Sun Microsystems, Inc.

Jefferson A Dinkins

Mark W Hapner

Bruce E Martin

Yeturu Aahlad

A method and apparatus for managing relationships among objects in a distributed object environment includes a method and apparatus for determining whether two or more object references refer to identical objects; a method and apparatus for providing a unique identifier for an object; a method and apparatus for checking role types for the formation of relationships; and a method and apparatus for caching role and object locations in roles in a relationship. In the method and apparatus for determining whether two or more object references refer to the same object, a unique object identifier is compared to determine if the objects referred to by the object references are identical. The unique identifier is provided by concatenating information identifying the machine address of the process that created the object in addition to the process ID, the time of creation and a process counter. In the method and apparatus for checking role types, information including the number of roles and is passed to a relationship factory which determines whether the number, types and cardinality of the roles passed to the factory are consistent with the relationship object to be created. The method and apparatus also includes caching of object references and roles for objects related to a given object in that object's role. The methods and apparatus of the invention thus provide valuable tools for managing relationship among objects in a distributed object environment efficiently.

Method and apparatus for determining equality of objects in a distributed object environment

A number of methods and apparatus are disclosed for providing a service in a distributed object operating environment. According to some embodiments of the present invention, methods and apparatus for providing a conspiracy among objects in a object operating environment are disclosed. In particular, conspiracies within a distributed object operating environment are contemplated. In general, the present invention teaches mechanisms by which a collection of objects can form a conspiracy wherein objects can both communicate behind the object interfaces and share all resources. In some embodiments, the collection of objects work together to provide a service to clients. According to one embodiment, the objects which are members of the conspiracy may be distributed objects located in separate processes. In some embodiments, objects which are members of the conspiracy are able to perform interactions with one another behind the interface (i.e. without having to communicate through the interface) and also share persistent state. Three specific embodiments of the present invention are described, these being (1) a shared servant conspiracy model, (2) a shared object conspiracy model, and (3) a hybrid object conspiracy model. Each of these embodiments incorporates the conspiracy concept of the present invention yet they each have particular advantages which will be apparent upon reading the detailed description of the figures.

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Sunnyvale, CA, United States of America

Jefferson A Dinkins