Method and system for performing operations on data using XML streams

• US 7,296,263 B1
• Filed: 12/12/2002
• Issued: 11/13/2007
• Est. Priority Date: 12/12/2002
• Status: Expired due to Fees

• Current Assignee: F5 Networks, Inc. (F5 Incorporated)
• Original Assignee: F5 Networks, Inc. (F5 Incorporated)
• Inventors: Jacob, Arun T.
• Primary Examiner(s): STEELMAN, MARY J
• Application Number:
  US10/318,649
• Time in Patent Office: 1,797 Days
• Field of Search: 717/107, 717/136, 717/143, 717/147, 715/760, 715/513, 709/246
• US Class Current: 717/143
• CPC Class Codes: G06F 40/143 Markup, e.g. Standard Generalized Markup Language [SGML] or Document Type Definition [DTD]
• CPC Class Codes: G06F 40/149 Adaptation of the text data for streaming purposes, e.g. Efficient XML Interchange [EXI] format

Abstract

The present invention provides a method and system for performing operations on data using XML streams. An XML schema defines a limited set of operations that may be performed on data. These operations include addition, subtraction, multiplication and division. The operations are placed in an XML stream that conforms to the XML schema. The XML stream may perform one or more of the defined operations on the data. The limited set of operations allows data to be validated and processed without excessive overhead.

Claims

1. A method for using an extensible markup language (XML) stream for at least one of operating on and using data in which the XML stream is defined according to a an XML schema, comprising:

providing an XML stream with one or more portions defining a restrictive set of arithmetic operations that may be performed on data wherein the restrictive set of arithmetic operations include operative steps defined in an XML schema, wherein the operative steps comprising one or more of addition, subtraction, multiplication, and division;

incorporating an operation that includes at least one of the operative steps into an XML stream that conforms to the XML schema;

passing the XML stream to an operation parser, the operation parser performing processes including;

receiving the XML stream;

receiving the data;

applying the restrictive set of arithmetic operations included in the XML stream to the data to reduce the overall amount of content included in the data; and

output a result of applying the XML stream to the data as modified data.

2. The method in claim 1, wherein applying the XML stream to the data further comprises performing the operation on operands associated with the data.

3. The method in claim 2, further comprising defining element types in the XML schema, wherein each of the operands is one of the defined element types.

4. The method in claim 3, wherein the element types comprises operations, data, dataset, and real numbers.

5. The method in claim 3, wherein one of the operands is a dataset element having data units.

6. The method in claim 5, further comprising:

defining a pre-operation for performing on the data units, wherein the pre-operation includes pre-operative steps consisting of addition, subtraction, multiplication, and division; and

performing the pre-operation on the data units before performing the operation on the operand.

7. The method in claim 6, wherein the pre-operation is restricted to addition.

8. A computer-readable storage medium storing a data structure corresponding to a schema that describes one or more functional relationships amongst information represented in the schema, the medium comprising:

an extensible markup language (XML) schema expressed as an XML stream with one or more portions defining one or more of a restrictive set of arithmetic operations that may be performed on wherein the restrictive set of arithmetic operations defining operative steps for incorporating into an operation within the XML stream, wherein the operative steps comprise one or more of addition, subtraction, multiplication, and division; and

instructions for passing the XML stream to an operational parser and directing the operational parser to;

receive the data;

apply the one or more of the restrictive set of arithmetic operations to the data; and

output a result of applying the XML stream to the data as modified data, the overall amount of content included in the modified data being less when the restrictive set of arithmetic operations are included.

9. The computer-readable medium of claim 8, wherein the operation is performed on operands associated with data.

10. The computer-readable medium of claim 9, wherein the XML schema further defines element types, wherein each of the operands is one of the defined element types.

11. The computer-readable medium of claim 10, wherein the element types comprise operations, data, dataset, and real numbers.

12. The computer-readable medium of claim 11, wherein one of the operands is a dataset element having data units.

13. The computer-readable medium of claim 12, wherein the XML schema further defines a pre-operation for performing on the data units, wherein the pre-operation includes preoperative steps consisting of addition, subtraction, multiplication, and division.

14. The computer-readable medium of claim 13, wherein the pre-operation is restricted to addition.

15. A method for using an extensible markup language (XML) parser for operating on and using data corresponding to an XML schema, comprising:

receiving data that is to be at least one of operated on and used;

expressing an XML schema as an XML stream;

receiving the XML stream containing computer executable instructions, which are interpreted by one or more processing systems to define a restrictive set of operative steps of arithmetic operations that may be performed on data;

parsing the computer executable instructions to obtain the operative steps defined in the XML schema, wherein the operative steps comprise one or more of addition, subtraction, multiplication and division, and are included in the XML stream to reduce the overall amount of content in the data; and

executing one or more of the operative steps on the data in the XML stream to reduce the overall amount of content in the data to yield modified data.

16. The method in claim 15, wherein the operative steps are performed on operands associated with the data.

17. The method in claim 16, wherein each operand is of one of element types defined by the XML schema.

18. The method in claim 17, wherein the element types include operations, data, dataset, and real numbers.

19. The method in claim 18, wherein one of the operands is a dataset element that includes data units.

20. The method in claim 19, wherein the XML schema further defines pre-operative steps for performing on the data units, wherein the pre-operative steps consist of addition, subtraction, multiplication, and division.

21. The method in claim 20, wherein the pre-operative steps are restricted to addition.

22. A system for operating on data and using data corresponding to an extensible markup language (XML) schema, comprising:

a data source providing data;

an XML source producing an XML stream from the XML schema, the XML stream including with one or more portions defining a restrictive set of arithmetic operations that may be performed on content in XML data, the restrictive set of arithmetic operations defining one or more operative steps in the XML schema, wherein the operative steps comprise one or more of addition, subtraction, multiplication, and division; and

a parser;

receiving the data from the data source;

receiving the XML stream;

applying the one or more operative steps included in the XML stream to the data; and

outputting modified data in which the overall amount of content in the modified data is reduced as compared to the data.