System and method for using schema attributes as meta-data in a directory service

• US 6,721,758 B1
• Filed: 03/30/2001
• Issued: 04/13/2004
• Est. Priority Date: 03/30/2001
• Status: Expired due to Term

• Current Assignee: Emc IP Holding Company LLC (Dell Technologies Inc.)
• Original Assignee: Novell Incorporated (Open Text Corporation)
• Inventors: Brough, Farrell Lynn, Jex, Alan R., Tanner, Ronald M.
• Primary Examiner(s): AMSBURY, WAYNE P
• Application Number:
  US09/821,045
• Time in Patent Office: 1,110 Days
• Field of Search: 707/103, 717/165
• US Class Current: 1/1
• CPC Class Codes: G06F 16/289 Object oriented databases
• CPC Class Codes: Y10S 707/99944 Object-oriented database structure

Abstract

A system and method for using schema attributes as meta-data is disclosed. A directory service is provided for use with a computer system or network to aid in storing and managing data or other information related to the system. A group of attributes having special names or meaning are provided and may be included in a class schema. If the meaning or use of a class changes after its creation, additional attributes may be added into the class schema. The directory service may also be configured to define or determine relationships between various object classes in a directory system via specially named relationship classes, wherein the relationships are defined or determined before any instances of the classes exist in the directory.

Claims

1. In a directory service system utilizing a database for managing resources of a computer network, a method for using attributes associated with a schema as meta-data, the method comprising the steps of:

deriving a class from at least one base class;

adding at least one attribute to the derived class, wherein the at least one attribute corresponds to one or more attributes associated with schema of one or more additional classes and wherein the one or more additional classes are different from the at least one base class;

selecting a name for the at least one attribute that describes content of the at least one attribute, wherein the name that is associated with the at least one attribute serves as meta-data for the derived class and wherein the directory service system is capable of defining the derived class based on the meta-data.

2. The method of claim 1, wherein the directory service system comprises a distributed directory.

3. The method of claim 1, wherein the database comprises a hierarchical database.

4. The method of claim 3, wherein the class derived from the at least one base class is located in the hierarchical database.

5. The method of claim 1, wherein the name associated with the at least one attribute describes a behavior of the derived class.

6. The method of claim 1, further comprising the step of:

generating in the database at least one instance of the derived class.

7. The method of claim 6, further comprising the step of:

adding new attributes to the schema of the derived class as needed to further describe the derived class.

8. The method of claim 7, further comprising the step of:

generating in the database at least one instance of the derived class based on the newly added attributes.

9. The method of claim 1, further comprising the steps of:

reading the schema of the derived class; and

determining a behavior of the derived class before any instances of the derived class appear in the database.

10. A directory service system for using attributes associated with schema as meta-data, the system comprising:

a database for managing resources of a computer network, the database configured to operate so as to;

enable derivation of a class from at least one base class;

enable addition of at least one attribute to the derived class, wherein the at least one attribute corresponds to one or more attributes associated with schema of one or more additional classes and wherein the one or more additional classes are different from the at least one base class;

enable selection of a name for the at least one attribute that describes content of the at least one attribute, wherein the name that is associated with the at least one attribute serves as meta-data for the derived class and wherein the directory service system is capable of defining the derived class based on the meta-data.

11. The system of claim 10, wherein the directory service system comprises a distributed directory.

12. The system of claim 10, wherein the database comprises a hierarchical database.

13. The system of claim 12, wherein the class derived from the at least one base class is located in the hierarchical database.

14. The system of claim 10 wherein the name associated with the at least one attribute describes a behavior of the derived class.

15. The system of claim 10 wherein at least one instance of the derived class is generated in the database.

16. The system of claim 15, wherein new attributes are added to the schema of the derived class as needed to further describe the derived class.

17. The system of claim 16, wherein at least one instance of the derived class is generated in the database based on the newly added attributes in the schema.

18. The system of claim 10, wherein the schema of the derived class is read to determine a behavior of the derived class before any instances of the derived class appear in the database.

19. In a directory service system utilizing a database for managing resources of a computer network, a method for identifying relationships between entries in the database, the method comprising the steps of:

generating a relationship class in the database;

identifying two or more classes in the database that share at least one relationship;

selecting a class name for the relationship class, wherein the class name describes the relationship between the two or more classes;

providing at least one attribute for the relationship class;

selecting an attribute name for the at least one attribute, wherein the attribute name describes one or more values to be associated with the at least one attribute;

generating at least one instance of the relationship class; and

assigning one or more values to a corresponding attribute of the at least one instance, wherein the one or more values include identifiers for the two or more classes that share the at least one relationship.

20. The method of claim 19 wherein the one or more values assigned to the corresponding attribute comprise names of classes that participate in the relationship.

21. The method of claim 19, further comprising the step of:

assigning an additional value to the corresponding attribute of the at least one instance when a new class is identified that participates in the relationship.

22. The method of claim 19 further comprising the step of:

removing an existing value from the corresponding attribute of the at least one instance when an existing class no longer participates in the relationship.

23. The method of claim 19 further comprising the steps of:

querying the directory to locate the at least one instance of the relationship class;

reading values assigned to the at least one attribute of the at least one instance to identify the two or more classes participating in the relationship.

24. The method of claim 19 further comprising the step of:

enabling generation of the at least one instance of the relationship class in two or more subtrees of the directory;

enabling a customization of the one or more values associated with the corresponding attribute so that each instance may be placed in a different subtree of the directory and may represent relationships between two or more different classes of the database.

25. A directory service system for identifying relationships between entries in a database, the system comprising:

the database for managing resources of a computer network, the database being configured to operate so as to;

generate a relationship class in the database;

identify two or more classes in the database that share at least one relationship;

select a class name for the relationship class, wherein the class name describes the relationship between the two or more classes;

provide at least one attribute for the relationship class;

select an attribute name for the at least one attribute, wherein the attribute name describes one or more values to be associated with the at least one attribute;

generate at least one instance of the relationship class in the directory; and

assign one or more values to a corresponding attribute of the at least one instance, wherein the one or more values include identifiers for the two or more classes that share the at least one relationship.

26. The system of claim 25 wherein the database is further configured to assign one or more values to the corresponding attribute by assigning names of classes that participate in the relationship to the one or more values.

27. The system of claim 25, wherein the database is further configured to assign an additional value to the corresponding attribute of the at least one instance when a new class is identified that participates in the relationship.

28. The system of claim 25, wherein the database is further configured to remove an existing value from the corresponding attribute of the at least one instance when an existing class no longer participates in the relationship.

29. The system of claim 25, wherein the directory is further configured to query the database to locate the at least one instance of the relationship class, and to read values assigned to the at least one attribute of the at least one instance to identify two or more classes participating in the relationship.

30. The system of claim 25 wherein the database is further configured to:

enable generation of the at least one instance of the relationship class in two or more subtrees of the directory; and

enable customization of the one or more values associated with the corresponding attribute so that each instance may be placed in a different subtree of the directory and may represent relationships between two or more different classes of the database.

31. In a directory service system utilizing a database for managing resources of a computer network, a method for identifying relationships between entries in the database comprising the steps of:

generating a general relationship class in the database having a schema that includes at least a first attribute and a second attribute;

identifying two or more classes in the database that share at least one relationship;

selecting a first attribute name and a second attribute name for the at least first attribute and second attribute;

generating at least one instance of the general relationship class;

assigning one or more first values to a corresponding first attribute, wherein the one or more first values include identifiers for types relationships associated with the two or more classes; and

assigning one or more second values to a corresponding second attribute, wherein the one or more second values include identifiers that define the two or more classes associated with the one or more first values.

32. The method of claim 31, further comprising the steps of:

assigning an additional first value to the corresponding first attribute of the at least one instance of the general relationship class when a new type of relationship is identified; and

assigning an additional second value to the corresponding second attribute that identifies classes that participate in the new relationship.

33. The method of claim 31, further comprising the step of:

removing an existing one of the one or more first values from the first attribute of the general relationship class when an existing type of relationship is to be eliminated; and

removing a corresponding one of the one or more second values from the second attribute that identifies classes that participate in the existing relationship to be eliminated.

34. The method of claim 31 further comprising the steps of:

querying the directory to locate the at least one instance of the general relationship class;

reading the one or more first values assigned to the first attribute of the general relationship class to identify types of relationships between the two or more classes; and

reading the corresponding one or more second values assigned to the second attribute of the general relationship class to identify classes that participate in the relationships.

35. The method of claim 31 further comprising the step of:

enabling a customization of the at least one instance of the general relationship class in two or more subtrees of the directory; and

enabling a customization of the one or more first values or one or more second values associated with the corresponding first attribute or second attribute so that each instance may be placed in a different subtree of the directory.

36. A directory service system for identifying relationships between entries in a database, the system comprising:

the database for managing resources of a computer network, the database configured to operate so as to;

generate a general relationship class in the database having a schema that includes at least a first attribute and a second attribute;

identify two or more classes in the database that share at least one relationship;

select a first attribute name and a second attribute name for the at least first attribute and second attribute;

generate at least one instance of the general relationship class in the directory;

assign one or more first values to a corresponding first attribute, wherein the one or more first values include identifiers for types relationships associated with the two or more classes; and

assign one or more second values to a corresponding second attribute, wherein the one or more second values include identifiers that define the two or more classes associated with the one or more first values.

37. The system of claim 36 wherein the database is further configured to assign an additional first value to the corresponding first attribute of the at least one instance of the general relationship class when a new type of relationship is identified, and to assign an additional second value to the corresponding second attribute that identifies classes that participate in the new relationship.

38. The system of claim 36, wherein the database is further configured to:

remove an existing one of the one or more first values from the first attribute of the general relationship class when an existing type of relationship is to be eliminated, and

remove a corresponding one of the one or more second values from the second attribute that identifies classes that participate in the existing relationship to be eliminated.

39. The system of claim 36, wherein the database is further configured to:

query the directory to locate the at least one instance of the general relationship class;

read the one or more first values assigned to the first attribute of the general relationship class to identify types of relationships between the two or more classes in the directory; and

read the corresponding one or more second values assigned to the second attribute of the general relationship class are read to identify classes that participate in the relationships.

40. The system of claim 36 wherein the database is further configured to:

enable generation of the at least one instance of the general relationship class in two or more subtrees of the directory; and

enable customization of the one or more first values or the one or more second values associated with the corresponding first attribute or second attribute so that each instance may be placed in a different subtree of the directory.