Patents Assigned to Oracle Corporation
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Patent number: 6219666Abstract: A method is disclosed that involves establishing a transaction stack in a memory of a computing system that is processing transactions. Two commands, PUSH and POP, operate on the stack. The PUSH command causes a frame of data identifying the currently executing transaction to be pushed onto the transaction stack. After a PUSH is executed, the first transactional statement that executes causes creation of a new autonomous transaction. If another transactional statement is executed after the new transaction commits or rolls back, but before a POP is executed, then another new autonomous transaction is created. A POP operation restores the transaction identified by the top frame of the stack. In another aspect, a programming language construct is provided for associating a lexical scope with an autonomous transaction scope. When the lexical scope is first entered during execution of the program in a first transaction, the transaction context of the first transaction is stored on a transaction stack.Type: GrantFiled: July 13, 1998Date of Patent: April 17, 2001Assignee: Oracle CorporationInventors: Janaki Krishnaswamy, Kannan Muthukkaruppan
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Patent number: 6216127Abstract: The present invention provides a method and apparatus for processing electronic mail in parallel. The present invention provides the ability to process mail objects in an electronic mail system in parallel. A message can be assigned to a queue. One or more processes can manage a plurality of messages in the queue. Each process can identify the next entry to be processed. Entries previously processed can be marked such that subsequent access is locked out. Mail objects and process information can be stored in a relational database system that provides the ability to perform locking at the record level. A process can be configured to perform a plurality of activities in a plurality of time periods. A guardian process can initiate or terminate other processes based on process information. Further, a guardian process examines system information periodically and identifies any need to initiate, restart, or stop one or more processes.Type: GrantFiled: September 16, 1998Date of Patent: April 10, 2001Assignee: Oracle CorporationInventors: Stevens S. Gans, Farzad Nazem
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Patent number: 6216137Abstract: A method and apparatus that allow schema version evolution to occur without requiring applications that expect older schema versions to be recompiled is provided. According to one aspect of the invention, each application that requests data is supplied the data in the format that the application expects. To supply the data in the expected format, a mechanism is provided for tracking the evolution of data types without losing information. In addition, mechanisms are provided for determining the format expected by the application and the format in which the data is currently stored. A mechanism is also provided for converting the data from the stored format to the expected format when the two formats do not match. A data migration strategy is described in which data is gradually migrated to newer formats when the data is updated by applications that expect a more recent format than the format in which the data is currently stored.Type: GrantFiled: November 3, 1999Date of Patent: April 10, 2001Assignee: Oracle CorporationInventors: Tin Anh Nguyen, Susan Marie Kotsovolos, Srinath Krishnaswamy
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Patent number: 6212578Abstract: A method and apparatus for managing dependencies in a distributed environment to ensure the safety of remote procedure calls is disclosed. Each remote procedure call between a calling procedure and a target procedure includes an expected time stamp and expected signature associated with the target procedure. The expected time stamp contains the creation time of the target procedure at the time the calling procedure was last compiled. The expected signature contains data type information of the target procedure formal parameters at the time the calling procedure was last compiled. The target procedure compares the expected time stamp to an actual time stamp maintained by the target procedure. If the two time stamps do not match, the target procedure compares the expected signature and an actual signature maintained by the target procedure to determine whether the data types of the formal parameters sent by the calling procedure are compatible with the data types expected by the target procedure.Type: GrantFiled: September 9, 1996Date of Patent: April 3, 2001Assignee: Oracle CorporationInventors: Christopher Racicot, Usha Sundaram
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Patent number: 6209000Abstract: A method and system for tracking storage for data items is provided. First, an index is built to access the data items. Then a first plurality of index entries for locating a first set of blocks are stored in the index, wherein blocks within the first set of blocks are blocks that store current first versions of the data items. Finally, a second plurality of index entries for locating a second set of blocks are stored in the index, wherein blocks within the second set of blocks are blocks that store non-current second versions of the data items.Type: GrantFiled: September 24, 1999Date of Patent: March 27, 2001Assignee: Oracle CorporationInventors: Jonathan Klein, Bhaskar Himatsingka
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System and method for implementing selectively index enabled multi-column lists in a computer system
Patent number: 6205453Abstract: System and method for implementing selectively index enabled multi-column lists in a graphical user interface for a computer system. The graphical user interface contains a table of entries organized by columns. The columns are displayed vertically adjacent to one another. A user selectable vertical line (the divider line) can be moved from an extreme left column position to a position between adjacent columns. When a column is between the divider line and the extreme left column position, the column becomes index enabled. A single column (e.g., the left most column) or multiple columns can be index enabled simultaneously. A column can be positioned between the divider line and the extreme left column position by column reordering, e.g., leaving the divider line in a fixed position and dragging and dropping the column from a position right of the divider line.Type: GrantFiled: March 13, 1998Date of Patent: March 20, 2001Assignee: Oracle CorporationInventors: Eric Tucker, David B. Abkowitz -
Patent number: 6205442Abstract: A method and apparatus for compressing data is provided. The invention compresses an input bit stream into a compressed output bit stream. The input bit streams are byte aligned and classified. Bytes with all bits set to value zero are classified as gap bytes. Bytes with only one bit set to value one are classified as offset bytes. All other bytes are classified as map bytes. Groups of adjacent bytes are organized into two types of groups. The first type is a gap bit group. A gap map group contains gap bytes and one offset byte. The second type is the gap map group. It contains gap bytes and map bytes. The number of gap bytes in a group is called a gap size. The groups are compressed into four types of atoms. Each type of atom has one control byte, zero or more gap size bytes, and zero or map bytes. A control byte describes the atom. The map bytes in an atom are copies of the map bytes in the control group.Type: GrantFiled: May 13, 1999Date of Patent: March 20, 2001Assignee: Oracle CorporationInventors: Jeffrey I. Cohen, Michael Depledge, Hakan Jakobsson, Mark Kremer, Cetin Ozbutun, Quoc Tai Tran
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Patent number: 6205451Abstract: A method and apparatus are provided for performing deferred incremental refresh of summary tables that are derived from two or more base tables. Incremental refresh is performed by assigning a hypothetical load sequence to the base tables of the summary table. For each base table that contains new data that affects the summary table, a join is performed between (1) the new data in the base table, (2) the pre-update state of base tables that follow the base table in the hypothetical load sequence, and (3) the post-update state of base tables the precede the base table in the hypothetical load sequence. The results of the join are then merged with the existing summary table to refresh the summary table. According to one aspect of the invention, efficiency is improved by performing the joins for the various base tables in parallel.Type: GrantFiled: May 22, 1998Date of Patent: March 20, 2001Assignee: Oracle CorporationInventors: William D. Norcott, James Finnerty
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Patent number: 6202099Abstract: An approach for providing communication between sub-applications in a vertical application involves exchanging messages between sub-applications in a predetermined common message format referred to herein as a “common view.” Messages transmitted by sub-applications in message formats supported by the sub-applications are translated to produce messages in the common view. Messages to be received by sub-applications in the common view are translated to produce messages in the formats supported by the sub-applications. An adapter may be attached to each sub-application. The adapter provides for the translation of messages between a message format supported by the sub-application to which it is attached and the common view. An agent/broker architecture may be used in which agents are configured with metadata.Type: GrantFiled: March 30, 1998Date of Patent: March 13, 2001Assignee: Oracle CorporationInventors: John Gillies, David Nitz
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Patent number: 6199034Abstract: A content processing system determines content of input discourse. The content processing system includes a theme vector processor that determines themes in the input discourse. The theme vector processor identifies themes, including identifying the relative importance of the themes in the input discourse by generating a theme strength. The theme strength indicates relative thematic importance for the theme in the input discourse. A knowledge catalog, which includes static ontologies arranged in a hierarchical structure, is also disclosed. The static ontologies are independent and parallel of each other, and contain knowledge concepts to represent a world view of knowledge. The theme vector processor utilizes the static ontologies to generate a theme concept for each theme by extracting a knowledge concept from a higher level node in the hierarchical structure of a static ontology.Type: GrantFiled: April 14, 1998Date of Patent: March 6, 2001Assignee: Oracle CorporationInventor: Kelly Wical
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Patent number: 6199058Abstract: A method and apparatus for processing reports is disclosed. After receiving a current report request, a duplicate job detection (DJD) key is generated based upon the current report request. The DJD key is then compared to DJD keys associated with previous report requests to determine whether the currently requested report has been previously requested. If the currently requested report has been previously requested, then a saved report generated in response to the previous report request is retrieved. Otherwise, a new report is generated based upon the current report request and then stored.Type: GrantFiled: May 17, 1999Date of Patent: March 6, 2001Assignee: Oracle CorporationInventors: Simon Wong, Stewart Wilson, Marco Tilli
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Patent number: 6199110Abstract: A method and apparatus are provided for passing a client from a first server to which the client was connected for accessing a resource, to a second server for accessing the resource. While executing, the first server ceases to respond to the client. After the client detects that the first server has ceased to respond to the client, the client is automatically connected with the second server that has access to the resource. After automatically connecting the client, the client accesses the resource through the second server. The client stores information about the state of the session with the first server so that processing can continue where it left off after the client connects with the second server. The client may be pre-connected to the second server prior to the failure of the first server to reduce the latency caused by switching in response to a failure.Type: GrantFiled: May 30, 1997Date of Patent: March 6, 2001Assignee: Oracle CorporationInventors: Hasan Rizvi, Ekrem Soylemez, Juan R. Loaiza
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Patent number: 6195656Abstract: A method and apparatus for segmenting bitmaps in a bitmap index is provided. A segmented bitmap includes a plurality of bitmap segments that are used to indicate which records in a body of records that is associated with the segmented bitmap satisfy a particular criteria. Each bitmap segment contains a string of bits that correspond to a corresponding range of records in the body of records. There may be gaps between the ranges represented by the bitmap segments when, for example, the body of records does not contain records in a particular range. For the purposes of retrieval, compression, de-compression, locking and logging, the database system treats each bitmap segment as a distinct data item.Type: GrantFiled: May 13, 1999Date of Patent: February 27, 2001Assignee: Oracle CorporationInventors: Cetin Ozbutun, Jeffrey I. Cohen, Hakan Jakobsson, Mark Kremer, Michael Depledge, Quoc Tai Tran, Alexander C. Ho, Julian Hyde
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Patent number: 6192377Abstract: A method and an apparatus for determining whether a transaction can use a version of a data item is provided. Transaction summary data is generated that is associated with one or more transactions that have updated a version of the data item. The transaction summary data specifies both a data buffer refresh time and a data buffer commit time. The data buffer refresh time is indicative of the latest time at which the version of data is guaranteed to be current. The data buffer commit time is indicative of the commit time of a most recently committed transaction from the one or more transactions that committed after updating the version of the data item. A determination is made, based upon the transaction summary data and a snapshot time used by the first transaction, whether the version of the data item is to be provided to the first transaction. The data buffer commit time is updated to reflect the commit time of other transactions that commit after updating the version of the data item.Type: GrantFiled: May 13, 1998Date of Patent: February 20, 2001Assignee: Oracle CorporationInventors: Amit Ganesh, Gary C. Ngai
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Patent number: 6185577Abstract: A method and apparatus for incremental undo is provided. A process, executing in a database system, establishes a rollback entry in an undo log file as a current rollback entry. The rollback entry, which was selected from a set of rollback entries contained in an undo record, contains data that indicates a change made by a transaction to a data block in the database system. The process first determines whether the rollback entry has been applied by testing a status flag. In one embodiment, the status flag is a bit in a bit vector in the undo block. If the rollback entry has been applied to the database, then the rollback entry is not re-applied; rather, a next rollback entry is established from the set of rollback entries and the process repeats. If the rollback entry has not been applied, then undo information from the rollback entry is retrieved from the undo block and change is generated.Type: GrantFiled: June 23, 1998Date of Patent: February 6, 2001Assignee: Oracle CorporationInventors: Bhagat Nainani, Gary C. Ngai, Wei Huang, Jonathan D. Klein, Roger J. Bamford
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Patent number: 6182277Abstract: An object oriented software environment permits, through declarative programming techniques, customization of functionality of an object. The object oriented software environment includes a plurality of objects, wherein each object contains at least one method. A user of the object oriented software environment submits one or more declarative statements to augment the functionality of a method on an object. In response, the object oriented software environment associates the declarative statements to the method identified on the object such that when the method on the object is called, the declarative statements, associated with the object, are executed in addition to the methods on the object. The declarative programming technique permits augmenting the functionality of a method on an object with “rules.” In addition, two or more methods may be associated together to generate an event that propagates from one method to another method.Type: GrantFiled: April 15, 1998Date of Patent: January 30, 2001Assignee: Oracle CorporationInventors: Michael DeGroot, Ralph Lemke
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Patent number: 6182241Abstract: An approach for recovering after premature termination of a plurality of transactions involves: A) selecting a previously unselected transaction from the plurality of transactions; B) processing the selected transaction by undoing the lesser of a predetermined number of changes made by the selected transaction and all changes made by the selected transaction; and C) repeating steps A) and B) until all of the plurality of transactions have been processed. Another aspect of the approach involves: A) selecting a previously unselected transaction from the plurality of transactions, wherein the selected transaction is the previously unselected transaction from the plurality of transactions that made the fewest number of changes in the database; B) processing the selected transaction by undoing one or more changes in the database made by the selected transaction; and C) repeating steps A) and B) until all transactions from the plurality of transactions have been processed.Type: GrantFiled: August 27, 1998Date of Patent: January 30, 2001Assignee: Oracle CorporationInventors: Gary C. Ngai, Hasan Rizvi, Leng Leng Tan
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Patent number: 6182202Abstract: A method and apparatus for storing a variable length operand offset in a computer instruction is provided. An operand base is stored in a computer instruction. Also stored in the computer instruction is a variable length operand offset that is associated with the operand base. In addition, an operand offset length is stored within the computer instruction that defines the length of the variable length operand offset. Storing an operand offset length with each variable length operand offset in a computer instruction provides for the reduction of unused space.Type: GrantFiled: October 31, 1997Date of Patent: January 30, 2001Assignee: Oracle CorporationInventor: Kannan Muthukkaruppan
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Patent number: 6178428Abstract: A method and apparatus copies only the data that was in a computer file when the copying process began, allowing other processes to alter the file while it is being copied without introducing inconsistent data into the copy. The file is arranged into sections, with each section containing one or more blocks of data, with each block stored in the file with a serial number higher than the block stored before. The number of blocks in each section is read and stored, and the highest serial number is read and stored. As blocks are copied from a section of the source file into a destination file, the number of blocks in the section are counted, and the count is compared with the number of blocks that were in the section before the blocks were copied. Blocks that would cause the number of blocks in the section to exceed the number of blocks in the section before any blocks were copied are not copied to the destination file, avoiding new blocks added to the end of a section after the copying began.Type: GrantFiled: October 31, 1997Date of Patent: January 23, 2001Assignee: Oracle CorporationInventors: Tuomas Pystynen, Gregory Pongracz
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Patent number: H1954Abstract: A packaging system is provided for shipping optical media, such as compact discs (CDs), digital video discs (DVDs), and compact disc recordables (CDRs), in an environmentally responsible and cost effective manner. The packaging system's construction uses primarily recyclable material and requires far less raw material than other shipping packaging options. The packaging system is also lightweight and suitably durable for passage through the normal shipping channels, such as the United States Postal Service. The packaging system may be easily configured to accommodate different numbers of optical media discs.Type: GrantFiled: February 3, 2000Date of Patent: April 3, 2001Assignee: Oracle CorporationInventor: Sandra A. Takashima