Appeal No. 2006-2700
Application No. 10/705,456
of functions. [Emphasis added.]
5. At paragraphs 115 and 116, Shapiro states the
following:
The retrieved information may be used to
programmatically construct appropriate data structures
and/or execute appropriate code for interfacing with
the backend system to access the desired functionality.
For example, the backend system may provide an
interface which allows client computers to connect to
the backend system and invoke functionality of the
backend system, e.g., to call a function, request
storage of data, etc. In one embodiment, the retrieved
information may be used to marshal data into a request
buffer to send to the backend system. For example, as
described above, where the functionality of the backend
system to be invoked comprises a programmatically
callable function, the information may specify the
function name, function parameters, etc. Thus, the
information may be used in determining data types into
which parameter values must be translated, determining
the order in which to write the parameters into the
request buffer, etc. [Emphasis added.]
[0116] In one embodiment, the application server may
support an API which allows programs that execute on
the application server to access functionality of
backend systems connected to the application server.
Thus, steps 330 and 332 may be performed in response to
a program calling this API.
With the above discussion in mind, we find that Shapiro
discloses an application programming interface (API) that
utilizes a plurality of functions callable by multiple web
servers (104) and application servers (108) to access a backend
system (112). Particularly, Shapiro teaches that the back-end
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