Development system providing methods for managing different versions of objects with a meta model
First Claim
1. In a development system for creating programs from objects, an improved method for managing versions of the objects, the method comprising:
- providing a meta model for presenting to a user the objects and versions thereof as a hierarchical representation;
for each object created, performing substeps of;
creating in said hierarchical representation a single entity node for representing the object, andcreating in said hierarchical representation at least one name node for representing one or more names for the object; and
for each version created for each corresponding object, creating in said hierarchical representation an instance node for representing said each version for each object, wherein said hierarchical representation conveys to the user a relationship between each version and its corresponding object and conveys any semantic relationships existing between said objects.
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Abstract
An "Object Cycle" versioning system having an Object Cycle Server is described. The server communicates over a wire or a network for providing versioning services to multiple clients. During a user session, a user invokes operation of the system from within the development environment of the particular client being used. From the perspective of the Object Cycle Server, each client is simply "a client" (without regard to proprietary nature) which desires to store "an object." The Object Cycle Server, in turn, maps the object into a meta model which serves as a container for facilitating version control. With the model, therefore, operations supported by the system for versioning will execute correctly even if the objects are stored in a format other than a relational database, such as an object-oriented database, a file server, or other storage system. The model separates out the name of an object from where the object itself is actually stored. As additional versions of the object are created, the number of object instances increases. Once an instance has been created, versioning activities can be undertaken, such as checking in, checking out, and the like--operations which are atomic at the object level. By separating out these areas of functionality into (conceptually) different nodes of a meta model, system performance is enhanced.
547 Citations
35 Claims
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1. In a development system for creating programs from objects, an improved method for managing versions of the objects, the method comprising:
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providing a meta model for presenting to a user the objects and versions thereof as a hierarchical representation; for each object created, performing substeps of; creating in said hierarchical representation a single entity node for representing the object, and creating in said hierarchical representation at least one name node for representing one or more names for the object; and for each version created for each corresponding object, creating in said hierarchical representation an instance node for representing said each version for each object, wherein said hierarchical representation conveys to the user a relationship between each version and its corresponding object and conveys any semantic relationships existing between said objects. - View Dependent Claims (2, 3, 4, 5, 6, 7, 8, 9, 10, 11, 12, 13, 14, 15, 16, 17, 18, 19, 20, 21, 22, 23, 24, 25)
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26. An object versioning system comprising:
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a server computer having a processor, a memory, and a storage device; at least one client computer connected through a network to the server computer, said at least one client computer having a development system for creating programs from objects, said server computer having a versioning engine for managing different versions of objects; and means for presenting the objects to a user as a hierarchical representation with a meta model, so that for each object created, the server computer stores a single entity node for representing the object and stores at least one name node for representing one or more names for the object, and so that for each version created for each object the server computer stores an instance node for representing the version of each object, so that said hierarchical representation conveys to the user a relationship between each version and its corresponding object. - View Dependent Claims (27, 28, 29, 30, 31, 32, 33, 34, 35)
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Specification