Techniques for managing multiple hierarchies of data from a single interface

• US 6,947,950 B2
• Filed: 11/26/2002
• Issued: 09/20/2005
• Est. Priority Date: 11/06/2002
• Status: Expired due to Term

• Current Assignee: Oracle International Corporation (Oracle Corporation)
• Original Assignee: Oracle International Corporation (Oracle Corporation)
• Inventors: Sedlar, Eric, Murthy, Ravi, Agarwal, Nipun
• Primary Examiner(s): Mizrahi, Diane D.
• Application Number:
  US10/305,990
• Publication Number:
  US 20040088306A1
• Time in Patent Office: 1,029 Days
• Field of Search: 707 3- 5, 707103 R-103 Y, 707/103.Z, 707/100, 707/102, 707/10, 707/2, 707/101, 707/200, 345/625, 715/514, 715/746, 719/313, 709/219, 709/223, 709/225, 713/171
• US Class Current: 1/1
• CPC Class Codes: G06F 16/10 File systems; File servers
• CPC Class Codes: Y10S 707/99944 Object-oriented database structure

Abstract

Techniques for managing multiple hierarchies of data from a single native hierarchy include registering a set of routines for each foreign hierarchy. The set of routines performs a set of operations on data in the hierarchy associated with a node. A user request is received, which indicates a particular operation on particular data that does not correspond to a node of the native hierarchy. Based on the user request, a first operation on a first set of one or more nodes of a first hierarchy that is not the native hierarchy is determined. A particular routine that corresponds to the first operation is selected from a first set of routines registered for the first hierarchy, and is invoked. These techniques allow a user to employ a consistent interface with the native hierarchy to reach data in any of the hierarchies.

Claims

1. A method for managing a plurality of hierarchies of data containers from a single native hierarchy, each hierarchy including a plurality of nodes, each node corresponding to a data container, the method comprising the steps of:

for each foreign hierarchy that is not the native hierarchy, registering a set of routines for a set of operations, which routines, when invoked, perform one or more operations of the set of operations on one or more data containers in the hierarchy;

wherein the step of registering includes generating a mapping that associates a set of routines with a path to a virtual link that associates a data container in the native hierarchy with a data container in a foreign hierarchy;

receiving a user request that indicates a particular operation on a particular data container that corresponds to a node of a first foreign hierarchy;

based on the user request, determining a first operation to perform on a first set of one or more data containers of the first foreign hierarchy;

selecting, based on the mapping, a first set of routines registered for the first foreign hierarchy;

selecting, from the first set of routines, a particular routine that corresponds to the first operation; and

invoking the particular routine to operate on the first set of one or more data containers.

2. The method of claim 1, said step of receiving a user request further comprising the step of:

presenting a single interface to the user with controls for specifying a request to operate on one or more data containers in any of the plurality of hierarchies;

receiving user input based on user activation of at least one of the controls; and

forming the user request as a set of one or more operations on one or more data containers, based on the user input.

3. The method of claim 1, wherein the set of operations includes:

an operation to create a data container;

an operation to get data from a data container;

an operation to update data in a data container;

an operation to delete a data container;

an operation to iterate over child containers owned by a parent container;

an operation to copy a data container of one parent data container to another parent data container; and

an operation to move a data container from a first parent data container to a second parent data container that is a different data container than the first parent data container.

4. The method of claim 3, wherein the operation to iterate over the child containers includes:

an operation to begin an iteration;

an operation to provide the next child data container; and

an operation to end the iteration.

5. The method of claim 1, wherein the first operation is the same as the particular operation.

6. The method of claim 1, wherein the first operation is different from the particular operation.

7. The method of claim 1, further comprising the step of determining, based on the user request, a second operation on a second set of one or more data containers of the native hierarchy.

8. The method of claim 7, wherein the second operation is the same as the particular operation.

9. The method of claim 7, wherein the second operation is different from the particular operation.

10. The method of claim 1, further comprising sending to the user a response including a first result returned from invoking the particular routine.

11. The method of claim 7, further comprising:

combining a first result returned from invoking the particular routine with a second result from the second operation into a response for the user; and

sending the response to the user.

12. A computer-readable medium carrying one or more sequences of instructions for managing a plurality of hierarchies of data containers from a single native hierarchy, each hierarchy including a plurality of nodes, each node corresponding to a data container, wherein execution of the one or more sequences of instructions by one or more processors causes the one or more processors to perform the steps of:

for each foreign hierarchy that is not the native hierarchy, registering a set of routines for a set of operations, which routines, when invoked, perform one or more operations of the set of operations on one or more data containers in the hierarchy;

wherein the step of registering includes generating a mapping that associates a set of routines with a path to a virtual link that associates a data container in the native hierarchy with a data container in a foreign hierarchy;

receiving a user request that indicates a particular operation on a particular data container that corresponds to a node of a first foreign hierarchy;

based on the user request, determining a first operation to perform on a first set of one or more data containers of the first hierarchy;

selecting, based on the mapping, a first set of routines registered for the first foreign hierarchy;

selecting, from the first set of routines, a particular routine that corresponds to the first operation; and

invoking the particular routine to operate on the first set of one or more data containers.

13. The computer-readable medium of claim 12, said step of receiving a user request further comprising the step of:

presenting a single interface to the user with controls for specifying a request to operate on one or more data containers in any of the plurality of hierarchies;

receiving user input based on user activation of at least one of the controls; and

forming the user request as a set of one or more operations on one or more data containers, based on the user input.

14. The computer-readable medium of claim 12, wherein the set of operations includes:

an operation to create a data container;

an operation to get data from a data container;

an operation to update data in a data container;

an operation to delete a data container;

an operation to iterate over child containers owned by a parent container;

an operation to copy a data container of one parent data container to another parent data container; and

an operation to move a data container from a first parent data container to a second parent data container that is a differaat data container than the first parent data container.

15. The computer-readable medium of claim 14, wherein the operation to iterate over the child containers includes:

an operation to begin an iteration;

an operation to provide the next child data container; and

an operation to end the iteration.

16. The computer-readable medium of claim 12, wherein the first operation is the same as the particular operation.

17. The computer-readable medium of claim 12, wherein the first operation is different from the particular operation.

18. The computer-readable medium of claim 12, wherein execution of the one or more sequences of instructions further causes the one or more processors to perform the step of determining, based on the user request, a second operation on a second set of one or more data containers of the native hierarchy.

19. The computer-readable medium of claim 18, wherein the second operation is the same as the particular operation.

20. The computer-readable medium of claim 18, wherein the second operation is different from the particular operation.

21. The computer-readable medium of claim 12, wherein execution of the one or more sequences of instructions further causes the one or more processors to perform sending to the user a response including a first result returned from invoking the particular routine.

22. The computer-readable medium of claim 18, wherein execution of the one or more sequences of instructions further causes the one or more processors to perform:

combining a first result returned from invoking the particular routine with a second result from the second operation into a response for the user; and

sending the response to the user.