Method and system for developing data integration applications with reusable semantic types to represent and process application data
AssigneeExpressor Software
InventorsWilliam V. Kehoe, Jerry L. Callen, Steven R. Frechette
Life of this patent
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Abstract
A method and system for developing data integration applications with reusable semantic types to represent and process application data. Methods include creating schemas to describe external data, creating semantic types to describe internal data, mapping schemas to semantic types, developing dataflows that configure input and output operations using schemas, mappings, and semantic types and all other transformation operations and functions based solely on semantic types, and executing dataflows defined in this manner.
Claims4
A method of developing a data integration application that receives, transforms, and outputs data by using semantic data types to define and process application data used internally by the application, the method comprising:
- a. defining an input schema that describes the structure and type of input data;
- b. defining an output schema that describes the structure and type of output data;
- c. defining a set of semantic data types, wherein the semantic data types are to be used internally by the data integration application to represent application data;
- d. creating input mapping specifications based on the input schema and the set of semantic data types, wherein each input mapping specification maps input data having an input data type to application data having a first semantic data type corresponding to said input data type;
- e. creating output mapping specifications based on the output schema and the set of semantic data types, wherein each output mapping specification maps application data having a second semantic data type to output data having an output data type corresponding to said second semantic data type;
- f. defining a set of input functions, each input function used for receiving input data and converting, according to the input mapping specifications, the received input data into application data having one or more semantic data types;
- g. defining a set of intermediate functions, each intermediate function used for receiving application data and producing transformed application data, wherein the received application data and the transformed application data have one or more semantic data types;
- h. defining a set of output functions, each output function used for receiving application data having one or more semantic data types, and converting, according to the output mapping specifications, the received application data into output data;
- i. creating a data flow that uses the set of semantic data types, the set of input functions, the set of intermediate functions, and the set of output functions to specify the desired behavior of the data integration application.
A method of creating a data integration template that can be used to develop multiple data integration applications having various input data sources and output data sources, wherein said data integration template uses semantic data types to specify the desired transformation of application data within said multiple data integration applications, the method comprising:
- a. defining a set of semantic data types, wherein the semantic data types are to be used internally by one or more data integration applications to represent application data;
- b. defining a set of intermediate functions, each intermediate function used for receiving application data and producing transformed application data, wherein the received application data and the transformed application data have one or more semantic data types;
- c. creating a data flow that uses the set of semantic data types and the set of intermediate functions to specify a desired transformation logic;
- d. wherein the set of semantic data types, the set of intermediate functions, and the data flow may be used without modification by one or more data integration applications having various input data sources and output data sources.
A system for developing a data integration application that receives, transforms, and outputs data by using semantic data types to define and process application data used internally by the application, the system comprising:
- a. logic for defining an input schema that describes the structure and type of input data;
- b. logic for defining an output schema that describes the structure and type of output data;
- c. logic for defining a set of semantic data types, wherein the semantic data types are to be used internally by the data integration application to represent application data;
- d. logic for creating input mapping specifications based on the input schema and the set of semantic data types, wherein each input mapping specification maps input data having an input data type to application data having a first semantic data type corresponding to said input data type;
- e. logic for creating output mapping specifications based on the output schema and the set of semantic data types, wherein each output mapping specification maps application data having a second semantic data type to output data having an output data type corresponding to said second semantic data type;
- f. logic for defining a set of input functions, each input function used for receiving input data and converting, according to the input mapping specifications, the received input data into application data having one or more semantic data types;
- g. logic for defining a set of intermediate functions, each intermediate function used for receiving application data and producing transformed application data, wherein the received application data and the transformed application data have one or more semantic data types;
- h. logic for defining a set of output functions, each output function used for receiving application data having one or more semantic data types, and converting, according to the output mapping specifications, the received application data into output data;
- i. logic for creating a data flow that uses the set of semantic data types, the set of input functions, the set of intermediate functions, and the set of output functions to specify the desired behavior of the data integration application.
A system for creating a data integration template that can be used to develop multiple data integration applications having various input data sources and output data sources, wherein said data integration template uses semantic data types to specify the desired transformation of application data within said multiple data integration applications, the method comprising:
- a. logic for defining a set of semantic data types, wherein the semantic data types are to be used internally by one or more data integration applications to represent application data;
- b. logic for defining a set of intermediate functions, each intermediate function used for receiving application data and producing transformed application data, wherein the received application data and the transformed application data have one or more semantic data types;
- c. logic for creating a data flow that uses the set of semantic data types and the set of intermediate functions to specify a desired transformation logic;
- d. wherein the set of semantic data types, the set of intermediate functions, and the data flow may be used without modification by one or more data integration applications having various input data sources and output data sources.
Dependencies are inferred from the claim text.