METHOD AND SYSTEM FOR AUTOMATED SESSION RESOURCE CLEAN-UP IN A DISTRIBUTED CLIENT-SERVER ENVIRONMENT

A system and method of automatic session resource clean-up resulting from a client-server session wherein the client has requested use of server resources during the session. During each session, a list of the resources allocated to that session and associated with the client is maintained and, when the session terminates, either naturally or unnaturally, the allocated resources are released or freed up, allowing later use of the same resources by a different session, either with the same client or with a different client. A session may terminate naturally because a program which is using the resource (such as a database) has completed its operation and ended normally. A session may also terminate unnaturally, e.g., because the connection between the client and the server has been broken for some reason or because a program has aborted or become hung in an inoperative state. Because such unnatural terminations do not normally provide a farewell message from the client to the server-only silence, from the lack of further processing messages-there is no way for the server to release the resource and no naturally occurring message to the server that the client is not present. The present invention overcomes these disadvantages by determining when a session has ended and releasing the resources associated with the client.