System and method for providing a lifecycle for information in a virtual content repository

• US 7,240,076 B2
• Filed: 11/01/2004
• Issued: 07/03/2007
• Est. Priority Date: 04/13/2004
• Status: Active Grant

• Current Assignee: Oracle International Corporation (Oracle Corporation)
• Original Assignee: BEA Systems Incorporated (Oracle Corporation)
• Inventors: Owen, James, Bales, Christopher E., McCauley, Rodney
• Primary Examiner(s): LE, UYEN T
• Application Number:
  US10/911,287
• Publication Number:
  US 20050234942A1
• Time in Patent Office: 974 Days
• Field of Search: 707/1, 707/10, 707/100, 707/104.1, 707/200, 707/203
• US Class Current: 707/694
• CPC Class Codes: G06F 16/219 Managing data history or versioning querying versioned data G06F16/2474; querying temporal data G06F16/2477
• CPC Class Codes: G06F 16/27 Replication, distribution or synchronisation of data between databases or within a distributed database system; Distributed database system architectures therefor
• CPC Class Codes: Y10S 707/99945 Object-oriented database structure processing

Abstract

A system and method for providing a lifecycle for information in a virtual content repository (VCR), that includes integrating a plurality of repositories into the VCR, storing the information in the VCR, and allowing the information to transition through a set of states according to a lifecycle definition. The information is accessible through a logical namespace that encompasses the plurality of repositories, and the information can include at least one of: content and schema information.

Claims

1. A method for providing a lifecycle for information in a virtual content repository (VCR), comprising:

integrating a plurality of repositories into the VCR so that individual repositories appear and behave as a single repository to an application;

storing the information in the VCR so that the information is accessible through a logical namespace that encompasses the plurality of repositories; and

transitioning the information through a set of states according to a lifecycle definition;

wherein the information includes at least one of content and schema information.

2. The method of claim 1 wherein transitioning the information through a set of states according to a lifecycle definition includes:

transitioning the information from a first state to at least one other state when there is a transition defined between the first state and the at least one other state.

3. The method of claim 2, further comprising:

skipping the at least one other state if a user or a process is in a superior role to a role associated with the transition.

4. The method of claim 2 wherein transitioning the information from a first state to at least one other state when there is a transition defined between the first state and the at least one other state includes:

constraining the transition to at least one of;

a user, a group of users, a role, and a capability.

5. The method of claim 2, further comprising:

performing an action associated with a state in the set of states or a transition between two states in the set of states.

6. The method of claim 5 further comprising:

constraining the action by at least one of;

a policy and a role.

7. The method of claim 5 wherein:

the action includes one of;

a function/method call, a remote procedure call inter-process communication,intra-process communication interfacing with a hardware device, checking the information into/out of version control, processing the information, providing a notification to a user.

8. The method of claim 1 wherein transitioning the information through a set of states according to a lifecycle definition includes:

initiating a transition between states by a user or a process.

9. The method of claim 1, further comprising:

maintaining a version history to track changes to the information.

10. The method of claim 1 wherein the step of integrating includes:

integrating with a service provider interface (SPI) that is compatible with the VCR.

11. The method of claim 1 wherein:

the lifecycle is nested in another lifecycle.

12. A system for providing a lifecycle for information, comprising:

a virtual information repository (VCR);

a plurality of repositories integrated into the VCR so that individual repositories appear and behave as a single repository to an application; and

a lifecycle definition defining a set of states through which the information transitions;

wherein the information is accessible through a logical namespace that encompasses the plurality of repositories; and

wherein the information includes at least one of;

content and schema information.

13. The system of claim 12 wherein:

the information transitions from a first state to at least one other state where there is a transition between the first state and the at least one other state.

14. The system of claim 13 wherein:

the at least one other state is skipped if a user or a process is in a superior role to a role associated with the transition.

15. The system of claim 13 wherein:

the transition is constrained to at least one of;

a user, a group of users, a role, and a capability.

16. The system of claim 13 wherein:

an action associated with a state in the set of states or a transition between two states in the set of states is performed.

17. The system of claim 16 wherein:

the action is constrained by at least one of;

a policy and a role.

18. The system of claim 16 wherein:

the action includes one of;

a function/system call, a remote procedure call, inter-process communication, intra-process communication, interfacing with a hardware device, checking the information into/out of version control, processing the information, providing a notification to a user.

19. The system of claim 12 wherein:

a state transition is initiated by a user or a process.

20. The system of claim 12, further comprising:

a version history to track changes to the information.

21. The system of claim 12, further comprising:

a service provider interface (SPI) that is compatible with the VCR.

22. The system of claim 12 wherein:

the lifecycle is nested in another lifecycle.

23. A machine readable medium having instructions stored thereon that when executed by one or more processors cause a system to:

integrate a plurality of repositories into a virtual content repository (VCR) so that individual repositories appear and behave as a single repository to an application;

store information in the VCR, so that the information is accessible through a logical namespace that encompasses the plurality of repositories; and

transition the information through a set of states according to a lifecycle definition;

wherein the information includes at least one of;

content and schema information.

24. The machine readable medium of claim 23 wherein the instructions that when executed cause the system to transition the information through a set of states according to a lifecycle definition include instructions that when executed cause the system to:

transition the information from a first state to at least one other state when there is a transition defined between the first state and the at least one other state.

25. The machine readable medium of claim 24, further comprising instructions that when executed cause the system to:

skip the at least one other state if a user or a process is in a superior role to a role associated with the transition.

26. The machine readable medium of claim 24 wherein the instructions that when executed cause the system to transition the information from a first state to at least one other state where there is a transition defined between the first state and the at least one other state include instructions that when executed cause the system to:

constrain the transition to at least one of;

a user, a group of users, a role, and a capability.

27. The machine readable medium of claim 24, further comprising instructions that when executed cause the system to:

perform an action associated with a state in the set of states or a transition between two states in the set of states.

28. The machine readable medium of claim 27 further comprising instructions that when executed cause the system to:

constrain the action by at least one of;

a policy and a role.

29. The machine readable medium of claim 27 wherein:

the action includes one of;

a function/method call, a remote procedure call, inter-process communication, intra-process communication, interfacing with a hardware device, checking the information into/out of version control, processing the information, providing a notification to a user.

30. The machine readable medium of claim 23 wherein the instructions that when executed cause the system to transition the information through a set of states according to a lifecycle definition include instructions that when executed cause the system to:

initiate a transition between states by a user or a process.

31. The machine readable medium of claim 23, further comprising instructions that when executed cause the system to:

maintain a version history to track changes to the information.

32. The machine readable medium of claim 23 further comprising instructions that when executed cause the system to:

integrate with a service provider interface (SPI) that is compatible with the VCR.

33. The machine readable medium of claim 23 wherein:

the lifecycle is nested in another lifecycle.

34. A method for transmitting code over a transmission medium, comprising:

transmitting a code segment including instructions to integrate a plurality of repositories into a virtual content repository (VCR) so that individual repositories appear and behave as a single repository to an application;

transmitting a code segment including instructions to store information in the VCR, so that the information is accessible through a logical namespace that encompasses the plurality of repositories; and

;

transmitting a code segment including instructions to transition the information through a set of states according to a lifecycle definition; and

wherein the information includes at least one of;

content and schema information.