Programming language extensions for processing XML objects and related applications

• US 6,754,884 B1
• Filed: 07/02/2001
• Issued: 06/22/2004
• Est. Priority Date: 07/02/2001
• Status: Active Grant

• Current Assignee: Oracle International Corporation (Oracle Corporation)
• Original Assignee: BEA Systems Incorporated (Oracle Corporation)
• Inventors: Vasilik, Kenneth Eric, Bosworth, Adam, Lucas, Terry L.
• Primary Examiner(s): ZHEN, WEI Y
• Application Number:
  US09/898,898
• Time in Patent Office: 1,086 Days
• Field of Search: 717/108, 717/106, 717/107, 717/109, 717/114-118, 715/501.1, 715/513
• US Class Current: 717/108
• CPC Class Codes: G06F 8/31 Programming languages or programming paradigms
• CPC Class Codes: G06F 8/51 Source to source

Abstract

An apparatus is provided to map data objects of a data representation language to corresponding objects within a programming language and vice versa. In one embodiment, the apparatus is equipped to receive a mapping definition mapping selected elements of an XML data structure to selected objects of one or more Java classes. The apparatus is further equipped to determine whether the mapping definition comprises one or more definitional statements expressed with XML oriented language elements of a script language. Further, the apparatus is equipped to process the mapping definition statements comprising XML oriented language elements of the script language, in accordance with syntactical and semantic definitions of the XML oriented language elements.

Claims

1. A method comprising:

receiving a mapping definition mapping selected elements of a data representation language to selected objects of one or more programming languages;

determining whether the mapping definition comprises a mapping definition section having one or more definitional statements expressed with data representation oriented language elements of a script language that includes data representation oriented language elements; and

processing the mapping definition, including processing the mapping definition having mapping definition statements comprising data representation language elements of said script language in accordance with syntactical and semantic definitions of said data representation language elements.

2. An apparatus comprising:

a storage medium having stored therein a plurality of programming instructions, which when executed enables the apparatus to;

receive a mapping definition mapping selected elements of a data representation language to selected objects of one or more programming languages,

determine whether the mapping definition comprises a mapping definition section having one or more definitional statements expressed with data representation oriented language elements of a script language that includes data representation oriented language elements, and

process the mapping definition, including processing the mapping definition having mapping definition statements comprising data representation oriented language elements of said script language in accordance with syntactical and semantic definitions of said data representation oriented language elements; and

one or more processors coupled to the storage medium to execute the programming instructions.

3. A method comprising:

receiving a mapping definition mapping selected elements of an XML data structure to selected objects of one or more Java classes;

determining whether the mapping definition comprises one or more definitional statements expressed with language elements of a script language;

determining whether the one or more definitional statements comprise an assignment statement comprising a variable having an XML data type, and a data string to be assigned to the variable, if the mapping definition comprises one or more definitional statements expressed with language elements of a script language; and

processing the assignment statement, including processing the data string as an XML object, if it is determined that the one or more definitional statements comprise an assignment statement comprising a variable having an XML data type.

4. The method of claim 3, wherein said data string is implicitly identified as being associated with the XML data type based upon the structure of the data string.

5. The method of claim 4, wherein said data string is implicitly identified as being associated with the XML data type based upon the presence of a unary operator.

6. The method of claim 5, wherein the unary operator is represented by the “

<

”

symbol.

7. The method of claim 4, wherein said data string is implicitly identified as being associated with the XML data type based upon the existence of one or more XML based literals in the data string.

8. The method of claim 3, wherein said data string is explicitly identified as being associated with the XML data type based upon the presence of an XML-identifying prefix.

9. The method of claim 8, wherein the identifying prefix is ‘

XML’

.

10. An apparatus comprising:

a storage medium having stored therein a plurality of programming instructions, which when executed enables the apparatus to;

receive a mapping definition mapping selected elements of an XML data structure to selected objects of one or more Java classes, determine whether the mapping definition comprises one or more definitional statements expressed with language elements of a script language,

determine whether the one or more definitional statements comprise an assignment statement comprising a variable having an XML data type and a data string to be assigned to the variable, if the mapping definition comprises one or more definitional statements expressed with language elements of a script language, and

process the assignment statement, including processing the data string as an XML object, if it is determined that the one or more definitional statements comprise an assignment statement comprising a variable having an XML data type; and

one or more processors coupled to the storage medium to execute the programming instructions.

11. The apparatus of claim 10, wherein said data string is implicitly identified as being associated with the XML data type based upon the structure of the data string.

12. The apparatus of claim 11, wherein said data string is implicitly identified as being associated with the XML data type based upon the presence of a unary operator.

13. The apparatus of claim 11, wherein the unary operator is represented by the “

<

”

symbol.

14. The apparatus of claim 11, wherein said data string is implicitly identified as being associated with the XML data type based upon the existence of one or more XML based literals in the data string.

15. The apparatus, of claim 10, wherein said data string is explicitly identified as being associated with the XML data type based upon the presence of an XML-identifying prefix.

16. The apparatus of claim 15, wherein the identifying prefix is ‘

XML’

.

17. A method comprising:

receiving a mapping definition mapping selected elements of an XML data structure to selected objects of one or more Java classes;

determining whether the mapping definition comprises one or more definitional statements expressed with language elements of a script language;

determining whether the one or more definitional statements comprise an expression including an embedded expression, if the mapping definition comprises one or more definitional statements expressed with language elements of a script language;

dynamically resolving the value of the embedded expression, if the one or more definitional statements comprise an expression including an embedded expression; and

processing the expression, including the resolved embedded function, as an XML data type.

18. The method of claim 17, wherein said embedded function is surrounded by a pair of predetermined identifiers.

19. The method of claim 18, wherein said pair of predetermined identifiers comprise a set of curly braces.

20. An apparatus comprising:

a storage medium having stored therein a plurality of programming instructions, which when executed enables the apparatus to;

receive a mapping definition mapping selected elements of an XML data structure to selected objects of one or more Java classes,

determine whether the mapping definition comprises one or more definitional statements expressed with language elements of a script language,

determine whether the one or more definitional statements comprise an expression including an embedded expression, if the mapping definition comprises one or more definitional statements expressed with language elements of a script language,

dynamically resolve the value of the embedded expression, if the one or more definitional statements comprise an expression including an embedded expression, and

process the expression, including the resolved embedded function, as an XML data type; and

one or more processors coupled to the storage medium to execute the programming instructions.

21. The apparatus of claim 20, wherein said embedded function is surrounded by a pair of predetermined identifiers.

22. The apparatus of claim 21, wherein said pair of predetermined identifiers comprise a set of curly braces.

23. A method comprising:

receiving a mapping definition mapping selected elements of an XML data structure to selected objects of one or more Java classes;

determining whether the mapping definition comprises one or more definitional statements expressed with language elements of a script language;

determining whether the one or more definitional statements comprise an expression including first and second elements of the XML data structure separated by a predefined navigational operator, if the mapping definition comprises one or more definitional statements expressed with language elements of a script language; and

processing the expression and returning one or more child elements of said first element having a name equivalent to that of said second element.

24. The method of claim 23, wherein said navigational operator comprises a period (“

.”

).

25. The method of claim 23, further comprising:

retrieving content associated with the one or more child elements and using at least part of said content in association with a second expression.

26. The method of claim 23, further comprising:

determining if any of said one or more child elements contain a second set of one or more child elements; and

returning the value associated with the second set of one or more child elements if it is determined that at least one of said one or more child elements contains a second set of one or more child elements.

27. The method of claim 23, wherein said expression further comprises a literal value, and wherein said accessed element is assigned the value.

28. An apparatus comprising:

a storage medium having stored therein a plurality of programming instructions, which when executed enables the apparatus to;

receive a mapping definition mapping selected elements of an XML data structure to selected objects of one or more Java classes,

determine whether the mapping definition comprises one or more definitional statements expressed with language elements of a script language,

determine whether the one or more definitional statements comprise an expression including first and second elements of the XML data structure separated by a predefined navigational operator, if the mapping definition comprises one or more definitional statements expressed with language elements of a script language, and

process the expression to access said second element of the XML data structure and return one or more child elements of said first element having a name equivalent to that of said second element; and

one or more processors coupled to the storage medium to execute the programming instructions.

29. The apparatus of claim 28, wherein said navigational operator comprises a period (“

.”

).

30. The apparatus of claim 28, further comprising instructions, which when executed, enable the apparatus to:

retrieve content associated with the one or more child elements and utilize at least part of said content in association with a second expression.

31. The apparatus of claim 28, further comprising instructions, which when executed, enable the apparatus to:

determine if any of said one or more child elements contain a second set of one or more child elements; and

return the value associated with the second set of one or more child elements if it is determined that at least one of said one or more child elements contains a second set of one or more child elements.

32. The apparatus of claim 28, wherein said expression further comprises a literal value, and wherein said accessed element is assigned the value.

33. A method comprising:

receiving a mapping definition mapping selected elements of an XML data structure to selected objects of one or more Java classes;

determining whether the mapping definition comprises one or more definitional statements expressed with language elements of a script language;

determining whether the one or more definitional statements comprise an expression including at least one element of the XML data structure associated with an attribute operator, if the mapping definition comprises one or more definitional statements expressed with language elements of a script language; and

accessing the value associated with an attribute identified by the attribute operator, if one or more definitional statements comprise an expression including at least one element of the XML data structure associated with the attribute operator.

34. The method of claim 33, wherein said expression further comprises a variable to be assigned the value of said attribute.

35. The method of claim 33, wherein said expression further comprises a literal value, and wherein said attribute is assigned the value.

36. The method of claim 33, wherein the attribute operator is ‘

.@’

.

37. An apparatus comprising:

a storage medium having stored therein a plurality of programming instructions, which when executed enables the apparatus to;

receive a mapping definition mapping selected elements of an XML data structure to selected objects of one or more Java classes,

determine whether the mapping definition comprises one or more definitional statements expressed with language elements of a script language,

determine whether the one or more definitional statements comprise an expression including at least one element of the XML data structure associated with an attribute operator, if the mapping definition comprises one or more definitional statements expressed with language elements of a script language, and

accessing the value associated with the attribute if one or more definitional statements comprise an expression including at least one element of the XML data structure associated with the attribute operator; and

one or more processors coupled to the storage medium to execute the programming instructions.

38. The apparatus of claim 37, wherein the attribute operator is ‘

.@’

.

39. A method comprising:

receiving a mapping definition mapping selected elements of an XML data structure to selected objects of one or more Java classes;

determining whether the mapping definition comprises one or more definitional statements expressed with language elements of a script language;

determining whether the one or more definitional statements comprise an expression including first and second elements of the XML data structure separated by a predefined navigational operator, if the mapping definition comprises one or more definitional statements expressed with language elements of a script language; and

processing the expression to access said second element of the XML data structure and all descendants of said second element.

40. The method of claim 39, wherein said navigational operator comprises at least two sequential periods (‘

..’

).

41. An apparatus comprising:

a storage medium having stored therein a plurality of programming instructions, which when executed enables the apparatus to;

receive a mapping definition mapping selected elements of an XML data structure to selected objects of one or more Java classes,

determine whether the mapping definition comprises one or more definitional statements expressed with language elements of a script language,

determine whether the one or more definitional statements comprise an expression including first and second elements of the XML data structure separated by a predefined navigational operator, if the mapping definition comprises one or more definitional statements expressed with language elements of a script language, and

process the expression to access said second element of the XML data structure and all descendants of said second element; and

one or more processors coupled to the storage medium to execute the programming instructions.

42. The apparatus of claim 41, wherein said navigational operator comprises at least two sequential periods (‘

..’

).

43. A method comprising:

receiving a mapping definition mapping selected elements of an XML data structure to selected objects of one or more Java classes;

determining whether the mapping definition comprises one or more definitional statements expressed with language elements of a script language;

determining whether the one or more definitional statements comprise an expression including an indexing operator defining a left operand and an index value, if the mapping definition comprises one or more definitional statements expressed with language elements of a script language; and

processing the expression to access a single element of the XML data structure having an ordinal position equivalent to the index value.

44. The method of claim 43, wherein said indexing operator comprises a set of square brackets ([ ]).

45. An apparatus comprising:

a storage medium having stored therein a plurality of programming instructions, which when executed enables the apparatus to;

receive a mapping definition mapping selected elements of an XML data structure to selected objects of one or more Java classes,

determine whether the mapping definition comprises one or more definitional statements expressed with language elements of a script language,

determine whether the one or more definitional statements comprise an expression including an indexing operator defining a left operand and an index value, if the mapping definition comprises one or more definitional statements expressed with language elements of a script language, and

process the expression to access a single element of the XML data structure having an ordinal position equivalent to the index value; and

one or more processors coupled to the storage medium to execute the programming instructions.

46. The apparatus of claim 45, wherein said indexing operator comprises a set of square brackets ([ ]).

47. A method comprising:

receiving a mapping definition mapping selected elements of an XML data structure to selected objects of one or more Java classes;

determining whether the mapping definition comprises a mapping definition section having one or more definitional statements expressed with XML oriented language elements of a script language that includes XML oriented language elements; and

processing the mapping definition, including processing the mapping definition having mapping definition statements comprising XML oriented language elements of said script language in accordance with syntactical and semantic definitions of said XML oriented language elements.

48. An apparatus comprising:

a storage medium having stored therein a plurality of programming instructions, which when executed enables the apparatus to;

receive a mapping definition mapping selected elements of an XML data structure to selected objects of one or more Java classes,

determine whether the mapping definition comprises a mapping definition section having one or more definitional statements expressed with XML oriented language elements of a script language that includes XML oriented language elements, and

process the mapping definition, including processing the mapping definition having mapping definition statements comprising XML oriented language elements of said script language in accordance with syntactical and semantic definitions of said XML oriented language elements; and

one or more processors coupled to the storage medium to execute the programming instructions.

49. A method comprising:

receiving a mapping definition mapping selected elements of an XML data structure to selected objects of one or more Java classes;

determining whether the mapping definition comprises one or more definitional statements expressed with language elements of a script language;

determining whether the one or more definitional statements comprises an expression comprising a literal value having a predefined unary operator, if the mapping definition comprises one or more definitional statements expressed with language elements of a script language; and

processing the expression as an XML object, if it is determined that the one or more definitional statements comprises an expression comprising a literal value having the predefined unary operator.

50. The method of claim 49, wherein the unary operator is represented by the “

<

”

symbol.

51. A method comprising:

receiving a mapping definition mapping selected elements of an XML data structure to selected objects of one or more Java classes;

determining whether the mapping definition comprises one or more definitional statements expressed with language elements of a script language;

determining whether the one or more definitional statements comprises an expression comprising an iterative operator, if the mapping definition comprises one or more definitional statements expressed with language elements of a script language; and

processing the expression as an XML object to iteratively access a list of one or more elements identified by the iterative operator, if it is determined that the one or more definitional statements comprises an expression comprising an iterative operator.