Relationship serialization and reconstruction for entities

• US 8,805,776 B2
• Filed: 06/26/2008
• Issued: 08/12/2014
• Est. Priority Date: 06/26/2008
• Status: Active Grant

• Current Assignee: Microsoft Technology Licensing LLC (Microsoft Corporation)
• Original Assignee: Microsoft Corporation
• Inventors: Parra, Sarah M., Vuppula, Ravinder R., Derstadt, Jeffrey M., Dawson, Brian, Pizzo, Michael J., Stone, James Madison III, Magee, Patrick T., Poliakova, Nadejda V., Simmons, Daniel G.
• Primary Examiner(s): DWIVEDI, MAHESH H
• Application Number:
  US12/146,862
• Publication Number:
  US 20090327225A1
• Time in Patent Office: 2,238 Days
• Field of Search: 707/609, 709/246
• US Class Current: 707/609
• CPC Class Codes: G06F 16/213 with details for schema evolution support
• CPC Class Codes: G06F 16/245 Query processing

Abstract

Systems and methods that enable relationship information to be carried along with the entity when serializing/deserializing entities among application tiers. A tracking component tracks information on relationships associated with an entity, and further enables users to perform subsequent change processing on the entity'"'"'s relationship information. Accordingly, relationship information can be carried along with the entity such that database operation can be performed without requirement of additional information from the database (e.g., foreign key information that is part of associated graphs).

Claims

1. A computer implemented system comprising at least one processor and at least one computer-readable storage medium comprising a magnetic storage device having instructions executable by the at least one processor to implement:

an entity having a plurality of relationships associated therewith;

a tracking component configured to track information associated with at least one of the plurality of relationships, when serializing or deserializing the entity among multiple tiers of a database, the tracking component configured to preserve the at least one of the plurality of relationships by attaching key information to the entity such that the key information acts as a proxy for a relationship between the entity and a related entity during at least the serializing, wherein a retrieval of a value included in the key information follows either a first retrieval protocol if the entity is in a first state or a second retrieval protocol if the entity is in a second state, the first state corresponding to the entity being included in an attached graph and varying according to whether the value is null or non-null, the second state corresponding to the entity being detached.

2. The computer-implemented system of claim 1, the tracking component being further configured to implement the key information to mitigate a requirement to re-load the entity from the database.

3. The computer-implemented system of claim 1, the entity having a reference property.

4. The computer-implemented system of claim 2 further comprising a web service configured to retrieve information based on a key reference.

5. The computer-implemented system of claim 4 further comprising a client application configured to process the key reference for updating the database.

6. The computer-implemented system of claim 4 further comprising a context associated with the entity for transformation of an entity graph.

7. The computer-implemented system of claim 6, the relationship having a form of a primary key-foreign key.

8. The computer-implemented system of claim 7 further comprising an identification component as part of a serialization system for identification of an item.

9. The computer-implemented system of claim 8 further comprising an API for transfer of the entity from one location to another location.

10. The computer-implemented system of claim 1, wherein the first retrieval protocol comprises looking up the value in the attached graph when the value is non-null.

11. The computer-implemented system of claim 1, wherein the first retrieval protocol comprises analyzing source relationships when the value is null, the source relationships corresponding to relationships associated with a source of the entity.

12. The computer-implemented system of claim 1, wherein the second retrieval protocol comprises retrieving the value from a private field.

13. The computer-implemented system of claim 12, wherein the value included in the private field is set during serialization.

14. A computer-readable storage medium, the computer readable storage medium comprising a magnetic storage device having instructions stored thereon, the instructions configured to, in response to execution by one or more computing devices, cause operations including:

during at least a serialization, referencing an entity;

associating key information with the referenced entity, the key information indicating a relationship between the referenced entity and another entity;

attaching the key information to the referenced entity to serve as a proxy for the referenced entity during at least the serialization, wherein a retrieval of a value included in the key information follows either a first retrieval protocol if the entity is in a first state or a second retrieval protocol if the entity is in a second state, the first state corresponding to the entity being included in an attached graph and varying according to whether the value is null or non-null, the second state corresponding to the entity being detached; and

preserving the referencing during serializations or deserializations.