Method for creating object inheritance

(54) METHOD FOR CREATING OBJECT INHERITANCE

(75) Inventor: Peter Hellmut Golde, Redmond, WA (US)

(73) Assignee: Microsoft Corporation, Redmond, WA (US)

( * ) Notice: Subject to any disclaimer, the term ol this patent is extended or adjusted under 35 U.S.C. 154(b) by 0 days.

(21) Appl. No.: 08/846,349

(22) Filed: Apr. 30, 1997

(51) Int. C I. G06F 17 30

OTHER PUBLICATIONS

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(List continued on next page.)

(52) U.S. CI.

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(58) Field of Search 707/103, 104,

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An object-oriented interface is used to provide inheritance of object property information. A set of base object classes are created and stored in a persistent object state in non-volatile storage. A set of derived objects are then created using the base object classes and inherited base object property information. Derived object classes are saved in a persistent object state in non-volatile storage as a "delta" or difference between the derived object information and the inherited base object information. Saving only the derived class objects as a delta saves a significant amount of computer resources. When derived object is loaded, the base object class from which the derived object class inherited information is loaded first, then the derived object class delta is loaded. The two step loading process allows any changes made to the base object class to be automatically reflected in the derived object class by inheritance.

33 Claims, 5 Drawing Sheets

C

STORAGE THE DETERMINED BASE OBJECT CLASS

A PERSISTENT

( TM )

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* cited by examiner