MANAGEMENT SYSTEM AND CLIENT FOR A MESSAGING SYSTEM
A method comprising generating an information hierarchy comprising one or more nodes corresponding to respective data sources, wherein each of the one or more nodes is associated with one of a plurality of predetermined types defining a respective set of one or more parameters associated with a node of that type, messages based on data generated by the data sources are published within a publish/subscribe messaging system in accordance with a publish/subscribe messaging protocol, the publish/subscribe messaging system comprises a publish/subscribe data broker, and one or more publisher clients, each publisher client being associated with one or more of the data sources and generating the messages based on the data generated by the one or more data sources, the messages each comprise a payload and a topic, and the information hierarchy is generated based on the topic of one or more of the messages.
1 - 7 . (canceled)
8 . A computer-implemented method for generating at least part of a representation of an information hierarchy of a publish/subscribe messaging system in which messages based on data generated by data sources are published within the publish/subscribe messaging system in accordance with a publish/subscribe messaging protocol, the method comprising:
accessing, by a subscriber client in the publish/subscribe messaging system, one or more messages, wherein accessing the one or more messages comprises:
transmitting to a data broker of the publish/subscribe messaging system a subscription request, requesting the data broker to forward published messages to the subscriber client; and
receiving the one or more messages from the data broker in accordance with the subscription request, each of the one or more messages comprising data indicative of one of a plurality of predetermined types associated with a node associated with that message;
analyzing, by the subscriber client, the contents of the one or more messages to identify nodes of an information hierarchy and a respective location within the information hierarchy for each of the nodes identified;
generating, by the subscriber client, at least part of a representation of the information hierarchy based on the nodes and the respective locations identified from the one or more messages and the predetermined types; and
transmitting, by the subscriber client, the at least part of the representation of the information hierarchy to a management system of the publish/subscribe messaging system, for enabling the management system to generate an updated representation of the information hierarchy,
wherein the information hierarchy comprises a plurality of nodes each corresponding to either a respective data source or a respective data stream of the publish/subscribe messaging system, and each of the plurality of predetermined types has a respective set of one or more parameters associated with a node of that type.
9 . (canceled)
10 . A computer-implemented method according to claim 8 , wherein the subscribe request is transmitted in accordance with an MQTT or MQTT-SN messaging protocol.
11 . A computer-implemented method according to claim 8 , the method comprising:
receiving from a management system of the publish/subscribe messaging system a start discovery request, wherein the accessing the one or more messages is in response to receiving the start discovery request.
12 . A computer-implemented method according to claim 11 , wherein the start discovery request comprises one or more of:
an indication of a time duration for accessing the one or more messages;
a scope defining a category of messages to be accessed; and
a maximum number of nodes.
13 - 17 . (canceled)
18 . An apparatus configured as a subscriber client device of a publish/subscribe messaging system in which messages based on data generated by data sources are published within the publish/subscribe messaging system in accordance with a publish/subscribe messaging protocol, the apparatus comprising:
a network interface;
a processor; and
a memory storing instructions for generating at least part of a representation of an information hierarchy of the publish/subscribe messaging system, and the instructions, when executed by the processor, cause the apparatus to:
access, in the publish/subscribe messaging system, one or more messages, wherein accessing the one or more messages comprises:
transmitting to a data broker of the publish/subscribe messaging system a subscription request, requesting the data broker to forward published messages to the apparatus; and
receiving the one or more messages from the data broker in accordance with the subscription request, each of the one or more messages comprising data indicative of one of a plurality of predetermined types associated with a node associated with that message;
analyze the contents of the one or more messages to identify nodes of an information hierarchy and a respective location within the information hierarchy for each of the nodes identified;
generate at least part of a representation of the information hierarchy based on the nodes and the respective locations identified from the one or more messages and the predetermined types, the at least part of the representation of the information hierarchy being indicative of an arrangement of the data sources; and
transmit the at least part of the representation of the information hierarchy to a management system of the publish/subscribe messaging system, for enabling the management system to generate an updated representation of the information hierarchy,
wherein the information hierarchy comprises a plurality of nodes each corresponding to either a respective data source or a respective data stream of the publish/subscribe messaging system, and each of the plurality of predetermined types has a respective set of one or more parameters associated with a node of that type.
19 . An apparatus according to claim 18 , wherein the subscribe request is transmitted in accordance with an MQTT or MQTT-SN messaging protocol.
20 . An apparatus according to claim 18 , wherein the instructions, when executed by the processor, further cause the apparatus to:
receive from a management system of the publish/subscribe messaging system a start discovery request, wherein the accessing the one or more messages is in response to receiving the start discovery request.
21 . An apparatus according to claim 20 , wherein the start discovery request comprises one or more of:
an indication of a time duration for accessing the one or more messages;
a scope defining a category of messages to be accessed; and
a maximum number of nodes.
22 . A computer program product comprising processor-executable instructions for a subscriber_client device of a publish/subscribe messaging system in which messages based on data generated by data sources are published within the publish/subscribe messaging system in accordance with a publish/subscribe messaging protocol, the processor-executable instructions comprising instructions for generating at least part of a representation of an information hierarchy of the publish/subscribe messaging system that, when executed by a processor of the subscriber client device, cause the subscriber client device to:
access, in the publish/subscribe messaging system, one or more messages, wherein accessing the one or more messages comprises:
transmitting to a data broker of the publish/subscribe messaging system a subscription request, requesting the data broker to forward published messages to the subscriber client; and
receiving the one or more messages from the data broker in accordance with the subscription request, each of the one or more messages comprising data indicative of one of a plurality of predetermined types associated with a node associated with that message; analyze the contents of the one or more messages to identify nodes of an information hierarchy and a respective location within the information hierarchy for each of the nodes identified;
generate at least part of a representation of the information hierarchy based on the nodes and the respective locations identified from the one or more messages and the predetermined types, the at least part of the representation of the information hierarchy being indicative of an arrangement of the data sources; and
transmit the at least part of the representation of the information hierarchy to a management system of the publish/subscribe messaging system, for enabling the management system to generate an updated representation of the information hierarchy,
wherein the information hierarchy comprises a plurality of nodes each corresponding to either a respective data source or a respective data stream of the publish/subscribe messaging system, and each of the plurality of predetermined types has a respective set of one or more parameters associated with a node of that type.
23 . A computer program product according to claim 22 , wherein the subscribe request is transmitted in accordance with an MQTT or MQTT-SN messaging protocol.
24 . A computer program product according to claim 22 , wherein the instructions, when executed by the processor of the subscriber_client device, further cause the subscriber client device to:
receive from a management system of the publish/subscribe messaging system a start discovery request, wherein the accessing the one or more messages is in response to receiving the start discovery request.
25 . A computer program product according to claim 24 , wherein the start discovery request comprises one or more of:
an indication of a time duration for accessing the one or more messages;
a scope defining a category of messages to be accessed; and
a maximum number of nodes.