Managing data integrity

• US 7,127,475 B2
• Filed: 08/15/2002
• Issued: 10/24/2006
• Est. Priority Date: 08/15/2002
• Status: Expired due to Term

• Current Assignee: SAP SE
• Original Assignee: SAP AG (SAP SE)
• Inventors: Schmitt, Michael, Lutz, Steffen, Götz, Martina
• Primary Examiner(s): Wong, Leslie
• Assistant Examiner(s): Rayyan, Susan F.
• Application Number:
  US10/219,929
• Publication Number:
  US 20040034668A1
• Time in Patent Office: 1,531 Days
• Field of Search: 707200-204
• US Class Current: 1/1
• CPC Class Codes: G06F 16/2365 Ensuring data consistency and integrity
• CPC Class Codes: G06F 16/289 Object oriented databases
• CPC Class Codes: Y10S 707/99952 Coherency, e.g. same view to multiple users

Abstract

Techniques are provided to manage the integrity of data stored in two or more data management systems by detecting inconsistencies between the data management systems. The techniques identify missing records in one or more data management systems by comparing the records in the data management systems. For records that exist in two or more data management systems, the techniques identify records that are not identical in the data management systems. A user checkpoint is provided between the identification of missing records and the identification of records that are not identical. The detected inconsistencies also may be corrected.

Claims

1. A computer-implemented method for managing data integrity in a first data management system and a second data management system, each system having stored therein a plurality of data objects, each data object having at least one attribute that uniquely identifies a single data object from the other data objects, the method comprising:

comparing object identifiers of data objects stored in the first data management system with object identifiers of data objects stored in the second data management system;

pausing the data integrity management process to permit a user of the computer to determine whether to proceed with managing data integrity in response to results of the comparison of object identifiers;

receiving an indication from the user whether to compare attribute values of the data objects stored in the first and second data management systems;

comparing attribute values of data objects stored in the both first and second data management systems in response to an indication from the user to compare attribute values;

receiving an indication from the user whether to correct data inconsistencies of the data objects stored in the both first and second data management systems based on results of the comparison of the attribute values of the data objects;

correcting data inconsistencies in response to an indication from the user to correct data inconsistencies; and

ending the data integrity management process in response to an indication from the user not to compare attribute values or in response to an indication from the user not to correct data inconsistencies.

2. The method of claim 1 wherein permitting the user to determine whether to proceed with managing data integrity comprises:

presenting the number of data objects that occur in both the first data management system and the second data management system;

presenting the number of data objects that occur in only the first data management system; and

presenting the number of data objects that occur in only the second data management system.

3. The method of claim 1 wherein a data object comprises an object instance.

4. The method of claim 1 wherein a data object is stored in an XML document.

5. The method of claim 1 wherein a data object is stored in one or more rows in a database table.

6. The method of claim 1 wherein a data object comprises a data segment.

7. The method of claim 1 further comprising:

extracting from the first data management system a first group of values of a uniquely identifying attribute, each value of the uniquely identifying attribute being associated with a single data object; and

extracting from the second data management system a second group of values of the uniquely identifying attribute, each value of the uniquely identifying attribute being associated with a single data object.

8. The method of claim 1 wherein managing the data integrity of the data objects comprises:

extracting from the first data management system a first group of data objects, each data object being associated with a first set of attribute values; and

extracting from the second data management system a second group of data objects, each data object being associated with a second set of attribute values.

9. The method of claim 8 wherein:

receiving an indication from the user whether to compare attribute values comprises receiving from the user an indication of a data object that is included both in the first group of data objects extracted from the first data management system and in the second group of data objects extracted from the second data management system; and

comparing attribute values comprises providing the user with an indication of whether the first set of attribute values associated with the indicated data object is equal to the second set of attribute values associated with the indicated data object.

10. The method of claim 1 wherein correcting data inconsistencies comprises correcting detected inconsistencies by sending one or more data objects from the first data management system to the second data management system.

11. The method of claim 1 wherein correcting data inconsistencies comprises correcting detected inconsistencies by sending one or more data objects from the second data management system to the first data management system.

12. The method of claim 1 wherein correcting data inconsistencies comprises correcting detected inconsistencies by deleting one or more data objects from the first data management system.

13. The method of claim 1 wherein correcting data inconsistencies comprises correcting detected inconsistencies by deleting one or more data objects from the second data management system.

14. The method of claim 1 further comprising displaying on a display device of a computer an identity of one or more data objects from the data objects stored in the first and second data management systems.

15. A computer-readable medium having embodied thereon a computer program configured to manage data integrity in a first data management system and a second data management system, each system having stored therein a plurality of data objects, each data object having at least one attribute that uniquely identifies a single data object from the other data objects, the medium comprising one or more code segments configured to:

compare object identifiers of data objects stored in the first data management system with object identifiers of data objects stored in the second data management system;

pause the data integrity management process to permit a user of the computer to determine whether to proceed with managing data integrity in response to the results of the comparison of object identifiers;

receive an indication from the user whether to compare attribute values of the data objects stored in the first and second data management systems;

compare attribute values of data objects stored in the both first and second data management systems in response to an indication from the user to compare attribute values;

receive an indication from the user whether to correct data inconsistencies of the data objects stored in the both first and second data management systems based on results of the comparison of the attribute values of the data objects;

correct data inconsistencies in response to an indication from the user to correct data inconsistencies; and

end the data integrity management process in response to an indication from the user not to compare attribute values or in response to an indication from the user not to correct data inconsistencies.

16. The medium of claim 15 wherein the one or more code segments configured to permit the user to determine whether to proceed with managing data integrity comprise one or more code segments configured to:

present the number of data objects that occur in both the first data management system and the second data management system;

present the number of data objects that occur in only the first data management system; and

present the number of data objects that occur in only the second data management system.

17. The medium of claim 15 wherein a data object comprises an object instance.

18. The medium of claim 15 wherein a data object is stored in an XML document.

19. The medium of claim 15 wherein a data object is stored in one or more rows in a database table.

20. The medium of claim 15 wherein a data object comprises a data segment.

21. The medium of claim 15 further comprising one or more code segments configured to:

extract from the first data management system a first group of values of a uniquely identifying attribute, each value of the uniquely identifying attribute being associated with a single data object; and

extract from the second data management system a second group of values of the uniquely identifying attribute, each value of the uniquely identifying attribute being associated with a single data object.

22. The medium of claim 15 wherein the one or more code segments configured to manage the data integrity of the objects comprise one or more code segments configured to:

extract from the first data management system a first group of objects provided to the user that meet the filter condition, each data object being associated with a first set of attribute values; and

extract from the second data management system a second group of data objects provided to the user that meet the filter condition, each data object being associated with a second set of attribute values.

23. The medium of claim 15 wherein the one or more code segments configured to manage the data integrity of the data objects comprise one or more code segments configured to:

receive from the user an indication of a data object that is included both in the first group of data objects extracted from the first data management system and in the second group of data objects extracted from the second data management system; and

provide the user with an indication of whether the first set of attribute values associated with the indicated data object is equal to the second set of attribute values associated with the indicated data object.

24. The medium of claim 23 wherein the one or more code segments configured to correct data inconsistencies comprise one or more code segments configured to correct detected inconsistencies by deleting one or more data objects from the second data management system.

25. The medium of claim 15 wherein the one or more code segments configured to correct data inconsistencies comprise one or more code segments configured to correct detected inconsistencies by sending one or more data objects from the first data management system to the second data management system.

26. The medium of claim 15 wherein the one or more code segments configured to correct data inconsistencies one or more code segments configured to correct detected inconsistencies by sending one or more data objects from the second data management system to the first data management system.

27. The medium of claim 15 wherein the one or more code segments configured to correct data inconsistencies comprise one or more code segments configured to correct detected inconsistencies by deleting one or more data objects from the first data management system.

28. The medium of claim 15 further comprising one or more code segments configured to display on a display device of a computer an identity of one or more data objects from the data objects stored in the first and second data management systems.

29. A computer-readable medium having embodied thereon a computer program configured to manage data integrity in a leading data management system and a contrast data management system, the medium comprising one or more code segments configured to:

extract from the leading data management system a first group of values of at least one attribute that uniquely identifies a single data object from the other data objects;

extract from the contrast data management system a second group of values of at least one attribute that uniquely identifies a single data object from the other data objects;

compare the first group of values of the uniquely identifying attribute with the second group of values of the uniquely identifying attribute to determine whether each value of the uniquely identifying attribute in the first group represent the same data object as a value of the uniquely identifying attribute in the second group;

based on the comparison, present a list of the values of the uniquely identifying attribute that are associated with both the leading data management system and the contrast data management system, the values of the uniquely identifying attribute that are associated with only the leading data management system, and the values of uniquely identifying attribute that are associated with only the contrast data management system;

receive an indication from a user whether to compare attribute values of the data objects in the leading data management system with attribute values of the data objects in the contrast data management system in response to the results of the presented list;

in response to an indication from the user to compare the attribute values of the data objects,

extract from the leading data management system a first group of attribute value sets, each attribute value set being associated with a single data object that is included in both the leading data management system and the contrast data management system,

extract from the contrast data management system a second group of attribute value sets, each attribute value set being associated with a particular data object that is included in both the leading data management system and the contrast data management system, and

for each attribute value set extracted from the leading data management system, identify the attribute value set from the contrast data management system that represents the same data object and compare the attribute value set from the leading data management system with the attribute value set from the contrast data management system to determine whether the attribute value sets match, and present an indication whether the attribute value set from the leading data management system matches the attribute value set from the contrast data management system; and

end the data integrity management process in response to an indication from the user not to compare the attribute values of the data objects.

30. The medium of claim 29 wherein the one or more code segments configured to manage data integrity comprise one or more code segments configured to:

determine which values of the at least one uniquely identifying attribute are associated with both the leading data management system and the contrast data management system;

determine which values of the at least one uniquely identifying attribute are associated with only the leading data management system; and

determine which values of the at least one uniquely identifying attribute are associated with only the contrast data management system.

31. The medium of claim 29 wherein the one or more code segments configured to manage data integrity comprise one or more code segments configured to:

present the number of the values of the at least one uniquely identifying attribute are associated with both the leading data management system and the contrast data management system;

present the number of the values of the at least one uniquely identifying attribute are associated with only the leading data management system; and

present the number of the values of the at least one uniquely identifying attribute are associated with only the contrast data management system.