Method and arrangement for providing duplex communications between a client application and a service using an http request/reply channel

1. A method, comprising:

a1) providing at a first computer at least one application generating service requests at a duplex channel interface, at least a first service request requesting multiple subsequent data responses from a service located on a second computer;

a2) providing from the at least one application to a first process the first service request and a second service request;

b) employing the first process to convert the first service request into a first http request;

c) transmitting the first http request over a network;

d) receiving a context reply to the first http request;

e) employing the first process to generate a second http request corresponding to the second service request;

f) receiving a context reply to the second http request, the context reply containing data responsive to the first service request;

g) providing the data response to the first service request to the duplex channel interface.

2. The method of claim 1 , wherein step d) comprises receiving the context reply to the first http request, the context reply containing no data related to the first service request.

3. The method of claim 1 , wherein the first service request includes a subscription for updates to a value in a building control system.

4. The method of claim 1 , wherein step e) further comprises employing the first process to generate a further request in the form of a polling request.

5. The method of claim 1 , wherein step e) further comprises employing the first process to generate the second http request containing information relating to the second service request.

6. The method of claim 1 , wherein step d) comprises receiving the context reply to the first http request, the context reply containing an empty message.

7. The method of claim 1 , wherein step d) comprises receiving the context reply to the first http request, the context reply containing a batch message including data for a plurality of service requests.

8. The method of claim 1 , wherein step e) further comprises employing the first process to generate the second http request after a period of time from the first http request, and wherein the period of time is dependent on a fullness of a message queue at the second computer.

9. The method of claim 1 , wherein step e) further comprises employing the first process to generate the second http request in the form of a polling request.

10. A method, comprising:

a) providing at a first computer one or more applications generating service requests at a duplex channel interface, at least a first service request requesting multiple subsequent data responses from a service located on a second computer;

b) employing a first process to convert the first service request into a first http request;

c) transmitting the first http request over a network;

d) receiving a context reply to the first http request, the context reply comprising a batch message containing data responsive to a plurality of service requests.

11. The method of claim 10 wherein the first service request includes a subscription for updates to a value in a building control system.

12. The method of claim 11 , further comprising:

e) employing the first process to generate a second http request

f) transmitting the second http request over a network;

g) receiving a context reply to the second http request, the context reply including a first update to the value in the building control system.

13. The method of claim 12 , wherein the context reply to the second http request is a batch message containing the first update value and data for at least one other application.

14. A method, comprising:

a) providing at a first computer an application generating service requests at a duplex channel interface, at least a first service request requesting multiple subsequent data responses from a service located on a second computer;

b) employing a first process to convert the first service request into a first http request;

c) transmitting the first http request over a network;

d) employing the first process to generate a second http request in the form of a polling request;

e) receiving a context reply to the second http request containing data responsive to the first service request;

f) providing the data response to the first service request to the duplex channel interface.

15. The method of claim 14 , further comprising, prior to step e) receiving a context reply to the first http request containing data responsive to a service request other than the first service request.

16. The method of claim 15 , wherein step d) further comprises employing the first process to generate a second http request in the form of a polling request responsive to fullness information indicating a fullness of a queue in another device.

17. The method of claim 16 , further comprising receiving a context reply message that includes the fullness information.

18. The method of claim 14 , wherein step d) further comprises employing the first process to generate a second http request in the form of a polling request responsive to predetermined duration of time passing since generating a most recent http request.

19. A server configuration comprising:

a server having a duplex interface configured to communicate with a first client using duplex communications, the server further configured to receive a first service request from the first client without an http request/reply formatted message; and

a duplex converter configured to receive a first http request/reply formatted message from a second client, and to convert the first http request/reply formatted message into the first service request, the duplex convert further configured to communicate the first service request with the server using the duplex interface.

20. The server configuration of claim 19 , further comprising a microprocessor and a display.

21. The server configuration of claim 19 , wherein the duplex converter further comprises a queue configured to receive a plurality of values from the server via the duplex interface.

22. The server configuration of claim 21 , wherein the duplex converter is further configured to generate a batch message comprising at least two values received from the server via the duplex interface, the duplex converter configured provide the batch message as a reply to a received http request.

23. A client configuration comprising:

a client application having a duplex interface configured to allow the client application to access the server process without an http request/reply formatted message; and

a duplex converter configured to communicate using an http request/reply format to communicate with a server, and the duplex converter further configured to communicate with the client application using the duplex interface.

24. The client configuration of claim 23 , further comprising a microprocessor and a display.

25. The client configuration of claim 23 , wherein the duplex converter further comprises a queue configured to store a plurality of values from the server via the duplex converter.

26. A client configuration comprising:

a client application having a duplex interface for accessing a server process; and

a duplex converter configured to communicate using an http request/reply communication format to communicate with a server, and configured to communicate with the client application using the duplex interface, wherein the duplex converter is further configured to generate a polling message and provide the polling message in an http request.

27. The client configuration of claim 26 , wherein the duplex converter is further configured to generate the polling message repeatedly after a polling interval.

28. The client configuration of claim 27 , wherein the duplex converter is further configured to adjust the polling interval based on a server queue fullness value.