Methods and apparatus for implementing server functions in a distributed heterogeneous environment

• US 5,440,744 A
• Filed: 11/15/1994
• Issued: 08/08/1995
• Est. Priority Date: 08/14/1990
• Status: Expired due to Term

• Current Assignee: Hewlett-Packard Development Company, L.P. (HP Inc.)
• Original Assignee: Digital Equipment Corporation (HP Inc.)
• Inventors: Reilly, Paul A., Renzullo, Michael J., Jacobson, Neal F.
• Primary Examiner(s): Kriess, Kevin A.
• Assistant Examiner(s): Chavis, John Q.
• Application Number:
  US08/340,019
• Time in Patent Office: 266 Days
• Field of Search: 395/200, 395/600, 395/650
• US Class Current: 709/203
• CPC Class Codes: G06F 9/548 Object oriented; Remote method invocation [RMI] non-remote method invocation G06F9/449

Abstract

In distributed heterogeneous data processing networks, dispatcher and control server software components execute the code of a single application or of many portions of the code of one or more applications in response to a method object received from a client application. The method object includes a reference to the code to be executed.

Claims

1. In a network containing a memory and processors connected to each other by a network bus, the memory storing a context database and a global database, the global database including methods and applications, the context dam base including preferences, the preferences for identifying the methods, the applications, and the processors according to a predetermined order, the processors having shared access to the context database and the global database, a process to execute the applications comprising the steps of:

referencing in the global database, by a client application executing on a client processor, a method and an application to perform the method;

identifying, in response to the referencing and using the preferences, a server application to perform the method;

determining if the server application is available in the network;

if the server application is not available, identifying, using the preferences, a server processor, starting the server application on the server processor, and signalling the client processor that the server application is available; and

if the server application is available in the network, executing the server application to perform the method.

2. The process of claim 1 wherein the global dam base includes instances of data to be manipulated by the applications, and further comprising:

referencing an instance of data by the client application;

transmitting the reference to the instance of data to the server processor; and

in response to receiving the reference to the instance of data, manipulating the instance of data by the server application while performing the method.

3. The process of claim 1 further comprising:

if the server application is not available,

identifying, using the preferences, an other server application to perform the method; and

determining if the other server application is available in the network.

4. The process of claim 1 wherein the method is to be performed synchronously or asynchronously, and further comprising:

if the method is to be performed synchronously, suspending the client application while the server application is performing the method; and

if the method is asynchronously, continuing the client application while the server application is performing the method.

5. The process of claim 4 further comprising:

queuing the method in a queue if the method is asynchronous, the queue having a plurality of entries;

de-queuing the entries of the queue in a first-in/first-out order to perform the asynchronous method by the client server.

6. The process of claim 1 further comprising:

notifying the client application that the server application has performed the method.