File system based task queue management

• US 7,127,446 B1
• Filed: 10/30/2002
• Issued: 10/24/2006
• Est. Priority Date: 10/30/2002
• Status: Expired due to Fees

• Current Assignee: GlobalFoundries, Inc.
• Original Assignee: Advanced Micro Devices, Inc.
• Inventors: Menezes, Evandro, Altmejd, Morrie, Jagasia, Harsha, Tobias, David
• Primary Examiner(s): BULLOCK JR, LEWIS ALEXANDER
• Application Number:
  US10/283,901
• Time in Patent Office: 1,455 Days
• Field of Search: 718100-108, 707 1-206, 709200-253
• US Class Current: 1/1
• CPC Class Codes: G06F 8/30 Creation or generation of source code
• CPC Class Codes: G06F 9/4843 by program, e.g. task dispatcher, supervisor, operating system
• CPC Class Codes: Y10S 707/99931 Database or file accessing

Abstract

A task queue management technique leverages infrastructure provided by file and operating systems to manage task queues substantially without otherwise typical problems regarding management of the size of the queue and/or the state of the queue (e.g., empty or full) while maintaining, regulating and altering the queue and the order of tasks in the queue. Task producer code is configurable to cause one or more executable files corresponding to each of one or more tasks to be stored in a queue directory responsive to receiving the one or more tasks. A file system associates each executable file with a time stamp indicating when the executable file was stored. Task consumer code is configurable to execute the one or more executable files in an order indicated by the time stamps associated with the executable files and to remove each executable file after execution of each executable file.

Claims

1. An apparatus comprising:

task producer code, when executed, causing one or more executable files corresponding to each of one or more tasks to be stored in a queue directory responsive to receiving the one or more tasks, wherein a file system is configured to provide each of the executable files with a time stamp indicating when an associated one of the executable files was stored; and

task consumer code, when executed, causing the one or more executable files to execute in an order indicated by the time stamp associated with each of the executable files and to remove each of the executable files after execution, wherein the task producer and task consumer code are tangibly embodied on one or more computer readable storage media.

2. The apparatus of claim 1, wherein the file system is included within the apparatus.

3. The apparatus of claim 1 further comprising:

a first execution environment, the first execution environment being coupled to access and execute the task producer code; and

a second execution environment, the second execution environment being coupled to access and execute the task consumer code.

4. The apparatus of claim 3, wherein the queue directory is included within the apparatus.

5. The apparatus of claim 4 wherein the queue directory is accessible by the first and second execution environments.

6. The apparatus of claim 3, wherein the first and second execution environments are first and second computer systems, respectively, coupled via a network, and wherein the queue directory is stored in a memory of the second computer system.

7. The apparatus of claim 1, wherein the apparatus includes at least one computer system.

8. A method of managing a task queue of a computer system, comprising:

storing first code for performing a first task in a first file with a first time stamp in a queue directory of the computer system;

storing second code for performing a second task in a second file with a second time stamp in the queue directory; and

accessing one of the first and second code to perform a next task, the next task being determined dependent upon the first and second time stamps, wherein the first and second time stamps indicate when the first and second files, respectively, were stored.

9. The method of claim 8 further comprising:

executing the accessed one of the first and second code.

10. The method of claim 9 further comprising:

removing the file corresponding to the executed code.

11. The method of claim 10 further comprising:

repeating the accessing until all of the first and second code has been accessed.

12. The method of claim 10, further comprising:

executing the accessed code; and

accessing next code from another one of the first and second files corresponding to a next task to be performed, the next task being determined dependent upon the first and second time stamps.

13. The method of claim 12 further comprising executing the next code.

14. The method of claim 13, further comprising:

removing the file corresponding to the next code.

15. The method of claim 8, wherein the step of accessing the code includes determining which of the first and second time stamps is earlier in time.

16. The method of claim 8, wherein:

the first time stamp includes first temporal information indicative of a first time that the first code for performing the first task was stored in the first file; and

the second time stamp includes second temporal information indicative of a second time that the second code for performing the second task was stored in the second file.

17. The method of claim 8, wherein a first computer system stores the code in the first and second files in a memory, and wherein a second computer system accesses the code in the first and second files in the memory.

18. A method of managing a task queue comprising:

generating software program tasks by a first execution environment;

causing executable files corresponding to the generated software program tasks to be stored in a queue directory which is accessible by the first execution environment and a second execution environment, wherein a file system associates each of the executable files with a time stamp indicating when each of the executable files were stored;

executing the executable files by the second execution environment in an order indicated by the time stamp associated with each of the executable files; and

removing each of the executable files after execution.