Methods and apparatus for discovering data providers satisfying provider queries

Apparatus for making providers of a particular kind of data available to an application program, comprising:

• a memory;
• and
• at least one processor coupled to the memory and operative to:
• (i) discover whether one or more data providers are capable of providing the particular kind of data, wherein a discovered data provider is either a connected data provider or a virtual data provider;
• (ii) when a data provider capable of providing the particular kind of data is discovered and the discovered data provider is a virtual data provider, instantiate the virtual data provider;
• and (iii) when a data provider capable of providing the particular kind of data is discovered, make a data-provider handle for the discovered data provider available to the application program, with a common interface.

An article of manufacture for making providers of a particular kind of data available to an application program, comprising a machine readable medium containing one or more programs which when executed implement the steps of:

• discovering whether one or more data providers are capable of providing the particular kind of data, wherein a discovered data provider is either a connected data provider or a virtual data provider;
• when a data provider capable of providing the particular kind of data is discovered and the discovered data provider is a virtual data provider, instantiating the virtual data provider;
• and
• when a data provider capable of providing the particular kind of data is discovered, making a data-provider handle for the discovered data provider available to the application program, with a common interface.

A method of providing a service for making providers of a particular kind of data available to an application program, comprising the step of:

• a service provider, in response to a query associated with the application program, enabling the steps of:
• (i) discovering whether one or more data providers are capable of providing the particular kind of data, wherein a discovered data provider is either a connected data provider or a virtual data provider;
• (ii) when a data provider capable of providing the particular kind of data is discovered and the discovered data provider is a virtual data provider, instantiating the virtual data provider;
• and (iii) when a data provider capable of providing the particular kind of data is discovered, making a data-provider handle for the discovered data provider available to the application program, with a common interface.