Identifying resource and data instances in management systems
First Claim
1. A computer-implemented method of uniquely identifying resources, comprising:
- modeling the resources using a hierarchical schema, wherein classes in the hierarchical schema correspond to resource types and wherein instances in the hierarchical schema represent individual resources, each instance being defined according to a class definition of a selected one of the classes that corresponds to the resource type of the individual resource represented by the instance; and
defining, in the class definition of a topmost class of the hierarchical schema, a naming rule property and an instance identity property, the naming rule property for storing a naming rule for each of the classes in an associated naming rule property value, and the instance identity property for storing an identity of each of the instances in an associated instance identity property value, wherein;
each class at levels of the hierarchical schema beneath the topmost class inherits the naming rule property and the instance identity property, thereby requiring each class in the hierarchical schema to store a class-specific naming rule as the value of the naming rule property and each instance of each of the classes to store an instance-specific identity as the value of the instance identity property;
the naming rule for each class specifies at least one property defined in the class definition of that class, and is used for creating the identity for each instance of that class; and
the naming rule for each of the classes is selected to ensure that the identity created for each of the instances of each of the classes is unique within the hierarchical schema.
1 Assignment
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Accused Products
Abstract
Methods, systems, computer program products, and methods of doing business whereby managed resources and/or data are identified using a model based on object-oriented techniques. A resource hierarchy is defined for a set of resources/data to be managed, and naming rules are associated with classes in this hierarchy. The naming rules for a particular class describe how to uniquely identify resources of that class among more than one management system and in a way that is independent of the management system. The identities are structured strings created using the naming rules of the class to which the resource/data belongs. Structural restrictions placed on the structured strings allow any two identities to be compared for equality (using, for example, a simple string comparison).
44 Citations
18 Claims
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1. A computer-implemented method of uniquely identifying resources, comprising:
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modeling the resources using a hierarchical schema, wherein classes in the hierarchical schema correspond to resource types and wherein instances in the hierarchical schema represent individual resources, each instance being defined according to a class definition of a selected one of the classes that corresponds to the resource type of the individual resource represented by the instance; and defining, in the class definition of a topmost class of the hierarchical schema, a naming rule property and an instance identity property, the naming rule property for storing a naming rule for each of the classes in an associated naming rule property value, and the instance identity property for storing an identity of each of the instances in an associated instance identity property value, wherein; each class at levels of the hierarchical schema beneath the topmost class inherits the naming rule property and the instance identity property, thereby requiring each class in the hierarchical schema to store a class-specific naming rule as the value of the naming rule property and each instance of each of the classes to store an instance-specific identity as the value of the instance identity property; the naming rule for each class specifies at least one property defined in the class definition of that class, and is used for creating the identity for each instance of that class; and the naming rule for each of the classes is selected to ensure that the identity created for each of the instances of each of the classes is unique within the hierarchical schema. - View Dependent Claims (2, 3, 4, 5, 6, 7, 8, 9, 11, 12)
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10. A method of generating unique resource identities, comprising:
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determining a particular resource for which a unique resource identity is to be generated; accessing a class hierarchy with which resources are modeled, thereby obtaining a class definition for a class that corresponds to a resource type for the particular resource; locating, in the class definition, a class-specific naming rule that specifies how identities for instances of the class are to be generated, wherein; the naming rule is specified in the class definition as a value of a naming rule property that is inherited, by each class in the class hierarchy, from a topmost one of the classes in the class hierarchy; the naming rule specifies at least one property name, each of the at least one specified property name selected from a collection of property names comprising the class definition, the selecting ensuring that each of the instances of the class are uniquely identified within the class hierarchy; the naming rule specified in at least one of the class definitions comprises at least two of the property names selected from the collection of property names comprising the class definition; and the value of the naming rule property for at least two of the class definitions differs; and generating the identity for the particular resource using the located naming rule by appending a class name of the class that corresponds to the resource type for the particular resource to a collection of name-value pairs, the collection of name-value pairs comprising, for each of the at least one property name specified by the located naming rule, a name and value pair comprising that property name and a property value corresponding thereto for the particular resource.
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13. A system for uniquely identifying resources, comprising:
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a hierarchical schema that models the resources, wherein classes in the hierarchical schema correspond to resource types and wherein instances in the hierarchical schema represent individual resources, each instance being defined according to a class definition of a selected one of the classes that corresponds to the resource type of the individual resource represented by the instance; and instructions which are executable, using a processor of a computer, for defining, in the class definition of a topmost class of the hierarchical schema, a naming rule property and an instance identity property, the naming rule property for storing a naming rule for each of the classes in an associated naming rule property value, and the instance identity property for storing an identity of each of the instances in an associated instance identity property value, wherein; each class at levels of the hierarchical schema beneath the topmost class inherits the naming rule property and the instance identity property, thereby requiring each class in the hierarchical schema to store a class-specific naming rule as the value of the naming rule property and each instance of each of the classes to store an instance-specific identity as the value of the instance identity property; the naming rule for each class specifies at least one property defined in the class definition of that class, and is used for creating the identity for each instance of that class; and the naming rule for each of the classes is selected to ensure that the identity created for each of the instances of each of the classes is unique within the hierarchical schema. - View Dependent Claims (14, 15)
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16. A computer program product for uniquely identifying resources, the computer program product embodied on one or more computer-readable media and comprising computer readable program code for:
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modeling the resources using a hierarchical schema, wherein classes in the hierarchical schema correspond to resource types and wherein instances in the hierarchical schema represent individual resources, each instance being defined according to a class definition of a selected one of the classes that corresponds to the resource type of the individual resource represented by the instance; and defining, in the class definition of a topmost class of the hierarchical schema, a naming rule property and an instance identity property, the naming rule property for storing a naming rule for each of the classes in an associated naming rule property value, and the instance identity property for storing an identity of each of the instances in an associated instance identity property value, wherein; each class at levels of the hierarchical schema beneath the topmost class inherits the naming rule property and the instance identity property, thereby requiring each class in the hierarchical schema to store a class-specific naming rule as the value of the naming rule property and each instance of each of the classes to store an instance-specific identity as the value of the instance identity property; the naming rule for each class specifies at least one property defined in the class definition of that class, and is used for creating the identity for each instance of that class; and the naming rule for each of the classes is selected to ensure that the identity created for each of the instances of each of the classes is unique within the hierarchical schema. - View Dependent Claims (17, 18)
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Specification