Mobile data management using association table

• US 7,831,554 B2
• Filed: 08/31/2005
• Issued: 11/09/2010
• Est. Priority Date: 08/31/2005
• Status: Active Grant

• Current Assignee: SAP SE
• Original Assignee: SAP AG (SAP SE)
• Inventors: Ludwig, Hans-Martin, Schreter, Ivan
• Primary Examiner(s): Wong; Leslie
• Application Number:
  US11/215,871
• Publication Number:
  US 20070049246A1
• Time in Patent Office: 1,896 Days
• Field of Search: 707/610, 707/621, 707/999.107, 707/999.201, 455/502
• US Class Current: 707/621
• CPC Class Codes: G06F 9/465 Distributed object oriented systems remote method invocation [RMI] G06F9/548
• CPC Class Codes: H04W 4/08 User group management

Abstract

Middleware for mobile data management may include an association table and a message store. The middleware may operate to receive a business object instance from a backend system, determine one or more mobile devices associated with the business object instance, associate the business object instance with the one or more mobile devices and with an insert state in an association table, and associate, in the association table, the business object instance and the one or more mobile devices with a full-state message in the message store.

Claims

1. A method comprising:

receiving, from a backend system by middleware, a business object instance;

determining, by the middleware, one or more mobile devices associated with the business object instance, the one or more mobile devices not being continuously connected in communication with the backend system;

associating, by the middleware, the business object instance with the one or more mobile devices and with an insert state in an association table, the insert state indicating a full-state message of the business object instance is to be transmitted to the one or more mobile devices upon a synchronization of the one or more mobile devices and the full-state message being a complete instantiation of the business object;

associating, in the association table by the middleware, the business object instance and the one or more mobile devices with a full-state message in a message store;

receiving, by the middleware from one of the one or more mobile devices, an instruction to synchronize the back end system with the one of the one or more mobile devices; and

for each business object instance associated with the one of the one or more mobile devices in the association table;

determining, by the middleware, a state associated with the business object instance and with the one of the one or more mobile devices in the association table;

in an instance it is determined the insert state is associated with the one of the one or more mobile devices and the business object instance in the association table, transmitting the full-state message associated with the one of the one or more mobile devices and the business object instance to the one of the one or more mobile devices; and

in an instance it is determined an update state is associated with the one of the one or more mobile devices and the business object instance in the association table, transmitting an update message associated with the business object instance and the one of the one or more mobile devices to the one of the one or more mobile devices.

2. The method according to Claim 1, further comprising:

storing, by the middleware, a message identifier in the association table;

storing, by the middleware, the message identifier in the message store; and

associating, by the middleware, the full-state message with the message identifier in the message store.

3. The method according to claim 1, further comprising:

receiving, by the middleware, an update to the business object instance;

determining, by the middleware, a second one or more mobile devices associated with the business object instance; and

for each one of the second one or more mobile devices;

determining, by the middleware, a state associated with the business object instance and with the one of the second one or more mobile devices in the association table;

an instance the business object instance and the one of the second one or more mobile devices are associated with a current state in the association table, associating the business object instance and the one of the second one or more mobile devices with an update state and an update message data in the association table;

an instance the business object instance and the one of the second one or more mobile devices are associated with the update state in the association table, associating the business object instance and the one of the second one or more mobile devices with the update message data in the association table; and

an instance the business object instance and the one of the second one or more mobile devices are associated with the insert state in the association table, associating, in the association table ,the business object instance and the one of the second one or more mobile devices with a new full-state message of the message store.

4. The method according to claim 3, further comprising:

receiving, by the middleware, an instruction to synchronize with one of the second one or more mobile devices; and

for each business object instance associated with the one of the second one or more mobile devices in the association table;

determining, by the middleware, a state associated with the business object instance and with the one of the second one or more mobile devices in the association table;

an instance the insert state is associated with the one of the second one or more mobile devices and the business object instance in the association table, transmitting the new full-state message to the one of the second one or more mobile devices; and

an instance the update state is associated with the one of the second one or more mobile devices and the business object instance in the association table, transmitting the update message associated with the business object instance and the one of the second one or more mobile devices to the one of the second one or more mobile devices.

5. The method according to claim 1, further comprising:

receiving, by the middleware, an instruction to remove the business object instance from the one or more mobile devices;

associating, by the middleware, the business object instance and the one or more mobile devices with a remove state in the association table;

receiving, by the middleware from one of the one or more mobile devices, an instruction to synchronize with the one of the one or more mobile devices;

determining, by the middleware, that the one of the one or more mobile devices and the business object instance are associated with the remove state in the association table;

transmitting, from the middleware, an instruction to remove the business object instance from the one of the one or more mobile devices; and

removing, by the middleware, the association between the one of the one or more mobile devices and the business object instance from the association table.

6. The method according to claim 5, further comprising:

decrementing, by the middleware, a reference count associated with the business object instance and the one mobile device in the association table; and

removing, by the middleware, the association between the one mobile device and the business object instance from the association table if the reference count equals zero.

7. The method according to claim 1, further comprising:

associating, by the middleware, each business object instance of the association table with a respective flag, the flag to indicate whether data associated with a respective business object instance is missing from middleware; and

determining, by the middleware, whether any of the flags indicate that data associated with a respective business object instance is missing from middleware.

8. The method according to claim 1, further comprising:

regenerating, by the middleware, data for one of the one or more mobile devices by;

associating, by the middleware, all business object instances associated with the one of the one or more mobile devices and with the update state or a current state in the association table with the insert state; and

removing, by the middleware, all business object instances associated with the one of the one or more mobile devices and with a remove state or a delete state in the association table.

9. The system comprising:

middleware comprising an association table and a message store, the middleware to;

receive a business object instance from a backend system;

determine one or more mobile devices associated with the business object instance, the one or more mobile devices not being continuously connected in communication with the backend system;

associate the business object instance with the one or more mobile devices and with an insert state in an association table, the insert state indicating a full-state message of the business object instance is to be transmitted to the one or more mobile devices upon a synchronization of the one or more mobile devices and the full-state message being a complete instantiation of the business object;

associate, in the association table, the business object instance and the one or more mobile devices with a full-state message in the message store;

receive from one of the one or more mobile devices, an instruction to synchronize the backend system with the one of the one or more mobile devices; and

for each business object instance associated with the one of the one or more mobile devices in the association table;

determine a state associated with the business object instance and with the one of the one or more mobile devices in the association table;

in an instance it is determined the insert state is associated with the one of the one or more mobile devices and the business object instance in the association table, transmit the full-state message associated with the one of the one or more mobile devices and the business object instance to the one of the one or more mobile devices; and

in an instance it is determined an update state is associated with the one of the one or more mobile devices and the business object instance in the association table, transmit an update message associated with the business object instance and the one of the one or more mobile devices to the one of the one or more mobile devices.

10. The system according to Claim 9, the middleware further to:

store a message identifier in the association table;

store the message identifier in the message store; and

associate the full-state message with the message identifier in the message store.

11. The system according to claim 9, the middleware further to:

receive an update to the business object instance;

determine a second one or more mobile devices associated with the business object instance; and

for each one of the second one or more mobile devices;

determine a state associated with the business object instance and with the one of the second one or more mobile devices in the association table;

in an instance the business object instance and the one of the second one or more mobile devices are associated with a current state in the association table, associate the business object instance and the one of the second one or more mobile devices with an update state and an update message data in the association table;

in an instance the business object instance and the one of the second one or more mobile devices are associated with the update state in the association table, associate the business object instance and the one of the second one or more mobile devices with the update message data in the association table; and

in an instance the business object instance and the one of the second one or more mobile devices are associated with the insert state in the association table, associate, in the association table ,the business object instance and the one of the second one or more mobile devices with a new full-state message of the message store.

12. The system according to claim 11, the middleware further to:

receive an instruction to synchronize with one of the second one or more mobile devices; and

for each business object instance associated with the one of the second one or more mobile devices in the association table;

determine a state associated with the business object instance and with the one of the second one or more mobile devices in the association table;

in an instance the insert state is associated with the one of the second one or more mobile devices and the business object instance in the association table, transmit the new full-state message to the one of the second one or more mobile devices; and

in an instance the update state is associated with the one of the second one or more mobile devices and the business object instance in the association table, transmit the update message associated with the business object instance and the one of the second one or more mobile devices to the one of the second one or more mobile devices.

13. The system according to claim 9, the middleware further to:

receive an instruction from the backend system to remove the business object instance from the one or more mobile devices;

associate the business object instance and the one or more mobile devices with a remove state in the association table;

receive a second instruction to synchronize with one of the one or more mobile devices;

determine that the one mobile device and the business object instance are associated with the remove state in the association table; and

remove the association between the one mobile device and the business object instance from the association table.

14. The system according to claim 13, the middleware further to:

decrement a reference count associated with the business object instance and the one mobile device the association table; and

remove the association between the one mobile device and the business object instance from the association table if the reference count equals zero.

15. The system according to claim 9, the middleware further to:

associate each business object instance of the association table with a respective flag, the flag to indicate whether data associated with a respective business object instance is missing from middleware; and

determine whether any of the flags indicate that data associated with a respective business object instance is missing from middleware.

16. The system according to claim 9, the middleware further to:

regenerate data for one of the one or more mobile devices by;

association of all business object instances associated with the one mobile device and with the update state or a current state in the association table with the insert state; and

removal of all business object instances associated with the one of the one or more mobile devices and with a remove state or a delete state in the association table.

17. A computer-readable medium storing program code, the program code comprising:

code to receive a business object instance from a backend system by middleware;

code to determine, by the middleware, one or more mobile devices associated with the business object instance, the one or more mobile devices not being continuously connected in communication with the backend system;

code to associate, by the middleware, the business object instance with the one or more mobile devices and with an insert state in an association table, the insert state indicating a full-state message of the business object instance is to be transmitted to the one or more mobile devices upon a synchronization of the one or more mobile devices and the full-state message being a complete instantiation of the business object;

code to associate, by the middleware, in the association table, the business object instance and the one or more mobile devices with a full-state message in the message store;

code to receive, by the middleware, from one of the one or more mobile devices, an instruction to synchronize the backend system with the one of the one or more mobile devices; and

for each business object instance associated with the one of the one or more mobile devices in the association table;

code to determine, by the middleware, a state associated with the business object instance and with the one of the one or more mobile devices in the association table;

code to, in an instance it is determined the insert state is associated with the one of the one or more mobile devices and the business object instance in the association table, transmit the full-state message associated with the one of the one or more mobile devices and the business object instance to the one of the one or more mobile devices; and

code to, in an instance it is determined an update state is associated with the one of the one or more mobile devices and the business object instance in the association table, transmit an update message associated with the business object instance and the one of the one or more mobile devices to the one of the one or more mobile devices.

18. The computer-readable medium according to claim 17, the program code further comprising:

code to store, by the middleware, a message identifier in the association table;

code to store, by the middleware, the message identifier in the message store; and

code to associate, by the middleware, the full-state message with the message identifier in the message store.

19. The computer-readable medium according to claim 17, the program code further comprising:

code to receive, by the middleware, an update to the business object instance;

code to determine, by the middleware, a second one or more mobile devices associated with the business object instance; and

for each one of the second one or more mobile devices;

code to determine, by the middleware, a state associated with the business object instance and with the one of the second one or more mobile devices in the association table;

code to associate, in an instance the business object instance and the one of the second one or more mobile devices are associated with a current state in the association table, the business object instance and the one of the second one or more mobile devices with an update state and an update message data in the association table;

code to associate, in an instance the business object instance and the one of the second one or more mobile devices are associated with the update state in the association table, the business object instance and the one of the second one or more mobile devices with the update message data in the association table; and

code to associate in the association table, in an instance the business object instance and the one of the second one or more mobile devices are associated with the insert state in the association table, the business object instance and the one of the second one or more mobile devices with a new full-state message of the message store.

20. The computer-readable medium according to claim 19, the program code further comprising:

code to receive, by the middleware, an instruction to synchronize with one of the second one or more mobile devices; and

for each business object instance associated with the one of the second one or more mobile devices in the association table;

code to determine, by the middleware, a state associated with the business object instance and with the one of the second one or more mobile devices in the association table;

code to transmit, in an instance the insert state is associated with the one of the second one or more mobile devices and the business object instance in the association table, the new full-state message to the one of the second one or more mobile devices; and

code to transmit, in an instance the update state is associated with the one of the second one or more mobile devices and the business object instance in the association table, the update message associated with the business object instance and the one of the second one or more mobile devices to the one of the second one or more mobile devices.

21. The computer-readable medium according to claim 17, the program code further comprising:

code to receive, by the middleware, an instruction from the backend system to remove the business object instance from the one or more mobile devices;

code to associate, by the middleware, the business object instance and the one or more mobile devices with a remove state in the association table;

code to receive, by the middleware, a second instruction to synchronize with one of the one or more mobile devices;

code to determine, by the middleware, that the one mobile device and the business object instance are associated with the remove state in the association table; and

code to remove, by the middleware, the association between the one mobile device and the business object instance from the association table.

22. The computer-readable medium according to claim 21, the program code further comprising:

code to decrement, by the middleware, a reference count associated with the business object instance and the one mobile device the association table; and

code to remove, by the middleware, the association between the one mobile device and the business object instance from the association table if the reference count equals zero.

23. The computer-readable medium according to claim 17, the program code further comprising:

code to associate, by the middleware, each business object instance of the association table with a respective flag, the flag to indicate whether data associated with a respective business object instance is missing from middleware; and

code to determine, by the middleware, whether any of the flags indicate that data associated with a respective business object instance is missing from middleware.

24. The computer-readable medium according to claim 17, the program code further comprising:

code to regenerate, by the middleware, data for one of the one or more mobile devices by associating all business object instances associated with the one mobile device and with the update state or a current state in the association table with the insert state, and removing all business object instances associated with the one of the one or more mobile devices and with a remove state or a delete state in the association table.