Method and system for providing an associative datastore within a data processing system

A method for implementing a datastore for a plurality of terminal objects in a data processing system, a terminal object being a generic object to be stored in the datastore, the method comprising the computer-implemented steps of:

• determining a relation for a plurality of terminal objects;
• generating an association object to represent the relation for the plurality of terminal objects, the association object comprising:
• a data value for an association type corresponding to a type of the relation to be represented for the plurality of terminal objects;
• a data value for an association state corresponding to a state of the relation to be represented for the plurality of terminal objects;
• and
• a role object, for each terminal object being related by the association object, that represents a relation between the association object and a terminal object, the role object comprising a data value of a role type corresponding to a type of the relation to be represented between the associated object and the terminal object, wherein the data value of the role type is unique amongst each role object within the association object;
• and
• storing the association object and the plurality of terminal objects on a computer-readable medium;
• wherein the association object and the plurality of terminal objects are stored in a relational database management system.

A method for implementing a datastore in a data processing system, the method comprising the computer-implemented steps of. determining an association for a plurality of generic objects;

• generating an association object, the association object comprising an association type and an association state;
• storing the association object and the plurality of generic objects on a computer-readable medium;
• specifying a data value for the association type corresponding to a type of the relation to be represented for the plurality of terminal objects;
• specifying a data value for the association state corresponding to a state of the relation to be represented for the plurality of terminal objects;
• and
• specifying a role object, for each terminal object being related by the association object, that represents a relation between the association object and a terminal object, the role object comprising a data value of a role type corresponding to a type of the relation to be represented between the associated object and the terminal object, wherein the data value of the role type is unique amongst each role object within the association object.

A data processing system for implementing a datastore for a plurality of terminal objects, a terminal object being a generic object to be stored in the datastore, the data processing system comprising:

• determination means for determining a relation for a plurality of terminal objects;
• generation means for generating an association object to represent the relation for the plurality of terminal objects, the association object comprising:
• a data value for an association type corresponding to a type of the relation to be represented for the plurality of terminal objects;
• a data value for an association state corresponding to a state of the relation to be represented for the plurality of terminal objects;
• and
• a role object, for each terminal object being related by the association object, that represents a relation between the association object and a terminal object, the role object comprising a data value of a role type corresponding to a type of the relation to be represented between the associated object and the terminal object, wherein the data value of the role type is unique amongst each role object within the association object;
• and
• storage is for storing the association object and the plurality of terminal objects on a computer-readable medium.

A data processing system for implementing a datastore, the data processing system comprising:

• determination means for determining an association for a plurality of generic objects;
• generation means for generating an association object, the association object comprising an association type and an association state;
• and
• storage means for storing the association object and the plurality of generic objects on a computer-readable medium;
• a data value for the association type corresponding to a type of the relation to be represented for the plurality of terminal objects;
• a data value for the association state corresponding to a state of the relation to be represented for the plurality of terminal objects;
• and
• a role object, for each terminal object being related by the association object, that represents a relation between the association object and a terminal object, the role object comprising a data value of a role type corresponding to a type of the relation to be represented between the associated object and the terminal object, wherein the data value of the role type is unique amongst each role object within the association object.

A computer program product for use with a data processing system for implementing a datastore, the computer program product comprising:

• a computer usable medium;
• first instructions for determining an association for a plurality of generic objects;
• second instructions for generating an association object, the association object comprising an association type and an association state;
• and
• third instructions for storing the association object and the plurality of generic objects on a computer-readable medium;
• a data value for the association type corresponding to a type of the relation to be represented for the plurality of terminal objects;
• a data value for the association state corresponding to a state of the relation to be represented for the plurality of terminal objects;
• and
• a role object, for each terminal object being related by the association object, that represents a relation between the association object and a terminal object, the role object comprising a data value of a role type corresponding to a type of the relation to be represented between the associated object and the terminal object, wherein the data value of the role type is unique amongst each role object within the association object.