Securely and efficiently extending data processing pipeline functionality

At a computer system, a method for extending the functionality of a data processing pipeline, the method comprising:

• an act of detecting an occurrence of an event;
• an act of determining that one or more data processing agents have registered for the detected event;
• an act of loading each of the one or more data processing agents into a secure zone such that execution of each data processing agent is isolated from execution all other data processing agents;
• an act of mapping the detected event to a corresponding handler at each of the one or more data processing agents;
• and
• an act of transferring pipeline related data to each corresponding handler such that the one or more data processing agents can process the pipeline related data.

A computer program product for use at a computer system, the computer program product for implementing a method for registering a data processing agent to manipulate data of a data processing pipeline, the computer program product comprising one or more computer-readable media having stored thereon computer-executable instructions that, when executed by a processor, cause the computer system to perform the following:

• receive a self-contained assembly that contains instructions for implementing a data processing agent and that contains configuration data indicating how the data processing agent is to be configured, the configuration data identifying a specified event the data processing agent is to hook into;
• store the assembly at a specified location;
• detect an occurrence of an event;
• determine that the detected event is the specified event;
• configure the computer system to implement the data processing agent in accordance with the contained configuration data in response to the determination;
• and
• load the data processing agent such that the instructions can be executed to manipulate data related to the detected event in accordance with the contained configuration data.

A computer program product for use at a computer system, the computer program product for implementing a method for extending the functionality of a data processing pipeline, the computer program product comprising one or more computer-readable media having stored thereon computer-executable instructions that, when executed by a processor, cause the computer system to perform the following:

• detect an occurrence of an event;
• determining that one or more data processing agents have registered for the detected event;
• load each of the one or more data processing agents into a secure zone such that execution of each data processing agent is isolated from execution all other data processing agents;
• map the detected event to a corresponding handler at each of the one or more data processing agents;
• and
• transfer pipeline related data to each corresponding handler such that the one or more data processing agents can process the pipeline related data.