0054] Figure 5 shows an example of client-side insertions of try-catch keywords to support combined server requests for CAD applications. The example in Figure 5 is presented using the combined request generation engine 108 and combined request communication engine 110 as an implementation example for a client computing system, though various other implementations are contemplated herein.
[0055] The combined request generation engine 108 may generate combined server requests for multiple server requests with output dependencies. In Figure 5, the combined request generation engine 108 generates a combined server request for the depicted server requests labeled in Figure 5 as Server RequestA and Server RequestB, in which the output from Server RequestA is evaluated as a condition of whether to execute Server RequestB. For such execution output dependencies between server requests, the output of Server RequestA may also be referred to as an execution result for Server RequestA, and an execution result may specify whether a CAD application has successfully executed a server request (e.g., without error). [0056] To address execution output dependencies between server requests, the combined request generation engine 108 may combine the Server RequestA and Server RequestB into a combined server request by inserting try-catch keywords into the combined server request. In the example shown in Figure 5, the combined request generation engine 108 generates the combined server request 510 that embeds Server RequestA and Server RequestB into a single server request communication. In doing so, the combined request generation engine 108 may alter Server RequestA through insertion of the try-catch keyword 521 and may alter Server RequestB through insertion of the try-catch keyword 522. [0057] In some implementations, the try-catch keyword 521 inserted into a first server request (e.g., Server RequestA) may trigger a server-side execution of the first server request, and a CAD application server may condition execution of a second server request (e.g., Server RequestB) upon the output (e.g., execution result) of the first server request. The try-catch keyword 522 inserted into a second server request (e.g., Server RequestB) may trigger server-side execution of the second server request only upon a failed execution result for the first server request.
[0058] To provide an illustrative example, the combined request generation engine 108 may generate a combined server request with inserted try-catch keywords as follows:
Send:
{
"try":{ "deleteFace":{"face",
{ "OjbeetId":[["MyPart.prt], "facel"]}, "direction": {"x":1, "y":0, "z":0}}},
"catch": {"wrong direction":{"deleteFace":{"face",
{ "OjbeetId":[["MyPart.prt], "facel"]}, "direction": {"x":-l, "y":0, "z ":0}}}}
}
In this combined server request example, a first server request is included in the combined server request to execute a face deletion CAD operation with certain directions for the x, y, and z directions of a CAD part. With reference to Figure 5, the combined request generation engine 108 may insert the "try" keyword into Server RequestA as the try-catch keyword 521. In doing so, the combined request generation engine 108 may condition execution of a second server request (e.g., Server RequestB) upon an execution result of Server RequestA (e.g., based on execution success or execution failure of Server RequestA).
[0059] As also part of this example, a second server request may be included in the combined server request, in particular to execute a face deletion CAD operation in a similar manner to the first server request, with a lone exception that the x direction of the operation is flipped from "x" : l to "x" : 1 With reference to Figure 5, the combined request generation engine 108 may insert the "catch" keyword into Server RequestB as try-catch keyword 523. In doing so, the combined request generation engine 108 may specify a subsequent server request to execute responsive to a determination of an execution failure for execution of a first server request inserted with a corresponding "try" keyword.
[0060] Note that the combined request generation engine 108 may specify particular execution results that constitute an execution failure via try-catch keyword insertions. A failed execution result may be expressed a component of a "catch" keyword inserted into a server request (e.g., as a part of the try- catch keyword 522 inserted into Server RequestB). In the illustrative example presented above, the try-catch keyword 522 includes a failed execution field, populated with the value "wrong direction" to indicate a particular output/execution result of a first server request for a CAD application server to identify as an execution failure (and thus execute a second server request in response). In this particular example, the try-catch keyword 522 may trigger execution of a second server request when the execution result of a first server request is a “wrong direction” error. Other execution results aside from the specified execution failure(s) may be interpreted by a CAD application server as execution successes.
[0061] In any of the ways described herein, the combined request generation engine 108 may generate combined server requests through insertion of try- catch keywords. The combined request communication engine 110 may transmit generated combined server requests (such as the combined server request 510) for processing and response by a CAD application server. Server-side interpretation and processing of try-catch keywords are described in greater detail next with reference to Figure 6.
[0062] Figure 6 shows an example of server-side interpretations and processing of try-catch keywords to support combined server requests for CAD applications. The example in Figure 6 is presented using the combined request server engine 112 as an implementation example for a server computing system, though various other implementations are contemplated herein. In Figure 6, a server computing system (e.g., a CAD application server) implements the combined request server engine 112, and the combined request server engine 112 may process combined server requests with inserted try-catch keywords, such as the combined server request 510 with try-catch keywords 521 and 522 as described in Figure 5.
[0063] To do so, the combined request server engine 112 may parse the combined server request 510 and extract Server RequestA and Server RequestB from the combined server request 510. Prior to request execution, the combined request server engine 112 may pre-process the extracted server requests, and in doing so identify the try-catch keyword 521 inserted into Server RequestA as well as the try-catch keyword 522 inserted into Server RequestB.
[0064] The combined request server engine 112 may interpret and process the try-catch keywords 521 and 522 and, as such, condition execution of Server RequestB on an execution result of Server RequestB. In some implementations, the combined request server engine 112 may insert rollback points responsive to identification of try-catch keywords. For instance, the combined request server engine 112 may insert a rollback point for a first server request. A rollback point may take the form of any rollback logic or code checkpoint to return a server state back to a particular execution point, in this case, prior to execution of the first server request.
[0065] Such a rollback point insertion may be illustrated via the example presented in Figure 6. During pre-processing of Server RequestA, the combined request server engine 112 may identify a "try" try-catch keyword 521 inserted into Server RequestA, and in response, insert a rollback point 610 prior to provide a capability revert a server state to a point prior to execution of Server RequestA. By doing so, the combined request server engine 112 may support execution of an alternative server request in the event of an execution failure of Server RequestA, which may be the given server request marked with a corresponding "catch" try-catch keyword 522 (Server RequestB in this example). [0066] Continuing the example shown in Figure 6, the combined request server engine 112 may execute Server RequestA and obtain an execution result 620 for Server RequestA. The execution result 620 may be any output or result of a request execution, e.g., in the form of status messages, error indicators, output data, etc. The combined request server engine 112 may be configured to identify execution successes and execution failures from obtained execution results, e.g., based on pre-programmed error identification parameters, extracted execution failure states as set forth in connection with "catch" try-catch keywords, etc.
[0067] Responsive to determination of an execution failure for Server RequestA, the combined request server engine 112 may roll back execution of Server RequestA (e.g., by restoring a server state specified by the rollback point 610 to a point prior to execution of Server RequestA) and then execute the Server RequestB instead. Responsive to an execution success for Server RequestA, the combined request server engine 112 may determine not to execute Server RequestB. Additionally or alternatively, the combined request server engine 112 may remove the rollback point 610 inserted prior to execution of Server RequestA, as a server state rollback may no longer been needed based on the execution success of Server RequestA.
[0068] After execution of Server RequestA and conditional execution of Server RequestB (if execution of Server RequestA results in a specified execution failure), the combined request server engine 112 may generate and provide a server response 630 to a CAD client.
[0069] Accordingly, the combined server request features described herein may support keyword insertions and keyword processing to handle output dependencies between multiple server requests embedded into a combined server request communication. While example keywords are presented herein, any type of logic or keyword features are contemplated herein for insertion by the combined request generation engine 108 and interpretation and processing by the combined request server engine 112. For instance, the combined request generation engine 108 and combined request server engine 112 may support loop keywords inserted into a first and/or second server request.
[0070] Such loop keywords may trigger execution of the second server request for an output set (comprising multiple outputs) generated from execution of the first server request. As an example, the first server request may retrieve multiple CAD faces of a CAD part, and the second server request may generate a point or perform a fillet operation on each of the retrieved CAD faces. Through use of loop keywords, the combined request server engine 112 may pre-process a combined server request that includes loop keywords and, upon determination of multiple outputs, generate multiple server requests to perform an operation specified in the second server request for each of the outputs returned from execution of the first server request.
[0071] In some implementations, the combined request generation engine 108 need not insert keywords into the multiple server requests embedded in a single combined server request communication. Instead, the combined request generation engine 108 may generate a combined server request by nesting server requests within one another to address output dependencies. For instance, the combined request generation engine 108 may nest a first server request within a second server request, for example as followings presented using the continuing JSON illustration presented herein:
Send:
{
"Class": "CAD.PartCollection",
"CreatePoint":{"part":
{
"Class" : "CAD.Part", "Work": {}
}
"coordinates":{"x":10.0, "y":20.0, "z":30.0}}
}
In this example, the combined request generation engine 108 generates a combined server request that nests a first server request to retrieve an Objectld for a current CAD part within a second server request to create a point on the current CAD part, thus addressing output dependencies within server requests embedded into a combined server request.
[0072] While many combined server request features have been described herein through illustrative examples presented through various figures, the combined request generation engine 108, combined request communication engine 110, and/or combined request server engine 112 may implement any combination of the combined server request features described herein. For instance, the combined request generation engine 108 may generate combined server requests with multiple types of inserted keywords (e.g., both variable placeholder keywords and try-catch keywords), and the inserted keywords may depend or be interlinked with one another. As other examples, combined server requests generated by the combined request generation engine 108 may support any number or types of output dependencies, whether simplistic (e.g., an output of a first server request provided as a direct/only input to a second server request) or complex (e.g., the outputs of multiple, independent server requests provided as a combined input into a subsequent server request). The combined request server engine 112 may interpret any such combined server requests accordingly. Any combination of server request or keyword logic, dependency, or interconnection is contemplated herein and supported through the combined server request generation, communication, and interpretation features of the present disclosure.
[0073] Figure 7 shows an example of logic 700 that a client computing system may implement to support combined server requests for CAD applications. For example, a client computing system (e.g., that implements a CAD client) may implement the logic 700 as hardware, executable instructions stored on a machine-readable medium, or as a combination of both. A client computing system may implement the logic 700 via the combined request generation engine 108 and combined request communication engine 110, through which the client computing system may perform or execute the logic 700 as a method to support generation of combined server requests. The following description of the logic 700 is provided using the combined request generation engine 108 and combined request communication engine 110 as examples. However, various other implementation options by systems are possible.
[0074] In implementing the logic 700, the combined request generation engine 108 may identify a CAD operation to be performed through the CAD application client (702) and determine a first server request and a second server request to transmit to a server computing system in order to perform the CAD operation (704). The combined request generation engine 108 may further combine the first server request and second server request into a combined server request (706), and execution of the second server request may depend on an output from the first server request. In implementing the logic 700, the combined request communication engine 110 may transmit the combined server request, with the first and second server requests combined together, to the server computing system to perform the CAD operation (708). The combined request communication engine 110 may do so instead of sending separate server requests for the first server request and the second server request.
[0075] The logic 700 shown in Figure 7 provides an illustrative example by which a client computing system may support generation of combined server requests for CAD applications. Additional or alternative steps in the logic 700 are contemplated herein, including according to any of the various features described herein for the combined request generation engine 108, the combined request communication engine 110, or any combinations thereof. [0076] Figure 8 shows an example of a computing system that supports combined server requests for CAD applications. The computing system 800 may include a processor 810, which may take the form of a single or multiple processors. The processor(s) 810 may include a central processing unit (CPU), microprocessor, or any hardware device suitable for executing instructions stored on a machine-readable medium. The system 800 may include a machine-readable medium 820. The machine-readable medium 820 may take the form of any non-transitory electronic, magnetic, optical, or other physical storage device that stores executable instructions, such as the combined request generation instructions 822 and the combined request communication instructions 824 shown in Figure 8. As such, the machine- readable medium 820 may be, for example, Random Access Memory (RAM) such as a dynamic RAM (DRAM), flash memory, spin-transfer torque memory, an Electronically-Erasable Programmable Read-Only Memory (EEPROM), a storage drive, an optical disk, and the like.
[0077] The computing system 800 may execute instructions stored on the machine-readable medium 820 through the processor 810. Executing the instructions (e.g., the combined request generation instructions 822 and/or the combined request communication instructions 824) may cause the computing system 800 to perform any of the combined server request features described herein, including according to any of the features of the combined request generation engine 108, the combined request communication engine 110, or combinations of both.
[0078] For example, execution of the combined request generation instructions 822 by the processor 810 may cause the computing system 800 to identify a CAD operation to be performed through the CAD application client, determine a first server request and a second server request to transmit to a server computing system in order to perform the CAD operation, and combine the first server request and second server request into a combined server request. Execution of the second server request may depend on an output from the first server request. Execution of the combined request communication instructions 824 by the processor 810 may cause the computing system 800 to transmit the combined server request, with the first and second server requests combined together, to the server computing system to perform the CAD operation (e.g., instead of sending separate server requests for the first server request and the second server request).
[0079] Any additional or alternative combined server request features as described herein may be implemented via the combined request generation instructions 822, combined request communication instructions 824, or a combination of both. [0080] Figure 9 shows an example of logic 900 that a server computing system may implement to support combined server requests for CAD applications. For example, a server computing system (e.g., CAD application server) may implement the logic 900 as hardware, executable instructions stored on a machine-readable medium, or as a combination of both. A server computing system may implement the logic 900 via the combined request server engine 112, through which the server computing system may perform or execute the logic 900 as a method to support interpretation and processing of combined server requests. The following description of the logic 900 is provided using the combined request server engine 112 as an example. Flowever, various other implementation options by systems are possible. [0081] In implementing the logic 900, the combined request server engine 112 may interpret a combined server request (902), including through parsing of the combined server request, extraction of embedded server requests, as well as the pre-processing and execution of some or all of the multiple server requests included in the combined server request, doing so in any of the ways described herein. The combined request server engine 112 may also respond to the combined server request with a server response (904), sending the server response to a CAD client.
[0082] The logic 900 shown in Figure 9 provides an illustrative example by which a server computing system may support interpretation and processing of combined server requests for CAD applications. Additional or alternative steps in the logic 900 are contemplated herein, including according to any of the various features described herein for the combined request server engine 112.
[0083] Figure 10 shows an example of a computing system that supports combined server requests for CAD applications. The computing system 1000 may include a processor 1010, which may take the form of a single or multiple processors. The processor(s) 1010 may include a central processing unit (CPU), microprocessor, or any hardware device suitable for executing instructions stored on a machine-readable medium. The system 1000 may include a machine-readable medium 1020. The machine-readable medium 1020 may take the form of any non-transitory electronic, magnetic, optical, or other physical storage device that stores executable instructions, such as the combined request server instructions 1022 shown in Figure 10. As such, the machine-readable medium 1020 may be, for example, Random Access Memory (RAM) such as a dynamic RAM (DRAM), flash memory, spin-transfer torque memory, an Electronically-Erasable Programmable Read-Only Memory (EEPROM), a storage drive, an optical disk, and the like.
[0084] The computing system 1000 may execute instructions stored on the machine-readable medium 1020 through the processor 1010. Executing the instructions (e.g., the combined request server instructions 1022) may cause the computing system 1000 to perform any of the combined server request features described herein, including according to any of the features of the combined request server engine 112. For example, execution of the combined request serve instructions 1022 by the processor 1010 may cause the computing system 1000 to interpret a combined server request and respond to the combined server request with a server respond, doing so in any of the ways described herein. Any additional or alternative combined server request features as described herein may be implemented via the combined request server instructions 1022.
[0085] The systems, methods, devices, and logic described above, including the combined request generation engine 108, the combined request communication engine 110, and the combined server generation engine 112, may be implemented in many different ways in many different combinations of hardware, logic, circuitry, and executable instructions stored on a machine- readable medium. For example, the combined request generation engine 108, the combined request communication engine 110, the combined request server engine 112, or combinations thereof, may include circuitry in a controller, a microprocessor, or an application specific integrated circuit (ASIC), or may be implemented with discrete logic or components, or a combination of other types of analog or digital circuitry, combined on a single integrated circuit or distributed among multiple integrated circuits. A product, such as a computer program product, may include a storage medium and machine-readable instructions stored on the medium, which when executed in an endpoint, computer system, or other device, cause the device to perform operations according to any of the description above, including according to any features of the combined request generation engine 108, the combined request communication engine 110, the combined request server engine 112, or combinations thereof.
[0086] The processing capability of the systems, devices, and engines described herein, including the combined request generation engine 108, the combined request communication engine 110, and the combined request server engine 112, may be distributed among multiple system components, such as among multiple processors and memories, optionally including multiple distributed processing systems or cloud/network elements. Parameters, databases, and other data structures may be separately stored and managed, may be incorporated into a single memory or database, may be logically and physically organized in many different ways, and may be implemented in many ways, including data structures such as linked lists, hash tables, or implicit storage mechanisms. Programs may be parts (e.g., subroutines) of a single program, separate programs, distributed across several memories and processors, or implemented in many different ways, such as in a library (e.g., a shared library).
[0087] While various examples have been described above, many more implementations are possible.