Methods, apparatus and computer programs for visualization and management of data organisation within a data processing system

• US 20040267779A1
• Filed: 10/30/2003
• Published: 12/30/2004
• Est. Priority Date: 06/28/2003
• Status: Active Grant

• Current Assignee: International Business Machines Corporation
• Original Assignee: International Business Machines Corporation
• Inventors: Wallis, Graham D., Carter, Marc S, Partridge, Lucas W.
• Granted Patent: US 7,627,583 B2
• Time in Patent Office: Days
• US Class Current: 1/1
• CPC Class Codes: G06F 16/36 Creation of semantic tools, e.g. ontology or thesauri
• CPC Class Codes: Y10S 707/99932 Access augmentation or optimizing
• CPC Class Codes: Y10S 707/99933 Query processing, i.e. searching
• CPC Class Codes: Y10S 707/99935 Query augmenting and refining, e.g. inexact access
• CPC Class Codes: Y10S 707/99936 Pattern matching access
• CPC Class Codes: Y10S 707/99943 Generating database or data structure, e.g. via user interface

Abstract

Provided are methods, apparatus and computer programs for managing data organisation for computer programs. The method includes generating a reference taxonomy (information defining a first data organisation), accessing storage to obtain an application taxonomy (a second data organisation) for a computer program, and comparing the reference and application taxonomies to identify matching and non-matching features within the taxonomies. The results of the comparison can then be used to generate, in response to selection of a preferred taxonomy, a modified taxonomy to replace either the reference taxonomy or the application taxonomy. A GUI is provided to display the taxonomies and to facilitate user selections. A set of adapters provide access to the data storage of different programs and obtain taxonomy information for the different programs. A taxonomy engine compares taxonomies to identify differences and similarities, and can be used to generate an aggregate taxonomy. The method can be used to synchronize the organisation of stored data between a set of different computer programs, each of which may have different data structures and formats.

Claims

1. A method for managing data organisation for computer programs, the method including the steps of:

generating and storing a reference taxonomy, the reference taxonomy comprising information defining a data organisation;

accessing storage associated with a computer program to obtain an application taxonomy, the application taxonomy comprising information defining the organisation of stored data items of the program;

comparing the reference taxonomy with the application taxonomy to identify matching and non-matching features of the compared taxonomies; and

in response to a selection of a preferred taxonomy, storing the preferred taxonomy as a replacement of at least one of the reference taxonomy and the application taxonomy.

2. A method according to claim 1, wherein the step of storing a preferred taxonomy in response to a selection of the preferred taxonomy includes:

generating a modified reference taxonomy which aggregates features of the compared reference taxonomy and features of the compared application taxonomy, wherein an identified matching feature of the compared reference and application taxonomies is represented as a single node in the modified reference taxonomy.

3. A method according to claim 1, wherein the step of storing a preferred taxonomy in response to a selection of the preferred taxonomy includes:

generating a modified application taxonomy which includes features of the compared reference taxonomy.

4. A method according to claim 3, wherein the generated reference taxonomy includes nodes representing data structures and information representing relationships between data structures, and wherein the step of generating a modified application taxonomy includes generating at least one new data structure within the modified application taxonomy which new data structure corresponds to a node of the compared reference taxonomy.

5. A method according to claim 3, wherein the generated reference taxonomy includes nodes representing data structures and information representing relationships between data structures, and wherein the step of generating a modified application taxonomy includes repositioning data structures within the compared application taxonomy, such that the relationships between the data structures of the modified application taxonomy and nodes of the reference taxonomy are more consistent than the relationships between data structures of the compared application taxonomy and nodes of the reference taxonomy.

6. A method according to claim 1, wherein the step of generating a reference taxonomy includes:

accessing storage associated with a second computer program to obtain an application taxonomy for the second program.

7. A method according to claim 1, wherein a step of accessing storage to obtain an application taxonomy includes using an adapter which interfaces to the respective computer program to access information relating to the names of and relationships between stored data structures.

8. A method according to claim 1, wherein the step of generating a reference taxonomy includes:

receiving user inputs via a graphical user interface; and

interpreting user inputs to generate nodes representing data structures of a taxonomy and to generate information representing relationships between data structures.

9. A method according to claim 1, wherein the step of comparing includes comparing, using string matching, qualified node names for nodes of the reference taxonomy and nodes, corresponding to data structures, of the application taxonomy.

10. A method according to claim 1, wherein the step of comparing the reference taxonomy with the application taxonomy is repeated in response to a trigger condition.

11. A method according to claim 10, wherein the trigger condition is expiry of a predefined time period.

12. A method according to claim 1, wherein said step of generating a reference taxonomy is performed on a first data processing apparatus and is followed by a step of sending at least a part of the reference taxonomy to a second data processing apparatus, and wherein the steps of comparing and storing a selected preferred taxonomy are performed on the second data processing apparatus.

13. A method according to claim 12, wherein the step of sending at least a part of the reference taxonomy is performed by a distributed publish/subscribe messaging system.

14. A method according to claim 1, including the steps of:

generating, via a graphical user interface (GUI), a graphical representation of the reference taxonomy including nodes representing data structures of the taxonomy; and

in response to user-interactions with the GUI, generating calls to the computer program to initiate application program functions.

15. A method according to claim 14, wherein the GUI includes a data backup function call and the method includes the step of:

in response to user-selection of the data backup function call and user-selection of a set of one or more nodes of the reference taxonomy, sending a call to the application program to backup data within the application taxonomy data structures corresponding to said set of nodes.

16. A taxonomy manager for managing data organisation for computer programs, comprising:

means for generating and storing a reference taxonomy, the reference taxonomy comprising information defining a data organisation;

at least one adapter program for accessing storage associated with a respective computer program to obtain an application taxonomy, the application taxonomy comprising information defining the organisation of stored data items of the program;

means for comparing the reference taxonomy with the application taxonomy to identify matching and non-matching features of the compared taxonomies; and

means, responsive to a selection of a preferred taxonomy, for storing the preferred taxonomy as a replacement of at least one of the reference taxonomy and the application taxonomy.

17. A taxonomy manager according to claim 16, including a plurality of adapters, wherein each adapter enables accessing of storage associated with a computer program of a respective type and obtaining the application taxonomy for the computer program of the respective type.

18. A taxonomy manager according to claim 16, including a graphical user interface (GUI) for generating a graphical representation of the reference taxonomy, the graphical representation including nodes representing data structures.

19. A taxonomy manager according to claim 18, wherein the GUI is responsive to user inputs to identify selection of a preferred taxonomy.

20. A taxonomy manager according to claim 18, wherein the GUI includes function calls for initiating operations of said respective computer program.

21. A taxonomy manager according to claim 20, wherein the GUI includes a data backup function call and is responsive to user-selection of the data backup function call and user-selection of a set of one or more nodes of the reference taxonomy to send a call to the respective computer program to backup data within the application taxonomy data structures corresponding to said set of nodes.

22. A taxonomy manager according to claim 16, including an adapter for interfacing between the means for generating a reference taxonomy and a publish/subscribe messaging manager to enable at least a part of the generated reference taxonomy to be sent to a second taxonomy manager via the publish/subscribe messaging manager.

23. A taxonomy manager according to claim 22, including a listener component for identifying receipt of reference taxonomy information and triggering the taxonomy manager to process such received taxonomy information.

24. A computer program for managing data organisation, comprising:

program code for generating and storing a reference taxonomy, the reference taxonomy comprising information defining a data organisation;

program code for accessing storage associated with a first computer program to obtain an application taxonomy, the application taxonomy comprising information defining the organisation of stored data items of the first program;

program code for comparing the reference taxonomy with the application taxonomy to identify matching and non-matching features of the compared taxonomies; and

program code, responsive to a selection of a preferred taxonomy, for storing the preferred taxonomy as a replacement of at least one of the reference taxonomy and the application taxonomy.

25. A computer program according to claim 24, including a graphical user interface for displaying taxonomies to a user and for responding to user inputs to identify selection of a preferred taxonomy.

26. A data processing apparatus including:

a data processor;

data storage;

one or more computer programs for controlling the operation of the data processor to perform operations on data items stored in the data storage; and

a taxonomy manager for managing organisation of stored data in association with the one or more computer programs, the taxonomy manager including;

means for generating and storing a reference taxonomy, the reference taxonomy comprising information defining a data organisation;

an adapter for accessing storage associated with a computer program to obtain an application taxonomy, the application taxonomy comprising information defining the organisation of stored data items of the program;

means for comparing the reference taxonomy with the application taxonomy to identify matching and non-matching features of the compared taxonomies; and

means, responsive to a selection of a preferred taxonomy, for storing the preferred taxonomy as a replacement of at least one of the reference taxonomy and the application taxonomy.