International Business Machines Corporation

Nuance Communications, Inc.

Benjamin J Fletcher

Andrew James Stanford-Clark

Gareth Edward Jones

Matthew N Sunley

Martin J Gale

Matthew Robert Whitehead

Christopher Phillips

Neil George Young

A method, apparatus, and/or computer program product generates a predictive data structure for an application when operating offline in a network connected data processing system, the application comprising source code having an execution path. The method comprises: determining an exit point within the source code of the application; determining, from the exit point, an execution path comprising at least one conditional statement; identifying one or more branches of the at least one identified conditional statement and for each identified branch determining an expected response; for each determined expected response, generating a data structure from the response; continuing along the execution path of the source code from the exit point and replacing each request for a resource in the source code with a pointer to the generated data structure; and executing the source code with the pointer to the generated data structure from the determined exit point.

Generating a predictive data structure

A publish/subscribe interface is used to enable a non-publish/subscribe first system (such as an IP network device) to obtain status information about a publish/subscribe device that cannot be pinged by the first system. The first system sends a status request to a domain name server. The status request includes a domain name for the publish/subscribe device. Topic space maintained by a message broker in the publish/subscribe system includes status topics associated with publish/subscribe devices. The status topics contents reflect the current availability of the associated publish/subscribe device.

Determining the status of a device through use of a publisher/subscriber interface

A hierarchical publish/subscribe network is employed to produce and distribute special effects to users to complement displayed video information. A top level broker in the network receives a plurality of data streams corresponding to a respective plurality of primary special. A service provider makes a subscription request for one of said primary special effects and receives the corresponding selected data stream. The selected data stream is transformed into at least one further data stream, corresponding to a further special effect. The further data stream is published to a lower level broker associated with the service provider. In response to a user subscription request for the further special effect, the lower level broker publishes the further data stream to a user interface for presentation to the user in association with the displayed video information.

Producing special effects to complement displayed video information

A method, apparatus, and computer product for avoiding redundant data transmissions during communication via multimedia mobile phones. In operation, a sending party inquires whether intended for transmission data already resides in a mobile phone of a receiving party Depending on a content of the response from the receiving party, the sending party transmits the data or a request for displaying the already available data.

Avoiding redundant transmissions of data during multimedia mobile phone communications

A device for enabling a first computer network device to determine whether a second computer network device has an online status or an offline status includes a memory device with instructions for execution by a processor to: receive a request from the first computer network device for the status of the second computer network device; determine whether the second computer network device is online or offline; in response to a determination that the second computer network device is online, return a first network address to the first computer network device; and in response to a determination that the second computer network device is offline, return a second network address to the first computer network device, wherein the second network address is a known bad address that will not provide a response to the first computer network device.

A publish/subscribe interface is used to enable a non-publish/subscribe first system (such as an IP network device) to obtain status information about a publish/subscribe device that cannot be pinged by the first system. The first system sends a status request to a domain name server associated with a system known to include the publish/subscribe device. The status request includes a domain name for the publish/subscribe device. Topic space maintained by a message broker in the publish/subscribe system includes status topics associated with publish/subscribe devices. The status topics contents reflect the current availability of the associated publish/subscribe device. The domain name is mapped to a status topic associated to the publish/subscribe device identified in the status request and the contents of that status topic are retrieved. If the contents have a first value, a 'good' IP address is returned to the first system. If the contents have the second value, a 'bad' IP address is returned. The return address is used in ping messages. If the ping operation succeeds, it is concluded the publish/subscribe device is online. If the ping operation fails, it is concluded that the publish/subscribe device is off-line.

Embodiments of the present invention provide a method, system and computer program product for fast mouse pointer location. In an embodiment of the invention, a method for fast mouse pointer location includes determining a contemporaneous location of a mouse pointer in a GUI of a host computer, dimensioning in memory of the host computer different shapes and arranging the shapes to proximately meet at a point of intersection, overlaying the shapes in the GUI at a position proximate to the contemporaneous location of the mouse pointer, displaying the shapes in the GUI for a brief period of time before hiding the shapes from view in the GUI and repeating the determining, dimensioning, overlaying and displaying for different movements of the mouse pointer in the GUI.

Fast cursor location

A natural language request for modifying a set of subscriptions for one or more topics in a publish/subscribe topic hierarchy is received at a processing device. The natural language request includes a predetermined natural language element. The natural language request is transformed into a publish/subscribe topic string and the predetermined natural language element is transformed into a publish/subscribe symbol. The symbol represents one or more topics in the topic hierarchy. One or more subscriptions to one or more topics is modified based on the transformed topic string.

Transforming a natural language request for modifying a set of subscriptions for a publish/subscribe topic string

Subscribers connected to a publish/subscribe message broker receive messages on topic names to which they have subscribed. The subscribers receive any number of messages on each topic to which they have subscribed. When the broker receives a message on a second, pre-specified, topic, associated with a first topic, the broker removes any existing retained message related to the first topic. Thus any subsequent subscribers to the first topic do not receive the retained message when they subscribe, and thus do not receive out-of-date information. If, at a later date, a new message is published on the first topic subscribers will receive the new message if they are still subscribed.

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London, United Kingdom

Benjamin J Fletcher