초록 ▼

A method and apparatus for obtaining metadata from multiple information sources in real time are described. According to one aspect, the method includes receiving a user request pertaining to one or more of source metadata objects residing in multiple source metadata repositories. Each source metad

A method and apparatus for obtaining metadata from multiple information sources in real time are described. According to one aspect, the method includes receiving a user request pertaining to one or more of source metadata objects residing in multiple source metadata repositories. Each source metadata repository is maintained by a specific data management application. The method further includes responding to the user request in real time by identifying a data management application that corresponds to the source metadata objects associated with the user request and retrieving the source metadata objects using an application program interface (API) with the corresponding data management application.

대표청구항 ▼

We claim: 1. A computer implemented method comprising: receiving a user request pertaining to source metadata objects residing in a plurality of source metadata repositories within an organization, the plurality of source metadata repositories being maintained by a plurality of different data manag

We claim: 1. A computer implemented method comprising: receiving a user request pertaining to source metadata objects residing in a plurality of source metadata repositories within an organization, the plurality of source metadata repositories being maintained by a plurality of different data management applications; and in response to the user request, analyzing the user request to determine which of the source metadata objects a user expects to view, identifying one of the plurality of different data management applications that corresponds to the expected source metadata objects, and retrieving the expected source metadata objects using an application program interface (API) with the corresponding data management application, wherein the user request is a request for one or more source metadata objects that are dependent on a user-specified source metadata object, and retrieving the expected source metadata objects comprises: retrieving one or more source metadata objects that are dependent on the user-specified source metadata object from a corresponding source metadata repository based on internal relationships between the plurality of source metadata objects, and retrieving source metadata objects that are dependent on the user-specified source metadata object from any other source metadata repository based on external relationships between the plurality of source metadata objects. 2. The method of claim 1 wherein the plurality of different data management applications comprises at least one of a business intelligence tool, a data integration tool, a data modeling tool, a database management system (DBMS), an enterprise resource planning (ERP) tool, an enterprise application integration (EAI) tool, supply chain management (SCM) tool, and a customer relationship management (CRM) tool. 3. The method of claim 1 further comprising: determining that the expected source metadata objects are associated with one or more of a plurality of extended metadata objects retrieved from an extended metadata repository; and combining the retrieved source metadata objects with the retrieved extended metadata objects for presentation to a user. 4. The method of claim 1 wherein each of the plurality of extended metadata objects contains additional information about corresponding expected source metadata objects. 5. The method of claim 3 further comprising synchronizing the retrieved source metadata objects with the retrieved extended metadata objects to detect a change in source metadata maintained by the corresponding data management application. 6. The method of claim 5 further comprising: reflecting the detected change when presenting current information about the plurality of source metadata objects to the user. 7. The method of claim 5 wherein synchronizing the retrieved source metadata objects with the retrieved extended metadata objects comprises: determining that one of the retrieved extended metadata objects does not have a matching source metadata object within the retrieved source metadata objects; searching the source metadata maintained by the identified data management application for a missing source metadata object that would match the one of the retrieved extended metadata objects to determine whether the missing source metadata object has been moved to a new location within the source metadata; and if the missing source metadata object is not found, deleting the extended metadata object that does not have a matching source metadata object from the extended metadata repository. 8. The method of claim 7 further comprising: determining that the missing metadata object has been moved to a new location; and updating the extended metadata repository to reflect that the missing metadata object has been moved to a new location. 9. The method of claim 8 further comprising returning information identifying the new location of the missing metadata object, the new location being subsequently reflected when presenting current information about the plurality of source metadata objects to the user. 10. A computer implemented method comprising: receiving a user request pertaining to source metadata objects residing in a plurality of source metadata repositories within an organization, the plurality of source metadata repositories being maintained by a plurality of different data management applications; and in response to the user request, analyzing the user request to determine which of the source metadata objects a user expects to view, identifying one of the plurality of different data management applications that corresponds to the expected source metadata objects, and retrieving the expected source metadata objects using an application program interface (API) with the corresponding data management application, wherein the user request is a request for data flow with respect to a user-specified source metadata object; and retrieving the expected source metadata objects includes retrieving one or more source metadata objects from which data flows to the user-specified source metadata object; and retrieving one or more source metadata objects to which data flows from the user-specified source metadata object. 11. A computer implemented method comprising: receiving a user request pertaining to source metadata objects residing in a plurality of source metadata repositories within an organization, the plurality of source metadata repositories being maintained by a plurality of different data management applications; and in response to the user request, analyzing the user request to determine which of the source metadata objects a user expects to view, identifying one of the plurality of different data management applications that corresponds to the expected source metadata objects, and retrieving the expected source metadata objects using an application program interface (API) with the corresponding data management application, wherein the user request is a request for a map for data manipulations with respect to a user-specified source metadata object; and retrieving the expected source metadata objects includes retrieving one or more source metadata objects from which data flows to the user-specified source metadata object; retrieving one or more source metadata objects to which data flows from the user-specified source metadata object; and obtaining information on occurring data manipulations during the data flow. 12. The method of claim 1 wherein: the user request is a request for expected source metadata objects that contain a user specified keyword. 13. The method of claim 12 wherein the expected source metadata objects comprise at least one of a stored procedure, a view, a trigger, a report, and a function. 14. An computer implemented apparatus comprising: a business logic module to receive a user request pertaining to source metadata objects residing in a plurality of source metadata repositories within an organization, the plurality of source metadata repositories being maintained by a plurality of different data management applications, to analyze the user request to determine which of the source metadata objects a user expects to view, and to identify one of the plurality of data management applications that corresponds to the expected source metadata objects; and a dynamic metadata referencing module to retrieve, in response to the user request, the expected source metadata objects using an application program interface (API) with the corresponding data management application, wherein the user request is a request for one or more source metadata objects that are dependent on a user-specified source metadata object, and the dynamic metadata referencing module is to retrieve the expected source metadata objects by retrieving one or more source metadata objects that are dependent on the user-specified source metadata object from a corresponding source metadata repository based on internal relationships between the plurality of source metadata objects, and retrieving source metadata objects that are dependent on the user-specified source metadata object from any other source metadata repository based on external relationships between the source metadata objects. 15. The apparatus of claim 14 wherein each of the plurality of data management applications is any one of a business intelligence tool, a data integration tool, a data modeling tool, a database management system (DBMS), an enterprise resource planning (ERP) tool, an enterprise application integration (EAI) tool, supply chain management (SCM) tool, and a customer relationship management (CRM) tool. 16. The apparatus of claim 14 wherein the dynamic metadata referencing module is further to determine that the expected source metadata objects are associated with one or more of a plurality of extended metadata objects retrieved from an extended metadata repository, and to combine the retrieved source metadata objects with the retrieved extended metadata objects for presentation to a user. 17. The apparatus of claim 14 wherein each of the plurality of extended metadata objects contains additional information about corresponding one or more expected source metadata objects. 18. The apparatus of claim 16 wherein the dynamic metadata referencing module is further to synchronize the retrieved source metadata objects with the retrieved extended metadata objects to detect a change in source metadata maintained by the corresponding data management application. 19. The apparatus of claim 18 further comprising a user interface module to reflect the detected change when presenting current information about the source metadata objects to the user. 20. The apparatus of claim 18 wherein the dynamic metadata referencing module is to synchronize the retrieved source metadata objects with the retrieved extended metadata objects by determining that one of the retrieved extended metadata objects does not have a matching source metadata object within the retrieved source metadata objects, searching the source metadata maintained by the corresponding data management application for a missing source metadata object that would match the one of the retrieved extended metadata objects to determine whether the missing source metadata object has been moved to a new location within the source metadata, and if the missing source metadata object is not found, deleting the extended metadata object that does not have a matching source metadata object from the extended metadata repository. 21. The apparatus of claim 20 wherein the dynamic metadata referencing module is further to determine that the missing metadata object has been moved to a new location, and to update the extended metadata repository to reflect that the missing metadata object has been moved to a new location. 22. The apparatus of claim 21 further comprising to return information identifying the new location of the missing metadata object to the business logic module, the new location being subsequently reflected when presenting current information about the source metadata objects to the user. 23. An computer implemented apparatus comprising: a business logic module to receive a user request pertaining to source metadata objects residing in a plurality of source metadata repositories within an organization, the plurality of source metadata repositories being maintained by a plurality of different data management applications, to analyze the user request to determine which of the source metadata objects a user expects to view, and to identify one of the plurality of data management applications that corresponds to the expected source metadata objects; and a dynamic metadata referencing module to retrieve, in response to the user request, the expected source metadata objects using an application program interface (API) with the corresponding data management application, wherein the user request is a request for data flow with respect to a user-specified source metadata object, and the dynamic metadata referencing module is to retrieve the expected source metadata objects by retrieving one or more source metadata objects from which data flows to the user-specified source metadata object, and retrieving one or more source metadata objects to which data flows from the user-specified source metadata object. 24. An computer implemented apparatus comprising: a business logic module to receive a user request pertaining to source metadata objects residing in a plurality of source metadata repositories within an organization, the plurality of source metadata repositories being maintained by a plurality of different data management applications, to analyze the user request to determine which of the source metadata objects a user expects to view, and to identify one of the plurality of data management applications that corresponds to the expected source metadata objects; and a dynamic metadata referencing module to retrieve, in response to the user request, the expected source metadata objects using an application program interface (API) with the corresponding data management application, wherein the user request is a request for a map for data manipulations with respect to a user-specified source metadata object, and the dynamic metadata referencing module is to retrieve the expected source metadata objects by retrieving one or more source metadata objects from which data flows to the user-specified source metadata object, retrieving one or more source metadata objects to which data flows from the user-specified source metadata object; and obtaining information on occurring data manipulations during the data flow. 25. The apparatus of claim 14 wherein the user request is a request for one or more source metadata objects that contain a user specified keyword. 26. The apparatus of claim 25 wherein the one or more source metadata objects comprise at least one of a stored procedure, a view, a trigger, a report, and a function. 27. A computer implemented system comprising: means for receiving a user request pertaining to source metadata objects residing in a plurality of source metadata repositories within an organization, the plurality of source metadata repositories being maintained by a plurality of different data management applications; means for analyzing the user request to determine which of the source metadata objects a user expects to view; means for identifying one of the plurality of data management applications that corresponds to the expected source metadata objects; and means for retrieving the expected source metadata objects using an application program interface (API) with the corresponding data management application, wherein the user request is a request for one or more source metadata objects that are dependent on a user-specified source metadata object, and the means for retrieving the expected source metadata objects comprises means for retrieving one or more source metadata objects that are dependent on the user-specified source metadata object from a corresponding source metadata repository based on internal relationships between the plurality of source metadata objects, and means for retrieving source metadata objects that are dependent on the user-specified source metadata object from any other source metadata repository based on external relationships between the plurality of source metadata objects. 28. A computer readable medium comprising executable instructions which when executed on a processing system cause said processing system to perform a method comprising: receiving a user request pertaining to source metadata objects residing in a plurality of source metadata repositories within an organization, the plurality of source metadata repositories being maintained by a plurality of different data management applications; and in response to the user request, analyzing the user request to determine which of the source metadata objects a user expects to view, identifying one of the plurality of different data management applications that corresponds to the expected source metadata objects, and retrieving the expected source metadata objects using an application program interface (API) with the corresponding data management application, wherein the user request is a request for one or more source metadata objects that are dependent on a user-specified source metadata object and retrieving the expected source metadata objects comprises retrieving one or more source metadata objects that are dependent on the user-specified source metadata object from a corresponding source metadata repository based on internal relationships between the plurality of source metadata objects, and retrieving source metadata objects that are dependent on the user-specified source metadata object from any other source metadata repository based on external relationships between the plurality of source metadata objects. 29. A computer readable medium comprising executable instructions which when executed on a processing system cause said processing system to perform a method comprising: receiving a user request pertaining to source metadata objects residing in a plurality of source metadata repositories within an organization, the plurality of source metadata repositories being maintained by a plurality of different data management applications; and in response to the user request, analyzing the user request to determine which of the source metadata objects a user expects to view, identifying one of the plurality of different data management applications that corresponds to the expected source metadata objects, and retrieving the expected source metadata objects using an application program interface (API) with the corresponding data management application, wherein the user request is a request for data flow with respect to a user-specified source metadata object, and retrieving the expected source metadata objects comprises retrieving one or more source metadata objects from which data flows to the user-specified source metadata object, and retrieving one or more source metadata objects to which data flows from the user-specified source metadata object. 30. A computer readable medium comprising executable instructions which when executed on a processing system cause said processing system to perform a method comprising: receiving a user request pertaining to source metadata objects residing in a plurality of source metadata repositories within an organization, the plurality of source metadata repositories being maintained by a plurality of different data management applications; and in response to the user request, analyzing the user request to determine which of the source metadata objects a user expects to view, identifying one of the plurality of different data management applications that corresponds to the expected source metadata objects, and retrieving the expected source metadata objects using an application program interface (API) with the corresponding data management application, wherein the user request is a request for a map for data manipulations with respect to a user-specified source metadata object, and retrieving the expected source metadata objects comprises retrieving one or more source metadata objects from which data flows to the user-specified source metadata object, retrieving one or more source metadata objects to which data flows from the user-specified source metadata object, and obtaining information on occurring data manipulations during the data flow.