Peer-to peer graphing interfaces and methods

• US 20040111469A1
• Filed: 12/04/2002
• Published: 06/10/2004
• Est. Priority Date: 12/04/2002
• Status: Active Grant

• Current Assignee: Microsoft Technology Licensing LLC (Microsoft Corporation)
• Original Assignee: Microsoft Corporation
• Inventors: Senkeresty, Scott A., Dewey, Jeremy L., Manion, Todd R., Donner, Robert D., Gupta, Rohit, Parks, Upshur III
• Granted Patent: US 7,430,747 B2
• Time in Patent Office: Days
• US Class Current: 709/204
• CPC Class Codes: H04L 67/104 Peer-to-peer [P2P] networks
• CPC Class Codes: H04L 67/1042 using topology management mechanisms
• CPC Class Codes: H04L 67/1089 Hierarchical topologies

Abstract

Application programming interfaces and methods that provide graph management in a peer-to-peer (P2P) network are provided. More specifically, new and improved P2P application programming interfaces (APIs) and methods for the creation and access of graphs, the retrieval of node and graph information, the addition, modification, deletion and management of records (data), the importation and exportation of graph data, the direct communication between graph nodes, the addition of a security provider to a graph, the setting and retrieval of presence information, the registering for event notifications, and other utility and support functions are presented. Each of these interfaces utilize various parameters that are passed in from an application program that uses these interfaces to manage and utilize graphs. The interfaces return a value that indicates the success or failure of the function. For failures, the interfaces provide an indication as to the problem resulting in the failure.

Claims

1. A method of communicating between an application program and a server process to manage peer-to-peer graphs, comprising the steps of:

receiving from the application program a graph management call having a plurality of call parameters;

parsing the graph management call to retrieve the parameters; and

returning to the application program a value indicative of the success/failure of the graph management call.

2. The method of claim 1, wherein the step of receiving from the application program a graph management call having a plurality of call parameters comprises the step of receiving from the application program a graph create call having a plurality of call parameters comprising properties of a graph, a name of a database to associate with the graph at a time of creation, information about a security provider for the graph, and a handle to the graph.

3. The method of claim 1, wherein the step of receiving from the application program a graph management call having a plurality of call parameters comprises the step of receiving from the application program a graph open call having a plurality of call parameters comprising a first unique identifier of a graph to be opened, a second unique identifier for a person opening the graph, information about a security provider for the graph, a count of record types in an array, the array of record types indicating an order in which records are to be synchronized, and a handle to the graph.

4. The method of claim 1, wherein the step of receiving from the application program a graph management call having a plurality of call parameters comprises the step of receiving from the application program a graph listen call having a plurality of call parameters comprising a handle to a graph on which to listen, an IPv6 scope on which to listen, an IPv6 scope identifier on which to listen, and a port on which to listen.

5. The method of claim 1, wherein the step of receiving from the application program a graph management call having a plurality of call parameters comprises the step of receiving from the application program a graph connect call having a plurality of call parameters comprising a handle of a graph to which to connect, a uniquieunique identification of a person to whom to connect at an IP address, a pointer to a data structure containing information about the person, and a pointer to a connection identification.

6. The method of claim 1, wherein the step of receiving from the application program a graph management call having a plurality of call parameters comprises the step of receiving from the application program a graph close call having a plurality of call parameters comprising a handle to a graph from which to disconnect.

7. The method of claim 1, wherein the step of receiving from the application program a graph management call having a plurality of call parameters comprises the step of receiving from the application program a graph delete call having a plurality of call parameters comprising a name of a graph from which to delete data, a peer identification from which to delete the data, and a name of a database associated with a graph to delete.

8. A method of communicating between an application program and a server process to manage peer-to-peer graphs, comprising the steps of:

receiving from the application program a graph and node information management call having a plurality of call parameters;

parsing the graph and node information management call to retrieve the parameters; and

returning to the application program a value indicative of the success/failure of the graph and node information management call.

9. The method of claim 8, wherein the step of receiving from the application program a graph and node information management call having a plurality of call parameters comprises the step of receiving from the application program a get node information call having a plurality of call parameters comprising a graph handle, a node identification of a node about which information is desired, a pointer to a peer node information data structure containing information about the node.

10. The method of claim 8, wherein the step of receiving from the application program a graph and node information management call having a plurality of call parameters comprises the step of receiving from the application program a set node attributes call having a plurality of call parameters comprising a graph handle, and a string representing attributes to associate with the node.

11. The method of claim 8, wherein the step of receiving from the application program a graph and node information management call having a plurality of call parameters comprises the step of receiving from the application program a get graph properties call having a plurality of call parameters comprising a graph handle, and a pointer to the graph properties.

12. The method of claim 8, wherein the step of receiving from the application program a graph and node information management call having a plurality of call parameters comprises the step of receiving from the application program a get graph status call having a plurality of call parameters comprising a group handle, a set of peer graph status flags that are currently set as the status of the group.

13. The method of claim 8, wherein the step of receiving from the application program a graph and node information management call having a plurality of call parameters comprises the step of receiving from the application program a set graph properties call having a plurality of call parameters comprising a graph handle, and a pointer to a graph properties data structure.

14. The method of claim 8, wherein the step of receiving from the application program a graph and node information management call having a plurality of call parameters comprises the step of receiving from the application program a convert system from graph time call having a plurality of call parameters comprising a graph handle, a pointer to the graph time to be converted, and a pointer to the local system time derived from the graph time.

15. A method of communicating between an application program and a server process to manage peer-to-peer graphs, comprising the steps of:

receiving from the application program a record management call having a plurality of call parameters;

parsing the record management call to retrieve the parameters; and

returning to the application program a value indicative of the success/failure of the record management call.

16. The method of claim 15, wherein the step of receiving from the application program a record management call having a plurality of call parameters comprises the step of receiving from the application program an add record call having a plurality of call parameters comprising a graph handle, a pointer to record data, and a pointer to a record identification that uniquely identifies a record in a graph.

17. The method of claim 15, wherein the step of receiving from the application program a record management call having a plurality of call parameters comprises the step of receiving from the application program an update record call having a plurality of call parameters comprising a graph handle, and a pointer to new data to associate with a record.

18. The method of claim 15, wherein the step of receiving from the application program a record management call having a plurality of call parameters comprises the step of receiving from the application program a delete record call having a plurality of call parameters comprising a graph handle, a pointer to a record identification of a record to delete, and an indication of whether the record is in a local database.

19. The method of claim 15, wherein the step of receiving from the application program a record management call having a plurality of call parameters comprises the step of receiving from the application program a get record call having a plurality of call parameters comprising a graph handle, a pointer to a record identification of a record to retrieve, and a pointer to the retrieved record.

20. The method of claim 15, wherein the step of receiving from the application program a record management call having a plurality of call parameters comprises the step of receiving from the application program an enumerate records call having a plurality of call parameters comprising a graph handle, a pointer to a type of record over which to iterate, a pointer to a peer identification for which records are to be iterated, and a handle to the iteration.

21. The method of claim 15, wherein the step of receiving from the application program a record management call having a plurality of call parameters comprises the step of receiving from the application program a search records call having a plurality of call parameters comprising a graph handle, an XML string describing a query, and an enumeration handle.

22. The method of claim 15, wherein the step of receiving from the application program a record management call having a plurality of call parameters comprises the step of receiving from the application program a validate deferred records call having a plurality of call parameters comprising a graph handle, a count of records in an array of record identifications that should be re-validated, and the array of record identifications that should be re-validated.

23. A method of communicating between an application program and a server process to manage peer-to-peer graphs, comprising the steps of:

receiving from the application program an export database call having a plurality of call parameters comprising a graph handle, and a path to a file in which data to be exported is to be stored;

parsing the export database call to retrieve the parameters; and

returning to the application program a value indicative of the success/failure of the export database call.

24. A method of communicating between an application program and a server process to manage peer-to-peer graphs, comprising the steps of:

receiving from the application program an import database call having a plurality of call parameters comprising a graph handle, and a path to a file to import;

parsing the import database call to retrieve the parameters; and

returning to the application program a value indicative of the success/failure of the import database call.

25. A method of communicating between an application program and a server process to manage peer-to-peer graphs, comprising the steps of:

receiving from the application program a set presence call having a plurality of call parameters comprising a graph handle, and an indication that presence information about a node should be flooded to the graph;

parsing the set presence call to retrieve the parameters; and

returning to the application program a value indicative of the success/failure of the set presence call.

26. A method of communicating between an application program and a server process to manage peer-to-peer graphs, comprising the steps of:

receiving from the application program an enumerate nodes call having a plurality of call parameters comprising a graph handle, a peer identification for which a node enumeration is desired, and a pointer to an enumeration handle used to iterate over present peers;

parsing the enumerate nodes call to retrieve the parameters; and

returning to the application program a value indicative of the success/failure of the enumerate nodes call.

27. A method of communicating between an application program and a server process to manage peer-to-peer graphs, comprising the steps of:

receiving from the application program a graph utility function call having a plurality of call parameters;

parsing the graph utility function call to retrieve the parameters; and

returning to the application program a value indicative of the success/failure of the graph utility function call.

28. The method of claim 27, wherein the step of receiving from the application program a graph utility function call having a plurality of call parameters comprises the step of receiving from the application program a get next item call having a plurality of call parameters comprising an enumeration handle, a count of a number of items to read, and a pointer to an array of items to be read.

29. The method of claim 27, wherein the step of receiving from the application program a graph utility function call having a plurality of call parameters comprises the step of receiving from the application program an end enumeration call having a plurality of call parameters comprising a handle to an enumeration to cleanup.

30. The method of claim 27, wherein the step of receiving from the application program a graph utility function call having a plurality of call parameters comprises the step of receiving from the application program a get item count call having a plurality of call parameters comprising a graph handle, and a count of a number of records in an enumeration.

31. The method of claim 27, wherein the step of receiving from the application program a graph utility function call having a plurality of call parameters comprises the step of receiving from the application program a free data call having a plurality of call parameters comprising a pointer to an item to be freed.

32. A method of communicating between an application program and a server process to manage peer-to-peer graphs, comprising the steps of:

receiving from the application program a graph direct communication management call having a plurality of call parameters;

parsing the graph direct communication management call to retrieve the parameters; and

returning to the application program a value indicative of the success/failure of the graph direct communication management call.

33. The method of claim 32, wherein the step of receiving from the application program a graph direct communication management call having a plurality of call parameters comprises the step of receiving from the application program an open direct communication call having a plurality of call parameters comprising a graph handle, an unique identification of a person to whom to connect at a given address, a pointer to a structure containing details about the person to whom to connect, and a connection identification of the direct connection.

34. The method of claim 32, wherein the step of receiving from the application program a graph direct communication management call having a plurality of call parameters comprises the step of receiving from the application program a close direct connection call having a plurality of call parameters comprising a graph handle, and an identification of a neighbor from whom to disconnect.

35. The method of claim 32, wherein the step of receiving from the application program a graph direct communication management call having a plurality of call parameters comprises the step of receiving from the application program a send data call having a plurality of call parameters comprising a graph handle, a unique identifier for the connection on which to send data, an application defined type of data to be sent, a count of bytes of the data, and the data to send to the neighbor.

36. The method of claim 32, wherein the step of receiving from the application program a graph direct communication management call having a plurality of call parameters comprises the step of receiving from the application program an enumerate connections call having a plurality of call parameters comprising a graph handle, a type of connection to enumerate, and a pointer to an enumeration of the connections.

37. A method of communicating between an application program and a server process to manage peer-to-peer graphs, comprising the steps of:

receiving from the application program an events infrastructure management call having a plurality of call parameters;

parsing the events infrastructure management call to retrieve the parameters; and

returning to the application program a value indicative of the success/failure of the events infrastructure management call.

38. The method of claim 37, wherein the step of receiving from the application program an events infrastructure management call having a plurality of call parameters comprises the step of receiving from the application program a register event call having a plurality of call parameters comprising a graph handle, an NT event handle to be signaled on a new event, a count of peer event registration structures, an array of peer event registration structures containing data bout notifications being requested, a pointer to a peer event handle that can be used in a call to un-register a notification.

39. The method of claim 37, wherein the step of receiving from the application program an events infrastructure management call having a plurality of call parameters comprises the step of receiving from the application program an un-register event call having a plurality of call parameters comprising a peer event handle of the event to un-register.

40. The method of claim 37, wherein the step of receiving from the application program an events infrastructure management call having a plurality of call parameters comprises the step of receiving from the application program a get event data call having a plurality of call parameters comprising a peer event handle, and a pointer to the event data.

41. A computer-readable medium having computer-executable instructions for performing steps to manage peer-to-peer graphs, comprising:

receiving from the application program a graph management call having a plurality of call parameters;

parsing the graph management call to retrieve the parameters; and

returning to the application program a value indicative of the success/failure of the graph management call.

42. The computer-readable medium of claim 41, wherein the step of receiving from the application program a graph management call having a plurality of call parameters comprises the step of receiving from the application program a graph create call having a plurality of call parameters comprising properties of a graph, a name of a database to associate with the graph at a time of creation, information about a security provider for the graph, and a handle to the graph.

43. The computer-readable medium of claim 41, wherein the step of receiving from the application program a graph management call having a plurality of call parameters comprises the step of receiving from the application program a graph open call having a plurality of call parameters comprising a first unique identifier of a graph to be opened, a second unique identifier for a person opening the graph, information about a security provider for the graph, a count of record types in an array, the array of record types indicating an order in which records are to be synchronized, and a handle to the graph.

44. The computer-readable medium of claim 41, wherein the step of receiving from the application program a graph management call having a plurality of call parameters comprises the step of receiving from the application program a graph listen call having a plurality of call parameters comprising a handle to a graph on which to listen, an IPv6 scope on which to listen, an IPv6 scope identifier on which to listen, and a port on which to listen.

45. The computer-readable medium of claim 41, wherein the step of receiving from the application program a graph management call having a plurality of call parameters comprises the step of receiving from the application program a graph connect call having a plurality of call parameters comprising a handle of a graph to which to connect, a unique identification of a person to whom to connect at an IP address, a pointer to a data structure containing information about the person, and a pointer to a connection identification.

46. The computer-readable medium of claim 41, wherein the step of receiving from the application program a graph management call having a plurality of call parameters comprises the step of receiving from the application program a graph close call having a plurality of call parameters comprising a handle to a graph from which to disconnect.

47. The computer-readable medium of claim 41, wherein the step of receiving from the application program a graph management call having a plurality of call parameters comprises the step of receiving from the application program a graph delete call having a plurality of call parameters comprising a name of a graph from which to delete data, a peer identification from which to delete the data, and a name of a database associated with a graph to delete.

48. A computer-readable medium having computer-executable instructions for performing steps to manage peer-to-peer graphs, comprising:

receiving from the application program a graph and node information management call having a plurality of call parameters;

parsing the graph and node information management call to retrieve the parameters; and

returning to the application program a value indicative of the success/failure of the graph and node information management call.

49. The computer-readable medium of claim 48, wherein the step of receiving from the application program a graph and node information management call having a plurality of call parameters comprises the step of receiving from the application program a get node information call having a plurality of call parameters comprising a graph handle, a node identification of a node about which information is desired, a pointer to a peer node information data structure containing information about the node.

50. The computer-readable medium of claim 48, wherein the step of receiving from the application program a graph and node information management call having a plurality of call parameters comprises the step of receiving from the application program a set node attributes call having a plurality of call parameters comprising a graph handle, and a string representing attributes to associate with the node.

51. The computer-readable medium of claim 48, wherein the step of receiving from the application program a graph and node information management call having a plurality of call parameters comprises the step of receiving from the application program a get graph properties call having a plurality of call parameters comprising a graph handle, and a pointer to the graph properties.

52. The computer-readable medium of claim 48, wherein the step of receiving from the application program a graph and node information management call having a plurality of call parameters comprises the step of receiving from the application program a get graph status call having a plurality of call parameters comprising a group handle, a set of peer graph status flags that are currently set as the status of the group.

53. The computer-readable medium of claim 48, wherein the step of receiving from the application program a graph and node information management call having a plurality of call parameters comprises the step of receiving from the application program a set graph properties call having a plurality of call parameters comprising a graph handle, and a pointer to a graph properties data structure.

54. The computer-readable medium of claim 48, wherein the step of receiving from the application program a graph and node information management call having a plurality of call parameters comprises the step of receiving from the application program a convert system from graph time call having a plurality of call parameters comprising a graph handle, a pointer to the graph time to be converted, and a pointer to the local system time derived from the graph time.

55. A computer-readable medium having computer-executable instructions for performing steps to manage peer-to-peer graphs, comprising:

receiving from the application program a record management call having a plurality of call parameters;

parsing the record management call to retrieve the parameters; and

returning to the application program a value indicative of the success/failure of the record management call.

56. The computer-readable medium of claim 55, wherein the step of receiving from the application program a record management call having a plurality of call parameters comprises the step of receiving from the application program an add record call having a plurality of call parameters comprising a graph handle, a pointer to record data, and a pointer to a record identification that uniquely identifies a record in a graph.

57. The computer-readable medium of claim 55, wherein the step of receiving from the application program a record management call having a plurality of call parameters comprises the step of receiving from the application program an update record call having a plurality of call parameters comprising a graph handle, and a pointer to new data to associate with a record.

58. The computer-readable medium of claim 55, wherein the step of receiving from the application program a record management call having a plurality of call parameters comprises the step of receiving from the application program a delete record call having a plurality of call parameters comprising a graph handle, a pointer to a record identification of a record to delete, and an indication of whether the record is in a local database.

59. The computer-readable medium of claim 55, wherein the step of receiving from the application program a record management call having a plurality of call parameters comprises the step of receiving from the application program a get record call having a plurality of call parameters comprising a graph handle, a pointer to a record identification of a record to retrieve, and a pointer to the retrieved record.

60. The computer-readable medium of claim 55, wherein the step of receiving from the application program a record management call having a plurality of call parameters comprises the step of receiving from the application program an enumerate records call having a plurality of call parameters comprising a graph handle, a pointer to a type of record over which to iterate, a pointer to a peer identification for which records are to be iterated, and a handle to the iteration.

61. The computer-readable medium of claim 55, wherein the step of receiving from the application program a record management call having a plurality of call parameters comprises the step of receiving from the application program a search records call having a plurality of call parameters comprising a graph handle, an XML string describing a query, and an enumeration handle.

62. The computer-readable medium of claim 55, wherein the step of receiving from the application program a record management call having a plurality of call parameters comprises the step of receiving from the application program a validate deferred records call having a plurality of call parameters comprising a graph handle, a count of records in an array of record identifications that should be re-validated, and the array of record identifications that should be re-validated.

63. A computer-readable medium having computer-executable instructions for performing steps to manage peer-to-peer graphs, comprising:

receiving from the application program an export database call having a plurality of call parameters comprising a graph handle, and a path to a file in which data to be exported is to be stored;

parsing the export database call to retrieve the parameters; and

returning to the application program a value indicative of the success/failure of the export database call.

64. A computer-readable medium having computer-executable instructions for performing steps to manage peer-to-peer graphs, comprising:

receiving from the application program an import database call having a plurality of call parameters comprising a graph handle, and a path to a file to import;

parsing the import database call to retrieve the parameters; and

returning to the application program a value indicative of the success/failure of the import database call.

65. A computer-readable medium having computer-executable instructions for performing steps to manage peer-to-peer graphs, comprising:

receiving from the application program a set presence call having a plurality of call parameters comprising a graph handle, and an indication that presence information about a node should be flooded to the graph;

parsing the set presence call to retrieve the parameters; and

returning to the application program a value indicative of the success/failure of the set presence call.

66. A computer-readable medium having computer-executable instructions for performing steps to manage peer-to-peer graphs, comprising:

receiving from the application program an enumerate nodes call having a plurality of call parameters comprising a graph handle, a peer identification for which a node enumeration is desired, and a pointer to an enumeration handle used to iterate over present peers;

parsing the enumerate nodes call to retrieve the parameters; and

returning to the application program a value indicative of the success/failure of the enumerate nodes call.

67. A computer-readable medium having computer-executable instructions for performing steps to manage peer-to-peer graphs, comprising:

receiving from the application program a graph utility function call having a plurality of call parameters;

parsing the graph utility function call to retrieve the parameters; and

returning to the application program a value indicative of the success/failure of the graph utility function call.

68. The computer-readable medium of claim 67, wherein the step of receiving from the application program a graph utility function call having a plurality of call parameters comprises the step of receiving from the application program a get next item call having a plurality of call parameters comprising an enumeration handle, a count of a number of items to read, and a pointer to an array of items to be read.

69. The computer-readable medium of claim 67, wherein the step of receiving from the application program a graph utility function call having a plurality of call parameters comprises the step of receiving from the application program an end enumeration call having a plurality of call parameters comprising a handle to an enumeration to cleanup.

70. The computer-readable medium of claim 67, wherein the step of receiving from the application program a graph utility function call having a plurality of call parameters comprises the step of receiving from the application program a get item count call having a plurality of call parameters comprising a graph handle, and a count of a number of records in an enumeration.

71. The computer-readable medium of claim 67, wherein the step of receiving from the application program a graph utility function call having a plurality of call parameters comprises the step of receiving from the application program a free data call having a plurality of call parameters comprising a pointer to an item to be freed.

72. A computer-readable medium having computer-executable instructions for performing steps to manage peer-to-peer graphs, comprising:

receiving from the application program a graph direct communication management call having a plurality of call parameters;

parsing the graph direct communication management call to retrieve the parameters; and

returning to the application program a value indicative of the success/failure of the graph direct communication management call.

73. The computer-readable medium of claim 72, wherein the step of receiving from the application program a graph direct communication management call having a plurality of call parameters comprises the step of receiving from the application program an open direct communication call having a plurality of call parameters comprising a graph handle, an unique identification of a person to whom to connect at a given address, a pointer to a structure containing details about the person to whom to connect, and a connection identification of the direct connection.

74. The computer-readable medium of claim 72, wherein the step of receiving from the application program a graph direct communication management call having a plurality of call parameters comprises the step of receiving from the application program a close direct connection call having a plurality of call parameters comprising a graph handle, and an identification of a neighbor from whom to disconnect.

75. The computer-readable medium of claim 72, wherein the step of receiving from the application program a graph direct communication management call having a plurality of call parameters comprises the step of receiving from the application program a send data call having a plurality of call parameters comprising a graph handle, a unique identifier for the connection on which to send data, an application defined type of data to be sent, a count of bytes of the data, and the data to send to the neighbor.

76. The computer-readable medium of claim 72, wherein the step of receiving from the application program a graph direct communication management call having a plurality of call parameters comprises the step of receiving from the application program an enumerate connections call having a plurality of call parameters comprising a graph handle, a type of connection to enumerate, and a pointer to an enumeration of the connections.

77. A computer-readable medium having computer-executable instructions for performing steps to manage peer-to-peer graphs, comprising:

receiving from the application program an events infrastructure management call having a plurality of call parameters;

parsing the events infrastructure management call to retrieve the parameters; and

returning to the application program a value indicative of the success/failure of the events infrastructure management call.

78. The computer-readable medium of claim 77, wherein the step of receiving from the application program an events infrastructure management call having a plurality of call parameters comprises the step of receiving from the application program a register event call having a plurality of call parameters comprising a graph handle, an NT event handle to be signaled on a new event, a count of peer event registration structures, an array of peer event registration structures containing data bout notifications being requested, a pointer to a peer event handle that can be used in a call to un-register a notification.

79. The computer-readable medium of claim 77, wherein the step of receiving from the application program an events infrastructure management call having a plurality of call parameters comprises the step of receiving from the application program an un-register event call having a plurality of call parameters comprising a peer event handle of the event to un-register.

80. The computer-readable medium of claim 77, wherein the step of receiving from the application program an events infrastructure management call having a plurality of call parameters comprises the step of receiving from the application program a get event data call having a plurality of call parameters comprising a peer event handle, and a pointer to the event data.