Abstract: According to the preferred embodiment, a computer system and method for providing access to a software application from a web browser over the WWW is disclosed. The system includes one or more computers executing a web browser, a web server application, an application gateway, and a software application. The system and method allows a user of the web browser to access the software application. The user inputs data via the web browser, which is communicated to the web server application. The application gateway then generates a conversation identifier to identify this conversation between the web browser and the software application. The application gateway performs the function requested in the web server input data by formatting the appropriate commands with the software application. The operation of the software application can be suspended at any time by calling a disconnect mechanism.

Abstract: A threadsafe object pool in accordance with the preferred embodiments reserves each object for a particular thread of execution. Locking of an object pool is normally required to assure that two threads cannot simultaneously request the same object. However, because each object in the pool is reserved for a single thread, no other threads will be allowed to access the object, so the locking of the pool to prevent simultaneously allocating an object to two different threads is not required.

Abstract: Two computer systems communicate with each other using active datastreams that each identify executable code for sending and receiving the corresponding active datastream, and for performing any processing required by the active datastream. Each active datastream also includes a unique datastream identifier. When a first computer system (source) has a request to send to a second computer system (target), the source computer system creates an active datastream object that represents the request. Once the active datastream object is created, a method on the active datastream object is invoked to send the active datastream object to the target. A datastream factory on the target reads the datastream identifier of the transmitted active datastream object, determines from the datastream identifier the class of active datastream object being received, and creates a new instance of the class corresponding to the datastream identifier.

Abstract: A clustered computer system includes multiple computer systems (or nodes) on a network that can become members of a group to work on a particular task. Each node includes a main thread and one or more work threads. The main thread receives messages from other computer systems in the group, and routes messages intended for the work thread to a response queue and a work queue in the work thread, depending on the type of the message. If the message is a response to a currently-executing task, the message is placed in the response queue in the work thread. If the message is a new non-priority task that needs to be processed, the message is routed to the work queue in the work thread. If the message is a priority message, the message is written to both the work queue and the response queue in the work thread.

Abstract: An apparatus and method shares predictive failure information between computer system in a computer network. The shared predictive failure information allows dynamically rerouting a network request to avoid a computer system that may fail according to its predictive failure information. According to a first embodiment, if the requested resource on the network has predictive failure information that indicates the resource may soon fail, a message is returned to the requesting computer with information that includes possible alternative sites from which the information may be obtained. If there is an alternative site, the requesting computer system may access the alternative site, thereby avoiding the computer system that may soon fail. If there is no alternative site, the requesting computer system may return an error message, or may simply access the original resource on the chance that is has not yet failed.

Abstract: A block has a finished surface that provides an attractive appearance. The block is relatively large in size, allowing the quick construction of a wall, such as a retaining wall, using the block. The block includes one or more lift and alignment devices in the block that allow the block to be lifted using a suitable lifting apparatus, such as a crane, forklift, backhoe, etc. The block includes one or more recessed portions in the bottom surface of the block positioned to receive the protruding lift and alignment device of a previously-laid block underneath, thereby helping to align the block with the previously-laid block. The block includes one or more voids that extend from the top surface to the bottom surface of the block, and that align with each other when the blocks are stacked into a wall, thereby allowing fill material to be placed in the voids to strengthen the wall. The preferred embodiments also include a wall system with various different blocks that may be used to build a wall.

Abstract: A web server computer system includes a virus checker and mechanisms for checking e-mails and their attachments, downloaded files, and web sites for possible viruses. When an e-mail message contains a detected virus, the message is discarded, and both the sender and recipient are informed via e-mail that the message contained a virus. When an e-mail attachment contains a detected virus, the attachment is deleted, and the e-mail message without the attachment is sent to the web client, along with a message explaining that the e-mail message had an attachment that was automatically deleted because it had a virus. When a downloaded file contains a virus, the downloaded file is deleted, and an error message is sent to the web client to inform the web client that the requested file had a virus. When a requested web site (i.e., Uniform Resource Locator (or URL)) has been labeled as a source for a known virus, a message is sent to the web client stating that a virus may have been downloaded from that URL.

Abstract: An apparatus and method perform block-level sampling on a database, process the data to generate one or more matrices, and process the one or more matrices to generate a clustering factor for a selected index. In addition, the apparatus and method of the preferred embodiments allow the distribution of the clustering factor to be determined across a range, thereby allowing the identification of ranges where the clustering factor is high and ranges where the clustering factor is low. The clustering factor distribution can then be used to predict the memory paging performance of a search that uses an existing or a potential index that corresponds to the sampled data, and can therefore be used to predict the performance of searching the database using an existing or potential index for a particular database query.

Abstract: An apparatus and method allow accessing data in an HTML file (such as a JSP or ASP file) via an SQL query. A database table is created for each HTML file, and a record is created in each database table that corresponds to each HTML element in the corresponding HTML file. A cross-reference is then created that correlates the HTML file to its corresponding database table. An SQL engine in accordance with the preferred embodiments then processes an SQL query that specifies an HTML file and one or more elements in the HTML file by using the cross-reference information to formulate a new SQL query that accesses the corresponding database table rather than the specified HTML file. When a database table is updated by an SQL query, the corresponding HTML file is re-generated from the data in the database table. In this manner the SQL engine generates a query that accesses a database table from the original query that accesses the corresponding HTML file.

Abstract: A mechanism and method for hoisting invariant computations from loops analyzes the lifetimes of fixed processor resources defined by an instruction, and determines whether a group of computations present in multiple instructions within the lifetime are, taken together, loop-invariant and legal to hoist from the loop. If the group of computations within the lifetime of the fixed processor resource are loop-invariant and hoistable, all of the computations are hoisted out of the loop as a group. By determining the lifetimes of fixed processor resources defined in an instruction, the hoisting mechanism succeeds in hoisting out groups of computations that cannot be individually hoisted out of a loop, thereby achieving better performance when the computer program executes.

Abstract: An apparatus and method improve the readability of text on a computer system by changing the positioning of one or more words to eliminate potential problems in readability that can be identified by examining the text. When a potential problem is identified, the word to word positioning of text may be adjusted to compress one or more lines and/or to expand one or more lines to move one or more words to a different line. For example, if two adjacent lines begin with the same word, the first line could be compressed so the first word of the second line is moved to the end of the first line. In the alternative, the first line could be expanded so the last word of the first line is moved to the first word of the second line. By selectively changing the positioning of words, the readability of the text may be greatly improved.

Abstract: A portable grill having a rectangular structural foam base and a structural foam pillar defining the outside of the grill. A metal collar is mounted on the pillar with a ceramic insulating gasket and a metal heat shield in contact with the gasket and collar. Aluminum bottom and top shells enclose the burner. At least one shelf bracket is on the bottom shell with a structural foam side table mounted thereon. The preferred foamed polymer has a flexural modulus of over 150,000 psi and a hardness of over 80 Rockwell Hardness R. The pillar and base have ribs aligned to resist bending or flexing. The preferred gasket is formed from ceramic material capable of resisting a temperature of at least 1800° F. during continuous use. The grill can operate at full combustion for at least eight hours for at least six consecutive days.

Abstract: In an object oriented computer system, a framework mechanism defines an infrastructure for allowing a user to flexibly define keys and their corresponding attributes. A special type of key called a specification key allows combinations of attributes to be specified, as well as set and range capabilities. An attribute retrieval policy is defined by a programmer to specify an algorithm or criteria that is used to calculating the desired attribute value. An attribute key controller contains key/value pairings for the attribute, contains the attribute retrieval policy, provides a maintenance interface for changing the attribute values; and provides a client interface for retrieving the attribute according to the attribute retrieval policy. The framework thus allows a user great flexibility in defining a suitable key/attribute retrieval mechanism by defining a suitable policy, defining one or more specification keys, and defining an associated controller.

Abstract: An apparatus and method provide simultaneous local and global addressing capabilities. A global address space is defined that may be accessed by all processes. In addition, each process has a local address space that is local (and therefore available) only to that process. An address translation mechanism is implemented, preferably in hardware, to compare an address to defined addresses for local and global addressing and to detect when a virtual address computation result would go outside a boundary for the appropriate addressing scheme. The address translation mechanism maps a virtual address to a corresponding physical address, and uses different criteria depending on whether the address is local or global.

Abstract: An object oriented framework defines a generic order processing interface that creates an order, and that processes the order and generates requests to one or more fulfillment systems to fill the order. The generic order suitably includes one or more line items. One or more extensible interface classes are provided in the framework, which allows a user to define the order entry protocol for the relevant order fulfillment systems. Once properly extended, the framework is used to generate an executable framework application, which allows a client to enter a generic order, and which then generates the appropriate requests to fill the order with the appropriate order fulfillment system or systems. The framework of the preferred embodiments thus allows the specific knowledge of the back-end order fulfillment systems to be isolated to the extended portions of the framework, while the front-end order entry system has no knowledge of the order fulfillment systems that may be called upon to fill an order.

Abstract: A heated fuel vaporizer block includes a substantially solid, heated surface onto which liquid gasoline from a carburetor is directed, thereby turning the liquid gasoline into vapor. The fuel vaporizer block includes an opening that does not reduce or constrict the flow of fuel and air between the carburetor and intake manifold. The fuel vaporizer block may have a heated surface with a variety of geometrical configurations, including an inclined surface, a concave surface, and a concave surface that includes a plurality of orifices and a plurality of channels for directing fuel into the plurality of orifices. In addition, the heated surface that the fuel strikes may include a platinum coating to reduce emissions and increase the efficiency of the engine. The fuel vaporizer block can be heated using any suitable form of heat, including electrical heating element, engine coolant, exhaust, and automatic transmission fluid.

Abstract: A partition manager for managing logical partitions in a computer system includes hooks to low-level operating system code in one of the logical partitions. By using the operating system code to manage the resources of a computer system, any changes that are made to the operating system are automatically reflected in the function of the partition manager. In addition, low-level functions of operating systems, which are often well-debugged and tested, can be used when generating a new partition manager, greatly simplifying the time and reducing the cost of producing a partition manager.

Abstract: An object oriented framework provides a set of objects that perform general ledger functioning and permits a framework user to add extensions to the framework for specific processing features, thereby producing a general ledger application program for managing business financial data of a company. The framework includes an Application category of classes that contains company information for general ledger processing, a Posting Combinations category of classes that define valid posting combinations for the general ledger, a Journals category of classes that create, process, validate, and post general ledger journals, a Bank Transactions category of classes that process bank statements, a Bank Statements and Reconciliation category of classes that reconcile bank statements with bank accounts, and a Closing category of classes that validate and close the current accounting period. These classes provide the base framework upon which a general ledger application program is developed by the framework user.

Abstract: A partitioner for creating logical partitions allows a user to specify maximum interactive performance in one partition independently of maximum interactive performance of other partitions to arrive at logical partitions that may be much different than the maximum overall interactive performance percentage of the computer system itself. First, the maximum interactive performance for a computer system is specified, and resources are allocated accordingly. Next, logical partitions may be created, which initially reflect the maximum interactive performance for the computer system as a whole. Finally, the maximum interactive performance can be specified for a partition independently of the interactive performance in other partitions. In this manner a computer system that is configured as a server system with low interactive and high batch performance can have two different partitions, one that has very low interactive performance and the other that balances interactive and batch processing.