Special device access to distributed data

Abstract

Methods are executed upon data objects distributed across a plurality of nodes of a system from a user-held 'special' device (such as a cell phone, palm top, set top, car GPS system, . . . ). Heterogeneous data at a plurality of remote nodes is accessed automatically in parallel at high speed using a simple script request containing a data source object name wherein the heterogeneous data is treated as a single data source object, the script further containing code representing a user-defined program to be executed on the data source object. An agent breaks the user-generated script into new scripts appropriate for execution at the remote nodes. A messenger process transmits the new scripts to the appropriate remote nodes where respective agent processes respond to automatically access the appropriate data and to automatically execute the specified program. If the program is a user-defined script or executable, the respective agent processes access a metadata repository to obtain the specified program. A set of complex transactions may be built up and executed by simply touching or updating the special device screen, according to a visual methodology in which the results of each sub-transaction are displayed and become the basis for the next point and touch operation in the sequence of transactions.