Patent ID: 7890572

Claim:
A method for invoking an application program in a computer system, the method comprising the steps of: a client first application program at a client computer system, subscribing to a publish/subscribe channel of a publish/subscribe service; receiving at the client first application program, a topic message published by way of the publish/subscribe channel which has been received by the publish/subscribe service from a content provider for blind publication to subscribers of said publish/subscriber channel; responsive to a user GUI action, selecting the subscribed to channel associating the received topic message with a second application program, said user GUI action including selecting a service from available services thereby permitting selecting various combinations of services and their channels; obtaining at the client, the second application program; and invoking at the client, the second application program; wherein the obtaining the second application program step comprises the further step of sending an alert signal to a user of the client computer system, the alert signal indicating an indication, the indication including either that the application has been invoked or a message has been received; further steps of: presenting an indicator of a plurality of application programs at the client computer by way of a GUI prompt; selecting a second application program indicator from the indicator of the plurality of application programs; and invoking the second application program responsive to selecting the second application program indicator.