Methods and system for efficient association traversals
First Claim
1. A computer-implemented method for determining a relationship between objects related to a common information model, the objects including at least a first and second instance and an association that represents an instance of an association class, the method comprising:
- creating, for the first instance, a reverse link that defines a relationship between the first instance and the association, wherein the instance is associated with a first wrapper defining the reverse link, wherein creating the reverse link includes;
defining a pointer in a first table of the first wrapper that references a second table; and
defining a pointer in the second table that references the instance of the association class; and
determining a relationship between the first and second instances based on the reverse link.
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Abstract
Methods and systems are provided for performing efficient association traversal operations in a Common Information Model (CIM) implemented environment. A CIM Object Manager creates and defines instance objects and corresponding association objects in a repository. The CIM Object Manager creates wrappers for each object that include reverse links that show the relationship from an object to any corresponding association objects. When a relationship request for a selected object is received by the CIM Object Manager, it performs an association traversal operation using the reverse links stored in the repository. The CIM Object Manager locates the target object'"'"'s wrapper in the repository, and collects relationship information from the reverse links included within the wrapper. The collected relationship information is then passed to the entity that initiated the request. Accordingly, efficient association traversals may be performed, without having to traverse each instance of defined association objects.
25 Citations
40 Claims
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1. A computer-implemented method for determining a relationship between objects related to a common information model, the objects including at least a first and second instance and an association that represents an instance of an association class, the method comprising:
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creating, for the first instance, a reverse link that defines a relationship between the first instance and the association, wherein the instance is associated with a first wrapper defining the reverse link, wherein creating the reverse link includes; defining a pointer in a first table of the first wrapper that references a second table; and defining a pointer in the second table that references the instance of the association class; and determining a relationship between the first and second instances based on the reverse link. - View Dependent Claims (2, 3)
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4. A method for maintaining reverse links in a object-oriented environment including class instances and associations, the method comprising:
for each class instance associated with N instances of an association class that each reference the class instance, wherein N represents an integer value greater than or equal to one; (i) creating a first level wrapper table including a pointer to a second level wrapper table associated with the association class; and (ii) creating N pointers in the second level wrapper table that each reference an individual instance of the association class. - View Dependent Claims (5, 6)
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7. A method for maintaining reverse links in an object-oriented environment including instances, association classes and association class instances, the method comprising:
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for each class instance associated with N association classes that each include at least one association class instance that references the class instance, wherein N represents an integer value greater than or equal to one; creating a first level wrapper table including N pointers to N second level wrapper tables associated with the association classes.
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8. A method for maintaining reverse links in a object-oriented environment including class instances and associations, the method comprising:
for each class instance associated with N instances of a first association class that each reference the class instance, and X instances of a second association class that each reference the class instance, wherein N and X represent integer values greater than or equal to one; (i) creating a first level wrapper table including;
a first pointer to a second level wrapper table associated with the first association class, and a second pointer to a second level wrapper table associated with the second association class;(ii) creating N pointers, in the second level wrapper table associated with the first association class, that each reference an individual instance of the first association class; and (iii) creating X pointers, in the second level wrapper table associated with the second association class, that each reference an individual instance of the second association class.
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9. A method for performing association traversals in an object-oriented environment including a plurality of class instances and association instances, comprising:
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receiving an association traversal request for a class instance; and performing an association traversal process based on pointer information reflecting a relationship between the class instance and all association instances that reference the class instance, wherein the association traversal process includes; accessing a first table including a pointer to a second table; and accessing the second table, using the pointer, to obtain pointers to each association instance that references the class instance. - View Dependent Claims (10)
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11. A method for performing association traversals in an object-oriented environment including a plurality of class instances and association instances, comprising:
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receiving an association traversal request for a class instance; obtaining pointers to each association instance that references the class instance from a wrapper table corresponding to the class instance; and collecting, from the wrapper table, references to other class instances that are referenced by the association instance.
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12. A method for performing association traversals in an object-oriented environment including a plurality of class instances and association instances, comprising:
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receiving an association traversal request for a class instance; and obtaining pointers to each association instance that references the class instance from a wrapper table corresponding to the class instance.
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13. In a system comprising a client and a server, a method for performing association traversals performed by the client, comprising:
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generating a request for relationship information associated with a selected class instance; and receiving a response including information reflecting a relationship between the selected class instance and other class instances that are referenced by the same association class instances, wherein the response is generated using pointers defined in a table associated with the selected class instance that reference the common association class instances.
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14. In a system comprising a client and a server, a method for performing association traversals performed by the server, comprising;
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receiving a request for relationship information associated with a selected class instance; and generating a response including information reflecting a relationship between the selected class instance and other class instances that are referenced by the same association class instances, based on pointers defined in a table associated with the selected class instance that reference the common association class instances.
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15. A system for performing association traversals, comprising:
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a client for generating a request for information reflecting the relationship between selected objects defined in a repository; and a server including; the repository for storing objects, wherein a set of the objects are associated with object wrappers, and wherein the object wrapper associated with one object includes pointers to all association instances that reference the one object; and an object manager for processing the request by using an object wrapper associated with one object of the selected objects. - View Dependent Claims (16)
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17. A system for traversing associations in a common information model implemented environment, the model comprising at least a first and second instance and an association that represents an instance of an association class, comprising:
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means for creating, for the first instance, a reverse link that defines a relationship between the first instance and the association, wherein the instance is associated with a first wrapper defining the reverse link, wherein the means for creating the reverse link includes; means for defining a pointer in a first table of the first wrapper that references a second table; and means for defining a pointer in the second table that references the instance of the association class; and means for determining a relationship between the first and second instances based on the reverse link. - View Dependent Claims (18, 19)
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20. A system for maintaining reverse links in a object-oriented environment including class instances and associations, comprising:
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means for creating, for each class instance associated with N instances of an association class that each reference the class instance, wherein N represents an integer value greater than or equal to one, a first level wrapper table including a pointer to a second level wrapper table associated with the association class; and means for creating N pointers in the second level wrapper table that each point to an individual instance of the association class. - View Dependent Claims (21, 22)
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23. A system for performing association traversals in an object-oriented environment including a plurality of class instances and association instances, comprising:
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means for receiving an association traversal request for a class instance; and means for performing an association traversal process based on pointer information reflecting a relationship between the class instance and all association instances that reference the class instance, wherein the means for performing an association traversal process includes; means for accessing a first table including a pointer to a second table; and means for accessing the second table, using the pointer, to obtain pointers to each association instance that references the class instance. - View Dependent Claims (24)
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25. A system for performing association traversals in an object-oriented environment including a plurality of class instances and association instances, comprising:
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means for receiving an association traversal request for a class instance means for obtaining pointers to each association instance that references the class instance from a wrapper table corresponding to the class instance; and means for collecting, from the wrapper table, references to other class instances that are referenced by the association instance.
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26. A system for performing association traversals in an object-oriented environment including a plurality of class instances and association instances, comprising:
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means for receiving an association traversal request for a class instance; and means for obtaining pointers to each association instance that references the class instance from a wrapper table corresponding to the class instance.
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27. A computer-readable medium including instructions for performing a method, when executed by a processor, for determining a relationship between objects related to a common information model, the objects including at least a first and second instance and an association that represents an instance of an association class, the method comprising:
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creating, for the first instance, a reverse link that defines a relationship between the first instance and the association, wherein the instance is associated with a first wrapper defining the reverse link, and wherein creating the reverse link includes; defining a pointer in a first table of the first wrapper that references a second table; and defining a pointer in the second table that references the instance of the association class; and determining a relationship between the first and second instances based on the reverse link. - View Dependent Claims (28, 29)
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30. A computer-readable medium including instructions for performing a method, when executed by a processor, for maintaining reverse links in a object-oriented environment including class instances and associations, the method comprising:
for each class instance associated with N instances of an association class that each reference the class instance, wherein N represents an integer value greater than or equal to one; (i) creating a first level wrapper table including a pointer to a second level wrapper table associated with the association class; and (ii) creating N pointers in the second level wrapper table that each reference an individual instance of the association class. - View Dependent Claims (31, 32)
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33. A computer-readable medium including instructions for performing a method, when executed by a processor, for maintaining reverse links in a object-oriented environment including class instances and associations, the method comprising:
for each class instance associated with N association classes that each include at least one association class instance that references the class instance, wherein N represents an integer value greater than or equal to one; creating a first level wrapper table including N pointers to N second level wrapper tables associated with the association classes.
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34. A computer-readable medium including instructions for performing a method, when executed by a processor, for maintaining reverse links in a object-oriented environment including class instances and associations, the method comprising:
for each class instance associated with N instances of a first association class that each reference the class instance, and X instances of a second association class that each reference the class instance, wherein N and X represent integer values greater than or equal to one; (i) creating a first level wrapper table including; a first pointer to a second level wrapper table associated with the first association class, and a second pointer to a second level wrapper table associated with the second association class (ii) creating N pointers, in the second level wrapper table associated with the first association class, that each reference an individual instance of the first association class; and (iii) creating X pointers, in the second level wrapper table associated with the second association class, that each reference an individual instance of the second association class.
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35. A computer-readable medium including instructions for performing a method, when executed by a processor, for performing association traversals in an object-oriented environment including a plurality of class instances and association instances, comprising:
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receiving an association traversal request for a class instance; and performing an association traversal process based on pointer information reflecting a relationship between the class instance and all association instances that reference the class instance, wherein the association traversal process includes; accessing a first table including a pointer to a second table; and accessing the second table, using the pointer, to obtain pointers to each association instance that references the class instance. - View Dependent Claims (36)
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37. A computer-readable medium including instructions for performing a method, when executed by a processor, for performing association traversals in an object-oriented environment including a plurality of class instances and association instances, comprising:
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receiving an association traversal request for a class instance; obtaining pointers to each association instance that references the class instance from a wrapper table corresponding to the class instance; and collecting, from the wrapper table, references to other class instances that are referenced by the association instance.
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38. A computer-readable medium including instructions for performing a method, when executed by a processor, for performing association traversals in an object-oriented environment including a plurality of class instances and association instances, comprising:
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receiving an association traversal request for a class instance; and obtaining pointers to each association instance that references the class instance from a wrapper table corresponding to the class instance.
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39. In a system comprising a client and a server, a computer-readable medium including instructions for performing a method, when executed by a processor, for performing association traversals performed by the client, comprising:
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generating a request for relationship information associated with a selected class instance; receiving a response including information reflecting a relationship between the selected class instance and other class instances that are referenced by the same association class instances, wherein the response was is generated using pointers defined in a table associated with the selected class instance that reference the common association class instances.
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40. In a system comprising a client and a server, a computer-readable medium including instructions for performing a method, when executed by a processor, for performing association traversals performed by the server, comprising;
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receiving a request for relationship information associated with a selected class instance; generating a response including information reflecting a relationship between the selected class instance and other class instances that are referenced by the same association class instances, based on pointers defined in a table associated with the selected class instance that reference the common association class instances.
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Specification