Method and system for transferring data between objects using registered data formats

A method in a computer system of transferring data between a client and a server, the computer system having a persistent global registry for storing data format information, the method comprising the steps of:

• under control of the computer system,
• storing in the persistent global registry a plurality of data formats that the server supports;
• under exclusive control of the client and without arbitration from an external process,
• determining from the persistent global registry at least one stored data format that the server supports without accessing the server;
• and
• selecting a determined data format;
• under control of the client,
• sending data to the server in the selected data format;
• and
• under control of the server,
• receiving the data sent by the client
• whereby the client can determine a data format that the server supports without accessing the server.

A method in a computer system for a server to communicate to a client the data formats it supports, the computer system having a persistent global registry for storing data format information, the method comprising the steps of:

• under control of the computer system,
• storing in the persistent global registry a data format that the server supports for receiving data;
• and
• storing in the persistent global registry a data format that the server supports for sending data;
• and
• under exclusive control of the client and without arbitration from a process external to the client,
• determining from the persistent global registry without accessing the server the data formats supported by the server for receiving and sending data,
• wherein the server need not be currently executing when determining the formats;
• and
• selecting one of the data formats for use in transferring data.

A method in a computer system of transferring data between a first process and a second process, the computer system having a persistent global registry for storing data format information, the method comprising the steps of:

• under control of the computer system,
• storing in the persistent global registry an outgoing data format that the second process supports for receiving data from the first process;
• and
• storing in the persistent global registry an incoming data format that the second process supports for sending data to the first process;
• when data is to be transferred from the first process to the second process,
• under exclusive control of the first process and without arbitration by a third process,
• determining from the persistent global registry at least one stored outgoing data format that the second process supports for receiving data;
• and
• selecting a determined outgoing data format;
• under control of the first process, sending data to the second process in the selected outgoing data format;
• and
• under control of the second process, receiving the data sent by the first process;
• and
• when data is to be transferred from the second process to the first process,
• under exclusive control of the first process and without arbitration by a third process,
• determining from the persistent global registry at least one stored incoming data format that the second process supports for sending data;
• and
• selecting a determined incoming data format;
• under control of the first process, sending a request to the second process to supply data in the selected incoming data format;
• under control of the second process,
• receiving the request to supply data in the selected incoming data format;
• and
• sending data in the selected incoming data format;
• and
• under control of the first process, receiving the data sent by the second process.

A method in a computer system of transferring data between a client application and a server application, the computer system having a persistent global registry, the persistent global registry having a plurality of stored data formats that the server application supports and a stored location of an object handler for the server application, the object handler comprising code that is not executable as a stand-alone process, the client application executing as a client process and having an address space, the method comprising the steps of:

• under control of the client process,
• retrieving and selecting a stored data format and retrieving the location of the object handler from the persistent global registry without accessing the object handler;
• and
• invoking the object handler to supply data in the selected data format, the object handler being linked into the address space of the client process;
• under control of the object handler, supplying data in the selected data format to the client process;
• and
• under control of the client process, receiving the data supplied by the object handler
• whereby the client process can retrieve the stored data format before invoking the object handler.

A method in a computer system of transferring data between a client application and a server application, the computer system having a persistent global registry, the persistent global registry having a plurality of stored data formats that the server application supports and a stored location of an object handler for the server application, the object handler comprising code that is not executable as a stand-alone process, the client application executing as a client process and having an address space, the method comprising the steps of:

• under control of the client process,
• retrieving and selecting a stored data format and retrieving the location of the object handler from the persistent global registry without accessing the object handler;
• and
• sending data to the object handler in the selected data format, the object handler being linked into the address space of the client process;
• and
• under control of the object handler, receiving the data sent by the client process
• whereby the stored data format can be retrieved before invoking the object handler.

A method in a computer system of transferring data between a client task and a server task, each task being an entity schedulable for execution on the computer system such as a process or a thread or a similar entity, the computer system having a persistent global registry with data that is persistently stored when the computer system is powered down, the persistent global registry having a plurality of stored data formats that the server task supports, the method comprising the steps of:

• under exclusive control of the client task, selecting from the persistent global registry a stored data format that the server task supports, without a third task arbitrating the selection and without accessing the server task, wherein the stored data format can be selected without invoking services of the server task;
• under control of the client task, sending a request to the server task to supply data in the selected data format;
• under control of the server task,
• receiving the request to supply data in the selected data format;
• and
• sending data in the selected data format to the client task;
• and under control of the client task, receiving the data sent by the server task.

A method in a computer system of transferring data between a client task and a server task, each task being an entity schedulable for execution on the computer system, the computer system having a persistent global registry, the persistent global registry having a plurality of stored data formats that the server task supports, the method comprising the steps of:

• under exclusive control of the client task, selecting from the persistent global registry a stored data format that the server task supports, without a third task arbitrating the selection and without accessing the server task, wherein the stored data format can be selected without invoking services of the server task;
• under control of the client task, sending data to the server task in the selected data format;
• and
• under control of the server task, receiving the data sent by the client task.

A computer-readable medium containing instructions for causing a computer system to transfer data between a client and a server, the computer system having a persistent global registry for storing data format information, by:

• under control of the computer system, storing in the persistent global registry a plurality of data formats that the server supports;
• under exclusive control of the client and without arbitration from an external process,
• determining from the persistent global registry without accessing the server at least one stored data format that the server supports;
• and
• selecting a determined data format;
• under control of the client, sending data to the server in the selected data format;
• and under control of the server, receiving the data sent by the client.