Script engine interface for multiple languages

Abstract

The scripting engine interface provides the capability to interconnect any suitably written application or server with any scripting language. The implementation of the scripting engine itself (language, syntax, persistent format, execution model, and the like) is left entirely to the vendor, and the scripting engine need not come from the same vendor as the host application. The scripting engine interface implements this capability using a set of interfaces, the two most important ones being IActiveScriptSite (implemented by the host application) and IActiveScript (implemented by the language engine.) Together, these interfaces allow a host application to inform a scripting engine about the functionality that can be scripted and to define the scripts that the scripting engine should execute, either immediately or in response to user actions such as mouse clicks. The scripting engine interface redefines the handshake that is required between two specific types of software components in a manner not previously done. Unlike past scripting engine interfaces, which define a unique and proprietary way of hooking up to an application, the interface described here provides a universal hookup mechanism that is simple and direct.