System and method for deferring data retrieval

Patent metadata

Field	Value
Publication number	US-11522943-B1
Application number	US-202217591367-A
Country	US
Kind code	B1
Filing date	Feb 2, 2022
Priority date	Feb 2, 2022
Publication date	Dec 6, 2022
Grant date	Dec 6, 2022

Abstract

A server receives a first hypertext transfer protocol (HTTP) from a client device that requests first and second items of content associated with a webpage and applies a defer directive to the second item. The server retrieves, from a database, via a single worker thread, first data associated with the first item and transmits a first message comprising the first data associated with the first item. The server retrieves, from the database, via the worker thread, second data associated with the deferred item and transmits a second message comprising the second data associated with the second item.

First claim

The invention claimed is:

1. A system, comprising:
a processor; and
a memory, accessible by the processor, and storing instructions that, when executed by the processor, cause the processor to perform operations comprising:
receiving, from a client device, a hypertext transfer protocol (HTTP) request for content, wherein the HTTP request comprises:
an identification of a first item, to which a defer directive is not applied;
an identification of a second item, to which the defer directive is applied; and
an indication that the client device will accept multipart/mixed format messages in response to the HTTP request;

opening an HTTP connection with the client device;
retrieving a single worker thread from a worker thread pool;
retrieving, from a database, via the worker thread, first data associated with the first item;
generating and transmitting a first message comprising the first data associated with the first item;
retrieving, from the database, via the worker thread, second data associated with the second item; and
generating and transmitting a second message comprising:
the second data associated with the second item; and
an indication that additional messages will be transmitted.

2. The system of claim 1 , wherein the HTTP request comprises an identification of a third item, to which the defer directive is applied, wherein the operations comprise:
retrieving, from the database, via the worker thread, third data associated with the third item; and
generating and transmitting a third message comprising the third data associated with the third item.

3. The system of claim 2 , wherein the third message comprises an indication that no additional messages will be transmitted.

4. The system of claim 2 , wherein the HTTP request comprises an identification of a fourth item, to which the defer directive is not applied, wherein the operations comprise:
retrieving, from the database, via the worker thread, fourth data associated with the fourth item; and
including the fourth data associated with the fourth item in the first message.

5. The system of claim 1 , wherein the first and second messages are transmitted within a single HTTP connection.

6. The system of claim 5 , wherein the first and second messages are streamed within the single HTTP connection.

7. A method, comprising:
transmitting, from a client device to a database server, a hypertext transfer protocol (HTTP) request for content associated with a webpage, wherein the HTTP request comprises:
an identification of a first item, to which a defer directive is not applied;
an identification of a second item, to which the defer directive is applied; and
an indication that the client device will accept multipart/mixed format messages in response to the HTTP request;

opening an HTTP connection with the database server;
retrieving a single worker thread from a worker thread pool;
receiving, from the database server, via the worker thread, a first message comprising first data associated with the first item;
partially loading the webpage based on the first data associated with the first item;
receiving, from the database server, via the worker thread, a second message comprising second data associated with the second item, wherein the second message comprises an indication that additional messages will be transmitted; and
updating the partially loaded webpage based on the second data associated with the second item.

8. The method of claim 7 , comprising allowing interaction with the webpage via a user interface of the client device, once the webpage has been partially loaded.

9. The method of claim 7 , wherein the HTTP request comprises an identification of a third item, to which the defer directive is applied, wherein the method comprises:
receiving, from the database server, a third message comprising third data associated with the third item; and
updating the partially loaded webpage based on the third data associated with the third item.

10. The method of claim 9 , wherein the third message comprises an indication that no more additional messages will be transmitted.

11. The method of claim 10 , wherein the first, second, and third messages are streamed within a single HTTP connection.

12. The method of claim 11 , comprising closing the single HTTP connection based on the indication that no additional messages will be transmitted.

13. The method of claim 9 , wherein the HTTP request comprises an identification of a fourth item, to which the defer directive is not applied, wherein the first message comprises fourth data associated with the fourth item.

14. The method of claim 7 , wherein the HTTP request comprises a GraphQL request.

15. A non-transitory, computer readable medium comprising instructions that, when executed by a processor, cause the processor to perform operations comprising:
receiving, from a client device, a hypertext transfer protocol (HTTP) request for content, wherein the HTTP request comprises:
an identification of a first item, to which a defer directive is not applied;
an identification of a second item, to which the defer directive is applied; and
an indication that the client device will accept multipart/mixed format messages in response to the HTTP request;

opening an HTTP connection with the client device;
retrieving a single worker thread from a worker thread pool;
retrieving, from a database, via the worker thread, first data associated with the first item;
generating and transmitting a first message comprising the first data associated with the first item;
retrieving, from the database, via the worker thread, second data associated with the second item; and
generating and transmitting a second message comprising:
the second data associated with the second item; and
an indication that additional messages will be transmitted.

16. The non-transitory, computer readable medium of claim 15 , wherein the HTTP request comprises an identification of a third item, to which the defer directive is applied, wherein the operations comprise: retrieving, from the database, via the worker thread, third data associated with the third item; and generating and transmitting a third message comprising: the third data associated with the third item; and an indication that no additional messages will be transmitted; and closing the HTTP connection with the client device.

Assignees

• Servicenow Inc

Inventors

• Corvino Alexander
• Vass Kyly Gabriel
• Dvivedi Nikhil Nitin
• Hagen Roger Lee
• Hamed Yasser Khaled
• Rodriguez Natallia Rabtsevich
• Simon Kyle Alexander
• Samii Andrew Kian
• Swope Stuart Dean
• Coe Jerry Lee

Classifications

• H04L67/02 Primary

  based on web technology, e.g. hypertext transfer protocol [HTTP] · CPC title

• H04L67/1097

  for distributed storage of data in networks, e.g. transport arrangements for network file system [NFS], storage area networks [SAN] or network attached storage [NAS] · CPC title

• H04L67/10

  in which an application is distributed across nodes in the network (software deployment G06F8/60; multiprogramming arrangements G06F9/46) · CPC title

• G06F16/9574

  of access to content, e.g. by caching · CPC title

• G06F16/256

  in federated or virtual databases · CPC title