Meta-data tags used to describe data behaviors

• US 20070112825A1
• Filed: 11/07/2005
• Published: 05/17/2007
• Est. Priority Date: 11/07/2005
• Status: Active Grant

• Current Assignee: X Corp. (f/k/a Twitter, Inc.) (X Holdings Corp.)
• Original Assignee: International Business Machines Corporation
• Inventors: Cook, Jonathan, Robinson, David, Shi, Shaw-Ben, Rendahl, Randy, Vassberg, Lorraine
• Granted Patent: US 7,668,857 B2
• Time in Patent Office: Days
• US Class Current: 1/1
• CPC Class Codes: G06F 16/24556 Aggregation; Duplicate elimination
• CPC Class Codes: G06F 16/24564 Applying rules; Deductive queries
• CPC Class Codes: G06F 16/24573 using data annotations, e.g. user-defined metadata

Abstract

A computer implemented method, apparatus, and computer usable program code to aggregate data. Data is parsed for a behavior tag assigned to a portion of the data. In response to detecting a behavior tag, a determination is made as to whether a policy is associated with the behavior tag. The policy associated with a behavior tag defines how the portion of the data assigned to the behavior tag is to be aggregated. The portion of the data is aggregated using the policy associated with the behavior tag.

Claims

1. A computer implemented method for aggregating data, the computer implemented method comprising:

parsing data for a behavior tag assigned to a portion of the data;

responsive to detecting a behavior tag, determining if a policy is associated with the behavior tag, wherein the policy defines how the portion of the data assigned to the behavior tag is to be aggregated; and

aggregating the portion of the data using the policy.

2. The computer implemented method of claim 1 wherein the policy is user configurable.

3. The computer implemented method of claim 1 further comprising:

assigning the behavior tag to a portion of the data; and

sending the data and the behavior tag to a receiving application for aggregating.

4. The computer implemented method of claim 1 further comprising:

associating a new policy to the behavior tag, wherein the new policy specifies a different aggregation of the portion of the data assigned to the behavior tag; and

aggregating the portion of the data using the new policy.

5. The computer implemented method of claim 1 wherein the behavior tag includes a sub-tag.

6. The computer implemented method of claim 5 wherein a policy is associated with each sub-tag in the behavior tag.

7. The computer implemented method of claim 3 further comprising:

sending the data and behavior tag to a second receiving application, wherein the second receiving application associates a different policy to the behavior tag, and wherein the second receiving application aggregates the data in accordance with the different policy.

8. The computer implemented method of claim 1 wherein the behavior tag includes a plurality of sub-tags, the method further comprising:

responsive to detecting the behavior tag, determining if a policy is associated with respective ones of the plurality of sub-tags of the behavior tag, wherein each policy defines how the portion of data assigned to the behavior tag is to be aggregated; and

aggregating the portion of data using at least one associated policy.

9. The computer implemented method of claim 1 further comprising:

creating a tempered list of behavior tag definitions.

10. A computer implemented method for aggregating data, the computer implemented method comprising:

parsing for a behavior tag assigned to a portion of the data;

responsive to detecting a behavior tag, wherein the behavior tag includes a plurality of sub-tags, determining if a policy is associated with respective ones of the plurality of sub-tags of the behavior tag, wherein each policy defines how the portion of the data assigned to the behavior tag is to be aggregated; and

aggregating the portion of the data using at least one policy.

11. The computer implemented method of claim 10, wherein the at least one policy is an aggregation policy.

12. A computer program product comprising:

a computer usable medium including computer usable program code for aggregating data, said computer program product comprising;

computer usable program code for parsing data for a behavior tag assigned to a portion of the data;

computer usable program code for, responsive to detecting a behavior tag, determining if a policy is associated with the behavior tag, wherein the policy defines how the portion of the data assigned to the behavior tag is to be aggregated; and

computer usable program code for aggregating the portion of the data using the policy.

13. The computer program product of claim 12 wherein the policy is user configurable.

14. The computer program product of claim 12 further comprising:

computer usable program code for assigning the behavior tag to a portion of the data; and

computer usable program code for sending the data and the behavior tag to a receiving application for aggregating.

15. The computer program product of claim 12 further comprising:

computer usable program code for associating a new policy to the behavior tag, wherein the new policy specifies a different aggregating of the portion of the data assigned to the behavior tag; and

computer usable program code for aggregating the portion of the data using the new policy.

16. The computer program product of claim 12 wherein the behavior tag includes a sub-tag.

17. The computer program product of claim 16 wherein a policy is associated with each sub-tag in the behavior tag.

18. A system for aggregating data, said system comprising:

a data aggregator wherein the data aggregator parses data for a behavior tag assigned to a portion of the data; and

a rules engine wherein, responsive to data aggregator detecting a behavior tag, the rules engine determines if a policy is associated with the behavior tag, and wherein the policy defines how the portion of the data assigned to the behavior tag is to be aggregated by the data aggregator; and

wherein the data aggregator aggregates the portion of the data using the policy.

19. The system of claim 18 wherein the policy is user configurable.

20. The system of claim 18 further comprising:

a data provider wherein the data provider assigns the behavior tag to a portion of the data, and wherein the behavior tag includes a sub-tag; and

a data sender wherein the data sender sends the data and the behavior tag to the data aggregator.