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System and method for providing user defined aggregates in a database system

  • US 7,376,656 B2
  • Filed: 02/10/2004
  • Issued: 05/20/2008
  • Est. Priority Date: 02/10/2004
  • Status: Expired due to Fees
First Claim
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1. A method for allowing users to define new aggregates in a database system, comprising:

  • receiving code that instantiates an object of a class defining the structure of a user-defined aggregate and methods that can be invoked on instances of the user-defined aggregate; and

    enforcing a contract against the class so that the code, when executed at runtime, satisfies requirements of the contract to ensure desired execution thereof, the contract requiring that the class comprise a first method that is invoked to initialize the computation of an instance of the user-defined aggregate, a second method that is invoked to accumulate a plurality of values to be aggregated, and a third method that is invoked to compute a final result of the instance of the user-defined aggregate, the contract further comprising a requirement that the class specify one of a plurality of different formats which describes how instances of the user-defined aggregate are to be persisted in a database store, wherein the plurality of different formats which describe how instances of the user-defined aggregate are to be persisted in the database store comprises;

    a first format in which an instance of the user-defined aggregate is automatically serialized in accordance with a native format of the database system; and

    a second format in which an instance of the user-defined aggregate is serialized in a manner defined by the class.

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