Patent ID: 6490623
Filing Date: 2002-12-03
Classification: G06F

Abstract:
In a computing environment having a connection to a network, computer readable code for encapsulating communications socket functionality in a lightweight uniform communications object model, said computer readable code being readable by a computer system in the environment and comprising:computer readable code encapsulating functions for building a communications socket; computer readable code encapsulating functions on logical record-oriented data of the communications socket; computer readable code encapsulating functions on stream-oriented data of the communications socket; computer readable code for providing an application programming interface (â€œAPIâ€ ) for initializing communications socket communications, wherein an invocation of the initializing API invokes one of the encapsulated functions for building the communications socket; computer readable code for providing an API for receiving data wherein: an invocation of the receive data API invokes one of the encapsulated functions on logical record-oriented data to deliver a logical record to an invoker if a receiver of the invocation implements logical record-oriented functions; or the invocation of the receive data API invokes one of the encapsulated functions on stream-oriented data to deliver buffered data to the invoker if the receiver of the invocation implements stream-oriented functions; and computer readable code for providing an API for transmitting data, wherein: an invocation of the transmit data API invokes one of the encapsulated functions on logical record-oriented data to deliver a logical record from an invoker if a receiver of the invocation implements logical record-oriented functions; or the invocation of the transmit data API invokes one of the encapsulated functions on stream-oriented data to deliver buffered data from the invoker if the receiver of the invocation implements stream-oriented functions; wherein the encapsulated functions are functionally independent of a system, language, and device from which the APIs may be invoked.