FLEXIBLE ORDER OF AUTHORING FOR DATA INTEGRATION SOLUTIONS

• US 20120254259A1
• Filed: 03/28/2011
• Published: 10/04/2012
• Est. Priority Date: 03/28/2011
• Status: Active Grant

• Current Assignee: Microsoft Technology Licensing LLC (Microsoft Corporation)
• Original Assignee: Microsoft Corporation
• Inventors: Carroll, Matthew, McGuire, Kevin Thomas Edward, Clemente Filho, Sergio Silveira, Ryan, Cimarron S.
• Granted Patent: US 8,874,622 B2
• Time in Patent Office: Days
• US Class Current: 707/804
• CPC Class Codes: G06F 16/25 Integrating or interfacing systems involving database management systems

Abstract

A method includes connecting an integration process to a first set of inputs. The first set of inputs may include one or more inputs. The integration process includes one or more data transformation operations using the inputs. The method further includes receiving metadata about one or more of the inputs in the first set of inputs. The metadata about one or more of the inputs in the first set of inputs is cached. The integration process is then connected to a second set of inputs based on the cached metadata about one or more of the inputs in the first set of inputs.

Claims

1. In a computing environment, a method of changing an integration process source, the method comprising:

connecting an integration process to a first set of inputs, the first set of inputs comprising one or more inputs, wherein the integration process comprises one or more data transformation operations using the inputs;

receiving metadata about one or more of the inputs in the first set of inputs;

caching the metadata about one or more of the inputs in the first set of inputs; and

connecting the integration process to a second set of inputs based on the cached metadata about one or more of the inputs in the first set of inputs.

2. The method of claim 1, wherein the metadata about one or more of the inputs in the first set of inputs describes columns from one or more sources.

3. The method of claim 1, wherein connecting the integration process to a second set of inputs comprises a user selecting portions of a source based on the metadata and mapping the portions to inputs from the first source.

4. The method of claim 1, wherein connecting the integration process to a second set of inputs comprises automatically selecting a source based on the metadata.

5. The method of claim 4, wherein selecting a set of inputs based on the metadata comprises selecting a source based on an input name.

6. The method of claim 5, wherein selecting a source based on an input name comprises selecting an input in the second set of inputs that has a same name as a source in the first set of inputs.

7. The method of claim 5, wherein selecting a source based on an input name comprises selecting an input in the second set of inputs that has a similar name to a source in the first set of inputs.

8. The method of claim 1, further comprising disconnecting from the first set of inputs prior to connecting to the second set of inputs.

9. The method of claim 8, further comprising editing at least a portion of the transformation operations of the integration process while disconnected from the first set of inputs.

10. The method of claim 1, further comprising sharing metadata from the integration process with a different integration process.

11. The method of claim 1, further comprising providing a user with information based on the metadata about a possible input to connect to from the second set of inputs.

12. The method of claim 1, further comprising updating the cached metadata based on the connected second set of inputs.

13. One or more physical computer readable storage media comprising computer executable instructions that when executed by one or more processors cause the following to be performed:

receiving metadata about one or more inputs in a first set of inputs configured to be connected to an integration process, wherein the integration process comprises one or more data transformation operations;

caching the metadata about one or more of the inputs in the first set of inputs at the integration process; and

connecting the integration process to a set of inputs based on the cached metadata about one or more of the inputs in the first set of inputs.

14. The one or more computer readable media of claim 13, wherein receiving metadata about one or more inputs in a first set of inputs configured to be connected to an integration process is performed as a result of connecting the integration process to the first set of inputs.

15. The one or more computer readable media of claim 13, wherein receiving metadata about one or more inputs in a first set of inputs configured to be connected to an integration process is performed by receiving metadata from a set of inputs that is different than the set of inputs in the act of connecting the integration process to a set of inputs based on the cached metadata about one or more of the inputs in the first set of inputs.

16. The one or more computer readable media of claim 13, wherein receiving metadata about one or more inputs in a first set of inputs configured to be connected to an integration process is performed by receiving metadata about an output component of the integration process.

17. The one or more computer readable media of claim 13, wherein receiving metadata about one or more inputs in a first set of inputs configured to be connected to an integration process is performed by receiving metadata from a transform component of a different integration process.

18. The one or more computer readable media of claim 13, wherein receiving metadata about one or more inputs in a first set of inputs configured to be connected to an integration process is performed by receiving metadata from an integration process developer.

19. The one or more computer readable media of claim 13, wherein receiving metadata about one or more inputs in a first set of inputs configured to be connected to an integration process is performed by receiving metadata about a placeholder column.

20. In a computing environment, a method of changing an integration process source, the method comprising:

connecting an integration process to a first set of inputs, the first set of inputs comprising one or more inputs, wherein the integration process comprises one or more data transformation operations using the inputs;

receiving metadata about one or more of the inputs in the first set of inputs by traversing an upstream path of the integration process and returning available columns from the upstream path;

caching the metadata about one or more of the inputs in the first set of inputs including information about the available columns;

disconnecting the integration process from the first set of inputs;

after disconnecting the integration process from the first set of inputs, adding one or more additional placeholder columns to the cached metadata based on a required column in a destination dataflow component;

modifying a component of the integration process using the cached metadata, including the added metadata about placeholder columns;

connecting the integration process to a second set of inputs based on the cached metadata, including the added metadata about placeholder columns.