Method and mechanism for associating properties with objects...

Details Method and mechanism for associating properties with objects... Method and mechanism for associating properties with objects...

1999-03-18

2002-06-04

Mizrahi, Diane D. (Department: 2171)

Data processing: database and file management or data structures

Database design

Data structure types

C707S793000, C707S793000

Reexamination Certificate

active

06401083

ABSTRACT:

BACKGROUND OF THE INVENTION
FIELD OF THE INVENTION
The present invention relates to the definition and association of object properties in a computer system.
BACKGROUND
In computer systems, associations can be made between objects on the system and one or more “properties”. A property encompasses any constraint, definition, operation, or any other definable association that can be made between the object and other entities in the computer system. A “class” or “object type” refers to a definition of a family of objects or system structures. An “instance” is an instantiation of a class or object type definition, and is often created at run-time.
The properties of an instance are normally inherited from the properties defined for its familial class or object type. As an example, consider the database statement below which is in the Oracle
8
structured query language (“SQL”) syntax (for the Oracle
8
database management system available from Oracle Corporation of Redwood Shores, Calif.):
CREATE TABLE stock_xactions
(stock_symbol CHAR(
5
),
stock_series CHAR(
1
),
num_shares NUMBER(
10
),
price NUMBER(
5
,
2
),
trade_date DATE)
TABLESPACE ts
0
STORAGE (INITIAL 100K NEXT 50K) LOGGING
PARTITION BY RANGE (trade_date) p
2
(PARTITION sx1992 VALUES LESS THAN (TO_DATE(‘01-JAN-1993’,‘DD-MON-YYYY’)),
PARTITION sx1993 VALUES LESS THAN (TO_DATE(‘01-JAN-1994’,‘DD-MON-YYYY’)) TABLESPACE ts
1
,
PARTITION sx1994 VALUES LESS THAN (TO_DATE(‘01-JAN-1995’,‘DD-MON-YYYY’)) TABLESPACE ts
2
);
This SQL statement creates multiple partitions (i.e., partitions sx1992, sx1993, and sx1994) within a table stock_xactions. Each partition is considered an instance of the class stock_xactions. In this example, partition sx1992 inherits all properties, including the TABLESPACE property, from the definition of the class stock_xactions. Thus, both the class stock_xactions and the instance sx1992 have the TABLESPACE property ts
0
. It is possible for an instance to override the definition made for its class. For example, partitions sx1993 and sx1994 have been defined to override the TABLESPACE property of its familial class. Specifically, partition sx1993 is defined to have TABLESPACE ts
1
and partition sx1994 is defined to have TABLESPACE ts
2
.
Note that this definition of properties for classes and instances is static. It is often desirable to dynamically add, change, or delete properties of classes, objects, or object types, even for run-time instantiations of these entities. For example, it is often desirable to change either the set of properties, or to change the value of one or more properties, that have been defined for instances on the system, particularly when the new set of properties or new property value is to be dynamically determined at run-time. However, once the above SQL statement has been executed to create the defined partitions, known systems do not have a mechanism to dynamically determine the properties of the respective class or instances. To change any of the properties for the class or instance defined by the above example, known systems would need to drop and recreate the table with new definitions for the respective class and instances.
Therefore, there is a need for a method and mechanism that addresses these and other problems for associating and defining properties in a computer system. There is a need for a method and mechanism that allows properties of a class, object type, object, instance, or other system entities to be dynamically changed.
SUMMARY OF THE INVENTION
A method and system for associating properties in a computer system is described. An aspect of the invention relates to a mechanism for dynamically determining the value of a property for an instance or object, which can override the property defined for the class or object type. Another aspect of the invention relates to a mechanism for dynamically changing at run-time the set of properties associated with system structures, such as classes, object types, instances, or objects. Yet another aspect of the invention relates to a mechanism that can associate or disassociate an entire set of properties at the same time, rather than having to separately associate or disassociate each property within a set of properties. A further aspect of the invention relates to a mechanism for allowing particular instances or objects to explicitly not inherit properties of its familial class or object type.
Further details of aspects, objects, and advantages of the invention are described below in the detailed description, drawings, and claims.


REFERENCES:
patent: 5506955 (1996-04-01), Chen et al.
patent: 5544355 (1996-08-01), Chaudhuri et al.
patent: 5551029 (1996-08-01), Jagadish et al.
patent: 5754841 (1998-05-01), Carino, Jr.
patent: 5930785 (1999-07-01), Lohnman et al.
patent: 5960197 (1999-09-01), Segnan
patent: 6009265 (1999-12-01), Huang et al.
patent: 6012054 (2000-01-01), Seputis
patent: 6026391 (2000-02-01), Osborn et al.
patent: 6195653 (2001-02-01), Bleizeffer et al.
(IEEE publication) An Extended Model for Integration between the Oracle and WWW by Gi-Hwa Jang et al., Dept., of Computer Sci., South Korea, pp. 569-572, vol. 1.
Derwent Information Ltd., “Database statement execution optimizing for database query or manipulation, involves associating generated function with database object, calling database statement and function to compute cost of execution plan” by N. Agarawal.
Chimenti, D. et al.; “Towards An Open Architecture For LDL”;Proceedings Of The Fifteenth International Conference On Very Large Data Bases; pp. 195-203; Amsterdam, Aug. 1989.
Agrawal R. et al.; “ODE (Object Database and Environment): The Language And The Data Model”;ACM SIGMOD International Conference On Management Of Data; vol. 18, No. 2, pp. 36-45; Jun. 1989.
Finance, Beatrice et al.; “A Rule-Based Query Rewriter In An Extensible DBMS”;IEEE Comp. Soc. Press; vol. Conf. 7, 8; pp. 248-256; Apr. 8, 1991.
Derrett, N. et al.; “Rule-Based Query Optimization In IRIS”;ACM Computer Science Conference; Feb. 21-23, 1989.
Chaudhuri, Surjit; “An Overview Of Query Optimization In Relational Systems”;Proceedings Of The AC Sigact-Sigmod-Sigart Symposium On Principles Of Database Systems, New York; pp. 34-43; Jun. 1, 1998.
Carey, M.J., et al.; “Object-Relational Database Systems: Principles, Products, and Challenges”; SIGMOD 1997,Proceedings ACM SIGMOD International Conference on Management of Data; May 13-15, 1997; Tucson, Arizona; ACM Press 1997; SIGMOD Record 26(2), Jun. 1997; p. 502 and Tutorial Notes.
Stonebraker, M., et al.; “Object-Relational DBMSs—The Next Great Wave”;Morgan Kaufmann Publishers Inc., San Francisco, CA; pp. 121-122; 1996.
Mitschang, Bernhard; “Anfrageverarbeitung in Datenbanksystemen: Entwurfs- und Implementierungskonzepte”; Vieweg Verlag, Braunschweig/Wiesbaden, Germany; 1995.
Mattos, N.M.; “The KBMS-Protoytpe Krisys—User Manual”—vol. 1 Overview; Version 2.8,Computer Science Department; University of Kaiserslautern, Germany; Dec. 1992.

Affiliated with

Also associated with

Rating

Method and mechanism for associating properties with objects... does not yet have a rating. At this time, there are no reviews or comments for this patent.

If you have personal experience with Method and mechanism for associating properties with objects..., we encourage you to share that experience with our LandOfFree.com community. Your opinion is very important and Method and mechanism for associating properties with objects... will most certainly appreciate the feedback.

Rate now

Comments { 0 }

Profile ID: LFUS-PAI-O-2955233