METHOD AND APPARATUS FOR PSEUDO-CONVERSION OF TABLE OBJECTS

• US 20090198715A1
• Filed: 01/31/2008
• Published: 08/06/2009
• Est. Priority Date: 01/31/2008
• Status: Active Grant

• Current Assignee: Computer Associates Think Inc. (Broadcom, Inc.)
• Original Assignee: Computer Associates Think Inc. (Broadcom, Inc.)
• Inventors: Barbarek, Wayne Joseph
• Granted Patent: US 7,908,299 B2
• Time in Patent Office: Days
• US Class Current: 1/1
• CPC Class Codes: G06F 16/22 Indexing; Data structures therefor; Storage structures
• CPC Class Codes: G06F 16/2272 Management thereof
• CPC Class Codes: G06F 16/285 Clustering or classification
• CPC Class Codes: G06F 40/151 Transformation
• CPC Class Codes: G06F 40/177 of tables; using ruled lines

Abstract

A method for converting a table object from a first partitioning type to a second partitioning type includes steps or acts of gathering information including a definition of a clustering index of the table object; converting the table object of the first partitioning type into a virtual table object of the second partitioning type by virtually applying the information to a clustering index of the table object such that the virtual table object represents how the table object will appear when it is explicitly converted; and presenting the virtual table object to a user for viewing and manipulating as a table of the second partitioning type before generating an explicit conversion to said second partitioning type.

Claims

1. A method for converting a table object from a first partitioning type to a second partitioning type, the method comprising steps of:

gathering information comprising a definition of a clustering index of the table object;

converting the table object of the first partitioning type into a virtual table object of the second partitioning type by virtually applying the gathered information to a clustering index of the table object, such that the virtual table object represents how the table object will appear when it is explicitly converted; and

presenting the virtual table object to a user for viewing and manipulating as a table object of the second partitioning type before generating an explicit conversion to said second partitioning type.

2. The method of claim 1 wherein the first partitioning type is index-controlled partitioning and the second partitioning type is table-controlled partitioning.

3. The method of claim 2 wherein the virtual table object is presented on interactive screens.

4. The method of claim 2 further comprising:

receiving a reset command from the user; and

reinstating the table object to the first partitioning type in response to the reset command.

5. The method of claim 1 wherein generating an explicit conversion comprises steps of:

generating a data definition language consistent with the second partitioning type;

applying the data definition language to the table object; and

executing the generated data definition language for explicitly converting the table object to the second partitioning type.

6. The method of claim 5 wherein generating an explicit conversion further comprises:

separating fields from the table object and the clustering index into two separate embodiments; and

applying second partition type attributes to the table object, such that the user can toggle between the table object and the virtual table object.

7. The method of claim 6 wherein applying the second partition type attributes comprises matching original names defining columns from the table object to the clustering index.

8. The method of claim 1 further comprising:

receiving an instruction from the user wherein the instruction indicates a task to be performed to implicitly manipulate the virtual table object as if it were of the second partitioning type;

modifying the virtual table object in accordance with the instruction; and

presenting the modified virtual table object to the user.

9. The method of claim 8 wherein the instruction comprises a keyword for altering a default value of a field.

10. The method of claim 9 wherein modifying the virtual table object comprises altering the default value of the field upon receiving the keyword.

11. The method of claim 8 wherein modifying the virtual table object comprises at least one instruction selected from a group consisting of:

deleting, inserting, copying, moving, repeating, and rearranging the partitioning key columns.

12. The method of claim 8 further comprising an initial step of auto-generating a default value such that the user can accept the auto-generated default value without having to enter the value.

13. The method of claim 5 wherein generating the explicit conversion comprises maintaining the clustering index.

14. The method of claim 5 wherein generating the explicit conversion comprises converting the clustering index into a type-2 clustering index.

15. The method of claim 1 wherein gathering the information further comprises storing the information.

16. A computer program product embodied on a computer readable storage medium and comprising code that, when executed, causes a computer to convert a table object from a first partitioning type to a second partitioning type by:

gathering information comprising a definition of a clustering index of the table object;

converting the table object of the first partitioning type into a virtual table object of the second partitioning type by virtually applying the gathered information to a definition of the table object, such that the virtual table object represents how the table object will appear when it is explicitly converted; and

presenting the virtual table object to a user for viewing and manipulating as a table object of the second partitioning type before generating an explicit conversion to said second partitioning type.

17. The computer program product of claim 16 wherein the clustering index is a virtual clustering index.

18. An information processing system for converting a table object from a first partitioning type to a second partitioning type, the system comprising:

an input/output interface comprising a display for receiving input from a user and for presenting a virtual table object to the user;

a processor for converting the table object to a virtual table object by performing steps of;

gathering information comprising a definition of a clustering index of the table object;

converting the table object into the virtual table object of the second partitioning type by virtually applying the information to a definition of the table object, such that the virtual table object represents how the table object will appear when it is explicitly converted; and

presenting the virtual table object to the user for viewing and manipulating as a table object of the second partitioning type before generating an explicit conversion to said second partitioning type;

data storage; and

a memory, operatively coupled with the processor.

19. The system of claim 18 wherein the first partitioning type is table-controlled partitioning and the second partitioning type is index-controlled partitioning.

20. The system of claim 18 wherein the clustering index is a virtual clustering index.