Oracle International Corporation

Susan M Kotsovolos

Muralidhar Krishnaprasad

Zhen Hua Liu

Vikas Arora

James W Warner

Anand Manikutty

Ravi Murthy

Rohan Angrish

Qin Yu

Hui Joe Chang

Hui Zhang

Subramanian Muralidhar

Srinath Krishnaswamy

Thomas Chang

Adiel Yoaz

Tin A Nguyen

Rajagopalan Govindarajan

Nipun Agarwal

Kumar Rajamani

Jaebock Lee

Joyo Wijaya

Ying Lu

Visar Nimani

Anil Nori

Geeta Arora

Harmeek Singh Bedi

Wesley Lin

Abhyudaya Agrawal

Russell John Green

Karuna Muthiah

Ramkumar Krishnan

Ho Chak Hung

Yujie Cao

Guhan Viswanathan

Tugrul Bingol

Hui X Zhang

A database server that manages a database retrieves metadata that is stored, within the database, in association with a procedure that is stored in the database. Based on the metadata, a Web service definition is automatically constructed to describe the procedure as a Web service. The WSDL definition can be referenced to construct SOAP messages with the appropriate arguments and in the appropriate format which, when received, are converted to a suitable format for invoking execution of the procedure by the database server.

Techniques for automatically exposing, as web services, procedures and functions stored in a database

Techniques for managing XML data associated with multiple execution units ensure that execution units are able to use XML data coming from other execution units. Such techniques are applicable when, but for the technique, an XML type value is produced in a particular form by one execution unit and is supposed to be consumed by another execution unit that is unable to process data in the particular form, and involves detecting that the foregoing situation exists and annotating information sent to an XML producer execution unit to cause the XML type value to be transformed into a canonical form that can be shared by all relevant execution units.

Techniques for managing XML data associated with multiple execution units

Disclosed is a method and mechanism for processing expressions and operator trees. An approach is particularly useful to optimize processing of XML statements with respect to SQL operators. A top-down processing approach can be taken to directly output data from operators to a data stream. In addition, multiple processing approaches can be taken within a single expression tree, with some operators processed using the top-down approach and other operators processed with the bottom-up approach. Even data that can not be streamed is copied fewer times using this approach, intermediate values from bottom-up processing may still be streamed if it is used by an operator that is eligible for top-down processing.

Method and mechanism for handling arbitrarily-sized XML in SQL operator tree

Methods and apparatus for enabling a plurality of table columns arranged to be associated with large objects (LOBs) to share a single LOB data segment within a database are disclosed. According to one aspect of the present invention, a method for allocating space associated with at least a first column arranged to accommodate LOB data and a second column arranged to accommodate LOB data includes allocating a first LOB data segment. The method also includes associating both the first column and the second column with the first LOB data segment.

Storage model for large object columns

A method and apparatus for updating databases are disclosed. An update vector for an object is created for identifying updated attributes. A dependent object is identified and a dependency vector of the dependent object is compared with update vector to determine whether the dependent object depends on the updated attributes.

Finer grain dependency tracking for database objects

A method for optimizing queries is described. A query, which includes a first expression for determining whether each of a set of values evaluates to NULL or NOT NULL, is received. At compile-time, a first representation of the query is generated, where the first representation indicates that the query is to be performed based on the first expression. Based on the first expression, a second expression is determined. The second expression is such that the first expression would evaluate to any NOT NULL value if and only if the second expression would evaluate to any NOT NULL value. The second expression, when evaluated, is much more computationally efficient compared with the evaluation of the first expression. Based on the first representation, a second representation of the query is generated, where the second representation indicates that the query is to be performed based on the second expression. Thereafter, the query is executed based on the second representation.

Techniques of optimizing queries using NULL expression analysis

A method for processing queries is provided. A first representation of a query is generated, where the query includes a certain operator that is to be performed based on an XPath expression that is expandable into multiple location paths. The first representation of the query is rewritten into a second representation that corresponds to an equivalent query, where rewriting the first representation includes expanding the XPath expression into the plurality of location paths and, based on the certain operator, including a plurality of operators in the second representation, where the plurality of operators include: a first set of operators that is to be performed based on each of the plurality of location paths, and a second set of operators that is to be performed based on data returned from at least one operator included in the first set of operators. The query may thereafter be executed based on the second representation. The second representation may be further rewritten to third representation depending on the physical storage of XML.

Techniques of rewriting descendant and wildcard XPath using one or more of SQL OR, UNION ALL, and XMLConcat() construct

Dynamic return type generation in a database system. A request is received to execute a first function. A second function is executed if the first function is defined to return data in a first type of data structure. When executed, the second function returns formatting information that indicates an arrangement of fields of data within the first type of data structure. The first function is executed to obtain a collection of data formatted according to the first type of data structure, and the collection of data is organized according to the formatting information returned by the second function.

Dynamic return type generation in a database system

Techniques are provided for processing a query, including receiving the query, where the query specifies certain operations to be performed, including (a) a first set of one or more operations that are to be performed on a markup language data source and (b) a second set of one or more operations that are to be performed on a second data source. Then it is determined that a first server that manages the markup language data source is capable of performing the first set of operations. A request is sent to the first server to perform the first set of operations. A response is received, where the response contains results of performing the first set of operations on the markup language data source. Finally, results are generated for the query based at least in part on the results of performing the first set of operations.

Processing queries against one or more markup language sources

XML table indexes provide a more efficient mechanism for searching data stored in aggregate form. XML table indexes are a set of tables created to project out in column form commonly sought metadata from stored XML documents. By projecting the data includes into column form, queries on the XML documents can be efficiently processed as they can leverage the enhanced functionality provided by the database tables. The XML table indexes may use aliases, partitioning, constraints and other functions to further improve query flexibility and performance.

Techniques of efficient XML meta-data query using XML table index

A technique for migrating (e.g., 'copying' or 'moving') temporary data from one session to another session is provided. While executing a workload associated with a particular session, session state is created. A subset of the session state comprises large objects that are referred to as &#x201c;temporary data.&#x201d; Thus, temporary data is stored in a database (instead of in the database server) and is normally deleted when the particular session is deleted. To avoid this deletion when the session state is migrated to a different session, the temporary data, in one embodiment, is saved in an external storage that is separate from the database. An external table is created in the external storage and stores the temporary data. Location information to access the external table is provided to the other session.

Migrating temporary data of a session

To associate XML data objects ('child objects'), stored in rows of relational or object-relational tables, with the appropriate XML data objects ('parent objects') from which the child objects descend, tables that contain child objects (&#x201c;out-of-line&#x201d; tables) are constructed with an additional column. In one embodiment, this column stores values that identify the root objects, in the appropriate table, from which the respective child objects descend. Hence, the root object from which any given object descends is traceable by following the respective value back to the corresponding root object. In one embodiment, this column stores values that identify the complete XML hierarchical path, through multiple tables, back to the root object from which the respective child objects descend. Consequently, XML query language queries against XML documents stored in such tables can be rewritten as SQL queries against the data in the tables, even in the presence of cyclic constructs.

Techniques for efficiently storing and querying in a relational database, XML documents conforming to schemas that contain cyclic constructs

Techniques are provided for processing a query including receiving the query, where the query specifies certain operations; determining that the query includes a first portion in a first query language and a second portion in a second query language; generating a first in-memory representation for the first portion; generating a second in-memory representation for the second portion; generating a third in-memory representation of the query based on the first in-memory representation and the second in-memory representation; and performing the certain operations based on the third in-memory representation.

Efficient evaluation of queries using translation

A request to execute a query is received in a database system. In response, the database system determines that a collection of data elements to be returned by the query corresponds to a first data structure not defined within a type dictionary of the database system. The database system obtains attribute values that describe respective data fields within the first data structure, and records, within the type dictionary, a first data type definition that specifies the data fields described by the attribute values.

Query duration types

Techniques are described for executing queries that have XPath sections that specify unmappable paths. The techniques involve splitting the unmappable paths into (1) a mappable path fragment, and (2) an unmappable path fragment. After an unmappable path has been split into a mappable path fragment and an unmappable path fragment, the XPath section is replaced with a replacement XPath section. The replacement XPath section specifies two operations: a 'mappable operation' that is based on the mappable path fragment, and an 'unmappable operation' that is based on the unmappable path fragment. The portion of the replacement XPath section that specifies the mappable operation is rewritten to access underlying relational structures. Consequently, when the rewritten query is executed, a smaller amount of XML data needs to be materialized to evaluate the unmappable path fragment than would otherwise have been required to evaluate the original unmappable path.

Growing community of inventors

San Carlos, CA, United States of America

Susan M Kotsovolos