Making and using abstract XML representations of data dictionary metadata
First Claim
1. A representation of database system metadata that defines an object in a database system, the object belonging to a class thereof that is defined in the database system metadata and the database system metadata defining the object such that the database system is able to query the object, the database system metadata having been fetched by an execution of a query on the database system, the representation of the database system metadata being automatically produced by the database system from the fetched database system metadata prior to any transformation to a data definition language, the representation of the database system metadata being included in a storage device accessible to a processor, and the representation of the database system metadata being characterized in that:
- the representation of the database system metadata for an object in the database system belonging to a particular class of classes comprises a simplified XML (SXML) representation, whereinthe simplified XML (SXML) representation comprises an aggregate metadata of the object, in which the aggregate metadata is less than metadata for all properties of the object, and the simplified XML (SXML) representation does not include metadata, which is specific to an instance of the object that is used to produce the simplified XML(SXML) representation, or metadata, which is associated with a property of the object that cannot be specified by a user during creation of the object, andthe simplified XML (SXML) representation is automatically comparable by the processor with another simplified XML (SXML) representation of the database system metadata for another object belonging to the particular class from a different database system to determine one or more differences between the database system metadata for objects in database systems.
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Abstract
An XML representation of the metadata for objects in a database system. The XML representation is called SXML. The SXML representations of two objects that belong to the same class of objects may be compared to produce a difference representation that shows the differences between the objects. Database commands that will create or alter objects may be produced from the difference representation, as well as an XML representation of the database commands. In addition to being comparable, SXML representations have the characteristics that a given property of the metadata is expressed in only one way in the representation, that SXML does not describe properties that belong only to particular instances of the object described by the metadata, that SXML describes only properties that the user can specify when creating an object, and that SXML is easy for humans to read, understand, and write.
54 Citations
28 Claims
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1. A representation of database system metadata that defines an object in a database system, the object belonging to a class thereof that is defined in the database system metadata and the database system metadata defining the object such that the database system is able to query the object, the database system metadata having been fetched by an execution of a query on the database system, the representation of the database system metadata being automatically produced by the database system from the fetched database system metadata prior to any transformation to a data definition language, the representation of the database system metadata being included in a storage device accessible to a processor, and the representation of the database system metadata being characterized in that:
the representation of the database system metadata for an object in the database system belonging to a particular class of classes comprises a simplified XML (SXML) representation, wherein the simplified XML (SXML) representation comprises an aggregate metadata of the object, in which the aggregate metadata is less than metadata for all properties of the object, and the simplified XML (SXML) representation does not include metadata, which is specific to an instance of the object that is used to produce the simplified XML(SXML) representation, or metadata, which is associated with a property of the object that cannot be specified by a user during creation of the object, and the simplified XML (SXML) representation is automatically comparable by the processor with another simplified XML (SXML) representation of the database system metadata for another object belonging to the particular class from a different database system to determine one or more differences between the database system metadata for objects in database systems. - View Dependent Claims (2, 3, 4, 5, 6, 7, 8, 9, 10, 27)
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11. An apparatus employed in a database system that includes a processor and a storage device accessible to the processor for comparing database system metadata for a set of at least two objects belonging to the same class of objects, the database system metadata defining an object in a database system, the object belonging to a class thereof that is defined in the database system metadata and the database system metadata defining the object such that the database system is able to query the object, the database system metadata being included in the storage device, and the apparatus comprising:
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at least one processor of the database system to perform an execution of a query that causes the database system metadata to be fetched and used to generate a simplified XML (SXML) representation of the database system metadata for an object of a class, in which the simplified XML (SXML) representation comprises an aggregate metadata of the object, and the aggregate metadata is less than metadata of all properties of the object and does not include some metadata, which is specific to an instance of the object, or metadata, which is associated with a property of the object, that cannot be specified by a user during creation of the object; and a metadata comparator coupled to the at least one processor to compare the simplified XML (SXML) representation to another simplified XML (SXML) representation, which is generated by another database system for another object of the class, in which the another simplified XML (SXML) representation represents one or more differences between metadata for the object and metadata for the another object. - View Dependent Claims (12, 13, 14, 15, 16, 17, 18)
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19. A method for comparing database system metadata for a set of at least two objects belonging to a class of objects, the database system metadata defining an object in a database system, the object belonging to the class that is defined in the database system metadata and the database system metadata defining the object such that the database system is allowed to query the object, the method comprising:
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using at least one processor of the database system to perform a process, the process comprising; performing an execution of a query to fetch the database system metadata for an object of a set of objects of a class; generating a simplified XML (SXML) representation of the database system metadata for the object of the set of objects by using the database system metadata that is fetched, in which the simplified XML (SXML) representation comprises an aggregate metadata of the object, the aggregate metadata is less than metadata of all properties of the object and does not include some metadata, which is specific to an instance of the object, or metadata, which is associated with a property of the object, that cannot be specified by a user during creation of the object, and the simplified XML (SXML) representation is characterized by being capable of being compared with another simplified XML (SXML) representation generated by another database system for another object of the class to which the object belongs, the another simplified XML (SXML) representation representing one or more differences between metadata for the object and metadata for the another object. - View Dependent Claims (20, 21, 22, 23, 24, 25, 26, 28)
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Specification