Programmatic modification of a message flow during runtime

• US 8,549,539 B2
• Filed: 12/13/2010
• Issued: 10/01/2013
• Est. Priority Date: 12/13/2010
• Status: Expired due to Fees

• Current Assignee: International Business Machines Corporation
• Original Assignee: International Business Machines Corporation
• Inventors: Lubel, Gregory, Furneaux, Antony, Phillips, Anthony, Storey, Dominic
• Primary Examiner(s): Sough, H S
• Assistant Examiner(s): DORAIS, CRAIG C
• Application Number:
  US12/966,726
• Publication Number:
  US 20120151498A1
• Time in Patent Office: 1,023 Days
• Field of Search: None
• US Class Current: 719/313
• CPC Class Codes: G06F 9/541 via adapters, e.g. between incompatible applications
• CPC Class Codes: G06F 9/546 Message passing systems or structures, e.g. queues

Abstract

A message flow within a message broker can be identified. The message flow can include nodes and connections. The nodes can include a reflective node, a pre-defined node and a user-defined node. The message broker can be an intermediary computer program code able to translate a message from a first formal messaging protocol to a second formal messaging protocol. The code can be stored within a computer readable medium. The reflective node within the message flow can be selected. The reflective node can be associated with an external resource which can be an executable code. The external resource can be executed which can result in the modifying of the structure of the message flow. The modification can occur during runtime. The modification can include node and/or connection adding, altering, and deleting.

Claims

1. A system for programmatic modification of a message flow comprising:

a flow engine able to execute a message flow comprising a reflective node and at least one of a node and a connection, wherein the flow engine is associated with a message broker, wherein the reflective node is associated with an external resource, wherein the external resource is an executable code able to structurally modify the message flow;

a message queue configured to persist a message, wherein the message is associated with an application, wherein the application is a computer program code stored within a computer readable medium, wherein the application is associated with an application server;

a flow manipulator able to execute the external resource during runtime, wherein the external resource is able to perform at least one of a node alteration and a connection adjustment, wherein the node alteration is at least one of a node insertion, a node modification, and a node deletion, wherein the connection adjustment is at least one of a connection insertion, a connection modification, and a connection deletion; and

a configuration setting capable of linking the reflective node to at least one of the external resource and a parameter, wherein the parameter is an execution setting value, wherein the reflective node is within the message flow and permits execution of structural application program interface (API) facilities, which modify the message flow at runtime, and wherein the reflective node is linked to a timeout node, which provides iterative triggering of reflective node functionality.

2. The system of claim 1 further comprising:

an analytics engine configured to perform an analysis of the message flow, wherein the analysis is based on a collection of metrics, wherein the analytics engine conveys the metrics to the flow engine; and

an auditing manager capable of persisting at least one of a message flow change and an error, wherein the message flow change is persisted as at least one of a delta and a revision.

3. The system of claim 2, wherein the metrics are collected in real-time.

4. The system of claim 1, wherein the external resource is associated with a node library, wherein the node library comprises at least one of a pre-defined node and a user-defined node.

5. The system of claim 1, wherein the reflective node is connected to a timeout node, wherein the timeout node is configured to periodically execute the reflective node.

6. The system of claim 1, further comprising:

a flow analysis unit operable to determine the alterations to be performed on the message flow to optimize the message flow.

7. The system of claim 1, wherein the external resource is an application programming interface (API) configured to perform structural modifications to the message flow.

8. A computer program product comprising a computer readable storage medium having computer usable program code embodied therewith, the computer usable program code comprising:

computer usable program code stored in a tangible storage medium, when said computer usable program code is executed by a processor it is operable to identify a message flow within a message broker, wherein the message flow comprises a plurality of nodes and connections, wherein the plurality of nodes comprises of a node and a reflective node, wherein the node is at least one of a pre-defined node and a user-defined node, wherein the message broker is an intermediary computer program code able to translate a message from a first formal messaging protocol to a second formal messaging protocol, wherein the intermediary computer program code is stored within a computer readable medium;

computer usable program code stored in a tangible storage medium, when said computer usable program code is executed by a processor it is operable to select the reflective node within the message flow, wherein the reflective node is associated with an external resource, wherein the external resource is an executable code, wherein the reflective node is within the message flow and permits execution of structural application program interface (API) facilities, which modify the message flow at runtime, wherein the reflective node is linked to a timeout node, which provides iterative triggering of reflective node functionality;

computer usable program code stored in a tangible storage medium, when said computer usable program code is executed by a processor it is operable to execute the external resource during runtime, wherein the external resource is able to perform at least one of a node alteration and a connection adjustment, wherein the node alteration is at least one of a node insertion, a node modification, and a node deletion, wherein the connection adjustment is at least one of a connection insertion, a connection modification, and a connection deletion; and

computer usable program code stored in a tangible storage medium, when said computer usable program code is executed by a processor it is operable to execute the external resource wherein the executing results in the modifying of the structure of the message flow, wherein the modification is the adding, altering, and deleting of the node, wherein the modifying occurs during runtime.

9. The computer program product of claim 8, further comprising:

computer usable program code stored in a tangible storage medium, when said computer usable program code is executed by a processor it is operable to determine the modifications to be performed on the structure of the message flow to optimize the message flow.

10. The computer program product of claim 8, further comprising:

computer usable program code stored in a tangible storage medium, when said computer usable program code is executed by a processor it is operable to maintain a log of the structural modification in the tangible storage medium.

11. The computer program product of claim 10, wherein the reflective node is connected to a timeout node, wherein the timeout node is a pre-defined node.

12. A computer program product comprising a computer readable storage medium having computer usable program code embodied therewith, the computer usable program code comprising:

computer usable program code stored in a tangible storage medium, when said computer usable program code is executed by a processor is operable to identify a message flow within a message broker, wherein the message flow comprises a plurality of nodes and connections, wherein the plurality of nodes comprises of a node and a reflective node, wherein the node is at least one of a pre-defined node and a user-defined node, wherein the reflective node is associated with an external resource, wherein the message broker is an intermediary computer program code able to translate a message from a first formal messaging protocol to a second formal messaging protocol, wherein the intermediary computer program code is stored within a computer readable medium, wherein the reflective node is within the message flow and permits execution of structural application program interface (API) facilities, which modify the message flow at runtime, and wherein the reflective node is linked to a timeout node, which provides iterative triggering of reflective node functionality;

computer usable program code stored in a tangible storage medium, when said computer usable program code is executed by a processor is operable to evaluate performance of the message flow; and

computer usable program code stored in a tangible storage medium, when said computer usable program code is executed by a processor it is operable to automatic execute the external resource during runtime, wherein the external resource is able to perform at least one of a node alteration and a connection adjustment, wherein the node alteration is at least one of a node insertion, a node modification, and a node deletion, wherein the connection adjustment is at least one of a connection insertion, a connection modification, and a connection deletion, wherein the executing results in modification the structure of the message flow at runtime responsive to the performance of the message flow being less than a threshold, and wherein the modification is at least one of a node alteration and a connection adjustment.

13. The computer program product of claim 12, further comprising:

computer usable program code stored in a tangible storage medium, when said computer usable program code is executed by a processor is operable to track changes to the message flow; and

computer usable program code stored in a tangible storage medium, when said computer usable program code is executed by a processor is operable to maintain a log of the structural modification in the tangible storage medium.

14. The computer program product of claim 12, further comprising:

computer usable program code stored in a tangible storage medium, when said computer usable program code is executed by a processor it is operable to determine the modifications to be performed on the message flow to optimize the message flow.

15. The computer program product of claim 12, further comprising:

computer usable program code stored in a tangible storage medium, when said computer usable program code is executed by a processor it is operable to automatically deploy the modified message flow.

16. The computer program product of claim 12, wherein the evaluation of the performance of the message flow comprises evaluation of at least two of throughput, individual node performance, route performance metrics, and flow response time.

17. The computer program product of claim 12, wherein the evaluation of the performance of the message flow is performed periodically, wherein the reflective node is connected to a timeout node, wherein the timeout node is configured to periodically executes the reflective node.

18. The computer program product of claim 12, wherein the node alteration is at least one of addition of a node, deletion of a node and a modification of node.

19. The computer program product of claim 12, wherein the connection adjustment is at least one of a connection insertion, a connection modification, and a connection deletion.

20. The computer program product of claim 12, further comprising:

computer usable program code stored in a tangible storage medium, when said computer usable program code is executed by a processor it is operable to present the modified message flow within a user interface.