System and method for the creation and use of surrogate information system objects
First Claim
1. A system for invoking an executable operation in a distributed system, comprising:
- a Catalog for managing information including the executable operation, said information included in the executable operation including an associated operation type and an associated operation definition;
a Surrogate Object Definition Module coupled to the Catalog for presenting the information included in the executable operation to a user and for including the information included in to the executable operation in a Surrogate Object Type structure in accordance with instructions from the user;
a Surrogate Object Manager for interpreting the information in the Surrogate Object Type structure and for providing a set of functions, the set of functions operable to enable examination of the information in the Surrogate Object Type structure and to initiate execution of the executable operation by generating an Operation Activation structure in accordance with the associated operation definition in response to a request, the Operation Activation structure including data required for the execution of the executable operation;
an Operation Requestor, using the set of functions provided by the Surrogate Object Manager, operable to request generation of the Operation Activation structure, to store the data required for the execution of the executable operation in the Operation Activation structure and to generate the request to initiate execution of the executable operation in accordance with the data in the Operation Activation structure and to retrieve returned data from the Operation Activation structure upon completion of the execution of the executable operation; and
an Operation Connection Manager responsive to the Surrogate Object Manager for invoking execution of the executable operation in accordance with the information in the Operation Activation structure.
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Accused Products
Abstract
The present invention defines a consistent method and system for enabling components in an information system to invoke operations that may be distributed across multiple computing platforms, through the provision and use of executable operations whose behaviors are determined from information stored and extracted from a Catalog (164) using an Operation Definition Manager (82). The stored information is used by a Surrogate Object Definition Module (96) to define a Surrogate Object Type structure which enables execution of any of the operations described within it. A Surrogate Object Manager (94), along with an Operation Connection Manager (104, 118, 130 or 132), is provided which assists the user in developing applications by providing access to the definition of the input and output arguments of the operations included in the Surrogate Object Type structure (244). The present invention further includes an Operation Connection Manager (104, 118, 130 or 132) which, together with the Surrogate Object Manager (94), provides a consistent means for an Operation Requestor (92) to invoke an operation and exchange input and output arguments, independent of the intervening network communication protocol or the hardware platform type, operating system and database management system upon which the operation has been implemented.
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Citations
20 Claims
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1. A system for invoking an executable operation in a distributed system, comprising:
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a Catalog for managing information including the executable operation, said information included in the executable operation including an associated operation type and an associated operation definition; a Surrogate Object Definition Module coupled to the Catalog for presenting the information included in the executable operation to a user and for including the information included in to the executable operation in a Surrogate Object Type structure in accordance with instructions from the user; a Surrogate Object Manager for interpreting the information in the Surrogate Object Type structure and for providing a set of functions, the set of functions operable to enable examination of the information in the Surrogate Object Type structure and to initiate execution of the executable operation by generating an Operation Activation structure in accordance with the associated operation definition in response to a request, the Operation Activation structure including data required for the execution of the executable operation; an Operation Requestor, using the set of functions provided by the Surrogate Object Manager, operable to request generation of the Operation Activation structure, to store the data required for the execution of the executable operation in the Operation Activation structure and to generate the request to initiate execution of the executable operation in accordance with the data in the Operation Activation structure and to retrieve returned data from the Operation Activation structure upon completion of the execution of the executable operation; and an Operation Connection Manager responsive to the Surrogate Object Manager for invoking execution of the executable operation in accordance with the information in the Operation Activation structure. - View Dependent Claims (2, 3, 4, 5, 6, 7, 8, 9, 10, 11, 12)
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13. A method for invoking an executable operation in a distributed processing system, comprising:
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accepting information describing the executable operation, the information including an associated operation type; storing the information describing the executable operation in a Catalog; presenting the information related to the executable operation to a user; accepting instructions from the user for incorporating the information describing the executable operation into a Surrogate Object Type structure; providing a set of functions for interpreting the information in the Surrogate Object Type structure, for enabling examination of the information in the Surrogate Object Type structure and for initiating execution of the executable operation by generating an Operation Activation structure in accordance with the associated operation definition in response to a request from the user; constructing an Operation Requestor operable to, using the functions, request generation of the Operation Activation structure, store data required for the execution of the executable operation in the Operation Activation structure, to generate the request to initiate execution of the executable operation in accordance with the data in the Operation Activation structure and to retrieve returned data from the Operation Activation structure upon completion of the executable operation; and invoking execution of the executable operation in accordance with the information in the Operation Activation structure. - View Dependent Claims (14, 15, 16, 17, 18, 19, 20)
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Specification