JPH06214912A - Communication system - Google Patents

Abstract

PURPOSE:To realize communication with the process of node in use or the process of another node by the same interface without being conscious of network environment. CONSTITUTION:A transmission request generated from the process of a transmitting node 11 is accepted in common by a message control mechanism (MC) 111 despite whether it is addressed to the process in its own node or the process of another node, and afterwards, the message addressed to another node is transmitted to that destination node by the message control mechanism (MC) 111. In a receiving node 12, the transmitted message is stored in a message storage means 122 despite whether it is addressed from the process of its own node or the process of another node. Then, the message is taken out of the message storage means 122 in conformity with a request to receive it from the process of its own node, and that message is transferred to a requesting origin process.

Description

Detailed Description of the Invention

[0001]

BACKGROUND OF THE INVENTION 1. Field of the Invention The present invention relates to a communication system for performing inter-process communication, and more particularly to inter-process communication between a transmitting node and a receiving node interconnected via a network and transmitting / receiving data in a predetermined communication procedure. Communication system for.

[0002]

2. Description of the Related Art Generally, in inter-process communication in a computer system, the process on the sending side need only recognize the logical name of the process on the receiving side, but in inter-process communication existing on different systems, The sender process is a network environment (LAN, WAN, etc.)
It is necessary to be aware of and communicate with the receiving process.

Therefore, it is necessary for a process to always consider the communication partner process, and be aware of the network environment when transmitting with a process existing on a different system. Therefore, since each process needs to specify the communication partner process, the inter-process communication is always performed only in a one-to-one relationship.

[0004]

Conventionally, when a communication partner process exists in another system, a transmission process in consideration of the network environment is required. Therefore, the partner process exists in the same system. Interprocess communication is always limited to a one-to-one relationship because it is necessary to perform different communication processing procedures depending on the time and when it exists in another system, and it is necessary to specify the communication partner process. It was

The present invention has been made in view of the above circumstances, and makes it possible to realize communication with a process existing in the same system and communication with a process existing in a different system with the same interface, and to realize a network environment. An object of the present invention is to provide a communication system capable of performing communication with a plurality of processes through the same interface without being aware of the above.

[0006]

Means and Actions for Solving the Problems
In a communication system including a transmission node and a reception node which are interconnected via a network and perform data transmission / reception in a predetermined communication procedure, the transmission node receives a transmission request to a process in its own node or a process of another node, A means for identifying whether or not the transmission request is addressed to another node, and a means for transmitting a message to the other node via the network when the transmission request is addressed to the other node. The receiving node stores a message transmitted from a process in its own node or a process of another node, and a message storage unit according to a reception request from a process in its own node, and extracts the message from the message storage unit. And a means for transferring to the requesting process.

In this communication system, the transmission request generated at the transmission node is commonly accepted regardless of whether it is addressed to the process within the own node or the process of another node, and then the transmission request is addressed to the other node. Whether or not is identified. Then, the message addressed to the other node is transmitted to the destination node. On the other hand, at the receiving node,
The transmitted message is accumulated in the message accumulating means regardless of whether it is from a process in its own node or a process of another node. Then, the message is taken out from the message accumulating unit according to the reception request from the process in the own node, and the message is transferred to the requesting process. In this way, since the message accumulated in the message accumulating means is distributed to the process of the reception request source, communication with a process existing in the same system and communication with a process existing in another system can be realized by the same interface. As a result, communication with a plurality of processes can be performed through the same interface without being aware of the network environment.

[0008]

Embodiments of the present invention will be described below with reference to the drawings.

FIG. 1 shows the configuration of a communication system according to an embodiment of the present invention. This communication system
It is realized by a plurality of computer systems interconnected via a network such as LAN or WAN, and each system has both a function as a transmission node and a function as a reception node. In this case, communication via the network is executed according to a predetermined communication protocol, and the transmitting node and the receiving node transmit / receive data according to the same protocol.

Although the computer systems 11 and 12 have the same interprocess communication mechanism, FIG. 1 shows a configuration in which the computer system 11 functions as a transmitting node and the computer system 12 functions as a receiving node. . First, with reference to FIG. 1, an outline of inter-process communication according to the present invention will be described.

In the computer system 11, a plurality of processes P1, P2, ... For executing the work specified by the user are activated, and these processes send a message m for sending to other processes as needed. Occur. This message m is a message control mechanism (M
C) is transferred to 111.

The message control mechanism (MC) 111 sends the messages from the processes P1 and P2 to the computer system 12 via the LAN 13 and / or the LAN 13
To receive a message sent from the computer system 12 via the. In this case, at the time of transmission, the message control mechanism (MC) 111 makes the processes P1 and P
The destination of the message m from 2 is identified as the process in the computer system 11 or the process in the computer system 12, and when the process in the computer system 12 is the transmission destination, the message is sent to the computer system 12 via the LAN 13. Send a message. Further, the message control mechanism (MC) 111 provides a man-machine interface for displaying a screen for the user to define the logical name and the like of the destination node.

Also in the computer system 12, a plurality of processes P3, P4, P5, ... For executing the work specified by the user are started, and these are messages for transmitting to other processes as necessary. m
To occur. This message m is transferred to the message control mechanism (MC) 121.

The message control mechanism (MC) 121, like the message control mechanism (MC) 111, processes P.
3, the messages from P4 and P5 are transmitted to the computer system 11 via the LAN 13 and the messages transmitted from the computer system 11 via the LAN 13 are received. It is shown.

That is, the message control mechanism (MC) 1
21 sends the message sent from the process to the processes P3, P4. P5
Process P of the computer system 11
Regardless of whether it is from 1 or P2, it is registered in the message storage mechanism 122.

The message accumulating mechanism 122 is a mechanism for accumulating a message from a process that has made a transmission request, and has a function of copying the message to the process that has made a reception request to the message accumulating mechanism 122.
The message accumulating mechanism 122 is realized by a mailpho, and details of the mailfo will be described later. Next, the operation of inter-process communication via the network 13 will be described with reference to the flowchart of FIG.

Sender node (computer system 1
When the processes P1 and P2 of 1) perform inter-process communication with the processes P3, P4 and P5 of the reception side node (computer system 12), first, a logical name is defined in the reception side node in the transmission side node. . At this time, information such as the network environment is also defined. Similarly, the receiving node also defines a logical name for the sending node,
Information such as the network environment is also defined. At this time, the process only needs to know the logical name of the receiving side node, and does not need to know the network environment or the like.

Next, a process (processes P and P2 of the transmitting side node or processes P3 and P of the receiving side node)
4, P5) uses the man-machine interface of the message control mechanism (MC) 111 or 121 to define the message storage mechanism 122 with a logical name. A plurality of this message storage mechanism 122 can be defined in each node. Up to this point, the environment required for interprocess communication is completed.

Sending node side (computer system 1
The process 1) (processes P1 and P2) sends a transmission request to the message storage mechanism 122 of the receiving side node (computer system 12) to the message control mechanism (MC).
It is issued to 111 (step S11). At this time, the process only needs to specify the logical name of the receiving node 12 and the logical name of the message storage mechanism 122.

The message control mechanism (MC) 111, which has received the request from the processes P1 and P2, determines whether the transmission request is to the same node or to another node via the network (step S12). This determination is made based on the logical name of the other party included in the transmission request.

When the transmission request is addressed to another node via the network 13, the message control mechanism (M
C) 111 controls the network 13 and sends the message to the message control mechanism (M
C) 121 is transmitted (step S13).

At this time, the logical name of the message storage mechanism (M) 122 of the receiving side node is added to the message. Message storage mechanism that received the message (M)
122 is a designated message storage mechanism (M) 122.
The message is transcribed to (step S14).

The processes P4 and P5 of the receiving side node make a message reception request to the message control mechanism (MC) 121, so that the message storage mechanism (M).
The message is transcribed from 122, and the message can be received (step S15). At this time, the processes P4 and P5 need only specify the logical name of the message storage mechanism (M) 122. Next, with reference to FIG. 3, a mailpho, which is a main mechanism of interprocess communication of the present invention, will be described.

The mailfo is a function of transmitting and receiving a message (letter) between processes via the mailfo (post office box). This mail is a message storage mechanism 1
22 and has the following five basic functions. (1) Sending and receiving messages

Mail mail 12 with a unique name for the user
2A is created in advance. On the other hand, the message is transmitted and the message is received by another process. Transmission methods include synchronous transmission and asynchronous transmission. Synchronous transmission is a specific mail 1
The message is transmitted to 22A, and the transmission is completed when the process of the other party receives it. During this synchronous transmission, it is guaranteed that the other process has received the message.

The asynchronous transmission is completed when a message is sent to the specific mail 122A. That is, it does not care whether or not the other process receives the transmitted message. Regarding reception, there are synchronous reception and asynchronous reception similar to transmission. Synchronous reception waits until a message is received, asynchronous reception receives if a message arrives,
If there is no incoming call, control immediately returns to the user program. (2) Message storage mechanism

The mailpho 122A has a dedicated memory buffer for temporarily storing the transmitted message.
The size and number of this memory buffer can be specified at system creation. (3) Message ID

The content of the message can be created by the user in any format. By adding an ID of about 2 bytes to this message, it is possible to selectively receive it by the designated mail name and ID at the time of reception. (4) Time monitoring function This is a function for interrupting the processing when the processing is not completed within the specified period during synchronous transmission or synchronous reception. (5) Network mail

This is a function extended for inter-process communication via a network, and by adding a node name to a name for identifying a mailpho, an operation (sending, etc.) is performed to the mailpho of a designated node. You can

FIG. 3 shows that the process P1 of the node 11 sends a message to the mailpho 122A of the node 12 and the process of the node 12 receives the message by using the function of the network mailpho. It is shown. FIG. 4 and FIG. 5 show an example of a usage mode of the network mailpho.

FIG. 4 shows a case where a network mailpho is used for transmitting information between processes.
In, an input process for inputting data is activated, and in the receiving node 12, a database operation process for operating a database is activated. Information from each input process is sent to the network mail
The data is transmitted to the database operation process via 2A, and the database operation according to various requests is executed. In this example, n: 1 interprocess communication is realized.

FIG. 5 shows a case where a network mailpho is used for transmitting information between job steps. In the transmitting node 11, M transmission processes for transmitting data are activated, and in the receiving node 12, data reception is performed. N receiving processes to be performed are activated. In this example, M to N inter-process communication is realized.

As described above, in this embodiment, the message control mechanism (MC) 111 does not depend on whether the transmission request generated from the process of the transmitting node 11 is addressed to the process within its own node or the process of another node. The message control mechanism (MC) 111 identifies whether or not the transmission request is addressed to another node. Then, the message addressed to the other node is transmitted to the destination node by the message control mechanism (MC) 111. On the other hand, in the receiving node 12, the transmitted message is accumulated in the message accumulating means 122 regardless of whether it is from a process in its own node or a process of another node. Then, the message is taken out from the message accumulating means 122 according to the reception request from the process in the own node, and the message is transferred to the requesting process. In this way, since the message stored in the message storage unit 122 is distributed to the process of the reception request source, communication with a process existing in the same system and communication with a process existing in another system are performed by the same interface. It can be realized, and communication with multiple processes can be performed by the same interface without being aware of the network environment.

In particular, the process of the transmitting node need only specify the message accumulating means 122 as the destination, not the process name, and the process of the receiving node need only issue a reception request to the message accumulating means 122. It is not necessary to specify the process, and M: N inter-process communication can be realized.

[0035]

As described above, according to the present invention,
Communication with processes existing in the same system and communication with processes existing in different systems can now be realized with the same interface, and communication with multiple processes can be performed with the same interface without being aware of the network environment. It becomes possible.

[Brief description of drawings]

FIG. 1 is a block diagram showing a configuration of a communication system according to an embodiment of the present invention.

FIG. 2 is a flowchart illustrating an inter-process communication operation of the communication system of the embodiment.

FIG. 3 is a block diagram for explaining a mailfo mechanism for inter-process communication via a network in the embodiment.

FIG. 4 is a block diagram showing an example of a usage pattern of inter-process communication via a network in the embodiment.

FIG. 5 is a block diagram showing another example of a usage pattern of inter-process communication via the network in the embodiment.

[Explanation of symbols]

11 ... Sending node, 12 ... Receiving node, 111, 1
21 ... Message control mechanism, 122 ... Message storage mechanism, P1 to P5 ... Processes.

Claims (1)

[Claims] 1. A communication system comprising a transmitting node and a receiving node, which are interconnected via a network and transmit and receive data according to a predetermined communication procedure, wherein the transmitting node is a process within its own node or a process of another node. Means for receiving the transmission request of the other node and for identifying whether the transmission request is addressed to another node, and means for transmitting a message to the other node via the network when the transmission request is addressed to the other node. Wherein the receiving node stores a message transmitted from a process in its own node or a process in another node, and a message from the message storing unit according to a reception request from a process in its own node. Means for retrieving the message and forwarding the message to the requesting process. Communication system according to claim.