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US 7,627,856 B2Granted
Systems, methods, and articles of manufacture for handling hierarchical application data
AssigneeSap SE
InventorWinfried Schwarzmann
Life of this patent
Estimating the term…
Abstract
The invention relates to an object-oriented technique for representing and accessing application data that is arranged in hierarchical relationships. In a first step classes are provided including a hierarchy base class with methods for accessing hierarchical relationships, at least one hierarchy subclass that is derived from the hierarchy base class, and at least one application class. In a next step objects are instantiated including at least one hierarchy object of the at least one hierarchy subclass and at least one application object of the at least one application class. In a final step, each application object is linked to at least one hierarchy object, and vice versa, to provide access to the application data.
Claims17
A method for representing and accessing related application data that is stored in memory of a server and is arranged in hierarchical relationships, the method being executed by the server and comprising:
- providing classes including:
- a hierarchy base class providing at least one hierarchical functionality related to the hierarchical relationships;
- at least one hierarchy subclass that is derived from the hierarchy base class;
- and
- at least one application class for the application data, wherein the at least one application class defines at least one of attributes and methods in a transportation optimization context;
- instantiating objects including:
- a first application object of the at least one application class;
- a second application object of the at least one application class, wherein the second application object is different from the first application object;
- a first hierarchy object of the at least one hierarchy subclass;
- and
- a second hierarchy object of the at least one hierarchy subclass, wherein the second hierarchy object is different from the first hierarchy object;
- linking, by using a processor of the server, the first application object to the first hierarchy object, and the second application object to the second hierarchy object;
- providing a first reference to the first hierarchy object for use by the at least one hierarchical functionality, the first reference referencing the second hierarchy object;
- providing a second reference to the second hierarchy object for use by the at least one hierarchical functionality, the second reference referencing the first hierarchy object;
- and
- relating the first application object and the second application object by using the first hierarchy object and the second hierarchy object, wherein the first application object accesses application data stored in the second application object by implementing the at least one hierarchical functionality using the first reference to link the first hierarchy object to the second hierarchy object to access the second application object via the second hierarchy object, and wherein the second application object accesses application data stored in the first application object by implementing the at least one hierarchical functionality using the second reference to link the second hierarchy object to the first hierarchy object to access the first application object via the first hierarchy object.
13 more elements
A computer-readable recording medium storing a computer program having instructions which, when executed on a computer, cause the computer to perform a method for representing and accessing related application data that is arranged in hierarchical relationships, the method comprising:
- providing classes including:
- a hierarchy base class providing at least one hierarchical functionality related to the hierarchical relationships;
- at least one hierarchy subclass that is derived from the hierarchy base class;
- and
- at least one application class for the application data, wherein the at least one application class defines at least one of attributes and methods in a transportation optimization context;
- instantiating objects including:
- a first application object of the at least one application class;
- a second application object of the at least one application class, wherein the second application object is different from the first application object;
- a first hierarchy object of the at least one hierarchy subclass;
- and
- a second hierarchy object of the at least one hierarchy subclass, wherein the second hierarchy object is different from the first hierarchy object;
- linking, by using a processor of the computer, the first application object to the first hierarchy object, and the second application object to the second hierarchy object;
- providing a first reference to the first hierarchy object for use by the at least one hierarchical functionality, the first reference referencing the second hierarchy object;
- providing a second reference to the second hierarchy object for use by the at least one hierarchical functionality, the second reference referencing the first hierarchy object;
- and
- relating the first application object and the second application object by using the first hierarchy object and the second hierarchy object, wherein the first application object accesses application data stored in the second application object by implementing the at least one hierarchical functionality using the first reference to link the first hierarchy object to the second hierarchy object to access the second application object via the second hierarchy object, and wherein the second application object accesses application data stored in the first application object by implementing the at least one hierarchical functionality using the second reference to link the second hierarchy object to the first hierarchy object to access the first application object via the first hierarchy object.
13 more elements
A computer system for representing and accessing related application data that is arranged in hierarchical relationships without resorting to multiple inheritance functionalities, comprising:
- a storage device for storing classes including:
- a hierarchy base class providing at least one hierarchical functionality related to the hierarchical relationships;
- at least one hierarchy subclass that is derived from the hierarchy base class;
- and
- at least one application class for the application data, wherein the at least one application class defines at least one of attributes and methods in a transportation optimization context;
- and
- a processor for instantiating objects including:
- a first application object of the at least one application class;
- a second application object of the at least one application class, wherein the second application object is different from the first application object;
- a first hierarchy object of the at least one hierarchy subclass;
- and
- a second hierarchy object of the at least one hierarchy subclass, wherein the second hierarchy object is different from the first hierarchy object, and wherein the processor:
- links the first application object to the first hierarchy object, and the second application object to the second hierarchy object;
- provides a first reference to the first hierarchy object for use by the at least one hierarchical functionality, the first reference referencing the second hierarchy object;
- provides a second reference to the second hierarchy object for use by the at least one hierarchical functionality, the second reference referencing the first hierarchy object;
- and
- relates the first application object and the second application object by using the first hierarchy object and the second hierarchy object, wherein the first application object accesses application data stored in the second application object by implementing the at least one hierarchical functionality using the first reference to link the first hierarchy object to the second hierarchy object to access the second application object via the second hierarchy object, and wherein the second application object accesses application data stored in the first application object by implementing the at least one hierarchical functionality using the second reference to link the second hierarchy object to the first hierarchy object to access the first application object via the first hierarchy object.
14 more elements
Dependencies are inferred from the claim text.