System for controlling electronic messaging protocol between plurality of computer system by using identical electronic messaging system

Claim 3

The method of claim 1, wherein the step of providing the EMS includes the steps of: staging the message using a router for transmission or reception by the transmitting application/process or by the receiving application/process, respectively; and providing an application programming interface (API) between the router and the corresponding application/process associated with the EMS, wherein the API includes the plurality of verb-based modules.

Claim 4

The method of claim 2, wherein the step of staging includes the step of: managing the queues and messages therein using a queue manager of the router.

Claim 5

The method of claim 1, further comprising the steps of: storing into saved files, during a shutdown procedure of the EMS, any non-transmitted saveable messages in the queues; and rebuilding queues of saved non-transmitted messages from the saved files during a start-up procedure of the EMS.

Claim 6

The method of claim 1, wherein the step of controlling the electronic messaging protocol using the EMS further comprises the step of: formatting the message by: generating an associated message header; and encapsulating the message for transmission and reception by adding the message header to the message.

Claim 7

The method of claim 5, wherein the step of formatting further includes the steps of: determining whether the message has a data length greater than a nominal limit; and subdividing each message having a length exceeding the nominal limit into message segments; and wherein each message segment has an associated message header generated and added thereto for transmission.

Claim 8

The method of claim 1 wherein the plurality of verb-based software modules includes at least the following modules: COMMIT, to inform a router of the EMS that the message has been successfully received and processed by the receiving application/process, and that the queue associated with the transmitting application/process may be released; DELETE, to remove a selected message from a specified queue regardless of priority, pending or active state, or whether receipt has yet been acknowledged; FREEBUF, to release data/storage and queue entries when no longer required; GET BUF, to allocate resources such as internal memory needed to support message sending and status services; INITIALIZE, to connect the calling application/process for performing the electronic messaging protocol; PURGE, to remove all of the messages from any local queue regardless of priority and pending an active state; RECEIVE, to deliver an incoming message to the receiving application/process and to queue the message traffic awaiting delivery and priority to the receiving application/process; SEND, to place a message into a routing queue for eventual transmission from the transmitting application/process to the receiving application/process; STATE, to inquire about or to alter the state of any local routing message queues; STATUS, to inquire about or alter the status of any message in a specified message sending queue and to obtain the number of messages in such queue; and TERMINATE, to resolve latent messages before termination of the corresponding application/process and then to terminate the application connection to a routing message queue.

Claim 11

The method of claim 8 wherein the steps of creating the outgoing message queue and the incoming message queue are performed by an INIT module of the plurality of verb-based modules.

Claim 12

The method of claim 8 wherein the step of formatting the message for transmission is performed by a SEND module of the plurality of verb-based modules.

Claim 13

The method of claim 8 wherein the step of acknowledging the receipt of the formatted message is performed by a COMMIT module of the plurality of verb-based modules.

Claim 14

The method of claim 8 wherein the step of releasing the memory associated with the outgoing message queue is performed by a FREEBUF module of the plurality of verb-based modules.

Claim 15

A communication system for controlling an electronic messaging protocol between a plurality of computer systems, each computer system executing an application program or a process, the communication system comprising: a plurality of substantially identical electronic messaging systems (EMSs), each EMS operating in a respective one of the plurality of computer systems to be directly accessed and controlled by the respective application program or process in the respective one of the plurality of computer systems for transmitting messages from a transmitting application/process to a receiving application/process, wherein each EMS includes: an application programming interface (API) having a plurality of verb-based software modules which are called by the transmitting application/process and the receiving application/process to perform transmission and reception functions, respectively; and a router for managing incoming and outgoing queues of the messages.

Claim 16

A communication system for controlling an electronic messaging protocol between a plurality of computer systems, each computer system executing an application program or a process, the communication system comprising: a plurality of substantially identical electronic messaging systems (EMSs), each EMS operating in a respective one of the plurality of computer systems to be directly accessed and controlled by the respective application program or process in the respective one of the plurality of computer systems for transmitting messages from a transmitting application/process to a receiving application/process, wherein each EMS includes: an application programming interface (API) having a plurality of verb-based software modules which are called by the transmitting application/process and the receiving application/process to perform transmission and reception functions, respectively; and a router for managing incoming and outgoing queues of the messages.

Claim 17

The communication system of claim 13, wherein the incoming and outgoing queues are created and released in response to queue-controlling verb-based modules.

Claim 18

The communication system of claim 13, wherein the router formats the messages for transmission.

Claim 19

The communication system of claim 15, wherein the router, responsive to initiation of a SEND module, generates an Interface Control Block as a message header to format the message for transmission.

Claim 20

The communication system of claim 13, wherein each EMS, responsive to the message exceeding a nominal limit, subdivides the message into message segments and formats the message segments for separate transmission.

Claim 21

The communication system of claim 13, wherein each EMS includes a plurality of communication agents, with each communication agent being adapted to connect the respective EMS to communication devices corresponding to the communication agent.

Claim 22

The communication system of claim 18, wherein each EMS includes a communications manager for connecting the router to the plurality of communication agents for transmitting the messages from the API to at least one of the communication agents.

Claim 23

The communication system of claim 13, wherein the transmitting application/process sends the messages through its corresponding EMS and through a network protocol to another EMS of the receiving application/process.