US 12,117,979 B1Granted

Timestamp-based deletions for interdependent data objects

AssigneeSap SE

InventorsMitko Kolev, Syed Muhammad Kumail Raza, Markus Muenkel

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Abstract

Techniques and solutions are provided for identifying sets of related data, such as for a data deletion process. Data objects can be considered as having parent-child relationships, where values for one or more attributes of a child data object are constrained by corresponding one or more attributes of a parent data object. The set of data objects and their relationships can be represented, such as in a graph. In an iterative process, the data object representation is analyzed to identify “leaf nodes,” which are data objects that do not constrain other data objects. Relevant data is deleted from the data objects, and the representation is updated to “remove” such data objects so that a new set of leaf nodes is obtained. Optionally, when a leaf node that serves as a parent is analyzed, it can be confirmed whether corresponding data has already been deleted from its children.

Claims20

Dependent claims

A computing system comprising:

at least one memory;
one or more hardware processor units coupled to the at least one memory;
and
one or more computer readable storage media storing computer-executable instructions that, when executed, cause the computing system to perform operations comprising:
receiving a first set comprising a plurality of data objects, at least a portion of data objects of the plurality of data objects having a dependency on one or more other data objects of the plurality of data objects or being a subject of such a dependency, wherein (1) a dependency between two data objects of the plurality of data objects is defined by one or more attributes of a first data object of the two data objects that refer to a corresponding one or more attributes of a second data object of the two data objects (2) a dependency between two data objects has a direction such that the one or more attributes of the first data object are target attributes, the one or more attributes of the second data object are source attributes, and the target attributes point to the source attributes;
and (3) at least a portion of data objects of the plurality of data objects comprise a timestamp attribute;
in an iterative process starting from a second set of data objects comprising the at least a portion of the data objects:
identifying one of more leaf nodes in the second set of data objects, wherein a leaf node corresponds to a data object of the second set of data objects that does not referentially constrain another data object of the second set of data objects;
for identified one or more leaf nodes, generating commands to delete data that satisfies query criteria, the query criteria comprising the timestamp attributes of the one or more leaf nodes;
at least temporarily removing data objects corresponding to the one or more leaf nodes from the second set of data objects;
determining whether the second set of data objects comprises additional data objects;
and
(1) when the second set of data objects comprises additional data objects, performing another iteration of the iterative process;
or
(2) when the second set of data objects does not comprise additional data objects, not performing another iteration of the iterative process.

12 more elements

A method, implemented in a computing system comprising at least one memory and at least one hardware processor coupled to the at least one memory, the method comprising:

receiving a first set comprising a plurality of data objects, at least a portion of data objects of the plurality of data objects having a dependency on one or more other data objects of the plurality of data objects or being a subject of such a dependency, wherein (1) a dependency between two data objects of the plurality of data objects is defined by one or more attributes of a first data object of the two data objects that refer to a corresponding one or more attributes of a second data object of the two data objects (2) a dependency between two data objects has a direction such that the one or more attributes of the first data object are target attributes, the one or more attributes of the second data object are source attributes, and the target attributes point to the source attributes;
and (3) at least a portion of data objects of the plurality of data objects comprise a timestamp attribute;
in an iterative process starting from a second set of data objects comprising the at least a portion of the data objects:
identifying one of more leaf nodes in the second set of data objects, wherein a leaf node corresponds to a data object of the second set of data objects that does not referentially constrain another data object of the second set of data objects;
for identified one or more leaf nodes, generating commands to delete data that satisfies query criteria, the query criteria comprising the timestamp attributes of the one or more leaf nodes;
at least temporarily removing data objects corresponding to the one or more leaf nodes from the second set of data objects;
determining whether the second set of data objects comprises additional data objects;
and
(1) when the second set of data objects comprises additional data objects, performing another iteration of the iterative process;
or
(2) when the second set of data objects does not comprise additional data objects, not performing another iteration of the iterative process.

8 more elements

One or more non-transitory computer-readable storage media comprising:

computer-executable instructions that, when executed by a computing system comprising at least one hardware processor and at least one memory coupled to the at least one hardware processor, cause the computing system to receive a first set comprising a plurality of data objects, at least a portion of data objects of the plurality of data objects having a dependency on one or more other data objects of the plurality of data objects or being a subject of such a dependency, wherein (1) a dependency between two data objects of the plurality of data objects is defined by one or more attributes of a first data object of the two data objects that refer to a corresponding one or more attributes of a second data object of the two data objects (2) a dependency between two data objects has a direction such that the one or more attributes of the first data object are target attributes, the one or more attributes of the second data object are source attributes, and the target attributes point to the source attributes;
and (3) at least a portion of data objects of the plurality of data objects comprise a timestamp attribute;
computer-executable instructions that, when executed by the computing system, cause the computing system to, in an iterative process starting from a second set of data objects comprising the at least a portion of the data objects:
identify one of more leaf nodes in the second set of data objects, wherein a leaf node corresponds to a data object of the second set of data objects that does not referentially constrain another data object of the second set of data objects;
for identified one or more leaf nodes, generate commands to delete data that satisfies query criteria, the query criteria comprising the timestamp attributes of the one or more leaf nodes;
at least temporarily remove data objects corresponding to the one or more leaf nodes from the second set of data objects;
determine whether the second set of data objects comprises additional data objects;
and
(1) when the second set of data objects comprises additional data objects, performing another iteration of the iterative process;
or
(2) when the second set of data objects does not comprise additional data objects, not performing another iteration of the iterative process.

8 more elements

Dependencies are inferred from the claim text.