JP2003122589A - Method, system, and program for service processing - Google Patents

Abstract

PROBLEM TO BE SOLVED: To provide a technique capable of efficiently performing the dynamic change of the contents of a service processing provided in a distributed object environment. SOLUTION: This service processing method for providing various types of services by executing the service processing according to the contents of defined information comprises the steps of, when new defined information is added to a processing device storing the defined information defining the processed contents of the service processing, updating the contents of the latest definition determination flag for determining the latest defined information, receiving a service processing request from a service processing requester and executing the service processing according to the contents of the defined information stored in the processing device, controlling the number of sessions showing the number of the sessions using the defined information stored in the processing device when the service processing is executed, and deleting, from the processing device, the defined information showing that the number of sessions is zero and the latest definition defined flag is not latest.

Description

Detailed Description of the Invention

[0001]

BACKGROUND OF THE INVENTION 1. Field of the Invention The present invention relates to a service processing system for providing various services by executing service processing according to the contents of definition information, and more particularly to dynamically defining the definition information used in a distributed object environment in operation. The present invention relates to a technology effectively applied to a service processing system to be changed.

[0002]

2. Description of the Related Art In a conventional distributed object environment, a server object that provides various services is activated in a server, a server receives a service processing request from a client, and the server object executes a process corresponding to the service processing request. By doing so, the requested service is provided to the client.

In such a distributed object environment,
When changing the content of the service provided to the client, after stopping all server objects running on the server, update those server objects to the new server object corresponding to the change content of the service,
The updated server object is running.

A method of dynamically switching a distributed object that dynamically switches a server object in a distributed object environment is disclosed in Japanese Patent Laid-Open No. 2001-1415.
No. 6 publication. The overview is to manage the version of the server process object itself, compare the version of the server object that is already running when the server is started, terminate the old server object, and instead serve it with the new version of the server object. This will switch the old server object to the new version without stopping the system.

[0005]

SUMMARY OF THE INVENTION In order to realize a core business that performs a non-stop operation for 24 hours based on the conventional distributed object environment, a service is provided while continuously providing a service to a client. It is necessary to have a method to dynamically change the information required to provide the information.

[0006] In the above-mentioned Japanese Patent Laid-Open No. 2001-14156, a version is assigned to a server object which provides a service and is managed in the server, and when a new server object having the same interface is started, each version is managed. It presents a method of dynamically switching server objects by comparing and deleting server objects with older versions.

However, in this method, the old server object is immediately deleted when the new server object is started. Therefore, when the client uses the old server object for continuous inquiries,
The session maintenance information for making continuous inquiries with the old server object disappears. Therefore, when a new server object is activated, the client has to send a request to the server again and restart the continuous inquiry with the new server object from the beginning.

Further, in this method, the order of switching server objects among a plurality of servers is not taken into consideration in a distributed object environment in which a plurality of intermediate servers and end servers cooperate to provide services to clients. Depending on the timing of switching, a service is provided by cooperation of server objects of which versions are not compatible, and there is a problem that the consistency of processing results with respect to a request from a client is lost.

Further, in this method, since an old server process and a new server process operate simultaneously when switching a server object, there is a problem that a plurality of machines and processes are required for switching.

An object of the present invention is to solve the above problems and to provide a technique capable of efficiently dynamically changing the contents of service processing provided in a distributed object environment.

[0011]

According to the present invention, in a service processing system that provides various services by executing service processing according to the contents of definition information, the definition information having zero sessions and not the latest definition information is deleted. The definition information is changed by.

According to the present invention, the latest definition determination flag for storing the definition information defining a plurality of scripts showing the processing contents when providing various services in the processing device on the service providing side and judging the latest definition information. When the definition information is changed due to a change in service processing content and the new changed definition information is added to the processing device, the latest definition corresponding to the original definition information is changed. Information indicating that the definition information is not the latest is set in the judgment flag, and information indicating that the definition information is the latest is set in the latest definition judgment flag corresponding to the changed definition information, and the latest definition judgment flag is set. Update the contents of.

In the present invention, when a service processing request is received from a service processing request source, definition information indicating that the latest definition determination flag is latest among the definition information stored in the processing device, or the service. The definition information identified by the session information in the processing request is selected, and the script corresponding to the requested service ID in the definition information is executed to provide the service. Here, when a new session is started by the execution of the service process, 1 is added to the number of sessions indicating the number of sessions using the definition information. When the session ends after the service processing is finished, the number of sessions of the definition information is decremented by 1, and the value of the number of sessions is checked, and the number of sessions is zero, and the session is associated with the definition information. If the latest definition determination flag indicates that it is not the latest, the definition information is deleted from the processing device.

As described above, according to the present invention, the definition information existing in the processing device is dynamically changed while maintaining the session information in the continuous inquiry currently being processed without activating a plurality of new processes. It is possible to realize the core business that performs non-stop operation for 24 hours based on the distributed object environment and continuously provide the service to the service processing requester, and the definition required for the service provision. It is possible to change the information dynamically.

As described above, according to the service processing system of the present invention, the service is provided by the definition information that defines a plurality of scripts indicating the processing contents when providing various services, and the latest one with zero sessions is provided. Since the definition information is changed by deleting the non-definition information, it is possible to efficiently dynamically change the content of service processing provided in the distributed object environment.

[0016]

BEST MODE FOR CARRYING OUT THE INVENTION The definition information is operated during operation in a distributed object environment in which one server provides a service to a client, and a distributed object environment in which an intermediate server and an end server cooperate to provide a service to a client. A service processing system according to an embodiment of the present invention will be described.

FIG. 1 is a diagram showing an overall outline of the service processing system of this embodiment. As shown in FIG. 1, the server 120 of this embodiment includes a service processing unit 130 and a definition information management processing unit 140.

The service processing unit 130 is a processing unit that receives a service processing request from the client 100 of the service processing request source and executes the service processing according to the contents of the definition information stored in the server 120. The definition information management processing unit 140 sets a latest definition determination flag for determining the latest definition information when new definition information is added to the server 120 that stores the definition information defining the processing content of the service processing. When the content is updated and the service process is executed, the number of sessions indicating the number of sessions using the definition information stored in the server 120 is managed, the number of sessions is zero, and the latest definition determination is performed. A processing unit that deletes definition information indicating that the flag is not the latest one from the server 120.

A program for causing the server 120 to function as the service processing unit 130 and the definition information management processing unit 140 is recorded in a recording medium such as a CD-ROM and stored in a magnetic disk or the like, and then loaded into a memory and executed. Shall be done. The recording medium for recording the program may be a recording medium other than the CD-ROM. The program may be installed in the information processing apparatus from the recording medium and used, or the recording medium may be accessed through the network to use the program.

In this embodiment, the client 100
Is a processing device that requests an existing service process from the server 120, and is a definition information changing client 110.
Is a processing device for instructing a definition information management processing unit 140, which will be described later, to store definition information defining a plurality of scripts indicating the processing contents when providing various services.

The server 120 is a client 100.
Is a processing device that provides services to the server 12
0 functions as an end server in a distributed object environment in which one server provides a service to the client 100, and functions as an intermediate server in a distributed object environment in which a plurality of intermediate servers and end servers cooperate to provide a service to the client 100. To do.

The service processing unit 130 executes the script corresponding to the requested service ID in the definition information to perform the existing service processing, and the definition held by the definition information management table 150 described later. A table reference unit 132 for referring to details of information, and a session number change instruction unit 133 for notifying a definition information management processing unit 140, which will be described later, of a change in the number of sessions of definition information currently used.

The definition information management processing unit 140 reads the definition information from a specified file or the like and stores it in the server 120, manages an identifier unique to each definition information, and adds it to the definition information. Identifier management unit 1
42, a table operation unit 143 that adds, changes, and deletes the details of the stored definition information to the definition information management table 150, and sets the number of sessions of the definition information according to an instruction from the session number change instruction unit 133 of the service processing unit 130. It includes a service function cooperation unit 144 to be changed and a storage request reception unit 145 that receives a request from the definition information changing client 110.

The pre-change definition information 180 and the post-change definition information 181 are stored in the definition information storage section 141 of the definition information management processing section 140. Definition information management table 15
0 is composed of an information storage unit 170 that holds the details of the stored definition information and a table operation interface 160 for another function to operate the contents of the information storage unit 170. It is composed of functions for referring to, adding, changing, and deleting information in the information storage unit 170.

The server 190 is a terminal server in a distributed object environment in which an intermediate server and a terminal server cooperate to provide services. The server 190 is the server 120.
It has the same function as. In a distributed object environment in which one server independently provides services to the client 100, the terminal server 190 does not exist.

FIG. 2 is a diagram showing the configuration of the information storage unit 170 of this embodiment. In FIG. 2, the definition information identifier 17
1 is an identifier for uniquely identifying the definition information within the service processing system, and the number of sessions 172 is the total number of sessions currently referring to the definition information identified by the definition information identifier 171. Reference numeral 173 is information indicating the position in the server 120 of the definition information identified by the definition information identifier 171, and the latest definition determination flag 1
Reference numeral 74 is a flag for determining whether or not the definition information identified by the definition information identifier 171 is the latest. When the latest definition determination flag 174 is true, the definition information is latest, and when it is false, the definition information is before the change.

FIG. 3 is a flow chart showing the processing procedure of the definition information storage processing at the time of server startup according to this embodiment. In FIG. 3, the definition information storage process at the time of starting the intermediate server and the termination server when one server provides the service to the client 100 and when the intermediate server and the termination server cooperate to provide the service to the client 100. It is represented by a flowchart.

First, it is confirmed that the file name storing the definition information is designated at the time of starting the server and that the file exists (step 300). If either condition is not satisfied, stop the server as it is. When the file name is specified and the file exists, the definition information storage unit 141 is used to
The definition information in the designated file is stored in the memory of the server (step 301).

Next, the identifier management section 142 is used to assign a unique identifier to the stored definition information (step 302). Finally, using the table operation unit 143, the definition information identifier 171, the number of sessions 172, and the position information 17 are stored in the information storage unit 170 of the definition information management table 150.
3. Record the latest definition determination flag 174 (step 3
03). At that time, the number of sessions 172 is set to zero and the latest definition determination flag 174 is set to true.

Next, a description will be given of the definition information changing process when a definition information changing request is received from the definition information changing client 110 when one server 120 provides a service to the client 100.

FIG. 4 is a diagram showing a format of a message transmitted / received between the definition information changing client 110 and the server 120 of this embodiment. Definition information storage request 400
Is the definition information changing client 110 to the end server 1
20 shows an example of a definition information storage request message transmitted to the storage request receiving unit 145 of FIG. 20, and the definition information file name 401 shows the name of the file in which the latest definition information is stored. Also, the definition information storage response 410
Represents a response message from the server 120 to the definition information storage request 400, and the processing success / failure notification 411 indicates the success or failure of the processing for the definition information storage request 400.

FIG. 5 is a flow chart showing the processing procedure of the definition information change processing on the server side of this embodiment.
First, the server 120 is the definition information changing client 1
The storage request receiving unit 1 receives the definition information storage request 400 from
It is received by 45 (step 500).

Then, it is confirmed that the definition information file name 401 is specified in the received request and that the file exists (step 501). If any one of the conditions is not satisfied, the server creates a definition information storage response 410 in which a value indicating that the processing has failed is set in the processing success / failure notification 411, and the server 110 Reply (step 50)
4).

On the other hand, when the above conditions are satisfied, the same processing as steps 301 to 303 in FIG. 3 is performed,
Definition information file name 401 in the definition information storage request 400
Server 1 by reading the definition information in the file indicated by
20 memories. After that, the table operation unit 14
3, the latest definition determination flag 174 of the pre-change definition information 180 held in the information storage unit 170 is set to false (step 502). Then, the definition information storage response 410 in which the value indicating the success of the processing is set in the processing success / failure notification 411 is created and transmitted to the definition information changing client 110 (step 503).

Next, in the case where one server 120 provides a service to the existing client 100,
The definition information reference processing and deletion processing will be described.

FIG. 6 is a diagram showing a format of a message transmitted / received between the client 100 of the present embodiment and the server 120 which is a terminal server. Service processing request 600
Is a message for the client 100 to issue a service processing providing request to the server 120, and the service processing request content 601 stores a service ID that is a value that identifies the type of service.

The session information 602 with definition information name is
The session information designated when this request is a continuous inquiry request is shown, and the definition information identifier 171 for distinguishing the definition information to be used is included in this session information. In addition, the client 100 requests the service processing request 600 for the first time regardless of whether it is a one-time inquiry or a continuous inquiry.
When issued to 0, the session information with definition information name 6
No value is set in 02.

The service processing response 610 shows a response message transmitted from the server 120 to the client 100 after the service processing, and the processing result 611.
Contains information indicating the result of service processing, and error information when an error occurs during service processing.

The session information 612 with definition information name is
This is session information for the existing client to make a continuous inquiry request, and this session information includes the definition information identifier 171 used for the service processing. Also,
When the session ends, no value is set in the definition-information-named session information 612.

FIG. 7 shows the existing client 10 of this embodiment.
9 is a flowchart showing a processing procedure of processing when a service processing request 600 is issued to the server 120 where 0 is a terminal server. First, the server 120 receiving the service processing request 600 from the client 100 passes this message to the service processing unit 130 (step 70).
0).

Thereafter, the existing processing unit 131 confirms whether session information is specified in the definition information-named session information 602 (step 701). If no session information is specified, the table reference unit 132 is used. The definition information identifier 171 and the position information 173 of the latest changed definition information 181 are received from the information storage unit 170 in the definition information management table 150 (step 703).

Further, the session number change instruction unit 133 instructs the service function cooperation unit 144 to increase the number of sessions 172 of the definition information by one (step 704). After that, the service processing request 600
Definition information 1 corresponding to the service ID requested by
The script in 81 is executed to perform an existing process of providing a service (step 705).

On the other hand, if the session information is designated in step 701, the definition information identifier 171 is obtained from the definition-information-named session information 602, and the same definition information identifier 171 is obtained through the table reference unit 132.
The position information 173 of the definition information having is acquired (step 702). Then, the process of step 705 is executed.

After the processing of step 705 is completed, it is judged whether or not to continue the session (step 706). If the session is to be continued, the definition information name with the definition information identifier 171 used for the service provided is added. The session information 612 is created and included in the service processing response 610 to the existing client 100 together with the processing result 611 indicating the result of the service processing (step 711) and transmitted to the existing client 100 (step 712).

On the other hand, if the session is to be terminated, the session number change instructing unit 133 issues an instruction to the service function cooperation unit 144 to decrease the session number 172 of the definition information used for the service processing by one (step 707). ).

After that, the service function cooperation unit 144 confirms the number of sessions 172 and the latest definition determination flag 174 of the definition information (step 708). If the number of sessions 172 is zero and the latest definition determination flag 174 is also present.
Is false and indicates that the definition information is not the latest, the table operation unit 143 is used to delete the pre-change definition information 180 from the server 120, and at the same time, the details of the definition information are also stored in the information storage unit. It is deleted from 170 (step 709). And session information with definition information name 6
A service processing response 610 in which 12 is set to be empty is created (step 710) and transmitted to the existing client 100 (step 712).

The processing shown in FIG. 7 is the service processing unit 130.
The control is transferred to the definition information management processing unit 140 for the processing within the frame 70A, which is processing performed within the frame 70A.

Next, the intermediate server 120 and the end server 19
The definition information changing process in the case where 0s cooperate with each other to provide a service to the client 100 will be described.

FIG. 8 is a flowchart showing a processing procedure of the definition information changing client 110 when the intermediate server 120 and the end server 190 of this embodiment cooperate with each other to provide a service to the client 100. The user specifies the address information of the server whose definition is to be changed and the name of the file that stores the definition information used by each server in the order of change.

Immediately after starting (step 800), the definition information changing client 110 first obtains from the user the address information of the server whose definition information is to be changed and the file name storing the definition information used by each server (step 8).
01).

Then, in step 802, a list in which the address information of the server is stored in the order of change is created. That is, after the definition information of each server is acquired using the address information of the server and the file name of the definition information acquired in step 801, the scripts in those definition information are analyzed and defined in the definition information. The call relationship between the servers when each service is executed is analyzed to obtain the call order of each server, and a list storing address information is created in order from the server called at the end of the call order. In step 803, step 8
In step 02, the list of file names corresponding to each server is created in the order of the servers stored in the list.

After that, the contents of the list created in step 802 are checked (step 804), and if there is no element in the list, the processing is terminated (step 80).
9). On the other hand, if there is an element in the list, the address information of the server and the corresponding file name are taken out from the list, and the definition information storage request 400 is created (step 80).
5).

Then, this message is sent to the server,
Wait for a predetermined time until receiving a response (step 8)
06). After that, the processing success / failure notification 411 of the definition information storage response 410 received in step 807 is checked, and if the failure notification is included, the user is notified of the processing failure (step 808) and the processing ends. (Step 809). On the other hand, if the process is successful, the process returns to step 804 to process the next element in the list.

When the process of the definition information changing client 110 in FIG. 8 is performed, it is not necessary to change the process in the intermediate server 120 and the end server 190, and the process shown in FIG. 5 may be installed.

Next, the intermediate server 120 and the end server 19
A description will be given of definition information reference processing and deletion processing when 0s provide services to the client 100 in cooperation with each other.

FIG. 9 is a flow chart showing the procedure of definition information reference and deletion processing by the intermediate server 120 when linking a plurality of servers according to this embodiment. In FIG. 9, the client 100 requests the service processing 60 to the server 120.
This represents a process when 0 is issued, and in this case, the server 120 functions as an intermediate server.

Steps 700 to 705 are the same as in the case of FIG. 7, but after step 705 is completed,
The difference is that the intermediate server 120 transmits the service processing request 600 to the end server 190 and enters a response waiting state (step 900).

Since the service processing response 610 is returned from the terminal server 190, it is determined whether or not the session has ended by referring to the session information 612 with definition information name in this message (step 901). Subsequent processing is from step 707 to step 71 in FIG.
The same as up to 2. Further, the processing in the terminal server is the same as the processing shown in FIG. 7. In this case, the intermediate server 120 is the same as the client 100 as seen from the end server 190.

In the processing shown in FIGS. 7 and 9, the server determines whether to use the old definition information or the latest definition information for the service processing. For that reason,
The existing client 100 does not need to change the processing, and only needs to issue the existing service processing request 600 to the server.

As described above, according to the service processing system of this embodiment, the service is provided by the definition information defining a plurality of scripts showing the processing contents when providing various services, and the number of sessions is zero and the latest Since the definition information is changed by deleting the definition information that is not included in the distributed object environment, it is possible to efficiently dynamically change the content of the service processing provided in the distributed object environment.

[0061]

According to the present invention, a service is provided by definition information that defines a plurality of scripts that indicate processing contents when various services are provided, and definition information that has zero sessions and is not the latest is deleted. Since the definition information is changed by, it is possible to efficiently dynamically change the content of service processing provided in the distributed object environment.

[Brief description of drawings]

FIG. 1 is a diagram showing an overall outline of a service processing system of this embodiment.

FIG. 2 is a diagram showing a configuration of an information storage unit 170 of this embodiment.

FIG. 3 is a flowchart showing a processing procedure of definition information storage processing at server startup according to the present embodiment.

FIG. 4 is a definition information changing client 11 according to the present embodiment.
6 is a diagram showing a format of a message transmitted and received between 0 and the server 120. FIG.

FIG. 5 is a flowchart showing a processing procedure of definition information change processing on the server side according to the present embodiment.

FIG. 6 is a diagram showing a format of a message transmitted / received between a client 100 and a server 120 which is a terminal server according to the present embodiment.

FIG. 7 is a service processing request 60 to the server 120, which is the terminal server, of the existing client 100 of this embodiment.
It is a flow chart which shows a processing procedure of processing when 0 is issued.

FIG. 8 is an intermediate server 120 and an end server 1 according to this embodiment.
9 is a flowchart showing a processing procedure of a definition information changing client 110 when 90 cooperates to provide a service to the client 100.

FIG. 9 is an intermediate server 1 when linking multiple servers according to the present embodiment.
20 is a flow chart showing a processing procedure of reference and deletion processing of definition information by 20.

[Explanation of symbols]

100 ... client, 110 ... definition information changing client, 120 ... server, 131 ... existing processing unit, 132
... table reference part, 133 ... session number change instruction part,
141 ... Definition information storage unit, 142 ... Identifier management unit, 14
3 ... Table operation unit, 144 ... Service function cooperation unit, 1
45 ... Storage request receiving unit, 150 ... Definition information management table, 160 ... Table operation interface, 170 ...
Information storage unit, 180 ... Definition information before change, 181 ... Definition information after change, 190 ... Server, 130 ... Service processing unit,
140 ... Definition information management processing unit, 171 ... Definition information identifier, 172 ... Session number, 173 ... Position information, 174
... latest definition determination flag, 400 ... request for storing definition information, 4
01 ... Definition information file name, 410 ... Definition information storage response, 411 ... Processing success / failure notification, 600 ... Service processing request, 601 ... Service processing request content, 602 ... Definition information named session information, 610 ... Service processing response, 611 ... Processing result, 612 ... Session information with definition information name, 70A ... Frame.

Claims (5)

[Claims] 1. A service processing method for providing various services by executing service processing according to the content of definition information, wherein new definition information is added to a processing device storing definition information defining the processing content of service processing. In the case where the service processing request is received, the step of updating the content of the latest definition determination flag for determining the latest definition information, and the step of receiving the service processing request from the service processing request source, A step of executing a service process, a step of managing the number of sessions indicating the number of sessions using the definition information stored in the processing device during the execution of the service process, and the number of sessions is zero. , A step of deleting from the processing device definition information indicating that the latest definition determination flag is not the latest. A service processing method comprising: 2. A step of responding to a service processing request source by using, as session information, a definition information identifier for identifying definition information used in the session when the session is continued after the service processing is executed. If the session information is specified in the service processing request, the service processing is executed according to the content of the definition information identified by the definition information identifier in the session information. The service processing method described in 1. 3. When changing the definition information defining the processing content of the service processing by cooperation of a plurality of processing devices, the changing order of the definition information is controlled according to the order of the called processing devices. The service processing method according to claim 1. 4. In a service processing system that provides various services by executing service processing according to the content of definition information, the content of the definition information stored in the processing device upon receiving a service processing request from a service processing request source. The latest definition for determining the latest definition information when new definition information is added to the service processing unit that executes the service processing according to the above, and the processing device that stores the definition information that defines the processing content of the service processing. The content of the determination flag is updated, the number of sessions indicating the number of sessions using the definition information stored in the processing device is managed at the time of executing the service process, and the number of sessions is zero, and A definition information management processing unit that deletes definition information indicating that the latest definition determination flag is not the latest from the processing device. Service processing system according to claim Rukoto. 5. A program for causing a computer to function as a service processing system that provides various services by executing service processing according to the contents of definition information, receives a service processing request from a service processing request source, and causes the processing device to receive the service processing request. If new definition information is added to the service processing unit that executes service processing according to the contents of the stored definition information and the processing device that stores the definition information that defines the processing contents of the service processing, the latest definition is added. The content of the latest definition determination flag for determining information is updated, and when the service processing is executed, the number of sessions indicating the number of sessions using the definition information stored in the processing device is managed, The definition information indicating that the number of sessions is zero and the latest definition judgment flag is not the latest Program for causing a computer to function as the definition information managing unit to delete from the management device.