JPH08249249A - Message repeater and message relay method - Google Patents

Abstract

PURPOSE: To provide a message repeater capable of performing relay even when transmission protocols and message formats are different by providing a control means for controlling the relay of a message based on the contents of a management means for managing the state of a server. CONSTITUTION: This message repeater 2 is present between a client 1 for sending out a request message and the server 3 for receiving the contents of the request message and sending out a response message to the request message and relays the messages. The repeater 2 is provided with the management means 21 for managing the state of the server 3 and the control means 22 for controlling the relay of the message based on the contents of the management means 21. The management means 21 is provided with a corresponding dialog identification information storage means 211 for managing information for identifying the client 1 and the server 3 in one-to-one correspondence. As the result, even when communication protocols and the message formats are different, the relay is made possible.

Description

Detailed Description of the Invention

[0001]

BACKGROUND OF THE INVENTION 1. Field of the Invention The present invention relates to a message relay device and a message relay method, and more particularly to a message relay device and a message relay method for relaying a message between a client and a server.

[0002]

2. Description of the Related Art FIG. 20 shows the configuration of a conventional message relay system. The system shown in the figure comprises a client 1, a message relay system 2 and a server 3. The client 1 has a response monitoring unit 4 and performs response monitoring using a timer. The message relay system 2
It has a message receiving unit 5 and a message transmitting unit 6. The server 3 processes the message and sends a response message.

FIG. 21 is a flowchart of a conventional message relay operation. The message relay system 2 receives a message from the client or the server 3 in the message receiving unit 5 (step 101). When the received message is transferred to the message transmission unit 6, the message transmission unit 6 extracts the message transmission destination from the header of the message (step 102). When the destination of the message is the server 3, the message transmitting unit 6 transmits the message with the server as the destination,
If the destination is the client 1, the message is transmitted with the client as the destination (step 103).

FIG. 22 is a diagram showing relaying at the conventional message application level. In the configuration shown in FIG. 20, the request message a sent from the client 1 is relayed by the message relay system 2 and sent to the server 3. The request message is the server 3
The request message is relayed by the message relay system 2 and returned to the client 1 as a response message. However, the message relay system 2
Does not distinguish between a request message and a response message, relays the received message as it is, and relays the message to be transmitted to the destination.

In the client 1, the response monitoring unit 4 using a timer monitors the response, and when a response cannot be obtained within a certain time due to a server abnormal state such as a server down or a server overload, the response monitoring is performed. A server abnormality is detected by the time-out of the unit 4, and the processing at the client is interrupted.

[0006]

However, in the above-mentioned conventional technique, the client must wait for the response monitoring time before the response monitoring unit provided on the client side detects the server abnormality. In the case where a human operation like that of a terminal is involved, there is a problem that the client side cannot quickly detect the server abnormality. Since the response monitoring time needs to be set in consideration of the maximum processing time at the time of peak tracking for each server, it may wait unnecessarily for a long time in some cases.

The present invention has been made in view of the above-mentioned problems, and solves the above-mentioned conventional problems and detects a server failure in a short time without waiting for a client to wait for a response monitoring process when the server fails. It is an object of the present invention to provide a message relay device and a message relay method capable of performing the above.

A further object of the present invention is to provide a message relay device and a message relay method capable of relaying a message even when the transmission protocol and the message format are different, when the message is relayed.

[0009]

FIG. 1 is a block diagram showing the principle of the present invention. The present invention provides a message relay between at least one client 1 that sends a request message and at least one server 3 that receives the content of the request message and sends a response message to the request message. The relay device 2,
It has a management unit 21 for managing the state of the server 3, and a control unit 22 for controlling the relay of messages based on the contents of the management unit 21.

The management means 21 stores the dialog identification information for uniquely identifying the response message to the request message and for identifying the client 1 of the request source and the server 3 of the transmission destination, and registers the dialog identification information. When a request or a deletion request is issued, dialog identification information storage means 211 for registering and deleting the dialog identification information.
And, the status of each server 3 is monitored, and when an abnormality of the server 3 is detected, the internally managed server status is set to abnormal,
The server state monitoring means 212 for instructing to return an abnormal response to the request message regarding the dialog identification information regarding the abnormal server 3.

The control means 22 includes a receiving means 221 for receiving a request message from the client 1 and a response message from the server 3, and a transmission means for transmitting a response message to the client 1 and a request message to the server 3. When there is a means 222 and an instruction to return an abnormal response,
Abnormal response return means 224 which creates an abnormal response message and returns an abnormal response to the specified client 1.
When receiving the request message from the client 1,
The server status monitoring means 2 determines whether or not the destination server 3 is normal.
The information of the state of the server 3 held in 12 is checked, and if the server 3 of the transmission destination is in the normal state, the dialog identification information is registered in the dialog identification information storage means 211, and the message is transmitted to the server 3 of the transmission destination. When the destination server 3 is in an abnormal state, the abnormal response returning means 224 is instructed to return the abnormal response to the requesting client 1 without relaying the message, and when the response message is received from the server 3, It is checked whether the dialog identification information for the response message is registered in the dialog identification information storage means 211, and if it is registered, the response message is sent to the requesting client 1 via the transmission means 222, and the dialog identification information is sent. The dialog identification information registered in the storage unit 211 is deleted, and the dialog identification information for the response is deleted. If the log identification information is not registered in the storage unit 211 and a discard response message dialog management unit 223.

Further, the management means 21 of the message relay device 2 of the present invention is provided between the client and the message relay device,
When the communication protocol between the message relay device and the server is different or when different message formats are used, the corresponding dialog identification information storage means manages the information for identifying the client and the server in a one-to-one correspondence. .

Further, the corresponding dialog identification information storage means sets the first protocol and the identification information of the client that uses the first protocol as a set, and identifies the server that uses the second protocol and the second protocol. Register the information as a set. Further, the control means includes a first receiving means for receiving a request message issued by a client using the first protocol and a second receiving means for receiving a response message issued by a server using the second protocol. Referring to the reception means and the corresponding dialog identification information storage means, a first conversion means for converting the request message received by the first reception means into a message using a second protocol, and a corresponding dialog identification. Second conversion means for converting the information storage means into a message using the first protocol that uniquely corresponds to the response message received by the second reception means is included.

The present invention is a message relay that relays a message between at least one client that sends a request message and at least one server that receives the content of the request message and sends a response message to the request message. The method manages the state of the server and controls the relay of messages based on the contents of the management state.

FIG. 2 is a flow chart for explaining the principle of the present invention. The message relay method of the present invention is
When the request message from the client is received (step 1), it is checked whether or not the destination server is normal (step 2). If the destination server is in the normal state, the dialog identification information is registered ( In step 3), the message is transmitted to the destination server (step 4), and when the destination server is in an abnormal state, the message is not relayed and an abnormal response is returned to the requesting client (step 5). When a response message is received from the server (step 6), it is checked whether the dialog identification information for the response message is registered (step 7), and if it is registered, the response message is transmitted to the requesting client ( In step 8), the registered dialog identification information is deleted (step 9), and the dialog identification information for the response is registered. If not, it discards the response message (step 10).

Also, the message relay method of the present invention uses the first protocol and the first protocol when the communication protocols between the client and the message relay device and between the message relay device and the server are different, and when different message formats are used. The identification information of the client that uses the protocol is registered as a set, the identification information of the second protocol and the server that uses the second protocol are registered as a pair, and the received request is referred to by referring to the registered information. The message is converted into a message using the second protocol that uniquely corresponds to the message, or the registered information is referred to and converted into a message that uses the first protocol uniquely corresponding to the received response message.

[0017]

According to the present invention, in order to detect a server abnormality in the message relay device, it becomes possible to immediately return an abnormality response to the client side when a request message is received, and the request message has already been relayed, but the response has not yet been received. It is possible to return an abnormal response to a message that has not been returned.

Further, according to the present invention, different communication protocols are used between the client and the message relay device and between the message relay device and the server, or even when different message formats are used, the communication protocol is performed by performing conversion processing in the message relay device. Even if the message format is different, the relay is possible.

[0019]

Embodiments of the present invention will now be described in detail with reference to the drawings. [First Embodiment] FIG. 3 shows the configuration of a message relay system according to the first embodiment of the present invention. 20, those parts that are the same as those corresponding parts in FIG. 20 are designated by the same reference numerals, and a description thereof will be omitted.

In the configuration shown in FIG. 3, the client 1
The configuration of the server 3 is the same as the conventional configuration shown in FIG. The message relay device 2 includes a message receiving unit 5, a message transmitting unit 6, a dialog managing unit 7, a dialog identifying information storing unit 8, a server status monitoring unit 9, an abnormal response returning unit 10, and a response monitoring timer 11. It

Upon receiving the request message from the client 1 or the server 3, the message receiving unit 5 notifies the dialog management unit 7. When the request message is received from the client 1, the dialog management unit 7 refers to the server status information of the server management status monitoring unit 9, and if the server 3 is normal, registers the dialog identification information in the dialog identification information storage unit 8. deep. If the server 3 is abnormal, it controls not to relay the message, and instructs the abnormal response returning unit 10 to return the abnormal response to the client 3. Here, the dialog information is
This is information that uniquely identifies the response message corresponding to the request message and also identifies the request source client and the destination server. Further, when receiving the response message from the server 3, the dialog management unit 7 checks whether or not the dialog identification information of the response message is registered in the dialog identification information storage unit 8 as in the case of receiving the client request message, and is registered. If so, the dialog identification information is deleted from the dialog identification information storage unit 8, the response monitoring timer 11 of the server status monitoring unit 9 is stopped, and the response message is returned to the client 1 via the message transmission unit 6. Control to do so. Also,
When the dialog identification information is not registered in the dialog identification information recording unit 8, the response message is discarded and the response monitoring timer 11 is controlled to stop. Detailed operation will be described in detail in FIG.

The dialog identification information storage unit 8 includes the server 3
The dialog identification information transferred from the dialog management unit 7 is registered only when the above is normal. Detailed operation is shown in Figure 6.
See below. The server status monitoring unit 9 is provided with, for example, a response monitoring timer 11 to monitor a response to a request message from a client, and detects a server abnormality by the timeout of the response monitoring timer 11. When a server abnormality is detected, the server state information managed by the server state monitoring unit 9 is set to be abnormal, and the abnormal response returning unit 10 is requested to return an abnormal response to the client 1. Detailed operation will be described with reference to FIG.

The abnormal response return unit 10 searches the dialog identification information storage unit 8 for identification information about the failed server, the request is relayed to the failed server, and the request message is currently waiting for a response. The client 1 of the request source of (1) returns an abnormal response to all the clients 1 and deletes the dialog identification information from the dialog identification information storage unit 8.

FIG. 4 is a flowchart of the operation of the dialog management unit according to the first embodiment of this invention. Step 201) The dialog management unit 7 analyzes the header of the message received from the client 1 or the server 3. If the destination of the header of the received message is the server, the received message is determined to be the request message, and if the destination is the client, it is determined to be the response message.

Step 202) If the message received by analyzing the header is a request message, the process proceeds to step 203, and if it is a response message, the process proceeds to step 208. Step 203) The dialog management unit 7 refers to the server status monitoring unit 9 and acquires the status of the server 3 which is the destination of the request message and is the transmission destination. Here, if the response monitoring timer 11 of the server status monitoring unit 9 is not in the time-out state, it is determined to be in the normal state.

Step 204) If the state of the destination server 3 is normal, the process proceeds to Step 205, and if it is determined that an abnormality has occurred, Step 20.
Move to 7. Step 205) If the destination server 3 is normal, the dialog information is registered in the dialog identification information storage unit 8.

Step 206) The server status monitoring unit 9 is instructed to set the response monitoring timer 11, and the process proceeds to Step 212. Step 207) In step 204, when it is determined that the state of the destination server is abnormal, the abnormal response return unit 10 is instructed to return an abnormal response to the request message to the requesting client 1, Go to step 212.

Step 208) When it is determined in step 202 that the received message is a response message, the dialog identification information registered in the dialog identification information storage section 8 is referred to. Step 209) If the dialog identification information of the response message is registered in the dialog identification information recording unit 8, the process proceeds to step 210, and if it is not registered, the process proceeds to step 213.

Step 210) The dialog identification information in the dialog identification information storage section 8 is deleted. Step 211) Instruct the server status management unit 9 to stop the response monitoring timer 11, and shift to Step 212.

Step 212) The message is sent to the destination and the process is terminated. If the transmission message is a request message, it is transmitted to the server 3, and if the transmission message is a response message, it is transmitted to the client 1. Step 213) In step 209, if the dialog identification information is not registered in the dialog identification information storage unit 8, the message is discarded.

Step 214) The server status management section 9 is instructed to stop the response monitoring timer 11, and the processing is terminated. Next, the operation of the server status monitor 9 will be described. Figure 5
It is a flowchart of operation | movement of the server state monitoring part of the 1st Example of this invention.

Step 301) Server status monitor 9
Receives an event for reference from the dialog management unit 9. Step 302) It is determined whether the received event is a server state reference event or an event from another, and if it is a server state reference event, a step 30
3 and other events (response monitoring timer 11
Event), the process proceeds to step 304.

Step 303) The status of the server 3 is returned to the request origin dialog management section 9, and the processing of the server status monitoring section 9 is terminated. Step 304) It is determined whether the event is a notification of the timeout of the response monitoring timer 11. If it is not the notification of the timeout of the response monitoring timer 11, the processing of the server status monitoring unit 9 is ended. If the notification is a time-out notification, the process proceeds to step 305.

Step 305) For the server 3 in which the response monitoring timer 11 has timed out, the server status information managed by the server status monitoring unit 9 is set to "abnormal". Step 306) Request the dialog identification information storage unit 8 to refer to the dialog identification information regarding the server 3.

Step 308) Abnormal response return unit 10
Instruct to return an abnormal response for the dialog identification information. Step 309) The dialog identification information storage unit 8 is requested to delete the dialog identification information regarding the server 3.

Next, the operation of the dialog identification information storage section 8 will be described. FIG. 6 is a flowchart of the operation of the dialog identification information storage unit according to the first embodiment of this invention. Step 401) Receive a request from the dialog management unit 7 or the abnormal response return unit 10.

Step 402) It is judged whether or not the received request is a dialog identification information registration request. If the request is a dialog identification information registration request, the process proceeds to step 403, and if it is another request. , Step 404. (Step 403) If the event received from the dialog management unit 7 is a dialog identification information registration request,
The dialog identification information is registered, and the processing of the dialog identification information storage unit 8 ends.

Step 404) If the request is a request other than the dialog identification information registration request and the dialog response information is deleted from the abnormal response return unit 10 or the dialog management unit 7 in Step 402, the process proceeds to Step 405. If it is another request, the process proceeds to step 406.

Step 405) The dialog identification information already stored in the dialog identification information storage section 8 is deleted, and the process is terminated. Step 406) It is judged whether the issued request is a reference of dialog identification information. If it is a reference request, the process moves to step 407, and if it is another request, the process moves to step 408. .

Step 407) Referring to the dialog identification information, the result is returned to the client 1 which issued the request,
The process ends. Step 408) In step 406, if the issued request is not a reference request, discard the request,
The process ends.

Next, the operation of the abnormal response return section 10 will be described. FIG. 7 is a flowchart of the operation of the abnormal response return unit according to the first embodiment of this invention. Step 501) The abnormal response return unit 10 receives the abnormal response return instruction from the server status monitoring unit 9. The case where the server status monitoring unit 9 issues the abnormal response return instruction is when the server 3 has an abnormality.

Step 502) The abnormal server ID is extracted from the server status monitor 9. Step 503) Using the abnormal server ID as a key, the dialog identification information storage unit 8 is searched for dialog identification information, and the client ID and message ID for which an abnormal response should be returned are picked up.

Step 504) An abnormal response message is created, and the abnormal response message is returned to the request message being inquired (returned to the client 1 which issued the request message). Next, a message relay process when the server 3 is normal will be described. FIG. 8 shows the format of the message. Request and response messages are message type 81, destination ID
The message header 80 includes a message ID 82, a sender ID 83, and a message ID 84, and a message body 85. As the message type 81, “Q” is set in the case of a request message, and “R” is set in the case of a response message.

FIG. 9 is a diagram for explaining the flow of message relay processing when the server is normal according to the first embodiment of this invention. In the figure, the numbers in ○ correspond to the numbers in parentheses described in the following description. Further, a, b, c, and d in the same figure respectively indicate the message to be relayed, and the contents of the message are shown in FIG. In FIG. 10, the message header 80 of the message format is added from the direction of transfer. That is,
Transferred in the direction of the arrow. The message type 81 is
When "Q" is set, it represents an inquiry request message, and when "R" is set, it represents a response message.

FIG. 11 shows an example of the contents of the dialog identification information storage section according to the first embodiment of the present invention, and FIG.
Shows an example of the contents of the server status monitoring unit (server status-normal) of the first embodiment of the present invention. (1) The request message shown in FIG. 10A is sent from the client 1 to the message receiving unit 5 of the message relay device 2, and the message receiving unit 5 receives the request message. The message receiving unit 5 transfers the received request message (a) to the dialog management unit 7.

(2) When the request message (a) is transferred, the dialog management unit 7 refers to the server status to the server status monitoring unit 9. At this time, the contents of the server status monitor 9 are the contents shown in FIG. 12, indicating that the server 3 is in a normal state.

(3) The dialog management unit 7 registers the request message (a) in the dialog identification information storage unit 8.
As a result, the registered content of the dialog identification information storage unit 8 becomes the content shown in FIG. (4) The dialog management unit 7 instructs the server status monitoring unit 9 to set the response monitoring timer 11.

(5) The dialog management section 7 sends the request message (b) transferred from the message receiving section 5 to the server 3 via the message sending means 6. (6) The message receiving unit 5 receives the response message (c) from the server 3.

(7) The dialog management unit 7 checks whether the dialog identification information of the received message is registered in the dialog identification information storage unit 8. In this example, the stored contents of the dialog identification information storage unit 8 at this point are as shown in FIG. 11, and therefore the dialog identification information storage unit 8 notifies that the registration has been completed.

(8) As a result, the dialog management unit 7
The dialog identification information is deleted from the dialog identification information storage unit 8. (9) The dialog management unit 7 instructs the server status monitoring unit 9 to stop the response monitoring timer 11.

(10) The dialog managing unit 7 returns the response message (d) to the client 1 via the message transmitting unit 6. Next, after the dialog management unit 7 receives the request message,
The processing when the server status monitoring unit 9 notifies that the server 3 is abnormal will be described.

FIG. 13 is a diagram for explaining the flow of the abnormal response return processing when the abnormal response is detected when the server abnormality is detected after receiving the request message according to the first embodiment of the present invention. The contents of the status information of the server status monitoring unit 9 for this question are shown in FIG. In the example below, the server ID is
It is assumed that “001” is set and the client ID of the client 1 is “A001”.

(1) The server status monitoring unit 9 detects a server abnormality from the response monitoring timer 1 when the dialog management unit 7 inquires about the server status, by notifying that the timeout has occurred. (2) The server status monitoring unit 9 sets that the server status is abnormal as shown in FIG.

(3) The server status monitoring unit 9 instructs the abnormal response returning unit 10 to return the abnormal response together with the server ID "0001". (4) The abnormal response return unit 10 sends the dialog identification information registered in the dialog identification information storage unit 8 to the server I
The client ID "A001" is acquired from the information by performing a search using D "0001" as a key.

(5) The abnormal response returning section 10 instructs the message transmitting section 6 to send the abnormal message to the client ID "A001" as the transmission destination of the abnormal response message. (6) The message transmission unit 6 transmits a message of abnormal response to the client 1 instructed by the abnormal response return unit 10.

(7) The abnormal response return unit 10 deletes the dialog identification information having the server ID "001" registered in the dialog identification information unit 8. Next, when the message relay device 2 relays the received message, the operation in the abnormal server state will be described.

FIG. 15 is a diagram for explaining the flow of message relay processing when a server is abnormal according to the first embodiment of this invention. (1) Request message from client 1 (see FIG. 10)
Upon receiving (a)), the message receiving unit 5 of the message relay device 2 transfers the request message to the dialog management unit 7.

(2) The dialog management unit 7 refers to the status information of the server 3 from the server status monitoring unit 9 using the destination ID “0001” of the request message as a key. At this time, since the status information of the server status monitoring unit 9 has the content shown in FIG. 14, the fact that the status is “abnormal” is returned to the dialog management unit 7.

(3) As a result, the dialog management unit 7
The abnormal response return unit 10 is instructed to return the abnormal response. (4) The abnormal response return unit 10 generates an abnormal response message and requests the message transmission unit 6 to transmit the message to the client (client ID “A001”).

(5) The message transmitting unit 6 returns the abnormal response message to the client 1. As described above, in the above process, when the dialog management unit 7 receives the request message, the server status monitoring unit 9 is directly inquired about the server status, and when a server abnormality is detected, the client of the request message concerned. ID
An abnormal response message is sent to.

Although the server status is monitored by the server status monitoring unit 9, the client 1 needs to monitor the response message from the message relay apparatus 2 in consideration of the system failure of the message relay apparatus 2. Therefore, the response monitoring unit 4 is provided as in the conventional technique.

The response monitoring time in this case is T1> T2, where T1 is the monitoring time of the message relay device 2 performed by the client and T2 is the timer monitoring time performed by the server status monitoring unit 9. Must be set to. The method of server status monitoring by the response monitoring timer 11 of the server status monitoring unit 9 described above is an example, and the present invention is not limited to the above-mentioned example.
ng command ”to request“ ECHO_REQUEST ”, etc., to detect a server error by a method that does not overload the server processing, or to receive notifications from the server that it is operating normally. Various realization methods can also be applied.

[Second Embodiment] Next, a case where different protocols are used between the client 1 and the message relay device 2 and between the message relay device 2 and the server 3 and different message formats are used will be described.

FIG. 16 shows an example of relaying a message using a different protocol according to the second embodiment of the present invention.
FIG. 17 shows the header format of the second embodiment of the present invention. The message shown in FIG. 17 (e) is a message body, 1-byte message type, 4-byte destination ID, 4-byte source ID, and 8-byte message I.
It is composed of a message header consisting of D. Also,
The message shown in FIG. 17 (f) includes a message body,
It is composed of a message header composed of a 2-byte destination ID, a 4-byte source ID, and a 4-byte message ID. That is, the message formats are different in FIGS. 17E and 17F.

In FIG. 16, the client (000
In the process of relaying the message between A) and the server (S1), first, since the protocol A is used between the client (000A) and the message relay device 2, relay is performed using the message format shown in FIG. 17 (e). Since the protocol B is used between the message relay device 2 and the server (s1), it is necessary to relay using the message format shown in FIG. That is, the communication protocols used between the client 1 and the message relay device 2 and between the message relay device 2 and the server 3 are different.

Thus, when different protocols are used between the client and the message relay device and between the message relay device and the server and different message formats are used, the message relay device 2 identifies the client and the server. Information, and information for associating the request message and the response message with the dialog a on the client side and the dialog b on the server side in a one-to-one correspondence with reference to the dialog identification information registration table 30 as shown in FIG. . That is, the dialog identification information used in the present embodiment is regarded as a server when the message relay device 2 is viewed from the client 1 and is regarded as a client when the message relay device 2 is viewed from the server 3. Is set. FIG. 19 shows a dialog identification information registration table according to the second embodiment of this invention. As shown in the figure, the dialog identification information registration table 30 registers the message ID and the client ID of the client 1 that uses the protocol A in the message relay device 2, and further uses the message ID between the servers that use the protocol B and the server. The ID is registered.

The operation of the second embodiment will be described below with reference to FIGS. The numbers in the circles in FIG. 18 correspond to the order of processing in the following description. Here, the client ID of the client 1 is "000A" and the server ID of the server 3 is "S1". The message relay device 2 also has a server-side ID (N001) for the client 1 and a client-side ID (IDSS) for the server 3 in its own device.

(1) The client 1 sends a request message to the message relay device 2 using the protocol A. This request message has the following contents. -Message type: Q (request message) -Destination ID: N001 (server-side ID of message relay device 2) -Sender ID: 000A (client ID) -Message ID: 00000001-Message body: ABCD ... (2 ) Since the server side (N001) of the message relay device 2 that is regarded as the server side from the perspective of the client 1 is the destination ID of the request message, the server side (N001) of the message relay device 2 recognizes the message. To receive.

(3) Here, the received message is registered in the dialog identification information registration table 30. As a result, the message ID “00000001” is registered in the protocol A side message ID column, and “000A” is registered in the protocol A side client ID column.

(4) At this time, "298" is entered in each of the message ID column on the protocol B side and the server ID column on the protocol B side of the dialog identification information registration table 30.
2 "and" S1 "are registered, the protocol A
It can be seen that the protocol B side message ID corresponding to the side message ID “00000001” is “2982” and the protocol B side server ID is “S1”. As a result, the message relay device 2 causes the server S1 to
Create a message to send to. The contents of the message are as follows. Since the format of the message used in protocol B is the format shown in FIG. 17 (f),
The request message is composed of the following contents. -Destination ID: S1-Sender ID: IDSS-Message ID: 2982-Request message body: ABCD ... (5) Send the message generated above to the destination ID (S
Based on 1), it is sent to the server (S1) using protocol B.

(6) Next, when the response message is relayed from the server 3 (S1) to the client 1,
The message relay device 2 generates a response message having the following contents according to the message format (FIG. 17F) corresponding to the protocol B. -Destination ID: IDSS-Sender ID: S1-Message ID: 2982-Response message: XYZ ... (7) The response message generated in (6) is transmitted using the protocol B to the client side of the message relay device 2 (IDS
S).

(8) The received response message is converted into the message ID on the protocol A side, which is a unique message ID corresponding to the message ID on the protocol B side, and the client ID of the transmission destination is set to “000A” and addressed to the client 1. Message is generated. The contents of the message are: -Message type: R (response message) -Destination ID: 000A (client device ID) -Source ID: N001 (server side ID of message relay device) -Message ID: 00000001-Message body: XYZ ...

(9) The message having the contents of (8) above is sent to the client 1 using the protocol A. (10) Furthermore, a response message (message ID = 29
82) is sent out, and the dialog identification information registration table 3
After referring to 0, the contents of the table are deleted.

According to the present embodiment, in the case where different protocols have different message formats in the communication between the client and the server, the message relay device 2 can relay the message according to the mutually compatible format and communication protocol. .

The present invention is not limited to the above embodiments, and various modifications and applications are possible within the scope of the claims.

[0076]

As described above, according to the present invention, the server status management unit of the message relay device manages the status of the server. Therefore, in the event of a server failure, the client does not have to wait for the response monitoring time, but in a short time. It becomes possible to detect a server failure.

Further, the server timer monitoring performed by the server status monitoring unit has the same meaning as the response visible, which has been performed by the conventional client, but the server status is centrally managed, and once an abnormality is detected, It is possible to respond abnormally to all clients.

Even when different protocols and different message formats are used between the client and the message relay device and between the message relay device and the server, a dialog identification information registration table is provided in the message relay device, By associating the information on the first protocol side with the information on the second protocol side in a 1: 1 manner, the conversion process can be performed in the table and the request / response message can be relayed. It is applicable even when the model or communication form of is different.

[Brief description of drawings]

FIG. 1 is a principle configuration diagram of the present invention.

FIG. 2 is a flow chart for explaining the principle of the present invention.

FIG. 3 is a configuration diagram of a message relay system according to the first embodiment of this invention.

FIG. 4 is a flowchart of a dialog management operation according to the first embodiment of this invention.

FIG. 5 is a flowchart of the operation of the server status monitoring unit according to the first embodiment of this invention.

FIG. 6 is a flowchart of an operation of a dialog identification information storage unit according to the first embodiment of this invention.

FIG. 7 is a flowchart of the operation of the abnormal response return unit according to the first embodiment of this invention.

FIG. 8 is a diagram showing a format of a message.

FIG. 9 is a diagram illustrating a flow of message relay processing when the server is normal according to the first embodiment of this invention.

FIG. 10 is a diagram showing an example of a relayed message according to the first embodiment of this invention.

FIG. 11 is a diagram showing the contents of a dialog identification information storage unit according to the first embodiment of this invention.

FIG. 12 is a diagram showing an example of contents of a server status monitoring unit (server status-normal) according to the first embodiment of this invention.

FIG. 13 is a diagram for explaining the flow of an abnormal response return process when a server error is detected after receiving a request message according to the first embodiment of this invention.

FIG. 14 is a diagram showing an example of contents (server-abnormality) of the server status monitoring unit according to the first embodiment of this invention.

FIG. 15 is a diagram illustrating a flow of message relay processing when a server is abnormal according to the first embodiment of this invention.

FIG. 16 is a diagram showing an example of relaying a message using a different protocol according to the second embodiment of the present invention.

FIG. 17 is a diagram showing a header format according to the second embodiment of this invention.

FIG. 18 is a diagram for explaining message relay processing according to the second embodiment of this invention.

FIG. 19 is a diagram showing an example of a dialog identification information registration table according to the second example of the present invention.

FIG. 20 is a configuration diagram of a conventional message relay system.

FIG. 21 is a flowchart of a conventional message relay operation.

FIG. 22 is a diagram showing that a conventional message is relayed at an application level.

[Explanation of symbols]

 DESCRIPTION OF SYMBOLS 1 client 2 message relay device 3 server 4 response monitoring unit 5 message receiving unit 6 message transmitting unit 7 dialog management unit 8 dialog identification information storage unit 9 server status monitoring unit 10 abnormal response returning unit 11 response monitoring timer 21 management means 22 control means 30 Dialog Identification Information Registration Table 211 Dialog Identification Information Storage Means 212 Server Status Monitoring Means 221 Reception Means 222 Transmission Means 223 Dialog Management Means 224 Abnormal Response Return Means

Claims (9)

[Claims] 1. At least one for sending a request message
A message relay device for relaying a message between one client and at least one server that receives the content of the request message and sends a response message to the request message, and manages the state of the server. A message relay device comprising: a management unit for controlling the relay of a message based on the contents of the management unit. 2. The management means stores dialog identification information for uniquely identifying a response message to the request message and for identifying a request source client and a destination server, and registers the dialog identification information. When a request or deletion request is issued, the dialog identification information storage means for registering and deleting the dialog identification information and the status of each server are monitored. When a server error is detected, the status of the server managed internally is checked. 2. The message relay device according to claim 1, further comprising a server status monitoring unit that sets an abnormal state and instruct to return an abnormal response to a request message regarding dialog identification information regarding a server in an abnormal state. 3. The control means includes a receiving means for receiving a request message from the client and a response message from the server, and a transmitting means for transmitting a response message to the client and a request message to the server. When an abnormal response return instruction is given, an abnormal response return means for creating an abnormal response message and returning an abnormal response to a specified client, and a server of a transmission destination when receiving a request message from the client Whether the server is normal or not is checked by the server status monitoring means, and if the destination server is normal, the dialog identification information is registered in the dialog identification information storage means and a message is sent to the destination server. Is sent, and if the destination server is in an abnormal state, the request is made without relaying the message. The abnormal response returning means is instructed to return the abnormal response to the client, and when the response message is received from the server, it is checked whether the dialog identification information for the response message is registered in the dialog identification information storage means, and the registration is performed. If so, the response message is transmitted to the requesting client via the transmission means, the dialog identification information registered in the dialog identification information storage means is deleted, and the dialog identification information for the response is The message relay device according to claim 1, further comprising: a dialog management unit that discards the response message if it is not registered in the dialog identification information storage unit. 4. The management means identifies the client and the server when communication protocols between the client and the message relay device and between the message relay device and the server are different, and when different message formats are used. 2. The message relay device according to claim 1, further comprising a corresponding dialog identification information storage unit that manages information for doing so in a one-to-one correspondence. 5. The corresponding dialog identification information storage means sets a first protocol and identification information of a client that uses the first protocol as a set, and stores a second protocol and a server that uses the second protocol. The message relay device according to claim 4, wherein the identification information is registered as a set. 6. The control means receives first request means for receiving a request message issued by a client using the first protocol, and receives a response message issued for a server using the second protocol. And a second receiving unit that converts the message into a message using the second protocol that uniquely corresponds to the request message received by the first receiving unit, with reference to the corresponding dialog identification information storage unit. Second conversion means for converting to a message using the first protocol that uniquely corresponds to the response message received by the second reception means, with reference to the conversion means and the corresponding dialog identification information storage means. 6. The message relay device according to claim 1, 4, or 5. 7. At least one for sending a request message
A message relay method for relaying a message between one client and at least one server that receives the content of the request message and sends a response message in response to the request message, the method including: managing a state of the server. , A message relay method characterized by controlling message relay based on management status. 8. When the request message from the client is received, it is checked whether or not the destination server is normal. If the destination server is normal, the dialog identification information is registered and the destination server is registered. If the destination server is in an abnormal state, the requesting client is instructed to return an abnormal response when the destination server is in an abnormal state, and a response message is received from the server. At times, it is checked whether the dialog identification information for the response message is registered, and if it is registered, the response message is transmitted to the requesting client, the registered dialog identification information is deleted, and the response is returned. 8. The message relaying method according to claim 7, wherein the response message is discarded if the dialog identification information for is not registered. 9. The first protocol and the first protocol are used when the communication protocols between the client and the message relay device and between the message relay device and the server are different, and when different message formats are used. The identification information of the client to be set is registered as a set, and the identification information of the second protocol and the server that uses the second protocol are registered as a set, and the registered information is referred to to uniquely identify the received request message. 9. The message according to claim 7, which is converted into a message using the corresponding second protocol, or is converted into a message using the first protocol that uniquely corresponds to the received response message by referring to registered information. Message relay method.