Storing, maintaining and locating information

• US 20080120309A1
• Filed: 11/17/2006
• Published: 05/22/2008
• Est. Priority Date: 11/17/2006
• Status: Abandoned Application

• Current Assignee: Microsoft Technology Licensing LLC (Microsoft Corporation)
• Original Assignee: Microsoft Corporation
• Inventors: Copeland, George Prentice
• Application Number:
  US11/600,974
• Publication Number:
  US 20080120309A1
• Time in Patent Office: Days
• US Class Current: 707/100
• CPC Class Codes: G06F 16/219 Managing data history or versioning querying versioned data G06F16/2474; querying temporal data G06F16/2477

Abstract

Embodiments are provided to store, maintain, and/or locate information. In an embodiment, historical information can be stored, maintained, and located using a logical schema and a number of temporal tables associated with a database. A number of rules can be used to update information stored in the temporal tables. Query modification rules are provided to allow queries to be readily constructed and can be efficiently executed to search for historical and other information. The embodiments can be used with a number of applications that include objects having associated attributes whose values at different times are of interest.

Claims

1. A system to manage information comprising:

a database component including a logical schema and at least one temporal table, wherein the temporal table is to be populated based on the logical schema and includes an object identifier, an attribute variable associated with the object identifier, a value associated with the attribute variable, and at least one temporal indicator associated with the value;

an update component to update data stored in the temporal table, wherein the update component includes one or more update rules to update data stored in the temporal table; and

a query component to locate data in the temporal table, wherein the query component includes one or more query modification rules to locate the data.

2. The system of claim 1, wherein the at least one temporal indicator further comprises a first indicator associated with when a value was added to the temporal table, and a second indicator associated with when the value is to be logically deleted from the temporal table.

3. The system of claim 2, wherein the second indicator comprises a maximum time to indicate that the value is current.

4. The system of claim 2, wherein the temporal table further comprises a number of rows, wherein each row of the temporal table includes the first indicator and the second indicator.

5. The system of claim 1, wherein the value can include a chosen set of allowed data types including a string, integer, boolean, reference, and binary.

6. The system of claim 1, wherein the query component is further configured to locate data using structured query language (SQL) predicate calculus.

7. The system of claim 1, wherein the system comprises an identity and access system.

8. The system of claim 1, wherein the logical schema comprises a unique object identification, an attribute name, an attribute value, an add time, and a delete time.

9. The system of claim 1, wherein the temporal table further includes causation information associated with the value.

10. The system of claim 1, wherein the query modification rules comprise a number of time constraint rules for locating data based on a time constraint.

11. A computer readable medium including executable instructions which, when executed, manage data by:

creating at least one database table using a logical schema, wherein the table is associated with a database and includes an object identifier, an attribute variable associated with the object identifier, and a value associated with the attribute variable;

receiving data in the at least one database table; and

, indicating when the data is added to the database table by associating a first temporal indicator with the data to indicate when the data was added and associating a second temporal with the data to indicate when the data is to be deleted.

12. The computer-readable medium of claim 11, wherein the instructions, when executed, manage data by indicating when the data is to be deleted by inserting a maximum temporal indicator to indicate a current value.

13. The computer-readable medium of claim 11, wherein the instructions, when executed, manage data by updating the database table using a number of update rules.

14. The computer-readable medium of claim 13, wherein the instructions, when executed, manage data by updating the database table using a delete operation and an add operation.

15. The computer-readable medium of claim 11, wherein the instructions, when executed, manage data by retaining deleted data in the database table.

16. The computer-readable medium of claim 11, wherein the instructions, when executed, manage data by:

collecting identity and access data; and

creating an identity and access database with the collected identity and access data.

17. The computer-readable medium of claim 11, wherein the instructions, when executed, manage data by locating certain data in the database table using query modification rules including a predicate constraint having a time constraint.

18. A method of managing data comprising:

collecting information associated with aspects of an organization;

organizing the information according to a logical schema, wherein the logical schema comprises a unique object identification, an attribute name, an attribute value, an add time, and a delete time; and

,

storing the collected information in at least one temporal table, wherein each row of the at least one temporal table includes the object identification, attribute name, attribute value, add time, and delete time.

19. The method of claim 18, further comprising updating identity and access information in the temporal table by using a number of update rules.

20. The method of claim 18, further comprising locating identity and access information in the temporal table using a number of query modification rules, at least one predicate constraint, and a time constraint.