Apparatus and method for providing decoupled data communications between software processes

• US 5,966,531 A
• Filed: 06/07/1995
• Issued: 10/12/1999
• Est. Priority Date: 07/27/1989
• Status: Expired due to Term

• Current Assignee: Thomson Reuters Global Resources Unlimited Company (The Woodbridge Co. Ltd.)
• Original Assignee: Reuters Limited (The Woodbridge Co. Ltd.)
• Inventors: Bowles, Mark, Skeen, Marion Dale
• Primary Examiner(s): Kriess, Kevin A.
• Application Number:
  US08/478,225
• Time in Patent Office: 1,588 Days
• Field of Search: 395/700, 395/650, 395/680, 395/683, 395/681, 395/682, 395/684, 395/685, 395/701
• US Class Current: 719/315
• CPC Class Codes: G06F 3/0481 based on specific properties of the displayed interaction object or a metaphor-based environment, e.g. interaction with desktop elements like windows or icons, or assisted by a cursor's changing behaviour or appearance
• CPC Class Codes: G06F 9/45512 Command shells
• CPC Class Codes: G06F 9/465 Distributed object oriented systems remote method invocation [RMI] G06F9/548
• CPC Class Codes: G06F 9/542 Event management; Broadcasting; Multicasting; Notifications
• CPC Class Codes: G06Q 40/00 Finance; Insurance; Tax strategies; Processing of corporate or income taxes
• CPC Class Codes: G06Q 40/04 Trading; Exchange, e.g. stocks, commodities, derivatives or currency exchange
• CPC Class Codes: H04L 12/1804 for stock exchange and similar applications
• 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 67/14 Session management for real-time applications in data packet communications networks H04L65/1066
• CPC Class Codes: H04L 69/08 Protocols for interworking; Protocol conversion
• CPC Class Codes: H04L 69/329 in the application layer [OSI layer 7]
• CPC Class Codes: H04M 15/68 Payment of value-added services
• CPC Class Codes: H04M 2215/0196 Payment of value-added services, mainly when their charges are added on the telephone bill, e.g. payment of non-telecom services, e-commerce, on-line banking

Abstract

A communication interface for decoupling one software application from another software application such communications between applications are facilitated and applications may be developed in modularized fashion. The communication interface is comprised of two libraries of programs. One library manages self-describing forms which contain actual data to be exchanged as well as type information regarding data format and class definition that contain semantic information. Another library manages communications and includes a subject mapper to receive subscription requests regarding a particular subject and map them to particular communication disciplines and to particular services supplying this information. A number of communication disciplines also cooperate with the subject mapper or directly with client applications to manage communications with various other applications using the communication protocols used by those other applications.

Claims

1. A computer program, on a computer-readable medium, for communicating data between programs along a data communication path, comprising:

(a) a code segment for addressing a request for information from a requesting program on a particular subject and mapping said subject to one or more service discipline programs capable of communicating with a data publishing program that supplies data on said subject;

(b) a code segment for invoking one or more of said service discipline programs to establish a communication link over said communication path used by said data publishing program to publish data; and

(c) a code segment for filtering data published by said data publishing program by subject such that only data on the requested subject reaches said requesting program.

2. The computer program as recited in claim 1, including:

(d) a code segment for creating and manipulating self-describing data records or forms that contain data corresponding to one or more class definitions defining the names and organization of fields within said form as well as the format for data representation within said fields; and

(e) a code segment for converting the format of form in a format native to said publishing program to a format associated with the requesting program.

3. An article of manufacture embodied on a computer-readable medium for decoupling a first application'"'"'s data format from the data format of a second application with which data is to be exchanged, comprising:

(a) a code segment coupled to said first and second applications for creating and managing forms containing data pertinent to a corresponding application, each form containing one or more class identifiers corresponding to one or more class definitions including the instance of the class to which said form belongs and wherein each said field may contain data or another form; and

(b) a code segment for converting the format of a form to a format compatible with the receiving of the first and second applications.

4. An article of manufacture embodied on a computer-readable medium for decoupling a first application'"'"'s natural form format from a foreign form format of a second application, comprising:

(a) a code segment coupled to said first application for creating and manipulating self-describing data objects called forms that contain data corresponding to one or more class definitions defining the names and organization of fields within said form; and

(b) a code segment coupled to said first application for addressing requests by said first application to access the data in any selected field of a foreign form used by said second application, accessing the class definition defining the field names and organization of said form used by said second application, locating the named field matching the field name given in said request, returning a pointer address to said field, accessing said form, and using said pointer address to obtain and return to said first application the data stored in the field named in the original request.

5. The article of manufacture embodied on a computer-readable medium as recited in claim 4, further comprising a code segment coupled to said first application for converting the format of a form--from a format natural to said first application to the format of said second application, using said class identification data stored in said form without accessing the class definition defining the semantic data and organization of the fields of said form.

6. An article of manufacture embodied on a computer-readable medium for providing a communication facility between first and second computer programs each of which use data records having different structures and data representation formats, comprising:

(a) a code segment for creating nested data records for each of said first and second computer programs having the structures and data representation formats native to each of said first and second programs, said data records being nested in the sense that any data record may have one or more fields containing other data records for any number of levels of nesting, each data record being assigned to a class having associated therewith a class identifier and each instance of a data record including class identifiers which comprise the data record; and

(b) a code segment for facilitating transfers of data records between said first and second computer programs by translating the format of data records from the format of the sending computer program to the format of the receiving computer program.

7. The article of manufacture as recited in claim 6, further comprising means for extracting data from a data record in the format used by said second computer program by receiving a name for the form instance of interest and the field name for the field in said instance of said data record containing the desired data and locating the class definition for the class of data record to which said instance belongs and for locating in said class definition the field named in the request and generating a pointer address indicating where in the data values stored in the named field may be found and accessing the desired data value from the instance of interest using said pointer address.

8. The article of manufacture as recited in claim 7, further comprising subject-based addressing means coupled to said first computer program for providing a communication interface mechanism to said first computer program whereby said first computer program may request data records pertaining to one or more selected subjects for which said second computer program generates data records in the form of a subscription request whereby said second computer program automatically sends all data records pertaining to said subject or subjects to said first computer program.

9. The article of manufacture as recited in claim 8, wherein said subject-based addressing includes service discipline means for establishing said communication with said second computer.

10. A method of communicating data between programs over a data communication path, the method comprising the steps of:

(a) generating a request for information, on a particular subject, by a data subscribing program;

(b) mapping the subject to a service discipline program capable of communicating with a data publishing program supplying data on the subject;

(c) invoking the service discipline programs to establish communications over the data communication path used by the data publishing program to publish data;

(d) receiving data published by the data publishing program; and

(e) filtering the received data by subject such that only data on the requested subject reaches the requesting program.

11. The method as recited in claim 10, further comprising the steps of:

(a) using self-describing records containing at least one class definition defining one or more of the group consisting of the field names within the record;

the field organization within the record, and the format for data representation within the fields; and

(b) converting the format of a record from a format native to the publishing program to a format native to the requesting application.

12. A method for decoupling a first application'"'"'s natural form format from a foreign form format of a second application, comprising the steps of:

(a) creating and using self-describing data objects called forms containing data corresponding to one or more class definitions defining the names and organization of fields within the form; and

(b) receiving a request by the first application to access the data in any selected field of a foreign form used by the second application;

(c) accessing the class definition defining the field names and organization of the form used by the second application;

(d) locating the named field matching a the field name given in the request;

(e) returning a pointer address to the field;

(f) accessing the form; and

(g) using the pointer address to obtain and return to the first application the data stored in the field named in the request.

13. The method as recited in claim 12, further comprising the steps of:

(a) converting the format of a form, from a format of the first application, to a format of the second application, using class identification data stored in the form without accessing a class definition.

14. The method recited in claim 12, further comprising the steps of:

(a) requesting data on a selected subject using the first application;

(b) mapping the subject to the second application if the second application publishes data on that subject;

(c) receiving data from the second application in response to the mapping; and

(d) sending all data on the subject to the first application.

15. The method as recited in claim 14, wherein the mapping is done by service discipline programs that also establish communications with the second application.

16. A process for communicating data between a subscriber and data publishers in execution on one or more computers coupled by a data communication path, the process comprising the steps of:

(a) receiving a subscription request from the subscriber, the subscription request including a subject upon which data is desired by the subscriber;

(b) mapping the subject to the identity of one or more data publishers that output data on the subject;

(c) establishing a communication link over the data communication path to the data publisher;

(d) registering a subscription on the subject; and

(e) passing only data on the subject to the subscriber.

17. The process of claim 16, further comprising the step of filtering the data published by the data publisher, by the subject, at a location at which the data publisher is in execution.

18. The process of claim 16, wherein the step of passing includes the substep of sending data via point-to-point communications.

19. The process of claim 16, wherein the step of passing includes the substep of sending data via point-to-point communications if the number of subscribers is smaller than a predetermined number and via broadcast communications protocol if the number of subscribing computers is greater than or equal to the predetermined number.

20. The process of claim 16, further comprising the steps of:

(a) searching service records, stored in a directory services component, by using the subject as a search key to locate

(i) all service records identifying the data publishers; and

(ii) service disciplines capable of communicating with the publishers;

(b) causing at least one service discipline to establish a communication link with one or more identified publishers;

(c) filtering published data by subject and transmitting filtered data to the subscriber.

21. The method of claim 16 further comprising the steps of:

(a) monitoring the established communication links; and

(b) setting up communication links with alternative data publishers that can supply data on the subject upon failure of a communication link.

22. An apparatus comprising:

(a) one or more computers cumulatively having in execution thereon one or more subscriber processes and one or more publisher processes;

(b) one or more data transfer paths coupling one or more subscriber processes to one or more publisher processes; and

(c) intermediary software structured to control a computer to receive a subscription request, from a subscriber process, naming a subject upon which a subscriber process desires to receive data, to use the subject to locate one or more publisher processes that can supply data on the subject, to set up a communication link to the located publisher processes and register a subscription on the subject by sending a subscription registration message,

wherein the intermediary software also can control the computer to receive data on said subject and automatically transmit the data to the subscriber process from which the subscription request was received.

23. The apparatus of claim 22 wherein data on the subject is transmitted to all subscriber processes having active subscriptions to the subject.