Change management

A computing system that returns a change status for a given user, artifact pair, where the artifact has an artifact type, the system comprising:

• an access table construction logic that records access information in an access table, where the access information includes an access time, a user identifier, and an artifact identifier for each artifact accessed by a user;
• a type registration table construction logic that maintains a type registration table that maps each artifact type to a data store that stores artifacts of the artifact type and an access table that records access information for artifacts of the artifact type;
• a query engine to:
• generate and execute a query on the type registration table to return a data store identifier and access table identifier that identifies an access table associated with the artifact type;
• generate and execute a query on the data store identified by the data store identifier to determine a last modification time for the artifact;
• and
• generate and execute a query on the identified access table to return the user's last access time for the artifact;
• and
• a change status determination logic that determines a change status for the user, artifact pair based on the last modification time and the last access time and provides the change status to the user.

A change management system comprising:

• one or more data stores that store artifacts having an artifact type, the data store exposing for query a last modification time for each artifact in the data store
• an access table that stores access information that includes an access time, a user identifier, and an artifact identifier for each artifact accessed by a user;
• a type registration table that maps artifact types to a data store for the artifact type and an access table that records access information for artifacts of the artifact type;
• a query engine configured to:
• query the type registration table for the artifact type of the given artifact to return a data store identifier and an access table identifier that identifies an access table associated with the artifact type;
• query the data store identified by the data store identifier to return a last modification time for the artifact;
• query the identified access table to return the user's last access time for the artifact;
• and
• a change status determination logic that determines a change status based on the last modification time and the last access time and provides the change status for the given user, artifact pair.

A computer-readable medium storing computer-executable instructions that when executed by a computer cause the computer to perform a method, the method comprising:

• receiving a user, artifact pair, where the artifact has an artifact type;
• querying a type registration table to return a data store and access table associated with the artifact type;
• querying the data store to return a last modification time for the artifact;
• querying the access table to return the user's last access time for the artifact;
• determining a change status for the given user, artifact pair;
• and
• providing the change status for the given user, artifact pair based on the last modification time and the last access time.

A system that returns a change status for a given user, artifact pair, where the artifact has an artifact type, the system comprising:

• means for recording access information in an access table, where the access information includes an access time, a user identifier, and an artifact identifier for each artifact accessed by a user;
• means for constructing a type registration table that maps artifact types to a data store for the artifact type and an access table that records access information for artifacts of the artifact type;
• means for receiving the user, artifact pair;
• means for querying the type registration table to return a data store and access table associated with the artifact type;
• means for querying the data store to return a last modification time for the artifact;
• means for querying the access table to return user's last access time for the artifact;
• means for determining a change status for the given user, artifact pair based on the last modification time and the last access time;
• and
• means for providing the change status for the given user, artifact pair.