JP2006031238A - Message transfer control method, message transfer control program and message queuing device - Google Patents

Abstract

<P>PROBLEM TO BE SOLVED: To reduce the line load and line cost of a network while preventing the reduction in transfer efficiency of messages. <P>SOLUTION: The destinations and priority orders attached to messages are determined, and the messages are sorted by destination and by priority order, and registered in a queue. The number of messages stayed in the queue are sorted by destinations and by priority order and counted, and when the count number exceeds a predetermined number, messages having the same destination and equal or more priority orders are collectively transferred. When the resident time of a message registered first in the queue passes a predetermined maximum resident time, messages with the same destination are collectively transferred. By collectively transferring messages, the transfer efficiency is improved. <P>COPYRIGHT: (C)2006,JPO&NCIPI

Description

  The present invention relates to a message transfer control method, a message transfer control program, and a message queuing device in a message queuing system that transfers messages between a plurality of computers using a queue.

  In recent years, distributed processing in which a plurality of computers execute one related process in cooperation via a network has become widespread. In a system that performs such distributed processing, a plurality of computers that cooperate with each other perform different processing independently while transmitting and receiving data that cooperate with each other via a network. Message queuing systems are frequently used in such distributed processing systems.

  In a message queuing system, a message queue (hereinafter referred to as a queue) is provided on each recording medium of a computer that performs distributed processing, and data transfer between computers (hereinafter, data transferred between computers is referred to as a message). ) Is performed asynchronously with the processing of the other computer via this queue. That is, both the sending computer and the receiving computer need only send and receive messages to and from the other party, and are not affected by the processing status of the other computer.

  In the message queuing system, a queue is a logical device for storing queued messages, and is usually configured as a file on a hard disk storage device. The queue is configured on both the sending computer and the receiving computer. From the application program side, the message may be registered or read out from the queue on the own computer side. That is, in an application program, messages are transmitted and received by registering and reading messages to and from the queue using an API (Application Program Interface) provided by the message queuing system. For example, in order to transmit a message in an application program, it is only necessary to issue an API for registering the message by designating a destination queue. In this way, the transferred message is temporarily stored in the transfer queue of the transmitting computer. Then, under the management of the message queuing system, it is transmitted to the destination queue of the receiving computer and stored.

  As described above, according to the message queuing system, both the transmission-side processing and the reception-side processing at the application program level may not be executed simultaneously. If at least one of the processes is executed, the transmission process or the reception process can be performed via the queue without depending on the execution state of the other party's process. Therefore, the message transfer control method provided by the message queuing system has both expandability and flexibility. In addition, even if a communication failure or system failure occurs, a message transferred by the message queuing system is stored in a queue having an entity such as a hard disk storage device, and thus does not disappear. Moreover, in the message transfer processes on the transmitting side and on the receiving side, since message delivery confirmation is mutually performed, there is no omission or duplication in the transferred messages. Thus, the message transfer control method provided by the message queuing system is also highly reliable.

The characteristics and pros and cons of the message queuing system described above are described in detail in Non-Patent Document 1, for example.
“In-house system, next step Part 2: Technology edition“ Immediate use of the four technologies in the right place and error handling is important ””, Nikkei Business Publications, Nikkei Open System May 2001 issue, p. 120-125

By the way, the message transfer process in the message queuing system has high immediacy, and when each message is stored in the transfer queue, the transfer process is immediately performed in units of messages. That is, message transfer is performed according to the following procedure.
(1) The application program on the transmission side registers a message in the transfer queue.
(2) The message queuing system program on the transmission side establishes a communication path with the message queuing system program on the reception side, and transmits the message registered in the transfer queue. At this time, if the message queuing system program on the receiving side has stopped or a communication failure has occurred, the message queuing system program on the sending side will start after the operation of the receiving side message queuing system program or recovery from the communication failure Send the message again.
(3) When the message queuing system program on the receiving side receives the message, it registers the message in the destination queue.
(4) The application program on the receiving side takes out the message from the destination queue.

  Such a transfer method for transferring individual messages immediately in units of messages is particularly problematic even when implemented in a local and highly independent network environment such as a LAN (Local Area Network) in factories or offices. Will not occur. This is because it is possible and easy to establish a communication path between computers that transfer messages and to keep the established communication path.

  However, in a distributed processing system in which a large number of computers are linked via the Internet, which is a public line, it is difficult to establish a communication path between computers that transfer messages and to keep it secure. For this reason, if transfer processing is performed in units of individual messages, it is necessary to establish a communication path every time. Then, the efficiency of message transfer is reduced by the amount of processing for establishing the communication path.

  The problem to be solved by the present invention is to prevent a decrease in message transfer efficiency caused by establishing a communication path in units of individual messages in a message queuing system that transfers messages between multiple computers using queues. It is another object of the present invention to provide a message transfer method, a message transfer program, and a message queuing device that can reduce the line load and line cost of a network.

  In the present invention, a computer including a storage device configured to queue a message to be transferred to another computer and an arithmetic processing unit for registering and reading a message to the queue is first attached to the message to be transferred. At least one of the destination and priority is determined, and the message is classified based on the determination result and registered in the queue. Then, the number of messages registered and staying in the queue is classified and counted based on the determination result. After that, when the number of staying messages counted separately exceeds a predetermined number, the messages sorted based on at least one of the destination and priority attached to the staying messages counted separately are collected. And forwarded.

  That is, in the present invention, it is not necessary to perform the process of establishing a communication path for each message transmission, and it can be performed collectively for the transmission of a plurality of messages. Therefore, it is possible to reduce the number of executions of processing for establishing a communication path, and it is possible to improve the substantial efficiency of message transfer performed between linked computers.

  Further, in the present invention, the number of staying messages can be counted separately for each priority. For this reason, messages with high priority such as high-priority messages are transferred immediately, and for messages with low priority, the maximum number of staying messages is increased to improve the efficiency of message transfer. Transfer control can be realized.

  Furthermore, in the present invention, when the first registered message that has been registered and staying in the queue stays longer than a predetermined time, the messages that have stayed in the queue are collected together. I forwarded it.

  Therefore, the messages staying in the queue are transferred together within a predetermined time. Therefore, the message can be prevented from staying in the queue for a long time.

  According to the present invention, in message transfer processing between a plurality of computers in a message queuing system, it is possible to reduce the amount of processing for establishing a communication path, and it is possible to improve substantial message transfer efficiency. Further, according to the present invention, for example, a high priority message is transferred immediately, and a low priority message is not transferred until a predetermined number of staying messages is exceeded. Message transfer control can be realized.

  Hereinafter, embodiments of the present invention will be described in detail with reference to FIGS. 1 to 9 as appropriate. Here, FIG. 1 is a diagram showing a configuration of a distributed processing system to which the message queuing system according to the embodiment of the present invention is applied.

  In FIG. 1, the distributed processing system includes a server 10, a plurality of cooperation destination servers 30 that cooperate with the server 10, and a network 20 that connects these servers. Each of the server 10 and the cooperation destination server 30 is a computer configured to include an arithmetic processing device and a storage device (not shown), and at least the application program 11 and the message queuing system program 12 are stored in the storage device. In addition to being stored, a data storage area related to the queue 13 and the queue definition information 14 is secured. Normally, the queue 13 is secured on the hard disk storage device.

  In general, the message queuing system often refers to the message queuing system program 12. Here, the hardware and the program for realizing message transfer between a plurality of computers using the queue are described here. Shall be pointed to. The message queuing apparatus includes a message queuing system program 12 and a queue 13, and by executing the message queuing system program 12, it is possible to transfer messages to and from other computers. Refers to a computer.

  In FIG. 1, in each of the server 10 and the cooperation destination server 30, an arithmetic device (not shown) executes the message queuing system program 12 stored in a storage device (not shown). As a result of the execution, the queue 13 is configured, and a so-called message queuing system function of performing message transfer control using the queue 13 is realized. Therefore, in the case of FIG. 1, each of the server 10 and the cooperation destination server 30 corresponds to a message queuing device. Therefore, in the following description, the message queuing device is simply abbreviated as “system”. That is, the term “system” refers to a computer that executes the message queuing system program 12, and the term “system does” means “message queuing device, ie, message queuing system program”. It is assumed that the computer (the arithmetic processing unit) that executes 12 performs “.

  FIG. 2 is a diagram showing a configuration of the message queuing system program according to the embodiment of the present invention. In FIG. 2, the message queuing system program 12 includes an API processing unit 121, a queue control unit 122, a message transfer control unit 123, and a queue definition analysis unit 124.

  In FIG. 2, the API processing unit 121 decodes the queue operation instruction sent from the application program 11 (see FIG. 1), and requests the queue control unit 122 to execute a function corresponding to the queue operation instruction. For example, when receiving a request for registering a message in the queue 13, the queue control unit 122 determines a destination and a priority attached to the message, and classifies the message according to the destination and the priority, and puts the message in the queue 13. sign up.

  The queue control unit 122 counts the number of messages remaining in the queue 13 separately for each destination and priority assigned to the message, and whether the counted number of messages exceeds a predetermined maximum number. Determine whether or not. This maximum number is determined for each destination and priority. Further, the queue control unit 122 determines whether or not the residence time of the message staying in the queue 13 has exceeded a predetermined maximum time.

  The message transfer control unit 123 takes out a predetermined message from the queue 13 using the queue control unit 122 and transfers the extracted message to the message queuing system 12 of the cooperation destination server 30 specified by the destination of the message. Further, the queue definition analyzing unit 124 reads the queue definition information 14 at the start of execution of the message queuing system program 12, and transfers the queue definition information table 400 (see FIG. 4 to be described later) and the queue definition information management table 500 (see FIG. 5 to be described later). ) Is generated.

  Next, the data structure of data for managing the queue 13 in the message queuing system 12 according to the present embodiment will be described with reference to FIGS. 3, 4, and 5. Here, FIG. 3 is a diagram illustrating an example of queue definition in the queue definition information, FIG. 4 is a diagram illustrating an example of a data structure of a transfer queue management table, and FIG. 5 is a diagram illustrating queue definition information. It is the figure which showed the example of data structure of.

In FIG. 3, the queue definition information 14 includes a plurality of transfer queue definitions 141 and a system common definition 142.
The transfer queue definition 141 is information for defining individual transfer queues in the queue 13 and includes a transfer queue name and destination information for identifying the transfer queue. Normally, one transfer queue is defined for one transfer queue.

  The system common definition 142 is information commonly defined for the entire message queuing system 12, that is, a plurality of transfer queue definitions 141 created. In the example of FIG. 3, the maximum value of the priority given to the message is set to 5, and five types of values 1, 2,..., 5 can be taken as the priority. The maximum allowable delay time defines the longest residence time of a message staying in the queue. In this case, since the maximum allowable delay time = 60, the staying message is within 60 seconds at the maximum. Is supposed to be transferred. Moreover, the maximum number of staying messages with priority i indicates the maximum number of messages with priority i that can stay in the transfer queue.

Next, an example of the data structure of the transfer queue management table 400 in the queue 13 will be described with reference to FIG. In FIG. 4, the transfer queue management table 400 includes a plurality of transfer queue management entries 401.
A transfer queue management entry 401 indicates information of one transfer queue, and includes a transfer queue name 402, destination information 403, and a message management unit 404. The transfer queue name 402 is expressed by a unique name for identifying the transfer queue. The destination information 403 is information indicating a message transfer destination queue, and includes information necessary for establishing a communication path with the cooperation destination server 30 where the queue is located.

  The message management unit 404 includes a plurality of priority management entries 405 and is created in the same number as the maximum priority value defined in the queue definition information 14. The priority management entry 405 includes a priority 406, a staying message count 407, and a message management information chain head pointer 408. The priority 406 is a value that represents the priority of the message, and is represented by an integer that is greater than or equal to 1 and less than the maximum priority. The priority 406 has a higher priority as the value increases. The staying message count 407 indicates the number of messages assigned the priority indicated by the priority 406 among the messages registered in the transfer queue.

  The message management information chain head pointer 408 is a pointer for pointing to the head of the message management information chain 410. The message management information chain 410 represents a message management entry 409 corresponding to a message registered in the transfer queue in a chain structure. The message management entry 409 includes a next pointer 411 and message management information 412. The next pointer 411 is a pointer for pointing to the next message management entry 409 in the message management information chain 410. The message management information 412 is information relating to the message registered in the transfer queue, and has information necessary for extracting the message from the queue 13.

  Next, a data structure related to queue definition information will be described with reference to FIG. In FIG. 5, the queue definition information management table 500 includes a maximum stay message count management unit 501, a maximum priority value 502, and a maximum allowable delay time 503. The maximum stay message count management unit 501 includes a maximum stay message count 504 having the same number of priorities as the maximum priority defined in the queue definition information 14. The maximum priority 502 is defined in the queue definition information 14 and expressed as an integer of 1 or more.

  The maximum allowable delay time 503 is defined in the queue definition information 14 and represents the maximum value of the time allowed for delaying message transfer. When the transfer message stays in the transfer queue exceeding the maximum allowable delay time 503, the message transfer process is automatically executed even if the number of messages does not reach the maximum stay message count. The maximum number of staying messages 504 for each priority expresses the maximum number of messages that stay in the transfer queue for each priority by an integer value of 0 or more. Also in this case, the number of staying messages is managed for each priority in the transfer queue, and when the number of staying messages exceeds the maximum number of staying messages 504, message transfer processing is executed.

  Hereinafter, the flow of processing executed in the message queuing system 12 according to the present embodiment will be described with reference to FIGS. Here, FIG. 6 is a diagram showing an example of the flow of initialization processing executed when the system is started, and FIG. 7 is a diagram showing the flow of message registration processing for registering messages in a queue. 8 is a diagram showing a flow of message transfer processing, and FIG. 9 is a diagram showing a flow of timer processing.

  The initialization processing program shown in FIG. 6 is a program that is executed first when the message queuing system program 12 (see FIG. 2) is started, for example, when the system is powered on. When this program is executed, the function of the queue definition analysis unit 124 in the message queuing system program 12 is realized.

  In FIG. 6, when the initialization process is started, the system creates the queue definition information management table 500 based on the queue definition information 14 (step S601). Next, the transfer queue management table 400 is created based on the queue definition information management table 500 (step S602). By steps S601 and S602, the data structure related to the queue 13 is formed, and preparations for registering a message are completed. Further, in this initialization process, a thread is generated, a timer process described later is set to be executed by the thread (step S603), and the initialization process ends.

  The message registration process shown in FIG. 7 is a program started when the application program 11 executes a queue operation instruction for registering a message in the queue 13. When this program is executed, part of the function of the queue control unit 122 of the message queuing system 12 (see FIG. 2) is realized.

  In FIG. 7, when the message registration process is activated, the system first receives a message to be registered in the queue, the transfer queue name, and the priority from the application program 11 (step S701). The received message is registered in the queue 13 (step S702).

  Next, the system creates a message management entry 409 (see FIG. 4) and sets the queue storage information in the message management information 412 (step S703). Next, the message management entry 409 is registered at the end of the message management information chain 410 whose priority matches the transfer queue name passed from the application program 11 (step S704). Next, the value of the number of staying messages 407 whose priority matches the transfer queue name delivered from the application program 11 is increased by 1 (step S705). Next, it is determined whether or not the value of the stay message count 407 updated in step S705 exceeds the maximum stay message count 504 of the priority (step S706), and if it has exceeded (Yes in step S706). Then, a message transfer process (see FIG. 8 to be described later) is executed (step S707), and if not exceeded (No in step S706), the message registration process is terminated.

  The message transfer process shown in FIG. 8 is started when a message transfer process is requested in step S707 (see FIG. 7) of the message registration process or in step S904 of the timer process (see FIG. 9 described later). When this program is executed, part of the function of the message transfer control unit 123 of the message queuing system 12 (see FIG. 2) is realized.

  In FIG. 8, when the message transfer process is activated, the system receives the transfer queue name and priority from the request source of the process (step S801). Next, referring to the transfer queue management table 400 based on the transfer queue name received from the request source, the destination information 403 is acquired, and a communication path is established with the transfer destination cooperation destination server 30 ( Step S802). Then, it is determined whether or not the communication path has been successfully established (step S803). If the communication path has failed to be established (No in step S803), the message transfer process is terminated. If the communication path is successfully established (Yes in step S803), the message management unit 404 is acquired from the transfer queue management table 400 based on the transfer queue name received from the request source, and designated by the request source. All the staying messages to which the priority higher than the given priority is attached are transmitted (step S804). When the transmission ends, the communication path is disconnected (step S805), and the message transfer process ends.

  The timer process shown in FIG. 9 is a program activated in step S603 (see FIG. 6) of the initialization process, and when this program is executed, the queue control unit of the message queuing system 12 (see FIG. 2). A part of the function 122 is realized.

  The timer process shown in FIG. 9 first determines whether or not the system is terminated in FIG. 9 (step S901). If the system is terminated (Yes in step S901), the timer process is terminated. If the system is not terminated (No in step S901), the processing from step S902 to step S905 is repeated for all the transfer queue management entries 401 in the transfer queue management table 400. Here, in the processing from step S902 to step S905, first, it is determined whether or not a stay message exists in the transfer queue (step S903), and when a stay message exists (Yes in step S903). In order to transfer all the staying messages in the transfer queue, the message transfer process (see FIG. 8) is executed by specifying the transfer queue name 402 and 1 as the priority (step S904). When the iterative processing from step S902 to step S905 is completed, the process waits for the time specified by the maximum allowable delay time 503 to elapse (step S906), and returns to step S901.

  In FIG. 9, the termination of the system means that the server 10 stops functioning as a message queuing device, and therefore the server 10 terminates the execution of the message queuing system program 12. .

  According to the embodiment described above, the message to be transferred is registered in the transfer queue defined by the transfer queue definition 141 (see FIG. 3) for each destination, and the message staying in the transfer queue is: For each priority, the message is stored in the stay message count 407 in the transfer queue management table 400 (see FIG. 4). Then, the number stored in the number of staying messages 407 with priority i has reached the number stored in the maximum number of staying messages 504 with priority i in the queue definition information management table 500 (see FIG. 5). Sometimes, messages that have a priority higher than priority i among the messages staying in the transfer queue are transferred together. The transfer destination at that time is determined by the destination information 403 of the transfer queue management table 400.

  Thus, in the present embodiment, a predetermined number or more of messages to the same destination are transferred together. Therefore, it is not necessary to establish a communication path to the cooperation destination server 30 where the destination queue is located for each message, and the load on the server 10 and the network 20 is reduced correspondingly, and substantial message transfer efficiency is improved. To do.

  Further, according to the present embodiment, as shown in FIG. 9, messages staying in the transfer queue are displayed for each time stored in the maximum allowable delay time 503 in the queue definition information management table 500. The transfer process is executed. Therefore, the time for which the forwarded message stays in the queue 13 is the time stored in the maximum allowable delay time 503 at the maximum. Therefore, the message can be prevented from staying in the queue for a long time, and inconvenience can be prevented from occurring in the distributed system operating in cooperation.

  In this embodiment, a transfer queue is created for each message transfer destination, and the number of staying messages is counted for each priority. However, the transfer queue is distinguished for each destination and priority. You may create it. In this embodiment, there are a plurality of priorities. However, priorities may not be assigned. In this case, in the present embodiment, the maximum priority value may be set to 1 in the system common definition 142 of FIG.

It is the figure which showed the structure of the distributed processing system to which the message queuing system which concerns on embodiment of this invention is applied. It is the figure which showed the structure of the message queuing system which concerns on embodiment of this invention. It is the figure which showed the example of the queue definition in the queue definition information which concerns on embodiment of this invention. It is the figure which showed the example of the data structure of the queue management table for transfer which concerns on embodiment of this invention. It is the figure which showed the example of the data structure of the queue definition information which concerns on embodiment of this invention. It is the figure which showed the example of the flow of the initialization process which concerns on embodiment of this invention. It is the figure which showed the example of the flow of the message registration process which concerns on embodiment of this invention. It is the figure which showed the example of the flow of the message transfer process which concerns on embodiment of this invention. It is the figure which showed the example of the flow of the timer process which concerns on embodiment of this invention.

Explanation of symbols

10 server 11 application program 12 message queuing system program 13 queue 14 queue definition information 20 network 30 linked server 121 API processing unit 122 queue control unit 123 message transfer control unit 124 queue definition analyzing unit 141 transfer queue definition 142 system common definition 400 Transfer queue management table 401 Transfer queue management entry 402 Transfer queue name 403 Destination information 404 Message management unit 405 Priority management entry 406 Priority 407 Number of staying messages 408 Message management information chain head pointer 409 Message management entry 410 Message management Information chain 411 Next pointer 412 Message management information 500 Queue definition information management table 501 Maximum stay message count management section 502 Maximum priority value 503 Maximum allowable delay time 504 Maximum stay message count

Claims (5)

Messages in message transfer performed by a computer having a storage device configured with a queue of messages to be transferred to another computer and an arithmetic processing unit for registering and reading the messages with respect to the queue. A transfer control method,
The computer is
Determining at least one of a destination and priority attached to a message to be transferred, separating the message based on the determination result, and registering the message in the queue;
Counting the number of messages registered and staying in the queue separately based on the determination result; and
When the number of staying messages counted separately exceeds a predetermined number, the messages sorted based on at least one of the destination and priority attached to the staying messages counted separately are transferred together. A message transfer control method comprising: The message transfer control method according to claim 1,
The computer further comprises:
Executing the step of transferring the staying messages together when the first registered message stays for a predetermined period of time even if it is long, among the staying messages registered in the queue A message transfer control method.   A message transfer control program for causing a computer to execute the message transfer method according to claim 1 or 2. A computer having a storage device in which a queue of messages to be transferred to another computer and an arithmetic processing unit for registering and reading the messages to the queue controls message transfer with the other computer. A message queuing device to perform,
Message registration means for determining at least one of a destination and a priority attached to a message to be transferred, sorting the message based on the determination result, and registering the message in the queue;
A staying message counting means for sorting and counting the number of staying messages registered in the queue based on the determination result;
When the number of staying messages counted separately exceeds a predetermined number, the messages sorted based on at least one of the destination and priority attached to the staying messages counted separately are transferred together. A message queuing device comprising: The message queuing device according to claim 4, further comprising:
Of the messages that are registered and staying in the queue, the second staying message that collectively transfers the staying messages when the first registered message stays longer than a predetermined time even if it is long A message queuing device comprising a transfer means.

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