Object based system and method for managing information
View Patent ↗One embodiment of the present invention provides a software product comprising a set of computer instructions stored on a computer readable medium. The computer instructions can be executable by a computer processor to maintain a profile object representing profile data, the profile object comprising, receive a first command based on the profile object to access an attribute value access the attribute value. The profile object can include at least one profile section that acts as a container for attributes and at least one attribute for each profile section. The attributes can essentially be variables having a name and a value.
1. An object-based profile management system, comprising:
a network interface for connecting to and interfacing with a first network where one or more servers reside, where at least one web site is hosted by one of said servers, and wherein said at least one web site is accessible by users via user computers over a second network;
a central processing unit coupled to said network interface; and
a computer readable storage medium storing computer instructions executable by said central processing unit to:
define and manage a profile object to represent profile data related to a user's activity on said web site, wherein said profile object has a uniform addressing syntax, wherein said uniform addressing syntax has one or more profile sections, each of which defines one or more attributes and storage semantic specifying where and how attribute values corresponding to said one or more attributes are stored, wherein each attribute is assigned a name that is unique within a profile section and wherein each profile section is designated as persistent or non-persistent;
receive a profile management command based on said uniform addressing syntax to retrieve information provided by said one or more profile sections and said one or more attributes of said profile object referencing said profile data related to said user's activity on said web site, wherein said profile management command contains an identification of said user and at least one profile section or attribute defined in said profile object; and
retrieve or modify said profile data referenced by said identification of said user and said at least one profile section or attribute, wherein said uniform addressing syntax enables said profile data to be stored across multiple data storage locations, wherein said multiple data storage locations store data in different formats, and wherein said multiple data storage locations include one or more non-relational data storage locations.
2. The object-based profile management system of claim 1 , wherein said computer readable storage medium stores computer instructions further executable by said central processing unit to create a new entry for said user in response to said profile management command.
3. The object-based profile management system of claim 1 , wherein each profile section is assigned a name that is unique among all profile sections defined by said profile object.
4. The object-based profile management system of claim 1 , wherein said profile data includes visitor profile information, content profile information, and usage pattern information gathered by applications residing in said first network.
5. The object-based profile management system of claim 1 , wherein each profile section specifies one or more caching strategies for said one or more attribute values.
6. The object-based profile management system of claim 1 , wherein each profile section specifies one or more caching strategies for factors that affect performance of accessing or updating said attribute values corresponding to said one or more attributes.
7. The object-based profile management system of claim 1 , wherein at least one of said one or more attributes is a nested profile section.
8. The object-based profile management system of claim 1 , wherein said profile management command contains a fully qualified name identifying a specific profile section defined by said profile object.
9. The object-based profile management system of claim 1 , wherein changes to attribute values in profile sections designated as persistent are immediately propagated to a database, a memory, or a storage location where said attribute values reside.
10. The object-based profile management system of claim 1 , wherein said computer readable storage medium stores computer instructions further executable by said central processing unit to change said storage semantic.
11. The object-based profile management system of claim 1 , wherein said computer readable storage medium stores computer instructions further executable by said central processing unit to automatically cache a plurality of attribute values in response to a second profile management command or in anticipation of accessing or modifying said plurality of attributes.
12. A method of object-based profile management, comprising:
at an object-based profile management computer residing on a first network, defining and managing a profile object to represent profile data related to a user's activity on a web site, wherein said web site is hosted by a server computer connected to said object-based profile management computer over said first network, wherein said web site is accessible by users via user computers over a second network, wherein said profile object has a uniform addressing syntax, wherein said uniform addressing syntax has one or more profile sections, each of which defines one or more attributes and storage semantic specifying where and how attribute values corresponding to said one or more attributes are stored, wherein each attribute is assigned a name that is unique within a profile section and wherein each profile section is designated as persistent or non-persistent;
at said object-based profile management computer, receiving a profile management command based on said uniform addressing syntax from an application running on said first network to retrieve information provided by said one or more profile sections and said one or more attributes of said profile object referencing said profile data related to said user's activity on said web site, wherein said profile management command contains an identification of said user and at least one profile section or attribute defined in said profile object; and
at said object-based profile management computer, in response to said profile management command from said application, retrieving or modifying said profile data referenced by said identification of said user and said at least one profile section or attribute, wherein said uniform addressing syntax enables said profile data to be stored across multiple data storage locations, wherein said multiple data storage locations store data in different formats, and wherein said multiple data storage locations include one or more non-relational data storage locations.
13. The method of claim 12 , further comprising creating a new entry for said user in response to said profile management command.
14. The method of claim 12 , wherein each profile section is assigned a name that is unique among all profile sections defined by said profile object.
15. The method of claim 12 , wherein each profile section specifies one or more caching strategies for said one or more attribute values.
16. The method of claim 12 , wherein each profile section specifies one or more caching strategies for factors that affect performance of accessing or updating said attribute values corresponding to said one or more attributes.
17. The method of claim 12 , wherein at least one of said one or more attributes is a nested profile section.
18. The method of claim 12 , wherein at said profile management command contains a fully qualified name identifying a specific profile section defined by said profile object.
19. The method of claim 12 , wherein changes to attribute values in profile sections designated as persistent are immediately propagated to a database, a memory, or a storage location where said attribute values reside.
20. The method of claim 12 , further comprising changing said storage semantic.
21. The method of claim 12 , further comprising automatically caching a plurality of attribute values in response to a second profile management command or in anticipation of accessing or modifying said plurality of attributes.
22. A computer readable storage medium carrying computer instructions executable by a processor to:
at an object-based profile management computer residing on a first network, define and manage a profile object to represent profile data related to a user's activity on a web site, wherein said web site is hosted by a server computer connected to said object-based profile management computer over said first network, wherein said web site is accessible by users via user computers over a second network, wherein said profile object has a uniform addressing syntax, wherein said uniform addressing syntax has one or more profile sections, each of which defines one or more attributes and storage semantic specifying where and how attribute values corresponding to said one or more attributes are stored, wherein each attribute is assigned a name that is unique within a profile section and wherein each profile section is designated as persistent or non-persistent;
at said object-based profile management computer, receive a profile management command based on said uniform addressing syntax from an application running on said first network to retrieve information provided by said one or more profile sections and said one or more attributes of said profile object referencing said profile data related to said user's activity on said web site, wherein said profile management command contains an identification of said user and at least one profile section or attribute defined in said profile object; and
at said object-based profile management computer, in response to said profile management command from said application, retrieve or modify said profile data referenced by said identification of said user and said at least one profile section or attribute, wherein said uniform addressing syntax enables said profile data to be stored across multiple data storage locations, wherein said multiple data storage locations store data in different formats, and wherein said multiple data storage locations include one or more non-relational data storage locations.
23. The computer readable storage medium of claim 22 , wherein said computer instructions are further executable by said processor to create a new entry for said user in response to said profile management command.
24. The computer readable storage medium of claim 22 , wherein each profile section is assigned a name that is unique among all profile sections defined by said profile object.
25. The computer readable storage medium of claim 22 , wherein each profile section specifies one or more caching strategies for said one or more attribute values.
26. The computer readable storage medium of claim 22 , wherein each profile section specifies one or more caching strategies for factors that affect performance of accessing or updating said attribute values corresponding to said one or more attributes.
27. The computer readable storage medium of claim 22 , wherein changes to attribute values in profile sections designated as persistent are immediately propagated to a database, a memory, or a storage location where said attribute values reside.
28. The computer readable storage medium of claim 22 , wherein said computer instructions are further executable by said processor to change said storage semantic.
29. The computer readable storage medium of claim 22 , wherein said computer instructions are further executable by said processor to automatically cache a plurality of attribute values in response to a second profile management command or in anticipation of accessing or modifying said plurality of attributes.
30. The computer readable storage medium of claim 22 , wherein said profile data comprises visitor profile data.
31. The computer readable storage medium of claim 22 , wherein said profile data comprises derived content metadata.
32. The computer readable storage medium of claim 22 , wherein said profile data comprises derived application metadata.
33. The computer readable storage medium of claim 22 , wherein said profile data comprises portlet metadata.
34. The computer readable storage medium of claim 22 , wherein said multiple data storage locations includes a database.
35. The computer readable storage medium of claim 22 , wherein said multiple data storage locations includes a memory.
36. The computer readable storage medium of claim 22 , wherein said application resides on said server computer hosting said web site.
37. The computer readable storage medium of claim 22 , wherein said profile management command contains a fully qualified name identifying a specific profile section defined by said profile object.
38. The computer readable storage medium of claim 22 , wherein said computer instructions are further executable by said processor to define and manage a plurality of profile objects, each of which having at least one profile section defining at least one attribute and corresponding storage semantic.