Event Processing with XML Query Based on Reusable XML Query Template

• US 20110093490A1
• Filed: 10/21/2009
• Published: 04/21/2011
• Est. Priority Date: 10/21/2009
• Status: Active Grant

• Current Assignee: Microsoft Technology Licensing LLC (Microsoft Corporation)
• Original Assignee: Microsoft Corporation
• Inventors: Schindlauer, Roman, Grabs, Torsten, Sezgin, Beysim
• Granted Patent: US 9,158,816 B2
• Time in Patent Office: Days
• US Class Current: 707/769
• CPC Class Codes: G06F 16/2455 Query execution
• CPC Class Codes: G06F 16/835 Query processing

Abstract

Methods, systems, and computer-readable media are disclosed for event processing with a query based on a reusable XML query template. A particular method includes receiving a plurality of events from a source and generating a plurality of event objects based on the plurality of events. A query represented by an XML file based on a reusable XML query template is executed with respect to the plurality of event objects to produce a plurality of result objects. Each result object is produced based on an application of at least one operator of the query. A plurality of results is generated based on the plurality of result objects, and the plurality of results is transmitted to a sink.

Claims

1. A system, comprising:

an input adapter configured to receive an event from a source and generate an event object based on the event, wherein the event object includes a payload, a validity start time, and a validity end time;

a query engine configured to execute a query with respect to the event object to produce a result object, wherein the query is represented by an extensible markup language (XML) file that is based on a reusable XML query template that is bindable to a plurality of input adapters and a plurality of output adapters, wherein the result object is produced based on an application of at least one operator of the query; and

an output adapter configured to generate a result based on the result object and to transmit the result to a sink.

2. The system of claim 1, further comprising a second input adapter configured to receive a second event from a second source that is different from the first source and a second output adapter configured to transmit a second result to a second sink that is different from the first sink, wherein the query engine is further configured to execute the query with respect to the second event object.

3. The system of claim 2, wherein executing the query with respect to the event includes binding a first instance of the query template to the input adapter and to the output adapter, wherein executing the query with respect to the second event object includes binding a second instance of the query template to the second input adapter and to the second output adapter, and wherein both the first input adapter and the second input adapter produce identically typed event objects in accordance with a type specification of the query template.

4. The system of claim 1, wherein the input adapter is further configured to receive a second event from the source and wherein the query engine is further configured to execute the query with respect to a combination of the event object and a second event object based on the second event.

5. The system of claim 1, wherein the query template is reusable with multiple sources and multiple sinks and wherein the query engine is further configured to execute the query with respect to the event object without storing the event object.

6. The system of claim 1, wherein the input adapter transmits the event object to the query engine via an input stream.

7. The system of claim 1, wherein the output adapter receives the result object from the query engine via an output stream.

8. The system of claim 1, wherein the XML file includes a directed graph of the at least one operator.

9. The system of claim 8, wherein the directed graph includes a projection operator, a windowing operator, an aggregation operator, a grouping operator, a join operator, a selection operator, or any combination thereof.

10. The system of claim 1, wherein the source provides events to the input adapter periodically, randomly, or intermittently in bursts.

11. The system of claim 1, wherein the event is formatted in a first data format native to the source, wherein the event object and the result object are formatted in a second data format native to the query engine, and wherein the result is formatted in a third data format native to the sink.

12. The system of claim 1, wherein the XML file representing the query is generated based on a language integrated query (LINQ) language, a query in a.NET programming language other than LINQ, a complex event detection and response (CEDR) algebra query, or any combination thereof.

13. The system of claim 1, wherein the system is integrated into an embedded dynamically linked library (DLL), an executable file, an operating system service, or a server farm.

14. The system of claim 1, wherein at least one of the input adapter, the query engine, and the output adapter are integrated into a complex event processing (CEP) system.

15. The system of claim 1, wherein the input adapter generates event objects that match an input type specification of the XML query template and wherein the output adapter accepts result objects that match an output type specification of the XML query template.

16. A method, comprising:

at a complex event processing (CEP) system comprising a processor and memory, receiving a plurality of events from a source;

generating a plurality of event objects based on the plurality of events;

at the processor, executing a query with respect to the plurality of event objects to produce a plurality of result objects, wherein the query is executed without storing any of the plurality of event objects at the memory, wherein the query is represented by an extensible markup language (XML) file that is based on a reusable XML query template, and wherein each of the plurality of result objects is produced based on an application of at least one operator of the query;

generating a plurality of results based on the plurality of result objects; and

transmitting the plurality of results to a sink.

17. The method of claim 16, wherein the XML file representing the query indicates an input binding to the input adapter and an output binding to the output adapter.

18. A computer-readable medium comprising instructions, that when executed by a computer, cause the computer to:

receive, at an event processing system, at least one event from a source, wherein each event is represented in a first data format that is native to the source;

convert the at least one event from the first data format to at least one event object formatted in a second data format, the at least one event object including a payload, a validity start time, and a validity end time;

execute a query with respect to the at least one event object to produce a result object, wherein the query is represented by an extensible markup language (XML) file that is based on a reusable XML query template, wherein the result object is produced based on an application of at least one operator of the query, and wherein the result object is formatted in the second data format;

convert the result object from the second data format to at least one result formatted in a third data format that is native to a sink; and

transmit the at least one result to the sink.

19. The computer-readable medium of claim 18, wherein the at least one operator is a payload-specific operator, a validity start time-specific operator, a validity end time-specific operator, or any combination thereof.

20. The computer-readable medium of claim 18, wherein executing the query includes parsing the XML file representing the query in accordance with one or more XML schema definition (XSD) files.