Apparatus, system, and method for sharing and accessing data by scopes

• US 20060129983A1
• Filed: 12/15/2004
• Published: 06/15/2006
• Est. Priority Date: 12/15/2004
• Status: Active Grant

• Current Assignee: International Business Machines Corporation
• Original Assignee: International Business Machines Corporation
• Inventors: Feng, Zhao-hui
• Granted Patent: US 7,770,150 B2
• Time in Patent Office: Days
• US Class Current: 717/120
• CPC Class Codes: G06F 2209/463 Naming
• CPC Class Codes: G06F 9/445 Program loading or initiating bootstrapping G06F9/4401; security arrangements for program loading or initiating G06F21/57
• CPC Class Codes: G06F 9/465 Distributed object oriented systems remote method invocation [RMI] G06F9/548

Abstract

An apparatus, system, and method are disclosed for scoped management of software objects. The apparatus includes a receive module, an establish module, and a control module. The receive module receives a request to access a scoped resource. The establish module establishes access to the scoped resource accessible by a plurality of independent objects based on a specified scoping scheme. The control module controls access to the scoped resource in accordance with the specified scoping scheme. Additionally, the apparatus may provide an API for a scoping service. The apparatus, system, and method reduce errors and unexpected results in modular software design in a J2EE software environment as well as other software environments in which modular software design is used.

Claims

1. An apparatus for sharing and accessing data by scopes, the apparatus:

comprising;

a receive module configured to receive a request to access a scoped resource;

an establish module configured to establish access to the scoped resource accessible by a plurality of independent objects based on a specified scoping scheme; and

a control module configured to control access to the scoped resource in accordance with the specified scoping scheme.

2. The apparatus of claim 1, further comprising an interface module configured to provide an Application Program Interface (API) for associating a scope with a software object.

3. The apparatus of claim 1, further comprising an extend module configured to add one or more scoping schemes dynamically to the apparatus as a plug-in.

4. The apparatus of claim 1, further comprising pre-defined scoping schemes that implement common scoping requirements.

5. The apparatus of claim 1, wherein the specified scoping scheme comprises a hierarchical scoping scheme.

6. The apparatus of claim 1, wherein the specified scoping scheme comprises a horizontal scoping scheme.

7. The apparatus of claim 1, wherein the establish module further comprises a lifecycle module configured to manage a scope lifecycle, wherein the lifecycle of the scope is determined by lifecycle events triggered by an action of a calling object.

8. The apparatus of claim 1, wherein the control module further comprises a management module to manage resources shared by the plurality of independent objects according to policies defined in the specified scoping scheme.

9. The apparatus of claim 8, wherein the management module further comprises an access module configured to access shared information in response to the request from objects, each object having a scope that satisfies the specified scoping scheme.

10. The apparatus of claim 1, wherein the software objects that share the scoped resource comprise compatible scopes.

11. A system to for sharing and accessing data by scopes, the system comprising:

an application server configured to host one or more software objects;

one or more software objects configured to access a scoped resource; and

a scope service configured to,

receive a request to access a scoped resource,

establish access to the scoped resource accessible by a plurality of independent objects based on a specified scoping scheme, and

control access to the scoped resource in accordance with the specified scoping scheme.

12. The system of claim 11, wherein the scope service is further configured to provide an Application Program Interface (API) for associating a scope with a software object.

13. The system of claim 12, wherein the scope service is further configured to add one or more scoping schemes dynamically to the scope service as a plug-in.

14. The system of claim 13, wherein the scope service comprises pre-defined scoping schemes that implement common scoping requirements.

15. The system of claim 14, wherein the specified scoping scheme comprises a hierarchical scoping scheme.

16. The system of claim 15, wherein the specified scoping scheme comprises a horizontal scoping scheme.

17. The system of claim 16, wherein the scope service is further configured to manage a scope lifecycle, wherein the lifecycle of the scope is determined by lifecycle events triggered by an action of a calling object.

18. The system of claim 17, wherein the scope service is further configured to manage resources shared by the plurality of independent objects according to policies defined in the specified scoping scheme.

19. The system of claim 18, wherein the scope service is further configured to access shared information in response to the request from objects, each having a scope that satisfies the specified scoping scheme.

20. The system of claim 19, wherein the software objects that share the scoped resource comprise compatible scopes.

21. A signal bearing medium tangibly embodying a program of machine-readable instructions executable by a digital processing apparatus to perform operations for sharing and accessing data by scopes, the operations comprising:

an operation to receive a request to access a scoped resource;

an operation to establish access to the scoped resource accessible by a plurality of independent objects based on a specified scoping scheme; and

an operation to control access to the scoped resource in accordance with the specified scoping scheme.

22. The signal bearing medium of claim 21, wherein the instructions further comprise an operation to provide an Application Program Interface (API) for associating a scope with a software object.

23. The signal bearing medium of claim 21, wherein the instructions further comprise an operation to add one or more scoping schemes dynamically to a list of scoping schemes as a plug-in.

24. The signal bearing medium of claim 21, wherein the instructions further comprise an operation to include pre-defined scoping schemes that implement common scoping requirements.

25. The signal bearing medium of claim 21, wherein the specified scoping scheme comprises a hierarchical scoping scheme.

26. The signal bearing medium of claim 21, wherein the specified scoping scheme comprises a horizontal scoping scheme.

27. The signal bearing medium of claim 21, wherein the instructions further comprise an operation to manage a scope lifecycle, wherein the lifecycle of the scope is determined by lifecycle events triggered by an action of a calling object.

28. The signal bearing medium of claim 21, wherein the instructions further comprise an operation to manage resources shared by the plurality of independent objects according to policies defined in the specified scoping scheme.

29. The signal bearing medium of claim 21, wherein the instructions further comprise an operation to access shared information in response to the request from objects, each having a scope that satisfies the specified scoping scheme.

30. The signal bearing medium of claim 21, wherein the software objects that share the scoped resource comprise compatible scopes.