HK1110401B - System and method for managing objects according to the common information model - Google Patents

Description

System and method for managing objects in accordance with a common information model

Technical Field

The present disclosure relates generally to computer systems and information handling systems, and more particularly, to systems and methods for managing objects in accordance with a common information model.

Background

As the value and utility of information continues to increase, additional methods are sought to process and store information in both the personal and business fields. One option available to users is information handling systems. Information handling systems typically process, assemble, store, and/or communicate information or data for business, personal, or other purposes to allow users to take advantage of the value of the information. As the needs and requirements of technology and information processing vary from user to user or application to application, there may be variations in information processing systems, with corresponding variations being in terms of the type of information being processed; a method for processing information; methods for processing, storing, communicating information; the amount of information processed, stored, or communicated; speed and efficiency of processing, storing, and communicating information. Variations of information handling systems allow information handling systems to be generic and configured for specific users or specific uses, such as financial transaction processing, airline reservations, enterprise data storage, or global communications. In addition, an information handling system may include or include a number of hardware and software components that may be configured to process, store, and communicate information, which may include one or more computer systems, data storage systems, and networking systems.

Distributed Management Task Force corporation (DMTF) is an organization that is engaged in managing the development of standard computing systems. One DMTF standard is the Common Information Model (CIM). The common information model provides a common definition of management information for systems, networks, applications, and services when considering the same expansion of providers. The common definition of CIM enables providers to exchange information between systems throughout a network. The CIM standard consists of both CIM specifications and CIM modes. The CIM schema provides a data model for each managed object of the system. The object identifies and describes the resources of the system. The standard CIM schema encompasses many standard components of a computer system.

A system supporting CIM will include a CIM object manager (CIMOM) that provides an interface between CIM providers and management applications. The CIM provider retrieves data and event notifications from managed objects of the system. Since the standard CIM schema definition evolves rapidly, modification of the standard schema of managed objects may force modification of the code of providers related to managed objects and provider revisions (revisions). Furthermore, additional testing may be required to verify modifications to the schema and providers.

Disclosure of Invention

In accordance with the present disclosure, systems and methods for managing objects in accordance with a common information model are disclosed. The system and method of the present disclosure includes an abstraction layer that receives requests from CIM clients through a CIM object manager. Upon receiving a request, the abstraction layer retrieves the associated XML registration file to generate a command for the managed object that is the target of the request. After executing the command with respect to the management object, the request data is returned to the abstraction layer. This data returned to the abstraction layer is in the form of untransformed XML content. The abstraction layer retrieves an XSL transformation file and transforms the XML content into an instance of CIM data and transfers this data to the CIM object manager.

The system and method of the present disclosure is technically advantageous because it provides a flexible and adaptable method for managing objects in a CIM environment. The system and method of the present disclosure provides an abstraction layer that can generate commands and translate received data in response to requests from CIM clients. Due to the existence of the abstraction layer, the system can easily accommodate modification of the CIM schema by modifying the XML registration file, the XSL transformation file, and if necessary, the Managed Object Format (MOF) file of the CIM object manager. Due to the structure and method of the system of the present disclosure, the abstraction layer does not need to be modified to accommodate changes to the CIM schema, thus avoiding changes to important code. Thus, the system and method is forward compatible, eliminating the need to rewrite lower level software code after each CIM mode change. Moreover, another technical advantage of the disclosed systems and methods also facilitates the reuse of software code modules in XML registry files and XSL transformation files. Other technical advantages will be readily apparent to one skilled in the art from the following description, claims, and drawings.

Drawings

A more complete understanding of the present embodiments and technical advantages thereof may be acquired by referring to the following description taken in conjunction with the accompanying drawings, in which like reference numbers indicate like features, and wherein:

FIG. 1 is a structural and process flow diagram of a system including a CIM provider abstraction layer and related components; and

fig. 2A and 2B are a flow chart of a series of method steps for processing commands in the system of fig. 1.

Detailed Description

For purposes of this disclosure, an information handling system may include any instrumentality or aggregate of instrumentalities operable to compute, classify, process, transmit, receive, retrieve, originate, switch, store, display, manifest, detect, record, reproduce, handle, or utilize any form of information, intelligence, or data for business, scientific, control, or other uses. For example, an information handling system may be a personal computer, a network storage device, or any other suitable device and may vary in size, shape, performance, functionality, and price. The information handling system may include Random Access Memory (RAM), one or more processing resources such as a Central Processing Unit (CPU) or hardware or software control logic, ROM, and/or other types of nonvolatile memory. Additional information handling system components may include one or more disk drives, one or more network ports for communicating with peripheral devices as well as various input and output (I/O) devices, such as a keyboard, a mouse, and a display. The information handling system may also include one or more buses operable to transmit communications between the various hardware components.

The system and method of the present disclosure includes using a CIM provider abstraction layer, which is coupled to the CIMOM, executing an action requested by the CIMOM, and returning request information to the CIMOM after the requested action is completed. To collect data from the object modules on the basis of requests from the CIMOM, the CIM provider abstraction layer is connected to the data access module by means of a loading library (load library), a command line interface, and data files in case of static information. The system and method of the present disclosure also includes registering the file using extensible markup language (XML). For each CIM operation that may be requested by CIMOM, the XML registration file contains the necessary information for executing the command. In the case of retrieving data from a library, the XML registration file will contain the characteristics of the library to be read, the command to be executed, and the command parameters. In the case of retrieving data from a command line interface, the XML registration file will contain command line interface commands and command parameters, and in the case of retrieving data from a data file, the XML registration file identifies the data file.

This XML registration file for the requested operation will also identify an extensible design language (XSL) transformation file if translation of the data retrieved by the CIM provider abstraction layer is required. The CIM provider abstract layer will use the XSL transformation file to transform the retrieved XML content into CIM data, which the CIM provider abstract layer can transfer to the CIMOM and ultimately to the CIM client. FIG. 1 is a block diagram illustrating the structure and process flow of a system 10 including CIM provider abstraction layers and related components. A CIM client 12 in communication with a CIMOM14 is included in fig. 1. CIM client 12 sends CIM requests to CIMOM14, causing CIMOM14 to initiate provider requests to CIM provider abstraction layer 16. CIM provider abstraction layer 16 communicates with data access module 18 and sends command requests to data access module 18. In response, the data access module 18 sends a request to the managed object 20.

In response to a request from the data access module 18, the managed object 20 returns a response. The response is sent from the data access module 18 to the CIM provider abstraction layer 16 in the form of unconverted or raw XML content. CIM provider abstract layer 16 converts the raw XML data to CIM data and sends the CIM data to CIMOM14, and CIMOM14 sends the CIM response to the CIM client.

CIMOM14 contains a number of Managed Object Format (MOF) files 26 in a MOF library. The MOF file is a data structure file used by the CIM to describe managed objects of the system. Upon receiving a CIM request from a CIM client, CIMOM14 determines whether the MOF file for the managed object is in the MOF library. If a managed object is found, in response to a CIM request by the CIM client 12, CIMOM14 calls the CIM provider abstraction layer to execute the command requesting client. In response to a request from CIMOM, CIM provider abstraction layer 16 will read a set of XML registration files 22 to determine if a registration file exists for managed object 20. If an XML registration file exists for managed object 20, CIM provider abstraction layer 16 uses the contents of the XML registration file to generate the command request. When returning the raw XML data to CIM provider abstraction layer 16, CIM provider abstraction layer 16 will request an XSL transformation file to transform the raw XML data into CIM data.

Fig. 2A and 2B are a flow chart illustrating a series of method steps for processing commands in the system of fig. 1. In step 30 of FIG. 2A, the CIMOM receives a request from a CIM client. In step 32, the CIMOM looks up the MOF associated with the request from the CIM client in its MOF library. In step 34 it is determined whether the relevant MOF was submitted. If the MOF to be submitted is not found, the process terminates with an error message in step 36. If the MOF is found to be submitted in step 34, the CIM provider abstraction layer is invoked in step 38. After invoking the CIM provider abstraction layer, the CIM provider abstraction layer looks up an XML registration file in the XML registration file that is associated with the managed object and the request from the CIM client. In step 42, a determination is made as to whether the XML registration file associated with the managed object and the request is in the registration file repository. If no relevant registration file can be found, the process terminates with an error message in step 44. If a relevant registration file is found, the process continues at point A in FIG. 2B.

In step 46 of FIG. 2B, the CIM provider abstract layer generates and issues a command based on the XML registration file. After the command is executed in the data access module, the CIM provider abstract layer receives the unconverted XML content in step 48. In step 50, the CIM provider abstract layer looks up in the XSL transformation file repository the XSL transformation file necessary to transform the original XML content received in the CIM provider abstract layer. If it is determined in step 52 that the necessary XML transformation file was not submitted, the process terminates and is accompanied by an error message in step 54. If the necessary XSL transformation file is submitted, the XML content is transformed and sent to the CIMOM.

The disclosed system and method provide forward compatibility in modifications to existing CIM schemas. If the CIM schema is modified, only the MOF file, XML registration file, and XSL transformation file need be changed to accommodate the changes to the CIM schema. In this case, modification of CIM schema in the system of the present disclosure does not require rewriting of low level instruction code. The presence of an easily modifiable MOF file, XML registry file, and XSL transformation file enables and quickly updates the system when changing components of a CIM schema. In addition, the software code of the system, including the software code of the XML registration file and the XSL transformation file, may be reused for a variety of CIM requests and managed objects.

Although it has been described herein that the content returned to the CIM provider abstraction layer is in XML format, it should be understood that the systems and methods disclosed herein are not limited to XML formatted content. Rather, other formats, including text formats, may be used with the systems and methods of the present disclosure. Although the present invention has been described in detail, it should be understood that various changes, substitutions and alterations can be made hereto without departing from the spirit and scope of the invention as defined by the appended claims.

Claims (7)

1. A system for managing objects in a common information model environment, wherein the system contains a predetermined schema for managing objects, the system comprising:

an object manager module, wherein the object manager module is connected to a client capable of sending requests to the system;

an abstraction layer module, wherein the abstraction layer module receives requests from the object manager module and returns predetermined schema data to the object manager module;

a set of registry files, wherein the abstraction layer module uses one or more registry files to generate commands for managed objects; and

wherein the abstraction layer module receives unconverted content from the managed object; and

a set of conversion files, wherein the abstraction layer module converts the unconverted content from the managed object into predetermined schema data using the set of conversion files, wherein

The predetermined mode is a public information model;

the unconverted content received from the managed object is XML content; and

the transformation file is an XSL transformation file.

2. The system as recited in claim 1, wherein the abstraction layer module uses the XSL transformation file to transform the XML content into data according to a common information model.

3. The system of claim 1, wherein the object manager module comprises a library of data structure files describing the managed objects.

4. The system as recited in claim 3, wherein the modification to the predetermined schema requires modification of one or more data structure files of the object manager module, one or more of the registry files, one or more of the XSL transformation files, but does not require modification of the abstraction layer module.

5. A method for managing objects in a common information model environment having a predetermined schema of a common information model, comprising:

receiving, at an abstraction layer module, a request from a client of a system, wherein the request is associated with a managed object;

searching the registration file group to locate a registration file associated with the request;

generating a command using the registration file;

receiving a command result, wherein the command result comprises content in a first format;

searching a group of conversion files;

converting the command result to a second format using the conversion file; and

transmitting the converted contents to the requesting client;

wherein the registration file group is an XML registration file;

wherein the first format of command results is XML content; and

wherein the transformation file is an XSL transformation file.

6. The method of claim 5, wherein the XSL transformation file transforms the XML content to content associated with the predetermined schema having the common information model.

7. A method for updating a system in accordance with a common information model, wherein the system comprises, an object manager module; an abstraction layer module; a set of registration files, the set of registration files being XML registration files; and a set of transformation files, the set of transformation files being XSL transformation files;

the method comprises the following steps:

the client sends a request to the system;

the object manager module is connected with the client and sends a request to the abstraction layer module;

the abstract layer module returns schema data to the object manager module;

the abstraction layer module generates commands for the managed objects using one or more registry files; and

the managed object sends the unconverted content to the abstraction layer module; and

the abstraction layer module uses the set of transformation files to transform the untransformed content from the managed object into schema data;

modifying a schema of the managed object;

modifying one or more registry files and one or more transformation files to reflect modifications to the schema of the managed object without modifying the abstraction layer module;

wherein the unconverted content received from the managed object is XML content; and

wherein the XSL transformation file transforms XML content received from the managed object into schema data according to a common information model.