Identification of a protocol used in a message

• US 8,566,842 B2
• Filed: 04/01/2011
• Issued: 10/22/2013
• Est. Priority Date: 04/01/2011
• Status: Expired due to Fees

• Current Assignee: International Business Machines Corporation
• Original Assignee: International Business Machines Corporation
• Inventors: Roshen, Waseem A.
• Primary Examiner(s): Anya, Charles E
• Application Number:
  US13/078,483
• Publication Number:
  US 20120254891A1
• Time in Patent Office: 935 Days
• Field of Search: None
• US Class Current: 719/313
• CPC Class Codes: G06F 2209/5018 Thread allocation
• CPC Class Codes: G06F 9/5055 considering software capabilities, i.e. software resources associated or available to the machine
• CPC Class Codes: G06F 9/546 Message passing systems or structures, e.g. queues
• CPC Class Codes: H04L 69/08 Protocols for interworking; Protocol conversion
• CPC Class Codes: H04L 69/18 Multiprotocol handlers, e.g. single devices capable of handling multiple protocols

Abstract

A method and computer program product for identifying a protocol used in a message are presented. The message is received at a socket associated with a port in a communication system. A portion of the message containing protocol information is identified in response to the message being received at the socket. The protocol used in the message is identified from the protocol information in the portion of the message. The message is forwarded to a process configured to process the protocol.

Claims

1. A method for identifying a protocol used in a message, the method comprising:

receiving the message at a universal port in a communication system, wherein the universal port is capable of receiving the message using any number of different protocols;

determining whether the message has an envelope, wherein an additional header added by an application that sent the message forms the envelope;

responsive to a determination that the message does not have an envelope, identifying a portion of the message containing protocol information, wherein the portion is identified when the message is received at a socket associated with the universal port;

comparing a format of the protocol used in the message from the protocol information in the portion of the message with a plurality of formats for different protocols, wherein a matching of the protocol information in the portion of the message with one of the plurality of formats for different protocols identifies the protocol used in the message;

responsive to a determination that the message has an envelope, identifying a first header in the message in addition to a second header in the message, wherein the first header forming the envelope, and the first header is located before a second header in the message, the first header uses a first protocol and the second header uses a protocol used in the message;

identifying the protocol used in the message from the first header of the message using a module associated with the port;

identifying a process associated with the communication system configured to process the protocol used in the message; and

forwarding the message to the process identified.

2. The method of claim 1 further comprising:

identifying by the process a recipient application that is an intended destination for the message, wherein the process performs one of maintaining the message as received or modifying the message so that the recipient application may understand the information in the message; and

responsive to identifying the protocol used in the message, forwarding the message to the recipient application using a protocol of an application layer.

3. The method of claim 1, wherein comparing a format of the protocol used in the message from the protocol information in the portion of the message with a plurality of formats for different protocols comprises:

comparing a format of the protocol information in the portion of the message with a set of formats comprising formats of protocol information for a plurality of different protocols stored in a storage device.

4. The method of claim 1 further comprising:

storing a set of formats of protocol information for each of the plurality of protocols in a storage device to form a plurality of formats for different protocols; and

wherein a matching of the protocol information in the portion of the message with one of the plurality of formats for different protocols identifies the protocol used in the message comprises;

comparing a format of the protocol information in the portion of the message with the plurality of formats for different protocols in the storage device, wherein the protocols used are representative of a transport layer and a network layer.

5. The method of claim 1, wherein the communication system is an enterprise service bus comprising a plurality of processes and wherein the plurality of processes includes one or more processes configured to process messages using one of a plurality of different protocols.

6. The method of claim 1, wherein the socket is a network socket associated with a transmission control protocol/internet protocol stack.

7. The method of claim 1, wherein the communication system is an enterprise service bus comprising a plurality of processes, wherein the plurality of processes includes one or more processes configured to process messages using one of a plurality of different protocols, wherein the process is one of the plurality of processes, and further comprising:

storing a set of formats of protocol information for each of a plurality of protocols in a storage device to form a plurality of formats for different protocols; and

wherein a matching of the protocol information in the portion of the message with one of the plurality of formats for different protocols identifies the protocol used in the message comprises;

comparing a format of the protocol information in the portion of the message with the plurality of formats for different protocols in the storage device, wherein the protocols used are representative of a transport layer and a network layer.

8. A method for identifying a protocol used in a message, the method comprising:

receiving the message at a universal port in a communication system, wherein the universal port is capable of receiving the message using any number of different protocols;

determining whether the message has an envelope;

responsive to a determination the message does not have an envelope, identifying a protocol of the message by comparing a format of the protocol used in the message from protocol information in a portion of the message with a plurality of formats for different, wherein a matching of the protocol information in the portion of the message with one of the plurality of formats for different protocols identifies the protocol used in the message;

responsive to a determination the message has an envelope, identifying by a module associated with the universal port a first header in the message in addition to a second header in the message, wherein the first header forms the envelope, and has a format using a first protocol and wherein the second header has a format using the protocol used in the message; and

identifying the protocol used in the message from the first header of the message using the module wherein the module is configured to identify information using the first protocol.

9. The method of claim 8 further comprising:

identifying a process associated with the communication system configured to process the protocol used in the message; and

forwarding the message to the process identified.

10. The method of claim 9, wherein the communication system is an enterprise service bus comprising a plurality of processes and wherein the plurality of processes include one or more processes configured to process messages using one of a plurality of different protocols.

11. The method of claim 8, wherein the first protocol is added to the message by an application sending messages to the communication system.

12. The method of claim 8, wherein the first protocol is a communication protocol that is different than the protocol used in the message and wherein the first header is placed before the second header in the message.

13. The method of claim 8, wherein the module parses only the first header to identify the protocol used in the message.

14. The method of claim 8, wherein the communication system is an enterprise service bus comprising a plurality of processes, wherein the plurality of processes includes one or more processes configured to process messages using one of a plurality of different protocols, and further comprising:

identifying a process in the plurality of processes associated with the enterprise service bus that is configured to process the protocol used in the message; and

forwarding the message to the process identified.

15. A computer program product for identifying a protocol used in a message, the computer program product comprising:

a set of computer readable storage devices;

program code, stored on at least one of the set of computer readable storage devices, configured to receive the message at a universal port in a communication system, wherein the universal port is capable of receiving the message using any number of different protocols;

program code, stored on at least one of the set of computer readable storage devices, configured to determine whether the message has an envelope, wherein an additional header added by an application that sent the message forms the envelope;

program code, stored on at least one of the set of computer readable storage devices, configured responsive to a determination that the message does not have an envelope, to identify a portion of the message containing protocol information, wherein the portion is identified when the message is received at a socket associated with the universal port;

program code, stored on at least one of the set of computer readable storage devices, configured to compare a format of the protocol used in the message from the protocol information in the portion of the message with a plurality of formats for different protocols, wherein a matching of the protocol information in the portion of the message with one of the plurality of formats for different protocols identifies the protocol used in the message;

program code, stored on at least one of the set of computer readable storage devices, configured responsive to a determination that the message has an envelope, to identify a first header in the message in addition to a second header in the message, wherein the first header forms the envelope, and the first header is located before a second header in the message, the first header uses a first protocol and the second header uses a protocol used in the message;

program code, stored on at least one of the set of computer readable storage devices, configured to identify the protocol used in the message from the first header of the message using a module associated with the port; and

program code, stored on at least one of the set of computer readable storage devices, configured to forward the message to the process identified.

16. The computer program product of claim 15 further comprising:

program code, stored on at least one of the set of computer readable storage devices, configured to identify by the process a recipient application that is an intended destination for the message, wherein the process performs one of maintaining the message as received or modifying the message so that the recipient application may understand the information in the message; and

program code, stored on at least one of the set of computer readable storage devices, configured to forward the message to the recipient application using a protocol of an application layer in response to identifying the protocol used in the message.

17. The computer program product of claim 15, wherein the computer program code configured to compare a format of the protocol used in the message from the protocol information in the portion of the message with a plurality of formats for different protocols comprises:

program code, stored on at least one of the set of computer readable storage devices, configured to compare a format of the protocol information in the portion of the message with a set of formats comprising formats of protocol information for a plurality for different protocols stored in a storage device.

18. The computer program product of claim 15 further comprising:

program code, stored on at least one of the set of computer readable storage devices, configured to store a set of formats of protocol information for each of the plurality of protocols in a storage device to form a plurality of formats for different protocols; and

wherein the program code configured to match the protocol information in the portion of the message with one of the plurality of formats for different protocols identifies the protocol used in the message comprises;

program code, stored on at least one of the set of computer readable storage devices, configured to compare a format of the protocol information in the portion of the message with the plurality of formats for different protocols in the storage device, wherein the protocols used are representative of a transport layer and a network layer.

19. The computer program product of claim 15, wherein the communication system is an enterprise service bus comprising a plurality of processes and wherein the plurality of processes includes one or more processes configured to process messages using one of a plurality of different protocols.

20. The computer program product of claim 15, wherein the socket is a network socket associated with a transmission control protocol/internet protocol stack.