Utility for cross platform database query

Details Utility for cross platform database query Utility for cross platform database query

2001-01-30

2003-11-04

Al Alam, Shahid (Department: 2172)

Data processing: database and file management or data structures

Database design

Data structure types

C707S793000, C707S793000, C707S793000

Reexamination Certificate

active

06643649

ABSTRACT:

FIELD OF THE INVENTION
The present invention relates to databases, and more particularly to data query to databases.
BACKGROUND OF THE INVENTION
FIG. 1
illustrates one conventional system for managing data. The system
100
is known in the industry as the Content Manager system developed by International Business Machines, Corporation™. The system
100
is a triangular client/server architecture, with the architecture comprising a client
102
, a library server
104
, and an object server
106
. A client
102
sends a request to the library server
104
. The library server
104
forwards the request to the object server
106
and responds to the client's request. The object server
106
then responds to the library server's request, delivering the requested digital data object to the client
102
. The library server
104
uses a relational database to manage digital objects and provide data integrity. It maintains index information and controls access to objects stored on the object server
106
. The library server
104
directs requests from the client
102
to update or query entries in the library catalog. The catalog contains object indexes and description information. The object server
106
is the repository for objects stored in the system
100
. Users store and retrieve digital objects in the object server
106
by routing requests through the library server
104
.
In order to properly access the objects stored at the object server
106
, the index information at the library server
104
and the digital objects at the object server
106
must be properly synchronized. Errors occur when the index information at the library server
104
and the digital objects at the object server
106
become out-of-sync. This may occur with events such as power failures. With these errors, the client
102
is unable to reliably access the data.
To identify the errors, the object server
106
compares each data obtained by directly querying the library server
104
with the data at the object server
106
. Conventionally, this comparison uses the C function, “strcmp”, which is part of the American National Standards Institute (ANSI) standard. However, a problem occurs when the library server
104
uses a data platform which is not compatible with the “strcmp”. For example, assume that the library server
104
and the object server both use the DB2™ platform. The data from the library server
104
does not have a sort key compatible with “strcmp”. The data at the object server
106
also does not have a sort key compatible with “strcmp”. Thus, a conflict occurs when the comparison is attempted of these. The object server
106
can solve this problem for the data at the object server
106
by converting the data so that it is compatible with “strcmp”, since the object server
106
is aware that it is using the DB2 platform. However, the object server
106
is not aware of the platform used by the library server
104
. The object server
106
cannot determine whether or not the data returned by the library server
104
is compatible with “strcmp”. Thus, the object server
106
cannot perform any proper conversions. A reliable comparison of the data cannot be made.
Accordingly, there exists a need for a utility for a cross platform database query. The present invention addresses such a need.
SUMMARY OF THE INVENTION
The present invention provides a utility for cross platform database query. In a preferred embodiment, the utility resides at an object server in a data system. The utility obtains a set of data items from a library server in the data system; places the set of data items from the library server in a temporary table at the object server; obtains each data item from the temporary table and the base object table; and converts each data item from the temporary table and the base object table, if a conversion is required, such that each data item from the temporary table and the base object table may be compared. Because the utility, the temporary table, and the base object table all reside at the same server, the utility knows whether or not to convert the data items so that a conflict free comparison is performed. In this manner, the utility need not actually know what platform is used by the library server, yet, data at the library server and the object server can be properly compared.


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