Actor-based framework for communication between software systems following third-party failure

A system for communication between client and server software systems configured on different computing platforms in workflow environments, comprising:

• a computing environment having at least one processor that receives input data comprised of information associated with a scheduling application for executing one or more workflow steps in a workflow environment, and information associated with at least one third-party software application governing operation of a third-party instrument that performs an automated robotic activity in the workflow environment, the scheduling application and the at least one third-party software application operating on different computing platforms;
• and
• a remote actor-based model implemented by the at least one processor as an interface between the scheduling application and the at least one third-party software application, by:
• configuring a client-side actor residing on a first computing platform, representing a local proxy associated with one or more software elements of the scheduling application,
• configuring a remote server-side actor residing on a second computing platform and representing a remote proxy associated with one or more software elements of the at least one third-party software application,
• creating a messaging protocol having location transparency between the client-side actor residing on the first computing platform and server-side actor residing on the second computing platform, and
• associating the client-side actor with the server-side actor within the messaging protocol, by 1) querying a remote IP address associated with the second computing platform to obtain information identifying an associated path of the server-side actor, and sending an association message to the server-side actor, 2) checking, at the client-side actor, whether a remote connection to the second computing platform is open upon receiving the remote IP address, 3) opening an outbound endpoint where no prior remote connection is open, and 4) sending a handshake message to the server-side actor, wherein the server-side actor accepts an inbound association by receiving the handshake from the client-side actor, and communicates a reply to the association message,
• wherein the interface between the scheduling application and the at least one third-party software application is implemented to handle incoming messages from each of the local proxy and the remote proxy to execute the automated robotic activity, by
• creating one or more remote actor references for each remote actor,
• queueing messages from the scheduling application, and
• delivering the messages from the scheduling application to the remote actor intended by each message based on the one or more remote actor references and according to the associated path for each third-party instrument, and
• wherein the remote actor-based model is comprised of the client-side actor and the server-side actor, each of the client-side actor and the server-side actor operating as a container that isolates the scheduling application and the third-party software application from each other to replace communication between the scheduling application and the third-party software application with the interface to enable operation of the third-party instrument in association with the scheduling application to perform the automated robotic activity, and wherein the remote actor-based model enables a software update of the at least one third-party software application and a modification of the third-party instrument without interruption of the scheduling application and regardless of whether the at least one third-party software application and the third-party instrument are integrated with the scheduling application.

A method for communicating between client and server software systems configured on different computing platforms in workflow environments, comprising:

• instantiating a remote actor-based model as an interface between a scheduling application and at least one third-party software application operating on different computing platforms, the at least one third-party software application governing operation of a third-party instrument that performs an automated robotic activity in response to the scheduling application to execute one or more workflow steps within an automated workflow environment;
• applying the remote actor-based model to create a messaging protocol having location transparency between a client-side actor residing on a first computing platform, and representing a local proxy associated with one or more software elements of the scheduling application, and a remote server-side actor residing on a second computing platform and representing a remote proxy associated with one or more software elements of the at least one third-party software application;
• and
• associating the client-side actor with the server-side actor within the messaging protocol, by 1) querying a remote IP address associated with the second computing platform to obtain information identifying an associated path of the server-side actor, and sending an association message to the server-side actor, 2) checking, at the client-side actor, whether a remote connection to the second computing platform is open upon receiving the remote IP address, 3) opening an outbound endpoint where no prior remote connection is open, and 4) sending a handshake message to the server-side actor, wherein the server-side actor accepts an inbound association by receiving the handshake from the client-side actor, and communicates a reply to the association message,
• wherein the messaging protocol establishes peer-to-peer communications across the different computing platforms for executing the automated robotic activity within the automated workflow environment for incoming messages from each of the local proxy and the remote proxy, by creating one or more remote actor references for each remote actor, queueing messages from the scheduling application, and delivering the messages from the scheduling application to the remote actor intended by each message based on the one or more remote actor references and according to the associated path for each third-party instrument, and
• wherein the remote actor-based model is comprised of the client-side actor and the server-side actor, each of the client-side actor and the server-side actor operating as a container that isolates the scheduling application and the third-party software application from each other to replace communication between the scheduling application and the third-party software application with the interface to enable operation of the third-party instrument in association with the scheduling application to perform the automated robotic activity, and wherein the remote actor-based model enables a software update of the at least one third-party software application and a modification of the third-party instrument without interruption of the scheduling application and regardless of whether the at least one third-party software application and the third-party instrument are integrated with the scheduling application.