Data packaging system and method

• US 7,970,801 B1
• Filed: 01/21/2005
• Issued: 06/28/2011
• Est. Priority Date: 01/21/2004
• Status: Active Grant

• Current Assignee: CA, Inc. (d/b/a CA Technologies) (Broadcom, Inc.)
• Original Assignee: Computer Associates Think Inc. (Broadcom, Inc.)
• Inventors: Lee, Patrick R., Bodine, Gregory L., Defrang, Bruce A.
• Primary Examiner(s): Kim; Charles
• Assistant Examiner(s): CHEUNG, HUBERT G
• Application Number:
  US11/040,146
• Time in Patent Office: 2,349 Days
• Field of Search: None
• US Class Current: 707/809
• CPC Class Codes: G06F 9/541 via adapters, e.g. between incompatible applications

Abstract

A method for communicating data includes selecting a portion of data for communication to a remote computer with the data portion in device-dependent format and comprising at least an integer, a real number, or a binary value. A portable buffer is generated based on the selected data portion, the portable buffer comprising at least one device-independent data representation. The portable buffer is communicated to the remote computer for processing the data portion in a second device-dependent format.

Claims

1. A method for communicating data, comprising:

receiving a dataset to communicate from a first computing device that executes a first operating system to a second computing device that executes a second operating system, wherein the first operating system encodes one or more data values in the received dataset using a first device-dependent format different from and incompatible with a second device-dependent format that the second operating system uses to encode the one or more data values;

transforming, at the first computing device, the one or more data values in the received dataset from the first device-dependent format associated with the first operating system into an intermediate device-independent format, wherein the transforming the one or more data values from the first device-dependent format into the intermediate device-independent format includes;

initializing a data tree that includes a logical hierarchy to organize the one or more data values in the received dataset;

parsing the received dataset into the one or more data values, wherein the one or more data values in the parsed received dataset are associated with one or more data types; and

populating the initialized data tree with the one or more data values in the parsed received dataset, wherein the populating the initialized data tree includes;

determining one or more handles and one or more positions associated with the one or more data values in the parsed received dataset, wherein the one or more determined handles combined with the one or more determined positions represent logical locations that the one or more data values have in the logical hierarchy associated with the initialized data tree;

associating the one or more data values in the parsed received dataset with one or more identifiers and the one or more data types;

converting the one or more data values from the first device-dependent format into the intermediate device-independent format; and

inserting the one or more converted data values, the one or more associated identifiers, and the one or more associated data types into the initialized data tree at the logical locations that the one or more converted data values have in the initialized data tree, thereby populating the initialized data tree; and

communicating a portable buffer that packages the populated initialized data tree from the first computing device to the second computing device, wherein the second computing device, in response to receiving the communicated portable buffer from the first computing device;

receives a request to retrieve the one or more converted data values from an application executing on the second operating system;

retrieves the one or more converted data values from the logical locations that the one or more converted data values have in the populated initialized data tree in response to the received request from the application;

converts the one or more converted data values retrieved from the populated initialized data tree from the intermediate device-independent format into the second device-dependent format to process the one or more converted data values in response to the received request from the application; and

communicates the one or more converted data values converted into the second device-dependent format to the application, wherein the application processes the one or more converted data values converted into the second device-dependent format without having to further convert the one or more converted data values to another format.

2. The method of claim 1, wherein the intermediate device-independent format comprises a UTF-8 encoded string format and the one or more converted data values inserted into the initialized data tree have the UTF-8 encoded string format.

3. The method of claim 2, wherein the one or more associated identifiers comprise UTF-8 character string identifiers and the communicated portable buffer comprises the one or more converted data values having the UTF-8 encoded string format and the UTF-8 character string identifiers having the UTF-8 encoded string format.

4. The method of claim 1, further comprising packaging the populated initialized data tree into the portable buffer prior to communicating the portable buffer to the second computing device.

5. The method of claim 4, wherein the portable buffer that packages the populated initialized data tree comprises a contiguous buffer.

6. The method of claim 1, wherein the initializing the data tree that includes the logical hierarchy to organize the one or more data values in the received dataset includes:

determining whether the first computing device has enough available memory to store the one or more data values in the received dataset;

allocating the memory on the first computing device to initialize the data tree in response to determining that the first computing device has enough available memory to store the one or more data values in the received dataset; and

queuing a request to await freed memory on the first computing device in response to determining that the first computing device does not have enough available memory to store the one or more data values in the received dataset, wherein the first computing device allocates the memory to initialize the data tree in response to having enough available or freed memory to store the one or more data values in the received dataset.

7. The method of claim 6, further comprising automatically freeing the memory allocated to the populated initialized data tree on the first computing device in response to communicating the portable buffer that packages the populated initialized data tree to the second computing device.

8. The method of claim 1, wherein the second computing device, in response to receiving the communicated portable buffer from the first computing device, further:

determines one or more parameters that the application includes in the request to identify the logical locations that the one or more converted data values have in the populated initialized data tree; and

navigates to the identified logical locations that the one or more converted data values have in the populated initialized data tree with the one or more determined parameters included in the request to retrieve the one or more converted data values from the logical locations that the one or more converted data values have in the populated initialized data tree.

9. A non-transitory computer readable storage medium having one or more computer-executable instructions stored thereon which when executed by one or more processors cause the one or more processors to:

receive a dataset to communicate from a first computing device that executes a first operating system to a second computing device that executes a second operating system, wherein the first operating system encodes one or more data values in the received dataset using a first device-dependent format different from and incompatible with a second device-dependent format that the second operating system uses to encode the one or more data values;

transform, at the first computing device, the one or more data values in the received dataset from the first device-dependent format associated with the first operating system into an intermediate device-independent format, wherein the one or more computer-executable instructions that cause the one or more processors to transform the one or more data values from the first device-dependent format into the intermediate device-independent format further cause the one or more processors to;

initialize a data tree that includes a logical hierarchy to organize the one or more data values in the received dataset;

parse the received dataset into the one or more data values, wherein the one or more data values in the parsed received dataset are associated with one or more data types; and

populate the initialized data tree with the one or more data values in the parsed received dataset, wherein the one or more computer-executable instructions that cause the one or more processors to populate the initialized data tree with the one or more data values further cause the one or more processors to;

determine one or more handles and one or more positions associated with the one or more data values in the parsed received dataset, wherein the one or more determined handles combined with the one or more determined positions represent logical locations that the one or more data values have in the logical hierarchy associated with the initialized data tree;

associate the one or more data values in the parsed received dataset with one or more identifiers and the one or more data types;

convert the one or more data values from the first device-dependent format into the intermediate device-independent format; and

insert the one or more converted data values, the one or more associated identifiers, and the one or more associated data types into the initialized data tree at the logical locations that the one or more converted data values have in the initialized data tree, thereby populating the initialized data tree; and

communicate a portable buffer that packages the populated initialized data tree from the first computing device to the second computing device, wherein the second computing device, in response to receiving the communicated portable buffer from the first computing device;

receives a request to retrieve the one or more data values from an application executing on the second operating system;

retrieves the one or more converted data values from the logical locations that the one or more converted data values have in the populated initialized data tree in response to the received request from the application;

converts the one or more converted data values retrieved from the populated initialized data tree from the intermediate device-independent format into the second device-dependent format to process the one or more converted data values in response to the received request from the application; and

communicates the one or more converted data values converted into the second device-dependent format to the application, wherein the application processes the one or more converted data values converted into the second device-dependent format without having to further convert the one or more converted data values to another format.

10. The non-transitory computer readable storage medium of claim 9, wherein the intermediate device-independent format comprises a UTF-8 encoded string format and the one or more converted data values inserted into the initialized data tree have the UTF-8 encoded string format.

11. The non-transitory computer readable storage medium of claim 10, wherein the one or more associated identifiers comprise UTF-8 character string identifiers and the communicated portable buffer comprises the one or more converted data values having the UTF-8 encoded string format and the UTF-8 character string identifiers having the UTF-8 encoded string format.

12. The non-transitory computer readable storage medium of claim 9, wherein the one or more computer-executable instructions further cause the one or more processors to package the populated initialized data tree into the portable buffer prior to communicating the portable buffer to the second computing device.

13. The non-transitory computer readable storage medium of claim 12, wherein the portable buffer that packages the populated initialized data tree comprises a contiguous buffer.

14. The non-transitory computer readable storage medium of claim 9, wherein the one or more computer-executable instructions that cause the one or more processors to initialize the data tree further cause the one or more processors to:

determine whether the first computing device has enough available memory to store the one or more data values in the received dataset;

allocate the memory on the first computing device to initialize the data tree in response to determining that the first computing device has enough available memory to store the one or more data values in the received dataset; and

queue a request to await freed memory on the first computing device in response to determining that the first computing device does not have enough available memory to store the one or more data values in the received dataset, wherein the one or more processors allocate the memory to initialize the data tree in response to the first computing device having enough available or freed memory to store the one or more data values in the received dataset.

15. The non-transitory computer readable storage medium of claim 14, wherein the one or more computer-executable instructions further cause the one or more processors to automatically free the memory allocated to the populated initialized data tree on the first computing device in response to communicating the portable buffer that packages the populated initialized data tree to the second computing device.

16. The non-transitory computer readable storage medium of claim 9, wherein the second computing device, in response to receiving the communicated portable buffer from the first computing device, further:

determines one or more parameters that the application includes in the request to identify the logical locations that the one or more converted data values have in the populated initialized data tree; and

navigates to the identified logical locations that the one or more converted data values have in the populated initialized data tree with the one or more determined parameters included in the request to retrieve the one or more converted data values from the logical locations that the one or more converted data values have in the populated initialized data tree.

17. A system for communicating data, comprising:

a first computing device configured to execute a first operating system that encodes data using a first device-dependent format;

a second computing device configured to execute a second operating system that encodes data using a second device-dependent format different from and incompatible with the first device-dependent format;

one or more processors configured to;

receive a dataset to communicate from the second computing device to the first computing device, wherein the received dataset includes one or more data values encoded in the second device-dependent format associated with the second operating system;

transform, at the second computing device, the one or more data values in the received dataset from the second device-dependent format associated with the second operating system into an intermediate device-independent format, wherein to transform the one or more data values into the intermediate device-independent format, the one or more processors are further configured to;

initialize a data tree that includes a logical hierarchy to organize the one or more data values in the received dataset;

parse the received dataset into the one or more data values, wherein the one or more data values in the parsed received dataset are associated with one or more data types; and

populate the initialized data tree with the one or more data values in the parsed received dataset, wherein to populate the initialized data tree, the one or more processors are further configured to;

determine one or more handles and one or more positions associated with the one or more data values in the parsed received dataset, wherein the one or more determined handles combined with the one or more determined positions represent logical locations that the one or more data values have in the logical hierarchy associated with the initialized data tree;

associate the one or more data values in the parsed received dataset with one or more identifiers and the one or more data types;

convert the one or more data values from the second device-dependent format to the intermediate device-independent format; and

insert the one or more converted data values, the one or more associated identifiers, and the one or more associated data types into the initialized data tree at the logical locations that the one or more converted data values have in the initialized data tree, thereby populating the initialized data tree; and

communicate a portable buffer that packages the populated initialized data tree from the second computing device to the first computing device, wherein the first computing device, in response to receiving the communicated portable buffer from the second computing device, is further configured to;

receive a request to retrieve the one or more converted data values in the populated initialized data tree from an application executing on the first operating system;

retrieve the one or more converted data values from the logical locations that the one or more converted data values have in the populated initialized data tree in response to the received request from the application;

convert the one or more converted data values retrieved from the populated initialized data tree from the intermediate device-independent format into the first device-dependent format to process the one or more converted data values in response to the received request from the application; and

communicate the one or more converted data values converted into the first device-dependent format to the application, wherein the application processes the one or more converted data values converted into the first device-dependent format without having to further convert the one or more converted data values to another format.

18. The system of claim 17, wherein the intermediate device-independent format comprises a UTF-8 encoded string format and the one or more converted data values inserted into the initialized data tree have the UTF-8 encoded string format.

19. The system of claim 18, wherein the one or more associated identifiers comprise UTF-8 character string identifiers and the communicated portable buffer comprises the one or more converted data values having the UTF-8 encoded string format and the UTF-8 character string identifiers values having the UTF-8 encoded string format.

20. The system of claim 17, wherein the one or more processors are further configured to package the populated initialized data tree into the portable buffer prior to communicating the portable buffer to the first computing device.

21. The system of claim 20, wherein the portable buffer that packages the populated initialized data tree comprises a contiguous buffer.

22. The system of claim 17, wherein to initialize the data tree, the one or more processors are further configured to:

determine whether the second computing device has enough available memory at to store the one or more data values in the received dataset;

allocate the memory on the second computing device to initialize the data tree in response to determining that the second computing device has enough available memory to store the one or more data values in the received dataset; and

queue a request to await freed memory on the second computing device in response to determining that the second computing device does not have enough available memory to store the one or more data values in the received dataset, wherein the one or more processors allocate the memory to initialize the data tree in response to the second computing device having enough available or freed memory to store the one or more data values in the received dataset.

23. The system of claim 22, wherein the one or more processors are further configured to automatically free the memory allocated to the populated initialized data tree on the second computing device in response to communicating the portable buffer that packages the populated initialized data tree to the first computing device.

24. The system of claim 17, wherein the first computing device, in response to receiving the communicated portable buffer from the second computing device, is further configured to:

determine one or more parameters that the application includes in the request to identify the logical locations that the one or more converted data values have in the populated initialized data tree; and

navigate to the identified logical locations that the one or more converted data values have in the populated initialized data tree with the one or more determined parameters included in the request to retrieve the one or more converted data values from the logical locations that the one or more converted data values have in the populated initialized data tree.