International Business Machines Corporation

Thomas Marcus McBride

Tammy Lynn Van Hove

David Joseph Gimpl

Jeffrey John Parker

Richard Michael Theis

Nathaniel Calvert

Jerry Leroy Von Berge

Arnold H Bramnick

Dennis Steven DeLorme

Margaret Rose Fenlon

Alan Leon Levering

Robert Douglas Holt

Michael John Oberholtzer

Robert Thaddeus Gintowt

Arthur Frank Snyder, Iii

John Robert Ure

A filesystem conversion process converts a filesystem from one implementation type to another type while the filesystem remains active and fully accessible. The conversion process builds a list of directories in the filesystem that are of the old filesystem type and then converts each directory until the entire filesystem is converted. Instead of the filesystem being shutdown to perform the conversion, the conversion process may run as a background thread that does not interfere with normal filesystem operations.

Method of converting a filesystem while the filesystem remains in an active state

A logically-partitioned computer system provides support for multiple logical partitions to access a single file system, thereby allowing the logical partitions to share a file without the overhead of communicating over a VLAN. An area of shared memory is defined that multiple logical partitions may access. One or more file control blocks that control access to the files in the file system are then created in the shared memory. Existing mechanisms for locking a file system between processes may then be used across logical partitions to serialize access to the file system by all processes in all logical partitions that share the file system. In this manner the sharing of files in a file system is enabled by leveraging existing technology that is used within a single logical partition to extend across multiple logical partitions.

Apparatus and method for sharing a virtual file system between logical partitions

An apparatus and method provide a locking scheme that accommodates different size file locks. A first file lock command, referred to as an M bit file lock command, assumes a lock with a length of M bits. A second lock command, referred to as an N bit file lock command, assumes a lock with a length of N bits, which is less than M bits. A translation mechanism services both M-bit and N-bit file lock commands, and accesses locks that are M bits in length in response to both M-bit and N-bit file lock commands. The address range between 2 and 2 &minus;1 are assigned to one or more corresponding control addresses in the address range of 0 to 2 &minus;1. Locking of any control address using an N bit file lock command results in the address range between 2 and 2 &minus;1 being automatically locked in addition to the addresses specified in the N bit file lock command. This allows translating an N bit file lock command to an M bit lock. Similarly, when an M bit file lock command locks any address between 2 and 2 &minus;1, the translation mechanism locks the address or addresses specified in the M bit file lock command, and in addition locks the control address or addresses that correspond to the specified address. In this manner, both N bit and M bit file lock commands may access the same M bit locks, assuring that proper locking is maintained between computer programs that use N bit locks and computer programs that use M bit locks.

Apparatus and method for file locking for computer programs that use different size locks

A method for application registration and tracking for DOS and OS/2 software, independent of the mechanism in which the application is distributed and installed. The invention allows other application registration and tracking techniques to co-exist without affecting/impacting each other. This truly is an 'open' packaging, registration and tracking invention which allows PC-software to be better managed in a network.

PC product registration and tracking

Growing community of inventors

Mantorville, MN, United States of America

Thomas Marcus McBride