Microsoft Technology Licensing, LLC

Robert Brian Schmidt

Dharma Kiritkumar Shukla

Nathan Christopher Talbert

Akash Jeevan Sagar

Aditya G Bhandarkar

Asad Jawahar

Kenneth David Wolf

Edmund Samuel Victor Pinto

Muthukaruppan Annamalai

Mayank Mehta

Donald F Box

Geoffrey M Kizer

Kumarswamy P Valegerepura

Tirunelveli R Vishwanath

Stephen Jared Maine

Abhay Vinayak Parasnis

Kavita K Kamani

HongMei Ge

Alexander Martin DeJarnatt

David Robert Cliffe

Alberto Arias Maestro

Stephen James Millet

Karthik Raman

Balinder Malhi

Edmund S V Pinto

A distributed component model for creating a scalable and available distributed application is disclosed. The distributed component model provides for an application schema to be declaratively defined to include a module having a component. The schema includes a corresponding definition construct in a technology agnostic manner. The corresponding definition construct is declaratively defined to include metadata to control scaling and availability.

Distributed component model

A method of creating an application definition for a distributed application is disclosed. Constructs corresponding with a schema of the distributed application are defined in a declarative and technology agnostic manner. The constructs include the application definition, a module definition, and a component definition. Each construct includes metadata.

Distributed application definition

Interfaces for a continuation-based runtime. Some embodiments described herein are directed to a framework using continuation based runtime interface that pertain to an infrastructure for enabling the creation of a wide variety of continuation-based programs that perform a wide-array of tasks. The infrastructure provides a foundation for building continuation-based, declarative applications of various scale and complexity.

Interface infrastructure for a continuation based runtime

Embodiments are directed to providing an application model for implementing composite applications and to providing a declarative programming model and distributed runtime for creating and executing composite applications. In an embodiment, a computer system instantiates an application model. The application model allows users to compose composite applications. The composite applications are configured to run on both distributed computing systems and local computing systems. The computer system receives user input at the instantiated application model. The user input indicates which composite application components are to be used in conjunction with each other to form the composite application. The computer system also provides the composite application on a distributed computing system and/or a local computing system.

Application model for implementing composite applications

A method for of authoring and executing stateful components for a distributed application is disclosed. An application schema for the distributed application is declaratively defined and includes a plurality of distributed modules. Each module hosts a set of stateful components co-located in a physical tier of a distributed environment having logic to manipulate state. The runtime supports partitioning the stateful components. Control flow opaqueness of component logic is banished in each of the stateful components, which would otherwise occur if state was externalized.

Stateful component authoring and execution

Namespace for continuation-based runtime. Some embodiments described herein are directed to a framework using continuation based runtime namespaces that pertain to an infrastructure for enabling the creation of a wide variety of continuation-based programs that perform a wide-array of tasks. The infrastructure provides a foundation for building continuation-based, declarative applications of various scale and complexity. In some embodiments, the associated application programming interfaces (APIs) are factored into a hierarchy of namespaces in a manner that balances utility, usability, extensibility, and versionability.

Allowing a continuation based runtime to resolve different types of location expressions, value expressions, and/or locations. This may be accomplished using a different class for each particular type. The location expression classes may each have a common method used for all of the location expression classes. The value expression classes may each have a common method, and the locations may also each have a common method. This allows the resolution of such location and value expressions to be treated in a unified fashion regardless of the type of location expression, or the type of value expression. Also, the location may be treated in a unified manner regardless of the type of location.

Unified expression and location framework

A continuation based runtime participates in transactions that are not generated by the continuation based runtime, but rather are generated externally to the continuation based runtime. The continuation based runtime marshals in transaction data related to the pre-existing externally generated transaction. In one embodiment, the continuation based runtime itself may not do this, but perhaps may use a transaction enabled activity. Once the activity marshals in the data, the activity may request that the continuation based runtime enlist in the transaction, whereupon the continuation based runtime may then register and the transaction may be performed in the context of the continuation based runtime.

Continuation based runtimes in transactions

Persisting execution state of a continuation based runtime program. The continuation based runtime program includes static program data defining activities executed by the program. One or more of the activities are parent activities including sequences of child activities. The continuation based runtime program is loaded. A child activity to be executed is identified based on scheduling defined in a parent of the child activity in the continuation based runtime program. The child activity is sent to a continuation based runtime separate from one or more other activities in the continuation based runtime program. The child activity is executed at the continuation based runtime, creating an activity instance. Continuation state information is stored separate from the static program data by storing information about the activity instance separate from one or more other activities defined in the continuation based runtime program.

Decoupling static program data and execution data

Enabling creation of control flow patterns in a workflow via continuations. Each continuation represents an activity execution context for an activity executing in the workflow by a workflow engine virtualizing a managed execution environment. Responsive to a request, the activity execution context is recreated via the continuation and the activity is executed within the recreated context.

Framework for modeling continuations in workflows

Described is a data model used in a continuation based runtime that executes activities. The data model provides for declaring parameters to define data flow direction (in, out or both in and out) with respect to activities. The model further allows for the declaring of variables to provide for data storing and sharing between activities that are in scope, based on a tree relationship between activities. In one aspect, an activity tree includes a topmost parent composite activity and at least one child activity of that topmost parent composite activity. Variables are associated with one or more composite activities of the tree, and the ancestral relationships between composite activities and (non-composite) child activities determine the in-scope access to variables. Arguments such as binding expressions may bind variables to an activity's parameters.

Data scoping and data flow in a continuation based runtime

Modifying a componentized workflow model during execution of the workflow. Each step of the workflow is modeled as an activity that has metadata to describe design time aspects, compile time aspects, and runtime aspects of the workflow step. A user selects and arranges the activities to create the workflow via user interfaces or application programming interfaces. Metadata is associated with each of the activities in the workflow. During execution of the workflow, the user modifies the metadata to affect execution of the workflow without recompiling the workflow.

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Woodinville, WA, United States of America

Robert Brian Schmidt