Method for locating a versioned object within a version tree depicting a history of system data and processes for an enterprise

• US 5,701,472 A
• Filed: 06/09/1995
• Issued: 12/23/1997
• Est. Priority Date: 06/09/1995
• Status: Expired due to Term

• Current Assignee: Unisys Corporation
• Original Assignee: Unisys Corporation
• Inventors: Neubauer, Ronald Jay, Koerber, Paul Donald
• Primary Examiner(s): Kulik, Paul V.
• Application Number:
  US08/489,313
• Time in Patent Office: 928 Days
• Field of Search: 395/712, 395/772, 395/701, 395/619, 395/614
• US Class Current: 1/1
• CPC Class Codes: G06F 16/219 Managing data history or versioning querying versioned data G06F16/2474; querying temporal data G06F16/2477
• CPC Class Codes: Y10S 707/99954 Version management

Abstract

The method of the present invention is useful in a computer system having a user interface, a memory, a repository and a database. The method is a repository program executed by the computer system for locating a versioned object within a history of objects stored in the repository. The method comprises the steps of declaring a variable workObject; if the desired variant is equal to the variant of object on which the requesting step is called, setting the workObject to said object; if the desired variant is not equal to the variant of object on which the requesting step is called, setting the workObject to a root object; if the workObject variable is null, pushing a noSuchVariant error onto a notification stack and exiting the method; determining direction for searching the version tree using the desired version and the version of workObject; if the workObject is visible, returning said workObject as the desired version; if the workObject is not visible and the desired version is equal to zero, determining if the workObject has previous versions; if the workObject has no previous versions, returning a null object.

Claims

1. In a computer system having a user interface, a memory, a repository and a database, a repository program operating in said computer system for accessing said database, said repository program executing a method for locating a versioned object within a version tree depicting a history of objects stored in said repository, when a desired variant and desired version are provided, said method comprising the steps of:

a. declaring a variable workObject;

b. if the desired variant is equal to the variant of an object on which a requesting step is called, setting said workObject to said object;

c. if said desired variant is not equal to the variant of said object on which said requesting step is called, setting said workObject to a root object;

d. if said workObject is null, pushing a noSuchVariant error onto a notification stack and exiting said method;

e. if said workObject is not null, determining direction for searching said version tree using the desired version and the version of said workObject;

f. if said workObject is visible, returning said workObject as the desired version;

g. if said workObject is not visible and the desired version is equal to zero, determining if said workObject has previous versions;

h if said workObject has no previous versions, returning a null object.

2. The method as in claim 1 wherein said step of determining a root object includes the steps of:

a. if a variant parameter is not specified, setting workObject equal to object;

b. determining if said workObject has previous versions, and if so, setting workObject equal to previous version and repeating this step until workObject has no previous versions;

c. if said workObject has no previous versions, returning workObject;

d. if said variant parameter is specified, determining if said desired variant is on the current branch;

e. if said variant is on the current branch, determining if said object has previous versions, and if not, returning said object as the root object of the current variant branch;

f. if said object has previous versions, setting value of workObject to object; and

g. if said workObject has no previous versions, returning said workObject as the root object of the variant branch.

3. A method as in claim 2 further including the steps of:

a. if said variant is not on the current branch, setting workObject to object returned by repeating steps a through c of claim 2;

b. be setting workObject equal to object returned by performing the following additional steps;

i) if said variant is equal to said object'"'"'s variant, returning said object since variant branch is found;

ii) if said variant is not equal to said variant'"'"'s object, determining if said object has next versions, and if not returning a null object;

iii) if said object has next versions, retrieving another object from nextVersions property;

iv) repeating steps i through iii above,

v) returning object found; and

,

c. returning workObject to caller.

4. A method as in claim 2 wherein in said step g if said workObject has previous versions, executing the following additional steps:

a. declaring a variable workVariant and set its value to desired variant;

b. if said desired variant is the current branch, setting workVariant equal to object'"'"'s variant;

c. searching down said version tree, to determine if said object has next versions;

d. if said object has next versions, select each object in determining if it has desired variant; and

,

e. if said selected object has desired variant, returning said object as next version with desired variant.

5. The method as in claim 1 further including the steps of determining if said workObject is visible and if desired version is not equal to zero, returning a null object.

6. The method as in claim 2 further including the steps of determining if said workObject has previousVersions and if so, performing the following additional steps of:

a. declaring a variable workVariant and set its value to desired variant;

b. if said desired variant is the current branch, setting workVariant equal to object'"'"'s variant;

c. if a search is to be made up said version tree, determining if said object has previous versions;

d. if said object has previous versions, select each object in determining if it has desired variant;

e. if said object has desired variant, returning said object as previous version with desired variant;

f. determining if said returned object is valid, and if so, setting workObject equal to said returned object;

g. determining if said workObject version is equal to said desired version;

h. if said workObject version is not equal to said desired version, determining if workObject version is greater than said desired version;

i. if said workObject version is not greater than said desired version, repeating the steps above until a version number of workObject is found equal to the desired version.

7. The method as in claim 1 wherein said step of determining direction for searching includes the steps of determining if said version is equal to zero and if so, determining if workObject has next versions, and if so performing the following additional steps;

a. declaring a variable workVariant and set its value to desired variant;

b. if said desired variant is the current branch, setting workVariant equal to object'"'"'s variant;

c. if a search is to be made down said version tree, determining if said object has next versions;

d. if said object has next versions, select each object in determining if it has desired variant;

e. if said selected object has desired variant, returning said object as next version with desired variant;

f. determining if said returned object is valid, and if so, setting workObject equal to said returned object.

8. The method as in claim 1 wherein said step of determining direction for searching includes the steps of determining if workObject is greater than desired version, and if so, determining if workObject has previous versions, and if so, performing the following additional steps:

a. declaring a variable workVariant and set its value to desired variant;

b. if said desired variant is the current branch, setting workVariant equal to object'"'"'s variant;

c. if a search is to be made up said version tree, determining if said object has previous versions;

d. if said object has previous versions, select each object in determining if it has desired variant;

e. if said object has desired variant, returning said object as previous version with desired variant;

f. determining if object returned is valid, and if so, setting workObject equal to said returned object;

g. if workObject version is equal to desired version, returning object; and

,

h. if workObject value is not equal to desired version, determining if workObject version is less than desired version, and if so repeating steps a through h hereof.

9. The method as in claim 1 wherein said step of determining direction for searching includes the steps of determining if said workObject is less than desired version, and if so, determining if said workObject has nextVersions, and if so, performing the following additional steps of:

a. declaring a variable workVariant and set its value to desired variant;

b. if said desired variant is the current branch, setting workVariant equal to object'"'"'s variant;

c. if a search is to be made down said version tree, determining if said object has next versions;

d. if said object has next versions, select each object in determining if it has desired variant;

e. if said selected object has desired variant, returning said selected object as next version with desired variant;

f. determining if said returned object is valid, and if so, setting workObject equal to said returned object;

g. determining if said workObject version is equal to said desired version;

h. if said workObject version is not equal to said desired version, determining if workObject version is greater than said desired version;

i. if said workObject version is not greater than said desired version, repeating the steps set forth above until a version number of workObject is found equal to the desired version.

10. The method as in claim 1 wherein said workObject has previous version further includes the steps of:

a. if a variant parameter is not specified, setting workObject equal to object;

b. determining if said workObject has previous versions, and if so, setting workObject equal to previous version and repeating this step until workObject has no previous versions;

c. if said workObject has no previous versions, returning workObject;

d. if said variant parameter is specified, determining if said desired variant is the current branch;

e. if said variant is the current branch, determining if said object has previous versions, and if not, returning said object as the root object of the current variant branch;

f. if said object has previous versions, setting value of workObject to object; and

g. if said workObject has no previous versions, returning said workObject as the root object of the variant branch.

11. The method as in claim 6 if said workObject is not visible and said workObject has previous versions, performing additional steps of:

a. if said variant parameter is not specified, setting workObject equal to object;

b. determining if said workObject has previous versions, and if so, setting workObject equal to previous version and repeating this step until workObject has no previous versions;

c. if said workObject has no previous versions, returning workObject;

d. if said variant parameter is specified, determining if said desired variant is the current branch;

e. if said variant is the current branch, determining if said object has previous versions, and if not, returning said object as the root object of the current variant branch;

f. said object has previous versions, setting value of workObject to object; and

g. if said workObject has no previous versions, returning said workObject as the root object of the variant branch.

12. In a computer system having a user interface, a memory, a repository and a database, a repository program operating in said computer system for accessing said database, said repository program executing a method for locating a versioned object within a version tree depicting a history of objects stored in said repository, when a desired variant and desired version are provided, said method comprising the steps of:

a. declaring a variable workObject;

b. if the desired variant is equal to the variant of an object on which a requesting step is called, setting said workObject to said object;

c. if said desired variant is not equal to the variant of said object on which said requesting step is called, setting said workObject to a root object;

d. if said workObject is null, pushing a noSuchVariant error onto a notification stack and exiting said method;

e. if said workObject is not null, determining direction for searching said version tree using the desired version and the version of said workObject;

f. if said workObject is visible, returning said workObject as the desired version;

g. if said workObject is not visible and the desired version is equal to zero, determining if said workObject has previous versions;

h. if said workObject has no previous versions, returning a null object;

i. if said workObject is not visible and said workObject has previous versions, performing additional steps of;

1) if said variant parameter is not specified, setting said workObject equal to object;

2) determining if said workObject has previous versions, and if so, setting said workObject equal to previous version and repeating this step until said workObject has no previous versions;

3) if said workObject has no previous versions, returning said workObject;

4) if said variant parameter is specified, determining if said desired variant is the current branch;

5) if said variant is the current branch, determining if said object has previous versions, and if not, returning said object as the root object of the current variant branch;

6) if said object has previous versions, setting value of said workObject to object; and

7) if said workObject has no previous versions, returning said workObject as the root object of the variant branch.

13. A process as in claim 12 wherein in said step i.7. if said workObject has previous versions, executing additional steps of:

a. declaring a variable workVariant and set its value to desired variant;

b. if said desired variant is the current branch, setting workVariant equal to object'"'"'s variant;

c. if a search is to be made up said version tree, determining if said object has previous versions;

d. if said object has previous versions, select each object in determining if it has desired variant; and

,

e. if said selected object has desired variant, returning said selected object as previous version with desired variant.

14. The method as in claim 12 wherein said step of determining direction for searching includes the steps of determining if said version is equal to zero and if so, determining if workObject has next versions, and if so performing the following additional steps of:

a. declaring a variable workVariant and set its value to desired variant;

b. if said desired variant is the current branch, setting workVariant equal to object'"'"'s variant;

c. if a search is to be made down said version tree, determining if said object has next versions;

d. if said object has next versions, select each object in determining if it has desired variant;

e. if said selected object has desired variant, returning said selected object as next version with desired variant;

f. determining if said returned object is valid, and if so, setting workObject equal to said returned object.

15. The method as in claim 12 wherein said step of determining direction for searching includes the steps of determining if workObject is greater than desired version, and if so, determining if workObject has previous versions, and if so, performing the following additional steps:

a. declaring a variable workVariant and set its value to desired variant;

b. if said desired variant is the current branch, setting workVariant equal to object'"'"'s variant;

c. if a search is to be made up said version tree, determining if said object has previous versions;

d. if said object has previous versions, select each object in determining if it has desired variant;

e. if said selected object has desired variant, returning said selected object as previous version with desired variant;

f. determining if object returned is valid, and if so, setting workObject equal to said returned object;

g. if workObject version is equal to desired version, returning object; and

,

h. if workObject version is not equal to desired version, determining if workObject version is less than desired version, and if so repeating steps a through h hereof.

16. The method as in claim 12 wherein said step of determining direction for searching includes the steps of determining if said workObject is less than desired version, and if so, determining if said workObject has nextVersions, and if so, performing the following additional steps of:

a. declaring a variable workVariant and set its value to desired variant;

b. if said desired variant is the current branch, setting workVariant equal to object'"'"'s variant;

c. if a search is to be made down said version tree, determining if said object has next versions;

d. if said object has next versions, select each object in determining if it has desired variant;

e. if said selected object has desired variant, returning said selected object as next version with desired variant;

f. determining if said returned object is valid, and if so, setting workObject equal to said returned object;

g. determining if said workObject version is equal to said desired version;

h. if said workObject version is not equal to said desired version, determining if workObject version is greater than said desired version;

i. if said workObject version is not greater than said desired version, repeating the steps above until a version number of workObject is found equal to the desired version.