Method and apparatus for generating a graphical interface to enable local or remote access to an application having a command line interface

摘要

A method and apparatus are disclosed for generating a graphical interface for software applications having a command line interface to enable local or remote access of such software applications in a uniform manner without regard to the location of the remote application. The location and syntax of a new software application, and any required environment settings, are specified in response to a sequence of queries. The specifications for each software application is parsed to generate a graphical client interface listing the available software applications and enabling remote access to such software applications. A desired software application is selected by a user from the client interface and the user specifies any necessary parameters for the selected software application. An input file is transferred from the client to the remote server where the selected software application is located. Any output or log files are returned to the client, for example, using the FTP protocol. The client interface permits distributed processing through a web interface and enables software applications to be accessed and used from a remote location.