ID persistence through normalization

• US 20070198577A1
• Filed: 02/17/2006
• Published: 08/23/2007
• Est. Priority Date: 02/17/2006
• Status: Active Grant

• Current Assignee: Google LLC (Alphabet Inc.)
• Original Assignee: Google Inc. (Alphabet Inc.)
• Inventors: Betz, Jonathan, Hogue, Andrew
• Granted Patent: US 7,991,797 B2
• Time in Patent Office: Days
• US Class Current: 1/1
• CPC Class Codes: G06F 16/2272 Management thereof

Abstract

A system and method for maintaining persistent object identifiers across versions of a collection of data. According to one embodiment of the present invention, a first collection of objects is compared to a second collection of objects. If an object in the first collection matches an object in the second collection, a reference is added to the object in the first collection referring to the object in the second collection, allowing the identifier to persist in both collections of objects. Additionally, according to one embodiment of the present invention, the data (or “facts”) associated with the object from the first collection are moved to the object from the second collection. In this way, data associated with matching objects is combined between two collections of objects while maintaining persistent object identifiers.

Claims

1. A method for maintaining object ID persistence in a collection of data, comprising:

selecting a first object having a first object ID;

selecting a second object having a second object ID;

determining if the first object and the second object refer to a same entity; and

responsive to determining that the first object and the second object refer to the same entity, associating with the first object a forwarding reference to the second object, so that the second object can be referenced using the first object ID.

2. The method of claim 1, wherein a first fact is associated with the first object and a second fact is associated with the second object, and wherein determining if the first object and the second object refer to the same entity comprises comparing the first fact to the second fact to determine if the first object matches the second object.

3. The method of claim 2, wherein the first fact is compared to the second fact by a heuristic comparison function.

4. The method of claim 2, further comprising:

responsive to determining that the first object matches the second object, associating with the first object a forwarding reference to the second object, so that the second fact may be accessed by referring to the first object ID.

5. The method of claim 2, additionally comprising:

responsive to determining that the first object refers to the same entity as the second object, associating the first fact with the second object.

6. The method of claim 5, wherein the first fact comprises an associated object ID, and responsive to determining that the first object refers to the same entity as the second object, the first fact is associated with the second object by setting the associated object ID of the first fact to the second object ID.

7. The method of claim 1, wherein a first plurality of facts is associated with the first object and a second plurality of facts is associated with the second object, and wherein determining if the first object and the second object refer to the same entity comprises comparing the first plurality of facts to the second plurality of facts to determine if the first object matches the second object.

8. The method of claim 1, wherein a forwarding reference to the first object is associated with a third object, the method further comprising:

responsive to determining that the first object and the second object refer to the same entity, modifying the forwarding reference to the first object so that it points to the second object.

9. The method of claim 1, wherein the first object is contained in a first collection of data and wherein the second object is not contained in the first collection of data.

10. The method of claim 1, wherein the second object is contained in a first collection of data and wherein the first object is not contained in the first collection of data.

11. The method of claim 1, wherein the first object is contained in a first collection of data, and wherein the steps are performed by a janitor operating before a build of the first collection of data.

12. The method of claim 1, wherein the second object is contained in a first collection of data, and wherein the steps are performed by a janitor operating before a build of the first collection of data.

13. A computer program product, the computer program product comprising a computer-readable medium, for maintaining object ID persistence in a collection of data, the computer-readable medium comprising:

program code for selecting a first object having a first object ID;

program code for selecting a second object having a second object ID;

program code for determining if the first object and the second object refer to a same entity; and

program code responsive to determining that the first object and the second object refer to the same entity, for associating with the first object a forwarding reference to the second object, so that the second object can be referenced using the first object ID.

14. A system for maintaining object ID persistence in a collection of data, comprising:

an object selector configured to select a first object, the first object having a first object ID, and a second object, the second object having a second object ID;

a comparison function capable of determining if the first object and the second object refer to a same entity; and

a forwarding reference associator, responsive to the comparison function, and capable of associating with the first object a forwarding reference to the second object, so that the second object can be referenced using the first object ID.

15. A method for maintaining object ID persistence in a collection of data, comprising:

selecting a first set of one or more facts associated with a first object ID;

selecting a second set of one or more facts associated with a second object ID;

determining if the first set of one or more facts associated with the first object ID and the second set of one or more facts associated with the second object ID refer to a same entity; and

responsive to determining that the first set of one or more facts associated with the first object ID and the second set of one or more facts associated with the second object ID refer to a same entity, associating with the first object ID a forwarding reference to the second object ID, so that the second set of one or more facts associated with the second object ID can be referenced using the first object ID.

16. The method of claim 15, wherein determining if the first set of one or more facts associated with the first object ID and the second set of one or more facts associated with the second object ID refer to a same entity comprises comparing a fact from the first set of one or more facts to a fact from the second set of one or more facts.

17. The method of claim 15, further comprising:

responsive to determining that the first set of one or more facts associated with the first object ID and the second set of one or more facts associated with the second object ID refer to the same entity, associating with the first object ID a forwarding reference to the second object ID, so that the second set of one or more facts associated with the second object ID may be accessed by referring to the first object ID.

18. The method of claim 15, additionally comprising:

responsive to determining that that the first set of one or more facts associated with the first object ID and the second set of one or more facts associated with the second object ID refer to the same entity, associating a fact from the set of one or more facts associated with the first object ID with the second object ID.

19. The method of claim 15, wherein a forwarding reference to the first object ID is associated with a third object ID, the method further comprising:

responsive to determining that the first set of one or more facts associated with the first object ID and the second set of one or more facts associated with the second object ID refer to the same entity, modifying the forwarding reference to the first object ID so that it points to the second object ID.