System and method for multiple-threaded access to a database
View Patent ↗The invention provides a system and method of retrieving data associated with a file from a database by a field name into local memory. It comprises calculating an address reference for a storage location in the local memory for the data; fetching the data from the database; and utilizing the address reference to map the data to an address in the local memory. The address reference is an offset value from a base address of the storage location. Several files may be accessed using a cross reference table containing pointers to field tables. Entries in the cross reference table point to a field table. Each field table is a list of fields associated with the file. Each entry in the field table is a calculated offset value providing an address offset of a particular field from the base address of the file.
1. A method of providing rapid access to data stored in a database to permit said data to be loaded into an administrator computer for runtime storage, said method comprising:
creating multiple threads for a query to concurrently retrieve data corresponding to the query from said database, wherein said database contains a plurality of datafiles of information about a communication network;
retrieving data corresponding to the query and mapping, using a mapping structure, the retrieved data from said database into entries of local data structures stored in a local memory of the administrator computer, wherein each local data structure is associated with a respective thread,
wherein said mapping structure includes a cross reference table and a plurality of field tables,
wherein the cross reference table contains a list of the plurality of datafiles in said database and a list of addresses of the plurality of field tables,
wherein each field table contains a list of field names in each datafile.
2. The method as claimed in claim 1 wherein said field tables map fields in a particular datafile of said database to an address offset value in relation to a base location address of that datafile.
3. The method as claimed in claim 2 wherein said retrieved data is associated with a SQL structure.
4. The method of claim 1 , wherein said administrator is a network administrator node, and said datafiles contain information about a communication network.
5. The method as claimed in claim 4 wherein:
said retrieved data relates to a node in said communication network;
said database further contains other data relating to elements in said communication network; and
said local memory is associated with a processor of the network administrator node.
6. The method as claimed in claim 5 wherein said query is performed during initiation of the communication network to obtain configuration data related to said elements.
7. The method as claimed in claim 6 , wherein said configuration data relates to a node in the communication network.
8. The method as claimed in claim 5 , wherein said method is executed as a series of steps by computer executable code operating on said processor.
9. The method as claimed in claim 8 , wherein said query is processed by a plurality of separate threads spawned by said computer executable code.
10. The method as claimed in claim 8 , wherein said query comprises SQL statements.
11. A system for providing rapid access to data stored in a database in a communication network to permit said data to be loaded into an administrator computer for runtime storage, said system comprising:
multiple processors;
multiple local memories; and
an application:
creating multiple threads for a query to concurrently retrieve data corresponding to the query from said database, wherein said database contains a plurality of datafiles of information about the communication network; and
retrieving data corresponding to the query and mapping, using a mapping structure, the retrieved data from said database into entries of local data structures stored in a local memory of the administrator computer, wherein each local data structure is associated with a respective thread, and
wherein said mapping structure includes a cross reference table and a plurality of field tables,
wherein the cross reference table contains a list of the plurality of datafiles in said database and a list of addresses of the plurality of field tables,
wherein each field table contains a list of field names in each datafile.
12. The system as claimed in claim 11 , wherein said field tables map fields in a particular datafile of said database to an address offset value in relation to a base location address of that datafile.
13. The system as claimed in claim 12 , wherein said retrieved data is associated with a SQL structure.
14. The system of claim 11 , wherein said administrator computer is a network administration node, and said datafiles contain information about a communication network.
15. The system as claimed in claim 14 , wherein:
said retrieved data relates to a node in said communication network;
said database further contains other data relating to elements in said communication network; and
said local memory is associated with a processor of the network administrator node; and
said query is performed during initiation of the communication network to obtain configuration data related to said elements.
16. The system as claimed in claim 11 , wherein said query is processed by a plurality separate threads.
17. The system as claimed in claim 11 , wherein said query comprises SQL statements.