Multi-language DCE remote procedure call

Details Multi-language DCE remote procedure call Multi-language DCE remote procedure call

1998-10-15

2001-04-17

Powell, Mark R. (Department: 2122)

Data processing: software development, installation, and managem

Software program development tool

Translation of code

C717S152000, C717S152000

Reexamination Certificate

active

06219835

ABSTRACT:

BACKGROUND OF THE INVENTION
1. Field of the Invention
The present invention relates to systems and methods of performing computer procedures in network environments, and in particular to a method and system for generating a remotely invokable computer procedure arbitrary server and client program language.
2. Description of the Related Art
In the past, computer programs were primarily implemented on large, complex computers known as mainframes. In the past decade, there has been a trend away from such systems and towards network-based computing systems.
Network-based computing systems can implement many distributed processing techniques. One of these distributed computing environment (DCE) techniques is a client/server computing technology known as the Open Software Foundation Remote Procedure Calls (OSF/RPC, or simply RPC). Remote procedure calling is a programming technique wherein a “client” implemented in a client computer invokes a procedure as if it were local, that is, inside the client's program, when the procedure actually exists in another program implemented in another computer in the network, such as the network server. The underlying OSF/RPC support hides the complications arising from this distributed processing, allowing the programmer to code the procedure as if it were local to the client computer.
One difficulty with current RPC technology is that it is not usable from a wide variety of languages. In fact, RPC is currently defined only for use with a programming language known as “C.” This requires the programmer to have a functional capability programming in “C” even if the underlying code for the procedure is written in a completely different program, such as COBOL or PL1. What is needed is device that allows the use of RPC by arbitrary programming language environments. The present invention satisfies that need.
SUMMARY OF THE INVENTION
To address the requirements described above; the present invention discloses a method, apparatus, article of manufacture, and a memory structure for generating a remotely invokable computer procedure.
The method comprises the steps of describing a computer procedure interface in an arbitrary server program language, translating the computer interface from the arbitrary language to an interface definition language, compiling the translated procedure interface to produce a client stub and a server stub, and compiling and linking a client and server program to the respective client and server stubs. The article of manufacture comprises a program storage medium, tangibly embodying instructions for performing the foregoing method steps.
The apparatus comprises a means for describing a computer procedure in an arbitrary language, a first compiler implemented on a server computer for translating the computer procedure interface from an arbitrary language to an interface definition language (OSF/IDL, for example), a second compiler, implemented in the server computer, for producing a client stub and a server stub, and modules, implemented in the client and server computer, for compiling and linking client and server programs implementing the computer procedure with the client and server stubs.
The present invention also describes a memory structure having a first delimiter specifying an arbitrary server program language, a second delimiter specifying one or more arbitrary client program languages, and a memory portion describing procedure interface characteristics.
The foregoing allows a programmer to generate code in an arbitrary language that allows a remote client computer to invoke programs implemented on a server computer.


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