Integrated application management system

• US 6,971,109 B1
• Filed: 07/24/1998
• Issued: 11/29/2005
• Est. Priority Date: 07/24/1998
• Status: Expired due to Fees

• Current Assignee: Mei California, Inc. (Micron Technology, Inc.)
• Original Assignee: Micron Technology, Inc.
• Inventors: Williams, Robert, Hoffman, Robert, Weightman, David M.
• Primary Examiner(s): An, Meng-Al T
• Assistant Examiner(s): Zhen, Li
• Application Number:
  US09/122,518
• Time in Patent Office: 2,685 Days
• Field of Search: 709/318, 719/318, 719/320
• US Class Current: 719/318
• CPC Class Codes: G06F 9/542 Event management; Broadcasting; Multicasting; Notifications

Abstract

A method and system for coordinating the simultaneous execution of computer programs on a computer system. A set of key events that describe certain states and conditions that can be generated during execution of the computer programs are stored in a database, along with a set of commands for each computer program that can be accepted and executed by that computer program in response to each of the key events. When a computer program generates a state or condition during execution that corresponds to a key event, the computer program sends a notification of the occurrence of the key event to a coordination module. The coordination module then retrieves from the database the commands to be executed by each of the computer programs, and sends the retrieved commands to the computer programs for execution.

Claims

1. A method in a computer system for management of concurrently running computer application programs, comprising

providing an application control module that includes a registrar, a receiver, a number of deliverers, and an event object, where the registrar and receiver are both apartment threads running within the context of a main control module process and the deliverers are free threads running within the context of a main control module process, and where the application control module runs separately from an operating system and concurrently with at least a first of a plurality of client application programs, the application control module being configured to receive an indication of an occurrence of an event from the first client application program, each of the client application programs being configured with a client application control module that communicates the indication of the occurrence of the event generated or detected by the first client application program to the application control module, wherein at least one of the plurality of client application programs is not configured to respond to the event generated or detected by the first client application program;

mapping the event generated or detected by the first client application program to a corresponding command to be executed by a second client application program, the mapping of the event to the command being stored in a repository accessible by the application control module;

sending the indication of the occurrence of the event from the client application control module for the first client application program to the application control module;

sending an indication from the application control module to the client application control module for the second client application program to execute the corresponding command mapped to the event; and

executing the corresponding command under control of the second client application program.

2. The method of claim 1 wherein providing the mapping from the event to the corresponding command further comprises:

obtaining a list of possible events generated by each client application program;

obtaining a list of commands that can be performed by each client application program; and

providing a user interface through which a user can select the event generated or detected by the first client application programs and select the corresponding command to be performed by the second client application program, and through which the user can map the selected event to the selected command.

3. The method of claim 2 wherein the lists of events and commands are hard-coded in computer code.

4. The method of claim 2 wherein the lists of events and commands are built at run-time by directing inquiries to each client application program through standard interfaces supported by each client application program.

5. The method of claim 2 wherein the repository is a registry, and wherein the lists of events and commands performed by the client application programs are stored by the application control module in the registry and retrieved from the registry by the user interface.

6. The method of claim 1 wherein the repository is a database, and the events and commands are stored, for subsequent retrieval, in the database.

7. The method of claim 1 wherein each client application program that generates an event sends a notification of the occurrence of the event to the control module which then forwards a command for execution to all the concurrently-executing client application programs.

8. The method of claim 7 wherein a computer user chooses one or more commands to be executed by each computer program upon the occurrence of the event from the sets of commands accepted and executed by each of the client application programs.

9. The method of claim 8 wherein the computer user interacts with a main graphical user interface to choose one or more commands to be executed by each client application program upon the occurrence of the event and to launch execution of a selected client application program when it is determined that the selected client application program is not concurrently executing.

10. The method of claim 9 wherein the control module receives notification from the selected client application program when the selected client application program begins to execute and, in response to the received notification, stores an indication that the selected client application program is running and establishes a connection between a client application control module for the selected client application program and the control module for passing notifications of the occurrences of events from the selected client application program to the control module and commands from the control module to the selected client application program.

11. The method of claim 9 further including, within the main process of the control module, executing the registrar, the receiver, and the number of deliverers, one deliverer for each client application program executing within the computer system.

12. The method of claim 11 wherein the registrar accepts notifications of the start of execution and termination of execution from the client application programs and establishes connections between the computer programs and the control module via the client application control module for each client application program;

wherein the receiver receives notifications of the occurrences of events from the client application programs, and wherein the deliverers send the indications of the commands to be executed by the client application programs.

13. A system in a computer for coordinating concurrent execution of a number of computer programs, the system comprising:

an application control module that includes a registrar, a receiver, a number of deliverers, and an event object, where the registrar and receiver are both apartment threads running within the context of a main control module process and the deliverers are free threads running within the context of a main control module process, and where the application control module runs separately from an operating system and concurrently with at least a first and a second client application program, the application control module being configured to receive an indication of an occurrence of an event from at least one of the client application programs, where at least one client application program is configured to generate or detect the event and at least one other client application program is not configured to respond to the event;

a repository accessible to the application control module for mapping the event generated or detected by the first client application program to a corresponding command that is to be executed by the second client application program; and

a client application control module within the first and second client application programs that is configured to send an indication of the occurrence of the event generated or detected by at least one of the client application programs to the application control module and to receive an indication of command to be executed that is sent from the application control module.

14. The system of claim 13 wherein the computer is a personal computer including the Windows operating system.

15. The system of claim 13 wherein the repository is the Windows Registry.

16. The system of claim 13 wherein the registrar receives notifications from a client application program when it begins to execute, stores an indication that the client application program is running, and creates a deliverer that is associated with the client application program.

17. The system of claim 16 wherein the receiver receives the notification of the event from a client application program.

18. The system of claim 17 wherein each deliverer receives the identity of the event, retrieves from the repository the command to send to the second client application program associated with the deliverer, and sends the retrieved command to the second client application program.

19. The system of claim 13, further including a graphical user interface that allows a computer user to specify for each event, a command to be sent to the second client application program and that allows the computer user to launch the second client application program if it is determined that the second client application program is not running.

20. A computer-readable medium containing computer instructions for coordinating computer programs concurrently executing on a computer system by:

providing an application control module that includes a registrar, a receiver, a number of deliverers, and an event object, where the registrar and receiver are both apartment threads running within the context of a main control module process and the deliverers are free threads running within the context of a main control module process, and where the application control module runs separately from an operating system and concurrently with at least a first of a plurality of client application programs, the application coordination control module being configured to dynamically receive an indication of an occurrence of an event from the first client application program, each of the client application programs being configured with a client application control module that dynamically communicates the indication of the occurrence of the event generated or detected by the first client application program to the application control module, wherein at least one of the plurality of client application programs is not configured to respond to the event generated or detected by the first client application program;

mapping the event generated or detected by the first client application program to a corresponding command that is to be executed by the second client application program;

the mapping of the event to the command being in a repository accessible by the application control module;

sending the indication of the occurrence of the event from the application control module for the first client application program to the application control module;

sending an indication from the application control module to the client application control module for the second client application program to execute the corresponding command mapped to the event; and

executing the corresponding command under control of the second client application program.

21. The computer-readable medium of claim 20 wherein defined events and commands are stored for subsequent retrieval in a database.

22. The computer-readable medium of claim 20 wherein a computer user is provided with the ability to choose one or more commands to be executed by each client application program upon the occurrence of the event from a set of commands accepted and executed by each of the client application programs.

23. The computer-readable medium of claim 22 wherein the computer user interacts with a graphical user interface to choose one or more commands to be executed by each client application program upon the occurrence of the event and to launch execution of the client application program if it is determined that the client application program is not concurrently running.