Method and process for interprocess communication using named pipes

Claim 3

The method of claim 1 further comprising the step of placing the receiving process in a prescribed state awaiting a message following the step of creating the communication channel.

Claim 4

The method of claim 2 wherein the step of placing the receiving process in the prescribed state further comprises the step executed by the operating system in response to a system function call by the receiving process for terminating one end of the channel atthe receiving process and for preparing the operating system to accept a channel open function call from a sending process.

Claim 5

The method of claim 2 or claim 3 wherein the prescribed state is a process suspended state.

Claim 6

The method of claim 2 or claim 3 further comprising the step of alerting the receiving process by means of system semaphores in response to the sending of a message via the communication channel.

Claim 7

The method of claim 4 further comprising the step of reactivating the suspended receiving process in response to the sending of a message via the channel.

Claim 8

The method of claim 6 wherein the step of reactivating the receiving process further includes reactivating by the operating system in response to a channel open function call executed by the sending process.

Claim 9

The method of claim 5 or claim 7 wherein the step of reading from the channel by the receiving process further comprises reading message information blocks from the channel, each in response to a system function call, until an empty block is received.

Claim 10

The method of claim 7 further comprising placing the receiving process into an inactive state again in response to receipt of the empty block.

Claim 11

The method of claim 1 wherein the step of opening a communication channel by the sending process further comprises opening all communication channels in the system having names corresponding to the message type to be sent, and wherein the step of writing the message to a channel comprises the step of writing to all opened channels having names corresponding to !he message type to be sent.

Claim 12

The method of claim 10 further comprising the step executed by the sending process of disconnecting the sending process from a communication channel after the message has been sent on the channel by executing a channel disconnect system function call.

Claim 13

An arrangement in a computer system for communicating messages between message sending and message receiving processes, characterized in that it comprises : system means for administering communication channels between processes in the system by means of system function calls issued by the processes, said system means including means for creating communication channels, means for naming the communication channels, means for opening a channel at a first end of the channel for the sending of messages on the channel, and means for opening a channel at a second end for receiving messages from a channel, means in a receiving process for activating the creating means to create a communication channel terminating at one end on the receiving process, means in the receiving process for activating the assigning means to assign a system name to the channel in correspondence with a message type desired to be received by the receiving process via the channel, means in a sending process for opening a channel having a name corresponding to a message type to be sent, means in the sending process for writing the message to the channel, system means for alerting the receiving process of the message, and means in the receiving process for reading the message from the channel.

Claim 14

An arrangement in a computer system for communicating messages between message sending and message receiving processes, characterized in that it comprises : system means for administering communication channels between processes in the system by means of system function calls issued by the processes, said system means including means for creating communication channels, means for naming the communication channels, means for opening a channel at a first end of the channel for the sending of messages on the channel, and means for opening a channel at a second end for receiving messages from a channel, means in a receiving process for activating the creating means to create a communication channel terminating at one end on the receiving process, means in the receiving process for activating the assigning means to assign a system name to the channel in correspondence with a message type desired to be received by the receiving process via the channel, means in a sending process for opening a channel having a name corresponding to a message type to be sent, means in the sending process for writing the message to the channel, system means for alerting the receiving process of the message, and means in the receiving process for reading the message from the channel.

Claim 15

The arrangement of claim 12 wherein the means in a sending process for opening a channel further comprises means for opening all instances of channels having the same name corresponding to the message type to be sent, and wherein the means in the sending process for writing further comprises means for writing the message to all instances of channels having the same name corresponding to the message type to be sent.

Claim 16

The arrangement of claim 12 or claim 13 further comprising means in a receiving process for resetting a channel after the receipt of a message to enable the channel for the sending of another message by a sending process.

Claim 17

A message sending apparatus for use in a computer system for communicating messages from a sending process to message receiving processes via named pipes terminating on the receiving processes and administered by the system, characterized in that it comprises : means for opening every instance of a named pipe having a name corresponding to a message type to be sent by the sending process, means for writing the message to each instance of the named pipe, wherein the system means comprises means for alerting the receiving process attached to each instance of the named pipe of the message, and means for closing each instance of the named pipe after writing the message to that pipe instance.

Claim 18

A message sending apparatus for use in a computer system for communicating messages from a sending process to message receiving processes via named pipes terminating on the receiving processes and administered by the system, characterized in that it comprises : means for opening every instance of a named pipe having a name corresponding to a message type to be sent by the sending process, means for writing the message to each instance of the named pipe, wherein the system means comprises means for alerting the receiving process attached to each instance of the named pipe of the message, and means for closing each instance of the named pipe after writing the message to that pipe instance.