System and method for content lifecycles

• US 20050234849A1
• Filed: 08/04/2004
• Published: 10/20/2005
• Est. Priority Date: 04/13/2004
• Status: Active Grant

• Current Assignee: Oracle International Corporation (Oracle Corporation)
• Original Assignee: BEA Systems Incorporated (Oracle Corporation)
• Inventors: Owen, James, Bales, Christopher E., McCauley, Rodney
• Granted Patent: US 7,246,138 B2
• Time in Patent Office: Days
• US Class Current: 1/1
• CPC Class Codes: G06F 16/219 Managing data history or versioning querying versioned data G06F16/2474; querying temporal data G06F16/2477
• CPC Class Codes: Y10S 707/99945 Object-oriented database structure processing
• CPC Class Codes: Y10S 707/99948 Application of database or data structure, e.g. distributed, multimedia, or image

Abstract

A system and method for providing a lifecycle for content in a virtual content repository (VCR), comprising, integrating a plurality of repositories into the VCR, storing the content in the VCR, allowing the content to go through a set of states according to a lifecycle definition, and wherein the content is accessible through a logical namespace that encompasses the plurality of repositories.

Claims

1. A method for providing a lifecycle for content in a virtual content repository (VCR), comprising:

integrating a plurality of repositories into the VCR;

storing the content in the VCR;

allowing the content to go through a set of states according to a lifecycle definition; and

wherein the content is accessible through a logical namespace that encompasses the plurality of repositories.

2. The method of claim 1 wherein:

the content can go from a first state to at least one other state where there is a transition between the first state and the at least one other state.

3. The method of claim 2 wherein:

the transition can be constrained to at least one of;

a user, a group of users, a role, and a capability.

4. The method of claim 2, further comprising:

performing an action associated with the first state, the at least one other state, or the transition.

5. The method of claim 4 wherein:

the action can be constrained by at least one of;

a policy and a role.

6. The method of claim 4 wherein:

the action can include one of;

a function/method call, a remote procedure call, inter-process communication, intra-process communication, interfacing with a hardware device, checking the content into/out of version control, processing the content, providing a notification to a user.

7. The method of claim 1 wherein:

a state change can be initiated by a user or a process.

8. The method of claim 1, further comprising:

maintaining a version history to track changes to the content.

9. The method of claim 1 wherein the step of integrating includes:

implementing a service provider interface (SPI) that is compatible with the VCR.

10. A system for providing a lifecycle for content, comprising:

a virtual content repository (VCR);

plurality of repositories integrated into the VCR;

a lifecycle definition to define a set of states the content can go through;

wherein the content is accessible through a logical namespace that encompasses the plurality of repositories.

11. The system of claim 10 wherein:

content can go from a first state to at least one other state where there is a transition between the first state and the at least one other state.

12. The system of claim 11 wherein:

the transition can be constrained to at least one of;

a user, a group of users, a role, and a capability.

13. The system of claim 11 wherein:

an action associated with a state or a transition is performed.

14. The system of claim 13 wherein:

the action can be constrained by at least one of;

a policy and a role.

15. The system of claim 11 wherein:

the action can include one of;

a function/system call, a remote procedure call, inter-process communication, intra-process communication, interfacing with a hardware device, checking the content into/out of version control, processing the content, providing a notification to a user.

16. The system of claim 10 wherein:

a state change can be initiated by a user or a process.

17. The system of claim 10, further comprising:

a version history to track changes to the content.

18. The system of claim 10, further comprising:

a service provider interface (SPI) that is compatible with the VCR.

19. A machine readable medium having instructions stored thereon that when executed by one or more processors cause a system to:

integrate a plurality of repositories into a virtual content repository (VCR);

store the content in the VCR;

allow the content to go through a set of states according to a lifecycle definition; and

wherein the content is accessible through a logical namespace that encompasses the plurality of repositories.

20. The machine readable medium of claim 19 wherein:

the content can go from a first state to at least one other state where there is a transition between the first state and the at least one other state.

21. The machine readable medium of claim 20 wherein:

the transition can be constrained to at least one of;

a user, a group of users, a role, and a capability.

22. The machine readable medium of claim 20, further comprising instructions that when executed cause the system to:

performing an action associated with the first state, the at least one other state, or the transition.

23. The machine readable medium of claim 22 wherein:

the action can be constrained by at least one of;

a policy and a role.

24. The machine readable medium of claim 22 wherein:

the action can include one of;

a function/machine readable medium call, a remote procedure call, inter-process communication, intra-process communication, interfacing with a hardware device, checking the content into/out of version control, processing the content, providing a notification to a user.

25. The machine readable medium of claim 19 wherein:

a state change can be initiated by a user or a process.

26. The machine readable medium of claim 19, further comprising instructions that when executed cause the system to:

maintain a version history to track changes to the content.

27. The machine readable medium of claim 19, further comprising instructions that when executed cause the system to:

implement a service provider interface (SPI) that is compatible with the VCR.

28. A computer data signal embodied in a transmission medium, comprising:

a code segment including instructions to integrate a plurality of repositories into a virtual content repository (VCR);

a code segment including instructions to store the content in the VCR;

a code segment including instructions to allow the content to go through a set of states according to a lifecycle definition; and

wherein the content is accessible through a logical namespace that encompasses the plurality of repositories.