Suspension and reinstatement of reference handles
First Claim
1. A computer-implemented method of managing resources comprising:
- requesting one or more agents to suspend one or more handles, wherein individual handles are associated with individual resources; and
releasing the suspended handles, wherein when a handle is suspended, it cannot be dereferenced into a pointer to its associated resource.
1 Assignment
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Accused Products
Abstract
A handle administration system is described in which software agents receive handles to various resources that they can use to obtain the resources. The described embodiments provide multiple states that can be assumed by the handles. An unassigned state is provided in which handles are not assigned to a particular resource, nor can they be dereferenced to obtain pointers to any resources. An assigned state is provided in which handles are assigned to a particular resource and can be dereferenced to obtain a pointer to the resource. A suspended state is provided in which the handles are assigned to a particular resource but cannot be dereferenced to obtain a pointer to that resource. Advantageously, a suspended handle can be reinstated to assume the assigned state. In one embodiment, the handle system is implemented by incorporating a suitable field in a handle database that is used to indicate that a handle is suspended. In another embodiment, no additional fields are necessary. Rather, handle values in the handle database are manipulated to indicate that a handle has been suspended. These manipulations can be easily undone to reinstate a handle. In the described embodiment, a three state handle system can be advantageously employed to implement a two-phase commit operation.
23 Citations
20 Claims
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1. A computer-implemented method of managing resources comprising:
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requesting one or more agents to suspend one or more handles, wherein individual handles are associated with individual resources; and releasing the suspended handles, wherein when a handle is suspended, it cannot be dereferenced into a pointer to its associated resource. - View Dependent Claims (2, 3, 4)
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5. A method of managing resources comprising:
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indicating that a handle is suspended in a handle database, wherein the handle is associated with a resource; and reinstating a handle that is indicated as suspended in the handle database by having the handle assume an assigned state in which it can be validly dereferenced to obtain a pointer to a resource, wherein when a handle is suspended, the handle cannot be dereferenced into a pointer to an associated resource. - View Dependent Claims (6, 7, 8)
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9. A system comprising:
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one or more processors; one or more computer-readable media; computer-readable instructions on the one or more computer-readable media which, when executed, cause the one or more processors to implement a method comprising; requesting one or more agents to suspend one or more handles, wherein when a handle is suspended, the handle is still associated with a resource, but cannot be dereferenced into a pointer to the resource; and releasing the suspended handles. - View Dependent Claims (10, 11)
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12. A system comprising:
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means for requesting one or more agents to suspend one or more handles, wherein a suspended handle is still associated with a resource but cannot be dereferenced into a pointer to that resource; and means for releasing the suspended handles. - View Dependent Claims (13, 14)
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15. A system comprising:
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one or more processors; one or more computer-readable media; computer-readable instructions on the one or more computer-readable media which, when executed, cause the one or more processors to implement a method comprising; indicating that a handle is suspended in a handle database, wherein when a handle is suspended, the handle is still associated with a resource but cannot be dereferenced into a pointer to that resource; and reinstating a handle that is indicated as suspended in the handle database by having the handle assume an assigned state in which it can be validly dereferenced to obtain a pointer to a resource. - View Dependent Claims (16, 17)
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18. A system comprising:
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means for indicating that a handle is suspended in a handle databases, wherein when a handle is suspended, the handle is still associated with a resource but cannot be dereferenced into a pointer to that resource; and means for reinstating a handle that is indicated as suspended in the handle database by having the handle assume an assigned state in which it can be validly dereferenced to obtain a pointer to a resource. - View Dependent Claims (19, 20)
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Specification