Persistence of master data in a multi-tenant software delivery architecture

• US 8,412,673 B2
• Filed: 07/30/2010
• Issued: 04/02/2013
• Est. Priority Date: 07/30/2010
• Status: Active Grant

• Current Assignee: SAP SE
• Original Assignee: SAP AG (SAP SE)
• Inventors: Weissenberger, Christof, Lehner, Christoph, Raman, Gururaj, Nieswand, Wolfgang
• Primary Examiner(s): Ruiz, Angelica
• Application Number:
  US12/847,873
• Publication Number:
  US 20120030168A1
• Time in Patent Office: 977 Days
• Field of Search: None
• US Class Current: 707/610
• CPC Class Codes: G06F 16/178 Techniques for file synchronisation in file systems
• CPC Class Codes: G06Q 10/00 Administration; Management

Abstract

A first tenant-nonspecific database table on a repository accessible to an application server of a multi-tenant software delivery architecture can maintain a first record designating a first predefined generic field of a plurality of predefined generic fields. The first record can include an organization-specific master data field definition of the first predefined generic field maintained in a first tenant-specific definition field assigned to a first customer tenant of a plurality of customer tenants that are accessible via the application server. Each customer tenant of the plurality of customer tenants can provide a discrete organization-specific business configuration of a core software platform. A second tenant-nonspecific database table maintained on the repository can maintain a second record that can include a key value designating the first tenant, a record designator, and an organization-specific master data value corresponding to the first predefined generic field. A calculation or determination based on master data can be performed that is relevant to the discrete organization-specific business configuration provided by the first customer tenant using the organization-specific master data value.

Claims

1. A computer program product comprising a machine-readable medium storing instructions that, when executed by at least one processor, cause the at least one processor to perform operations comprising:

maintaining, in a first tenant-nonspecific database table on a repository accessible to an application server of a multi-tenant software delivery architecture, a first record designating a first predefined generic field of a plurality of predefined generic fields and comprising an organization-specific master data field definition of the first predefined generic field maintained in a first tenant-specific definition field assigned to a first customer tenant of a plurality of customer tenants that are accessible via the application server, each customer tenant of the plurality of customer tenants providing a discrete organization-specific business configuration of a core software platform;

maintaining, in a second tenant-nonspecific database table maintained on the repository, a second record comprising a key value designating the first tenant, a record designator, and an organization-specific master data value corresponding to the first predefined generic field;

performing a calculation or determination based on master data relevant to the discrete organization-specific business configuration provided by the first customer tenant using the organization-specific master data value; and

moving the first customer tenant to a second multi-tenant software architecture comprising a second application server and a second repository, the moving comprising;

moving the first tenant-specific generic field definition field from the first tenant-nonspecific database table on the repository to a target first tenant-nonspecific database table on the second repository;

extracting the second record and any other records in the second tenant-nonspecific database table having key values designating the first tenant from the second tenant-nonspecific database table; and

adding the extracted second record and any other records to a target second tenant-nonspecific database table on the second repository.

2. A computer program product as in claim 1, wherein the operations further comprise:

presenting, to an authorized user of the first customer tenant, a master data table comprising the organization-specific master data value and only other master data relevant to the first customer tenant.

3. A computer program product as in claim 2, wherein the master data table comprises a master data record having at least one master data field, the at least one master data field comprising the organization-specific master data value.

4. A computer program product as in claim 1, wherein the calculation or determination based on master data comprises a pricing calculation.

5. A computer program product comprising a machine-readable medium storing instructions that, when executed by at least one processor, cause the at least one processor to perform operations comprising:

maintaining, in a first tenant-nonspecific database table on a repository accessible to an application server of a multi-tenant software delivery architecture, a first record designating a first predefined generic field of a plurality of predefined generic fields and comprising an organization-specific master data field definition of the first predefined generic field maintained in a first tenant-specific definition field assigned to a first customer tenant of a plurality of customer tenants that are accessible via the application server, each customer tenant of the plurality of customer tenants providing a discrete organization-specific business configuration of a core software platform;

maintaining, in a second tenant-nonspecific database table maintained on the repository, a second record comprising a key value designating the first tenant, a record designator, and an organization-specific master data value corresponding to the first predefined generic field;

performing a calculation or determination based on master data relevant to the discrete organization-specific business configuration provided by the first customer tenant using the organization-specific master data value; and

copying the first customer tenant to a second customer tenant on the multi-tenant software architecture, the copying comprising;

creating a copy of the first tenant-specific generic field definition field in the first tenant-nonspecific database table;

duplicating the second record and any other records in the second tenant-nonspecific database table having key values designating the first tenant in the second tenant-nonspecific database table; and

changing the key values of the duplicated second record and any other records to designate the second customer tenant.

6. A computer program product comprising a machine-readable medium storing instructions that, when executed by at least one processor, cause the at least one processor to perform operations comprising:

maintaining, in a first tenant-nonspecific database table on a repository accessible to an application server of a multi-tenant software delivery architecture, a first record designating a first predefined generic field of a plurality of predefined generic fields and comprising an organization-specific master data field definition of the first predefined generic field maintained in a first tenant-specific definition field assigned to a first customer tenant of a plurality of customer tenants that are accessible via the application server, each customer tenant of the plurality of customer tenants providing a discrete organization-specific business configuration of a core software platform;

maintaining, in a second tenant-nonspecific database table maintained on the repository, a second record comprising a key value designating the first tenant, a record designator, and an organization-specific master data value corresponding to the first predefined generic field;

performing a calculation or determination based on master data relevant to the discrete organization-specific business configuration provided by the first customer tenant using the organization-specific master data value; and

deleting the first customer tenant from the multi-tenant software architecture, the deleting comprising;

deleting the first tenant-specific generic field definition field from the first tenant-nonspecific database table on the repository to a target first tenant-nonspecific database table on the second repository; and

deleting the second record and any other records in the second tenant-nonspecific database table having key values designating the first tenant from the second tenant-nonspecific database table.

7. A system comprising:

at least one processor; and

a machine-readable medium storing instructions that, when executed by the at least one processor, cause the at least one processor to perform operations comprising;

maintaining, in a first tenant-nonspecific database table on a repository accessible to an application server of a multi-tenant software delivery architecture, a first record designating a first predefined generic field of a plurality of predefined generic fields and comprising an organization-specific master data field definition of the first predefined generic field maintained in a first tenant-specific definition field assigned to a first customer tenant of a plurality of customer tenants that are accessible via the application server, each customer tenant of the plurality of customer tenants providing a discrete organization-specific business configuration of a core software platform;

maintaining, in a second tenant-nonspecific database table maintained on the repository, a second record comprising a key value designating the first tenant, a record designator, and an organization-specific master data value corresponding to the first predefined generic field;

performing a calculation or determination based on master data that is relevant to the discrete organization-specific business configuration provided by the first customer tenant using the organization-specific master data value; and

copying the first customer tenant to a second customer tenant on the multi-tenant software architecture, the copying comprising;

creating a copy of the first tenant-specific generic field definition field in the first tenant-nonspecific database table;

duplicating the second record and any other records in the second tenant-nonspecific database table having key values designating the first tenant in the second tenant-nonspecific database table; and

changing the key values of the duplicated second record and any other records to designate the second customer tenant.

8. A system as in claim 7, wherein the operations further comprise:

presenting, to an authorized user of the first customer tenant, a master data table comprising the organization-specific master data value and only other master data relevant to the first customer tenant.

9. A system as in claim 8, wherein the master data table comprises a master data record having at least one master data field, the at least one master data field comprising the organization-specific master data value.

10. A system as in claim 7, wherein the calculation or determination based on master data comprises a pricing calculation.

11. A system comprising:

at least one processor; and

a machine-readable medium storing instructions that, when executed by the at least one processor, cause the at least one processor to perform operations comprising;

maintaining, in a first tenant-nonspecific database table on a repository accessible to an application server of a multi-tenant software delivery architecture, a first record designating a first predefined generic field of a plurality of predefined generic fields and comprising an organization-specific master data field definition of the first predefined generic field maintained in a first tenant-specific definition field assigned to a first customer tenant of a plurality of customer tenants that are accessible via the application server, each customer tenant of the plurality of customer tenants providing a discrete organization-specific business configuration of a core software platform;

maintaining, in a second tenant-nonspecific database table maintained on the repository, a second record comprising a key value designating the first tenant, a record designator, and an organization-specific master data value corresponding to the first predefined generic field;

performing a calculation or determination based on master data relevant to the discrete organization-specific business configuration provided by the first customer tenant using the organization-specific master data value; and

moving the first customer tenant to a second multi-tenant software architecture comprising a second application server and a second repository, the moving comprising;

moving the first tenant-specific generic field definition field from the first tenant-nonspecific database table on the repository to a target first tenant-nonspecific database table on the second repository;

extracting the second record and any other records in the second tenant-nonspecific database table having key values designating the first tenant from the second tenant-nonspecific database table; and

adding the extracted second record and any other records to a target second tenant-nonspecific database table on the second repository.

12. A system comprising:

at least one processor; and

a machine-readable medium storing instructions that, when executed by the at least one processor, cause the at least one processor to perform operations comprising maintaining, in a first tenant-nonspecific database table on a repository accessible to an application server of a multi-tenant software delivery architecture, a first record designating a first predefined generic field of a plurality of predefined generic fields and comprising an organization-specific master data field definition of the first predefined generic field maintained in a first tenant-specific definition field assigned to a first customer tenant of a plurality of customer tenants that are accessible via the application server, each customer tenant of the plurality of customer tenants providing a discrete organization-specific business configuration of a core software platform;

maintaining, in a second tenant-nonspecific database table maintained on the repository, a second record comprising a key value designating the first tenant, a record designator, and an organization-specific master data value corresponding to the first predefined generic field;

performing a calculation or determination based on master data relevant to the discrete organization-specific business configuration provided by the first customer tenant using the organization-specific master data value; and

deleting the first customer tenant from the multi-tenant software architecture, the deleting comprising;

deleting the first tenant-specific generic field definition field from the first tenant-nonspecific database table on the repository to a target first tenant-nonspecific database table on the second repository; and

deleting the second record and any other records in the second tenant-nonspecific database table having key values designating the first tenant from the second tenant-nonspecific database table.

13. A computer-implemented method comprising:

maintaining, in a first tenant-nonspecific database table on a repository accessible to an application server of a multi-tenant software delivery architecture, a first record designating a first predefined generic field of a plurality of predefined generic fields and comprising an organization-specific master data field definition of the first predefined generic field maintained in a first tenant-specific definition field assigned to a first customer tenant of a plurality of customer tenants that are accessible via the application server, each customer tenant of the plurality of customer tenants providing a discrete organization-specific business configuration of a core software platform;

maintaining, in a second tenant-nonspecific database table maintained on the repository, a second record comprising a key value designating the first tenant, a record designator, and an organization-specific master data value corresponding to the first predefined generic field;

performing a calculation or determination based on master data that is relevant to the discrete organization-specific business configuration provided by the first customer tenant using the organization-specific master data value; and

deleting the first customer tenant from the multi-tenant software architecture, the deleting comprising;

deleting the first tenant-specific generic field definition field from the first tenant-nonspecific database table on the repository to a target first tenant-nonspecific database table on the second repository; and

deleting the second record and any other records in the second tenant-nonspecific database table having key values designating the first tenant from the second tenant-nonspecific database table.

14. A computer-implemented method as in claim 13, further comprising:

presenting, to an authorized user of the first customer tenant, a master data table comprising the organization-specific master data value and only other master data relevant to the first customer tenant.

15. A computer-implemented method as in claim 14, wherein the master data table comprises a master data record having at least one master data field, the at least one master data field comprising the organization-specific master data value.

16. A system as in claim 13, wherein the calculation or determination based on master data comprises a pricing calculation.

17. A computer-implemented method comprising:

maintaining, in a first tenant-nonspecific database table on a repository accessible to an application server of a multi-tenant software delivery architecture, a first record designating a first predefined generic field of a plurality of predefined generic fields and comprising an organization-specific master data field definition of the first predefined generic field maintained in a first tenant-specific definition field assigned to a first customer tenant of a plurality of customer tenants that are accessible via the application server, each customer tenant of the plurality of customer tenants providing a discrete organization-specific business configuration of a core software platform;

maintaining, in a second tenant-nonspecific database table maintained on the repository, a second record comprising a key value designating the first tenant, a record designator, and an organization-specific master data value corresponding to the first predefined generic field;

performing a calculation or determination based on master data relevant to the discrete organization-specific business configuration provided by the first customer tenant using the organization-specific master data value; and

moving the first customer tenant to a second multi-tenant software architecture comprising a second application server and a second repository, the moving comprising;

moving the first tenant-specific generic field definition field from the first tenant-nonspecific database table on the repository to a target first tenant-nonspecific database table on the second repository;

extracting the second record and any other records in the second tenant-nonspecific database table having key values designating the first tenant from the second tenant-nonspecific database table; and

adding the extracted second record and any other records to a target second tenant-nonspecific database table on the second repository.

18. A computer-implemented method comprising:

maintaining, in a first tenant-nonspecific database table on a repository accessible to an application server of a multi-tenant software delivery architecture, a first record designating a first predefined generic field of a plurality of predefined generic fields and comprising an organization-specific master data field definition of the first predefined generic field maintained in a first tenant-specific definition field assigned to a first customer tenant of a plurality of customer tenants that are accessible via the application server each customer tenant of the plurality of customer tenants providing a discrete organization-specific business configuration of a core software platform;

maintaining, in a second tenant-nonspecific database table maintained on the repository, a second record comprising a key value designating the first tenant, a record designator, and an organization-specific master data value corresponding to the first predefined generic field;

performing a calculation or determination based on master data relevant to the discrete organization-specific business configuration provided by the first customer tenant using the organization-specific master data value; and

copying the first customer tenant to a second customer tenant on the multi-tenant software architecture, the copying comprising;

creating a copy of the first tenant-specific generic field definition field in the first tenant-nonspecific database table;

duplicating the second record and any other records in the second tenant-nonspecific database table having key values designating the first tenant in the second tenant-nonspecific database table; and

changing the key values of the duplicated second record and any other records to designate the second customer tenant.