Asynchronous fault handling in process-centric programs

US7739135B2 · kind B2 · utility

Assignee

• Microsoft Corporation · US

Inventors

• Dharma Shukla · Bellevue, US
• Bob Schmidt · Woodinville, US
• Mayank Mehta · Keyano, CA
• Nathan C. Talbert · Seattle, US
• Akash J. Sagar · Redmond, US
• Karthik Raman · Sammamish, US

Key dates

• Filing date: Mar 30, 2006
• Grant date: Jun 15, 2010
• Expiry date: Apr 12, 2027

Classification

• Technology area (CPC G): Physics
• CPC primary: G06Q10/0633
• WIPO field: IT methods for management
• WIPO sector: Electrical engineering

Abstract

Asynchronous fault handling for a workflow. A state automaton for an activity in the workflow is defined. The state automaton includes at least an executing state, a faulting state, and a closed state and classifies an execution lifetime of the activity. The activity is defined to include work items and includes an execution hierarchy for the work items. Each work item includes an operation for executing a portion of the activity. Each work item is transitioned to the executing state. The included operation of transitioned work items is executed in the executing state. One or more of the transitioned work items are identified in response to the faulting event as a function of the execution hierarchy and the included operation. The faulting event is asynchronously handled by transitioning the one or more identified work items to the faulting state while executing the included operation of the remaining transitioned work items.