XML presentation of general-purpose data sources
First Claim
Patent Images
1. A method comprising:
- accessing first structural information that describes how database data is organized in a first application-accessible data source;
representing said first structural information with a first hierarchical representation comprising a plurality of folders;
modifying the first hierarchical representation to create a second hierarchical representation;
converting said second hierarchical representation to a first file containing a plurality of human readable data delimiters that correspond to the second hierarchical representations;
accessing second structural information that describes how database data is organized in a second application-accessible data source, said second application-accessible data source being separate and distinct from said first application-accessible data source;
representing said second structural information with a third hierarchical representation comprising a plurality of folders;
modifying the third hierarchical representation to create a fourth hierarchical representation;
converting said fourth hierarchical representation to a second file containing a plurality of human readable data delimiters that correspond to the fourth hierarchical representation.
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Abstract
A system and method for presenting one or more general-purpose application-accessible data sources as an XML representation is discussed. Information that describes the way data is structured or organized in the data source is accessed from the data source. A virtual file system representation comprising a plurality of hierarchical folders is provided to represent the structural information. Optionally, the virtual file system representation may be modified, either manually or according to rules sets. After any desired modification, the XML representation is generated based on the virtual file system representation.
505 Citations
28 Claims
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1. A method comprising:
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accessing first structural information that describes how database data is organized in a first application-accessible data source;
representing said first structural information with a first hierarchical representation comprising a plurality of folders;
modifying the first hierarchical representation to create a second hierarchical representation;
converting said second hierarchical representation to a first file containing a plurality of human readable data delimiters that correspond to the second hierarchical representations;
accessing second structural information that describes how database data is organized in a second application-accessible data source, said second application-accessible data source being separate and distinct from said first application-accessible data source;
representing said second structural information with a third hierarchical representation comprising a plurality of folders;
modifying the third hierarchical representation to create a fourth hierarchical representation;
converting said fourth hierarchical representation to a second file containing a plurality of human readable data delimiters that correspond to the fourth hierarchical representation. - View Dependent Claims (2, 3, 4, 5, 6, 7, 8, 9, 10, 11, 12)
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13. A machine-readable medium having stored thereon data representing sequences of instructions that when executed cause a machine to:
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access first structural information that describes how database data is organized in a first application-accessible data source;
represent the first structural information with a first hierarchical representation comprising a plurality of folders;
modify the first hierarchical representation to create a second hierarchical representation;
convert said second hierarchical representation to a first file containing a plurality of human readable data delimiters that correspond to the second hierarchical representation;
access second structural information that describes how database data is organized in a second application-accessible data source, said second application-accessible data source being separate and distinct from said first application-accessible data source, represent the second structural information with a third hierarchical representation comprising a plurality of folders;
modify the third hierarchical representation to create a fourth hierarchical representation; and
convert said fourth hierarchical representation to a second file containing a plurality of human readable data delimiters that correspond to the fourth hierarchical representation. - View Dependent Claims (14, 15, 16, 17)
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18. An apparatus comprising:
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means for accessing first structural information that describes how database data is organized in a first application-accessible data source;
means for representing said first structural information with a first hierarchical representation comprising a plurality of folders;
means for modifying the first hierarchical representation to create a second hierarchical representation;
means for converting said second hierarchical representation to a first file containing a plurality of human readable data delimiters that correspond to the second hierarchical representation;
means for accessing second structural information that describes how database data is organized in a second application-accessible data source, said second application-accessible data source being separate and distinct from said first application-accessible data source;
means for representing said second structural information with a third hierarchical representation comprising a plurality of folders;
means for modifying the third hierarchical representation to create a fourth hierarchical representation;
means for converting said fourth hierarchical representation to a second file containing a plurality of human readable data delimiters that correspond to the fourth hierarchical representation. - View Dependent Claims (19, 20, 21, 22, 23, 24, 25, 26, 27, 28)
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Specification