Customization creation and update for multi-layer XML customization

• US 20090204943A1
• Filed: 02/12/2008
• Published: 08/13/2009
• Est. Priority Date: 02/12/2008
• Status: Active Grant

• Current Assignee: Oracle International Corporation (Oracle Corporation)
• Original Assignee: Oracle International Corporation (Oracle Corporation)
• Inventors: Konduri, Gangadhar
• Granted Patent: US 8,966,465 B2
• Time in Patent Office: Days
• US Class Current: 717/114
• CPC Class Codes: G06F 8/51 Source to source
• CPC Class Codes: G06F 8/71 Version control security arrangements therefor G06F21/57; Configuration management

Abstract

Embodiments of the present invention provide techniques for customizing aspects of a metadata-driven software application. In particular, embodiments of the present invention provide (1) a self-contained metadata engine for generating customized metadata documents from base metadata documents and customizations; (2) a customization syntax for defining customizations; (3) a customization creation/update component for creating and updating customizations; (4) a customization restriction mechanism for restricting the creation of new customizations by specific users or groups of users; and (5) memory and caching optimizations for optimizing the storage and lookup of customized metadata documents.

Claims

1. A method for creating or updating a customization for an Extensible Markup Language (XML) based metadata document, the metadata document defining one or more characteristics of at least a portion of a software application, the method comprising:

retrieving the metadata document via a software component configured to enable creation or update of XML documents;

receiving, from the software component, one or more modifications to the metadata document, wherein the one or more modifications are expressed using a standard XML update protocol;

translating the one or more modifications into one or more customization instructions; and

storing the one or more customization instructions as a first customization for the metadata document, wherein the first customization is stored separately from the metadata document.

2. The method of claim 1, wherein the software component is an XML editor included in the software application, and wherein the steps of receiving the metadata document, receiving the one or more modifications, translating the one or more modifications, and storing the one or more customization instructions are performed at runtime of the software application.

3. The method of claim 1, wherein the software component is an XML editor included in a software development tool, and wherein the steps of receiving the metadata document, receiving the one or more modifications, translating the one or more modifications, and storing the one or more customization instructions are performed at design time of the software application.

4. The method of claim 1, wherein the metadata document is retrieved as a Document Object Model (DOM) object, and wherein the one or modifications are expressed as standard DOM method calls.

5. The method of claim 1, wherein the metadata document is retrieved as a Java Architecture for XML Bindings (JAXB) representation, and wherein the one or modifications are expressed as standard JAXB method calls.

6. The method of claim 1, wherein a plurality of customization levels are associated with the metadata document, and wherein the first customization corresponds to a tip customization level, the tip customization level being that last customization level in the plurality of customization levels to be applied to the metadata document.

7. The method of claim 6, wherein if a customization already exists for the tip customization level, the one or more customization instructions are added to the existing customization.

8. The method of claim 6, wherein if a customization does not already exist for the tip customization level, the one or more customizations are added to a newly created customization.

9. The method of claim 1, wherein the one or more modifications include a modification to a source element in the metadata document, and wherein the modification to the source element is translated into a customization instruction that references a globally unique identifier for the source element.

10. The method of claim 9, wherein if the source element does not have a globally unique identifier, the modification to the source element is translated into a customization instruction that references a locally unique identifier for the source element.

11. The method of claim 9, wherein if the base element does not have a globally unique identifier or a locally unique identifier, the modification to the source element is translated into a customization instruction that references an XPath expression pointing to the source element.

12. The method of claim 1, wherein the one or more customization instructions are optimized prior to being stored.

13. The method of claim 12, wherein the one or more customization instructions include a first modification instruction to modify a source element and second modification instruction to modify the source element, and wherein the one or more customization instructions are optimized by combining the first and second modification instructions into a single modification instruction.

14. The method of claim 13, wherein the first modification instruction corresponds to a first modification performed during a first runtime session of the software application, and wherein the second modification instruction corresponds to a second modification performed during a second runtime session of the software application.

15. The method of claim 12, wherein the one or more customization instructions include an insert instruction to insert a new element and a modification instruction to modify a portion of a subtree of the new element, and wherein the one or more customization instructions are optimized by combining the insert instruction and the modification instruction into a single insert instruction.

16. The method of claim 12, wherein the one or more customization instructions include an insert instruction to insert a new element and a replace instruction to delete the new element, and wherein the one or more customization instructions are optimized by removing the insert instruction and the replace instruction.

17. The method of claim 12, wherein the first customization is configured to be applied on top of a plurality of additional customizations, wherein a customization instruction in the one or more customization instructions is only applicable to a single customization in the plurality of additional customizations, and wherein the customization instruction is preserved when the one or more customizations are optimized.

18. A system for creating or updating a customization for an Extensible Markup Language (XML) based metadata document, the metadata document defining one or more characteristics of at least a portion of a software application, the system comprising:

a first component including a user interface configured to enable creation or update of XML documents; and

a second component configured to;

receive, from the first component, one or more modifications to the metadata document, wherein the one or more modifications are expressed using a standard XML update protocol;

translate the one or more modifications into one or more customization instructions; and

store the one or more customization instructions as a first customization for the metadata document, wherein the first customization is stored separately from the metadata document.

19. A machine-readable medium for a computer system, the machine-readable medium having stored thereon a series of instructions which, when executed by a processing component, cause the processing component to create or update a customization for an Extensible Markup Language (XML) based metadata document by:

retrieving the metadata document via a software component configured to enable creation or update of XML documents;

receiving, from the software component, one or more modifications to the metadata document, wherein the one or more modifications are expressed using a standard XML update protocol;

translating the one or more modifications into one or more customization instructions; and

storing the one or more customization instructions as a first customization for the metadata document, wherein the first customization is stored separately from the metadata document.