Method and apparatus for managing relational data in an object cache

In an object-oriented application being executed in a digital computing system comprising a processor, a method for managing information, said information comprising a plurality of object instances, each object instance in said plurality comprising a unique object ID, attributes, and relationships retrieved from a structured database, said method comprising the steps of:

• executing instructions on said processor to construct a plurality of object instances based on information retrieved from queries to said structured database, said structured database comprising foreign keys, primary keys, tables, rows and columns;
• executing instructions on said processor to construct a unique object ID for each of said object instances, said object ID comprising information extracted from said keys associated with the object instance, in order to provide a mapping between said object instance and at least one row in said structured database;
• executing instructions on said processor to construct a single cohesive object cache comprising all object instances of said plurality of object instances and at least one relationship between two objects;
• executing instructions on said processor to construct a cache dictionary, said cache dictionary containing said object ID and location of every object instance in said object cache;
• and
• executing instructions on said processor to resolve navigational requests from said object-oriented application by following bi-directional pointers between related object instances in said object cache.

In an object-oriented application being executed in a digital computing system comprising a processor, a method for managing information, said information comprising a plurality of object instances, each object instance in said plurality comprising a unique object ID, attributes, and relationships retrieved from a structured database, said method comprising the steps of:

• executing instructions on said processor to construct a plurality of object instances based on information retrieved from queries to said structured database, said structured database comprising foreign keys, primary keys, tables, rows and columns;
• executing instructions on said processor to construct a unique object ID for each of said object instances, said object ID comprising information extracted from said keys associated with the object instance, in order to provide a mapping between said object instance and at least one row in said structured database;
• executing instructions on said processor to construct a single cohesive object cache comprising all object instances of said plurality of object instances and at least one relationship between two objects;
• executing instructions on said processor to construct a cache dictionary, said cache dictionary containing said object ID and location of every object instance in said object cache;
• and
• executing instructions on said processor to resolve a navigational request from said object-oriented application by following a relationship pointer associated with a first object instance to at least one related object instance in said object cache.

In an object-oriented application being executed in a digital computing system comprising a processor, a method for managing information, said information comprising a plurality of object instances, each object instance in said plurality comprising a unique object ID, attributes, and relationships retrieved from a structured database, said method comprising the steps of:

• executing instructions on said processor to construct a plurality of object instances based on information retrieved from queries to said structured database, said structured database comprising foreign keys, primary keys, tables, rows and columns;
• executing instructions on said processor to construct a unique object ID for each of said object instances, said object ID comprising information extracted from said keys associated with the object instance, in order to provide a mapping between said object instance and at least one row in said structured database;
• executing instructions on said processor to construct a single cohesive object cache comprising all object instances of said plurality of object instances and at least one relationship between two objects;
• executing instructions on said processor to construct a cache dictionary, said cache dictionary containing said object ID and location of every object instance in said object cache;
• and
• executing instructions on said processor to resolve a navigational request to navigate a relationship for a first object instance from said object-oriented application by executing instructions on said processor
• to extract at least one key, and information relating to said at least one key, said key comprising primary and foreign keys, from said first object instance to construct an object ID for a related object instance,
• to perform a lookup in said cache dictionary of a reference to said related object instance in said object cache based on said object ID for said related object instance,
• to construct a relationship pointer from said first object instance to said related object instance, and
• to follow said relationship pointer thus constructed.

In an object-oriented application being executed in a digital computing system comprising a processor, a method for managing information, said information comprising a plurality of object instances, each object instance in said plurality comprising a unique object ID, attributes, and relationships retrieved from a structured database, said method comprising the steps of:

• executing instructions on said processor to construct a plurality of object instances based on information retrieved from queries to said structured database, said structured database comprising foreign keys, primary keys, tables, rows and columns;
• executing instructions on said processor to construct a unique object ID for each of said object instances, said object ID comprising information extracted from said keys associated with the object instance, in order to provide a mapping between said object instance and at least one row in said structured database;
• executing instructions on said processor to construct a single cohesive object cache comprising all object instances of said plurality of object instances and at least one relationship between two objects;
• executing instructions on said processor to construct a cache dictionary, said cache dictionary containing said object ID and location of every object instance in said object cache;
• and
• executing instructions on said processor to resolve a request from said object-oriented application to navigate a relationship involving a first object instance in said object cache, said relationship being selected from the group consisting of a one-to-one relationship, a one-to-many relationship, and a many-to-many relationship, said first object instance having a relationship pointer corresponding to said relationship, said request being resolved by said processor by following said relationship pointer.

In an object-oriented application being executed in a digital computing system comprising a processor, a method for managing information, said information comprising a plurality of object instances, each object instance in said plurality comprising a unique object ID, attributes, and relationships retrieved from a structured database, said method comprising the steps of:

• executing instructions on said processor to construct a plurality of object instances based on information retrieved from queries to said structured database, said structured database comprising foreign keys, primary keys, tables, rows and columns;
• executing instructions on said processor to construct a unique object ID for each of said object instances, said object ID comprising information extracted from said keys associated with the object instance, in order to provide a mapping between said object instance and at least one row in said structured database;
• executing instructions on said processor to construct a single cohesive object cache comprising all object instances of said plurality of object instances and at least one relationship between two objects;
• executing instructions on said processor to construct a cache dictionary, said cache dictionary containing said object ID and location of every object instance in said object cache;
• executing instructions on said processor to generate a request in said object-oriented application;
• executing instructions on said processor to determine whether said request can be resolved with reference to said object cache and without reference to said structured database by executing instructions on said processor to follow a relationship pointer between an object instance in said object cache and at least one related object instance;
• if said request can be resolved with reference to said object cache and without reference to said structured database, executing instructions on said processor to resolve said request by referring to said object cache;
• and
• if said request cannot be resolved with reference to said object cache and without reference to said structured database, executing instructions on said processor to resolve said request by querying said structured database to obtain information required to construct an object instance and a relationship pointer from said object instance to a related object instance, modifying said object cache according to said information, and referring to said object instance in said modified object cache.