System and method for handling set structured data through a computer network

• US 6,816,864 B2
• Filed: 12/21/2000
• Issued: 11/09/2004
• Est. Priority Date: 12/21/2000
• Status: Expired due to Term

• Current Assignee: International Business Machines Corporation
• Original Assignee: International Business Machines Corporation
• Inventors: Easton, Wyn Gordon, Deuser, Mark Wyatt
• Primary Examiner(s): Rones, Charles
• Assistant Examiner(s): Mahmoudi, Hassan
• Application Number:
  US09/745,584
• Publication Number:
  US 20020083087A1
• Time in Patent Office: 1,419 Days
• Field of Search: 707/10, 707/100, 707/2, 707/3, 707/501, 707/7, 707/104.1, 707/205, 707/201, 709/217, 709/203, 709/245, 717/107
• US Class Current: 1/1
• CPC Class Codes: G06F 16/83 Querying
• CPC Class Codes: G06F 16/951 Indexing; Web crawling techniques
• CPC Class Codes: G06F 16/986 Document structures and storage, e.g. HTML extensions
• CPC Class Codes: Y10S 707/99933 Query processing, i.e. searching

Abstract

A system and method for handling set structured data through a computer network is disclosed. A client computer sends a request to retrieve or set data maintained by a Web application server. The client request is in a text format. The Web application server uses the action requested by the client and the data item being requested to determine a method name. Java reflection is used to invoke the method to retrieve or set the data value. In addition, text data received from the client computer is converted to the appropriate data type before storing in the data store, such as an LDAP directory. Data retrieved from the data store is also converted from the data item'"'"'s data type to a Java text string that is included in an HTML Web page and returned to the client for display to the user.

Claims

1. A computer implemented method of managing a data store, said method comprising:

determining an action to perform on a data item within the data store;

combining an action name corresponding to the action with a data item name corresponding to the data item to form a method name;

performing a method corresponding to the formed method name;

receiving a request from a client, the request including the action name corresponding to the action, the data name corresponding to the data item, and a data value corresponding to the data item;

determining a data type corresponding to the data item;

converting the received data value to a converted data value based upon the determined data type;

storing the converted data value in an area of the data store corresponding to the data item; and

writing the action name, the data item name, and the data value to an XML document prior to the storing.

2. The method as described in claim 1 further comprising:

comparing the formed method name to a plurality of methods included in an object.

3. The method as described in claim 1 wherein the determining further comprises:

receiving a request from a client, the request including the action name corresponding to the action and the data item name corresponding to the data item.

4. The method as described in claim 1 further comprising:

receiving a data value to store in the data item;

wherein the performing further includes;

storing the data value in the data store in an area corresponding to the data item.

5. The method as described in claim 4 further comprising:

determining an item type corresponding to the data item; and

converting the received data value from a text type to the item type.

6. The method as described in claim 1 further comprising:

retrieving a data value from an area corresponding to the data item in the data store; and

returning the data value to a client computer.

7. The method as described in claim 6 further comprising:

determining an item type corresponding to the data item; and

converting the retrieved data value from the item type to a text type prior to the returning.

8. The method as described in claim 1 further comprising:

receiving a request from a client computer system, the request including the action name corresponding to the action, and the data item name corresponding to the data item;

retrieving a data value from an area in the data store corresponding to the data item name;

determining a data type corresponding to the data item name;

converting the retrieved data value from the determined data type to a text type; and

returning the convened data value to the client computer system.

9. The method as described in claim 8 further comprising:

storing the converted data value in an HTML document, wherein the returning includes sending the HTML document to the client computer system.

10. An information handling system comprising:

one or more processors;

a memory accessible by the processors;

one or more nonvolatile storage devices accessible by the processors;

a data store stored on at least one of the nonvolatile storage devices; and

a data management tool to manage the data store executable by the processors, the data management tool including;

means for determining an action to perform on a data item within the data store;

means for combining an action name corresponding to the action with a data item name corresponding to the data item to form a method name;

means for performing a method corresponding to the formed method name;

means for receiving a request from a client, the request including the action name corresponding to the action, the data name corresponding to the data item, and a data value corresponding to the data item;

means for determining a data type corresponding to the data item;

means for converting the received data value to a converted data value based upon the determined data type;

means for storing the converted data value in an area of the data store corresponding to the data item; and

means for writing the action name, the data item name, and the data value to an XML document prior to the storing.

11. The information handling system as described in claim 10 further comprising:

means for comparing the formed method name to a plurality of method names included in an object.

12. The information handling system as described in claim 10 wherein the means for determining further comprises:

means for receiving a request from a client, the request including the action name corresponding to the action and the data item name corresponding to the data item.

13. The information handling system as described in claim 10 further comprising:

means for receiving a data value to store in the data item;

wherein the means for performing further includes;

means for storing the data value in the data store in an area corresponding to the data item.

14. The information handling system as described in claim 13 further comprising:

means for determining an item type corresponding to the data item; and

means for converting the received data value from a text type to the item type.

15. The information handling system as described in claim 10 further comprising:

means for retrieving a data value from an area corresponding to the data item in the data store; and

means for returning the data value to a client computer.

16. The information handling system as described in claim 15 further comprising:

means for determining an item type corresponding to the data item; and

means for converting the retrieved data value from the item type to a text type prior to returning the data value to the client computer.

17. The information handling system as described in claim 10 further comprising:

means for receiving a request from a client computer system, the request including the action name corresponding to the action, and the data item name corresponding to the data item;

means for retrieving a data value from an area in the data store corresponding to the data item name;

means for determining a data type corresponding to the data item name;

means for converting the retrieved data value from the determined data type to a text type; and

means for returning the converted data value to the client computer system.

18. The information handling system as described in claim 17 wherein further comprising:

means for storing the converted data value in an HTML document, wherein the returning includes means for sending the HTML document to the client computer system.

19. A computer program product stored on a computer operable media for managing a data store, said computer program product comprising:

means for determining an action to perform on a data item within the data store;

means for combining an action name corresponding to the action with a data item name corresponding to the data item to form a method name;

means for performing a method corresponding to the formed method name;

means for receiving a request from a client, the request including the action name corresponding to the action, the data name corresponding to the data item, and a data value corresponding to the data item;

means for determining a data type corresponding to the data item;

means for converting the received data value to a converted data value based upon the determined data type;

means for storing the converted data value in an area of the data store corresponding to the data item; and

means for writing the action name, the data item name, and the data value to an XML document prior to the storing.

20. The computer program product as described in claim 19 further comprising:

means for comparing the formed method name to a plurality of method names included in an object.

21. The computer program product as described in claim 19 wherein the means for determining further comprises:

means for receiving a request from a client, the request including the action name corresponding to the action and the data item name corresponding to the data item.

22. The computer program product as described in claim 19 further comprising:

means for receiving a data value to store in the data item;

wherein the means for performing further includes;

means for storing the data value in the data store in an area corresponding to the data item.

23. The computer program product as described in claim 22 further comprising:

means for determining an item type corresponding to the data item; and

means for converting the received data value from a text type to the item type.

24. The computer program product as described in claim 19 further comprising:

means for retrieving a data value from an area corresponding to the data item in the data store; and

means for returning the data value to a client computer.

25. The computer program product as described in claim 24 further comprising:

means for determining an item type corresponding to the data item; and

means for converting the retrieved data value from the item type to a text type prior to returning the data value to the client computer.

26. The computer program product as described in claim 19 further comprising:

means for receiving a request from a client computer system, the request including the action name corresponding to the action, and the data item name corresponding to the data item;

means for retrieving a data value from an area in the data store corresponding to the data item name;

means for determining a data type corresponding to the data item name;

means for converting the retrieved data value from the determined data type to a text type; and

means for returning the converted data value to the client computer system.

27. The computer program product as described in claim 26 further comprising:

means for storing the converted data value in an HTML document, wherein the returning includes means for sending the HTML document to the client computer system.