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AssigneeSiebel Systems, Inc.
InventorsRobert A. Brodersen, Prashant Chatterjee, Jeffrey I. Cohen, Peter Siam Sy Lim III
Estimating the term…
Attaching files and other objects in a distributed computing environment. This includes adding file attachments and non-database objects, such as, text file data, web file data, image file data, and other file attachment objects to databases. These objects may be retrieved at the convenience of a node to which the objects are sent. Visibility rules can be set to determine which attachments and objects are seen by a node. Distribution rules for an object determine whether a node must request the object or whether the node is forced to receive the object.
A method of managing a database comprising:
A method of managing a database having files and a mobile user comprising:
A method of managing a database having a software platform, wherein the platform has a specialized business component that creates, updates, and deletes one or more of the objects from the group consisting of file attachments and non-database object files.
A method of managing a database comprising:
A method of managing a database comprising:
A method of managing a database having at least one user comprising
A method of managing a database having at least two business objects comprising allowing different business objects to share a same copy of a file.
A method of managing a database having files, file attachments, and at least one docking client comprising:
A method of managing a database having one or more files and file attachments, one or more regional databases, and one or more mobile clients comprising distributing one or more of the files and file attachments to one or more regional databases and one or more mobile clients.
A program storage device readable by a machine, tangibly embodying a program of instructions executable by a machine to perform method steps managing a database, said method steps comprising:
An article of manufacture comprising a computer usable medium having computer readable program code embodied therein for causing managing a database, the computer readable program means in said article of manufacture comprising:
A program storage device readable by a machine, tangibly embodying a program of instructions executable by a machine to perform method steps managing a database, said method steps comprising:
An article of manufacture comprising a computer usable medium having computer readable program code embodied therein for causing managing a database, the computer readable program in said article of manufacture comprising:
A program storage device readable by a machine, tangibly embodying a program of instructions executable by a machine to perform method steps managing a database having files, file attachments, and a mobile user, said method steps comprising:
An article of manufacture comprising a computer usable medium having computer readable program code embodied therein for causing managing a database having files, file attachments, and a mobile user, the computer readable program in said article of manufacture comprising:
A program storage device readable by a machine, tangibly embodying a program of instructions executable by a machine to perform method steps managing a database, said method steps comprising:
An article of manufacture comprising a computer usable medium having computer readable program code embodied therein for causing managing a database, the computer readable program in said article of manufacture comprising:
A program storage device readable by a machine, tangibly embodying a program of instructions executable by a machine to perform method steps managing a database, said method steps comprising:
A program storage device readable by a machine, tangibly embodying a program of instructions executable by a machine to perform method steps managing a database having at least one user, said method steps comprising:
A program storage device readable by a machine managing a database having files and at least one server, tangibly embodying a program of instructions executable by a machine to perform method steps managing a database having files and at least one server, wherein some of the files are available and some of the files are not available, said method steps comprising:
A method of managing a database having at least one file attachment and at least one database table, wherein the database table has rows and columns, comprising:
A method of managing a database having at least one client, at least one file attachment, and at least one database table, wherein the database table has rows and columns, comprising:
A method of managing a database comprising:
Dependencies are inferred from the claim text.
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Details of further file system functions: techniques for file synchronisation in file systems
Database schema or data structure: manipulating data structure, e.g. compression, compaction, compilation
Coherency, e.g. same view to multiple users: recoverability
Coherency, e.g. same view to multiple users: version management
Term end not estimated
This invention relates to database management systems, database management methods, database management apparatus, and database management program products for adding file attachments and non-database objects, such as, text file data, web file data, image file data, and other file attachment objects to databases. The text data, web based data, and other objects may be retrieved when the data to which they relate is retrieved.
Relational databases are a commonly-employed data structure for representing data in a business or other environment. A relational database represents data in the form of a collection of two-dimensional tables. Each table comprises a series of cells arranged in rows and columns. Typically, a row in a table represents a particular observation. A column represents either a data field or a pointer to a row in another table.
For example, a database describing an organizational structure may have one table to describe each position in the organization, and another table to describe each employee in the organization. The employee table may include information specific to the employee, such as name, employee number, age, salary, etc. The position table may include information specific to the position, such as the position title (“salesman”, “vice president”, etc.), a salary range, and the like. The tables may be related by, for example, providing in each row of the employee table a pointer to a particular row in the position table, coordinated so that, for each row in the employee table, there is a pointer to the particular row in the position table that describes that employee's position. A relational database management system (RDBMS) supports “joining” these tables in response to a query from a user, so that the user making a query about, for example, a particular employee, may be provided with a report of the selected employee, including not only the information in the employee table, but also the information in the related position table.
The method, apparatus, structure, system, and program product of our invention may be understood by reference to the Figures appended hereto.
FIG. 1 shows the creation of files for connected users. As there shown, a user creates a new file in the client screen. This file is compressed and copied to the file system and the local file cache. The file table row is then written, and the transaction logged to the database.
FIG. 2 shows how a connected user views and modifies a file. The user selects an existing file, e.g., by double clicking. This causes the file to be copied to the local file cache, if needed. This file is then uncompressed and copied to a temporary directory. If the file is user modified, the user modified file is compressed and copied back to the file system and the local file cache. The modified file and the transaction are written to the database.
The method, apparatus, system, and program Product of our invention enable individual users of a replicated or partially replicated database to attach files, non-database file objects, file attachments, and the like, including, by way of example, text data file attachments, image data file attachments, and web-based file data attachments, to any business object that a user, developer or configurator chooses. This is accomplished using a software platform having a pre-defined, specialized business component that supports creating, updating and deleting file attachments. The software platform permits users, developers and configurators to easily enable file attachments on any business object by creating, adding, and/or using an applet that utilizes this specialized business component. End users, developers and configurators can easily enable file attachments by using pre-built specialized business components, frames, and applets. In this way, end-users, developers and configurators do not need to write new code to take advantage of standard feature such as drag and drop, updating files, conflict resolution and the like. A non-database file object or a file attachment is an object that is referenced in an attribute column of a database table or an attribute filed or cell of a row of a database table. A file attachment is callable or retrievable or addressable by such reference, but is not in a database table
By way of example, a non-database file object or a file attachment is a text file, such as a brochure, circular, etc.), an image file (MPEG, JPEG, bitmap, etc.), a URL, a sound file, or an application.
File attachment further includes automatic replication of file attachments to all docking clients that have visibility to the business object. This is to enable users to update files on any database—server or mobile—and synchronize the files among all databases.