Hierarchical Data Representation for Application Migration
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Solution Overview
Problem
The differing data storage formats among competing software applications create a barrier to switching between them, as data migration requires careful integrity maintenance and field mapping, which is often cumbersome and error-prone.
Innovation Solution
A field map is applied to elements in a data representation from a source database to identify schema elements, constructing a hierarchical data representation that allows for the creation and storage of database objects in a destination database, ensuring proper mapping and integrity during data migration.
Engineering Contradictions & Design Principles
Engineering Contradiction Analysis
1Adaptability or versatility
If data migration is performed between competing software applications with different storage formats, then data can be transferred between applications, but data integrity and field mapping become complex and error-prone
Solution Approach 1:
The patent introduces a hierarchical data representation as an intermediary layer between the source database and destination database. This intermediary structure standardizes the data format during migration, allowing field maps to operate on a consistent hierarchical framework rather than directly mapping between disparate formats, thereby reducing mapping complexity while maintaining migration capability across different applications
Solution Approach 2:
The patent segments the data migration process into distinct phases: extracting data from the source database, constructing a hierarchical data representation, applying field maps to map fields, and inserting data into the destination database. This segmentation allows each phase to be handled independently and simplifies the overall complexity by breaking down the migration task into manageable steps
2Reliability
If field mapping is performed manually to ensure data integrity, then data can be accurately transferred, but the process becomes time-consuming and cumbersome
Solution Approach 1:
The patent performs preliminary actions by first constructing the hierarchical data representation before applying field maps. This pre-structuring of data in a standardized hierarchical format enables automated field mapping operations to proceed more efficiently, reducing manual intervention time while maintaining data integrity through the structured approach
Solution Approach 2:
The hierarchical data representation serves as a universal intermediate format that can accommodate multiple source and destination database structures. This universal framework allows the same migration mechanism to handle different applications and data formats without requiring custom mapping procedures for each pair, thereby reducing overall migration time while preserving data integrity
3Adaptability or versatility
If data structures are converted between different software applications, then data can be migrated successfully, but the extraction and transformation processes become complex
Solution Approach 1:
The hierarchical data representation acts as a universal intermediary that simplifies extraction and transformation operations. Instead of directly converting between specific source and destination formats, the system extracts data into the standardized hierarchical representation first, then transforms it to the destination format, reducing the complexity of direct conversions while maintaining versatility across different applications
Data Source
AI summary
A field map is applied to elements in a data representation of data from a source database to identify schema elements in a schema. Hierarchical relationships between schema elements that are described in the schema are used to construct a hierarchical data representation from the data representation. Based on the hierarchical relationship between two elements in the hierarchical data representation, it is determined that a first database object must be instantiated before a second database object. After ensuring that the first database object has been created and stored, the second database object is created and stored.