Signature serialization

• US 7,404,186 B2
• Filed: 05/28/2003
• Issued: 07/22/2008
• Est. Priority Date: 05/28/2003
• Status: Expired due to Fees

• Current Assignee: Microsoft Technology Licensing LLC (Microsoft Corporation)
• Original Assignee: Microsoft Corporation
• Inventors: Massarenti, Davide
• Primary Examiner(s): An; Meng-Ai
• Assistant Examiner(s): Anya; Charles E
• Application Number:
  US10/448,171
• Publication Number:
  US 20040244012A1
• Time in Patent Office: 1,882 Days
• Field of Search: 707/203, 709231-237, 715/737, 715/738, 715/740, 715/749, 717/170, 718/106, 719/311, 719/328, 719/330, 719/331, 719/332
• US Class Current: 719/311
• CPC Class Codes: G06F 9/4493 Object persistence

Abstract

One or more electronically-accessible media including electronically-executable instructions that direct an apparatus to perform actions including: inserting a type signature tag into a serialized binary blob to serialize an object, the type signature tag including a type signature based on an object type of the object; and transmitting the serialized binary blob. An arrangement including: a signature table having multiple entries, each respective entry of the multiple entries associating a respective object type with a respective type signature, each respective type signature created responsive to a structural representation of the respective object type associated therewith. An apparatus including: one or more media having electronically-executable instructions; and one or more processors capable of executing the electronically-executable instructions to perform actions including: receiving a serialized binary blob; and deserializing an object by extracting a type signature from the serialized binary blob, the type signature derivable from an object type of the object.

Claims

1. One or more electronically-accessible storage media comprising electronically-executable instructions that, when executed, direct an electronic apparatus to perform actions comprising:

creating a type signature (i) using a hashing algorithm and based on an object type, the hashing algorithm comprising determining whether a field type of the object type is an atomic type and inserting information from the field into a binary blob to serialize the object without inserting a prefix corresponding to the field type, and (ii) using a type name of the object type and a prefix corresponding to a value field of the object type;

responsive to the determining of the hashing algorithm, inserting the type signature and an index into the binary blob to serialize an object, the type signature comprising the type signature based on the object type of the object, the index indicating a location of the object in a duplicate table; and

transmitting the serialized binary blob.

2. The one or more electronically-accessible storage media comprising the electronically-executable instructions that, when executed, direct an electronic apparatus to perform the actions as recited in claim 1, wherein the action of creating comprises the action of:

applying a hashing function that comprises a cyclic redundancy code with 32 bits (CRC

     32).

3. The one or more electronically-accessible storage media comprising the electronically-executable instructions that, when executed, direct an electronic apparatus to perform the actions as recited in claim 1, wherein the action of creating comprises the action of:

converting the type name of the object type to numerals using Unicode Transformation Format-8 (UTF-8).

4. The one or more electronically-accessible storage media as recited in claim 1, wherein the electronically-executable instructions, when executed, direct an electronic apparatus to perform a further action comprising:

creating the type signature using a type name of a predecessor object type of the object type.

5. The one or more electronically-accessible storage media as recited in claim 1, wherein the electronically-executable instructions, when executed, direct an electronic apparatus to perform further actions comprising:

inserting a prefix for a field into the serialized binary blob to serialize the object, the prefix corresponding to a particular element type of the field; and

inserting, after the prefix, information from the field.

6. The one or more electronically-accessible storage media as recited in claim 1, wherein the electronically-executable instructions, when executed, direct an electronic apparatus to perform further actions comprising:

receiving a clarification request that comprises another type signature;

accessing a signature table using the another type signature;

ascertaining, responsive to the accessing, a structural representation of another object type that is associated with the another type signature; and

transmitting, responsive to the receiving, the structural representation of the another object type.

7. An apparatus comprising:

one or more storage media, the one or more storage media including electronically-executable instructions; and

one or more processors, the one or more processors capable of executing the electronically-executable instructions to perform actions comprising;

creating a type signature (i) using a hashing algorithm and based on an object type, the hashing algorithm comprising determining whether a field type of the object type is an atomic type and inserting information from the field into a binary blob to serialize the object without inserting a prefix corresponding to the field type, and (ii) using a type name of the object type and a prefix corresponding to a value field of the object type;

serializing an object by inserting the type signature and an index into a the binary blob, the object corresponding to the object type, the index indicating a location of the object in a duplicate table; and

transmitting the serialized binary blob.

8. The apparatus as recited in claim 7 wherein the type signature is further created responsive to a structural representation of the object type of the object.

9. The apparatus as recited in claim 7 wherein the action of transmitting comprises the action of:

transmitting the serialized binary blob over a communications channel from an originating entity.

10. The apparatus as recited in claim 7 wherein the action of serializing comprises the action of:

serializing a plurality of objects of a graph of objects by inserting a respective type signature into the serialized binary blob for each respective object of the plurality of objects, each respective type signature created responsive to each respective object type of each respective object of the plurality of objects.

11. The apparatus as recited in claim 7 wherein the one or more processors are capable of executing the electronically-executable instructions to perform further actions comprising:

accessing a signature table using the object type of the object; and

ascertaining the type signature, which is associated with the object type, from the accessing.

12. The apparatus as recited in claim 7 wherein the one or more processors are capable of executing the electronically-executable instructions to perform a further action comprising:

providing an explanation of another object type in response to receiving a clarification inquiry that comprises another type signature, the another type signature associated with the another object type.

13. An apparatus having a processor comprising:

a signature table having a plurality of entries, each respective entry of the plurality of entries associating a respective object type with a respective type signature, each respective type signature created (i) using a hashing algorithm and responsive to the associated respective object type, the hashing algorithm comprising determining whether a field type of the object type is an atomic type and inserting information from the field into a binary blob to serialize the object without inserting a prefix corresponding to the field type, and (ii) based on a type name of the respective object type and a prefix corresponding to a value field of the respective object type; and

a serializer that serializes a graph of objects using at least one of the plurality of entries in the signature table and an index, the serializer inserting the index into the binary blob, the index indicating a location of the object in a duplicate table.

14. The apparatus as recited in claim 13 wherein the graph of objects includes multidimensional linkages between and/or among objects of the graph of objects;

and wherein the serializer is adapted to transform the graph of objects into a serialized bit stream.

15. The apparatus as recited in claim 13 wherein the serializer is adapted to access the signature table using a particular object type of a particular object being serialized and to thereby ascertain a particular type signature that is associated with the particular object type.

16. The apparatus as recited in claim 15 wherein the serializer is further adapted to insert the particular type signature into a serialized bit stream.

17. The apparatus as recited in claim 13 wherein the serializer is adapted to recursively serialize objects of the graph of objects when the objects are referenced by other objects of the graph of objects.

18. The apparatus as recited in claim 13 wherein the serializer is adapted to omit prefixes for objects of object types that are implied by their relative position in a serialized bit stream produced by the serializer.

19. A system comprising a processor for serializing a graph of objects, the system comprising:

creation means for creating a signature table from a type system, the signature table having a plurality of entries, each respective entry of the plurality of entries associating a respective object type of the type system with a respective type signature, each respective type signature created (i) using a hashing algorithm and responsive to the associated respective object type, the hashing algorithm comprising determining whether a field type of the object type is an atomic type and inserting information from the field into a binary blob to serialize the object without inserting a prefix corresponding to the field type, and (ii) based on a type name of the respective object type and a prefix corresponding to a value field of the respective object type; and

serialization means for serializing the graph of objects using the entries found in the signature table and an index to produce a serialized binary blob table, the serialization means inserting the index into the serialized binary blob, the index indicating a location of the object in a signature duplicate table.

20. The arrangement system as recited in claim 19 wherein the signature table comprises data structure means for providing a respective type signature that is associated with each respective object type of each object of the graph of objects.

21. One or more electronically-accessible storage media comprising electronically-executable instructions that, when executed, direct an electronic apparatus to perform actions comprising:

creating a type signature (i) using a hashing algorithm and based on an object type, the hashing algorithm comprising determining whether a field type of the object type is an atomic type and inserting information from the field into a binary blob to serialize an object without inserting a prefix corresponding to the field type, and (ii) responsive to a type name of the object type and a prefix corresponding to a value field of the object type;

creating an index, the index indicating a location of the object in a duplicate table;

serializing the binary blob with the type signature and the index;

sending the serialized binary blob;

receiving the serialized binary blob; and

extracting;

a type signature, an index from the serialized binary blob to deserialize an object in the serialized binary blob, the type signature comprising the type signature based on the object type of the object, and information for a deserialized field from the serialized binary blob to deserialize the object without extracting a prefix corresponding to the object type.

22. The one or more electronically-accessible storage media comprising the electronically-executable instructions that, when executed, direct an electronic apparatus to perform the actions as recited in claim 21 wherein the action of creating comprises applying a hashing function that comprises a cyclic redundancy code with 32 bits (CRC 32).

23. The one or more electronically-accessible storage media comprising the electronically-executable instructions that, when executed, direct an electronic apparatus to perform the actions as recited in claim 21 wherein the action of creating comprises converting the type name of the object type to numerals using Unicode Transformation Format-8 (UTF-8).

24. The one or more electronically-accessible storage media as recited in claim 21 wherein the electronically-executable instructions, when executed, direct an electronic apparatus to perform a further action comprising:

creating the type signature responsive to a type name of a predecessor object type of the object type.

25. The one or more electronically-accessible storage media as recited in claim 21 wherein the electronically-executable instructions, when executed, direct an electronic apparatus to perform further actions comprising:

extracting a prefix for a field from the serialized binary blob to deserialize the object, the prefix corresponding to a particular element type of the field; and

extracting, after the prefix, information for the field.

26. The one or more electronically-accessible storage media as recited in claim 21 wherein the electronically-executable instructions, when executed, direct an electronic apparatus to perform further actions comprising:

accessing a signature table with reference to a received type signature;

determining, responsive to the accessing, that the received type signature is not associated with any object type in the signature table;

transmitting a clarification request that includes the received type signature; and

receiving, after the transmitting, the structural representation of a particular object type, the received type signature created based on the particular object type.

27. An apparatus comprising:

one or more storage media, the one or more storage media including electronically-executable instructions; and

one or more processors, the one or more processors capable of executing the electronically-executable instructions to perform actions comprising;

creating a type signature (i) using a hashing algorithm and based on an object type, the hashing algorithm comprising determining whether a field type of the object type is an atomic type and inserting information from the field into a binary blob to serialize the object without inserting a prefix corresponding to the field type, and (ii) responsive to a type name of the object type and a prefix corresponding to a value field of the object type;

creating an index, the index indicating a location of the object in a signature table;

serializing the binary blob with the type signature and the index;

sending the serialized binary blob;

receiving a serialized binary blob; and

deserializing an object by extracting the type signature and index from the serialized binary blob, the object corresponding to the object type.

28. The apparatus as recited in claim 27 wherein the type signature is further derivable from a structural representation of the object type of the object.

29. The apparatus as recited in claim 27 wherein the action of receiving comprises receiving the serialized binary blob via a communications channel at a destination entity.

30. The apparatus as recited in claim 27 wherein the action of deserializing comprises the action of:

deserializing a plurality of objects to produce a new graph of objects by extracting a respective type signature from the serialized binary blob for each respective object of the plurality of objects, each respective type signature derivable from each respective object type of each respective object of the plurality of objects.

31. The apparatus as recited in claim 27 wherein the one or more processors are capable of executing the electronically-executable instructions to perform a further action comprising:

deserializing another object by extracting an index from the serialized binary blob, the index indicating a location of the object in a duplicate table, the another object referencing the object.

32. The apparatus as recited in claim 27 wherein the one or more processors are capable of executing the electronically-executable instructions to perform further actions comprising:

accessing a signature table using the type signature; and

ascertaining the object type, which is associated with the type signature, from the accessing.

33. The apparatus as recited in claim 27 wherein the one or more processors are capable of executing the electronically-executable instructions to perform a further action comprising:

receiving a definition of another object type responsive to a transmitted clarification inquiry that specified another type signature, the another type signature associated with the another object type.

34. An apparatus having a processor comprising:

a signature table having a plurality of entries, each respective entry of the plurality of entries associating a respective object type with a respective type signature and an index, wherein the index indicates a location of the object type in the signature table, each respective type signature created (i) using a hashing algorithm and responsive to the associated respective object type, the hashing algorithm comprising determining whether a field type of the object type is an atomic type and inserting information from the field into a binary blob to serialize the object without inserting a prefix corresponding to the field type, and (ii) based on a type name of the respective object type and a prefix corresponding to a value field of the respective object type; and

a deserializer that deserializes a serialized bit stream using at least one of the plurality of entries in the signature table and the index.

35. The apparatus as recited in claim 34 wherein the deserializer is adapted to transform the serialized bit stream into a new graph of objects;

and wherein the new graph of objects includes multidimensional linkages between objects of the new graph of objects.

36. The apparatus as recited in claim 34 wherein the deserializer is adapted to access the signature table using a particular type signature of a particular object being deserialized and to thereby ascertain a particular object type that is associated with the particular type signature.

37. The apparatus as recited in claim 36 wherein the deserializer is further adapted to extract the particular type signature from the serialized bit stream.

38. The apparatus as recited in claim 34 wherein the deserializer is adapted to recursively deserialize objects of the serialized bit stream when the objects reference other objects in the serialized bit stream.

39. The apparatus as recited in claim 34 wherein the deserializer is adapted to extract information of objects without extracting prefixes for the objects of object types that are implied by their relative position in the serialized bit stream.

40. A system having a processor for deserializing a serialized binary blob, the system comprising:

creation means for creating a signature table from a type system, the signature table having a plurality of entries, each respective entry of the plurality of entries associating a respective object type of the type system with a respective type signature and an index indicating a location of the object in the signature table, each respective type signature created (i) using a hashing algorithm and responsive to the associated respective object type, the hashing algorithm comprising determining whether a field type of the object type is an atomic type and extracting information for a field from the serialized blob wherein the field in the serialized blob does not have a corresponding prefix corresponding to the field type, and (ii) based on a type name of the respective object type and a prefix corresponding to a value field of the respective object type; and

deserialization means for deserializing the serialized binary blob using at least one of the plurality of entries in the signature table to produce a new graph of objects.

41. The system as recited in claim 40 wherein the signature table comprises data structure means for providing a respective object type that is associated with a respective type signature extracted from the serialized binary blob by the deserialization means.