Implementing geographical taxonomy within network-accessible service registries using spatial extensions

1. A method of improving categorization in network-accessible service registries, comprising steps of:

specifying, in an entry that represents a network-accessible service in a network accessible service registry, an identifier of a geographical taxonomy specification; and

specifying a classification value in the entry, wherein the classification value categorizes the network-accessible service in context of the specified geographical taxonomy specification,

wherein the specified geographical taxonomy identifier and classification value point to a row in a spatially-enable database by applying a hash function, wherein the pointed-to-row comprises geospatial data related to the network-accessible service represented by the entry;

wherein the network-accessible registry is a Universal Description, Discovery, and Integration registry.

2. The method according to claim 1 , wherein the steps of specifying the identifier and specifying the classification value are performed for entries representing a plurality of network-accessible services, and further comprising the step of locating a particular one of the plurality of network-accessible services by searching the network-accessible service registry using a particular geographical taxonomy identifier and classification value.

3. The method according to claim 1 , wherein the steps of specifying the identifier and specifying the classification value are performed for entries representing a plurality of network-accessible services, and further comprising the steps of:

searching the network-accessible service registry according to one or more search criteria, thereby locating at least one geographical taxonomy identifier and its associated classification value; and

for each located geographical taxonomy identifier and associated classification value, performing the steps of:

bashing the located geographical taxonomy identifier and classification value to create an index value; and

accessing the spatially-enabled database using the index value.

4. The method according to claim 1 , wherein the steps of specifying the identifier and specifying the classification value are performed for entries representing a plurality of network-accessible service, and further comprising the steps of:

searching the network-accessible service registry according to one or more search criteria, thereby locating at least one geographical taxonomy identifier and its associated classification value; and

saving each located geographical taxonomy identifier and classification value for later use in accessing the pointed-to row.

5. The method according to claim 4 , further comprising the steps of:

hashing each saved geographical taxonomy identifier and classification value to create an index value; and

using each index value to access to corresponding row of the spatially-enabled database.

6. The method according to claim 1 , wherein the steps of specifying the identifier and specifying the classification value are performed for entries representing a plurality of network-accessible services, and further comprising the steps of:

determining selected ones of the entries in the network-accessible service registry whose geographical taxonomy identifier and classification value are obsolete or no longer needed; and

programmatically removing the determined ones from the network-accessible registry.

7. The method according to claim 6 , wherein the step of programmatically removing is preceded by the step of prompting a user to confirm the removal, and then only continuing with the removal if the user consents.

8. The method according to claim 2 , wherein at least one of the entries comprises a plurality of geographical taxonomy specification identifiers and classification values, each categorizing the network-accessible service represented by the entry in context of different geographical taxonomies.

9. A system for improving categorization in a network-accessible service registry deployed in a communication network, comprising:

a plurality of network-accessible service registration entries in the network-accessible service registry, each entry corresponding to a particular network-accessible service registered in the service registry, wherein:

each entry comprises at least one identifier-value pair associated with the corresponding network-accessible service;

the identifier in each identifier-value pair identifies a geographical taxonomy and the value in each identifier-value pair categorizes the associated network-accessible service in context of the identified geographical taxonomy; and

each identifier-value pair points to one of a plurality of rows in a spatially-enabled database by applying a hash function, each pointed-to-row comprising geospatial data corresponding to the service associated with that identifier-value pair;

means for searching the identifier-value pairs in the entries to locate at least one identifier-value pair matching specified search criteria;

means for using the identifier and the value in each located identifier-value pair to access the row pointed to by that pair, thereby accessing the geospatial data related to the service associated with that identifier-value pair;

wherein the network-accessible service registry is a Universal Description, Discovery, and integration registry.

10. The system according to claim 9 , wherein the specified search criteria comprises an identifier of a particular geographical taxonomy and a particular value.

11. The system according to claim 9 , further comprising means for using spatial extensions provided by the spatially-enabled database to operate upon the geospatial data of at least one accessed row.

12. The system according to claim 9 , further comprising:

means for determining selected ones of the identifier-value pairs that no longer needed;

means for prompting a user to confirm whether the determined ones should be removed from the network-accessible service registry; and

means for programmatically removing the determined ones from the network-accessible service registry if the user consents via the means for prompting.

13. The system according to claim 9 , wherein the means for searching locates at least two identifier-value pairs that are different yet point to a single row in the spatially-enabled database.

14. A computer program product for improving categorization in network-accessible registries, the computer program product embodied on one or more computer storage media and comprising:

computer-readable program code means for specifying, in an entry that represents a network-accessible service in a network-accessible registry, an identifier of a geographical taxonomy specification; and

computer-readable program code means for specifying a classification value in the entry, wherein the classification value categorizes the network-accessible service in context of the specified geographical taxonomy specification,

wherein the specified geographical taxonomy identifier and classification value point to a row in a spatially-enable database by applying a hash function, wherein the pointed-to-row comprises geospatial data related to the network-accessible service represented by the entry;

wherein the network-accessible registry is a Universal Description, Discovery, and Integration registry.

15. The computer program product according to claim 14 , wherein the computer-readable program code means for specifying the identifier and the computer-readable program code means for specifying the classification value are executed for entries representing a plurality of network-accessible services, and further comprising computer-readable program code means for locating a particular one of the plurality of network-accessible services by searching the network-accessible service registry using a particular geographical taxonomy identifier and classification value.

16. The computer program product according to claim 14 , wherein the computer-readable program code means for specifying the identifier and the computer-readable program code means for specifying the classification value are executed for entries representing a plurality of network-accessible services, and further comprising:

computer-readable program code means for searching the network-accessible service registry according to one or more search criteria, thereby locating at least one geographical taxonomy identifier and its associated classification value;

computer-readable program code means for hashing each located geographical taxonomy identifier and classification value, thereby creating an index value for each located geographical taxonomy identifier and classification value; and

computer-readable program code means for accessing the spatially-enabled database using each index value.

17. A method of offering improved categorization of a network-accessible service registry, comprising steps of:

allowing specification of a plurality of network-accessible service registration entries in the network-accessible service registry, each entry corresponding to a particular network-accessible service registered in the service registry, wherein:

each entry comprises at least one identifier-value pair associated with the corresponding network-accessible service;

the identifier in each identifier-value pair identifies a geographical taxonomy and the value in each identifier-value pair categorizes the associated network-accessible service in context of the identified geographical taxonomy; and

each identifier-value pair points to one of a plurality of rows in a spatially-enabled database by applying a hash function, each pointed-to-row comprising geospatial data corresponding to the service associated with that identifier-value pair;

providing search facilities for the network-accessible service registry, which search the identifier-value pairs in the entries to locate at least one identifier-value pair matching specified search criteria; and

providing access facilities for using the identifier and the value in each located identifier-value pair to access the row pointed to by that pair, thereby accessing the geospatial data related to the service associated with that identifier-value pair;

wherein the network-accessible service registry is a Universal Description, Discovery, and integration registry.