System and method for supporting transactions for a thin client lacking a persistent store in a distributed object-oriented environment

Claim 1

A method for allowing a thin client workstation to participate in a global transaction in a distributed transaction processing environment, the method comprising the steps of: an application on a thin client workstation requesting to begin a global transaction; in response to receiving the request, generating a unique global transaction identifier (Global ID) to associate with the global transaction; in response to execution of a remote method on a remote server, sending a temporary transaction propagation context to the remote server supporting a two-phase commit protocol, the temporary transaction context including the Global ID and a flag to indicate that the remote server will become the Root server, said Root server modifying said temporary transaction propagation context; receiving a real propagation context from the Root server; replacing the temporary context with a real propagation context at the thin client; and using the real transaction propagation context containing the Global ID generated by the thin client to coordinate a global transaction.

Claim 2

A method for allowing a thin client workstation to participate in a global transaction in a distributed transaction processing environment, the method comprising the steps of: an application on a thin client workstation requesting to begin a global transaction; in response to receiving the request, generating a unique global transaction identifier (Global ID) to associate with the global transaction; in response to execution of a remote method on a remote server, sending a temporary transaction propagation context to the remote server supporting a two-phase commit protocol, the temporary transaction context including the Global ID and a flag to indicate that the remote server will become the Root server, said Root server modifying said temporary transaction propagation context; receiving a real propagation context from the Root server; replacing the temporary context with a real propagation context at the thin client; and using the real transaction propagation context containing the Global ID generated by the thin client to coordinate a global transaction.

Claim 10

A system for allowing a thin client workstation to participate in a global transaction in a distributed transaction processing environment, the system comprising: a remote server having main memory, and a transaction manager (TM) and recovery coordinator operating in the remote server's main memory, wherein the TM supports a two-phase commit protocol; a thin client having main memory, and an application program and a pseudo-transaction manager (PTM) operational in the thin client's main memory, the PTM being configured for communicating with the remote server's TM to perform the executed steps of: responding to receiving a request from an application on a thin client workstation begin a global transaction, by generating a unique global transaction identifier (Global ID) to associate with the global transaction; in response to execution of a remote method on the remote server, sending a temporary transaction propagation context to the remote server supporting a two-phase commit protocol, the temporary transaction context including the Global ID and a flag to indicate that the remote server will become the Root server, said Root server modifying said temporary transaction propagation context; receiving a real propagation context from the Root server; replacing the temporary context with a real propagation context at the thin client; and using the real propagation context containing the Global ID generated by the thin client to coordinate a global transaction.

Claim 11

A system for allowing a thin client workstation to participate in a global transaction in a distributed transaction processing environment, the system comprising: a remote server having main memory, and a transaction manager (TM) and recovery coordinator operating in the remote server's main memory, wherein the TM supports a two-phase commit protocol; a thin client having main memory, and an application program and a pseudo-transaction manager (PTM) operational in the thin client's main memory, the PTM being configured for communicating with the remote server's TM to perform the executed steps of: responding to receiving a request from an application on a thin client workstation begin a global transaction, by generating a unique global transaction identifier (Global ID) to associate with the global transaction; in response to execution of a remote method on the remote server, sending a temporary transaction propagation context to the remote server supporting a two-phase commit protocol, the temporary transaction context including the Global ID and a flag to indicate that the remote server will become the Root server, said Root server modifying said temporary transaction propagation context; receiving a real propagation context from the Root server; replacing the temporary context with a real propagation context at the thin client; and using the real propagation context containing the Global ID generated by the thin client to coordinate a global transaction.

Claim 19

An apparatus for allowing a thin client workstation to participate in a global transaction in a distributed transaction processing environment, the apparatus comprising: a first server including a processing unit and main memory in communication with the processing unit; transaction manager logic operating in main memory of the first server, the transaction manager logic including an object transaction manager module that further includes a registration module, a commit module, and a pseudo-transaction manager interface, wherein the registration module includes computer-executable logic that enables it to register distributed object resources requested by a client application for a global transaction for being committable by a two-phase protocol, wherein the object resources are distributed among a plurality of servers including the first server and may also be distributed on a client, wherein at least one of the plurality of servers has a transaction manager supporting a two-phase commit protocol, and wherein the commit module includes computer-executable logic for committing the registered resources; and a thin client having main memory, and an application program and a pseudo-transaction manager (PTM) logic operational in the thin client's main memory, the PTM including an interface for communicating with the first server's PTM interface, the PTM further including a temporary propagation context creator and a real propagation context updater, wherein the temporary propagation context creator is configured for responding to receiving a request from the application program to begin a global transaction, by generating a unique global transaction identifier (Global ID) to associate with the global transaction, and creating and sending a temporary transaction action propagation context to the first server, the temporary transaction context including the Global ID and a flag to indicate that the remote server will become the Root server, and the real propagation context updater is configured for receiving a real propagation context from the first server and replacing the temporary context with a real propagation context, and the PTM is further configured for using the real transaction propagation context containing the Global ID to coordinate a global transaction.

Claim 20

An apparatus for allowing a thin client workstation to participate in a global transaction in a distributed transaction processing environment, the apparatus comprising: a first server including a processing unit and main memory in communication with the processing unit; transaction manager logic operating in main memory of the first server, the transaction manager logic including an object transaction manager module that further includes a registration module, a commit module, and a pseudo-transaction manager interface, wherein the registration module includes computer-executable logic that enables it to register distributed object resources requested by a client application for a global transaction for being committable by a two-phase protocol, wherein the object resources are distributed among a plurality of servers including the first server and may also be distributed on a client, wherein at least one of the plurality of servers has a transaction manager supporting a two-phase commit protocol, and wherein the commit module includes computer-executable logic for committing the registered resources; and a thin client having main memory, and an application program and a pseudo-transaction manager (PTM) logic operational in the thin client's main memory, the PTM including an interface for communicating with the first server's PTM interface, the PTM further including a temporary propagation context creator and a real propagation context updater, wherein the temporary propagation context creator is configured for responding to receiving a request from the application program to begin a global transaction, by generating a unique global transaction identifier (Global ID) to associate with the global transaction, and creating and sending a temporary transaction action propagation context to the first server, the temporary transaction context including the Global ID and a flag to indicate that the remote server will become the Root server, and the real propagation context updater is configured for receiving a real propagation context from the first server and replacing the temporary context with a real propagation context, and the PTM is further configured for using the real transaction propagation context containing the Global ID to coordinate a global transaction.