Systems and methods for mapping large object data content in a database table to a work area

• US 8,219,561 B2
• Filed: 11/14/2011
• Issued: 07/10/2012
• Est. Priority Date: 12/10/2008
• Status: Active Grant

• Current Assignee: SAP SE
• Original Assignee: SAP AG (SAP SE)
• Inventors: Stork, Christian, Blumenthal, Andreas, Wenner, Tobias, Debertin, Dirk
• Primary Examiner(s): Syed, Farhan
• Application Number:
  US13/295,314
• Publication Number:
  US 20120096050A1
• Time in Patent Office: 239 Days
• Field of Search: None
• US Class Current: 707/740
• CPC Class Codes: G06F 16/2448 for particular applications; for extensibility, e.g. user defined types

Abstract

According to some embodiments, a programming language in an application server may access different database server implementations, wherein the programming language accesses content of database tables via work areas derived from the database tables. A database table may be mapped to a work area such that each column in the database table is mapped to a corresponding component of the work area (having a default component type based on the column type of the associated column). It may be determined that a particular column in the database table is to store large object data content, and a new mapping to a work area may be defined such that a particular column maps to a corresponding component having a component type other than the default component type.

Claims

1. A computer-implemented method associated with a programming language in an application server that includes access to different database server implementations, wherein the programming language accesses content of database tables via work areas derived from the database tables, comprising:

defining mapping of a database table, having columns to store content, each column is associated with a column type, to a work area such that, at a database server, each column in the database table is mapped to a corresponding component of the work area, the corresponding component having a default component type based on the column type of the associated column in the database table;

determining that a particular column in the database table is to store large object data content;

in response to the determination, automatically defining a new mapping to a work area such that the particular column maps to a corresponding component having a component type other than the default component type, wherein, as a result of said new mapping, the programming language accesses a sub-portion of the large object data content by changing the content of the large object data content via a locator and the programming language writes a sub-portion of the large object data content via the work area with at least one of an INSERT statement, an UPDATE statement, or a MODIFY statement associated with at least one of;

(i) CL_ABAP_DB_C_LOCATOR and CL_ABAP_DB_X_LOCATOR for a locator, or (ii) CL_ABAP_DB_C_WRITER, CL_ABAP_DB_X_WRITER for a stream writer;

determining a change to a structure of the database table; and

responsive to the change to the structure of the database table, automatically adjusting the mapping of the database table to the work area such that the column to store large object data content is still mapped to a component having a component type other than the default component type.

2. The method of claim 1, wherein the application server is associated with the programming language ABAP.

3. The method of claim 2, wherein the programming language comprises the OpenSQL for ABAP.

4. The method of claim 1, wherein the large object data content comprises unlimited character string large object data content.

5. The method of claim 1, wherein the large object data content comprises unlimited binary string large object data content.

6. An apparatus, comprising:

a memory;

a processor executing instructions in memory;

an application server associated with a programming language that includes access to different database server implementations, wherein the programming language accesses content of database tables via work areas derived from the database tables; and

a map definition component to;

(i) define mapping of a database table, having columns to store content, each column is associated with a column type, to a work area such that, at a database server, each column in the database table is mapped to a corresponding component of the work area, the corresponding component having a default component type based on the column type of the associated column in the database table, (ii) determine that a particular column in the database table is to store large object data content, (iii) in response to the determination, define a new mapping to a work area such that the particular column maps to a corresponding component having a component type other than the default component type, wherein, as a result of said new mapping, the programming language accesses a sub-portion of the large object data content by changing the content of the large object data content via a locator and the programming language writes a sub-portion of the large object data content via the work area with at least one of an INSERT statement, an UPDATE statement, or a MODIFY statement associated with at least one of;

(a) CL_ABAP_DB_C_LOCATOR and CL_ABAP_DB_X_LOCATOR for a locator, or (b) CL_ABAP_DB_C_WRITER, CL_ABAP_DB_X_WRITER for a stream writer;

(iii) determine a change to a structure of the database table, and (iv) responsive to the change to the structure of the database table, automatically adjust the mapping of the database table to the work area such that the column to store large object data content is still mapped to a component having a component type other than the default component type.

7. A non-transitory computer-readable medium storing processor-executable process steps that, when executed by a processor, perform a method associated with a programming language in an application server that includes access to different database server implementations, wherein the programming language accesses content of database tables via work areas derived from the database tables, wherein the method comprises:

defining mapping of a database table, having columns to store content, each column is associated with a column type, to a work area such that, at a database server, each column in the database table is mapped to a corresponding component of the work area, the corresponding component having a default component type based on the column type of the associated column in the database table;

determining that a particular column in the database table is to store large object data content;

in response to the determination, defining a new mapping to a work area such that the particular column maps to a corresponding component having a component type other than the default component type, wherein, as a result of said new mapping, the programming language accesses a sub-portion of the large object data content by changing the content of the large object data content via a locator and the programming language writes a sub-portion of the large object data content via the work area with at least one of an INSERT statement, an UPDATE statement, or a MODIFY statement associated with at least one of;

(i) CL_ABAP_DB_C_LOCATOR and CL_ABAP_DB_X_LOCATOR for a locator, or (ii) CL_ABAP_DB_C_WRITER, CL_ABAP_DB_X_WRITER for a stream writer;

determining a change to a structure of the database table; and

responsive to the change to the structure of the database table, automatically adjusting the mapping of the database table to the work area such that the column to store large object data content is still mapped to a component having a component type other than the default component type.

8. The medium of claim 7, wherein said accessing of the sub-portion of the large object data content is performed using either of:

(i) a locator access, or (ii) a stream access.