Methods and apparatus for providing a client interface to an object-oriented invocation of an application

Claim 2

The process of claim 1 wherein the step of accessing the class data base includes the substep of: determining, from the class data base, the class identifying the first instance.

Claim 3

The process of claim 1 wherein the process further comprises the step of: receiving, after the execution of the server application by the server data processing platform, a response from the server application.

Claim 4

The process of claim 3 wherein the step of receiving the response includes the substep of: receiving a parameter from the server application.

Claim 5

The process of claim 1 wherein the process further includes the step of: determining whether the message has any errors.

Claim 6

The process of claim 1 wherein the first method entry includes method definitions containing metadata characterizing the corresponding method entry, and wherein the step of accessing the class data base includes the substep of: analyzing the metadata in the first method entry.

Claim 7

The process of claim 6 wherein the data processing network further comprises a transport service for providing communication between the data processing platforms, wherein the metadata in the first method entry indicates whether the server one of the applications requires use of the transport service to be invoked, and wherein the step of accessing the class data base further includes the substep of determining whether the method definition for the first method entry indicates that the server application is to be performed using the transport service to communicate with the server data processing platform.

Claim 8

The process of claim 7 wherein the server application receives input arguments from the client application and outputs processed arguments, and wherein the process further comprises the step of receiving, via the transport service, after the execution of the server application by the server data processing platform, a first response and a first processed argument from the server application.

Claim 9

The process of claim 6 wherein the server application is a server procedure, and wherein the metadata indicates whether the corresponding server procedure is dynamically loadable, and wherein the step of accessing the class data base includes the substep of determining whether the method definition for the first method entry indicates that the server procedure is dynamically loadable.

Claim 10

The process of claim 9 wherein the substep of determining whether the method definition for the first method entry indicates that the server procedure is dynamically loadable process further includes the substep of executing, in the client data processing platform, a dynamically loadable image of executable code representing the mechanism.

Claim 11

The process of claim 1 wherein the client data processing platform includes a context object data base including context information corresponding to users of the client application, and wherein the step of accessing the class data base includes the substep of using the context information for a current user with the class identifying the first instance and the received message to select the first method entry and reference to the corresponding mechanism.

Claim 12

The process of claim 2 wherein the client data processing platform includes a context object data base including context information corresponding to users of the client application, and wherein the step of determining the class identifying the first instance includes the substep of using the context information for a current user with the class identifying the first instance and received message to select the first method entry and reference to the corresponding mechanism.

Claim 13

The process of claim 1 wherein selected ones of the method entries of the class data base further include method definitions which includes metadata characterizing each of the corresponding method entry, and wherein the step of accessing the class data base includes the substep of retrieving a method definition associated with the first method entry, and wherein the step of selecting the server data processing platform to execute the server application includes the substep of determining whether a server data processing platform is available that meets the requirements of the method definition.

Claim 14

The process of claim 13 wherein the data processing network includes a method server registration facility to track which of the server applications are currently loaded, and wherein the substep of determining whether a server data processing platform is available that meets the requirements of the method definition, includes the substep of communicating with the method server registration facility to determine whether selected server application is loaded.

Claim 15

The process of claim 14 wherein the selected server processing platform includes a control server which maintains information corresponding to the server applications currently being executed on the selected server platform, and wherein the substep of communicating with the method server registration facility includes the substep of communicating with the control server of the selected server data processing platforms to determine whether the server application can be invoked.

Claim 16

The process of claim 15 wherein the control server starts the server application, and wherein the substep of communicating with the control server further comprises the substep of starting the server application.

Claim 17

The process of claim 14 wherein the data processing network further comprises a transport service for performing network communication functions for communication between the data processing platforms, and wherein the substep of communicating with the control server includes the substep of querying the control server using the transport service to determine the availability of selected server data processing platforms

Claim 18

The process of claim 15 wherein the data processing network further comprises a transport service for performing network communication functions for communication between the data processing platforms, and wherein the substep of starting the server application includes the substep of starting the server application using the transport service.

Claim 19

A data processing network containing a plurality of data processing platforms for executing applications comprising: memory in the network containing a class data base having portions accessible to all of the data processing platforms, the class data base including a plurality of method entries each containing a reference to a corresponding mechanism for invoking a corresponding one of the applications or procedures to be run on a server one of the data processing platforms, and a plurality of class entries each containing information identifying a corresponding group of the method entries and identifying a different, uniquely identifiable class, each of the classes identifying a different set of instances, instances being items that may be manipulated or accessed by the applications and all the instances in each set having shared characteristics, client ones of the data processing platforms having the capability for invoking a server application to be executed on the server data processing platform from a first client application executing on a client one of the data processing platforms, the client one of the data processing platforms comprising means for receiving a message from the client application for the performance of a data processing operation involving a first instance; means, coupled to the receiving means, for accessing the class data base, using the class identifying the first instance and the received message, to select a first method entry and a corresponding mechanism for invoking a server one of the applications; and means, coupled to the accessing means, for selecting, from among the data processing platforms, the server data processing platform to execute the server application.

Claim 20

The data processing network of claim 19 wherein the means for accessing the class data base of the client data processing platforms includes means for determining, from the class data base, the class identifying the first instance.

Claim 21

The data processing network of claim 19 wherein the client data processing platforms further comprise means, coupled to the selecting means, for receiving a response from the server application.

Claim 22

The data processing network of claim 21 wherein the means for receiving the response from the server application of the client data processing platforms includes means for receiving a parameter from the server application.

Claim 23

The data processing network of claim 19 further including means for determining whether the message has any errors.

Claim 24

The data processing of claim 19 wherein the first method entry of the class data base includes method definitions containing metadata characterizing the corresponding method entry, and wherein the means for accessing the class data base of the client data processing platforms comprises a means for analyzing the metadata in the first method entry.

Claim 25

The data processing network of claim 24 wherein the server data processing platform is a client one of the data processing platforms.

Claim 26

The data processing network of claim 24 further comprising a transport service for performing network communication functions for communication between the data processing platforms, wherein the metadata in the first method entry indicates whether the server application requires use of the transport service to be invoked, and wherein the means for accessing the class data base of the client data processing platform further includes means for determining whether the method definition for the first method entry indicates that the server application is to be performed using the transport service to communicate with the server data processing platform.

Claim 27

The data processing network of claim 26 wherein the server application receives input arguments from the client application and outputs processed arguments, and wherein the client data processing platforms further comprise means, coupled to the transport service and the selecting means, for receiving, via the transport service and after the execution of the server application by the server data processing platform, a first response and a first processed argument from the server application.

Claim 28

The data processing network of claim 24 wherein the server application is a server procedure and wherein the metadata indicates whether the server procedure is dynamically loadable, and wherein the means for accessing the class data base of the client data processing platforms comprises means for determining whether the method definition for the first method entry indicates that the server procedure is dynamically loadable.

Claim 29

The data processing network of claim 28 wherein the means for determining whether the method definition for the first method entry indicates that the server procedure is dynamically loadable includes means for executing a dynamically loadable image of executable code representing the mechanism.

Claim 30

The data processing network of claim 19 wherein the client data processing platform includes a context object data base containing context information corresponding to users of the client application.

Claim 31

The data processing network of claim 30 wherein the accessing means of the client data processing platforms includes means for retrieving the context information for a current user with the class identifying the first instance and received message to select the first method entry and reference to the corresponding mechanism.

Claim 32

The data processing network of claim 20 wherein the client data processing platforms includes a context object data base containing context information corresponding to users of the client application.

Claim 33

The data processing network of claim 32 wherein the determining means of the client data processing platforms includes means for retrieving the context information for a current user with the class identifying the first instance and received message to select the first method entry and reference to the corresponding mechanism.

Claim 34

The data processing network of claim 19 wherein the first method entry further includes method definitions which includes metadata characterizing the first method entry, wherein the accessing means of the client data processing platforms includes means for retrieving a method definition associated with the first-method entry, and wherein means for selecting the server data processing platform to execute the server application includes means for determining whether one of the server data processing platforms is available which meets the requirements of the method definition.

Claim 35

The data processing network of claim 34 wherein the data processing network includes a method server registration facility to track which of the server applications have been invoked and are executing, and wherein the means for determining whether a server data processing platform is available that meets the requirements of the method definition includes means for communicating with the method server registration facility to determine the availability of selected server data processing platforms.

Claim 36

The data processing network of claim of 35 wherein the selected server processing platforms each include a control server which maintains information corresponding to the server applications currently being executed and starts the selected server application, and wherein the communicating means includes means for querying the control server of the selected server data processing platforms to determine the availability of selected server data processing platforms.

Claim 37

The data processing network of claim 36 wherein the means for querying the control server further comprises: means for starting the server application using the reference to a corresponding mechanism.

Claim 38

The data processing network of claim 34 wherein the data processing network further comprises a transport service for performing network communication functions for communication between the data processing platforms, and wherein the means for querying with the control server includes means, coupled to the transport service, for examining the control server of the selected server data processing platforms to determine the availability of selected server data processing platforms.

Claim 39

In a client platform connected to a data processing network comprising a plurality of data processing platforms which permit remote invocation of server applications located on server ones of the data processing platforms by client applications located on client ones of the data processing platforms, and a class data base containing a plurality of method entries containing references to invocation mechanisms to invoke the server applications, and a plurality of class entries each containing information for a different, uniquely identifiable class, the classes identifying types of the instances, which are items that may be manipulated or accessed by the applications according to shared characteristics, each of the class entries corresponding to groups of the method entries, a process of remotely invoking a server application comprising the steps, performed by a client one of the data processing platforms, of: receiving a message from the client application for the performance of a first method involving a first instance; determining the class identifying the first instance; accessing the class data base using the determined class and the received message to select the first method entry and a reference to a corresponding mechanism to find a server one of the data processing platforms capable of executing the server application; invoking, using the transmission of the reference, the execution of the server application by the first server data processing platforms to execute the first method on the first instance; and receiving a response from the server data processing platform.

Claim 40

The process of claim 39 wherein the first method entry includes method definitions containing metadata characterizing the corresponding method entry, and wherein the step of accessing the class data base includes the substep of analyzing the metadata in the first method entry.

Claim 41

The process of claim 40 wherein the data processing network includes a transport service to provide communication between the data processing platforms, wherein the metadata in selected ones of the method entries indicates whether the server application requires use of the transport service to be invoked, and wherein the step of accessing the class data base further includes the substep of: determining whether the method definition for the first method indicates that the first method is to be performed using the transport service to communicate with the server data processing platform.

Claim 42

The process of claim 41 further comprising the step of receiving, via the transport service and after the execution of the server application by the server data processing platform, a first response and a first processed argument from the server application.

Claim 43

The process of claim 40 wherein the server application is a server procedure, wherein the metadata indicates whether the corresponding server procedure is dynamically loadable, and wherein the step of accessing the class data base includes the substep of determining whether the method definition for the first method entry indicates that the server procedure is dynamically loadable.

Claim 44

In a client platform connected to a data processing network containing a plurality of data processing platforms which permit remote invocation of server applications located on server ones of the data processing platforms by client applications located on client ones of the data processing platforms, and a class data base comprising a plurality of method entries containing references to invocation mechanisms to invoke the server applications, and a plurality of class entries each containing information for a different, uniquely identifiable class, the classes identifying types of the instances, which are items that may be manipulated or accessed by the applications, according to shared characteristics, each of the class entries corresponding to groups of the method entries, a process of remotely invoking a server application comprising the steps, performed by a client one of the data processing platforms, of: receiving a message from the client application for the performance of a first method involving a first instance; determining the class identifying the first instance; accessing the class data base using the determined class and the received message to select the first method entry and a reference to a corresponding mechanism and to find a server one of the data processing platforms capable of executing the server application; and invoking the execution of the server application by the client data processing platform using the transmission of the reference to the corresponding mechanism to execute the first method on the first instance.

Claim 45

The process of claim 44 wherein the step of invoking the execution of the server application by the client data processing platform includes the substeps of retrieving a dynamically loadable image of executable code; causing the client data processing platform to load the dynamically loadable image; and determining whether any errors occurred in loading the dynamically loadable image.