Method and system for object-oriented management of multi-dimensional data

Abstract

Methods and systems for managing and analyzing multi-dimensional data are provided. Example embodiments provide a Meta-Object Data Management System “MODMS,” which enables users to arrange and to rearrange the hierarchical relationships of the data on an ad-hoc basis and allows the data to be analyzed using any set of attributes (dimensions) while the system is running. The MODMS represents heterogeneous data in a normalized (standardized) fashion using an object type management system that allows the arbitrary coercion of one type of object into another different type of object and automatically resolves attribute dependencies. In one embodiment, the MODMS comprises an object type management subsystem; a meta-object instantiation subsystem; one or more data repositories that hold, for example, the data used to populate objects and object type definitions; and an input/output interface. These components cooperate to allow the creation, management, and analysis of relationships between many different types of single and multi-dimensional data. In one embodiment, the MODMS is used to implement an enterprise portfolio management system.

1 . A method in a computing system for storing state information of an instantiated object in a storage repository of serialized data using tags, comprising:
 a memory;   allocating a portion of the memory to store a plurality of attribute name and associated value pairs;   under control of the computing system, for each pair of the plurality of attribute name and associated value pairs, generating a tagged attribute pair by,
 storing in the allocated memory a beginning tag that indicates the attribute name of the pair; 
 storing, after the beginning tag, the value associated with the pair; and 
 storing after the value, an ending tag that indicates that there is no more data associated with the pair; and 
   storing the generated attribute pairs in a variable of the instantiated object, the variable storing object state information of the instantiated object, the set of stored pairs defining an associated object type of the instantiated object.   
     
     
         2 . The method of  claim 1 , further comprising:
 receiving a designated attribute name; and   determining a corresponding value for the received attribute name by
 retrieving from the portion of memory a beginning tag that corresponds to the attribute name; and 
 retrieving the value stored after the retrieved beginning tag. 
   
     
     
         3 . The method of  claim 1  wherein the stored attribute name and associated value pairs are modified in order to change the associated type of the instantiated object. 
     
     
         4 . The method of  claim 1  wherein the object is an investment in a portfolio management system. 
     
     
         5 . The method of  claim 1  wherein the portion of memory is stored on a persistent data repository device. 
     
     
         6 . The method of  claim 1 , further comprising:
 dynamically changing the type associated with the instantiated object to a new type by:
 determining the attribute name and associated value pairs defined by the new type; 
 determining a set of tagged attribute pairs from the storage repository that are not included in the attribute name and associated value pairs defined by the new type and causing the determined set of tagged attribute pairs to be no longer accessible; and 
 storing new tagged attributes in the storage repository for attribute name and associated value pairs that are defined by the new type and are not also defined by the type associated with the instantiated object. 
   
     
     
         7 . The method of  claim 1  wherein the storage repository is stored as a single variable in the instantiated object. 
     
     
         8 . The method of  claim 1  wherein the storage repository is used to normalize a plurality of types of objects into a canonical form, such that the instantiated object serves as a meta-object for objects of different types. 
     
     
         9 . The method of  claim 1  wherein the tags are XML tags. 
     
     
         10 . The method of  claim 1  wherein at least one value stored between a beginning tag and an ending tag stores time-phased data. 
     
     
         11 . The method of  claim 10  wherein the time-phased data is stored as collections that specify a value, a start time indicator, and a duration. 
     
     
         12 . The method of  claim 10  wherein the time-phased data can be converted to units other than the units of the stored time-phased data. 
     
     
         13 . The method of  claim 10  wherein the time-phased data includes daily as well as cumulative time period information. 
     
     
         14 . A data processing machine comprising a computer processor and a memory, the memory containing a representation of structured data that is manipulated by the computer processor according to a computer program, the structured data being stored in serialized form in the memory as a value of a variable of an object instantiated in the memory and representing state information of the object, the data being stored as:
 a collection of tagged attribute name and associated value pairs, each tagged pair being stored as:
 a beginning tag that indicates the name of the attribute; 
 the associated value; and 
 an ending tag that indicates the end of the tagged pair; 
   the collection of stored pairs defining an associated type of the instantiated object.   
     
     
         15 . The data processing machine of  claim 14  wherein the tags are XML tags. 
     
     
         16 . The data processing machine of  claim 14  wherein the stored tagged pairs are modified in order to change the associated type of the instantiated object. 
     
     
         17 . The data processing machine of  claim 16  wherein the object is an investment in a portfolio management system. 
     
     
         18 . The data processing machine of  claim 14  wherein the memory is stored on a persistent data repository device. 
     
     
         19 . The data processing machine of  claim 14  wherein at least one of the stored values is data that represents a time-phased attribute. 
     
     
         20 . The data processing machine of  claim 19  wherein the time-phased data is stored as collections that specify a value, a start time indicator, and a duration. 
     
     
         21 . The data processing machine of  claim 19  wherein the time-phased data can be converted to units other than the units of the stored time-phased data. 
     
     
         22 . The data processing machine of  claim 19  wherein the time-phased data includes daily as well as cumulative time period information.