Publishing documents in a publish/subscribe data processing system

• US 20060106810A1
• Filed: 11/17/2005
• Published: 05/18/2006
• Est. Priority Date: 11/18/2004
• Status: Active Grant

• Current Assignee: International Business Machines Corporation
• Original Assignee: International Business Machines Corporation
• Inventors: Hickson, Andrew Ian, Lobban, Trevor, Edwards, Andrew Stephen Marcus, Holder, Martin Robert
• Granted Patent: US 8,732,228 B2
• Time in Patent Office: Days
• US Class Current: 1/1
• CPC Class Codes: G06F 16/93 Document management systems

Abstract

Documents are published in a publish subscribe data processing system. A first document to be published may have an associated topic. The first document is retained as a retained document. A second document to be published is retained as the retained document in response to receiving the second document before a predetermined time interval has passed. A copy of the second document is sent to a subscriber of the topic. A copy of the retained document is sent to the subscriber of the topic in response to a determination that the predetermined time interval has passed.

Claims

1. A method for publishing documents in a publish/subscribe data processing system, the method comprising:

receiving a first document to be published, the first document having an associated topic;

retaining the first document to be published as a retained document;

retaining a second document to be published as the retained document and sending a copy of the second document to be published to a subscriber of the associated topic in response to receiving the second document to be published before a predetermined time interval has passed, wherein the second document has the associated topic; and

sending a copy of the retained document to the subscriber of the associated topic in response to a determination that the predetermined time interval has passed.

2. The method of claim 1 wherein the predetermined time interval comprises a time offset from a start time.

3. The method of claim 2 wherein retaining a second document to be published as the retained document and sending a copy of the second document to be published to a subscriber of the associated topic in response to receiving the second document to be published before a predetermined time interval has passed comprises resetting the predetermined time interval by setting the start time to the current time.

4. The method of claim 1 wherein retaining a second document to be published as the retained document and sending a copy of the second document to be published to a subscriber of the associated topic in response to receiving the second document to be published before a predetermined time interval has passed comprises:

accessing a value of a flag associated with the subscriber; and

sending a copy of the second document to be published to a subscriber of the associated topic in response to a determination that the flag does not have a predetermined value.

5. An apparatus for publishing documents in a publish subscribe data processing system, the apparatus comprising:

a module for receiving a first document to be published, the first document having an associated topic;

a module for retaining the first document to be published as a retained document;

a module for retaining a second document to be published as the retained document and sending a copy of the second document to be published to a subscriber of the associated topic in response to receiving the second document to be published before a predetermined time interval has passed, wherein the second document has the associated topic; and

a module for sending a copy of the retained document to the subscriber of the associated topic in response to a determination that the predetermined time interval has passed.

6. The apparatus of claim 5 wherein the predetermined time interval comprises a time offset from a start time.

7. The apparatus of claim 6 wherein the module for retaining a second document to be published as the retained document comprises a module for resetting the predetermined time interval by setting the start time to the current time.

8. The apparatus of claim 5 wherein the module for retaining a second document to be published as the retained document comprises:

a module for accessing a value of a flag associated with the subscriber;

a module for sending a copy of the second document to be published to the subscriber of the associated topic in response to a determination that the flag does not have a predetermined value.

9. A computer program product for publishing documents in a publish subscribe data processing system, the computer program product comprising:

a computer usable medium having computer useable program code embodied therein, the computer useable program code comprising;

computer usable program code configured to receive a first document to be published, the first document having an associated topic;

computer usable program code configured to retain the first document to be published as a retained document;

computer usable program code configured to retain a second document to be published as the retained document and sending a copy of the second document to be published to a subscriber of the associated topic in response to receiving the second document to be published before a predetermined time interval has passed, wherein the second document has the associated topic; and

computer usable program code configured to send a copy of the retained document to the subscriber of the associated topic in response to a determination that the predetermined time interval has passed.

10. The computer program product of claim 9 wherein the predetermined time interval comprises a time offset from a start time.

11. The computer program product of claim 10 wherein the computer usable program code configured to retain a second document to be published as the retained document and sending a copy of the second document to be published to a subscriber of the associated topic in response to receiving the second document to be published before a predetermined time interval has passed comprises computer usable program code configured to reset the predetermined time interval by setting the start time to the current time.

12. The computer program product of claim 9 wherein the computer usable program code configured to retain a second document to be published as the retained document and sending a copy of the second document to be published to a subscriber of the associated topic in response to receiving the second document to be published before a predetermined time interval has passed comprises:

computer usable program code configured to access a value of a flag associated with the subscriber; and

computer usable program code configured to send a copy of the second document to be published to a subscriber of the associated topic in response to a determination that the flag does not have a predetermined value.