Database network connectivity product

• US 5,974,417 A
• Filed: 09/09/1998
• Issued: 10/26/1999
• Est. Priority Date: 01/18/1996
• Status: Expired due to Term

• Current Assignee: Sun Microsystems Incorporated (Oracle Corporation)
• Original Assignee: Sun Microsystems Incorporated (Oracle Corporation)
• Inventors: Sporkert, Tilman, Bracho, Rafael
• Primary Examiner(s): Black, Thomas G.
• Assistant Examiner(s): Coby, Frantz
• Application Number:
  US09/149,935
• Time in Patent Office: 412 Days
• Field of Search: 707/10, 707/104, 395/200.61, 395/200.31
• US Class Current: 1/1
• CPC Class Codes: G06F 16/27 Replication, distribution or synchronisation of data between databases or within a distributed database system; Distributed database system architectures therefor
• CPC Class Codes: G06F 16/275 Synchronous replication
• CPC Class Codes: H04L 67/63 Routing a service request depending on the request content or context
• CPC Class Codes: Y10S 707/99945 Object-oriented database structure processing

Abstract

A method and apparatus for publishing and receiving events to a network. A plurality of "publisher" entities publish information and a plurality of "subscriber" entities request and use the information. Publishers and subscribers are connected to each other through a network. The network is a "store and forward" network whose routing is "content-based." The basic quanta of information is called an "event." Publishers publish events and subscribers subscribe to events that match criteria defined by the subscriber. Publication and subscription are performed asynchronously. Publishers and subscribers do not have direct knowledge of each other. The system receives a published event from a publisher and routes the event to all appropriate subscribers. Each subscriber is guaranteed to receive all events published on the system if, and only if, they match the subscription criteria specified by the subscriber. A legacy data base can be added to the network by way of a data base connector, which can be a publisher, a subscriber, or both.

Claims

1. A method of connecting a data base to a publisher/subscriber network, so that the data base can publish events to the network, the method comprising the steps, performed by the data processing system, of:

providing a link so that the data base can communicate with a data base connector computer program by way of a transaction monitor computer program;

setting up the data base connector as a publisher hub in the network;

receiving input, by the data base, from a user that alters data in the data base;

informing the transaction monitor that the data has been altered;

receiving input from the user indicating that the altered data should be committed;

informing the transaction monitor that the altered data is committed; and

sending, by the data base connector, in accordance with a message from the transaction monitor that the data is committed, a published event to the network in accordance with the altered data.

2. The method of claim 1, further including the steps of:

receiving input from the user indicating that the altered data should be rolled back;

informing the transaction monitor that the altered data is rolled back; and

refraining, by the data base connector, from sending the altered data to the network in accordance with the rollback.

4. The method of claim 1, further comprising the step of:

sending the event, by the data base connector, to one of its neighbor hubs, where a data structure in the data base connector indicates that the neighbor hub is on the least-cost path to a subscriber for the event.

5. The method of claim 1, further comprising the steps of:

receiving an event by the data base connector;

determining, by the data base connector, in accordance with a data structure of the data base connector, that the data base has subscribed to the event; and

sending, by the data base connector, the event to the data base.

6. The method of claim 1, further comprising the step of:

receiving an event, by the data base connector;

determining, by the data base connector, in accordance with a data structure of the data base connector, that a neighbor hub is connected either directly or indirectly on the least-cost path to a subscriber for the event; and

sending, by the data base connector, the event to its neighbor hub, so that the event can be forwarded to the subscriber.

7. The method of claim 1, wherein the sending step includes the step of:

sending an event, by the data base connector, to one of its neighbor hubs when a data structure in the data base connector indicates that the data base subscribes to events having the type of the event.

8. The method of claim 1, wherein the sending step includes the step of:

sending an event, by the data base connector, to one of its neighbor hubs when a content filter in a data structure of the data base connector indicates that the data base subscribes to events having values found in the event.

3. A method of connecting a data base to a publisher/subscriber network, so that the data base can subscribe to events to the network, the method comprising the steps, performed by the data processing system, of:

providing a link so that a data base connector computer program can communicate with the data base;

setting up the data base connector as a subscriber hub in the network;

receiving, by the data base connector, an event from the network;

sending, by the data base connector, data in accordance with the received event to the data base; and

committing, by the data base connector, the data in the data base.