System and method for supporting transactions for a thin client lacking a persistent store in a distributed object-oriented environment

A system for allowing a thin client workstation to participate in a global transaction in a distributed transaction processing environment, the system comprising:

• a remote server having main memory, and a transaction manager (TM) and recovery coordinator operating in the remote server's main memory, wherein the TM supports a two-phase commit protocol;
• a thin client having main memory, and an application program and a pseudo-transaction manager (PTM) operational in the thin client's main memory, the PTM being configured for communicating with the remote server's TM to perform the executed steps of:
• responding to receiving a request from an application on a thin client workstation begin a global transaction, by generating a unique global transaction identifier (Global ID) to associate with the global transaction;
• in response to execution of a remote method on the remote server, sending a temporary transaction propagation context to the remote server supporting a two-phase commit protocol, the temporary transaction context including the Global ID and a flag to indicate that the remote server will become the Root server, said Root server modifying said temporary transaction propagation context;
• receiving a real propagation context from the Root server;
• replacing the temporary context with a real propagation context at the thin client;
• and using the real propagation context containing the Global ID generated by the thin client to coordinate a global transaction.

An apparatus for allowing a thin client workstation to participate in a global transaction in a distributed transaction processing environment, the apparatus comprising:

• a first server including a processing unit and main memory in communication with the processing unit;
• transaction manager logic operating in main memory of the first server, the transaction manager logic including an object transaction manager module that further includes a registration module, a commit module, and a pseudo-transaction manager interface, wherein the registration module includes computer-executable logic that enables it to register distributed object resources requested by a client application for a global transaction for being committable by a two-phase protocol, wherein the object resources are distributed among a plurality of servers including the first server and may also be distributed on a client, wherein at least one of the plurality of servers has a transaction manager supporting a two-phase commit protocol, and wherein the commit module includes computer-executable logic for committing the registered resources;
• and
• a thin client having main memory, and an application program and a pseudo-transaction manager (PTM) logic operational in the thin client's main memory, the PTM including an interface for communicating with the first server's PTM interface, the PTM further including a temporary propagation context creator and a real propagation context updater, wherein the temporary propagation context creator is configured for responding to receiving a request from the application program to begin a global transaction, by generating a unique global transaction identifier (Global ID) to associate with the global transaction, and creating and sending a temporary transaction action propagation context to the first server, the temporary transaction context including the Global ID and a flag to indicate that the remote server will become the Root server, and the real propagation context updater is configured for receiving a real propagation context from the first server and replacing the temporary context with a real propagation context, and the PTM is further configured for using the real transaction propagation context containing the Global ID to coordinate a global transaction.

A program-product for use in a computer system for allowing a thin client workstation to participate in a global transaction in a distributed object-oriented transaction processing environment, the program product comprising:

• A. a transaction manager (TM) module for operating at a first server, the TM module including a registration module, a commit module, and an interface to a pseudo-transaction manager module, wherein:
• i. the registration module is configured to register distributed object resources requested by a thin client application for a global transaction for being committable by a two-phase protocol, wherein the object resources are distributed among a plurality of servers including the first server, wherein at least one of the plurality of servers has a transaction manager supporting a two-phase commit protocol;
• ii. the commit module is configured to commit the registered resources;
• and
• iii. the interface is configured to communicate;
• and
• B. a pseudo-transaction manager (PTM) module for operating at a thin client, the PTM module including a temporary propagation context creator module, a real propagation context updater module, an interface to the TM module, wherein:
• i. the temporary propagation context creation module is configured to respond to receiving a request from an application program to begin a global transaction, by generating a unique global transaction identifier (Global ID) to associate with the global transaction, and the temporary propagation context creation module is further configured for creating and sending a temporary transaction action propagation context to a remote server, the temporary transaction context including the Global ID and a flag to indicate that the remote server will become the Root server;
• and
• ii. the real propagation context updater module is configured to receive a real propagation context from the Root server and replace the temporary context with the real propagation context, such that the real propagation context containing the Global ID may be used by the PTM to coordinate a global transaction;
• and
• C. single-bearing media containing the TM module and the PTM module.