Patent ID: 6898793

Claim:
A method for a server to control the activities of agents in a single server system having, in at least one storage location, a plurality to stored deactivated agents which can be activated, said method comprising the steps of: examining a message generated by a first source agent and addressed to a destination agent by referring to a conversation rule defining usable messages for said single server system, wherein said examining step determines whether said message is invalid and if said message is invalid, requesting the deactivation of said first source agent of the said message and deactivating said first source agent in response to said request; otherwise, if said message is valid, specifying the destination agent for handling said message as an activation candidate agent based on the said examining step; referring to the status of active agents; and retrieving said activation candidate agent from said at least one storage location and activating said activation candidate agent if said referring to the status of active agents indicates that the activation candidate agent can be activated.