US5870742A
Expired / Lapsed
US
⏱️ 0.0 years remaining
Method and apparatus for enabling persistent attributes in an object oriented environment
Assignee: International Business Machines Corp
•
Filing: 1996-03-20
•
Granted: 1999-02-09
•
Expires: 2016-03-20
Abstract
Abstract A method and apparatus for saving and restoring persistent objects in a distributed object-oriented programming environment. This invention maintains persistent values for individual attributes and or instance variables. Attribute persistence is implemented using an interface that is inherited by any class that wants to have persistent attributes. The interface provides load -- attribute and store -- attribute methods that provide TypeCode based encoding and decoding. The methods provide improved performance by maintaining a cached copy of the encoded attribute and its TypeCode in memory in addition to the copy that exist in external storage. This allows the load -- attribute method to return the attribute without having to access external storage. Performance is enhanced during the object restoration process by restoring only the attribute values currently needed instead of the entire object. In addition, the invention keeps the contents of external storage in synchronization with the internal objects state thus improving the data integrity of the distributed object-oriented programming environment. This is accomplished by saving attribute data whenever it is updated.
Inventors
- 👤 David Yu Chang
- 👤 Robert Howard High, Jr.
- 👤 Russell Lev Newcombe
Bibliographic Details
Application Number
—
Jurisdiction
US
Data Source
google_patents
Last Synchronized
2026-11-06 09:13
CPC Classifications
G; G06; G06F; G06F12/00; G06F16/00; G06F16/20; G06F16/28; G06F16/289; Y; Y10; Y10S; Y10S707/00; Y10S707/99931; Y10S707/99938
Claims Analysis
Total Claims: 16
Claim 1
Independent Claim
125 words
A method, implemented in a computer system, for saving and restoring persistent objects on persistent storage in a distributed object-oriented data processing system, comprising the steps of: providing a persistent object having a plurality of attributes including TypeCode information in a memory in said distributed object-oriented data processing system; accessing said persistent object in said memory in said distributed object-oriented data processing system and invoking one of a plurality of methods having TypeCode encoding and decoding capability against said persistent object, and storing said plurality of attributes for said persistent object on said persistent storage as independent entries associated with said persistent object in response to said one of said methods based upon said TypeCode information while maintaining said plurality of attributes in said memory.
Claim 2
Independent Claim
125 words
A method, implemented in a computer system, for saving and restoring persistent objects on persistent storage in a distributed object-oriented data processing system, comprising the steps of: providing a persistent object having a plurality of attributes including TypeCode information in a memory in said distributed object-oriented data processing system; accessing said persistent object in said memory in said distributed object-oriented data processing system and invoking one of a plurality of methods having TypeCode encoding and decoding capability against said persistent object, and storing said plurality of attributes for said persistent object on said persistent storage as independent entries associated with said persistent object in response to said one of said methods based upon said TypeCode information while maintaining said plurality of attributes in said memory.
Claim 3
Dependent Claim
49 words
The method of claim 1, wherein the step of accessing said persistent object further includes the steps of: requesting a selected one of said plurality of attributes for said persistent object; and restoring said selected one of said attributes in response to said request based upon said TypeCode information.
Claim 4
Dependent Claim
77 words
The method of claim 1, wherein the step of accessing said persistent object further includes the steps of: changing a selected one of said plurality of attributes of said persistent object in said memory in said data processing system; and immediately updating said selected one of said plurality of attributes for said persistent object based upon said TypeCode information on said persistent storage to maintain synchronization between the persistent object in said memory and said persistent storage.
Claim 5
Dependent Claim
16 words
The method of claim 1, wherein the plurality of attributes is a plurality of instance variables.
Claim 6
Dependent Claim
22 words
The method of claim 1, wherein the persistence of said persistent object is not known by a client requesting said persistent object.
Claim 7
Independent Claim
125 words
An apparatus for saving and restoring persistent objects on persistent storage in a distributed object-oriented data processing system, comprising: means for providing a persistent object having a plurality of attributes including TypeCode information in a memory in said distributed object-oriented data processing system; means for accessing said persistent object in said memory in said distributed object-oriented data processing system and means for invoking one of a plurality of methods having TypeCode encoding and decoding capability against said persistent object, and means for storing said plurality of attributes for said persistent object on said persistent storage as independent entries associated with said persistent object in response to said one of said methods based upon said TypeCode information while maintaining said plurality of attributes in said memory.
Claim 8
Independent Claim
125 words
An apparatus for saving and restoring persistent objects on persistent storage in a distributed object-oriented data processing system, comprising: means for providing a persistent object having a plurality of attributes including TypeCode information in a memory in said distributed object-oriented data processing system; means for accessing said persistent object in said memory in said distributed object-oriented data processing system and means for invoking one of a plurality of methods having TypeCode encoding and decoding capability against said persistent object, and means for storing said plurality of attributes for said persistent object on said persistent storage as independent entries associated with said persistent object in response to said one of said methods based upon said TypeCode information while maintaining said plurality of attributes in said memory.
Claim 9
Dependent Claim
50 words
The apparatus of claim 6, wherein the means for accessing said persistent object further includes: means for requesting a selected one of said plurality of attributes for said persistent object; and means for restoring said selected one of said attributes in response to said request based upon said TypeCode information.
Claim 10
Dependent Claim
78 words
The apparatus of claim 6, wherein the means for accessing said persistent object further includes: means for changing a selected one of said plurality of attributes of said persistent object in said memory in said data processing system; and means for immediately updating said selected one of said plurality of attributes for said persistent object based upon said TypeCode information on said persistent storage to maintain synchronization between the persistent object in said memory and said persistent storage.
Claim 11
Dependent Claim
16 words
The apparatus of claim 6, wherein the plurality of attributes is a plurality of instance variables.
Claim 12
Dependent Claim
22 words
The apparatus of claim 6, wherein the persistence of said persistent object is not known by a client requesting said persistent object.
Claim 13
Dependent Claim
142 words
A computer program product having a computer readable medium having computer program logic recorded thereon for saving and restoring persistent objects on persistent storage in a distributed object-oriented data processing system, comprising: computer readable means for providing a persistent object having a plurality of attributes including TypeCode information in a memory in said distributed object-oriented data processing system; computer readable means for accessing said persistent object in said memory in said distributed object-oriented data processing system and invoking one of a plurality of methods having TypeCode encoding and decoding capability against said persistent object, and computer readable means for storing said plurality of attributes for said persistent object on said persistent storage as independent entries associated with said persistent object in response to said one of said methods based upon said TypeCode information while maintaining said plurality of attributes in said memory.
Claim 14
Dependent Claim
142 words
A computer program product having a computer readable medium having computer program logic recorded thereon for saving and restoring persistent objects on persistent storage in a distributed object-oriented data processing system, comprising: computer readable means for providing a persistent object having a plurality of attributes including TypeCode information in a memory in said distributed object-oriented data processing system; computer readable means for accessing said persistent object in said memory in said distributed object-oriented data processing system and invoking one of a plurality of methods having TypeCode encoding and decoding capability against said persistent object, and computer readable means for storing said plurality of attributes for said persistent object on said persistent storage as independent entries associated with said persistent object in response to said one of said methods based upon said TypeCode information while maintaining said plurality of attributes in said memory.
Claim 15
Dependent Claim
46 words
The computer program of claim 11, comprising: computer readable means for requesting a selected one of said plurality of attributes for said persistent object; and computer readable means for restoring said selected one of said attributes in response to said request based upon said TypeCode information.
Claim 16
Dependent Claim
74 words
The computer program of claim 11, comprising: computer readable means for changing a selected one of said plurality of attributes of said persistent object in said memory in said data processing system; and computer readable means for immediately updating said selected one of said plurality of attributes for said persistent object based upon said TypeCode information on said persistent storage to maintain synchronization between the persistent object in said memory and said persistent storage.
References Cited (Backward Citations)
US5247669A
Cited
US5437027A
Cited
US5291583A
Cited
US5448727A
Cited
US5241624A
Cited
US5644764A
Cited
EP0766185A2
Cited
USPTO Annuity & Maintenance Windows
| Annuity Stage | Window Opens | Payment Deadline | Surcharge Period Until | Estimated Fee | Status |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| 3.5 Years (Year 4) | 2002-02-08 | 2002-08-10 | 2003-02-09 | $2000.00 | Window Closed / Lapsed |
| 7.5 Years (Year 8) | 2006-02-08 | 2006-08-10 | 2007-02-09 | $3760.00 | Window Closed / Lapsed |
| 11.5 Years (Year 12) | 2010-02-08 | 2010-08-10 | 2011-02-09 | $7700.00 | Window Closed / Lapsed |