COORDINATING APPLICATION STATE AND COMMUNICATION MEDIUM STATE

• US 20090133037A1
• Filed: 01/24/2008
• Published: 05/21/2009
• Est. Priority Date: 11/16/2007
• Status: Active Grant

• Current Assignee: Microsoft Technology Licensing LLC (Microsoft Corporation)
• Original Assignee: Microsoft Corporation
• Inventors: Allen, Nicholas A., Elien, Jean-Emile, Taylor, John A., Batres, Stefan
• Granted Patent: US 9,021,503 B2
• Time in Patent Office: Days
• US Class Current: 719/314
• CPC Class Codes: G06F 9/526 Mutual exclusion algorithms
• CPC Class Codes: G06F 9/546 Message passing systems or structures, e.g. queues

Abstract

The present invention extends to methods, systems, and computer program products for coordinating application sate and communication mediums state. Embodiments of present invention provide a mechanism for a communication medium to provide a view of message content for a message (a peek) to an application along with the communication medium preventing further access to the message (a lock) until the application signals back how to handle the message. Thus, the communication medium indicates that the message is locked for the duration of processing at the application. Indicating that the message is locked significantly reduces the chance of the message being provided to another application (or another consumer of the same application) during the time the application is processing the view of message content.

Claims

1. In a computer architecture including a communication medium and an application with a plurality of consumers that consume messages from the communication medium, a method for coordinating state between the communication medium and the application, the method comprising:

an act of a consumer sending a message request to the communication medium;

an act of the consumer receiving a view of the contents of a message from the communication medium, receiving the content view indicative of the communication medium having locked the message for exclusive access by the consumer;

an act of the consumer attempting to update application state for the application based on the content view;

an act of determining the results of the attempted application state update; and

an act of signaling the communication medium how to update communication medium state based on the determined results to coordinate the communication medium state with the application state.

2. The method as recited in claim 1, wherein the act of the consumer receiving a view of the contents of a message from the communication medium comprises an act of receiving a view of a message body that is contained in a message envelope along with a message header.

3. The method as recited in claim 1, wherein the act of determining the results of the attempted application state update comprises an act of determining that the attempted application state update successfully transitioned the state of the application.

4. The method as recited in claim 3, wherein an act of determining that the attempted application state update successfully transitioned the state of the application comprises an act of determining that the attempted application state update successfully transitioned the application to a next state.

5. The method as recited in claim 3, wherein an act of determining that the attempted application state update successfully transitioned the state of the application comprises:

an act of determining that the attempted application state update failed to transition the application to a next state;

an act of attempting to transition the application to an alternate next state in response to the failure to transition the application to the next state; and

an act of determining that the attempted application state update successfully transitioned the application to the alternate next state;

6. The method as recited in claim 3, wherein the act of signaling the communication medium how to update communication medium state comprises an act of signaling the communication medium to delete the message.

7. The method as recited in claim 1, wherein the act of determining the results of the attempted application state update comprises an act of determining that the attempted application state update failed to transition the state of the application.

8. The method as recited in claim 7, wherein the act of signaling the communication medium how to update communication medium state comprises an act of signaling the communication medium to unlock the message.

9. The method recited in claim 1, wherein the act of the consumer attempting to update application state for the application based on the content view, the act of determining the results of the attempted application state update, and the act signaling the communication medium how to update communication medium state based on the determined results to coordinate the communication medium state with the application state are all part of and included in the same transaction.

10. In a computer architecture including a communication medium and an application with a plurality of consumers that consume messages from the communication medium, a method for coordinating state between the communication medium and the application, the method comprising

an act of the communication medium receiving a message request from a consumer;

an act of the communication medium identifying the next available message at the communication medium;

an act of the communication medium providing a view of the contents of the next available message to the application;

an act of the communication medium locking the next available message to prevent further access to the contents of the next available message;

an act of the communication medium receiving a signal from the application indicating how to update communication medium state, the signal based on the results of an attempted application state update using the content view; and

an act of the communication medium updating the communication medium state based on and in response to the signal to coordinate the communication medium state with the application state.

11. The method as recited in claim 10, wherein the act of the communication medium identifying the next available message at the communication medium comprises an act of the communication medium referring to a next message pointer to identify the next message at the communication medium that is unlocked.

12. The method as recited in claim 10, wherein the act of the communication medium providing a view of the contents of the next available message to the application comprises an act of providing a view of a message body that is contained in a message envelope along with a message header.

13. The method as recited in claim 10, wherein the act of the communication medium locking the next available message to prevent further access to the contents of the next available message comprises an act of setting the value of message property for the next available message to LOCKED, the message property being temporary state of the communication medium.

14. The method as recited in claim 13, further comprising an act of moving the next message pointer from the next available message to a new next available message at the communication medium in response to locking the next available message.

15. The method as recited in claim 14, further comprising:

an act of receiving a subsequent message request from another application; and

an act of providing a view of the contents of the new next available message in response to the request.

16. The method as recited in claim 10, wherein the act of the communication medium receiving a signal from the application indicating how to update communication medium state comprises an act of receiving a signal to delete the next available message.

17. The method as recited in claim 10, wherein the act of the communication medium receiving a signal from the application indicating how to update communication medium state comprises an act of receiving a signal to unlock the next available message.

18. The method as recited in claim 10, wherein the act of the communication medium updating the communication medium state based on and in response to the signal comprises an act of deleting the next available message from the communication medium to coordinate the state of the communication medium with a successful application state transition.

19. The method as recited in claim 10, wherein the act of the communication medium updating the communication medium state based on and in response to the signal comprises unlocking the next available message to coordinate the state of the communication medium with an unsuccessful application state transition, unlocking the next available message making the next available message accessible to other applications.

20. A computer system, the computer system comprising:

one or more processors;

system memory;

one or more computer storage media have stored thereon computer-executable instructions representing a communication medium and one or more applications, wherein the communication medium is configured to;

receive message requests from applications;

identify the next available message at the communication medium in response to message requests;

provide views of the contents of next available messages to applications;

lock next available messages to prevent further access to the contents of next available messages;

receive signals from applications indicating how to update communication medium state, the signals based on the results of attempted application state updates using provided content views; and

update communication medium state based on and in response to received signals to coordinate communication medium state with application state; and

wherein each application is configured to;

send a message request to the communication medium;

receiving a view of the contents of a message from the communication medium, receiving the content view indicative of the communication medium having locked the message for exclusive access by the application;

attempt to update application state for the application based on the content view;

determine the results of the attempted application state update; and

signal the communication medium how to update communication medium state based on the determined results to coordinate the communication medium state with the application state.