DATABASE CONNECTIVITY AND DATABASE MODEL INTEGRATION WITHIN INTEGRATED DEVELOPMENT ENVIRONMENT TOOL

• US 20080270983A1
• Filed: 04/27/2007
• Published: 10/30/2008
• Est. Priority Date: 04/27/2007
• Status: Active Grant

• Current Assignee: International Business Machines Corporation
• Original Assignee: International Business Machines Corporation
• Inventors: Surange, Sonali, Brodsky, Stephen Andrew, Nin, Rebecca B., Ahadian, Azadeh, Jamshidi, Ardeshir, Payton, Brian Gerrit
• Granted Patent: US 9,047,337 B2
• Time in Patent Office: Days
• US Class Current: 717/113
• CPC Class Codes: G06F 11/3664 Environments for testing or debugging software
• CPC Class Codes: G06F 16/242 Query formulation
• CPC Class Codes: G06F 8/33 Intelligent editors

Abstract

Embodiments of the invention provide database integration within an integrated development environment (IDE) tool for displaying database structure and other database information, query editing and execution, and error detection for database statements embedded in program source code. Embodiments of the invention integrate database connectivity and error detection into the IDE tool, thereby potentially reducing the time required for database-aware application development.

Claims

1. A method of providing database connectivity and database model integration within an integrated development environment (IDE) tool, comprising:

displaying a portion of source code in an editing pane of the IDE tool, wherein the portion of the source code includes at least a text string representing a database statement;

detecting that a user is interacting with the text string;

determining a database to be accessed using the database statement;

establishing a database connection between the IDE tool and the database;

retrieving a data model associated with the database; and

providing programming assistance to the user of the IDE tool, based on the interaction of the user with the database statement and the data model.

2. The method of claim 1, wherein detecting that the user is interacting with database statement comprises determining that the user has clicked a mouse cursor proximal to the text string displayed in the editing pane.

3. The method of claim 1, wherein the data model comprises a relational schema specifying an organization of tables, columns, and keys defined for the database associated with the data model.

4. The method of claim 1, further comprising:

determining that the user has completed entering the text string in the editing pane provided by the IDE tool; and

highlighting elements of the text string to distinguish different portions of the database statement from one another.

5. The method of claim 1, wherein the text string represents a partially completed database statement, and wherein providing the programming assistance to the user of the IDE tool comprises:

predicting, based on the text string, one or more completed elements of the database statement; and

displaying a list of the one or more completed elements in the editing pane.

6. The method of claim 5, wherein at least one of the completed elements is a keyword of a database query language in which the database statement is being composed.

7. The method of claim 5, wherein at least one of the completed elements specifies a name of an element of the data model.

8. The method of claim 1, wherein the IDE tool provides a programming environment used to develop a database-aware application, and wherein the IDE tool includes at least a graphical text editor and a compiler.

9. A computer program product comprising a computer useable storage medium having a computer readable program, wherein the computer readable program when executed on a computer causes the computer to perform an operation comprising:

displaying a portion of source code in an editing pane of the IDE tool, wherein the portion of the source code includes at least a text string representing a database statement;

detecting that a user is interacting with the text string;

determining a database to be accessed using the database statement;

establishing a database connection between the IDE tool and the database;

retrieving a data model associated with the database; and

providing programming assistance to the user of the IDE tool, based on the interaction of the user with the database statement and the data model.

10. The computer useable storage medium of claim 9, wherein detecting that the user is interacting with database statement comprises determining that the user has clicked a mouse cursor proximal to the text string displayed in the editing pane.

11. The computer useable storage medium of claim 9, wherein the data model comprises a relational schema specifying an organization of tables, columns, and keys defined for the database associated with the data model.

12. The computer useable storage medium of claim 9, wherein the operation further comprises:

determining that the user has completed entering the text string in the editing pane provided by the IDE tool; and

highlighting elements of the text string to distinguish different portions of the database statement from one another.

13. The computer useable storage medium of claim 9, wherein the text string represents a partially completed database statement, and wherein providing the programming assistance to the user of the IDE tool comprises:

predicting, based on the text string, one or more completed elements of the database statement; and

displaying a list of the one or more completed elements in the editing pane.

14. The computer useable storage medium of claim 13, wherein at least one of the completed elements is a keyword of a database query language in which the database statement is being composed.

15. The computer useable storage medium of claim 13, wherein at least one of the completed elements specifies a name of an element of the data model.

16. The computer useable storage medium of claim 9, wherein the IDE tool provides a programming environment used to develop a database-aware application, and wherein the IDE tool includes at least a graphical text editor and a compiler.

17. A system, comprising:

a processor; and

a memory containing an integrated development environment (IDE) tool configured to provide database connectivity and database model integration within the IDE tool by performing an operation, comprising;

displaying a portion of source code in an editing pane of the IDE tool, wherein the portion of the source code includes at least a text string representing a database statement,

detecting that a user is interacting with the text string,

determining a database to be accessed using the database statement,

establishing a database connection between the IDE tool and the database,

retrieving a data model associated with the database, and

providing programming assistance to the user of the IDE tool, based on the interaction of the user with the database statement and the data model.

18. The system of claim 17, wherein detecting that the user is interacting with database statement comprises determining that the user has clicked a mouse cursor proximal to the text string displayed in the editing pane.

19. The system of claim 17, wherein the data model comprises a relational schema specifying an organization of tables, columns, and keys defined for the database associated with the data model.

20. The system of claim 17, wherein the operation further comprises:

determining that the user has completed entering the text string in the editing pane provided by the IDE tool; and

highlighting elements of the text string to distinguish different portions of the database statement from one another.

21. The system of claim 17, wherein the text string represents a partially completed database statement, and wherein providing the programming assistance to the user of the IDE tool comprises,

predicting, based on the text string, one or more completed elements of the database statement;

and

displaying a list of the one or more completed elements in the editing pane.

22. The system of claim 21, wherein at least one of the completed elements is a keyword of a database query language in which the database statement is being composed.

23. The system of claim 21, wherein at least one of the completed elements specifies a name of an element of the data model.

24. The system of claim 17, wherein the IDE tool provides a programming environment used to develop a database-aware application, and wherein the IDE tool includes at least a graphical text editor and a compiler.