Patent attributes
A system, computer program product and method for automated tool management in a multi-protocol environment. A user may issue a message in accordance with an object-oriented interapplication communication protocol to a corresponding application interface unit. The message may be a request to perform a particular action on a selected tool. The content of the message may be extracted by the corresponding application interface unit which may comprise data required by the requested action and a pointer to the object representing the tool. The application interface unit may invoke a method of the object pointed to by the pointers in the message. A value may then be procured by an equipment model where the value may be associated with particular information requested in the message about a tool or a notification informing the user that an event occurred. The equipment model may transfer the value to the appropriate user.
