Abstract: The present invention is a method and apparatus for processing an object call between a client computer system and a server computer system. Using the method of the present invention, an object call begins on the client system with the construction of a parameterized vector. The parameterized vector has one entry for each parameter of the object call. The parameterized vector is then initialized so that each entry in the parameterized vector points to one of the parameters of the object call. The entries within the parameterized vector are arranged in a canonical order. Once the parameterized vector has been completed, the object call is transmitted from the client to the server. The server receives the object call and allocates a parameter area. The parameter area has one entry for each parameter of the object call. The parameter area is then initialized so that each entry within the parameter area contains an object pointed to by one of the entries in the parameterized vector.

Abstract: A method for making distributed object calls from client applications to server applications is disclosed. In particular, the method of the present invention involves generating a data structure that contains information about the available IDL-defined interfaces and their related operations. An application loaded in the client computer then packs a request containing information about a specific operation of an interface into a message buffer in the client computer according to a predetermined format specified in the request. The message buffer is then sent to a server computer that unpacks the request from the message buffer based upon the predetermined format. The server processes the request and responds by packing its response into a message buffer according to a predetermined format. The message buffer is then transported to the client computer that unpacks the response from the message buffer.