System and method for mutation of selected assignment operations on large data objects

Claim 3

A method as defined in claim 1, wherein the step of receiving an assignment statement includes replacing each operand of the assignment statement with an LSE data structure in memory of the computer processor, wherein each LSE data structure indicates a data structure type, a data structure source, a data structure start position, a data structure length, a data structure total length, and a pointer that indicates a next LSE data structure corresponding to a next operand of the assignment statement.

Claim 4

A method as defined in claim 2, wherein the step of processing the mutated assignment statement includes the steps of: performing the equivalent functions on the LSE data structures to produce a resultant string; and deleting the LSE data structures from the computer memory after the resultant string has been produced.

Claim 5

A method as defined in claim 2, wherein the step of determining comprises the steps of: determining whether the assignment statement includes a length-altering string operation on a first operand, beginning at a first byte of the first operand; and replacing the length-altering string operation with a truncate-in-place function on the first operand that does not require the first operand to be read from the data base storage device into the intermediate storage.

Claim 6

A method as defined in claim 4, wherein the step of mutating comprises the steps of: mutating a concatenate operation into an append function; and mutating a substring operation into a truncate function.

Claim 7

A method as defined in claim 4, wherein the step of mutating is performed only if the operand on both sides of the equal sign of the assignment statement are the same.

Claim 8

A method as defined in claim 4, wherein the step of mutating comprises replacing a string operation with a function selected from a group including at least insert, append, delete, read, and write functions.

Claim 9

A relational data base management system for use in manipulating data objects of a computer system having a central processor unit and memory, the relational data base management system comprising: a data manager controller that receives a relational data base assignment statement comprising at least one string operator and one operand that is stored at a location in a data base storage device of the computer system, the assignment statement having a form wherein a sink operand is separated from one or more source operands by an equal sign; a data assignment evaluator that receives the assignment statement from the data manager controller if the assignment statement does not contain an operand that references a large data object (LOB) comprising a data object that exceeds a predetermined size and processes the assignment statement so as to perform the string operators; a LOB manager that receives the assignment statement if it contains a LOB and determines if at least one LOB operand can remain in its respective data base storage device location and be operated upon by one or more equivalent data functions that provide an identical result as the string operator performed on the LOB, thereby comprising a mutated assignment statement that does not require the LOB operand to be read from the data base storage device into an intermediate storage; and an LSE handler that mutates the string operator determined by the LOB manager to be mutatable by replacing the string operator with the predetermined equivalent functions that operate on the LOB operand in its data base storage device location, and processes the mutated assignment statement in accordance with a deferred evaluation technique.

Claim 10

A relational data base management system for use in manipulating data objects of a computer system having a central processor unit and memory, the relational data base management system comprising: a data manager controller that receives a relational data base assignment statement comprising at least one string operator and one operand that is stored at a location in a data base storage device of the computer system, the assignment statement having a form wherein a sink operand is separated from one or more source operands by an equal sign; a data assignment evaluator that receives the assignment statement from the data manager controller if the assignment statement does not contain an operand that references a large data object (LOB) comprising a data object that exceeds a predetermined size and processes the assignment statement so as to perform the string operators; a LOB manager that receives the assignment statement if it contains a LOB and determines if at least one LOB operand can remain in its respective data base storage device location and be operated upon by one or more equivalent data functions that provide an identical result as the string operator performed on the LOB, thereby comprising a mutated assignment statement that does not require the LOB operand to be read from the data base storage device into an intermediate storage; and an LSE handler that mutates the string operator determined by the LOB manager to be mutatable by replacing the string operator with the predetermined equivalent functions that operate on the LOB operand in its data base storage device location, and processes the mutated assignment statement in accordance with a deferred evaluation technique.

Claim 11

A relational data base management system as defined in claim 8, wherein the LOB manager replaces each operand of the assignment statement with an LSE data structure in memory of the computer processor, wherein the LOB manager specifies each LSE data structure so that it indicates a data structure type, a data structure source, a data structure start position, a data structure length, and a data structure total length, and also sets a pointer that indicates a next LSE data structure corresponding to a next operand of the assignment statement.

Claim 12

A relational data base management system as defined in claim 9, wherein the data assignment evaluator replaces each operand of the assignment statement with an LSE data structure in memory of the computer processor, wherein the LOB manager specifies each LSE data structure so that it indicates a data structure type, a data structure source, a data structure start position, a data structure length, and a data structure total length, and also sets a pointer that indicates a next LSE data structure corresponding to a next operand of the assignment statement.

Claim 13

A relational data base management system as defined in claim 9, wherein the LSE handler evaluates the mutated assignment statement by performing the determined equivalent functions on the LSE data structures to produce a resultant string and then deletes the LSE data structures from the computer memory after the resultant string has been produced.

Claim 14

A relational data base management system as defined in claim 11, wherein the LSE handler determines whether the assignment statement includes a length-altering string operation on a first operand, beginning at a first byte of the first operand, and in response replaces the length-altering string operation on the first operand with a truncate-in-place function that does not require the first operand to be read from the data base storage device into the intermediate storage.

Claim 15

A relational data base management system as defined in claim 12, wherein the LSE handler mutates a concatenate operation into an append function and mutates a substring operation into a truncate function.

Claim 16

A relational data base management system as defined in claim 12, wherein the LSE handler mutates the assignment statement only if the operand on both sides of the equal sign of the assignment statement are the same.

Claim 17

A relational data base management system as defined in claim 12, wherein the LSE handler replaces a string operation with a function selected from a group of data functions including at least insert, append, delete, read, and write functions.

Claim 18

A computer system comprising: a central processor unit; a memory; at least one storage device that contains data objects of a relational data base; a relational data base management system that permits a computer system user to manipulate the data objects, the relational data base management system including: a data manager controller that receives a relational data base assignment statement from a user, the assignment statement comprising at least one string operator and one operand that is stored at a location in the data base storage device, the assignment statement having a form wherein a sink operand is separated from one or more source operands by an equal sign; a data assignment evaluator that receives the assignment statement from the data manager controller if the assignment statement does not contain an operand that references a large data object (LOB) comprising a data object that exceeds a predetermined size and processes the assignment statement so as to perform the string operator; a LOB manager that receives the assignment statement if it contains a LOB and determines if at least one LOB operand can remain in its respective data base storage device location and can be operated upon in-place by one or more equivalent data functions that provide an identical result as the string operator performed on the LOB, thereby comprising a mutated assignment statement that does not require the LOB operand to be read from the data base storage device into an intermediate storage location of the computer system; and an LSE handler that mutates the string operator determined by the LOB manager to be mutatable by replacing the string operator with the predetermined equivalent functions that operate on the LOB operand in its data base storage device location, and processes the mutated assignment statement in accordance with a deferred evaluation technique.

Claim 19

A computer system comprising: a central processor unit; a memory; at least one storage device that contains data objects of a relational data base; a relational data base management system that permits a computer system user to manipulate the data objects, the relational data base management system including: a data manager controller that receives a relational data base assignment statement from a user, the assignment statement comprising at least one string operator and one operand that is stored at a location in the data base storage device, the assignment statement having a form wherein a sink operand is separated from one or more source operands by an equal sign; a data assignment evaluator that receives the assignment statement from the data manager controller if the assignment statement does not contain an operand that references a large data object (LOB) comprising a data object that exceeds a predetermined size and processes the assignment statement so as to perform the string operator; a LOB manager that receives the assignment statement if it contains a LOB and determines if at least one LOB operand can remain in its respective data base storage device location and can be operated upon in-place by one or more equivalent data functions that provide an identical result as the string operator performed on the LOB, thereby comprising a mutated assignment statement that does not require the LOB operand to be read from the data base storage device into an intermediate storage location of the computer system; and an LSE handler that mutates the string operator determined by the LOB manager to be mutatable by replacing the string operator with the predetermined equivalent functions that operate on the LOB operand in its data base storage device location, and processes the mutated assignment statement in accordance with a deferred evaluation technique.

Claim 20

A computer system as defined in claim 16, wherein the LOB manager replaces each operand of the assignment statement with an LSE data structure in the memory, wherein the LOB manager specifies each LSE data structure so that it indicates a data structure type, a dam structure source, a data structure start position, a data structure length, and a data structure total length, and also sets a pointer that indicates a next LSE data structure corresponding to a next operand of the assignment statement.

Claim 21

A computer system as defined in claim 17, wherein the data assignment evaluator replaces each operand of the assignment statement with an LSE data structure in the memory, wherein the LOB manager specifies each LSE data structure so that it indicates a data structure type, a data structure source, a data structure start position, a data structure length, and a data structure total length, and also sets a pointer that indicates a next LSE data structure corresponding to a next operand of the assignment statement.

Claim 22

A computer system as defined in claim 17, wherein the LSE handler evaluates the mutated assignment statement by performing the determined equivalent functions on the LSE data structures to produce a resultant string and then deletes the LSE data structures from the computer memory after the resultant string has been produced.

Claim 23

A computer system as defined in claim 19, wherein the LSE handler determines whether the assignment statement includes a length-altering string operation on a first operand, beginning at a first byte of the first operand, and in response replaces the length-altering string operation on the first operand with a truncate-in-place function that does not require the first operand to be read from the data base storage device into the intermediate storage.

Claim 24

A computer system as defined in claim 20, wherein the LSE handler mutates a concatenate operation into an append function and mutates a substring operation into a truncate function.

Claim 25

A computer system as defined in claim 20, wherein the LSE handler mutates the assignment statement only if the operand on both sides of the equal sign of the assignment statement are the same.

Claim 26

A computer system as defined in claim 20, wherein the LSE handler replaces a string operator with a function selected from a group of data functions including at least insert, append, delete, read, and write functions.

Claim 27

A computer system as defined in claim 17, further including: a file server connected to the central processor unit; and at least one client processor connected to the file server through which the user can communicate with the central processor unit.

Claim 28

A program storage device readable by a processor machine, tangibly embodying a program of instructions executable by the processor machine to perform method steps for permitting a user to manipulate data objects of a relational data base management system of the processor machine, the method steps performed by the processor machine comprising: receiving an assignment statement comprising at least one string operator and one operand that references a large data object (LOB) stored at a location in a data base storage device of the processor machine, the assignment statement having the form of a sink operand separated from one or more source operands by an equal sign; determining if the assignment statement contains one or more string operators and a LOB operand such that the LOB operand can remain in its data base storage device location and be operated upon by an equivalent data function that provides an identical result, thereby comprising a mutated string operator that does not require the LOB operand to be read from the data base storage device into an intermediate storage to perform the string operator; mutating the string operator into the determined equivalent function; and processing the mutated assignment statement according to a deferred evaluation scheme and producing a statement result that is returned to the user of the processor machine.

Claim 29

A program storage device readable by a processor machine, tangibly embodying a program of instructions executable by the processor machine to perform method steps for permitting a user to manipulate data objects of a relational data base management system of the processor machine, the method steps performed by the processor machine comprising: receiving an assignment statement comprising at least one string operator and one operand that references a large data object (LOB) stored at a location in a data base storage device of the processor machine, the assignment statement having the form of a sink operand separated from one or more source operands by an equal sign; determining if the assignment statement contains one or more string operators and a LOB operand such that the LOB operand can remain in its data base storage device location and be operated upon by an equivalent data function that provides an identical result, thereby comprising a mutated string operator that does not require the LOB operand to be read from the data base storage device into an intermediate storage to perform the string operator; mutating the string operator into the determined equivalent function; and processing the mutated assignment statement according to a deferred evaluation scheme and producing a statement result that is returned to the user of the processor machine.

Claim 30

A program storage device as defined in claim 25, wherein the step of receiving an assignment statement includes replacing each operand of the assignment statement with an LSE data structure in memory of the computer processor, wherein each LSE data structure indicates a data structure type, a data structure source, a data structure start position, a data structure length, a data structure total length, and a pointer that indicates a next LSE data structure corresponding to a next operand of the assignment statement.

Claim 31

A program storage device as defined in claim 26, wherein the step of processing the mutated assignment statement includes the steps of: performing the equivalent functions on the LSE data structures to produce a resultant string; and deleting the LSE data structures from the computer memory after the resultant string has been produced.

Claim 32

A program storage device as defined in claim 26, wherein the step of determining comprises the steps of: determining whether the assignment statement includes a length-altering string operation on a first operand, beginning at a first byte of the first operand; and replacing the length-altering string operation with a truncate-in-place function on the first operand that does not require the first operand to be read from the data base storage device into the intermediate storage.

Claim 33

A program storage device as defined in claim 28, wherein the step of mutating comprises the steps of: mutating a concatenate operation into an append function; and mutating a substring operation into a truncate function.

Claim 34

A program storage device as defined in claim 28, wherein the step of mutating is performed only if the operand on both sides of the equal sign of the assignment statement are the same.

Claim 35

A program storage device as defined in claim 28, wherein the step of mutating comprises replacing a string operation with a function selected from a group including at least insert, append, delete, read, and write functions.