Session pooling for legacy application tasks

• US 9,191,339 B2
• Filed: 10/06/2014
• Issued: 11/17/2015
• Est. Priority Date: 10/28/2009
• Status: Active Grant

• Current Assignee: ADVANCED BusinessLink Corporation
• Original Assignee: ADVANCED BusinessLink Corporation
• Inventors: Lategan, Christopher F.
• Primary Examiner(s): HIGA, BRENDAN Y
• Application Number:
  US14/506,912
• Publication Number:
  US 20150095495A1
• Time in Patent Office: 407 Days
• US Class Current: 1/1
• CPC Class Codes: G06F 21/31 User authentication
• CPC Class Codes: G06F 21/629 to features or functions of an application
• CPC Class Codes: G06F 3/04817 using icons graphical or visual programming using iconic symbols G06F8/34
• CPC Class Codes: G06F 3/0482 Interaction with lists of selectable items, e.g. menus
• CPC Class Codes: G06F 3/0484 for the control of specific functions or operations, e.g. selecting or manipulating an object, an image or a displayed text element, setting a parameter value or selecting a range
• CPC Class Codes: G06F 3/04842 Selection of displayed objects or displayed text elements G06F3/0482 takes precedence
• CPC Class Codes: G06F 3/04847 Interaction techniques to control parameter settings, e.g. interaction with sliders or dials
• CPC Class Codes: G06F 8/51 Source to source
• CPC Class Codes: G06F 8/52 Binary to binary
• CPC Class Codes: G06F 8/65 Updates security arrangements therefor G06F21/57
• CPC Class Codes: G06F 8/654 using techniques specially adapted for alterable solid state memories, e.g. for EEPROM or flash memories
• CPC Class Codes: G06F 8/656 while running
• CPC Class Codes: G06F 8/66 of program code stored in read-only memory [ROM]
• CPC Class Codes: G06F 8/70 Software maintenance or management
• CPC Class Codes: G06F 8/72 Code refactoring
• CPC Class Codes: G06F 8/74 Reverse engineering; Extracting design information from source code
• CPC Class Codes: G06F 8/76 Adapting program code to run in a different environment; Porting
• CPC Class Codes: G06F 9/448 Execution paradigms, e.g. implementations of programming paradigms
• CPC Class Codes: G06F 9/451 Execution arrangements for user interfaces
• CPC Class Codes: G06Q 10/06 Resources, workflows, human or project management; Enterprise or organisation planning; Enterprise or organisation modelling
• CPC Class Codes: G06Q 30/02 : Marketing; Price estimation or determination; Fundraising
• CPC Class Codes: H04L 41/0803 : Configuration setting
• CPC Class Codes: H04L 41/0806 : for initial configuration or provisioning, e.g. plug-and-play
• CPC Class Codes: H04L 47/70 : Admission control; Resource allocation
• CPC Class Codes: H04L 63/102 : Entity profiles
• CPC Class Codes: H04L 63/104 : Grouping of entities
• CPC Class Codes: H04L 67/02 : based on web technology, e.g. hypertext transfer protocol [HTTP]
• CPC Class Codes: H04L 67/10 : in which an application is distributed across nodes in the network software deployment G06F8/60; multiprogramming arrangements G06F9/46
• CPC Class Codes: H04L 67/141 : Setup of application sessions admission control or resource allocation in data switching networks H04L47/70
• CPC Class Codes: H04L 67/306 : User profiles
• CPC Class Codes: H04L 67/52 : specially adapted for the location of the user terminal
• CPC Class Codes: H04L 67/561 : Adding application-functional data or data for application control, e.g. adding metadata
• CPC Class Codes: H04L 67/565 : Conversion or adaptation of application format or content adding application control or application functional data H04L67/561
• CPC Class Codes: H04L 69/329 : in the application layer [OSI layer 7]

Abstract

Methods, systems, and techniques for handling session emulation for running legacy applications/tasks in host environments using session pools are provided. These enhanced session emulation techniques may be used for many applications, including modernizing legacy applications, particularly in mid-range or mainframe host computing. Example embodiments provide a Role-Based Modernization System (“RBMS”), which uses the enhanced emulation techniques to provide role-based modernization of menu-based legacy applications.

Claims

1. A method in a computing system for providing pooled terminal emulation sessions for access to menu-driven legacy application tasks on a host computing system, comprising:

receiving a first request from a client computing system to run a legacy application task;

causing a first host session to be allocated on the host computing system;

assigning a task identifier to the allocated first host session and associating the task identifier with a legacy application task corresponding to the first request;

causing the legacy application task corresponding to the first request to be executed in the allocated first host session on the host computing device; and

forwarding to the client computing system the task identifier assigned to the legacy application task corresponding to the first request;

receiving a second request from a client computing system to run a legacy application task;

determining whether a host session has already been allocated on the host computing system for executing a legacy application task corresponding to the second request; and

returning to the client computing system an output data stream from the legacy application task executing in the allocated first host session to fulfill the second request.

2. The method of claim 1 wherein the legacy application task associated with the first request is the legacy application corresponding to the first request and the legacy application task associated with the second request is the legacy application corresponding to the first request.

3. The method of claim 1 wherein the received second request includes the task identifier associated with the legacy application task corresponding to the first request.

4. The method of claim 1, further comprising:

receiving a third request from the client computing system to run a corresponding legacy application task;

determining whether a host session has already been allocated on the host computing system for executing the legacy application task corresponding to the third request;

causing a second host session to be allocated on the host computing system;

assigning a second task identifier to the allocated second host session and associating the second task identifier with the legacy application task corresponding to the third request;

causing the legacy application task corresponding to the third request to be executed in the allocated second host session on the host computing device; and

forwarding to the client computing system the second task identifier assigned to the legacy application task corresponding to the third request.

5. The method of claim 4, further comprising:

receiving a fourth request from a client computing system to run a legacy application task;

determining whether a host session has already been allocated on the host computing system for executing the legacy application task corresponding to the fourth request; and

returning to the client computing system an output data stream from the legacy application task executing in the allocated second host session to fulfill the fourth request.

6. The method of claim 5 wherein the legacy application task executing in the allocated first session is concurrently executing when the method returns the output data stream from the allocated second session to the client computing system.

7. The method of claim 1, further comprising:

determining whether the first request from the client computing system is authorized.

8. The method of claim 1 wherein the providing the pooled sessions is provided to an existing menu-driven legacy application.

9. The method of claim 1 performed without executing terminal emulation sessions on the client computing system.

10. The method of claim 1 used to run a client application and wherein the client computing system receives login information from a user one time per executing the client application and the method provides a plurality of terminal emulation sessions on behalf of the user without requiring the user to logon more than the one time.

11. The method of claim 1 wherein the legacy application tasks are used to implement a role-based modernization system on the client computing system.

12. The method of claim 1 wherein the first request is from a role-based modernization system executing on the client computing system.

13. An emulation services manager, comprising:

a memory; and

a plurality of pooled terminal emulation sessions stored in the memory, each session configured to run a separate legacy application task;

wherein the emulation services manager is configured to return the output data stream of one of the plurality of pooled sessions when a task identifier identifying the legacy application task running in the one of the plurality of pooled sessions corresponds to a request and further configured to allocate a one of the plurality of pooled sessions to a requested legacy application task when it is determined that the legacy application task corresponding to the request is not already running in one of the plurality of pooled sessions.

14. The emulation services manager of claim 13 further configured to return the output data stream of the allocated pooled session in response to the request.

15. The emulation services manager of claim 13 connected via a secure binary connection to a client computing system.

16. A non-transitory computer-readable storage medium containing content for controlling a computing system to multiplex between a plurality of pooled terminal emulation sessions stored in a memory, each session configured to run a corresponding separate legacy application, by performing a method comprising:

returning an output data stream of one of the plurality of pooled sessions when a task identifier identifying the corresponding legacy application task running in the one of the sessions corresponds to a request;

allocating a one of the plurality of pooled sessions to a legacy application task corresponding to a request when it is determined that the corresponding legacy application task is not already running in one of the pooled sessions; and

returning the output data stream of the allocated pooled session in response to the request.

17. The non-transitory computer-readable storage medium of claim 16, the requests originating from a client computing system running a plurality of role-based modernized legacy application tasks.

18. The non-transitory computer-readable storage medium of claim 16 wherein the legacy application is an existing menu-driven legacy application.

19. The non-transitory computer-readable storage medium of claim 16 wherein the method is performed without executing terminal emulation sessions on a client computing system from which the requests are received.

20. The non-transitory computer-readable medium of claim 16 wherein the computer-readable storage medium is a memory of a computing system and wherein the contents are instructions that control a computer processor of the computing system to perform the method.