Inventory and configuration management
First Claim
1. A computer-implemented method for inventory control and configuration management, the method comprising:
- receiving, at an information processing device configured to manage a plurality of software components where each software component has a non-uniform way of representing its metadata that configures the software component, a textual description of a simplest aggregate that configures a software component in the plurality of software components for execution, the simplest aggregate being an atomic entity aggregatable in another aggregate and identifying at least an executable and a set of parameters for the executable, the textual description of the simplest aggregate expressed according to a description schema modeling all activities handled by the information processing device that is different from the way the software component represents its metadata;
receiving, at the information processing device, an instance schema for the simplest aggregate, the instance schema describing how to form instances of the simplest aggregate;
generating, with a processor associated with the information processing device, an instance of the simplest aggregate based on the textual description of the simplest aggregate and the instance schema for the simplest aggregate;
storing the instance in a memory associated with the first information processing device;
determining, with the processor associated with the information processing device, one or more values for each parameter in the set of parameters;
storing the one or more values for each parameter in the instance of the simplest aggregate; and
configuring the software component with the processor associated with the information processing device based on the instance of the simplest aggregate and metadata for the software component that configures the software component.
1 Assignment
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Accused Products
Abstract
A schema is provided that describes specific executables and parameters. Relationships between the executables and parameters are also defined. The schema is provided to represent SCM and IM tasks uniformly. Information regarding a specific component is represented by the schema. The schema may then be used to describe metadata for specific components. For example, the schema provides information for components such as how the component is comprised (its parts), its relationship to other components (i.e., dependencies), its parameters, the parameters'"'"' constraints and dependencies, etc. This provides a universal framework that is independent of specific component and can be used for SCM as well as for IM.
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Citations
21 Claims
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1. A computer-implemented method for inventory control and configuration management, the method comprising:
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receiving, at an information processing device configured to manage a plurality of software components where each software component has a non-uniform way of representing its metadata that configures the software component, a textual description of a simplest aggregate that configures a software component in the plurality of software components for execution, the simplest aggregate being an atomic entity aggregatable in another aggregate and identifying at least an executable and a set of parameters for the executable, the textual description of the simplest aggregate expressed according to a description schema modeling all activities handled by the information processing device that is different from the way the software component represents its metadata; receiving, at the information processing device, an instance schema for the simplest aggregate, the instance schema describing how to form instances of the simplest aggregate; generating, with a processor associated with the information processing device, an instance of the simplest aggregate based on the textual description of the simplest aggregate and the instance schema for the simplest aggregate; storing the instance in a memory associated with the first information processing device; determining, with the processor associated with the information processing device, one or more values for each parameter in the set of parameters; storing the one or more values for each parameter in the instance of the simplest aggregate; and configuring the software component with the processor associated with the information processing device based on the instance of the simplest aggregate and metadata for the software component that configures the software component. - View Dependent Claims (2, 3, 4, 5, 6, 7)
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8. An information storage medium having a plurality of instructions adapted to direct an information processing device to perform inventory control and configuration management, the information storage medium comprising:
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instructions for receiving a textual description of a simplest aggregate that configures for execution a software component in a plurality of software components managed by an inventory control and configuration management module, the simplest aggregate being an atomic entity aggregatable in another aggregate and identifying at least an executable and a set of parameters for the executable, the textual description of the simplest aggregate expressed according to a description schema modeling all activities handled by the information processing device that is different from the way the software component represents its metadata; instructions for receiving an instance schema for the simplest aggregate, the instance schema describing how to form instances of the simplest aggregate; instructions for generating an instance of the simplest aggregate based on the textual description of the simplest aggregate; instructions for determining one or more values for each parameter in the set of parameters and storing the one or more values for each parameter in the instance of the simplest aggregate; and instructions for configuring the software component based on the instance of the simplest aggregate and metadata for the software component that configures the software component. - View Dependent Claims (9, 10, 11, 12, 13)
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14. The information storage medium of 8, wherein the textual description of the simplest aggregate comprises an Extensible Markup Language (XML) document.
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15. A system configured to manage a plurality of software components where each software component has a non-uniform way of representing its metadata that configures the software component, the system comprising:
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a processor; and a memory in communication with the processor and configured to store processor-executable instructions that configure the processor to; receive a textual description of a simplest aggregate that configures a software component in the plurality of software components for execution, the simplest aggregate being an atomic entity aggregatable in another aggregate and identifying at least an executable and a set of parameters for the executable, the textual description of the simplest aggregate expressed according to a description schema modeling all activities handled by the information processing device that is different from the way the software component represents its metadata; receive an instance schema for the simplest aggregate, the instance schema describing how to form instances of the simplest aggregate; generate an instance of the simplest aggregate based on the textual description of the simplest aggregate and the instance schema for the simplest aggregate; store the instance in the memory; determine one or more values for each parameter in the set of parameters; store the one or more values for each parameter in the instance of the simplest aggregate; and configure the software component based on the instance of the simplest aggregate and metadata for the software component that configures the software component. - View Dependent Claims (16, 17, 18, 19, 20, 21)
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Specification