LEVERAGING XML CAPABILITIES OF A DATABASE TO ENHANCE HANDLING OF DOCUMENT DATA

• US 20110060767A1
• Filed: 09/08/2009
• Published: 03/10/2011
• Est. Priority Date: 09/08/2009
• Status: Active Grant

• Current Assignee: Oracle International Corporation (Oracle Corporation)
• Original Assignee: Oracle International Corporation (Oracle Corporation)
• Inventors: Sozgen, Cem Emre, Idicula, Sam, Agarwal, Nipun
• Granted Patent: US 8,423,512 B2
• Time in Patent Office: Days
• US Class Current: 707/803
• CPC Class Codes: G06F 16/86 Mapping to a database
• CPC Class Codes: G06F 16/93 Document management systems
• CPC Class Codes: G06F 40/143 Markup, e.g. Standard Generalized Markup Language [SGML] or Document Type Definition [DTD]
• CPC Class Codes: G06F 40/226 Validation

Abstract

When an XML-annotated document is saved, a process automatically stores the document'"'"'s data in the tables of a database. The database server validates the document'"'"'s data against a user-specified XML schema. Queries can be executed against a set of documents in order to find documents in which a specified XML element contains specified content. Query results can be customized to return only the contents of specified XML elements. The document data can be linked with other data in the database such that the document data is updated based on the other data every time that the document is opened, thereby producing a “live” and dynamic document. Different file formats can be generated based on the document data, thus separating the presentation of the document data from the data itself. Contents of different elements may be obscured based on users'"'"' privileges, thereby maintaining the privacy of the document'"'"'s information.

Claims

1. A computer-implemented method comprising steps of:

detecting that a document editor application, external to a database server, is attempting to save extensible markup language (XML) document data that was being edited in the document editor application; and

in response to detecting that the document editor application is attempting to save the XML document data, a database server storing the XML document data within one or more tables of a database;

wherein said steps are performed by one or more computing devices.

2. The method as recited in claim 1, further comprising:

in response to detecting that the document editor application is attempting to save the XML document data, the database server extracting, from a multi-file archive generated by the document editor application, a particular XML file that contains non-formatting contents of an XML document that contains the XML document data;

wherein, in extracting the XML document data from multi-file archive and storing the XML document data into the database, the database server executes at least one of (a) Java code, (b) Structured Query Language (SQL) instructions, (c) PL/SQL code, (d) XQuery.

3. The method as recited in claim 1, further comprising:

determining that a particular XML element in the XML data corresponds to a particular column of a particular table in the database;

determining that the particular column does not contain contents that are enclosed between opening and closing tags of the XML element in the XML document data; and

in response to determining that the particular column does not contain the contents that are enclosed between the opening and closing tags of the XML element, generating an indication that the XML document data is not valid.

4. The method as recited in claim 1, further comprising:

detecting that a change has been made to particular data that is contained in a particular text node or attribute of a node in an XMLType table that contains at least part of the XML document data;

in response to detecting that the change has been made to the particular data, determining whether a rule is associated with the particular text node or attribute; and

in response to determining that the rule is associated with the particular text node or attribute, automatically performing an operation that is specified by the rule in response to the change being made to the particular data.

5. The method as recited in claim 1, further comprising:

receiving specified criteria that identify (a) at least one first XML element and (b) specified contents;

in response to receiving the specified criteria, the database server selecting, for inclusion in a set of XML documents, all database-stored XML documents that (a) contain an instance of the first XML element and (b) in which contents of the instance of the first XML element in those XML documents match the specified contents; and

the database server returning, as query results, at least a portion of each XML document in the set of XML documents.

6. The method as recited in claim 5, further comprising:

receiving an indication of one or more second XML elements;

wherein the step of returning the query results comprises returning, as query results, only contents of each instance of the one or more second XML elements in the set of XML document, without returning, as query results, any other portion of any XML document in the set of XML documents.

7. The method as recited in claim 1, further comprising:

after the database server has stored the XML document data within one or more tables of a database, updating contents of one or more columns of the one or more tables independently of the document editor application;

after updating the contents of the one or more columns, receiving a request, from the document editor application, to open a document from which the XML document data was previously obtained;

in response to the request, generating an updated version of the document that reflects updates that have been made to the XML document data as part of said updating; and

the database server sending the updated version of the document to the document editor application in response to the request, from the document editor application, to open the document.

8. The method as recited in claim 7, wherein the step of generating the updated version of the document comprises:

generating an enhanced version of the document in which information from other columns in one or more tables in the database have been added to the XML document data;

wherein the information from the other columns was not specified in the XML document data at a time that the document editing application attempted to store the XML document data; and

wherein the information from the other columns already existed in one or more tables in the database prior to a time that the document editing application attempted to store the XML document data.

9. The method as recited in claim 1, further comprising:

receiving an indication of a particular format in which a version of a document is to be generated; and

in response to receiving the indication of the particular document, reading the XML document data from the database and generating a version of the document in the particular format;

wherein the particular format differs from a format in which the document editing application attempted to store the XML document data.

10. The method as recited in claim 1, further comprising:

in response to a request, from the document editing application, to open a document that contains the XML document data, the database server determining an access level of an entity that made the request;

determining one or more private XML elements that are mapped to the access level;

generating, based on access control information stored in the database, a redacted version of the document in which contents of the one or more private XML elements have been omitted from the document; and

providing the redacted version of the document to the document editing application in response to the request to open the document.

11. A volatile or non-volatile computer-readable storage medium on which are encoded instructions which, when executed by one or more processors, cause the one or more processors to perform steps comprising:

detecting that a document editor application, external to a database server, is attempting to save extensible markup language (XML) document data that was being edited in the document editor application; and

in response to detecting that the document editor application is attempting to save the XML document data, a database server storing the XML document data within one or more tables of a database.

12. The computer-readable storage medium as recited in claim 11, wherein the steps further comprise:

in response to detecting that the document editor application is attempting to save the XML document data, the database server extracting, from a multi-file archive generated by the document editor application, a particular XML file that contains non-formatting contents of an XML document that contains the XML document data;

wherein, in extracting the XML document data from multi-file archive and storing the XML document data into the database, the database server executes at least one of (a) Java code, (b) Structured Query Language (SQL) instructions, (c) PL/SQL code, (d) XQuery.

13. The computer-readable storage medium as recited in claim 11, wherein the steps further comprise:

determining that a particular XML element in the XML data corresponds to a particular column of a particular table in the database;

determining that the particular column does not contain contents that are enclosed between opening and closing tags of the XML element in the XML document data; and

in response to determining that the particular column does not contain the contents that are enclosed between the opening and closing tags of the XML element, generating an indication that the XML document data is not valid.

14. The computer-readable storage medium as recited in claim 11, wherein the steps further comprise:

detecting that a change has been made to particular data that is contained in a particular text node or attribute of a node in an XMLType table that contains at least part of the XML document data;

in response to detecting that the change has been made to the particular data, determining whether a rule is associated with the particular text node or attribute; and

in response to determining that the rule is associated with the particular text node or attribute, automatically performing an operation that is specified by the rule in response to the change being made to the particular data.

15. The computer-readable storage medium as recited in claim 11, wherein the steps further comprise:

receiving specified criteria that identify (a) at least one first XML element and (b) specified contents;

in response to receiving the specified criteria, the database server selecting, for inclusion in a set of XML documents, all database-stored XML documents that (a) contain an instance of the first XML element and (b) in which contents of the instance of the first XML element in those XML documents match the specified contents; and

the database server returning, as query results, at least a portion of each XML document in the set of XML documents.

16. The computer-readable storage medium as recited in claim 15, wherein the steps further comprise:

receiving an indication of one or more second XML elements;

wherein the step of returning the query results comprises returning, as query results, only contents of each instance of the one or more second XML elements in the set of XML document, without returning, as query results, any other portion of any XML document in the set of XML documents.

17. The computer-readable storage medium as recited in claim 11, wherein the steps further comprise:

after the database server has stored the XML document data within one or more tables of a database, updating contents of one or more columns of the one or more tables independently of the document editor application;

after updating the contents of the one or more columns, receiving a request, from the document editor application, to open a document from which the XML document data was previously obtained;

in response to the request, generating an updated version of the document that reflects updates that have been made to the XML document data as part of said updating; and

the database server sending the updated version of the document to the document editor application in response to the request, from the document editor application, to open the document.

18. The computer-readable storage medium as recited in claim 17, wherein the step of generating the updated version of the document comprises:

generating an enhanced version of the document in which information from other columns in one or more tables in the database have been added to the XML document data;

wherein the information from the other columns was not specified in the XML document data at a time that the document editing application attempted to store the XML document data; and

wherein the information from the other columns already existed in one or more tables in the database prior to a time that the document editing application attempted to store the XML document data.

19. The computer-readable storage medium as recited in claim 11, wherein the steps further comprise:

receiving an indication of a particular format in which a version of a document is to be generated; and

in response to receiving the indication of the particular document, reading the XML document data from the database and generating a version of the document in the particular format;

wherein the particular format differs from a format in which the document editing application attempted to store the XML document data.

20. The computer-readable storage medium as recited in claim 11, wherein the steps further comprise:

in response to a request, from the document editing application, to open a document that contains the XML document data, the database server determining an access level of an entity that made the request;

determining one or more private XML elements that are mapped to the access level;

generating, based on access control information stored in the database, a redacted version of the document in which contents of the one or more private XML elements have been omitted from the document; and

providing the redacted version of the document to the document editing application in response to the request to open the document.