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AssigneeHewlett-Packard Company
InventorsM. Colin Gerety, Samuel C. Sands, Martin R. Cagan
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A method and apparatus for communication between programs, or tools, in a computer system includes the steps of establishing a bi-directional communication path between each tool and a central message server, registering with the message server the patterns of messages which each tool wishes to receive, and storing the message patterns. A message is forwarded to the message server when one tool requires the service of another tool. The message server compares the pattern of the received message with the previously-stored message patterns, and, if the message matches a stored message pattern, the message is forwarded to each tool for which a match occurs. If a message requests the service of another tool and the message does not match the patterns of the previously-stored messages, an execution manager determines from a status table and an execution initialization table which tool can service the request message. The execution manager then invokes the tool and forwards the request message to the tool for execution.
A method for controlling execution of software tools in a computer system comprising an electronic digital computer and a memory containing computer software for operating said computer, said computer software comprising a plurality of software tools which include means for communicating with each other through messages including request messages, each containing a request by one of said software tools for service by another of said software tools, said computer executing message control software for performing a method comprising the steps of:
Apparatus for controlling execution of software tools which include means for communicating with each other through messages and which execute concurrently, comprising:
Dependencies are inferred from the claim text.