Index maintenance for operations involving indexed XML data
First Claim
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1. A method for maintaining an index for extensible markup language (XML) documents, the method comprising the steps of:
- updating an XML document in response to a request to perform a piece-wise operation involving one or more nodes of the XML document, wherein the XML document is one of a plurality of XML documents indexed by said index, wherein a piece-wise operation is an operation that specifies a strict subset of the XML document and that only modifies the strict subset of the XML document, wherein the piece-wise operation modifies a node that currently exists in the XML document; and
in response to updating the XML document, modifying the index to reflect changes, made to the XML document, that were specified by the piece-wise operation, without altering entries of the index for any nodes other than the one or more nodes involved in the piece-wise operation;
wherein the step of modifying the index includes modifying an index entry that corresponds to the node;
wherein, prior to updating the XML document, the index includes one or more index entries for nodes of the XML document that are not involved in the piece-wise operation;
wherein the one or more index entries for the nodes of the XML document that are not involved in the piece-wise operation are not modified in response to updating the XML document;
wherein modifying the index involves storing changes to a computer-readable storage medium.
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Abstract
A method and system are provided for maintaining an XML index in response to piece-wise modifications on indexed XML documents. The database server that manages the XML index determines which nodes are involved in the piece-wise modifications, and updates the XML index based on only those nodes. Index entries for nodes not involved in the piece-wise modifications remain unchanged.
182 Citations
14 Claims
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1. A method for maintaining an index for extensible markup language (XML) documents, the method comprising the steps of:
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updating an XML document in response to a request to perform a piece-wise operation involving one or more nodes of the XML document, wherein the XML document is one of a plurality of XML documents indexed by said index, wherein a piece-wise operation is an operation that specifies a strict subset of the XML document and that only modifies the strict subset of the XML document, wherein the piece-wise operation modifies a node that currently exists in the XML document; and in response to updating the XML document, modifying the index to reflect changes, made to the XML document, that were specified by the piece-wise operation, without altering entries of the index for any nodes other than the one or more nodes involved in the piece-wise operation; wherein the step of modifying the index includes modifying an index entry that corresponds to the node; wherein, prior to updating the XML document, the index includes one or more index entries for nodes of the XML document that are not involved in the piece-wise operation; wherein the one or more index entries for the nodes of the XML document that are not involved in the piece-wise operation are not modified in response to updating the XML document; wherein modifying the index involves storing changes to a computer-readable storage medium. - View Dependent Claims (2, 3, 4, 5, 6, 7)
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8. A computer-readable storage medium carrying instructions for maintaining an index for extensible markup language (XML) documents, wherein the instructions, when executed by one or more processors, cause the one or more processors to perform the steps of:
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updating an XML document in response to a request to perform a piece-wise operation involving one or more nodes of the XML document, wherein the XML document is one of a plurality of XML documents indexed by said index, wherein a piece-wise operation is an operation that specifies a strict subset of the XML document and that only modifies the strict subset of the XML document, wherein the piece-wise operation modifies a node that currently exists in the XML document; and in response to updating the XML document, modifying the index to reflect changes, made to the XML document, that were specified by the piece-wise operation, without altering entries of the index for any nodes other than the one or more nodes involved in the piece-wise operation; wherein the step of modifying the index includes modifying an index entry that corresponds to the node; wherein, prior to updating the XML document, the index includes one or more index entries for nodes of the XML document that are not involved in the piece-wise operation; wherein the one or more index entries for the nodes of the XML document that are not involved in the piece-wise operation are not modified in response to updating the XML document; wherein modifying the index involves storing changes to a computer-readable storage medium. - View Dependent Claims (9, 10, 11, 12, 13, 14)
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Specification