EP0531108A2
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EP
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Program condition handling
Assignee: International Business Machines Corp
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Filing: 1992-09-02
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Granted: —
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Expires: 2012-09-02
Abstract
Abstract A condition handling method and means capable of handling programs written in a plurality computer programming languages is created by a set of routines which implement the Common Condition Handling (CCH) function. These routines have entry points which are declared as external or entry variables which enables application programs to link to them. The compilers and application programs can then interact with the condition handling process by calling or branching to the entry points in the common condition handling code when the program is executing. Language specific condition handling routines and user condition handlers are invoked using a last-in-first-out (LIFO) queue to associate the handlers with the current stack frame. Any handler may respond to the CCH with one of three types of requests: Resume, Percolate, and Promote. A separate means is provided for registering Exit Handlers and to move the resume cursor.
Inventors
- 👤 William Carney
- 👤 Ralph Oscar Conder
- 👤 Laurence Edward England
- 👤 Jeffrey Allen Grants
- 👤 Daniel Rodman Hicks
- 👤 George Lausman
- 👤 Robert Milton Smith
- 👤 William Nicholas John Tindall
Bibliographic Details
Application Number
—
Jurisdiction
EP
Data Source
google_patents
Last Synchronized
2026-11-04 01:50
CPC Classifications
G; G06; G06F; G06F9/00; G06F9/06; G06F9/46; G06F9/48; G06F9/4806; G06F9/4812; G06F11/00; G06F11/07; G06F11/0703; G06F11/0793; G06F9/54; G06F9/542
Claims Analysis
Total Claims: 12
Claim 1
Independent Claim
252 words
A computer system using multiple computer programming languages comprising: (a) a Common Condition Handler (CCH) for multiple languages; (b) means for linking object code from source code including routines prepared in one or more computer programming languages with the CCH to produce an executable program; (c) means for executing the program; (d) means for initializing a condition processing means to turn over control of the computer system to the CCH when a condition occurs; (e) means for queueing one or more language specific condition Handlers (LSH) as routines are intialized, each routine having one LSH which corresponds to the language in which it is written and being associated with a stack frame; (f) means for queueing one or more user condition handling routines (User Handler) as requested by the program with each being associated with a stack frame; (g) means for detecting the occurence of a condition and determining a current stack frame, and for executing a last queued LSH for the current stack frame to determine whether the condition is enabled and resuming execution of the program if the condition is not enabled; (h) means for executing the User Handlers for the current stack frame in queue order beginning with the last queued User Handler until one of the User Handlers indicates that the condition has been handled or until the queue is empty; and (i) means for executing the last queued LSH for the current stack frame to handle the condition if none of the User Handlers handled the condition.
Claim 2
Dependent Claim
52 words
The system of claim 1, further comprising: (a) means for accepting return information from one or more of the Handlers requesting that the condition be redefined as a second condition (Promote Request); and (b) means for processing the promote Request by executing a Handler and passing the second condition to the Handler.
Claim 3
Dependent Claim
41 words
The system of claim 2, further comprising: (a) means for accepting return information from one or more of the Handlers requesting that the condition be reprocessed by a second condition Handler (Percolate Request); and (b) means for processing the Percolate Request.
Claim 4
Dependent Claim
42 words
The system of claim 3, further comprising: (a) means for accepting return information from one or more of the Handlers requesting that execution he resumed in the code where the condition originated (Resume Request); and (b) means for processing the Resume Request.
Claim 5
Dependent Claim
24 words
The system of claim 1, wherein the queueing means for User Handlers further comprises means for calling an external entry point in the CCH.
Claim 6
Dependent Claim
43 words
The system of claim 1, further comprising: (a) means for registering a termination routine with the CCH to be executed when termination occurs; and (b) means for executing the termination routine, responsive to the occurence of termination as a result of a condition.
Claim 7
Dependent Claim
67 words
The system of claim 1, further comprising: (a) means for saving a Resume Cursor when a condition occurs; (b) means for accepting return information from a Handler to the CCH requesting that the Resume Cursor be changed to a new value; (c) means for changing the Resume Cursor to the new value; and (d) means for transferring control to the instruction pointed to by the Resume Cursor.
Claim 8
Dependent Claim
41 words
The system of claim 7, further comprising: (a) means for determining whether the new value of the Resume Cursor moves past a stack frame; and (b) means for unregistering any Handlers associated with a stack frame which has been moved past.
Claim 9
Independent Claim
191 words
A system for compiling a computer programming language which creates object code for programs which use Common Condition Handling (CCH) in a computer system using multiple computer programming languages comprising: (a) means for creating intialization object code which branches to a CCH external entry point to identify a language specific condition handler (LSH); (b) means for preparing object code for an LSH capable of being called by the CCH when a condition occurs, the LSH including: (1) means for accepting a parameter having at least first and second values; (2) means for returning information to the CCH when the parameter equals the first value which indicates whether the condition is enabled; (3) means for handling selected conditions related to the computer programming language when the parameter equals the second value and for returning information to the CCH which indicates whether the condition is handled (Resume Request), whether the condition should be changed to a new value (Promote Request), and whether the condition should be passed to another condition handler (Percolate Request); and (c) means for storing the object code in a memory for subsequent execution as a part of a program.
Claim 10
Dependent Claim
47 words
The system of claim 9, further comprising: (a) means for generating object code for a termination routine to be executed when termination occurs; and (b) means for creating object code to register the termination routine with the CCH to be executed responsive to the occurence of termination.
Claim 11
Dependent Claim
25 words
The system of claim 9, further comprising means for generating object code for requesting that the CCH change the Resume Cursor to the new value.
Claim 12
Dependent Claim
35 words
The system of claim 9, further comprising: (1) means for accepting a third parameter value; and (2) means for processing the condition according to the language defaults when the parameter equals the third parameter value.
References Cited (Backward Citations)
No citation records indexed.
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