Techniques for managing multiple hierarchies of data from a single interface

1. A method for managing a plurality of hierarchies of data containers from a single native hierarchy, each hierarchy including a plurality of nodes, each node corresponding to a data container, the method comprising the steps of:

for each foreign hierarchy that is not the native hierarchy, registering a set of routines for a set of operations, which routines, when invoked, perform one or more operations of the set of operations on one or more data containers in the hierarchy;

wherein the step of registering includes generating a mapping that associates a set of routines with a path to a virtual link that associates a data container in the native hierarchy with a data container in a foreign hierarchy;

receiving a user request that indicates a particular operation on a particular data container that corresponds to a node of a first foreign hierarchy;

based on the user request, determining a first operation to perform on a first set of one or more data containers of the first foreign hierarchy;

selecting, based on the mapping, a first set of routines registered for the first foreign hierarchy;

selecting, from the first set of routines, a particular routine that corresponds to the first operation; and

invoking the particular routine to operate on the first set of one or more data containers.

2. The method of claim 1 , said step of receiving a user request further comprising the step of:

presenting a single interface to the user with controls for specifying a request to operate on one or more data containers in any of the plurality of hierarchies;

receiving user input based on user activation of at least one of the controls; and

forming the user request as a set of one or more operations on one or more data containers, based on the user input.

3. The method of claim 1 , wherein the set of operations includes:

an operation to create a data container;

an operation to get data from a data container;

an operation to update data in a data container;

an operation to delete a data container;

an operation to iterate over child containers owned by a parent container;

an operation to copy a data container of one parent data container to another parent data container; and

an operation to move a data container from a first parent data container to a second parent data container that is a different data container than the first parent data container.

4. The method of claim 3 , wherein the operation to iterate over the child containers includes:

an operation to begin an iteration;

an operation to provide the next child data container; and

an operation to end the iteration.

5. The method of claim 1 , wherein the first operation is the same as the particular operation.

6. The method of claim 1 , wherein the first operation is different from the particular operation.

7. The method of claim 1 , further comprising the step of determining, based on the user request, a second operation on a second set of one or more data containers of the native hierarchy.

8. The method of claim 7 , wherein the second operation is the same as the particular operation.

9. The method of claim 7 , wherein the second operation is different from the particular operation.

10. The method of claim 1 , further comprising sending to the user a response including a first result returned from invoking the particular routine.

11. The method of claim 7 , further comprising:

combining a first result returned from invoking the particular routine with a second result from the second operation into a response for the user; and

sending the response to the user.

12. A computer-readable medium carrying one or more sequences of instructions for managing a plurality of hierarchies of data containers from a single native hierarchy, each hierarchy including a plurality of nodes, each node corresponding to a data container, wherein execution of the one or more sequences of instructions by one or more processors causes the one or more processors to perform the steps of:

for each foreign hierarchy that is not the native hierarchy, registering a set of routines for a set of operations, which routines, when invoked, perform one or more operations of the set of operations on one or more data containers in the hierarchy;

wherein the step of registering includes generating a mapping that associates a set of routines with a path to a virtual link that associates a data container in the native hierarchy with a data container in a foreign hierarchy;

receiving a user request that indicates a particular operation on a particular data container that corresponds to a node of a first foreign hierarchy;

based on the user request, determining a first operation to perform on a first set of one or more data containers of the first hierarchy;

selecting, based on the mapping, a first set of routines registered for the first foreign hierarchy;

selecting, from the first set of routines, a particular routine that corresponds to the first operation; and

invoking the particular routine to operate on the first set of one or more data containers.

13. The computer-readable medium of claim 12 , said step of receiving a user request further comprising the step of:

presenting a single interface to the user with controls for specifying a request to operate on one or more data containers in any of the plurality of hierarchies;

receiving user input based on user activation of at least one of the controls; and

forming the user request as a set of one or more operations on one or more data containers, based on the user input.

14. The computer-readable medium of claim 12 , wherein the set of operations includes:

an operation to create a data container;

an operation to get data from a data container;

an operation to update data in a data container;

an operation to delete a data container;

an operation to iterate over child containers owned by a parent container;

an operation to copy a data container of one parent data container to another parent data container; and

an operation to move a data container from a first parent data container to a second parent data container that is a differaat data container than the first parent data container.

15. The computer-readable medium of claim 14 , wherein the operation to iterate over the child containers includes:

an operation to begin an iteration;

an operation to provide the next child data container; and

an operation to end the iteration.

16. The computer-readable medium of claim 12 , wherein the first operation is the same as the particular operation.

17. The computer-readable medium of claim 12 , wherein the first operation is different from the particular operation.

18. The computer-readable medium of claim 12 , wherein execution of the one or more sequences of instructions further causes the one or more processors to perform the step of determining, based on the user request, a second operation on a second set of one or more data containers of the native hierarchy.

19. The computer-readable medium of claim 18 , wherein the second operation is the same as the particular operation.

20. The computer-readable medium of claim 18 , wherein the second operation is different from the particular operation.

21. The computer-readable medium of claim 12 , wherein execution of the one or more sequences of instructions further causes the one or more processors to perform sending to the user a response including a first result returned from invoking the particular routine.

22. The computer-readable medium of claim 18 , wherein execution of the one or more sequences of instructions further causes the one or more processors to perform:

combining a first result returned from invoking the particular routine with a second result from the second operation into a response for the user; and

sending the response to the user.