A method for asynchronously notifying an application client of a system or data
event of interest within a database includes steps of receiving a subscription
to an event name from a logical agent, the event name corresponding to the event
of interest, and receiving a registration from the application client, the registration
including delivery information indicating at least where and how a notification
concerning the event is to be delivered. The occurrence of the event is then detected
within the database, whereupon the notification of the detected event is published
to a data structure referenced by the event name. The delivery information is then
retrieved and the published notification is formatted according to the retrieved
delivery information. The formatted notification is then asynchronously delivered
to the application client over a network, such as the Internet. The application
client may specify a rule, the satisfaction of which is a precondition to the delivery
of the notification. The application client, in this manner, receives only the
notification for which it has subscribed and receives the notifications substantially
contemporaneously with the occurrence of the system or data event.
