GLOBAL INFORMATION ARCHITECTURE

• US 20080005169A1
• Filed: 06/30/2006
• Published: 01/03/2008
• Est. Priority Date: 06/30/2006
• Status: Active Grant

• Current Assignee: Big Kahuna Technologies, LLC
• Original Assignee: XSLENT, LLC
• Inventors: Tinsley, David, Busalacchi, Frank, Bressler, Paul, Skinner, Wesley, Yarbrough, Eric
• Granted Patent: US 7,647,337 B2
• Time in Patent Office: Days
• US Class Current: 707/104.1
• CPC Class Codes: G06F 16/212 with details for data modelling support
• CPC Class Codes: G06F 16/25 Integrating or interfacing systems involving database management systems
• CPC Class Codes: G06F 16/289 Object oriented databases
• CPC Class Codes: G06F 9/449 Object-oriented method invocation or resolution
• CPC Class Codes: H04L 43/0876 Network utilisation, e.g. volume of load or congestion level

Abstract

The present invention provides a Global Information Architecture (GIA) to create an object-oriented, software-based modeling environment for the modeling of various data sources and allowing queries and transactions across those sources. The modeling environment is described in itself. Introspection is achieved since the model is described in the model, and early validation that the infrastructure is correct is established in that the infrastructure must execute against itself. Object traversal is done via vectors that describe how an object can be reached from other objects. Objects are linked by describing what type of object (data source) is to be reached and on the basis of what possible attribute values of that object. GIA allows different users to have different views of these data sources depending upon their WorldSpace. A user'"'"'s view of the data source is controlled by his WorldSpace, which are the attributes he has that makes him unique. These attributes can include (among others) his username, roles, language, locale, and organization. These WorldSpace views can also impact the behavior of the data sources. GIA allows for object to object event driven behavior and provides a configuration centric versus coding centric methodology for integrating those various data sources.

Claims

1. A method for exposing sets or instances of information objects, the method comprising the steps of:

creating an object method of an information object for a plurality of object characteristics of a particular type, and

including a name of each of the plurality of object characteristics of the particular type in a signature of the object method.

2. The method of claim 1, wherein the plurality of object characteristics includes the types of service, property, event, and relationship.

3. The method of claim 1, further comprising the step of implementing a common interface, wherein the common interface allows access to instances of information objects by name or position.

4. A method for creating wrapper objects that expose and implement an information object interface, the method comprising the steps of:

associating an object method of an information object for a plurality of object characteristics of a particular type with a collection of named component objects and an object method of those component objects providing a desired behavior as an implementation of the associated object method, and

executing the associated object method on a component object in the collection of named component objects that has a same name as a name referred to by the method to provide the desired behavior when the object method for a plurality of object characteristics of a particular type of an information object is invoked.

5. The method of claim 4, further comprising the steps of:

specifying the information object, its type, its named components, the definitions of the named components, and the types of named components,

relating the information object type to the wrapper objects,

creating the wrapper objects per the information object type,

relating the types of named components to component objects that perform the desired behavior,

creating component objects per the component types that implement the behavior, and

collecting the created component objects within the wrapper objects.

6. The method of claim 5, wherein the named components include at least one property, at least one service, and at least one relationship.

7. The method of claim 6, further comprising the steps of:

acting on at least one event,

defining an association between the at least one event and the at least one service, and

executing the association when the event is raised.

8. The method of claim 5, wherein the component definitions include information required for executing the desired behavior.

9. The method of claim 5, further comprising the steps of:

defining a service reflexively as another information object including definitions of component services as component information objects, which are implemented by

invoking the component services in response to an invocation of the information object.

10. A method for exposing an information source on an interface, the method comprising the steps of:

classifying an object method of access required to interact with the information source,

relating the classification to accessor objects that can interact with the information source and that expose the interface, and

creating objects per the relationship that can access the information source and present capabilities of that information source in conformance with the interface.

11. The method of claim 10, wherein the information source resides on a network.

12. The method of claim 10, wherein the interface is a common interface.

13. The method of claim 10, wherein the interface behaves as an information object.

14. The method of claim 10, further comprising the steps of:

associating the information source with a table name, type, location, and name of a relational database,

associating services of the information source with stored procedures of the database,

associating properties of the information source with columns of the database, and

associating events of the information source with any events raised by the database.

15. The method of claim 10, further comprising the steps of:

defining at least one classification, a location, and an access method of the information sources as information objects,

defining a relationship between the at least one classification and the accessor objects as information objects, and

defining instances of the information source as information objects, including their classifications, locations, access methods, and named components.

16. A method for implementing a vector as a relationship between a set of information objects of a first type and a set of information objects of a second type, the method comprising the steps of:

describing the relationship, the first type and second type, and a type of the vector,

relating a vector type with information objects that implement the vector type,

describing characteristics of the vector, and

creating the vector according to the type of the vector and the characteristics of the vector.

17. The method of claim 16, further comprising the step of returning an information object of the second type when given an information object of the first type.

18. The method of claim 16, wherein the descriptions are expressible as information objects.

19. The method of claim 16, wherein one type of vector is defined by one or more properties that are shared by information object types.

20. The method of claim 16, wherein one type of vector is defined by an association of a vector from the set of information objects of the first type to a set of information objects of a third type and a vector from the set of information objects of the third type to the set of information objects of the second type.

21. The method of claim 16, wherein one type of vector from the set of information objects of the first type to the set of information objects of the second type is defined by another vector from the set of information objects of the first type to set of information objects of the second type and a constraint on either the instances of the information objects of the first or second types.

22. The method of claim 16, wherein one type of vector from the set of information objects of the first type to the set of information objects of the second type is defined when any property of an information object of the first type shares a value with a corresponding property of any information object of the second type.

23. A method of implementing factories for objects comprising the steps of:

defining an information object for a named set of objects to be created that includes an object class,

associating a factory to the information object,

creating a factory with a creation object method that uses a name,

invoking the creation object method,

accessing the information object by the name, and

creating an object using the class specified in the named information object.

24. A method of creating an extensible collection of factories, the method comprising the steps of:

defining an information object for factories,

creating a factory-of-factories,

creating a set of factories per the information object for factories.

25. A method of creating a universal information object management environment, the method comprising the steps of:

defining information objects for information objects, information sources, each type of component of an information object,

defining instances of each of these information objects that collectively represent the characteristics of each of these information objects and factories for creating each of these information objects, and

creating an object to incrementally build the universal information object management environment by building each type of information object from the description of each type of information object using the corresponding instances.

26. The method of claim 25, further comprising the step of accessing another instance of a universal information object management environment as collections of information sources.

27. The method of claim 25, further comprising the steps of:

defining a mapping of syntax of a non-conforming universal information object management environment to syntax of the universal information object management environment,

accessing the universal information object management environment in response to requests made by the non-conforming universal information object management environment.

28. A method of assigning a universal unique identifier to each of a plurality of information objects without having to change a structure of collected information sources, the method comprising the steps of:

assigning a unique identifier to a universal information object management environment,

assigning a unique name to each of the plurality of information objects,

assigning a unique key to each instance of the information objects, and then

creating a unique by collecting the three parts.

29. A method of creating user interfaces that operate in a universal information object management environment, the method comprising the steps of:

defining information objects that represent user-interface objects, and

mapping the user-interface objects to information objects whose data is to be presented in the user interface by a vector representing a relationship from a set of information objects of a first type to a set of information objects of a second type, and

assembling user interfaces per the user-interface objects.

30. A method of defining applications comprising the steps of:

defining applications as information objects that represent collections of user-interfaces,

defining systems as information objects that represent collections of applications, and

assembling applications and systems per the defined applications and defined systems.

31. A method of describing access a user has to a first information object, the method comprising the steps of:

defining a user as a user information object,

defining a vector between the user and the first information object,

defining a vector between the user and components of the first information object, and

assembling a second information object defined on the first information object by assembling only the components specified by the vector, which in turn act on the components of the first information object.

32. A method for supporting a compound information object, the method comprising the steps of:

associating components of a compound information object with components of an information object, and

executing the components of the information objects in response to requests for execution of object methods on the compound information object.

33. A method for creating a global information architecture, the method comprising the steps of:

creating a first information object, wherein the first information object is configured by metadata and capable of defining other information objects; and

executing the first information object.

34. The method of claim 33, wherein the metadata describes services of the configured information object.

35. The method of claim 33, wherein the metadata describes the properties of the configured information object.

36. The method of claim 33, wherein the metadata describes the relationship of the configured information object with a second information object.

37. The method of claim 33, further comprising the step of creating a second information object, wherein the second information object is configured with metadata and at least partially defined by the first information object.

38. The method of claim 33, wherein the content of the first information object is exposed.

39. The method of claim 33, wherein the first information object interoperates with any network available information source.