EP0483036A2
Expired / Lapsed
EP
⏱️ 0.0 years remaining
Data structure within object oriented computing environment
Assignee: International Business Machines Corp
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Filing: 1991-09-26
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Granted: —
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Expires: 2011-09-26
Abstract
Abstract A data structure and method for uniquely indentifying, and optimizing access to, object instances in an object oriented programming environment on a data processor containing a memory. Objects are categorized into one or more classes which define the method of the categorized objects, and messages are sent by the data processor to objects to perform actions. The data structure consists of a persistent portion (310) containing a unique object identifier and a non-persistent portion (320) containing the access address of an instance data frame in memory. The access address is set to the address of the data frame when the message is sent in order to optimize subsequent messages to the same object instance.
Inventors
- 👤 Robert Low Abraham
- 👤 Cynthia Ann Ross
- 👤 Richard Eugene Moore
- 👤 William Lawrence Rich
- 👤 Floyd Wayne Shackelford
- 👤 John Russel Tiller, Jr.
- 👤 Richard Smith Briggs, Jr.
Bibliographic Details
Application Number
—
Jurisdiction
EP
Data Source
google_patents
Last Synchronized
2026-10-29 17:34
CPC Classifications
G; G06; G06F; G06F9/00; G06F9/06; G06F9/44; G06F9/448; G06F9/4488; Y; Y10; Y10S; Y10S707/00; Y10S707/953; Y10S707/955; Y10S707/96; Y10S707/99941; Y10S707/99944
Claims Analysis
Total Claims: 15
Claim 1
Independent Claim
124 words
A data structure within an object oriented computing environment operating on a data processor (114) containing a memory (112) and having a direct access storage device (124) for persistently storing data objects, in which a plurality of data objects are categorized into one or more classes which define methods of the categorized classes, and in which messages are sent by the data processor to at least one object to perform at least one action upon said object, said data structure for use in said messages bring caracterized in that in comprises : non-volatile portion (310) for uniquely identifying the object referred to in said message, and a volatile portion (320) for pointing to the location of the object in said object oriented computing environment.
Claim 2
Dependent Claim
65 words
The data structure of claim 1 caracterized in that said non-volatile portion includes: a type field (330) for identifying the category of object to which said message is to be sent, a class identification (340) field for identifying the class to which said object belongs, and an instance identification (350) field for uniquely identifying the instance of said object that is to receive said message.
Claim 3
Dependent Claim
35 words
The data structure of claim 1 characterized in that said volatile portion includes an access address (320) that contains a pointer to determine the location of the object instance in said object oriented programming environment.
Claim 4
Dependent Claim
21 words
The data structure of claim 3 characterized in that wherein said pointer contains the address of the object instance in memory.
Claim 5
Dependent Claim
35 words
The data Structure of claim 3 caracterized in that wherein said pointer is an indirect address to a control block in an object management table that contains the address of the object instance in memory.
Claim 6
Dependent Claim
32 words
The data structure of claim 2 caracterized in that wherein said object is categorized as a class object and indicates that the object to receive the message is a class data frame.
Claim 7
Dependent Claim
33 words
The data structure of claim 2 caracterized in that wherein said object is categorized as a created instance object and indicates that the object to receive the message is an instance data frame.
Claim 8
Dependent Claim
38 words
The data structure of claim 2 caracterized in that wherein said object is categorized as an uncreated instance type and indicates that the object to receive the message is an uncreated instance which is not resident in memory.
Claim 9
Independent Claim
200 words
A method for handling increated objects in an objects oriented computing environment, operating on a data processor containing a memory and having a direct access storage device for persistently storing data objects, in which a plurality of data objects are categorized into one or more classes which define methods of the categorized classes, and in which messages containing an object reference data structure are sent by the data processor to at least one object to perform at least one action upon said object, said method bring caraterized in that it comprises the steps of: processing the object reference data structure contained in said message by calling an object management table (412) to resolve the object reference, creating a class data frame (420) in memory for the uncreated object and inserting an entry in the object management table identifying the location of the class data frame in memory, and altering the contents of said object reference to identify the object reference as being of created instance type, adding a unique instance identifier for the newly created object, and modifying an address field in said object reference to refer to the entry for the newly created object in the object management table.
Claim 10
Independent Claim
116 words
A method for handling object references, in an object oriented computing environment operating on a data processor containing a memory and having a direct access storage device for persistently storing data objects, in which a plurality of data objects are categorized into one or more classes which define methods of the categorized classes, and in which messages containing an object reference data structure are sent by the data processor to at least one object to perform at least one action upon said object, said method bring caraterized in that it comprises : processing the object reference data structure contained in said message by calling an object management table to determine whether the referenced object is unresolved.
Claim 11
Independent Claim
188 words
The method of claim so caracterized in that it comprises the steps of : If the referenced object in unresolved, searching the object management table using an object identification portion of said object reference to determine if there is an entry pointing to an instance data frame for the referenced object in memory, if an entry is found in said object management table for the referenced object, updating an address field in the object reference so that it points to said instance data frame for the referenced object, if an entry for the referenced object does not exist in said object management table, examining the object identification portion of said object reference to determine if the referenced object is persistent and stored on the direct access storage device, if the referenced object is persistent, allocating an empty instance frame in memory for the referenced object in and sending a request to a materialize method of the referenced object to fetch the referenced object from the direct access storage device, and adding an entry to the object management table for the fetched referenced object if it is successfully fetched.
Claim 12
Dependent Claim
50 words
The method of claim 11 caracterized in that it includes signalling an error condition to said data processor and executing an error handling routine if said examining of said object identification portion of said object reference indicates that the referenced object is not stored on the direct access storage device.
Claim 13
Dependent Claim
53 words
The method of claim 11 caracterized in that it includes signalling an error condition to said data processor and executing an error handling routine if the request sent to the materialize method of the referenced object does not result in the successful materialization of the referenced object from the direct access storage device.
Claim 14
Dependent Claim
98 words
The method of claim 10 caracterized it that it comprises the setps ofs : If the referenced object is resolved, validating an access address portion of the object reference by comparing an object identification portion of said object reference with corresponding object identification portions of the entries in the object management table to find a match, and if an entry is found in the object management table that matches the object identification portion of said object reference, using an address portion of said matching object management table entry to identify the location in memory of said referenced object.
Claim 15
Dependent Claim
60 words
The method of claim 14 caracterized in that it further includes setting the access address portion of said object reference to a null value if no match is found in the object management table corresponding to the object identification portion of the object reference to indicate that the object reference is to be processed further as an unresolved object reference.
References Cited (Backward Citations)
No citation records indexed.
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