International Business Machines Corporation

Stephen James Todd

David Alec Selby

Mark Steven Ramsey

Bruce Gilbert Lindsay

Serge Bourbonnais

Elizabeth Belva Hamel

Stephen Glen Graham

Graham Derek Wallis

Peter David Niblett

Marc-Thomas Schmidt

Charles Daniel Wolfson

Stephen James Hobson

Jose Emir Garza

Andrew James Stanford-Clark

Francis Nicholas Parr

Gidon Gershinsky

Boaz Carmeli

Michael Starkey

Paul H Siegel

Andrew John Schofield

Constance Jane Nelin

Yael Shaham-Gafni

Gabi Zodik

Timothy Nicholas Holloway

Peter Quarendon

Roy B Harrison

Christopher Colin Paice

Dermot Flaherty

John Justin Duigenan

Daniel James Matthews

Neta Aizenbud-Reshef

Richard David Johnson

Alan R Halbert

Michael A Gray

Peter James Todd

David Pitcher

Philip R Blake

Described are methods, apparatus and computer programs for managing persistence within a data processing system such as a messaging system, database system or file system. The method for managing persistence includes a deferred evaluation () of at least one criterion associated with costs and/or benefits of saving to persistent storage, instead of persistence behaviour being fully predefined. The evaluation may be performed when a disk write is about to be performed (), or at various times during processing of a data update and at various points within a data processing network. In a messaging solution, the method for managing persistence includes a dynamic evaluation () of costs and/or benefits of saving to persistent storage, with the evaluation being performed at various points in the messaging network after the message has been created and sent by the originating entity. The method includes determining whether message data and/or log records relating to the message require saving to persistent storage, in accordance with the costs and/or the benefits of saving to persistent storage. The benefits of persisting may be determined with reference to a message value ().

Methods, apparatus and computer programs for managing persistence

In a method of the invention, a plurality of distributed service requestors input service requests, and the service requests are replicated to at least two of a plurality of request processing components that are located within a communication path between the requestors and the data store. The method also includes preventing any request processing component that has not successfully claimed the service request from processing the service request A first request processing component can claim responsibility for the service request; and the first request processing component can process its replica of the claimed service request, including accessing data within the data store. The method also includes preventing any of the plurality of request processing components from entering a duplicate claim to responsibility for the service request.

Data processing system and method of handling requests

A mechanism is provided for handling transaction messages in asynchronous data replication in a database system, in which the database system includes a source node and a target node, and each transaction message has information concerning a row change to a table copy at the source node. The mechanism determines whether a first transaction message has a dependency on a preceding non-completed transaction message. Responsive to the first transaction message having a dependency on the preceding non-completed transaction, the mechanism holds the first transaction message, completes the preceding non-completed transaction message including applying the row change associated with the preceding non-completed transaction message to the table copy at the target node, and responsive to completing the preceding non-completed transaction message, and releases the first transaction message and applying the row change associated with the first transaction message to the table copy at the target node.

Replicating data across multiple copies of a table in a database system

Described are methods, apparatus and computer programs for managing persistence within a data processing system such as a messaging system, database system or file system. The method for managing persistence includes a deferred evaluation () of at least one criterion associated with costs and/or benefits of saving to persistent storage, instead of persistence behavior being fully predefined. The evaluation may be performed when a disk write is about to be performed (), or at various times during processing of a data update and at various points within a data processing network. In a messaging solution, the method for managing persistence includes a dynamic evaluation () of costs and/or benefits of saving to persistent storage, with the evaluation being performed at various points in the messaging network after the message has been created and sent by the originating entity. The method includes determining whether message data and/or log records relating to the message require saving to persistent storage, in accordance with the costs and/or the benefits of saving to persistent storage. The benefits of persisting may be determined with reference to a message value ().

A mechanism for handling transaction messages in asynchronous data replication in a database system, in which the database system includes a source node and a target node, and each transaction message has information concerning a row change to a table copy at the source node. The mechanism determines whether a first transaction message has a dependency on a preceding non-completed transaction message. Responsive to the first transaction message having a dependency on the preceding non-completed transaction, the mechanism holds the first transaction message, completes the preceding non-completed transaction message including applying the row change associated with the preceding non-completed transaction message to the table copy at the target node, and responsive to completing the preceding non-completed transaction message, releases the first transaction message and applying the row change associated with the first transaction message to the table copy at the target node.

A multi-objective optimization method. The method comprises a population of objects for each objective utilizing an optimization process and determining a measure for the variation in values of each gene within each population. A crossbreed between objects from different ones of the populations is performed, wherein a selection of gene values for the child object is weighted based on the measures for the variations in the values of each gene within the respective populations.

Genetic optimization method and system

A user is enabled to specify policy information for use by a persistence manager in determining how to persist information relating to a data item so as achieve a desired level of reliability. The user is permitted to specify at least two behavior requirements to be associated with information to be persisted. The first behavior requirement is specifiable for a first system state, and the second behavior state is specifiable for a second system state. The behavior requirements are interpretable by the persistence manager to determine a persistence behavior necessary to conform with the policy information.

Management of persistence in a data processing system

A data item is retrieved from a data store in a data processing system. The data processing system comprises an index, which at least partially indexes the data store, and also a partiality definition store. The partiality definition store indicates a part of the data store which is referenced by the partial index. A request is received for a data item from the data store and responsive to determining that the requested data item is not referenced by the partial index, the data store is searched by using the partiality definition store to avoid searching a part of the data store which is known to be indexed.

Method, apparatus and computer program for retrieving data

The invention provides a method, system, and program product for increasing the effectiveness of a customer contact strategy. In one embodiment, the method includes assigning a value to each of a plurality of customer events; assigning each of the plurality of promotion events to a 'bucket' having a predefined range of values, based on a value of each promotion event; and selecting a customer event from the bucket having the highest range of values.

Method, system, and program product for increasing the effectiveness of customer contact strategies

A data processing system comprises a matching engine for matching messages and a switch for routing data. The data processing system is arranged to receive publish messages comprising topic and source identification, and to receive subscribe messages comprising topic and sink identification. The matching engine is arranged to match one or more sink identifications to a source identification according to a matching topic and the switch is arranged to receive control signals dependent on the result of the matching and accordingly to route data from a source to one or more sinks. The system can include a switch control, the switch control arranged to receive an output of the matching from the matching engine and to transmit the control signals to the switch, the control signals defining the routing to be applied by the switch.

Data processing system using matching engine and routing switch

A method and system for scaled exponential smoothing are provided. Multiple exponentially smoothed values are maintained for items and events occur on one or more of the items. The method maintains a gradually inflated representation of the smoothed values of items, such that the representation at a given time for an item where no event has occurred is not altered. Using a scaling technique enables the smoothed values for the objects on which an event has not occurred to remain the same. This reduces the number of calculations required significantly, enabling the use of the smoothing technique in a wide range of applications.

Scaled exponential smoothing

In many messaging systems, message selection filtering involves a significant processing overhead. This includes the parsing and preparing of the message selection filters in readiness for evaluation, as well as the evaluation itself. In systems which involve parsing and prepare processing for expressions that include repeated patterns (such as in many JMS environments), a template-based shortcutting of the conventional processing improves performance. A stored parsing template is used to parse an input sequence such as a received data processing instruction. The parse is used to identify expressions of a first type that can then be implicitly optimized by using a stored evaluation template that is associated with expressions of that type.

Processing of expressions

A computer readable medium encoded with a computer program for handling transaction messages in asynchronous data replication in a database system is disclosed. The computer program provides a high speed parallel apply of transactional changes to a target node such that the parallel nature of the application of changes does not compromise the integrity of the data. The computer program detects, tracks, and handles dependencies between transaction messages to be applied to the target node. If a transaction message has a dependency on one or more preceding transaction messages whose applications have not yet completed, that transaction message is held until the application completes. In addition, the computer program requires significantly less overhead than conventional approaches.

Parallel apply processing in data replication with preservation of transaction integrity and source ordering of dependent updates

A method and system for message subscription management is presented. In one embodiment, the method includes sending a subscription request from a subscriber to a publisher. The subscription request is intercepted and redirected to a broker. Upon intercepting the subscription request, additional information, which includes an instruction to send event messages to the subscriber, is added to the subscription request and forwarded to the broker.

Growing community of inventors

Winchester, United Kingdom

Stephen James Todd