Systems, software, and methods for routing events among publishers and subscribers on a computer network

摘要

A method and apparatus for publishing and receiving events to and from a network. A plurality of "publisher" entities publish information and a plurality of "subscriber" entities request and use the information. Publishers and subscribers are connected to each other through a network. The network is a "store and forward" network whose routing is "content-based." The basic quanta of information is called an "event." Publishers publish events and subscribers subscribe to events that match criteria defined by the subscriber. Publication and subscription are performed asynchronously. Publishers and subscribers do not have direct knowledge of each other. The system receives a published event from a publisher and routes the event to all appropriate subscribers. Each subscriber is guaranteed to receive all events published on the system if, and only it they match the subscription criteria specified by the subscriber. A legacy data base can be added to the network by way of a data base connector, which can be a publisher, a subscriber, or both.