Method and system for processing data records having multiple formats

• US 20020078216A1
• Filed: 12/18/2000
• Published: 06/20/2002
• Est. Priority Date: 12/18/2000
• Status: Active Grant

• Current Assignee: Microsoft Technology Licensing LLC (Microsoft Corporation)
• Original Assignee: Microsoft Corporation
• Inventors: Pankovcin, Igor, Patton, Daniel C., Allor, Jason M.
• Granted Patent: US 7,111,075 B2
• Time in Patent Office: Days
• US Class Current: 709/230
• CPC Class Codes: G06F 16/258 Data format conversion from or to a database

Abstract

A method and system for processing data records having multiple formats is provided, in which each format to be parsed has a plug-in module associated with it. Each plug-in module has a uniform interface that can be accessed by, for example, a parsing engine or other client. The parsing engine may, in turn, provide services for manipulating data to the plug-in modules in order to assist them in performing their respective tasks. A standard format is provided to allow data from the records to be stored in a database.

Claims

1. A method for processing data records of multiple formats, the method comprising:

providing a uniform interface for one or more plug-in modules, wherein each module is adapted to parsing at least one of the multiple formats; and

, receiving the results of parsing operations from one or more of the plug-in modules through the uniform interface.

2. A computer-readable medium having stored thereon computer-executable instructions for performing the method of claim 1.

3. The method of claim 1, further comprising:

providing services for manipulating data from the data records, wherein the services are invokable by the one or more plug-in modules to assist the plug-in modules to performing their tasks.

4. The method of claim 3, wherein the services include a service to retrieve a line of text.

5. The method of claim 1, further comprising:

providing a standard format in which data from the data records is to be structured for storage in a database.

6. A computer-readable medium having stored thereon computer-readable data comprising:

a parsing module for parsing data records and converting the data contained in the data records from a non-standard format into a standard format and passing the converted data through a uniform interface so that it can be stored in a database.

7. The computer-readable medium of claim 6, wherein the parsing module is adapted to parsing one particular data record format.

8. The computer-readable medium of claim 6, wherein the parsing module is a COM object.

9. A method for converting data from a non-standard format to a standard format, the method comprising:

retrieving the data from a record;

parsing the data to determine its contents;

resolving inconsistencies between the data and the standard format to convert the data to the standard format; and

, passing the converted data through a standard interface for storage in a database in the standard format.

10. A computer-readable medium having stored thereon computer-executable instructions for performing the method of claim 9.

11. The method of claim 9, wherein the record is a log record and the data is converted into a standard log format.

12. The method of claim 9, wherein the retrieving step further comprises:

calling auxiliary services from a parsing engine to retrieve the data from the file.

14. A computer-readable medium having stored thereon computer executable instructions for performing the method of claim 13.

15. The method of claim 13, further comprising:

converting a variety of types of PASS results contained in the test log into a single PASS category.

16. The method of claim 13, further comprising:

converting a variety of types of FAIL results contained in the test log into a single FAIL category.

17. The method of claim 13, further comprising:

tallying all PASS results to determine an overall PASS result according to the standard format.

18. The method of claim 13, further comprising:

tallying all FAIL results to determine an overall FAIL result according to the standard format.

13. A method for converting a test log into a standard format, the method comprising:

loading a log parser plug-in module to interpret the test log;

parsing the test log to determine its contents;

converting the test log into a standard format; and

, passing the converted data through a standardized interface for storage in a database in the standard format.

19. A system for converting test logs of a variety of formats in to a single format, the test logs containing software test results, the system comprising:

a plurality of log parser plug-in modules, wherein each module is adapted for parsing test logs of one of the variety of formats and converting the data into the single format, and wherein each module includes an interface conforming to a standard standard;

a log parser engine for loading the correct log parser plug-in module for a given log format, and calling the interface of the loaded plug-in to obtain the converted test log data; and

, a database for storing the converted test log data in the single format so that the test results are accessible to multiple users.

20. A system for converting test logs of a variety of formats in to a single format, the test logs containing software test results, the system comprising:

a means for parsing test logs of one of the variety of formats and converting the data into the single format;

a means for loading the correct log parser plug-in module for a given log format;

a means for providing the converted test log data to the loading means; and

, a database for storing the converted test log data in the single format so that the test results are accessible to multiple users.