Method and system for traversing an object graph using traversal context objects

A system, comprising:

• a processor;
• and
• a memory having instructions stored thereon which, when executed by the processor, performs an operation for enumerating relationships between objects in an object graph, the operation comprising:
• receiving a request to traverse an object graph, the object graph including a plurality of objects,
• generating a root context object,
• generating a particular traversal context object associated with a root node of the object graph,
• linking the particular traversal context object to the root context object,
• adding the particular traversal context object to a traversal data structure, and
• traversing the object graph by adding and removing additional traversal context objects to and from the traversal data structure until a terminating event occurs, wherein:
• each of the particular traversal context objects comprises:
• an object from the object graph;
• information about local variables associated with the object;
• and
• a reference to a parent traversal context object;
• adding a given additional traversal context object occurs when a given object in the object graph is traversed;
• and
• removing a respective additional traversal context objects occurs when a respective object corresponding to the respective additional traversal context object and any child objects of the respective object in the object graph have been traversed.

A method for enumerating relationships between objects in an object graph, comprising:

• receiving a request to traverse an object graph, wherein:
• the object graph includes a plurality of objects, and
• the request includes a specification of a discovery mechanism defining functions for processing objects discovered in the object graph based on a context of the discovered objects and initial set of context variables for traversing the object graph;
• generating a root context object;
• generating a particular traversal context object associated with a root node of the object graph;
• linking the particular traversal context object to the root context object;
• adding the particular traversal context object to a traversal data structure;
• and
• traversing the object graph by adding and removing additional traversal context objects to and from the traversal data structure until a terminating event occurs, wherein traversing the graph comprises:
• for each respective object in the traversal data structure, performing one or more of the defined functions in the discovery mechanism with respect to the respective object, and
• upon determining that the respective object has a pre-order traversal context:
• discovering one or more children objects in the object graph,
• generating additional traversal context objects for the discovered children objects, and
• adding the generated additional traversal context objects to the traversal data structure.