Dynamic access of data

• US 20040044730A1
• Filed: 02/12/2003
• Published: 03/04/2004
• Est. Priority Date: 09/03/2002
• Status: Abandoned Application

• Current Assignee: SAP AG (SAP SE)
• Original Assignee: SAP AG (SAP SE)
• Inventors: Kalthoff, Wolfgang, Vogt, Thomas, Gockel, Holger
• Application Number:
  US10/365,672
• Publication Number:
  US 20040044730A1
• Time in Patent Office: Days
• US Class Current: 709/203
• CPC Class Codes: G06F 16/25 Integrating or interfacing systems involving database management systems

Abstract

Dynamic access of data stored in a database maintained by a server. A client sends a request to the server to access the data stored in the database. A first set of data is retrieved from the database and mapped to a second set of data based on a set of mapping rules that is defined by the client. The client then receives the second set of data.

Claims

1. A method of dynamically accessing data, comprising:

sending a request from a client to a server to access data stored in a database maintained by the server;

retrieving a first set of data from the database;

mapping the first set of data to a second set of data based on a set of mapping rules that is defined by the client; and

receiving at the client the second set of data.

2. The method of claim 1 wherein the data stored in the database comprises attribute values of objects.

3. The method of claim 2 wherein the objects comprise products.

4. The method of claim 2 wherein the objects comprise business partners.

5. The method of claim 2 wherein mapping of the first set of data to the second set of data comprises removing attribute data in the first set of data that is not relevant to the client.

6. The method of claim 1 wherein the set of mapping rules is modified from time to time by the client independent of the server.

7. A method for maintaining data, comprising:

receiving at a server an identifier and data associated with an object that is identified by the identifier, the server configured to maintain a database that is accessible to clients;

for each client, verifying that the identifier and the data conforms to a set of rules defined by the client; and

entering the identifier and the data into the database.

8. The method of claim 7 wherein the data comprises attribute values associated with the object.

9. The method of claim 8 wherein verifying that the identifier and the data conforms to the set of rules comprises verifying that the data conforms with a subset of rules defined by the client relating to attributes of objects.

10. The method of claim 9 wherein the subset of rules comprises rules for defining acceptable formats of attribute values.

11. The method of claim 7 wherein verifying that the identifier and data conforms to a set of rules includes verifying that the identifier conforms with a subset of rules defined by the client relating to identification of objects.

12. The method of claim 11 wherein the set of rules comprises rules for defining acceptable formats of an identifier.

13. The method of claim 7, further comprising linking the data to the identifier.

14. The method of claim 13, further comprising sending a request from a client to the server requesting data linked to the identifier, and converting the data in the database linked to the identifier into a format acceptable by the client.

15. The method of claim 7, further comprising:

sending a request from the server to a second server, the request requesting verification of the identifier and the data,

identifying which clients can assess the database, and

routing the request from the second server to clients identified to be able to access the database.

16. The method of claim 7 wherein the object comprises a product.

17. The method of claim 7 wherein the object comprises a business partner.

18. The method of claim 7 wherein the server communicates with the clients using messages written in an extensible markup language.

19. The method of claim 7, further comprising for each client, sending a request to the client to request verification of whether the identifier and the data conforms to the set of rules defined by the client, and if a particular client does not respond, placing the client on an exception list to indicate that the identifier and the data have not been verified to conform with the set of rules defined by the particular client.

20. The method of claim 19 wherein another attempt to verify whether the identifier and the data conforms to the set of rules defined by the particular client is conducted after a predefined period of time or when the particular client attempts to access data in the database.

21. A method for maintaining data, comprising:

sending a request from a client to a server to request modification of a set of data associated with an object, the set of data stored in a database maintained by the server;

receiving a message that the server has locked the set of data so that only the client can modify the set of data;

sending a set of modified data to the server for storing the modified data in the database;

receiving a message that the modified data was stored in the database, with the server determining what other clients may access the modified data for each of the other clients, verifying that the modified data conform with a set of rules defined by the client.

22. The method of claim 21 wherein the set of data comprises attribute values associated with the object.

23. The method of claim 22 wherein the set of rules defined by the client comprises rules for defining acceptable formats of attribute values.

24. The method of claim 22 wherein the server determines what other clients may access the modified data by comparing the attributes with checklists published by clients, each checklist indicating attributes that are accessible to a client.

25. The method of claim 21 wherein the object comprises a product.

26. The method of claim 21 wherein the object comprises a business partner.

27. The method of claim 21 wherein the server communicates with the clients using messages that comprise code written in an extensible markup language.

28. A method comprising:

providing a client computer having a module to allow switching between a first mode of storing data in a local database and a second mode of storing data in a remote database maintained by a server computer; and

providing an interface for dynamically mapping data stored in the remote database to data having a format defined by the client computer.

29. The method of claim 28, further comprising providing a second client computer also having a module to allow switching between a first mode of storing data in a local database and a second mode of storing data in the remote database maintained by the server computer, the interface also dynamically mapping data stored in the remote database to data having a second format defined by the second client computer, the second format being modified by the second client independent of the first client.

30. A system, comprising:

a data server to maintain a database that stores data associated with an object that is identified by an identifier, the object having attributes that describe aspects of the object, the data including attribute values associated with the attributes;

clients that access the data stored in the database, each client defining a set of rules for identifiers and attributes; and

an integration server that communicates with the clients and the data server, the integration server in response to a request for data from a client maps the data in the data server to data that has a format conforming to the rules defined by the client.

31. The system of claim 30 wherein the integration server communicates with the clients and the data server using messages that comprise code written in extensible markup language.

32. A computer program product, tangibly stored on a machine-readable medium, for dynamic access of master data, comprising instructions operable to cause a programmable processor to:

receive a request from a client to access data stored in a database maintained by a server;

retrieve a first set of data from the database;

map the first set of data to a second set of data based on a set of mapping rules that is defined by the client; and

send the second set of data to the client.

33. The computer program product of claim 32 wherein the data stored in the database comprises attribute values of objects.

34. The computer program product of claim 33 wherein the objects comprise products.

35. The computer program product of claim 33 wherein the objects comprise business partners.

36. The computer program product of claim 33 wherein the instructions operable to cause the programmable processor to remove attribute data in the first set of data that is not relevant to the client.

37. The computer program product of claim 32 wherein the set of mapping rules is modified from time to time by the client independent of the server.

38. A computer program product, tangibly stored on a machine-readable medium, for dynamic access of master data stored in a database that is accessible to clients, comprising instructions operable to cause a programmable processor to:

receive an identifier and data associated with an object that is identified by the identifier;

for each client, verify that the identifier and the data conforms to a set of rules defined by the client; and

enter the identifier and the data into the database.

39. The computer program product of claim 38 wherein the data comprises attribute values associated with the object.

40. The computer program product of claim 39 wherein the instructions operable to cause the programmable processor to verify that the data conforms with a subset of rules defined by the client relating to attributes of objects.

41. The computer program product of claim 40 wherein the subset of rules comprises rules for defining acceptable formats of attribute values.

42. The computer program product of claim 38 wherein the instructions operable to cause the programmable processor to verify that the identifier conforms with a subset of rules defined by the client relating to identification of objects.

43. The computer program product of claim 42 wherein the set of rules comprises rules for defining acceptable formats of an identifier.

44. The computer program product of claim 38 wherein the instructions operable to cause the programmable processor to link the data to the identifier.

45. The computer program product of claim 44 wherein the instructions operable to cause the programmable processor to send a request from a client to the server requesting data linked to the identifier, and convert the data in the database linked to the identifier into a format acceptable by the client.

46. The computer program product of claim 38 wherein the object comprises a product.

47. The computer program product of claim 38 wherein the object comprises a business partner.

48. The computer program product of claim 38 wherein the server communicates with the clients using messages written in an extensible markup language.

49. The computer program product of claim 38 wherein the instructions operable to cause the programmable processor to, for each client, send a request to the client to request verification of whether the identifier and the data conforms to the set of rules defined by the client, and if a particular client does not respond, place the client on an exception list to indicate that the identifier and the data have not been verified to conform with the set of rules defined by the particular client.

50. The computer program product of claim 49 the instructions operable to cause the programmable processor to initiate another attempt to verify whether the identifier and the data conforms to the set of rules defined by the particular client after a predefined period of time or when the particular client attempts to access data in the database.

51. A computer program product, tangibly stored on a machine-readable medium, for dynamic access of master data, comprising instructions operable to cause a computer system having clients and a server to:

send a request from a first client to the server for modification of a set of data associated with an object, the set of data stored in a database maintained by the server;

receive a message that the server has locked the set of data so that only the client can modify the set of data;

send a modified set of data to the server for storing the data in the database; and

receive a message that the set of modified data was stored in the database, where the server determines what other clients may access the set of modified data for each of the other clients, and verifies that the set of modified data conform with a set of rules defined by the client.

52. The computer program product of claim 51 wherein the set of data comprises attribute values associated with the object.

53. The computer program product of claim 52 wherein the set of rules defined by the client comprises rules for defining acceptable formats of attribute values.

54. The computer program product of claim 52 wherein the instructions operable to cause the computer system to compare the attribute values with checklists published by clients, each checklist indicating attributes that are accessible to a client.

55. The computer program product of claim 51 wherein the object comprises a product.

56. The computer program product of claim 51 wherein the object comprises a business partner.

57. The computer program product of claim 51 wherein the instructions operable to cause the server to communicate with the clients using messages that comprise code written in an extensible markup language.