Server system and method for discovering digital assets in enterprise information systems

A discovery system for identifying one or more member objects of one or more computer system parts of an Enterprise Information System (EIS) and for establishing at least one topographical relationship among the member objects, the system comprising:

• a. a traverser to traverse one or more computer file systems to find one or more of the member objects, the member objects meeting one or more selection criteria;
• b. an intermediate representation builder to place, for each member object found by the traverser, a digital asset identifier in an intermediate representation, the intermediate representation being a graph with nodes and edges, the digital asset identifier corresponding to one of the nodes of the graph, the edges representing the topographical relationship;
• c. a digital asset creator to create a digital asset from the member object by placing the data object in a logic/data section of the digital asset and attaching an extended environment data structure to the logic/data section;
• and
• d. an inventory function to store the digital asset in an asset inventory container object.

A discovery system for identifying member objects of one or more computer system parts of an Enterprise Information System (EIS) and for establishing at least one topographical relationship among the member objects, the system comprising:

• a. means for traversing one or more computer file systems to find one or more of the member objects, the member objects meeting one or more selection criteria;
• b. means for placing a digital asset identifier in an intermediate representation for each member object found, the intermediate representation being a graph with nodes and edges, the digital asset identifier corresponding to one of the nodes of the graph, the edges representing the topographical relationship;
• c. means for creating a digital asset from the member object by placing the member object in a logic/data section of the digital asset and attaching an extended environment data structure to the logic/data section;
• and
• d. means for storing the digital asset in an asset inventory container object.

A computer program product having a computer program for performing the steps of:

• a. traversing one or more computer file systems to find one or more of the member objects, the member objects meeting one or more selection criteria;
• b. for each member object found, placing a digital asset identifier of the respective member object in an intermediate representation, the intermediate representation being a graph with nodes and edges, the digital asset identifier corresponding to one of the nodes of the graph, the edges representing the topographical relationship;
• c. creating a digital asset from the data object by placing the member object in a logic/data section of the digital asset and attaching an extended environment data structure to the logic/data section;
• and
• d. storing the digital asset in an asset inventory container object.

A computer memory storing a computer program for performing the steps of:

• a. traversing one or more computer file systems to find one or more of the member objects, the member objects meeting one or more selection criteria;
• b. for each member object found, placing a digital asset identifier of the member object in an intermediate representation, the intermediate representation being a graph with nodes and edges, the digital asset identifier corresponding to one of the nodes of the graph, the edges representing the topographical relationship;
• c. creating a digital asset from the member object by placing the member object in a logic/data section of the digital asset and attaching an extended environment data structure to the logic/data section;
• and
• d. storing the digital asset in an asset inventory container object.

A discovery method executable by a computer with one or more memories and one or more central processing units (CPUs), the method comprising the steps of:

• a. determining a starting point in a sub part of one or more application programs, the sub part of the application program having a path of execution;
• b. determining one or more edges of the path of execution and one or more elements of the sub part of the application program, each of the elements connected by at least one of the edges;
• c. placing the elements in an asset candidate list;
• d. classifying one or more of the elements in the asset candidate list according to an asset type;
• and
• e. determining one or more of the elements in the asset candidate list that is to be included in an asset package.

A discovery method executable by a computer with one or more memories and one or more central processing units (CPUs), the method comprising the steps of:

• a. determining a top level page in a set of web pages, the set of web pages related to one another by a path of execution;
• b. determining one or more hyperlinks as edges of the path of execution and one or more elements of the sub part of the application program, each of the elements connected by at least one of the hyperlinks;
• c. placing the elements in an asset candidate list;
• d. classifying one or more of the elements in the asset candidate list according to an asset type;
• and
• e. determining one or more of the elements in the asset candidate list that is to be included in an asset package.