Metadata manager for analytics system

• US 9,442,993 B2
• Filed: 02/11/2013
• Issued: 09/13/2016
• Est. Priority Date: 02/11/2013
• Status: Active Grant

• Current Assignee: Dell Products LP (Dell Technologies Inc.)
• Original Assignee: Dell Products LP (Dell Technologies Inc.)
• Inventors: Tung, David, Chan, Hon Yuk, Bengali, Ketan, Patra, Sasmita, Chang, Ming
• Primary Examiner(s): Stevens, Robert
• Application Number:
  US13/764,384
• Publication Number:
  US 20140229511A1
• Time in Patent Office: 1,310 Days
• Field of Search: 707/803
• US Class Current: 1/1
• CPC Class Codes: G06F 16/21 Design, administration or maintenance of databases
• CPC Class Codes: G06F 16/211 Schema design and management
• CPC Class Codes: G06F 16/22 Indexing; Data structures therefor; Storage structures
• CPC Class Codes: G06F 16/2379 Updates performed during online database operations; commit processing
• CPC Class Codes: G06F 16/252 between a Database Management System and a front-end application
• CPC Class Codes: G06F 16/254 Extract, transform and load [ETL] procedures, e.g. ETL data flows in data warehouses
• CPC Class Codes: G06F 16/258 Data format conversion from or to a database

Abstract

A metadata management system receives metadata changes and automatically updates a metadata architecture which maps the data. The metadata changes may be received through a simple user interface by a user or administrator. Once received, the system may automatically update schemas and data transformation code to process data according to the new data mapping preference. The system may handle metadata updates in a multi-tenant system having one or more applications per tenant, and may update data for a single tenant and 1 or more tenant applications in a multitenancy.

Claims

1. A method for managing metadata, comprising:

receiving a metadata update request by a server for a first application of a plurality of applications associated with a first tenant of a plurality of tenants, wherein the metadata update request is associated with data to be mapped;

receiving mapping instructions associated with the first application of the first tenant that dictates how the data associated with the metadata update request should be mapped;

automatically updating metadata schema by the server for the first application associated with the first tenant by the server based on the received mapping instructions, wherein automatically updating includes automatically generating a script to transform data in a form, associated with a staging schema data, into a distinct second form, associated with a star schema data, the script generated in part from column mapping data and provided to an ETL server for transforming data;

updating a user interface based on the automatically updated metadata schema, wherein the updated user interface allows a user to modify updated metadata schema information, modify script code, and generate reports using the updated metadata schema; and

mapping schema for the first tenant by the server based on the updated metadata schema of the first tenant, wherein the mapping includes generating one or more new fields of data not previously associated with the data to be mapped, and wherein the mapping also includes generating codes to retrieve additional information for the new fields of data generated by the mapping.

2. The method of claim 1, wherein receiving the metadata update includes receiving an update to star schema for the first tenant.

3. The method of claim 2, wherein the star schema is associated with a first application of a plurality of applications for which data is mapped for the first tenant.

4. The method of claim 1, wherein receiving the metadata update includes receiving column mapping data.

5. The method of claim 1, wherein receiving the metadata update includes receiving star schema name data.

6. The method of claim 1, wherein automatically updating includes automatically updating staging schema by an application server.

7. The method of claim 1, wherein automatically updating includes automatically updating star schema by an application server.

8. A computer readable non-transitory storage medium having embodied thereon a program, the program being executable by a processor to perform a method for managing metadata, the method comprising:

receiving a metadata update request by a server for a first application of a plurality of applications associated with a first tenant of a plurality of tenants, wherein the metadata update request is associated with data to be mapped;

receiving mapping instructions associated with the first application of the first tenant that dictates how the data associated with the metadata update request should be mapped;

automatically updating metadata schema by the server for the first application associated with the first tenant by the server based on the received mapping instructions, wherein automatically updating includes automatically generating a script to transform data in a first form, associated with a staging schema data, into a distinct second form, associated with a star schema data, the script generated in part from column mapping data and provided to an ETL server for transforming data;

updating a user interface based on the automatically updated metadata schema, wherein the updated user interface allows a user to modify updated metadata schema information, modify script code, and generate reports using the updated metadata schema; and

mapping schema for the first tenant by the server based on the updated metadata schema of the first tenant, wherein the mapping includes generating one or more new fields of data not previously included with the data associated with the metadata update request, and wherein the mapping also includes generating codes to retrieve additional information for the new fields of data generated by the mapping.

9. The computer readable non-transitory storage medium of claim 8, wherein receiving the metadata update includes receiving an update to star schema for the first tenant.

10. The computer readable non-transitory storage medium of claim 9, wherein the star schema is associated with a first application of a plurality of applications for which data is mapped for the first tenant.

11. The computer readable non-transitory storage medium of claim 8, wherein receiving the metadata update includes receiving column mapping data.

12. The computer readable non-transitory storage medium of claim 8, wherein receiving the metadata update includes receiving star schema name data.

13. The computer readable non-transitory storage medium of claim 8, wherein automatically updating includes automatically updating staging schema by an application server.

14. The computer readable non-transitory storage medium of claim 8, wherein automatically updating includes automatically updating star schema by an application server.

15. A system for managing metadata, comprising:

a memory;

a processor; and

one or more modules stored in memory and executable by the processor to receive a metadata update request for a first tenant of a plurality of tenants, wherein the metadata update request is associated with data to be mapped, receive mapping instructions associated with the first application of the first tenant that dictates how the data associated with the metadata update request should be mapped, automatically update metadata schema by the server based on the received mapping instructions for the first application associated with the first tenant by the server, wherein automatically updating includes automatically generating a script to transform data in a first form, associated with a staging schema data, into a distinct second form, associated with a star schema data, the script generated in part from column mapping data and provided to an ETL server for transforming data, updating a user interface based on the automatically updated metadata schema, wherein the updated user interface allows a user to modify updated metadata schema information, modify script code, and generate reports using the updated metadata schema, and mapping schema for the first tenant by the server based on the updated metadata schema of the first tenant, wherein the mapping includes generating one or more new fields of data not previously included with the data associated with the metadata update request, and wherein the mapping also includes generating codes to retrieve additional information for the new fields of data generated by the mapping.