International Business Machines Corporation

William L Rich

Floyd W Shackelford

Robert L Abraham

Richard E Moore

John R Tiller, Jr

Richard S Briggs, Jr

Cynthia A Ross

Herman Mitchell

Michael P Priven

Donald E Curtis

Richard C Bale

Thomas F Mitchell

W Pettus Gewin

Kathleen K Tubbs

A method and system of increasing efficiency within a data processing system having multiple applications executing within the data processing system. Each of the applications requires a specific environment. A collection of parameters which specify an environment is stored within the data processing system in response to an initialization of the environment for utilization by a first application. Next, the minimal requirements of an second application requesting an environment are determined in response to an attempted initialization of the second application. An existing environment is then utilized if the collection of parameters specifying the environment meets the minimal requirements of the second application, wherein data processing efficiency is increased.

Method and system for managing environments with a data processing system

A system and method for importing and exporting data between an object oriented computing environment and an external computing environment encapsulates the validation, conversion, and update control mechanisms for objects in metadata about the objects. Metadata logic operates identically on a variety of internal objects, freeing the object oriented computing environment from the need to duplicate the same control logic for each user interface. During program generation, metadata objects are generated to link an external computing environment data field name, a corresponding object oriented computing environment attribute name and a corresponding external data format for each external data field which is imported and exported. An external class object is defined, including conversion parameters for converting the corresponding object oriented computing environment attribute into the corresponding external data format. External object class metadata objects contain the object oriented computing environment attributes which are used for import and export.

System and method for importing and exporting data between an object

Boundary control of units of work in an object oriented computing environment is provided by a visitor locking system and method and a persistent object locking system and method. The object management table includes a visitor lock flag and a persistent lock flag for each unit of work. The object manager prevents copying of an object from a first unit of work to a second unit of work in response to the visitor lock flag associated with the first unit of work being in a first state, and allows copying of the object from the first unit of work to the second unit of work in response to the visitor lock flag being in a second state. The object manager also locks an object from a first unit of work in response to the persistent lock flag associated therewith being in a first state, and unlocks the object from the first unit of work in response to the persistent lock flag being in a second state. Copying and locking may apply to persistent objects only. Locking may prevent addition of objects to, and deletion of objects from, the unit of work.

System and method for applying visitor lock and persistent lock flags to

A system and method for run time configuration of objects within an object oriented computing environment permits class substitution, instance redirection and class redirection at run time. Class redirection permits class message calls to be redirected from a first class to a second class at run time. In class redirection, the second class uses all new instances of the first class. Instance redirection enables both class messages and instance messages to be redirected from the first class to the second class of run time. In instance redirection, the second class uses all new and existing instances of the first class. Class substitution enables both class messages and instance messages to be redirected and also enables insertion of a new class into the class hierarchy at run time. In class substitution, the second class uses all new instances and existing instances of the first class and all new instances and existing instances of the descendants of the first class. Class substitution, instance redirection, and class redirection can be used individually or in combination. In addition, multiple classes can be linked together into a single run time module to enhance performance.

System and method for run time configuration of objects in an object

Data may be manipulated directly in an object oriented programming system by providing a slot object which contains data within its frame. In contrast with conventional objects, the frames of which only contain attributes of the associated instances, the slot object contains actual data therein. Since this data is not contained in a separate object, a unique object identified need not be provided, thus simplifying object management. Unique messages also need not be provided so that message overhead is simplified. Memory fragmentation is also reduced because simple and tightly bound data may be encapsulated within a larger slot object. The data area in the slot object may be of fixed or variable size.

Slot objects for an object oriented programming system

A Unit of Work object class for an object oriented database management system provides concurrent processing through Unit of Work levels and instances while maintaining the integrity of the data in the database. Each new Unit of Work assigned to a task is an instance of the Unit of Work object class. A Unit of Work manager controls each step such that manipulation of the data occurs to the copies at that particular level for that particular instance. Only after all levels have been completed satisfactorily will a 'Commit' occur to the data in the database. If completion is not satisfactory, Rollback of the levels occur, thus preserving data integrity. The Unit of Work manager can also switch control between Unit of Work instances, thus permitting simultaneous performance of tasks.

Unit of work for preserving data integrity of a data-base by creating in

A data structure and method for uniquely identifying, and optimizing access to, object instances in an object oriented programming environment on a data processor containing a memory. Objects are categorized into one or more classes which define the method of the categorized objects, and messages are sent by the data processor to objects to perform actions. The data structure consists of a persistent portion containing a unique object identifier and a non-persistent portion containing the access address of an instance data frame in memory. The access address is set to the address of the instance data frame control block when the message is sent in order to optimize subsequent messages to the same object instance. The instance data frame control blocks are not allocated in memory until a first message is sent to an instance.

System for persistent and delayed allocation object reference in an

A system for implementing a messenger and object manager in an object oriented programming environment on a data processor containing a memory, in which objects are categorized into one or more classes which define methods of the objects categorized therein, and in which messages are sent by the data processor to objects to perform actions thereon. The system includes a message call processing procedure operating on the data processor for processing message calls to instances, including a method resolution segment for calling a loaded classes table to determine whether the class corresponding to a method of the instance is loaded, where the method corresponds to the action requested by the message. If the corresponding class is not loaded in main memory, then the system dynamically loads the class. A data resolution segment calls an object management table to resolve an indirection pointer which points to the address of a data frame corresponding to the instance.

System and method for implementing a messenger and object manager in an

A persistent data interface for an object oriented programming system provides a persistent class object. Any object which must survive a run time session is arranged to inherit from the persistent class object. Any object which inherits from the persistent class automatically becomes a persistent object. The persistent class includes a 'materialize' method for automatically retrieving a persistent object from nonvolatile memory and placing it in volatile memory if the persistent object cannot be located in volatile memory. A 'dematerialize' method is also included for removing an object from volatile memory and storing it in nonvolatile memory. Data integrity of the system is thereby preserved.

Growing community of inventors

Stone Mountain, GA, United States of America

William L Rich