Data processing: database and file management or data structures – Database design – Data structure types
Reexamination Certificate
1993-10-28
2001-08-28
Kulik, Paul V. (Department: 2177)
Data processing: database and file management or data structures
Database design
Data structure types
C707S793000
Reexamination Certificate
active
06282545
ABSTRACT:
BACKGROUND OF THE INVENTION
1. Field of the Invention
The present invention generally relates to a method for extracting information from a variety of sources and for traversing the information. More specifically, this invention relates to a method of extracting information from existing software and from other sources and building an object base. In addition, it relates to a mechanism for traversing the information in an efficient manner and for filtering the information so that only pertinent information is seen by the user. This invention includes methods which incorporate object oriented design concepts.
2. Description of the Prior Art
A continual process of evolution and development is part of the life cycle of computer software. This evolution and change often results in the generation of a large amount of information available as documentation for the software. The information is generally the programming code of the application or the internal or external documentation which is provided with the system. This process often creates a high degree of complexity in the system and the documentation. Usually, as the system develops, the amount of documentation for the system increases proportionally. In order to understand a particular aspect of a system, it is often necessary to screen out a large amount of data which is irrelevant. This allows the systems analyst to focus on the pertinent information. However, it is often the case that the sources of the information are not well organized and are not in a standardized format. Therefore, a large amount of effort is wasted in determining where appropriate information can be found and in organizing and understanding the information once it is found.
In some systems, no documentation is available for the program as it was originally written or for revisions subsequently made to the code. Therefore, the systems analyst must extract as much information as possible from the code itself. This involves a great deal of effort since the analyst must analyze a major part of the hardware, software and integration flow and then use this information to draw his own conclusions. In addition, the information which can be derived is often incomplete or difficult to understand. Moreover, if the analyst fails to record his efforts, it would be necessary to repeat the analysis the next time the information is needed.
Two approaches have been suggested to reduce the complexity usually associated with the evolution of computer software systems. The first is to prevent the increase in the complexity of the information by developing standards which must be enforced throughout the lifetime of the project. However, this solution is difficult to implement because it requires a large amount of foresight to develop the proper standards and a high degree of effort to enforce the standards during the lifetime of the system. The second approach is to extract as much information as possible from the existing system and to use the information to rebuild the system and reduce the complexity. Then, standards can be implemented to prevent the reoccurrence of the problem.
Systems and methods have been developed to extract information from existing software. These systems use a massive parser program to create a static database of information. The parser program is separate from the database and is run in batch mode. The parser cannot retrieve information from non software sources and when it is used with large software programs it often requires an unacceptable amount of time to populate the database. Finally, these systems do not include a method for retrieving the data in an organized manner or for combining it with other information. Since the software and non software information cannot exist in the same database, the data is not easily combinable.
SUMMARY OF THE INVENTION
It is therefore an object of the present invention to provide a system which extracts information from software and a variety of other sources and provides a mechanism for traversing and filtering this information.
It is another object of the present invention to provide a mechanism for efficient retrieval of information from a variety of sources.
It is also an object of the present invention to provide a dynamic data extraction system.
It is a further object of this invention to provide a method to maintain large data bases of information.
It is another object of this invention to provide a means for integrating the system for data extraction and traversal with other computer software programs.
According to the invention, there is provided a system and a method for the extraction of information from computer software and from other sources. An object base, which utilizes an object oriented data base engine, contains object classes which each include programs called populators which are used to populate a single object in the object base. In addition, the system includes a means for the traversal and filtering of the extracted information. The traversal system utilizes a combination of hypertext, tree traversal and object oriented techniques for the user interface and to obtain the desired view of the information.
The implementation of an extraction and traversal system requires the definition, in a standardized format, of the requirements for the desired data types. The requirements must include a definition of the appropriate action for each node of the hypertree. The data requirements are then implemented as specific object classes in the object base. In addition, an object populator is built for each object class and is stored with the object class in the object base. At this point, the hypertree and object base are ready to be used by the user. The traversal of the object base starts when the user selects a node of a hypertree. The hypertree program queries the object base and the populator for the chosen object determines whether the information is current. If not, the populator is run. If the data is up to date or after it has been updated, the information is passed to the hypertree program. Finally, depending on the desired view, the information is either passed to a window for display or is passed to an external program for further processing and then display.
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International Business Machines - Corporation
Kulik Paul V.
McGuireWoods LLP
Plow Gregory M.
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