Processing queries against one or more markup language sources

• US 7,668,806 B2
• Filed: 09/22/2004
• Issued: 02/23/2010
• Est. Priority Date: 08/05/2004
• Status: Active Grant

• Current Assignee: Oracle International Corporation (Oracle Corporation)
• Original Assignee: Oracle International Corporation (Oracle Corporation)
• Inventors: Yu, Qin, Kotsovolos, Susan M., Warner, James, Zhang, Hui X., Manikutty, Anand, Arora, Vikas, Lu, Ying, Muthiah, Karuna, Krishnaprasad, Muralidhar, Liu, Zhen Hua
• Primary Examiner(s): Wong; Don
• Assistant Examiner(s): Hwa; Shyue Jiunn
• Application Number:
  US10/948,536
• Publication Number:
  US 20060031204A1
• Time in Patent Office: 1,980 Days
• Field of Search: None
• US Class Current: 1/1
• CPC Class Codes: G06F 16/2471 Distributed queries
• CPC Class Codes: G06F 16/8365 Query optimisation
• CPC Class Codes: Y10S 707/99933 Query processing, i.e. searching

Abstract

Techniques are provided for processing a query, including receiving the query, where the query specifies certain operations to be performed, including (a) a first set of one or more operations that are to be performed on a markup language data source and (b) a second set of one or more operations that are to be performed on a second data source. Then it is determined that a first server that manages the markup language data source is capable of performing the first set of operations. A request is sent to the first server to perform the first set of operations. A response is received, where the response contains results of performing the first set of operations on the markup language data source. Finally, results are generated for the query based at least in part on the results of performing the first set of operations.

Claims

1. A method of processing a query, comprising the computer-implemented steps of:

receiving the query, wherein the query specifies certain operations to be performed, wherein the certain operations comprise a first set of one or more operations that are to be performed on a markup language data source;

wherein the first set of one or more operations includes a second set of one or more operations;

determining that the first set of one or more operations can be performed at any one of a plurality of entities;

wherein the plurality of entities includes one or more of an XML database server, a relational database server, and a middle-tier engine;

generating a plurality of execution plans for executing the query, wherein the plurality of execution plans include;

a first execution plan indicating a first entity at which the second set of one or more operations are to be performed; and

a second execution plan indicating a second entity at which the second set of one or more operations are to be performed;

selecting, based on a particular set of criteria, a particular execution plan from the plurality of execution plans;

wherein selecting the particular execution plan from the plurality of execution plans comprises one or more of;

selecting the particular execution plan based at least in part on costs determined for the plurality of execution plans; and

selecting the particular execution plan by using one or more rules to determine which execution plan, of the plurality of execution plans, to use for executing the query;

wherein the selected particular execution plan indicates a first server at which the second set of one or more operations are to be performed;

determining that a third set of one or more operations are to be performed at the middle-tier engine, wherein the first set of one or more operations include all operations in the third set of one or more operations, and the third set of one or more operations include no operation that are in the second set of one or more operations;

sending a request to the first server to perform the second set of one or more operations;

receiving a response to the request, wherein the response contains results of performing the second set of one or more operations on the markup language data source; and

generating results for the query based at least in part on the results of performing the second set of one or more operations;

wherein the steps of generating the plurality of execution plans and selecting the particular execution plan are performed by one or more computing devices.

2. The method of claim 1, wherein selecting based on the particular set of criteria comprises:

determining a first set of costs associated with performing the first set of one or more operations at the first server;

determining a second set of costs associated with performing the first set of one or more operations at the middle-tier engine; and

wherein the particular set of criteria comprises the first set of costs and the second set of costs.

3. The method of claim 1, wherein selecting based on the particular set of criteria comprises determining, based on the one or more rules, that the second set of one or more operations are to be performed at the first server.

4. The method of claim 3, wherein selecting based on the one or more rules comprises determining that the first server is capable of performing all of the certain operations;

and wherein the second set of one or more operations comprises all operations in the first set of one or more operations, and the first set of one or more operations comprises all of the certain operations.

5. The method of claim 1, wherein the second set of one or more operations comprises fewer than all operations in the first set of one or more operations.

6. The method of claim 1, wherein the particular set of criteria comprise an indication that first server is capable of performing the second set of one or more operations.

7. The method of claim 1, wherein the certain operations comprise a fourth set of one or more operations that are to be performed on a second data source;

and wherein the method further comprises;

determining that a second server associated with the second data source is capable of performing the fourth set of one or more operations;

sending a second request to the second server to perform the fourth set of one or more operations;

receiving a second response to the second request, wherein the second response comprises results of performing the fourth set of one or more operations on the second data source; and

wherein the generating step comprises generating results for the query based at least in part on the results of performing the first set of one or more operations and the results of performing the fourth set of one or more operations.

8. The method of claim 1, wherein the markup language data source is an XML data source and the first server is capable of processing at least one of XQuery, XQueryX, and XPath formats.

9. The method of claim 1, wherein the certain operations comprise a fourth set of one or more operations that are to be performed on a second data source;

and wherein the second data source is a relational database.

10. The method of claim 1, wherein the certain operations comprise a fourth set of one or more operations that are to be performed on a second data source;

and wherein the second data source is a second markup language data source.

11. The method of claim 1, wherein the first server is an SQL/XML enabled database server;

and wherein sending the request to the first server comprises sending the second set of one or more operations to the first server in the form of an SQL statement with embedded XML Query operations.

12. The method of claim 11, wherein the SQL statement with embedded XML Query operations comprises an SQL statement utilizing an XMLTable construct.

13. The method of claim 11, wherein the SQL statement with embedded XML Query operations comprises the second set of one or more operations indicated in an argument of an XMLQuery statement.

14. The method of claim 1, wherein the certain operations comprise a fourth set of one or more operations that are to be performed on a second data source;

and wherein the method further comprises;

determining that the first set of one or more operations requires results from the fourth set of one or more operations;

retrieving data related to the fourth set of one or more operations from the second data source; and

wherein the request sent to the first server comprises the data related to the fourth set of one or more operations from the second data source; and

wherein the results of performing the first set of one or more operations on the markup language data source are based at least in part on the first server performing the fourth set of one or more operations on the data related to the fourth set of one or more operations from the second data source.

15. The method of claim 1, wherein the certain operations comprise a fourth set of one or more operations that are to be performed on a second data source;

and wherein the method further comprises;

determining that the first set of one or more operations require results from the fourth set of one or more operations;

retrieving data related to the fourth set of one or more operations from the second data source; and

performing, at the middle-tier engine, the fourth set of one or more operations on the data related to the fourth set of one or more operations, wherein the middle-tier engine is distinct from the first server; and

wherein the request sent to the first server comprises the results of the middle-tier engine performing the fourth set of one or more operations; and

wherein the results of performing the first set of one or more operations on the markup language data source are based at least in part on the results of the middle-tier engine performing the fourth set of one or more operations on the data related to the fourth set of one or more operations.

16. The method of claim 1, wherein the certain operations comprise a fourth set of one or more operations that are to be performed on a second data source;

and wherein the method further comprises;

determining that the first server is capable of performing the fourth set of one or more operations;

determining that the first set of one or more operations require results from the fourth set of one or more operations;

retrieving data related to the fourth set of one or more operations from the second data source; and

performing a cost calculation to determine whether to request that the first server performs the fourth set of one or more operations;

based at least in part on the cost calculation, performing one of;

including the data related to the fourth set of one or more operations in the request sent to the first server; and

performing, at the middle-tier engine, the fourth set of one or more operations on the data related to the fourth set of one or more operations; and

including, in the request sent to the first server, the results of the middle-tier engine performing the fourth set of one or more operations on the data related to the fourth set of one or more operations.

17. The method of claim 1, wherein the first set of one or more operations are included in the query in an XQuery format.

18. The method of claim 1, wherein the first set of one or more operations are included in the query in an XQueryX format.

19. The method of claim 1, wherein the first set of one or more operations are included in the query at least in part in an XPath format.

20. The method of claim 1, wherein the markup language data source is an XML data source.

21. The method of claim 1, wherein the first server comprises an XQuery enabled database server.

22. The method of claim 1, wherein the first server comprises an XQueryX-enabled database.

23. The method of claim 1, wherein the first server comprises an XPath enabled database.

24. The method of claim 1, wherein the step of generating results for the query comprises generating results in a markup language associated with the markup language data source.

25. The method of claim 1, wherein the step of generating results for the query comprises generating results in one or more of plain text, binary, and compressed forms.

26. The method of claim 1, wherein the certain operations comprise a fourth set of one or more operations that are to be performed on a second data source;

and wherein the markup language data source is separate from the second data source.

27. The method of claim 1, wherein the certain operations comprise a fourth set of one or more operations that are to be performed on a second data source;

and wherein the second data source comprises the markup language data source.

28. The method of claim 1, wherein the certain operations comprise a fourth set of one or more operations that are to be performed on a second data source;

and wherein the first server is implemented as part of a second server that manages the second data source.

29. The method of claim 1, wherein the certain operations comprise a fourth set of one or more operations that are to be performed on a second data source;

and wherein the first server is implemented separately from a second server that manages the second data source.

30. The method of claim 1 wherein at least one execution plan, of the plurality of execution plans, indicates an order in which multiple entities of the plurality of entities are to perform respective multiple subsets of said certain operations.

32. A machine-readable storage medium storing one or more sequences of instructions which, when executed by one or more processors, causes the one or more processors to perform the method recited in claim 1.

33. A machine-readable storage medium storing one or more sequences of instructions which, when executed by one or more processors, causes the one or more processors to perform the method recited in claim 2.

34. A machine-readable storage medium storing one or more sequences of instructions which, when executed by one or more processors, causes the one or more processors to perform the method recited in claim 3.

35. A machine-readable storage medium storing one or more sequences of instructions which, when executed by one or more processors, causes the one or more processors to perform the method recited in claim 4.

36. A machine-readable storage medium storing one or more sequences of instructions which, when executed by one or more processors, causes the one or more processors to perform the method recited in claim 5.

37. A machine-readable storage medium storing one or more sequences of instructions which, when executed by one or more processors, causes the one or more processors to perform the method recited in claim 6.

38. A machine-readable storage medium storing one or more sequences of instructions which, when executed by one or more processors, causes the one or more processors to perform the method recited in claim 7.

39. A machine-readable storage medium storing one or more sequences of instructions which, when executed by one or more processors, causes the one or more processors to perform the method recited in claim 8.

40. A machine-readable storage medium storing one or more sequences of instructions which, when executed by one or more processors, causes the one or more processors to perform the method recited in claim 9.

41. A machine-readable storage medium storing one or more sequences of instructions which, when executed by one or more processors, causes the one or more processors to perform the method recited in claim 10.

42. A machine-readable storage medium storing one or more sequences of instructions which, when executed by one or more processors, causes the one or more processors to perform the method recited in claim 11.

43. A machine-readable storage medium storing one or more sequences of instructions which, when executed by one or more processors, causes the one or more processors to perform the method recited in claim 12.

44. A machine-readable storage medium storing one or more sequences of instructions which, when executed by one or more processors, causes the one or more processors to perform the method recited in claim 13.

45. A machine-readable storage medium storing one or more sequences of instructions which, when executed by one or more processors, causes the one or more processors to perform the method recited in claim 14.

46. A machine-readable storage medium storing one or more sequences of instructions which, when executed by one or more processors, causes the one or more processors to perform the method recited in claim 15.

47. A machine-readable storage medium storing one or more sequences of instructions which, when executed by one or more processors, causes the one or more processors to perform the method recited in claim 16.

48. A machine-readable storage medium storing one or more sequences of instructions which, when executed by one or more processors, causes the one or more processors to perform the method recited in claim 17.

49. A machine-readable storage medium storing one or more sequences of instructions which, when executed by one or more processors, causes the one or more processors to perform the method recited in claim 18.

50. A machine-readable storage medium storing one or more sequences of instructions which, when executed by one or more processors, causes the one or more processors to perform the method recited in claim 19.

51. A machine-readable storage medium storing one or more sequences of instructions which, when executed by one or more processors, causes the one or more processors to perform the method recited in claim 20.

52. A machine-readable storage medium storing one or more sequences of instructions which, when executed by one or more processors, causes the one or more processors to perform the method recited in claim 21.

53. A machine-readable storage medium storing one or more sequences of instructions which, when executed by one or more processors, causes the one or more processors to perform the method recited in claim 22.

54. A machine-readable storage medium storing one or more sequences of instructions which, when executed by one or more processors, causes the one or more processors to perform the method recited in claim 23.

55. A machine-readable storage medium storing one or more sequences of instructions which, when executed by one or more processors, causes the one or more processors to perform the method recited in claim 24.

56. A machine-readable storage medium storing one or more sequences of instructions which, when executed by one or more processors, causes the one or more processors to perform the method recited in claim 25.

57. A machine-readable storage medium storing one or more sequences of instructions which, when executed by one or more processors, causes the one or more processors to perform the method recited in claim 26.

58. A machine-readable storage medium storing one or more sequences of instructions which, when executed by one or more processors, causes the one or more processors to perform the method recited in claim 27.

59. A machine-readable storage medium storing one or more sequences of instructions which, when executed by one or more processors, causes the one or more processors to perform the method recited in claim 28.

60. A machine-readable storage medium storing one or more sequences of instructions which, when executed by one or more processors, causes the one or more processors to perform the method recited in claim 29.

61. A machine-readable storage medium storing one or more sequences of instructions which, when executed by one or more processors, causes the one or more processors to perform the method recited in claim 30.

31. A method of processing a query, comprising the computer-implemented steps of:

receiving the query, wherein the query specifies certain operations to be performed, wherein the certain operations comprise (a) a first set of one or more operations that are to be performed on a markup language data source and (b) a second set of one or more operations that are to be performed on a second data source that is different than the markup language data source;

determining that the first set of one or more operations and the second set of one or more operations cannot be preformed by a single database server;

generating a plurality of execution plans for executing the query, wherein the plurality of execution plans include;

a first execution plan indicating that the first set of one or more operations are to be performed at a first server; and

a second execution plan indicating that the first set of one or more operations are to be performed at a second server;

selecting, based on a particular set of criteria, the first execution plan from the plurality of execution plans;

wherein selecting the first execution plan from the plurality of execution plans comprises one or more of;

selecting the first execution plan based at least in part on costs determined for the plurality of execution plans; and

selecting the first execution plan by using one or more rules to determine which execution plan, of the plurality of execution plans, to use for executing the query;

determining that a third set of one or more operations are to be performed at a middle-tier engine, wherein the second set of one or more operations include all operations in the third set of one or more operations, and the third set of one or more operations include no operation that are in the first set of one or more operations;

sending a request to the first server to perform the first set of one or more operations;

receiving a response to the request, wherein the response contains results of performing the first set of one or more operations on the markup language data source; and

generating results for the query based at least in part on the results of performing the first set of one or more operations; and

wherein the steps of generating the plurality of execution plans and selecting the first execution plan are performed by one or more computing devices.

62. A machine-readable storage medium storing one or more sequences of instructions which, when executed by one or more processors, causes the one or more processors to perform the method recited in claim 31.