Hierarchical federated area trees

A computer-program product tangibly embodied in a non-transitory machine-readable storage medium, the computer-program product including instructions operable to cause a processor to perform operations comprising:

• grant, at a portal, and to a first requesting device via a network, access to a first federated area maintained within one or more storage devices to store multiple objects comprising multiple data sets, multiple job flow definitions, multiple task routines, multiple result reports and multiple instance logs;
• grant, at the portal, and to a second requesting device via the network, access to a second federated area maintained within the one or more storage devices to store multiple objects comprising multiple data sets, multiple job flow definitions, multiple task routines, multiple result reports and multiple instance logs;
• deny, to the first requesting device, access to the second federated area;
• deny, to the second requesting device, access to the first federated area;
• grant, at the portal, and to the first and second requesting devices, access to a base federated area maintained within the one or more storage devices to store multiple objects comprising multiple data sets, multiple job flow definitions, multiple task routines, multiple result reports and multiple instance logs, wherein:
• the portal is provided on the network to control access to federated areas by devices requesting access to federated areas via the network;
• the base federated area defines a root of a tree of federated areas;
• the first federated area at least partially defines a first branch of the tree;
• and
• the second federated area at least partially defines a second branch of the tree;
• receive, at the portal, and from the first requesting device via the network, a first request to perform at least a first task of a first job flow with at least a first data set;
• maintain a first inheritance relationship between the first federated area and the base federated area in which the processor is caused to make a base object stored within the base federated area as accessible to the first requesting device as a first object stored within the first federated area;
• maintain a first priority relationship between the first federated area and the base federated area as an exception to the first inheritance relationship in which the processor is caused to:
• determine whether the first object is a task routine comprising executable instructions;
• determine whether the base object is a task routine comprising executable instructions;
• determine whether the first object and the base object share a first flow task identifier that indicates that the first object and the base object perform the first task when executed;
• in response to determinations by the processor that the first object is a task routine, the base object is a task routine, and the first object and the base object share the first flow task identifier, the processor is caused to select the first object to execute to perform the first task, regardless of whether the base object is a newer version of a task routine to perform the first task than the first object;
• and
• in response to determinations by the processor that the base object is a task routine, and that either the first object is not a task routine, or the first object and the base object do not share the first flow task identifier, the processor is caused to execute the instructions of the base object to perform the first task;
• receive, at the portal, and from the second requesting device via the network, a second request to perform at least one task of a second job flow with at least a second data set;
• maintain a second inheritance relationship between the second federated area and the base federated area in which the processor is caused to make the base object stored within the base federated area as accessible to the second requesting device as a second object stored within the second federated area;
• and
• maintain a second priority relationship between the second federated area and the base federated area as an exception to the second inheritance relationship in which the processor is caused to:
• determine whether the second object is a task routine comprising executable instructions;
• determine whether the second object and the base object share a second flow task identifier that indicates that the second object and the base object perform the second task when executed;
• and
• in response to determinations by the processor that the second object is a task routine, the base object is a task routine, and the second object and the base object share the second flow task identifier, the processor is caused to select the second object to execute to perform the second task, regardless of whether the base object is a newer version of a task routine to perform the second task than the second object.

A computer-implemented method comprising:

• granting, at a server by a processor, and via a portal on a network to a first requesting device, access to a first federated area maintained within one or more storage devices to store multiple objects comprising multiple data sets, multiple job flow definitions, multiple task routines, multiple result reports and multiple instance logs;
• granting, at the server by the processor, and via the portal on the network to a second requesting device, access to a second federated area maintained within the one or more storage devices to store multiple objects comprising multiple data sets, multiple job flow definitions, multiple task routines, multiple result reports and multiple instance logs;
• denying, to the first requesting device, access to the second federated area;
• denying, to the second requesting device, access to the first federated area;
• granting, at a server by the processor, and via the portal on the network to the first and second requesting devices, access to a base federated area maintained within the one or more storage devices to store multiple objects comprising multiple data sets, multiple job flow definitions, multiple task routines, multiple result reports and multiple instance logs, wherein:
• the portal is provided on the network to control access to federated areas by devices requesting access to federated areas via the network;
• the base federated area defines a root of a tree of federated areas;
• the first federated area at least partially defines a first branch of the tree;
• and
• the second federated area at least partially defines a second branch of the tree;
• receiving, at the server by the processor, and via the portal on the network from the first requesting device, a first request to perform at least a first task of a first job flow with at least a first data set;
• maintaining a first inheritance relationship between the first federated area and the base federated area in which a base object stored within the base federated area is made as accessible to the first requesting device as a first object stored within the first federated area;
• maintaining a first priority relationship between the first federated area and the base federated area as an exception to the first inheritance relationship by performing operations comprising:
• determining whether the first object is a task routine comprising executable instructions;
• determining whether the base object is a task routine comprising executable instructions;
• determining whether the first object and the base object share a first flow task identifier that indicates that the first object and the base object perform the first task when executed;
• in response to determinations by the processor that the first object is a task routine, the base object is a task routine, and the first object and the base object share the first flow task identifier, selecting, by the processor, the first object to execute to perform the first task, regardless of whether the base object is a newer version of a task routine to perform the first task than the first object;
• or
• in response to determinations by the processor that the base object is a task routine, and that either the first object is not a task routine, or the first object and the base object do not share the first flow task identifier, executing, by the processor, the instructions of the base object to perform the first task;
• receiving, at the server by the processor, and via the portal on the network from the second requesting, a second request to perform at least one task of a second job flow with at least a second data set;
• maintaining a second inheritance relationship between the second federated area and the base federated area in which the base object stored within the base federated area is made as accessible to the second requesting device as a second object stored within the second federated area;
• and
• maintaining a second priority relationship between the second federated area and the base federated area as an exception to the second inheritance relationship by performing operations comprising:
• determining whether the second object is a task routine comprising executable instructions;
• determining whether the second object and the base object share a second flow task identifier that indicates that the second object and the base object perform the second task when executed;
• and
• in response to determinations by the processor that the second object is a task routine, the base object is a task routine, and the second object and the base object share the second flow task identifier, selecting, by the processor, the second object to execute to perform the second task, regardless of whether the base object is a newer version of a task routine to perform the second task than the second object.