VIRTUAL TOPOLOGICAL QUERIES

• US 20110295841A1
• Filed: 05/26/2010
• Published: 12/01/2011
• Est. Priority Date: 05/26/2010
• Status: Active Grant

• Current Assignee: Micro Focus LLC (Open Text Corporation)
• Original Assignee: Micro Focus LLC (Open Text Corporation)
• Inventors: Sityon, Arik, Biron, Ran, Ben-Dor, Uri
• Granted Patent: US 10,380,186 B2
• Time in Patent Office: Days
• US Class Current: 707/722
• CPC Class Codes: G06F 16/9024 Graphs; Linked lists G06F16/9027 takes precedence

Abstract

Systems, methods, and other embodiments associated with virtual topological queries are described. One example method includes executing a first topological query on a stored graph to generate a first result graph. The example method may also include manipulating the first result graph to generate a virtual query result graph as a function of a second topological query. The example method may also include providing the virtual query result graph.

Claims

1. A non-transitory computer-readable medium storing computer-executable instructions that when executed by a computer cause the computer to perform a method, the method comprising:

executing a first topological query on a stored graph to generate a first result graph;

manipulating the first result graph to generate a virtual query result graph as a function of a second topological query; and

providing the virtual query result graph.

2. The non-transitory computer-readable medium of claim 1, where manipulating the first result graph comprises executing the second topological query on the first result graph.

3. The non-transitory computer-readable medium of claim 1, where manipulating the first result graph comprises restricting the first result graph according to the second topological query.

4. The non-transitory computer-readable medium of claim 3, where restricting the first result graph comprises selecting sub-graphs of the first result graph that satisfy a condition of the second topological query.

5. The non-transitory computer-readable medium of claim 1, where manipulating the first result graph comprises executing the second topological query to generate a second result graph and creating a union of the first result graph and the second result graph.

6. The non-transitory computer-readable medium of claim 1, where manipulating the first result graph comprises executing the second topological query to generate a second result graph and creating an intersection of the first result graph and the second result graph.

7. The non-transitory computer-readable medium of claim 6, where creating the intersection of the first result graph and the second result graph comprises joining a first sub-graph from the first result graph with a second sub-graph from the second result graph to create a third sub-graph

8. The non-transitory computer-readable medium of claim 7, where the third sub-graph comprises nodes from the first sub-graph, nodes from the second sub-graph, and a shared node that is associated with a node in the first sub-graph and that is associated with a node in the second sub-graph.

9. The non-transitory computer-readable medium of claim 1, the method comprising providing an updated virtual query result graph upon detecting a change to the stored graph that would affect the structure of the first result graph.

10. The non-transitory computer-readable medium of claim 1, where manipulating the first result graph comprises selecting a manipulation technique based, at least in part, on the first result graph.

11. The non-transitory computer-readable medium of claim 1, the method comprising receiving a virtual query from a client that identifies the first topological query, the second topological query, and a technique for manipulating the first topological query based on the second topological query.

12. A system, comprising:

a configuration management data store (CMDB) embodied on a non-transitory computer-readable medium to store descriptions of components of an information technology (IT) infrastructure and to store a directed graph describing relationships between the components of the IT infrastructure;

a virtual query logic, including at least instructions stored on a non-transitory computer-readable medium, to control execution of a virtual query comprising a first query, a second query, and a manipulation instruction involving the first query and the second query, where a result of the first query comprises a sub-graph of the directed graph in the CMDB; and

a provision logic to provide a result of the virtual query.

13. The system of claim 12, where the manipulation instruction instructs the virtual query logic to perform one or more of, an execution of the second query on the result of the first query, a restriction of the result of the first query using the second query, a union of the result of the first query and a result of the second query, and an intersection of the result of the first query and a result of the second query.

14. The system of claim 12, comprising an update logic to monitor changes to the directed graph and to instruct the virtual query logic to re-execute an active virtual query.

15. The system of claim 12, comprising a sequential flow logic to control execution of a sequence of conditional virtual topological queries by the virtual query logic, where a conditional virtual topological query is executed when a result of a virtual topological query meets a condition defined by the conditional virtual topological query.

16. A system, comprising:

means for executing a first topological query identified in a virtual topological query on a stored graph; and

means for manipulating a result of the first topological query as a function of a second topological query in the virtual topological query.

17. The system of claim 16, comprising means for monitoring changes to the stored graph and means for controlling re-execution of the first topological query upon detection of a change to the stored graph.

18. The system of claim 16, where the means for manipulating the result of the first topological query comprises means for executing the second query on the result of the first query, means for restricting the result of the first query using the second query, means for creating a union of the result of the first query and a result of the second query, and means for intersecting of the result of the first query and a result of the second query.

19. The system of claim 18, comprising means for selecting a technique for manipulation of the first topological query.

20. The system of claim 16, comprising means for storing the stored graph.