CONTENT ENGINE ASYNCHRONOUS UPGRADE FRAMEWORK

• US 20090138523A1
• Filed: 11/28/2007
• Published: 05/28/2009
• Est. Priority Date: 11/28/2007
• Status: Active Grant

• Current Assignee: International Business Machines Corporation
• Original Assignee: International Business Machines Corporation
• Inventors: Pi, Wan-Chang, Waters, Shawn Michael, Clive Seaman, Michael Roy
• Granted Patent: US 11,347,771 B2
• Time in Patent Office: Days
• US Class Current: 1/1
• CPC Class Codes: G06F 16/2315 Optimistic concurrency control
• CPC Class Codes: G06F 16/235 Update request formulation
• CPC Class Codes: G06F 16/2379 Updates performed during online database operations; commit processing
• CPC Class Codes: G06F 16/273 Asynchronous replication or reconciliation

Abstract

Embodiments of the invention provide a tool for performing asynchronous upgrades of data stored in computer databases. In one embodiment, an upgrade tool may be configured to split existing data records into data blocks. Each data block may be queued in an asynchronous queue. When processing capacity is available, the data block may undergo an upgrade operation, and another data block may be added to the queue. Once all data blocks are upgraded, the upgraded data records may be used by applications accessing the database. In one embodiment, different types of upgrade operations may be performed on the data records.

Claims

1. A computer-implemented method for upgrading a plurality of database records, comprising:

receiving a selection of an upgrade operation to be performed on the plurality of database records;

generating a plurality of data blocks, wherein each data block references a different set of database records, of the plurality of database records, relative to other data blocks;

adding the plurality of data blocks to an asynchronous upgrade queue; and

while any data blocks remain in the asynchronous upgrade queue;

determining whether resources are available to process a next data block in the upgrade queue,

upon determining resources are available, selecting a data block from the asynchronous upgrade queue,

performing the selected upgrade operation on the database records referenced in the selected data block, and

if any data blocks remain in the asynchronous upgrade queue, then identifying a next data block to be upgraded.

2. The method of claim 1, further comprising, prior to generating the plurality of data blocks, setting an upgrade status flag to indicate an incomplete status for the selected upgrade operation.

3. The method of claim 2, further comprising, upon completing the selected upgrade operation for the plurality of data blocks, setting the upgrade status flag to indicate a complete status for the selected upgrade operation.

4. The method of claim 1, wherein the upgrade operation is selected from one or more defined types of upgrade operations, and wherein each of the one or more defined types of upgrade operations comprises a different modification of a database record according to at least one requirement of an application used to access the plurality of database records.

5. The method of claim 1, wherein the plurality of database records store data in a first format used by a first version of a particular software application.

6. The method of claim 5, wherein the selected upgrade operation is used to upgrade the plurality of database records into a second format used by a second version of the particular software application.

7. The method of claim 1, wherein the step of identifying the next data block comprises setting a continuation key with an identifier for the next data block.

8. The method of claim 1, wherein the plurality of database records are upgraded asynchronously to other database operations accessing the plurality of database records.

9. A computer-useable storage medium containing a program, which, when executed performs an operation for upgrading a plurality of database records, comprising:

receiving a selection of an upgrade operation to be performed on the plurality of database records;

generating a plurality of data blocks, wherein each data block references a different set of database records, of the plurality of database records, relative to other data blocks;

adding the plurality of data blocks to an asynchronous upgrade queue; and

while any data blocks remain in the asynchronous upgrade queue;

determining whether resources are available to process a next data block in the upgrade queue,

upon determining resources are available, selecting a data block from the asynchronous upgrade queue,

performing the selected upgrade operation on the database records referenced in the selected data block, and

if any data blocks remain in the asynchronous upgrade queue, then identifying a next data block to be upgraded.

10. The computer-useable storage medium of claim 9, wherein the operation further comprises, prior to generating the plurality of data blocks, setting an upgrade status flag to indicate an incomplete status for the selected upgrade operation.

11. The computer-useable storage medium of claim 10, wherein the operation further comprises, upon completing the selected upgrade operation for the plurality of data blocks, setting the upgrade status flag to indicate a complete status for the selected upgrade operation.

12. The computer-useable storage medium of claim 9, wherein the upgrade operation is selected from one or more defined types of upgrade operations, and wherein each of the one or more defined types of upgrade operations comprises a different modification of a database record according to at least one requirement of an application used to access the plurality of database records.

13. The computer-useable storage medium of claim 9, wherein the plurality of database records store data in a first format used by a first version of a particular software application.

14. The computer-useable storage medium of claim 13, wherein the selected upgrade operation is used to upgrade the plurality of database records into a second format used by a second version of the particular software application.

15. The computer-useable storage medium of claim 9, wherein the step of identifying the next data block comprises setting a continuation key with an identifier for the next data block.

16. The computer-useable storage medium of claim 9, wherein the plurality of database records are upgraded asynchronously to other database operations accessing the plurality of database records.

17. A system, comprising:

a processor; and

a memory containing a program, which when executed by the processor, is configured to perform an operation for upgrading a plurality of database records by performing the steps of;

receiving a selection of an upgrade operation to be performed on the plurality of database records;

generating a plurality of data blocks, wherein each data block references a different set of database records, of the plurality of database records, relative to other data blocks;

adding the plurality of data blocks to an asynchronous upgrade queue; and

while any data blocks remain in the asynchronous upgrade queue;

determining whether resources are available to process a next data block in the upgrade queue,

upon determining resources are available, selecting a data block from the asynchronous upgrade queue,

performing the selected upgrade operation on the database records referenced in the selected data block, and

if any data blocks remain in the asynchronous upgrade queue, then identifying a next data block to be upgraded.

18. The system of claim 17, wherein the operation further comprises, prior to generating the plurality of data blocks, setting an upgrade status flag to indicate an incomplete status for the selected upgrade operation.

19. The system of claim 18, wherein the operation further comprises, upon completing the selected upgrade operation for the plurality of data blocks, setting the upgrade status flag to indicate a complete status for the selected upgrade operation.

20. The system of claim 17, wherein the upgrade operation is selected from one or more defined types of upgrade operations, and wherein each of the one or more defined types of upgrade operations comprises a different modification of a database record according to at least one requirement of an application used to access the plurality of database records.

21. The system of claim 17, wherein the plurality of database records store data in a first format used by a first version of a particular software application.

22. The system of claim 21, wherein the selected upgrade operation is used to upgrade the plurality of database records into a second format used by a second version of the particular software application.

23. The system of claim 17, wherein the step of identifying the next data block comprises setting a continuation key with an identifier for the next data block.

24. The system of claim 17, wherein the plurality of database records are upgraded asynchronously to other database operations accessing the plurality of database records