Method and system for expressing information from an object-oriented database in a grammatical form

• US 6,542,899 B1
• Filed: 02/19/1999
• Issued: 04/01/2003
• Est. Priority Date: 02/19/1999
• Status: Expired due to Term

• Current Assignee: Oracle America, Inc. (Oracle Corporation)
• Original Assignee: Sun Microsystems Incorporated (Oracle Corporation)
• Inventors: Slaughter, Gregory L., Saulpaugh, Thomas E., Traversat, Bernard A.
• Primary Examiner(s): CHANNAVAJJALA, SRIRAMA T
• Application Number:
  US09/253,866
• Time in Patent Office: 1,502 Days
• Field of Search: 707/100-104, 709/201, 709/223, 709/230, 709/310, 709/313-316, 717/1-11, 717/146, 717/147, 717/112, 717/116, 717/114, 717/140
• US Class Current: 1/1
• CPC Class Codes: G06F 16/289 Object oriented databases
• CPC Class Codes: Y10S 707/99943 Generating database or data structure, e.g. via user interface
• CPC Class Codes: Y10S 707/99944 Object-oriented database structure

Abstract

A grammar to represent a hierarchical object-oriented database. The grammar comprises a set of keywords and a syntax. The keywords include “tree”, “entry”, “properties”, and “attributes”. Properties and attributes are defined by name-value pairs. The grammar is designed to be platform-independent and programming-language-independent and therefore descriptive of any hierarchical object-oriented database. A grammatical form, a description of an object-oriented database in a textual form according to the grammar, may be stored in a persistent form such as one or more files on disk. The grammatical form is human-readable and human-editable. The grammatical form can be created by hand, or it can be created from an object-oriented database in transient form through the process of serialization. The grammatical form can be transformed into an object-oriented database through the process of compilation. The object-oriented database is an object-oriented configuration database which stores configuration parameters pertaining to the software and hardware of a computer system, such as application programs, device drivers, system services, and other components. The object-oriented database is platform-independent and is therefore configured to be hosted on several different operating systems and computing platforms.

Claims

1. A method for storing information within an object-oriented database accessible by a Java program, said object-oriented database being stored in a memory of a computer, wherein said information pertains to one or more application programs, said method comprising:

expressing at least part of said information within said object-oriented database in textual form to create a grammatical representation of at least part of said information, wherein said object-oriented database stores configuration data that identifies available resources of said computer system;

compiling said grammatical representation of said information to an intermediate form;

communicating said intermediate form to said Java program; and

said Java program populating another object-oriented database with entries containing said information from said intermediate form, wherein said entries in said another object-oriented database comprise one or more objects, wherein said another object-oriented database stores configuration data that identifies resources of said computer system available for said Java program and configuration parameters of said Java program.

2. The method of claim 1,

wherein said object-oriented database is configured to be platform independent.

3. The method of claim 1,

wherein said entries of said object-oriented database pertain to one or more application programs.

4. The method of claim 1,

wherein said grammatical representation is expressed according to a grammar.

5. The method of claim 4,

wherein said grammar specifies keywords.

6. The method of claim 5,

wherein said keywords are selected from the group consisting of:

tree, entry, properties, and attributes.

7. The method of claim 1,

wherein said grammatical representation includes name-value pairs corresponding to properties and attributes of software and hardware of said computer system.

8. The method of claim 1,

wherein said textual form expresses a hierarchy of entries corresponding to entries in said object-oriented database.

9. The method of claim 1,

wherein said grammatical representation is stored in one or more persistent containers.

10. The method of claim 1,

wherein said expressing said information in textual form to create a grammatical representation of said information further comprises writing said information to said textual form according to a grammar.

11. The method of claim 1,

wherein said object-oriented database is stored in a transient memory.

12. A method for describing contents of an object-oriented database accessible to a Java program in a persistent textual form according to grammatical rules, said contents being stored in a memory of a computer system, said methods comprising:

parsing at least part of said contents of said object-oriented database according to a grammar including a set of standard keywords and a syntax, wherein said standard keywords, said syntax, and said object-oriented database are configured to be platform independent;

defining a set of extended keywords for said grammar corresponding to at least part of said contents of said object-oriented database;

expressing a plurality of entries corresponding to objects in said object-oriented database in said persistent textual form according to said set of standard keywords, extended keywords, and said syntax, wherein said entries and said objects relate to configuration parameters of said computer system, and wherein said object-oriented database stores configuration data that identifies available resources of said computer system;

compiling said persistent textual form to an intermediate form;

communicating said intermediate form to said Java program; and

said Java program populating another object-oriented database with entries containing said information from said intermediate form, wherein said entries in said another object-oriented database comprise one or more objects, wherein said another object-oriented database stores configuration data that identifies resources of said computer system available for said Java program and configuration parameters of said Java program.

13. The method of claim 12,

wherein said objects of said object-oriented database pertain to one or more application programs.

14. The method of claim 12, wherein said standard keywords, said extended keywords, and said syntax are configurable to describe a hierarchy of entries corresponding to a hierarchy of objects in said object-oriented database.

15. The method of claim 12, wherein said standard keywords are selected from the group consisting of:

tree, entry, properties, and attributes.

16. The method of claim 12, wherein said standard keywords and said syntax describe name-value pairs corresponding to properties and attributes of said software and hardware of said computer system.

17. The method of claim 12,

wherein said persistent textual form is stored in one or more persistent containers.

18. The method of claim 12, wherein said expressing a plurality of entries corresponding to objects in said object-oriented database in said persistent textual form according to said set of keywords and said syntax further comprises writing said plurality of entries to said persistent textual form according to said set of standard keywords, extended keywords, and said syntax.

19. The method of claim 12,

wherein said object-oriented database is stored in a transient memory.

20. A computer system for transforming an object-oriented database accessible by a Java program from a transient form to a persistent textual form and from said persistent textual form to said transient form, said computer system comprising:

a processor; and

memory coupled to said processor, wherein said memory includes said object-oriented database and computer instructions executable by the processor to implement;

providing a grammar, wherein said grammar includes a set of standard keywords and a syntax, wherein said grammar is platform independent;

extending said grammar to include a set of extended keywords, wherein the set of extended keywords corresponds to at least part of said contents of said object-oriented database;

writing a plurality of entries expressed in said grammar to said persistent form, wherein said entries correspond to objects in said object-oriented database, and wherein said entries and said objects pertain to configuration parameters of one or more application programs of said computer system, and wherein said object-oriented database stores configuration data that identifies available resources of said computer system;

communicating at least part of said persistent form to said Java program; and

said Java program reading said plurality of entries expressed in said grammar into a transient form of another object-oriented database according to said extended grammar, wherein said another object-oriented database stores configuration data that identifies resources of said computer system available for said Java program and configuration parameters of said Java program.

21. The computer system of claim 20, wherein said object-oriented database is configured to be platform independent.

22. The computer system of claim 20, wherein said grammar is extended by a plug-in.

23. The computer system of claim 20, wherein said standard keywords are selected from the group consisting of:

tree, entry, properties, and attributes.

24. The computer system of claim 20, wherein said grammar is configurable to describe a hierarchy of entries corresponding to a hierarchy of objects in said object-oriented database.

25. The computer system of claim 20, wherein said persistent form includes name-value pairs corresponding to properties and attributes of software and hardware of said computer system.

26. A carrier medium comprising computer instructions for storing contents of an object-oriented database of a computer system accessible by a Java program in a persistent form according to a grammar, wherein the computer instructions are executable to implement:

parsing at least part of said contents of said object-oriented database according to a grammar including a set of standard keywords for describing a hierarchy, properties, and attributes of said object-oriented database and a syntax for defining a structure of said keywords;

defining a set of extended keywords for said grammar corresponding to at least part of said contents of said object-oriented database;

expressing a plurality of entries corresponding to objects in said object-oriented database in said persistent form to store information pertaining to configuration parameters of one or more application programs of said computer system according to said set of standard keywords, extended keywords, and said syntax, wherein said information is stored in said object-oriented database in one or more objects;

compiling said persistent form to an intermediate form;

communicating said intermediate form to said Java program; and

said Java program populating another object-oriented database with entries containing said information from said intermediate form, wherein said entries in said another object-oriented data base comprise one or more objects, wherein said another object-oriented database stores configuration data that identifies resources of said computer system available for said Java program and configuration parameters of said Java program.

27. The carrier medium of claim 26, wherein said standard keywords and said syntax describe name-value pairs corresponding to properties and attributes of software and hardware of said computer system.

28. The carrier medium of claim 26, wherein said standard keywords, said syntax, and said object-oriented database are configured to be platform independent.

29. The carrier medium of claim 26,

wherein said carrier medium is a storage medium.