Method and apparatus of performing active update notification

• US 6,895,401 B2
• Filed: 05/13/2003
• Issued: 05/17/2005
• Est. Priority Date: 05/29/1998
• Status: Expired due to Term

• Current Assignee: Sun Microsystems Incorporated (Oracle Corporation)
• Original Assignee: Sun Microsystems Incorporated (Oracle Corporation)
• Inventors: Skinner, Brian, McDonnell, Kevin, McDonnell, Vanessa, Turk, Andy Kittridge
• Primary Examiner(s): Jung, David
• Application Number:
  US10/436,125
• Publication Number:
  US 20030204517A1
• Time in Patent Office: 735 Days
• Field of Search: 707/1, 707100-1041, 707/10, 707200-206, 709200-203
• US Class Current: 1/1
• CPC Class Codes: G06F 16/2358 Change logging, detection, and notification replication G06F16/27
• CPC Class Codes: G06F 2209/544 Remote
• CPC Class Codes: G06F 9/542 Event management; Broadcasting; Multicasting; Notifications
• CPC Class Codes: Y10S 707/99931 Database or file accessing
• CPC Class Codes: Y10S 707/99943 Generating database or data structure, e.g. via user interface
• CPC Class Codes: Y10S 707/99944 Object-oriented database structure

Abstract

A method and apparatus of performing active update notification. Components of an application are able to specify interest in a data object or set of data objects by registering an interest object with an update management component of the application. The interest object specifies the interested application component, as well as the identity of one or more data objects or an attribute value or range of values to associate with data objects. When modifications are made to data objects corresponding to the registered interest objects, the interested application component or components receive an update notification from the update management component. In one embodiment, active update notification is performed within a multi-tier application. An update management component exists at the application server on the application tier, as well as at each client in the client tier. In the application tier, the update management component maintains, with respect to clients and servers, a registry of interest objects of sufficient depth to determine which clients or other servers may be interested in changes to data objects. Update notifications are then sent only to the interested clients or servers. The interest registry of the update management component in the interested client is used to resolve the interested application component, and to forward the update notification appropriately.

Claims

1. In a computer system, a method comprising:

registering with an update management component that resides within a first client of a plurality of clients an interest in at least one data object, said interest referring to an interested component;

registering, in connection with said first client, said interest with a second update management component residing within an application server; and

in response to a change in said at least one data object, sending a notification to said first client.

2. The method of claim 1, wherein said step of registering said interest comprises the step of specifying interest criteria.

3. The method of claim 1, wherein said step of registering said interest comprises registering an interest object with an interest registry.

4. The method of claim 3, further comprising traversing said interest registry to identify said interested component.

5. The method of claim 3, further comprising the step of refining said interest by associating a refinement object with said interest object.

6. A computer-readable medium containing instructions for controlling a data processing system to perform a method comprising:

registering with an update management component that resides within a first client of a plurality of clients an interest in at least one data object, said interest referring to an interested component;

registering, in connection with said first client, said interest with a second update management component residing within an application server; and

in response to a change in said at least one data object, sending a notification to said first client.

7. The computer-readable medium of claim 6, wherein the step of registering the interest includes specifying interest criteria.

8. The computer-readable medium of claim 6, wherein the step of registering the interest comprises registering an interest object with an interest registry.

9. The computer-readable medium of claim 8, wherein the method further includes traversing the interest registry to identify the interested component.

10. The computer-readable medium of claim 8, wherein the method further comprises refining the interest by associating a refinement object with the interest object.

11. A method comprising:

receiving, from an interested component, a request for registering an interest in at least one data object including interest criteria associated with the at least one data object;

determining a change in the at least one data object; and

providing a notification of the change to the interested component and at least one other interested component that registered an interest in the at least one data object.

12. The method of claim 11, wherein determining a change in the at least one data object comprises:

receiving a request to change the at least one data object from the interested component; and

changing the at least one data object based on the change request.

13. The method of claim 12, wherein receiving a request to change the at least one data object comprises:

receiving a change object created by the interested component.

14. The method of claim 11, wherein the interest criteria reflects predetermined data values associated with data attributes of the at least one data object.

15. The method of claim 11, wherein the request for registering an interest in at least one data object includes an identifier associated with the at least one data object specified by the interested component.

16. The method of claim 11, wherein determining a change in the at least one data object further comprises:

determining whether the changed at least one data object meets the interest criteria.

17. The method of claim 16, wherein providing comprises:

providing a notification of the change to the interested component and the at least one other interested component that registered an interest in the at least one data object based on a determination that the changed at least one data object meets the interest criteria.

18. The method of claim 11, wherein receiving, from an interested component, a request for registering an interest in at least one data object further comprises:

creating an interest object associated with the at least one data object and the interested component.

19. The method of claim 18, wherein determining a change in the at least one data object further comprises:

notifying the interest object of the change.

20. The method of claim 19, wherein notifying the interest object further comprises:

notifying a sub-interest object registered to the interest object of the change.

21. The method of claim 18, wherein the interest object supports a union of interest criteria associated with each of a plurality of other interest objects that are associated with the at least one data object and the interested component.

22. The method of claim 21, wherein determining a change in the at least one data object further comprises:

notifying the interest object when a notification of a change to the at least one data object is received by at least one of the plurality of other interest objects.

23. A method performed by an interested component, comprising:

providing, to a local computational entity, a request for registering an interest in at least one data object; and

receiving, from the local computational entity, a notification of a change to the at least one data object based on a notification of the change from a remote computation entity associated with the at least one data object.

24. The method of claim 23, wherein the request specifies an interest criteria associated with the at least one data object.

25. The method of claim 23, wherein the request specifies an identifier associated with the at least one data object.

26. The method of claim 24, wherein the changed at least one data object meets the interest criteria.

27. The method of claim 23, wherein the change is made by another computational entity.

28. The method of claim 27, wherein the another computational entity registered an interest in the at least one data object.

29. A method for registering an interest in at least one data object, the method performed by an application component comprising:

determining an interest in at least one data object;

obtaining an interest object;

specifying interest criteria for the interest object; and

registering the application component as an observer in the interest object such that the application component receives notifications of a change in the at least one data object.

30. The method of claim 29, further comprising:

determining whether the interest object is a sub-interest object of an existing interest object;

registering the interest object as a sub-interest object of the existing interest object.

31. The method of claim 29, further comprising:

registering the interest object in an interest registry associated with the application component.

32. The method of claim 29, wherein the application component is associated with a client system and the method further comprises:

registering the interest object in an interest registry associated with the client system; and

registering the interest object in an interest registry associated with a server system as a sub-interest of the interest object in the client system interest registry.

33. A computer-readable medium including instructions for performing a method, when executed by a processor, the method comprising:

receiving, from an interested component, a request for registering an interest in at least one data object including interest criteria associated with the at least one data object;

determining a change in the at least one data object; and

providing a notification of the change to the interested component and at least one other interested component that registered an interest in the at least one data object.

34. The computer-readable medium of claim 33, wherein determining a change in the at least one data object comprises:

receiving a request to change the at least one data object from the interested component; and

changing the at least one data object based on the change request.

35. The computer-readable medium of claim 34, wherein receiving a request to change the at least one data object comprises:

receiving a change object created by the interested component.

36. The computer-readable medium of claim 33, wherein the interest criteria reflects predetermined data values associated with data attributes of the at least one data object.

37. The computer-readable medium of claim 33, wherein the request for registering an interest in at least one data object includes an identifier associated with the at least one data object specified by the interested component.

38. The computer-readable medium of claim 36, wherein determining a change in the at least one data object further comprises:

determining whether the changed at least one data object meets the interest criteria.

39. The computer-readable medium of claim 38, wherein providing comprises:

providing a notification of the change to the interested component and the at least one other interested component that registered an interest in the at least one data object based on a determination that the changed at least one data object meets the interest criteria.

40. The computer-readable medium of claim 33, wherein receiving, from an interested component, a request for registering an interest in at least one data object further comprises:

creating an interest object associated with the at least one data object and the interested component.

41. The computer-readable medium of claim 40, wherein determining a change in the at least one data object further comprises:

notifying the interest object of the change.

42. The computer-readable medium of claim 41, wherein notifying the interest object further comprises:

notifying a sub-interest object registered to the interest object of the change.

43. The computer-readable medium of claim 40, wherein the interest object supports a union of interest criteria associated with each of a plurality of other interest objects that are associated with the at least one data object and the interested component.

44. The computer-readable medium of claim 43, wherein determining a change in the at least one data object further comprises:

notifying the interest object when a notification of a change to the at least one data object is received by at least one of the plurality of other interest objects.

45. A computer-readable medium including instructions for performing a method when executed by a processor, the method performed by an interested component, comprising:

providing, to a local computational entity, a request for registering interest in at least one data object; and

receiving, from the local computational entity, a notification of a change to the at least one data object based on a notification of the change from a remote computation entity associated with the at least one data object.

46. The computer-readable medium of claim 45, wherein the request specifies an interest criteria associated with the at least one data object.

47. The computer-readable medium of claim 45, wherein the request specifies an identifier associated with the at least one data object.

48. The computer-readable medium of claim 46, wherein the changed at least one data object meets the interest criteria.

49. The computer-readable medium of claim 45, wherein the change is made by another computational entity.

50. The computer-readable medium of claim 49, wherein the another computational entity registered an interest in the at least one data object.

51. A computer-readable medium including instructions for performing a method, when executed by a processor, for registering an interest in at least one data object, the method performed by an application component comprising:

determining an interest in at least one data object;

obtaining an interest object;

specifying interest criteria for the interest object; and

registering the application component as an observer in the interest object such that the application component receives notifications of a change in the at least one data object.

52. The computer-readable medium of claim 51, further comprising:

determining whether the interest object is a sub-interest object of an existing interest object;

registering the interest object as a sub-interest object of the existing interest object.

53. The computer-readable medium of claim 51, further comprising:

registering the interest object in an interest registry associated with the application component.

54. The computer-readable medium of claim 51, wherein the application component is associated with a client system and the method further comprises:

registering the interest object in an interest registry associated with the client system; and

registering the interest object in an interest registry associated with a server system as a sub-interest of the interest object in the client system interest registry.

55. A system comprising:

a client including an interested component that has an interest in a data object stored in a database and a client update management component including a registry containing a client interest object reflecting the interest; and

a server including a server update management component including a server registry containing a server interest object corresponding to the client interest object that receives a notification of a change to the data object,

wherein the server update management component provides a notification of a change to the data object to the client interest object and the client update management component provides the notification to the interested component.

56. A system for registering an interest in at least one data object, comprising:

means for determining an interest in at least one data object;

means for obtaining an interest object;

means for specifying interest criteria for the interest object; and

means for registering the application component as an observer in the interest object such that the application component receives notifications of a change in the at least one data object.

57. A system comprising:

a client including an interested component that has interest in a data object stored in a database and a client update management component including a registry containing a client interest object reflecting the interest; and

a server including a server update management component including a server registry containing a server interest object corresponding to the client interest object that receives a notification of a change to the data object,

wherein the server update management component provides a notification of a change to the data object to the client interest object and the client update management component provides the notification to the interested component.

58. A method for receiving a notification of a change to an object, comprising:

registering an interest in a data object with a local update management component and a remote update management component of a remote server; and

receiving a notification of an activity associated with the data object from the local update management component based on a notification received from the remote update management component and a determination that the activity meets interest criteria associated with the data object.

59. The method of claim 58, wherein the interest criteria is specified for an interest object included in an interest registry of the local update management component.

60. The method of claim 59, wherein the activity reflects a manipulation of data within the data object and the determination is based on one of whether the manipulated data is equal to a selected value and whether the manipulated data includes data values within a selected range of data values.