Replicated database structural change management

• US 9,720,994 B2
• Filed: 10/04/2012
• Issued: 08/01/2017
• Est. Priority Date: 10/04/2012
• Status: Active Grant

• Current Assignee: SAP SE
• Original Assignee: SAP SE
• Inventors: Driesen, Volker, Eberlein, Peter
• Primary Examiner(s): Mobin, Hasanul
• Application Number:
  US13/644,273
• Publication Number:
  US 20140101099A1
• Time in Patent Office: 1,762 Days
• Field of Search: None
• CPC Class Codes: G06F 16/273 Asynchronous replication or reconciliation

Abstract

The various embodiments herein include at least one of systems, methods, and software that operate to replicate structural changes made to a master database to a replicate database. In some such embodiments, changes made to a master database are identified and a representation thereof is provided to a process that implements such changes in the replicate database. The structural changes are then replicated in the replicate database.

Claims

1. A method comprising:

receiving structural change input to structurally change a master database;

obtaining a first lock that locks at least a portion of the master database to prevent updates to the locked portion of the master database;

after obtaining the first lock, waiting for a replication process that replicates at least some data stored in the master database to a replicate database to empty a data replication buffer; and

after obtaining the first lock and after waiting for the replication process to empty the data replication buffer, obtaining a second lock that locks the replication process to prevent data replication from the master database to the replicate database;

processing the structural change input to structurally change the master database;

automatically generating a change bundle including a representation of the structural changes to the master database from which the structural changes are replicable within the replicate database;

transmitting the change bundle to a structural change process that executes against the replicate database to implement the structural changes represented in the change bundle; and

releasing the first lock and the second lock in response to a received notification indicating the structural changes have been made to the replicate database.

2. The method of claim 1, wherein the structural change process that executes against the replicate database to implement the structural changes represented in the change bundle, upon receipt of the change bundle, includes:

implementing the structural changes represented in the received change bundle within the replicate database; and

transmitting the notification indicating the structural changes have been made to the replicate database.

3. The method of claim 2, further comprising:

prior to implementing the structural changes within the replicate database, obtaining a third lock that locks at least a portion of the replicate database identified as being subject to the structural changes represented in the received change bundle; and

subsequent to implementing the structural changes within the replicate database, releasing the third lock.

4. The method of claim 3, wherein the first lock is a write lock and the third lock is a read lock.

5. The method of claim 1, wherein the received structural change input includes a list of master database tables subject to structural changes and wherein the first lock locks the master database tables represented in the list of tables.

6. The method of claim 5, wherein:

the received structural change input includes instructions executable by a structural change process performing the method to structurally change the master database; and

the processing of the structural change input to structurally change the master database includes the structural change process executing the instructions included in the received structural change input.

7. The method of claim 1, wherein the structural change input includes a change with regard to a property of a column of a first table in the master database.

8. The method of claim 7, wherein the property of the column of the first table in the master database is a foreign key relation to data stored in a second table in the master database descriptive of a value stored in the first table.

9. The method of claim 1, wherein automatically generating the change bundle including the representation of the structural changes to the master database from which the structural changes are replicable within the replicate database includes:

generating a metadata representation of the structural changes to the master database including any mappings, data transformations; and

views present in the replicate database derived from a structure of or data present in the master database.

10. The method of claim 9, wherein generating the metadata representation of the structural changes to the master database is performed as a function of a log of changes made to the master database based on the received structural change input.

11. A system comprising:

a computing platform including at least one processor, at least one memory device, and at least one network interface device, the at least one memory device storing instructions executable by the at least one processor to perform operations comprising;

receiving, via the at least one network interface device, structural change input structurally change a master database;

obtaining a first lock that locks at least a portion of the master database to prevent updates to the locked portion of the master database; and

after obtaining the first lock, obtaining a second lock that locks a replication process that replicates at least some data stored in the master database to a replicate database upon a buffer of data to be replicated becoming empty;

processing the structural change input to structurally change the master database;

automatically generating a change bundle including a representation of the structural changes to the master database from which the structural changes are replicable within the replicate database;

transmitting, via the at least one network interface device, the change bundle to a structural change process that executes against the replicate database; and

releasing the first lock and the second lock in response to a received notification indicating the structural changes have been implemented in the replicate database.

12. The system of claim 11, wherein the structural change process that executes against the replicate database to implement the structural changes represented in the change bundle, upon receipt of the change bundle, includes:

implementing the structural changes represented in the received change bundle within the replicate database; and

transmitting the notification indicating the structural changes have been made to the replicate database.

13. The system of claim 12, the at least one memory device further storing instructions executable by the at least one processor to perform operations comprising:

prior to implementing the structural changes within the replicate database, obtaining a third lock that locks at least a portion of the replicate database identified as being subject to the structural changes represented in the received change bundle; and

subsequent to implementing the structural changes within the replicate database, releasing the third lock.

14. The system of claim 11, wherein automatically generating the change bundle including the representation of the structural changes to the master database from which the structural changes are replicable within the replicate database includes:

generating a metadata representation of the structural changes to the master database including any mappings, data transformations, and views present in the replicate database derived from a structure of or data present in the master database affected by the structural changes to the master database.

15. The system of claim 14, wherein generating the metadata representation of the structural changes to the master database is performed as a function of at least one of received structural change input and a log of changes made to the master database.

16. A non-transitory computer readable storage medium with instructions stored thereon which when executed in part by at least one processor of at least one computing device causes the at least one computing device to perform operations comprising:

receiving structural change input to structurally change a master database;

Obtaining a first lock that locks at least a portion of the master database to prevent updates to the locked portion of the master database;

after obtaining the first lock, waiting for a replication process that replicates at least some data stored in the master database to a replicate database to empty a data replication buffer; and

after obtaining the first lock and after waiting for the replication process to empty the data replication buffer, obtaining a second lock that locks the replication process to prevent data replication from the master database to the replicate database;

processing the structural change input to structurally change the master database;

automatically generating a change bundle including a representation of the structural changes to the master database from which the structural changes are replicable within the replicate database;

transmitting the change bundle to a structural change process that executes against the replicate database to implement the structural changes represented in the change bundle; and

releasing the first lock and the second lock in response to a received notification indicating the structural changes have been made to the replicate database.

17. The non-transitory computer readable storage medium of claim 16, wherein:

the non-transitory computer readable storage medium comprises at least two nontransitory computer readable storage mediums, a first non-transitory computer readable storage medium storing instructions executable to effect claim 16 and a second non-transitory computer readable storage medium storing instructions of the structural change process, the instructions of the second non-transitory computer readable storage medium executable to perform operations comprising;

receiving the change bundle;

implementing the structural changes represented in the received change bundle within the replicate database; and

transmitting the notification indicating the structural changes have been made to the replicate database.

18. The non-transitory computer readable storage medium of claim 17, the instructions of the second non-transitory computer readable storage medium further executable to perform operations comprising:

prior to implementing the structural changes within the replicate database, obtaining a third lock that locks at least a portion of the replicate database identified as being subject to the structural changes represented in the received change bundle; and

subsequent to implementing the structural changes within the replicate database, releasing the third lock.

19. The non-transitory computer readable storage medium of claim 16, wherein the structural change input includes a change with regard to a property of a column of a first table in the master database.

20. The non-transitory computer readable storage medium of claim 16, wherein automatically generating the change bundle including the representation of the structural changes to the master database from which the structural changes are replicable within replicate database includes:

generating a metadata representation of the structural changes to the master database including any mappings, data transformations, and views present in replicate database derived from a structure of or data present in the master database.