Mapping interface for a distributed server to translate between dissimilar file formats
First Claim
1. In a computer system, a canonical mapper to translate an input file from an input domain to an output domain, said canonical mapper comprising:
- a canons utility which builds a canon, said canon being a tree relating all data attributes within a domain of information, and said domain being a collection of data that has a same data format;
a maps utility which creates input and output maps that specify the translation from said input domain to said output domain, said input map being a data structure that describes a format of said input domain, and said output map being a data structure that describes a format of said output domain; and
a translator utility which performs the translation of said input file to an output file in accordance with said canon and aid input and output maps, wherein said input domain and said output domain have differing formats.
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Abstract
A mapper to translate an input file from an input domain to an output domain. The mapper includes a canons utility which builds a canon, the canon being a tree relating all data attributes within a domain of information, and the domain being a collection of data that has a same data format, a maps utility which creates input and output maps that specify the translation from the input domain to the output domain, and a translator utility to perform the translation of the input file to an output file. The input map is a data structure that describes a format of the input domain and the output map is a data structure that describes a format of the output domain. The input map and the output map are derivation trees, and the mapper utilizes the input map and the output map to build a scanner/parser for the input file domain. The mapper traverses the input map to parse data from the input file into a list. The mapper then maps from the list to the output domain to generate the output file by traversing the output map and reinterpreting a corresponding element in the list such that the corresponding element conforms to the output domain.
564 Citations
27 Claims
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1. In a computer system, a canonical mapper to translate an input file from an input domain to an output domain, said canonical mapper comprising:
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a canons utility which builds a canon, said canon being a tree relating all data attributes within a domain of information, and said domain being a collection of data that has a same data format;
a maps utility which creates input and output maps that specify the translation from said input domain to said output domain, said input map being a data structure that describes a format of said input domain, and said output map being a data structure that describes a format of said output domain; and
a translator utility which performs the translation of said input file to an output file in accordance with said canon and aid input and output maps, wherein said input domain and said output domain have differing formats. - View Dependent Claims (2, 3, 4, 5, 6, 7, 8, 9, 10, 11, 12, 13, 14, 15, 16, 17)
wherein said element types include group elements that are canonical elements that have nested canonical elements and result elements contain a specific value, and wherein said modifiers are associated with said group elements and are conditional statements about said group element. -
14. The canonical mapper as recited in claim 13, wherein said conditional statements comprise optional, repeating, group results, and mandatory.
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15. The canonical mapper as recited in claim 13, wherein said tokens are defined for said result elements and represent said specific value based on said input file.
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16. The canonical mapper as recited in claim 1, further comprising an interactive translator utility to test the actual translation of said input file to be mapped for the translation process, said test being performed in accordance with said canon, said input map, said output map, and said input file.
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17. The canonical mapper as recited in claim 1, wherein said translator utility runs in a headless mode.
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18. A method of mapping an input file having an input domain to an output file having an output domain using a canonical mapper, said canonical mapper comprising a canons utility, a maps utility and a translator utility, wherein a domain is a collection of data having a same format, said method comprising:
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creating a canon using said canons utility, said canon comprising canonical elements;
creating input and output maps using said maps utility in accordance with said anon to perform the conversion of said input file to said output file; and
mapping the information from said input map to said output map to create said output file using said translator utility. - View Dependent Claims (19, 20, 21, 22)
defining said canonical elements such that said canonical elements have a hierarchical structure, said hierarchical structure having a root and children nested under said root;
defining children of said root, said children defining specific information about said root; and
defining relationships of said canonical elements.
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20. The method as recited in claim 18, wherein said creating input and output maps comprises:
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selecting each component of said input file and defining its function in terms of said canon;
defining attributes about said canonical elements;
defining tokens, said tokens specifying a format of the results of mapping said input file using said input and output maps; and
defining actions to structure the appearance of portions of said input file or said output file.
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21. The method as recited in claim 20, wherein said defining attributes about said canonical elements comprises:
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defining modifiers for said canonical elements, said modifiers determining if a value of a particular canonical element is required, if said value appears more than once, if said canonical element includes a series of said values, or if said canonical element is required; and
defining identifiers, said identifiers being constant values within said input file.
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22. The method as recited in claim 18, wherein said mapping the information from said input map to said output map to create said output file further comprises testing the conversion.
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23. In a server residing within a multi-layered distributed software architecture that receives and processes data, said server comprising a data repository to store said data, at least one external interface to communicate with systems external of said server, a services subsystem comprising distributed services, said distributed services running on application servers within said distributed architecture, middleware software to facilitate scalability, transaction processing, and mapping of objects to said data repository, and application frameworks to facilitate access to said data repository and the creation of processes compliant with said middleware software, a canonical mapper server comprising:
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a canons utility which builds a canon, said canon being a tree relating all data attributes within a domain of information, and said domain being a collection of data that has a same data format;
a maps utility which creates input and output maps that specify the translation from said input domain to said output domain, said input map being a data structure that describes a format of said input domain, and said output map being a data structure that describes a format of said output domain; and
a translator utility to perform the translation of said input file to an output file, wherein said input domain and said output domain have differing formats. - View Dependent Claims (24, 25, 26, 27)
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Specification