Tracking object across processes

Abstract

Systems and methods are disclosed for tracking the lifecycle of an object across processes and for tracking the lifecycle of processes that are processing the object. A first process, Pcan generate an Action object representing work to be performed by another process, P. The Action object can carry a payload of arbitrary information, an action handler, a handle to a response queue, and a timeout value. A token set can be requested from a kernel of an operating system. A first token in the set can be held by one process at a time. The kernel enforces that rule. The kernel can track the location of the first token. A copy of the Action object is viable for sending a response if it holds the first token. An Action Listener within Pholds the second token of the set and uses it to validate a response received by Pfrom a remote process. The remote process performs the work of the Action object and guarantees a response back to P, through the kernel, without passing the response back through intervening processes Pthrough P.