Method for resolving dependency conflicts among multiple operative entities within a computing environment
First Claim
1. A method of assisting users of a computer system in the conduct of an upgrade of said computer system by establishing automatically an operatively correct combination of a set of components constituting said computer system through resolving inter-component dependency conflicts arising among said set of components, the method comprising:
- obtaining at least one hierarchically organized control table from a computer storage device, said at least one hierarchically organized control table storing a first set of information regarding a set of components utilized as constituent parts of said computer system;
setting up at least one result table on said computer storage device, said at least one result table storing a second set of information resulting from automatically establishing an operatively correct combination of two or more components within said set of components utilized as constituent parts of said computer system;
examining said at least one hierarchically organized control table for inter-component dependency conflicts arising among said second set of information;
identifying said inter-component dependency conflicts arising among said second set of information;
creating result-related actions based on an inter-component dependency conflicts resolving process;
obtaining an at least one system upgrade action from a system upgrade table;
disassembling said at least one system upgrade action so that said at least one system upgrade action contains at least one component and at least one system upgrade operation;
checking an at least one xor rule associated with an inter-component dependency rules language, the at least one xor rule reflects an at least one inter-component relationship rule referring to said at least one component associated with said at least one system upgrade action; and
checking an at least one add-remove rule associated said inter-component dependency rules language, said at least one add-remove rule reflects an at least one inter-component dependency relationship rule referring to said at least one component associated with said at least one system upgrade action.
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Accused Products
Abstract
A computer-based method sets up automatically a computer system configuration in association with a computer system upgrade process. In accordance with the system configuration, the upgrade process installs a required set of operative elements in order to provide for the reliable operation of the computer system. The operatively correct combination of hardware, system and application software components is accomplished by inter-component dependency checking and conflict resolving procedures utilizing specific inter-component dependency rules tables and component definition and inter-component relationship definition databases.
131 Citations
17 Claims
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1. A method of assisting users of a computer system in the conduct of an upgrade of said computer system by establishing automatically an operatively correct combination of a set of components constituting said computer system through resolving inter-component dependency conflicts arising among said set of components, the method comprising:
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obtaining at least one hierarchically organized control table from a computer storage device, said at least one hierarchically organized control table storing a first set of information regarding a set of components utilized as constituent parts of said computer system;
setting up at least one result table on said computer storage device, said at least one result table storing a second set of information resulting from automatically establishing an operatively correct combination of two or more components within said set of components utilized as constituent parts of said computer system;
examining said at least one hierarchically organized control table for inter-component dependency conflicts arising among said second set of information;
identifying said inter-component dependency conflicts arising among said second set of information;
creating result-related actions based on an inter-component dependency conflicts resolving process;
obtaining an at least one system upgrade action from a system upgrade table;
disassembling said at least one system upgrade action so that said at least one system upgrade action contains at least one component and at least one system upgrade operation;
checking an at least one xor rule associated with an inter-component dependency rules language, the at least one xor rule reflects an at least one inter-component relationship rule referring to said at least one component associated with said at least one system upgrade action; and
checking an at least one add-remove rule associated said inter-component dependency rules language, said at least one add-remove rule reflects an at least one inter-component dependency relationship rule referring to said at least one component associated with said at least one system upgrade action. - View Dependent Claims (2, 3, 4, 5, 6, 7, 8, 9, 10, 11, 12, 13, 14, 15, 16, 17)
obtaining a system information table comprising a set of operative components installed in said computer system;
obtaining a first system upgrade table comprising a set of operative components required to be installed in said computer system;
obtaining a component objects table comprising a set of installation-related components;
obtaining a component database containing a structured index of said component objects table; and
obtaining an inter-component dependency rules table comprising installation-related inter-component dependency rules derived from said inter-component dependency rules language.
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3. The method of claim 2, wherein said component database is organized in a tree-like hierarchical data structure.
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4. The method of claim 2, wherein said component database comprises component indices connected according to explicit inter-component dependency relationships among said set of operative components.
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5. The method of claim 4, wherein said component database is linked to said at least one inter-component dependency rules table by said component indices.
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6. The method of claim 2, wherein said inter-component dependency rules in said inter-component dependency rules table include at least one xor operator and an at least one add-remove operator.
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7. The method of claim 1, wherein said setting up at least one result table comprises:
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building a resolved system upgrade actions table for the purpose of storing inter-component dependency conflict-free system upgrade actions;
building a second system upgrade table for the purpose of storing unexamined system upgrade actions;
building a third system upgrade table; and
copying said first system upgrade table into said second system upgrade table.
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8. The method of claim 7, wherein said resolve-related actions are appended to said at least one system upgrade action and processed like the same.
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9. The method of claim 1 further comprising:
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inserting a set of at least one action into a second system upgrade table;
obtaining said at least one action from said second system upgrade table;
processing user preferences concerning the execution of each member of said at least one action arising from said inter-component dependency conflicts resolving process;
inserting said at least one action into a resolved system upgrade actions table; and
removing said at least one action from a third system upgrade table thereby indicating that the system upgrade action is inter-component dependency conflict-free.
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10. The method of claim 9, wherein said processing user preferences comprises:
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obtaining at least one user preference record relating to at least one lock placed on at least one action;
obtaining said at least one user preference record containing a user authorization mechanism concerning utilization of prior versions;
determining a mode of operation;
examining said at least one action in association with said at least one user preference record and said mode of operation;
determining whether said at least one user preference record is blocking said inter-component dependency resolving process; and
enabling manual removal of said at least one user preference record.
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11. The method of claim 10, wherein said at least one user preference record is enabled to be removed as blocking said inter-component dependency conflict resolving process.
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12. The method of claim 1, wherein said checking said at least one xor rule comprises:
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examining a system information table in combination with at least one resolved system upgrade action corresponding to said at least one action;
obtaining at least one xor rule concerning said at least one action from said xor rules table;
combining said at least one xor rule with said at least one action to generate a combined set;
checking said combined set in regard to existence in said system information table;
checking said combined set in regard to existence in said resolved system upgrade actions table; and
removing actions from said combined set which do not appear in said system information table and said resolved system upgrade actions table.
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13. The method of claim 1, wherein said checking said at least one add-remove rule comprises:
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obtaining said at least one action-related add-remove rule from an add-remove rules table;
resolving an at least one added install action required by said at least one action;
creating a list of the at least one install action corresponding to said at least one add-remove rule;
resolving an at least one added replace action required by said at least one action; and
creating a list of at least one update action corresponding to said at least one add-remove rule.
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14. The method of claim 1 further comprising inserting resolve-related actions into said at least one result table.
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15. The method of claim 1 further comprising notifying a user of said computer system of resolve-related actions thereby accomplishing a system upgrade by outputting the content of an at least one result table.
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16. The method of claim 15 wherein said at least one system upgrade action comprises an at least one component and an at least one upgrade instruction.
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17. The method of claim 1 where said set of components comprises hardware components, application software components, utility software components, and system software components.
Specification