Web and lotus notes adapter layers

• US 7,856,484 B2
• Filed: 07/14/2006
• Issued: 12/21/2010
• Est. Priority Date: 05/29/2002
• Status: Expired due to Fees

• Current Assignee: LinkedIn Corporation (Microsoft Corporation)
• Original Assignee: International Business Machines Corporation
• Inventors: Wason, James R.
• Primary Examiner(s): Etienne; Ario
• Assistant Examiner(s): SHIU, HO T
• Application Number:
  US11/487,187
• Publication Number:
  US 20060259548A1
• Time in Patent Office: 1,621 Days
• Field of Search: None
• US Class Current: 709/218
• CPC Class Codes: G06F 9/54 Interprogram communication
• CPC Class Codes: H04L 67/01 Protocols
• CPC Class Codes: H04L 67/02 based on web technology, e.g. hypertext transfer protocol [HTTP]
• CPC Class Codes: H04L 67/04 specially adapted for terminals or networks with limited capabilities; specially adapted for terminal portability
• CPC Class Codes: H04L 67/142 Managing session states for stateless protocols; Signalling session states; State transitions; Keeping-state mechanisms
• CPC Class Codes: H04L 9/40 Network security protocols

Abstract

An adapter layer architecture that provides a consistent protocol for interactions between client and server side code. The architecture, which is particularly well suited for an enterprise application development platform (EADP), isolates what function operates at what side of the request (“client” and “server”). The preferred embodiment of the invention provides a number of specific features. These include: 1. a uniform mechanism to pass data between client and server; 2. a server side mechanism to handle client requests; 3. a client side request handler; 4. a mechanism to provide interactive conversational sessions, with each client session able to maintain multiple concurrent conversations; 5. a mechanism to purge sessions; and 6. unit of work control. In addition, the adapter layer architecture of the invention allows some adjustment in practice for various implementations to meet the adapter requirements. As new external sources (for example MQ series) are encountered, they can be mapped to the adapter architecture and incorporated into EADP functions.

Claims

1. A method for interfacing between clients and servers of a distributed processing system, said method comprising the steps of:

providing a server adapter layer to facilitate interactions between the clients and the servers, said server adapter layer including a mechanism to provide interactive conversational sessions, with each client session able to maintain multiple concurrent conversations;

one of the servers establishing a plurality of data managers, each of the data managers managing an associated set of data, and each of the data managers having a manager key for identifying said each of the data managers;

one of the clients sending to said one of the servers a request to initiate a session with said one of the servers;

said one of the servers using a session key to create a session with said one of the clients;

said one of the servers sending to said one of the clients the session key and a plurality of the manager keys;

said one of the clients maintaining a plurality of documents for storing the session keg and the manager keys, wherein each of the documents stores the session key and one of the manager keys; and

said one of the clients using the session key and the plurality of the manager keys to access separately the sets of data managed by the data managers and to handle multiple concurrent conversations with said one of the servers during said session, including said one of the clients sending further requests to said one of the servers, each of said further requests including the session keg and one of the manager keys.

2. A method according to claim 1, wherein said mechanism also provides a request document including a session key that identifies a user session, and upon receipt of the session key, one of the servers creates or finds a session.

3. A method according to claim 2, wherein within each user session, requests related to a particular set of data are kept together by placing a manager key in the request document.

4. The method according to claim 2, wherein:

the sending to said one of the servers includes said one of the clients sending the request document to said one of the servers; and

the sending to said one of the clients includes said one of the servers putting the session key and one of the manager keys in the request document, and sending the request document back to said one of the clients.

5. The method according to claim 2, wherein the manager key for one of the data managers is assigned to the request document when said one of the data managers is created;

each of the data managers represents a different thread of processing and can be independently processed;

the one of the clients operates multiple windows at the same time, where each of the windows corresponds to a different data manager within the same session.

6. A method according to claim 1, wherein each of the servers is allocated a given number of sessions.

7. A method according to claim 6, wherein, for each server, when said given number of sessions allocated to the server is exceeded, a check is made for any inactive sessions at the server, and the most inactive session at the server is discarded.

8. A method according to claim 1, wherein the conversations include transactions, the transactions are separated into series, and each of the series of the transactions is associated with a respective one unit of work, and whenever one of the transactions associated with one of the units of work is updated, all of the transactions associated with said one of the units of work are updated in the same way.

9. A system for interfacing between clients and servers of a distributed processing system, said system comprising:

a server adapter layer to facilitate interactions between the clients and the servers, said server adapter layer including a mechanism to provide interactive conversational sessions, with each client session able to maintain multiple concurrent conversations;

wherein each of the servers is configured for establishing a plurality of data managers, each of the data managers managing an associated set of data, and each of the data managers having a manager key for identifying said each of the data managers;

wherein each of the servers is configured for operating, in response to receiving a request from one of said clients to initiate a session with said each of the servers, for using a session key to create a session with said one of the clients, for sending to said one of the clients a plurality of the manager keys of the data managers established by said each of the servers;

said one of the clients maintaining a plurality of documents for storing the session key and the manager keys, wherein each of the documents stores the session key and one of the manager keys; and

said one of the clients uses the session key and the plurality of the manager keys to access separately the sets of data managed by the data managers and thereby have multiple concurrent conversations with said one of the servers during said session, including said one of the clients sending further requests to said one of the servers, each of said further requests including the session key and one of the manager keys.

10. A system according to claim 9, wherein said mechanism also provides a request document including the session key that identifies a user session, and upon receipt of the session key, one of the servers creates or finds a session.

11. A system according to claim 10, wherein within each user session, requests related to a particular set of data are kept together by placing a manager key in the request document.

12. A system according to claim 9, wherein each of the servers is allocated a given number of sessions.

13. A system according to claim 12, wherein, for each server, when said given number of sessions allocated to the server is exceeded, a check is made for any inactive sessions at the server, and the most inactive session at the server is discarded.

14. A system according to claim 9, wherein the conversations include transactions, the transactions are separated into series, and each of the series of the transactions is associated with a respective one unit of work, and whenever one of the transactions associated with one of the units of work is updated, all of the transactions associated with said one of the units of work are updated in the same way.

15. A program storage device readable by machine, tangibly embodying a program of instructions executable by the machine to perform method steps for interfacing between clients and servers of a distributed processing system, said method comprising the steps of:

providing a server adapter layer to facilitate interactions between the clients and the servers, said server adapter layer including a mechanism to provide interactive conversational sessions, with each client session able to maintain multiple concurrent conversations and

one of the servers establishing a plurality of data managers, each of the data managers managing an associated set of data, and each of the data managers having a manager key for identifying said each of the data managers;

one of the clients sending to said one of the servers a request to initiate a session with said one of the servers;

said one of the servers using a session key to create a session with said one of the clients;

said one of the servers sending to said one of the clients a plurality of the manager keys;

said one of the clients maintaining a plurality of documents for storing the session key and the manager keys, wherein each of the documents stores the session key and one of the manager keys; and

said one of the clients using the session key and the plurality of the manager keys to access separately the sets of data managed by the data managers and to handle multiple concurrent conversations with said one of the servers during said session, including said one of the clients sending further requests to said one of the servers, each of said further requests including the session key and one of the manager keys.

16. A program storage device according to claim 15, wherein said mechanism also provides a request document including a session key that identifies a user session, and upon receipt of the session key, one of the servers creates or finds a session.

17. A program storage device according to claim 16, wherein within each user session, requests related to a particular set of data are kept together by placing a manager key in the request document.

18. A program storage device according to claim 15, wherein each of the servers is allocated a given number of sessions.

19. A program storage device according to claim 18, wherein, for each server, when said given number of sessions allocated to the server is exceeded, a check is made for any inactive sessions at the server, and the most inactive session at the server is discarded.

20. A program storage device according to claim 15, wherein the conversations include transactions, the transactions are separated into series, and each of the series of the transactions is associated with a respective one unit of work, and whenever one of the transactions associated with one of the units of work is updated, all of the transactions associated with said one of the units of work are updated in the same way.