System and method for storing and retrieving a field of a user defined type outside of a database store in which the type is defined
First Claim
1. In a computer system comprising a processing unit and memory and in which an object that is an instance of a user defined type comprising a plurality of fields is persisted in a database stored in said memory, wherein the data of at least one field of the object is stored in said memory outside of the database as a file within a file system of the computer system and the other fields of the object are stored within the database, and wherein the file that contains the data of said at least one field can be accessed either via the database or via an application programming interface of the file system, a computer-implemented method comprising:
- intercepting, by a component executing on said processing unit, a call from an application to the application programming interface of the file system to open the file in which the data of said at least one field of the object is stored in said memory, wherein the call identifies the field of the object by its identity within the database;
determining, by said component executing on said processing unit, from the database whether the application has permission to access the data of the field of the object identified in said call; and
invoking, by said component executing on said processing unit, the application programming interface of the file system to open the file only if the application has permission to do so.
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Accused Products
Abstract
In a database system that supports user-defined types, one or more fields of a user-defined type may be designated as containing data that is to be stored as a file outside of a database store, separate from the other fields of the type which are stored within the database. Instead of being stored within the database, the data in such a designated field of an instance of the user-defined type is stored as a file within the file system of a computer. Applications are provided “out of band” access, via the file system of the computer, to the file in which the data of such a field is stored outside the database store. A component of the system intercepts file system open requests and checks security against the database store before allowing the open request to proceed. The component also notifies the database when file system close requests are received.
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Citations
19 Claims
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1. In a computer system comprising a processing unit and memory and in which an object that is an instance of a user defined type comprising a plurality of fields is persisted in a database stored in said memory, wherein the data of at least one field of the object is stored in said memory outside of the database as a file within a file system of the computer system and the other fields of the object are stored within the database, and wherein the file that contains the data of said at least one field can be accessed either via the database or via an application programming interface of the file system, a computer-implemented method comprising:
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intercepting, by a component executing on said processing unit, a call from an application to the application programming interface of the file system to open the file in which the data of said at least one field of the object is stored in said memory, wherein the call identifies the field of the object by its identity within the database; determining, by said component executing on said processing unit, from the database whether the application has permission to access the data of the field of the object identified in said call; and invoking, by said component executing on said processing unit, the application programming interface of the file system to open the file only if the application has permission to do so. - View Dependent Claims (2, 3, 4, 5, 6, 7)
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8. A computer-readable storage medium having instructions stored thereon for use in a computer system in which an object that is an instance of a user defined type comprising a plurality of fields is persisted in a database, wherein the data of at least one field of the object is stored outside of the database as a file within a file system of the computer system and the other fields of the object are stored within the database, and wherein the file that contains the data of said at least one field can be accessed either via the database or via an application programming interface of the file system, the instructions, when executed by the computer system, causing the computer system to:
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intercept a call from an application to the application programming interface of the file system to open the file in which the data of said at least one field of the object is stored, wherein the call identifies the field of the object by its identity within the database; determine from the database whether the application has permission to access the data of the field of the object identified in said call; and invoke the application programming interface of the file system to open the file only if the application has permission to do so. - View Dependent Claims (9, 10, 11, 12, 13, 14)
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15. A computer system comprising:
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a processor; a file system having an application programming interface; a database executing on the processor that stores an object that is an instance of a user defined type comprising a plurality of fields, wherein the database stores the data of at least one field of the object outside of the database as a file within the file system of the computer system and stores the other fields of the object within the database, and wherein the file that contains the data of said at least one field can be accessed either via the database or via the application programming interface of the file system; a component executing on the processor and programmatically interfaced to both the database and the file system, the component operating to (i) intercept a call from an application to the application programming interface of the file system to open the file in which the data of said at least one field of the object is stored, wherein the call identifies the field of the object by its identity within the database, (ii) determine from the database whether the application has permission to access the data of the field of the object identified in said call, and (iii) invoke the application programming interface of the file system to open the file only if the application has permission to do so. - View Dependent Claims (16, 17, 18, 19)
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Specification