Systems, methods, and articles of manufacture for handling hierarchical application data

1. A method for representing and accessing related application data that is stored in memory of a server and is arranged in hierarchical relationships, the method being executed by the server and comprising:

providing classes including:

a hierarchy base class providing at least one hierarchical functionality related to the hierarchical relationships;

at least one hierarchy subclass that is derived from the hierarchy base class; and

at least one application class for the application data, wherein the at least one application class defines at least one of attributes and methods in a transportation optimization context;

instantiating objects including:

a first application object of the at least one application class;

a second application object of the at least one application class, wherein the second application object is different from the first application object;

a first hierarchy object of the at least one hierarchy subclass; and

a second hierarchy object of the at least one hierarchy subclass, wherein the second hierarchy object is different from the first hierarchy object;

linking, by using a processor of the server, the first application object to the first hierarchy object, and the second application object to the second hierarchy object;

providing a first reference to the first hierarchy object for use by the at least one hierarchical functionality, the first reference referencing the second hierarchy object;

providing a second reference to the second hierarchy object for use by the at least one hierarchical functionality, the second reference referencing the first hierarchy object; and

relating the first application object and the second application object by using the first hierarchy object and the second hierarchy object, wherein the first application object accesses application data stored in the second application object by implementing the at least one hierarchical functionality using the first reference to link the first hierarchy object to the second hierarchy object to access the second application object via the second hierarchy object, and wherein the second application object accesses application data stored in the first application object by implementing the at least one hierarchical functionality using the second reference to link the second hierarchy object to the first hierarchy object to access the first application object via the first hierarchy object.

2. The method of claim 1 , wherein the hierarchy base class is not using any other class but itself.

3. The method of claim 1 , wherein the at least one hierarchical functionality includes a method for maintaining and evaluating parent-child relationships.

4. The method of claim 1 , wherein the hierarchy base class further includes attributes for storing parent-child relationships.

5. The method of claim 1 , wherein the step of linking the first application object to the first hierarchy object comprises linking by using the first reference.

6. The method of claim 5 , wherein the step of linking the first application object to the first hierarchy object comprises at least one attribute for storing the first reference.

7. The method of claim 1 , wherein an object of any hierarchy subclass stores references to objects of the same or another hierarchy subclass in one or more of attributes inherited by the at least one hierarchy subclass from the hierarchy base class.

8. The method of claim 1 , wherein the at least one application class of the first application object is the same or different as the at least one application class of the second application object.

9. The method of claim 1 , wherein the at least one hierarchy subclass supplements the at least one hierarchical functionality by additionally providing a method for determining at least one of direct parents and direct children of the first or second application objects.

10. The method of claim 1 , wherein the at least one hierarchy subclass supplements the at least one hierarchical functionality by additionally providing attributes specific for a particular application class.

11. The method of claim 1 , wherein an application class hides functionalities of its hierarchy subclass, which includes the at least one hierarchical functionality.

12. The method of claim 11 , wherein the at least one application class provides application functionalities for accessing parent-child relationships among application objects, which are implemented with hidden interfaces.

13. The method of claim 1 , wherein the at least one application class is a location class whose objects include information about one location respectively.

14. The method of claim 1 , wherein the at least one application class is a zone class whose objects include information about a zone respectively, wherein each zone is hierarchically related to zero, one or more locations.

15. The method of claim 1 , wherein the method is programmed in a programming language that does not support both multiple inheritance and partial interface implementation.

16. A computer-readable recording medium storing a computer program having instructions which, when executed on a computer, cause the computer to perform a method for representing and accessing related application data that is arranged in hierarchical relationships, the method comprising:

providing classes including:

a hierarchy base class providing at least one hierarchical functionality related to the hierarchical relationships;

at least one hierarchy subclass that is derived from the hierarchy base class; and

at least one application class for the application data, wherein the at least one application class defines at least one of attributes and methods in a transportation optimization context;

instantiating objects including:

a first application object of the at least one application class;

a second application object of the at least one application class, wherein the second application object is different from the first application object;

a first hierarchy object of the at least one hierarchy subclass; and

a second hierarchy object of the at least one hierarchy subclass, wherein the second hierarchy object is different from the first hierarchy object;

linking, by using a processor of the computer, the first application object to the first hierarchy object, and the second application object to the second hierarchy object;

providing a first reference to the first hierarchy object for use by the at least one hierarchical functionality, the first reference referencing the second hierarchy object;

providing a second reference to the second hierarchy object for use by the at least one hierarchical functionality, the second reference referencing the first hierarchy object; and

relating the first application object and the second application object by using the first hierarchy object and the second hierarchy object, wherein the first application object accesses application data stored in the second application object by implementing the at least one hierarchical functionality using the first reference to link the first hierarchy object to the second hierarchy object to access the second application object via the second hierarchy object, and wherein the second application object accesses application data stored in the first application object by implementing the at least one hierarchical functionality using the second reference to link the second hierarchy object to the first hierarchy object to access the first application object via the first hierarchy object.

17. A computer system for representing and accessing related application data that is arranged in hierarchical relationships without resorting to multiple inheritance functionalities, comprising:

a storage device for storing classes including:

a hierarchy base class providing at least one hierarchical functionality related to the hierarchical relationships;

at least one hierarchy subclass that is derived from the hierarchy base class; and

at least one application class for the application data, wherein the at least one application class defines at least one of attributes and methods in a transportation optimization context; and

a processor for instantiating objects including:

a first application object of the at least one application class;

a second application object of the at least one application class, wherein the second application object is different from the first application object;

a first hierarchy object of the at least one hierarchy subclass; and

a second hierarchy object of the at least one hierarchy subclass, wherein the second hierarchy object is different from the first hierarchy object, and wherein the processor:

links the first application object to the first hierarchy object, and the second application object to the second hierarchy object;

provides a first reference to the first hierarchy object for use by the at least one hierarchical functionality, the first reference referencing the second hierarchy object;

provides a second reference to the second hierarchy object for use by the at least one hierarchical functionality, the second reference referencing the first hierarchy object; and

relates the first application object and the second application object by using the first hierarchy object and the second hierarchy object, wherein the first application object accesses application data stored in the second application object by implementing the at least one hierarchical functionality using the first reference to link the first hierarchy object to the second hierarchy object to access the second application object via the second hierarchy object, and wherein the second application object accesses application data stored in the first application object by implementing the at least one hierarchical functionality using the second reference to link the second hierarchy object to the first hierarchy object to access the first application object via the first hierarchy object.