Dynamically generated schema representing multiple hierarchies of inter-object relationships

• US 7,051,043 B2
• Filed: 10/18/2004
• Issued: 05/23/2006
• Est. Priority Date: 11/26/2001
• Status: Expired due to Fees

• Current Assignee: Microsoft Technology Licensing LLC (Microsoft Corporation)
• Original Assignee: Microsoft Corporation
• Inventors: Robertson, George G., Cameron, Kim, Booth, James H., Clement, Luc, MacLeod, Stewart P.
• Primary Examiner(s): Coby, Frantz
• Assistant Examiner(s): ALAUBAIDI, HAYTHIM J
• Application Number:
  US10/967,742
• Publication Number:
  US 20050071355A1
• Time in Patent Office: 582 Days
• Field of Search: 707/100, 707/102, 707/103.R
• US Class Current: 1/1
• CPC Class Codes: G06F 16/81 Indexing, e.g. XML tags; Data structures therefor; Storage structures
• CPC Class Codes: Y10S 707/956 Hierarchical
• CPC Class Codes: Y10S 707/99931 Database or file accessing
• CPC Class Codes: Y10S 707/99932 Access augmentation or optimizing
• CPC Class Codes: Y10S 707/99933 Query processing, i.e. searching
• CPC Class Codes: Y10S 707/99934 Query formulation, input preparation, or translation
• CPC Class Codes: Y10S 707/99935 Query augmenting and refining, e.g. inexact access
• CPC Class Codes: Y10S 707/99943 Generating database or data structure, e.g. via user interface
• CPC Class Codes: Y10S 707/99944 Object-oriented database structure
• CPC Class Codes: Y10S 707/99945 Object-oriented database structure processing
• CPC Class Codes: Y10S 707/99947 Object-oriented database structure reference

Abstract

Systems and methods for dynamically generating a schema representing multiple hierarchies of inter-object relationships are described. In one aspect, a polyarchical query language data structure includes first, second, and third data fields. The first data field is used to specify a particular schema for presenting or managing a plurality of objects in a data polyarchy based on values of attributes in the objects. The second data field is to indicate an attribute of interest. The third data field indicates how one or more objects that include the attribute of interest are to be presented or managed with respect to one or more participating dimensions of inter-object relationships based on the schema.

Claims

1. In a computer system, a computer-implemented method comprising:

dynamically generating a schema to represent multiple hierarchies of inter-object relationships between a plurality of objects in a data polyarchy, the schema being generated based on values of attributes of the objects;

receiving a request from a client based on the schema, the request indicating that at least one subset of the objects comprise a similar attribute; and

responsive to receiving the request;

accessing an object of the objects based on the request by retrieving the object in a manner that is independent of any hierarchical data relationship between the data objects in the at least one subset;

transforming the object into transformed data that expresses any inter-object relationship between the object and any other object of the objects based on the request; and

issuing the transformed data to the client.

2. The method of claim 1, wherein the inter-object relationships comprise a flat relationship, a hierarchical relationship, and multiple intersecting hierarchies of relationships.

3. The method of claim 1, where the objects comprise enterprise resource planning (ERP) objects, directory based objects, or database objects.

4. The method of claim 1, wherein generating the schema further comprises:

identifying a plurality of attributes of interest based on values of attributes of the objects;

identifying one or more dimensions of inter-object relationships within which objects that comprise at least a subset of the attributes of interest participate.

5. The method of claim 1, wherein the schema is designed to provide access control to organizational resources.

6. The method of claim 1, further comprising communicating the schema to a client, the schema identifying how the client can access objects in the data polyarchy.

7. The method of claim 1, wherein the transformed data expresses the inter-object relationships with respect to other objects in a same dimension or other objects in a different dimension, the same and/or the different dimension being indicated by the request.

8. The method of claim 1, wherein the request comprises a limiting attribute to limit the transformed data by presenting the one or more objects only with respect to the limiting attribute.

9. The method of claim 1, wherein the request queries for information corresponding to an object in the data polyarchy with respect to one or more particular dimensions.

10. The method of claim 1, wherein the request comprises a dimension indicator to specify one or more hierarchies within which the data is to be presented in the transformed data.

11. The method of claim 1, wherein the request farther comprises a distinguishing attribute, a classifying attribute, or a locating attribute.

12. The method of claim 1, wherein the request comprises a dimension information modifier to specify a particular direction and a particular depth to retrieve information from the data polyarchy.

13. A method as recited in claim 12, wherein the dimension information modifier is a siblings indication to retrieve all objects with a same parent as a current object in the data polyarchy.

14. A method as recited in claim 1, wherein the similar attribute comprises a logical domain selected from a distinguishing domain, a locating domain or a classifying domain.

15. The method of claim 1, wherein the request corresponds to at least a first and second subset of the objects, the request comprising a logical modifier that specifies an operation, and wherein the method further comprises:

responsive to receiving the request, identifying at least a portion of the first and second subsets of directory objects in the polyarchical data set; and

wherein transforming the one or more objects further comprises performing the operation on the first and second subsets.

16. A method as recited in claim 15, wherein the logical modifier is a Boolean modifier.

17. A method as recited in claim 15, wherein the operation comprises any combination of filtering, union, intersection, join, and/or exclusion operations.

18. The method of claim 1, wherein accessing the object further comprises accessing the object in a manner that is independent of any inter-object relationship between the object and any other object of the objects in a manner that is independent of any definition of a hierarchy in the data polyarchy.

19. The method of claim 1, wherein accessing the object further comprises querying the data polyarchy for the object.

20. The method of claim 1, wherein accessing the object further comprises managing, manipulating, or modifying the object or a relationship between the object and one of more of the other objects.

21. A computer-readable medium having computer-executable instructions comprising instructions for:

dynamically generating a schema to represent multiple hierarchies of inter-object relationships between a plurality of objects in a data polyarchy, the schema being generated based on values of attributes of the objects, the schema indicating each attribute of interest in the data polyarchy, the schema further indicating any of one or more dimensions of inter-object relationships within which objects that comprise at least a subset of the attributes of interest participate;

receiving a request from a client based on the schema, the request indicating that at least one subset of the objects comprise a similar attribute;

responsive to receiving the request;

accessing at least one object in the data polyarchy based on the request the accessing being performed in a manner that is independent of any hierarchical data relationship between the data objects in the at least one subset;

transforming the at least one object into transformed data that expresses any inter-object relationship between the at least one object and any other objects of the objects based on the request; and

issuing the transformed data to the client.

22. The computer-readable medium of claim 21, wherein the inter-object relationships comprise a flat relationship, a hierarchical relationship, and multiple intersecting hierarchies of relationships.

23. The computer-readable medium of claim 21, where the objects comprise enterprise resource planning (ERP) objects, directory based objects, or database objects.

24. The computer-readable medium of claim 21, further comprising computer-executable instructions for communicating the schema to a client to indicate how the client is to interface with the objects in the data polyarchy.

25. The computer-readable medium of claim 21, wherein the transformed data expresses the inter-object relationships with respect to other objects in a same dimension or other objects in a different dimension, the same and/or the different dimension being indicated by the request.

26. The computer-readable medium of claim 21, wherein the request comprises a limiting attribute to limit the transformed data by presenting the one or more objects only with respect to the limiting attribute.

27. The computer-readable medium of claim 21, wherein the request queries for information corresponding to an object in the data polyarchy with respect to one or more particular dimensions.

28. The computer-readable medium of claim 21, wherein the request comprises a dimension indicator to specify one or more hierarchies within which the data is to be presented in the transformed data.

29. The computer-readable medium of claim 21, wherein the request further comprises a distinguishing attribute, a classifying attribute, or a locating attribute.

30. The computer-readable medium of claim 21, wherein the request comprises a dimension information modifier to specify a particular direction and a particular depth to retrieve information from the data polyarchy.

31. A computer-readable medium as recited in claim 30, wherein the dimension information modifier is a siblings indication to retrieve all objects with a same parent as a current object in the data polyarchy.

32. A computer-readable medium as recited in claim 21, wherein the similar attribute comprises a logical domain selected from a distinguishing domain, a locating domain or a classifying domain.

33. The computer-readable medium of claim 21, wherein the request corresponds to at least a first and second subset of the objects, the request comprising a logical modifier that specifies an operation, and wherein the computer-executable instructions further comprise instructions for:

responsive to receiving the request, identifying at least a portion of the first and second subsets of directory objects in the polyarchical data set; and

wherein transforming the one or more objects further comprises performing the operation on the first and second subsets.

34. A computer-readable medium as recited in claim 33, wherein the logical modifier is a Boolean modifier.

35. A computer-readable medium as recited in claim 33, wherein the operation comprises any combination of filtering, union, intersection, join, and/or exclusion operations.

36. A computer-readable medium having computer-executable instructions comprising instructions for:

dynamically generating a schema to represent multiple hierarchies of inter-object relationships between a plurality of objects in a data polyarchy, the schema being generated based on values of attributes of the objects, the schema indicating each attribute of interest in the data polyarchy, the schema further indicating any of one or more dimensions of inter-object relationships within which objects that comprise at least a subset of the attributes of interest participate;

receiving a request from a client based on the schema;

responsive to receiving the request;

accessing at least one object in the data polyarchy based on the request, the accessing being performed independent of any inter-object relationship between the at least one object and any other object of the objects, and independent of any definition of a hierarchy in the data polyarchy;

transforming the at least one object into transformed data that expresses any inter-object relationship between the at least one object and any other objects of the objects based on the request; and

issuing the transformed data to the client.

37. The computer-readable medium of claim 36, wherein accessing the at least one object further comprises querying the data polyarchy for the at least one object.

38. The computer-readable medium of claim 36, wherein accessing the at least one object further comprises managing, manipulating, or modifying the at least one object or a relationship between the at least one object and one of more different objects of the objects.

39. A computer comprising:

a memory comprising the computer-executable instructions; and

a processor coupled to the memory, the processor being configured to fetch and execute the computer-executable instructions for;

dynamically generating a schema to represent multiple hierarchies of inter-object relationships between a plurality of objects in a data polyarchy, the schema being generated based on values of attributes of the objects, the schema indicating each attribute of interest in the data polyarchy, the schema further indicating any of one or more dimensions of inter-object relationships within which objects that comprise at least a subset of the attributes of interest participate;

receiving a request from a client based on the schema, the request indicating that at least one subset of the objects comprise a similar attribute;

responsive to receiving the request;

accessing one or more objects in the data polyarchy based on the request, the accessing being preformed independent of any hierarchical data relationship between the data objects in the at least one subset;

transforming the one or more of the objects into transformed data that expresses any inter-object relationships based on the request; and

issuing the transformed data to the client.

40. The computer of claim 39, wherein the inter-object relationships comprise a flat relationship, a hierarchical relationship, and multiple intersecting hierarchies of relationships.

41. The computer of claim 39, where the objects comprise enterprise resource planning (ERP) objects, directory based objects, or database objects.

42. The computer of claim 39, wherein the computer-executable instructions further comprise instructions for communicating the schema to a client to indicate how the client is to interface with the objects in the data polyarchy.

43. The computer of claim 39, wherein the transformed data expresses the inter-object relationships with respect to other objects in a same dimension or other objects in a different dimension, the same and/or the different dimension being indicated by the request.

44. The computer of claim 39, wherein the request comprises a limiting attribute to limit the transformed data by presenting the one or more objects only with respect to the limiting attribute.

45. The computer of claim 39, wherein the request queries for information corresponding to an object in the data polyarchy with respect to one or more particular dimensions.

46. The computer of claim 39, wherein the request comprises a dimension indicator to specify one or more hierarchies within which the data is to be presented in the transformed data.

47. The computer of claim 39, wherein the request further comprises a distinguishing attribute, a classifying attribute, or a locating attribute.

48. The computer of claim 39, wherein the request comprises a dimension information modifier to specify a particular direction and a particular depth to retrieve information from the data polyarchy.

49. A computer as recited in claim 48, wherein the dimension information modifier is a siblings indication to retrieve all objects with a same parent as a current object in the data polyarchy.

50. A computer as recited in claim 39, wherein the similar attribute comprises a logical domain selected from a distinguishing domain, a locating domain or a classifying domain.

51. The computer of claim 39, wherein the request corresponds to at least a first and second subset of the objects, the request comprising a logical modifier that specifies an operation, and wherein the computer-executable instructions further comprise instructions for:

responsive to receiving the request, identifying at least a portion of the first and second subsets of directory objects in the polyarchical data set; and

wherein transforming the one or more objects further comprises performing the operation on the first and second subsets.

52. A computer as recited in claim 51, wherein the logical modifier is a Boolean modifier.

53. A computer as recited in claim 51, wherein the operation comprises any combination of filtering, union, intersection, join, and/or exclusion operations.

54. The computer of claim 39, wherein accessing the one or more objects further comprises accessing the one or more objects in a manner that is independent of any inter-object relationship between the one or more objects and any other object of the objects in a manner that is independent of any definition of a hierarchy in the data polyarchy.

55. The computer of claim 39, wherein accessing the one or more objects further comprises querying the data polyarchy for the one or more objects.

56. The computer of claim 39, wherein accessing the one or more objects further comprises managing, manipulating, or modifying the one or more objects or a relationship between an object of the one or more objects and one of more different objects of the objects.

57. A computer comprising

processing means for:

dynamically generating a schema to represent multiple hierarchies of inter-object relationships between a plurality of objects in a data polyarchy, the schema being generated based on values of attributes of the objects, the schema indicating each attribute of interest in the data polyarchy, the schema further indicating any of one or more dimensions of inter-object relationships within which objects that comprise at least a subset of the attributes of interest participate;

receiving a request from a client based on the schema, the request indicating that at least one subset of the objects comprise a similar attribute;

responsive to receiving the request;

accessing one or more objects in the data polyarchy based on the request, the accessing being independent of any hierarchical data relationship between the data objects in the at least one subset;

transforming the one or more of the objects into transformed data that expresses any inter-object relationships based on the request; and

issuing the transformed data to the client.

58. The computer of claim 57, wherein the inter-object relationships comprise a flat relationship, a hierarchical relationship, and multiple intersecting hierarchies of relationships.

59. The computer of claim 57, where the objects comprise enterprise resource planning (ERP) objects, directory based objects, or database objects.

60. The computer of claim 57, further comprising processing means for communicating the schema to a client to indicate how the client is to interface with the objects in the data polyarchy.

61. The computer of claim 57, wherein the transformed data expresses the inter-object relationships with respect to other objects in a same dimension or other objects in a different dimension, the same and/or the different dimension being indicated by the request.

62. The computer of claim 57, wherein the request comprises a limiting attribute to limit the transformed data by presenting the one or more objects only with respect to the limiting attribute.

63. The computer of claim 57, wherein the request queries for information corresponding to an object in the data polyarchy with respect to one or more particular dimensions.

64. The computer of claim 57, wherein the request comprises a dimension indicator to specify one or more hierarchies within which the data is to be presented in the transformed data.

65. The computer of claim 57, wherein the request further comprises a distinguishing attribute, a classifying attribute, or a locating attribute.

66. The computer of claim 57, wherein the request comprises a dimension information modifier to specify a particular direction and a particular depth to retrieve information from the data polyarchy.

67. A computer as recited in claim 66, wherein the dimension information modifier is a siblings indication to retrieve all objects with a same parent as a current object in the data polyarchy.

68. A computer as recited in claim 57, wherein the similar attribute comprises a logical domain selected from a distinguishing domain, a locating domain or a classifying domain.

69. The computer of claim 57, wherein the request corresponds to at least a first and second subset of the objects, the request comprising a logical modifier that specifies an operation, and wherein the processing means further comprise means for:

responsive to receiving the request, identifying at least a portion of the first and second subsets of directory objects in the polyarchical data set; and

wherein transforming the one or more objects further comprises performing the operation on the first and second subsets.

70. A computer as recited in claim 69, wherein the logical modifier is a Boolean modifier.

71. A computer as recited in claim 69, wherein the operation comprises any combination of filtering, union, intersection, join, and/or exclusion operations.

72. The computer of claim 57, wherein the means for accessing the one or more objects further comprises means for accessing the one or more objects in a manner that is independent of any inter-object relationship between the one or more objects and any other object of the objects in a manner that is independent of any definition of a hierarchy in the data polyarchy.

73. The computer of claim 57, wherein the means for accessing the one or more objects further comprises querying the data polyarchy for the one or more objects.

74. The computer of claim 57, wherein the means for accessing the one or more objects further comprises means for managing, manipulating, or modifying the one or more objects or a relationship between an object of the one or more objects and one of more different objects of the objects.