Grouping event notifications in a database system

• US 8,065,365 B2
• Filed: 05/02/2007
• Issued: 11/22/2011
• Est. Priority Date: 05/02/2007
• Status: Active Grant

• Current Assignee: N-Lighten Technologies, Oracle International Corporation (Oracle Corporation)
• Original Assignee: Oracle International Corporation (Oracle Corporation)
• Inventors: Saxena, Abhishek, Bhatt, Neerja
• Primary Examiner(s): Follansbee; John
• Assistant Examiner(s): Tiv; Backhean
• Application Number:
  US11/743,276
• Publication Number:
  US 20080275956A1
• Time in Patent Office: 1,665 Days
• Field of Search: 702/29, 702/84, 705 2- 14, 707/200, 711/154, 719/318
• US Class Current: 709/204
• CPC Class Codes: G06F 16/2358 Change logging, detection, and notification replication G06F16/27
• CPC Class Codes: G06F 16/244 Grouping and aggregation
• CPC Class Codes: G06Q 10/02 Reservations, e.g. for tickets, services or events
• CPC Class Codes: G06Q 10/025 Coordination of plural reservations, e.g. plural trip segments, transportation combined with accommodation
• CPC Class Codes: G06Q 40/08 Insurance

Abstract

Techniques for grouping events in a computing system are provided. A registrant sends, to a database server, a request to register to receive a single notification based the occurrence of multiple events that satisfy certain criteria, referred to as grouping attributes. Such registrations are referred to as grouping registrations. An eventing mechanism in the database server receives and maintains grouping registrations. When an event is received, the eventing mechanism determines whether the event has been registered for in an active grouping registration, i.e., one whose start time has passed but whose completion criteria are not yet satisfied. If so, then the eventing mechanism updates grouping data associated with the grouping registration. When the completion criteria of a grouping registration are satisfied, the eventing mechanism sends a notification to the registrant and/or other intended recipient(s). The notification may provide a summary of all the events in the group or provide details about a single event from the group, such as the latest event.

Claims

1. A method comprising:

receiving, at a computing device, a particular grouping registration from a registrant, wherein the particular grouping registration specifies one or more grouping criteria;

receiving event information about occurrences of a set of multiple events;

for a first event of the set of multiple events;

determining whether said first event is for a grouping registration or a non-grouping registration,

in response to determining that said first event is for a non-grouping registration, sending a notification of said first event to one or more intended recipients associated with the non-grouping registration, wherein details in the notification about said first event comprises a first level of detail;

for a second event of the set of multiple events;

determining whether said second event is for a grouping registration or a non-grouping registration, wherein determining whether said second event is for a grouping registration or a non-grouping registration comprises determining whether occurrence of said second event satisfies the one or more grouping criteria, and

in response to determining that occurrence of said second event satisfies the one or more grouping criteria, storing information, about occurrence of said second event, in association with the particular grouping registration instead of sending a notification of the occurrence of said second event;

wherein occurrence of each event of a plurality of events in the set of multiple events-satisfies the one or more grouping criteria;

determining whether one or more completion criteria, associated with the particular grouping registration, are satisfied; and

in response to determining that the one or more completion criteria are satisfied, sending a grouping notification to one or more intended recipients associated with the particular grouping registration;

wherein details in the grouping notification about said plurality of events comprises a second level of detail that is less than the first level of detail;

wherein the method is performed by one or more computing devices.

2. The method of claim 1, wherein the grouping notification is sent without sending any individual notifications of any event of the plurality of events.

3. The method of claim 1, wherein one of the one or more intended recipients is the registrant.

4. The method of claim 1, wherein the registrant issued the particular grouping registration through an application or application server that is executing in conjunction with a relational database management server (RDBMS).

5. The method of claim 1, wherein the one or more grouping criteria specifies at least one of time, transaction, event, or data size.

6. The method of claim 1, wherein the particular grouping registration specifies the one or more completion criteria.

7. The method of claim 1, wherein the one or more completion criteria are at least one of a length of time, a number of transactions, a number of bytes of one or more data objects, or a number of occurrences of an event.

8. The method of claim 1, wherein the particular grouping registration specifies what type of information the grouping notification provides.

9. The method of claim 8, wherein the grouping notification provides a summary of the plurality of events.

10. The method of claim 1, wherein the particular grouping registration specifies a time to begin grouping events that satisfy the one or more grouping criteria.

11. The method of claim 1, wherein the particular grouping registration specifies a number of times a different set of events are grouped and grouping notifications are sent to the one or more intended recipients.

12. The method of claim 1, further comprising:

for each occurrence of an event of the plurality of events, determining whether one or more completion criteria associated with any grouping registration, of a plurality of grouping registrations, have been satisfied; and

if one or more completion criteria associated with one or more grouping registrations, of the plurality of grouping registrations, have been satisfied, then, for each of the one or more grouping registrations, sending a grouping notification to the one or more intended recipients of said each of the one or more grouping registrations.

13. The method of claim 1, further comprising executing a plurality of slave processes, wherein:

each slave process of the plurality of slave processes may update grouping data associated with the particular grouping registration; and

a single process is designated as being allowed to send the grouping notification.

14. The method of claim 1, further comprising maintaining statistics for each registration of a plurality of registrations that have been received.

15. The method of claim 1, further comprising initiating a database procedure call in response to determining that the one or more completion criteria are satisfied.

16. A method comprising:

receiving, from an application, at a computing device, a request to be notified about occurrences of multiple specified events relative to a database;

storing information about occurrences of the multiple specified events instead of sending, to the application, a notification of the occurrence of each event of the multiple specified events;

receiving event information about occurrences of a plurality of events;

for a first event of the plurality of events;

determining whether said first event is for a grouping registration or a non-grouping registration, wherein determining whether said first event is for a grouping registration or a non-grouping registration comprises determining whether occurrence of said first event satisfies one or more grouping criteria associated with the request, and

in response to determining that occurrence of said first event satisfies the one or more grouping criteria, storing second information, about occurrence of said first event, in association with the request instead of sending a notification of the occurrence of said first event;

for a second event of the plurality of events;

determining whether said second event is for a grouping registration or a non-grouping registration,

in response to determining that said second event is for a non-grouping registration, sending a notification of said second event to one or more intended recipients associated with the non-grouping registration;

determining whether one or more completion criteria associated with the request have been satisfied;

in response to determining that the one or more completion criteria have been satisfied,

sending one of;

(a) data that summarizes the information, or

(b) data pertaining to only a most recent occurrence of an event within the multiple specified events;

wherein the method is performed by one or more computing devices.

17. One or more non-transitory machine-readable media storing instructions which, when executed by one or more processors, cause:

receiving a particular grouping registration from a registrant, wherein the particular grouping registration specifies one or more grouping criteria;

receiving event information about occurrences of a set of multiple events;

for a first event of the set of multiple events;

determining whether said first event is for a grouping registration or a non-grouping registration,

in response to determining that said first event is for a non-grouping registration, sending a notification of said first event to one or more intended recipients associated with the non-grouping registration, wherein details in the notification about said first event comprises a first level of detail;

for a second event of the set of multiple events;

determining whether said second event is for a grouping registration or a non-grouping registration, wherein determining whether said second event is for a grouping registration or a non-grouping registration comprises determining whether occurrence of said second event satisfies the one or more grouping criteria, and

in response to determining that occurrence of said second event satisfies the one or more grouping criteria, storing information, about occurrence of said second event, in association with the particular grouping registration instead of sending a notification of the occurrence of said second event;

wherein occurrence of each event of a plurality of events in the set of multiple events-satisfies the one or more grouping criteria;

determining whether one or more completion criteria, associated with the particular grouping registration, are satisfied; and

in response to determining that the one or more completion criteria are satisfied, sending a grouping notification to one or more intended recipients associated with the particular grouping registration;

wherein details in the grouping notification about said plurality of events comprises a second level of detail that is less than the first level of detail.

18. The one or more non-transitory machine-readable media of claim 17, wherein the registrant issued the grouping registration through an application or application server that is executing in conjunction with a relational database management server (RDBMS).

19. The one or more non-transitory machine-readable media of claim 17, wherein the one or more grouping criteria specifies at least one of time, transaction, event, or data size.

20. The one or more non-transitory machine-readable media of claim 17, wherein the particular grouping registration specifies the one or more completion criteria.

21. The one or more non-transitory machine-readable media of claim 17, wherein the one or more completion criteria are at least one of a length of time, a number of transactions, a number of bytes of one or more data objects, or a number of occurrences of an event.

22. The one or more non-transitory machine-readable media of claim 17, wherein the particular grouping registration specifies a time to begin grouping events that satisfy the one or more grouping criteria.

23. The one or more non-transitory machine-readable media of claim 17, wherein the instructions, when executed by the one or more processors, further cause initiating a database procedure call in response to determining that the one or more completion criteria are satisfied.

24. The one or more non-transitory machine-readable media of claim 17, wherein the grouping notification is sent without sending any individual notifications of any event of the plurality of events.

25. The one or more non-transitory machine-readable media of claim 17, wherein one of the one or more intended recipients is the registrant.

26. The one or more non-transitory machine-readable media of claim 17, wherein the particular grouping registration specifies what type of information the grouping notification provides.

27. The one or more non-transitory machine-readable media of claim 26, wherein the grouping notification provides a summary of the plurality of events.

28. The one or more non-transitory machine-readable media of claim 17, wherein the particular grouping registration specifies a number of times a different set of events are grouped and grouping notifications are sent to the one or more intended recipients.

29. The one or more non-transitory machine-readable media of claim 17, wherein the instructions, when executed by the one or more processors, further cause:

for each occurrence of an event of the plurality of events, determining whether one or more completion criteria associated with any grouping registration, of a plurality of grouping registrations, have been satisfied; and

if one or more completion criteria associated with one or more grouping registrations, of the plurality of grouping registrations, have been satisfied, then, for each of the one or more grouping registrations, sending a grouping notification to the one or more intended recipients of said each of the one or more grouping registrations.

30. The one or more non-transitory machine-readable media of claim 17, wherein:

the instructions, when executed by the one or more processors, further cause executing a plurality of slave processes;

each slave process of the plurality of slave processes may update grouping data associated with the particular grouping registration; and

a single process is designated as being allowed to send the grouping notification.

31. The one or more non-transitory machine-readable media of claim 17, wherein the instructions, when executed by the one or more processors, further cause maintaining statistics for each registration of a plurality of registrations that have been received.

32. One or more non-transitory machine-readable media storing instructions which, when executed by one or more processors, cause:

receiving, from an application, a request to be notified about occurrences of multiple specified events relative to a database;

storing information about occurrences of the multiple specified events instead of sending, to the application, a notification of the occurrence of each event of the multiple specified events;

receiving event information about occurrences of a plurality of events;

for a first event of the plurality of events;

determining whether said first event is for a grouping registration or a non-grouping registration, wherein determining whether said first event is for a grouping registration or a non-grouping registration comprises determining whether occurrence of said first event satisfies one or more grouping criteria associated with the request, and

in response to determining that occurrence of said first event satisfies the one or more grouping criteria, storing second information, about occurrence of said first event, in association with the request instead of sending a notification of the occurrence of said first event;

for a second event of the plurality of events;

determining whether said second event is for a grouping registration or a non-grouping registration,

in response to determining that said second event is for a non-grouping registration, sending a notification of said second event to one or more intended recipients associated with the non-grouping registration;

determining whether one or more completion criteria associated with the request have been satisfied;

in response to determining that the one or more completion criteria have been satisfied,

sending one of;

(a) data that summarizes the information, or

(b) data pertaining to only a most recent occurrence of an event within the multiple specified events.