Common Data Representation

About: Common Data Representation is a research topic. Over the lifetime, 150 publications have been published within this topic receiving 4573 citations.

Integrated request-response system and method generating responses to request objects formatted according to various communication protocols

Abstract: A method and apparatus is provided to accomplish creation and serving of data objects among various communication protocols. The method and apparatus can be used in such applications as an on-line classified advertising system on the Internet involving the World Wide Web and electronic mail. In the apparatus, a request decoder receives an incoming request, decodes the request using configurations from a configuration database in order to identify which protocol was used to transmit the request, and generates from the request a corresponding abstract data object. A data processor merges data from a main database with the abstract data object. An object formatter formats the abstract data object including the merged data. An object deliverer formats the object for outgoing transmission according to a protocol of an intended recipient. The functions of object deliverer may be performed by the object formatter.

System for integrating processing by application programs in homogeneous and heterogeneous network environments

Abstract: System Configuration files in source code are created from a high level definition of the distributed system which is to be integrated. The configuration files include data such as the types and formats of data for each process on each node of the system, identification of all applications and machine types, topography and the data manipulations needed for sending messages and files and the like from an application program in a first computer language and of a first data type to an application program in a second computer language and of a second data type. Node-specific data manipulation modules are formed at each node during start-up of the system, and these modules are automatically distributed to nodes on the network having the same architecture. The invention allows applications having different physical data characteristics to communicate by using the data manipulation modules so formed to manipulate the data at the source program into a common data representation (CDR) having data types common to all of the languages represented by the system and then reconverting the data to the local representation at the destination node.

System and method for a distributed debugger for debugging distributed application programs

Abstract: A system and method for providing a distributed debugger system for a distributed target computer application are disclosed wherein the programmer/developer of the application can be at one host machine and wherein the application being developed makes use of objects and object implementations which may be located on a different host machine which is unknown to the programmer/developer. The system and method provides solutions to problems which are encountered in trying to debug a new application which is associated with the use of objects in a widely distributed, object oriented, client-server system. In a distributed object environment, requests and replies are made through an Object Request Broker (ORB) that is aware of the locations and status of objects. One architecture which is suitable for implementing such an ORB is provided by the Common Object Request Broker Architecture (CORBA) specification. The distributed debugger system disclosed herein is designed to function in a CORBA compliant distributed system.