Method and system for storing and managing sets of objects

Abstract

A system and method for storing and managing sets of objects is disclosed. The method and system comprises providing a plurality of set nodes based upon a defined set of data objects; and associating a plurality of constraint nodes with the plurality of set nodes. The method and system includes providing a plurality of object nodes based upon the objects; and obtaining object metadata from the plurality of object nodes. The method and system further includes associating at least one of the plurality of object nodes with at least one of the plurality of set nodes based upon a criteria and detecting that at least one of the plurality of set nodes has been modified and delivering a notification to at least one constraint node of a plurality of constraint nodes. Each of the plurality of constraint nodes provides constraints on at least one set node. Accordingly, a method and system in accordance with the present invention unifies the storing and managing of sets in order to simplify overall system behavior. The system and method uses an attributed, directed graph model to store object metadata, object-within-set metadata, and set constraints. By using this model, no special cases exist when an object belongs to just one set or hundreds of sets. The operations required to maintain the graph model are the same in every case. The operations required to maintain the metadata and constraints are also the same in every case. The entire model is therefore a unified and simplified system.