Method and system for binary serialization of documents

• US 20060168513A1
• Filed: 01/25/2005
• Published: 07/27/2006
• Est. Priority Date: 01/25/2005
• Status: Active Grant

• Current Assignee: Microsoft Technology Licensing LLC (Microsoft Corporation)
• Original Assignee: Microsoft Corporation
• Inventors: Stern, Aaron A., Christensen, Erik B., Coulson, Michael J.
• Granted Patent: US 7,441,185 B2
• Time in Patent Office: Days
• US Class Current: 715/234
• CPC Class Codes: G06F 40/143 Markup, e.g. Standard Generalized Markup Language [SGML] or Document Type Definition [DTD]
• CPC Class Codes: G06F 40/149 Adaptation of the text data for streaming purposes, e.g. Efficient XML Interchange [EXI] format

Abstract

A method for processing XML documents in a computer-based system includes associating each of a plurality of information items with a corresponding one of a plurality of binary-data units and providing a XML document associated with a XML information set comprising one or more of the plurality of information items. The method includes serializing the XML document into a binary XML format, or de-serializing the XML document from the binary XML format. Serializing includes translating the one or more information items of the XML information set into their corresponding one or more binary-data units. De-serializing includes translating one or more binary-data units of the binary XML format into their corresponding one or more information items. A computer readable medium is encoded with a program for execution on at least one processor. The program, when executed on the at least one processor, can perform the method for processing XML documents.

Claims

1. A method for processing extensible markup language (XML) documents in a computer-based system, the method comprising:

associating each of a plurality of information items with a corresponding one of a plurality of binary-data units;

providing a XML document associated with a XML information set comprising one or more of the plurality of information items; and

serializing the XML document into a binary XML format, wherein serializing comprises translating the one or more information items of the XML information set into their corresponding one or more binary-data units, or

de-serializing the XML document from the binary XML format, wherein de-serializing comprises translating one or more binary-data units of the binary XML format into their corresponding one or more information items.

2. The method of claim 1, wherein serializing comprises translating the one or more information items into their corresponding binary-data units without first translating the one or more information items into a textual XML format.

3. The method of claim 1, wherein de-serializing comprises translating the one or more binary-data units of the binary XML format into their corresponding information items without first translating the one or more binary-data units into a textual XML format.

4. The method of claim 1, wherein serializing is performed without knowing a content of any of the one or more information items of the XML document beyond a current information item being serialized.

5. The method of claim 4, wherein serializing is performed without first gathering at least most of the information items associated with the XML document.

6. The method of claim 1, wherein serializing comprises translating the one or more information items in a sequence that corresponds to a sequence associated with translating the one or more information items into a textual XML format.

7. The method of claim 1, wherein at least one of the one or more information items has a binary-storage format, and wherein associating comprises associating the at least one of the one or more information items with its binary-storage format.

9. The method of claim 1, wherein the one or more information items comprise one or more strings, associating comprises associating each of the one or more strings with a corresponding one of one or more string identifiers, serializing comprises translating the one or more strings into their corresponding string identifiers, and de-serializing comprises translating the one or more string identifiers into their corresponding one or more strings.

10. The method of claim 9, wherein each of the one or more string identifiers is associated with a number.

11. The method of claim 9, further comprising providing to a serializing unit and a de-serializing unit, prior to serializing, information regarding the association between at least a portion of the one or more strings and their corresponding one or more string identifiers.

12. The method of claim 9, further comprising providing to a serializing unit and a de-serializing unit, during serializing, information regarding the association between at least a portion of the one or more strings and their corresponding one or more string identifiers.

13. The method of claim 9, wherein associating comprises defining the association of a portion of the one or more strings while serializing the XML document, and including, in the serialized XML document, both the portion of the one or more strings and their corresponding one or more string identifiers to notify a de-serializing unit of the association of the portion.

14. The method of claim 1, wherein the one or more information items comprise one or more primitive types, and associating comprises associating each of the one or more primitive types with a corresponding type identifier and a corresponding binary number.

15. The method of claim 1, wherein the one or more information items comprise one or more XML constructs.

16. The method of claim 1, further comprising transmitting the binary XML format from a first unit to a second unit, wherein the first unit and the second unit are each selected from a group of unit types comprising a processor, a storage device, a client computer, and a server.

17. The method of claim 16, wherein the first unit serializes the XML document, and the second unit de-serializes the XML document.

18. The method of claim 1, wherein the serialized XML document in the binary format has a direct correspondence with a textual XML document associated with the XML document.

19. The method of claim 1, wherein the XML document is a SOAP envelope

8. The method of claim 8, wherein the at least one of the one or more information items is selected from the group of items comprising a number, a character, a time, and a date.

20. A computer readable medium encoded with a program for execution on at least one processor, the program, when executed on the at least one processor, performing a method for processing extensible markup language (XML) documents, the method comprising:

associating each of a plurality of information items with a corresponding one of a plurality of binary-data units;

providing a XML document associated with a XML information set comprising one or more of the plurality of information items; and

serializing the XML document into a binary XML format, wherein serializing comprises translating the one or more information items of the XML information set into their corresponding one or more binary-data units, or

de-serializing the XML document from the binary XML format, wherein de-serializing comprises translating one or more binary-data units of the binary XML format into their corresponding one or more information items.