Claims:

1. A processor-implemented method for data management, comprising:
collecting (202), via one or more hardware processors, a change request from a user, wherein the change request corresponds to change of a node structure of a database that stores data for which the data management is being performed;
identifying (204) from a plurality of nodes in the database, at least one node the change request is directed to, via the one or more hardware processors;
identifying (206) all dependencies of the at least one node the change request is directed to, with other nodes of the database, via the one or more hardware processors; and
generating and displaying (210) impact of execution of the change request, based on the identified dependencies, via the one or more hardware processors.

2. The method as claimed in claim 1, wherein in the database, information is stored in the form of parent nodes and child nodes, further wherein change to a parent node affects corresponding child nodes.

3. The method as claimed in claim 1, wherein the change request corresponds to at least one of transformation, addition, deletion, and modification of the at least one node.

4. The method as claimed in claim 1, wherein generating and displaying the impact of execution comprises of:
identifying (208) all child nodes of the at least one node the change request is directed to;
identifying data stored in all the identified child nodes; and
displaying the identified data as the data being affected upon execution of the change request.

5. A system (100) comprising:
one or more data storage devices (102) operatively coupled to one or more hardware processors (104) and configured to store instructions configured for execution by the one or more hardware processors to:
collect a change request from a user, wherein the change request corresponds to change of a node structure of a database that stores data for which the data management is being performed;
identify from a plurality of nodes in the database, at least one node the change request is directed to;
identify all dependencies of the at least one node the change request is directed to, with other nodes of the database; and
generate and display impact of execution of the change request, based on the identified dependencies.

6. The system (100) as claimed in claim 5, wherein in the database, information is stored in the form of parent nodes and child nodes, further wherein change to a parent node affects corresponding child nodes.

7. The system (100) as claimed in claim 5, wherein the change request corresponds to at least one of transformation, addition, deletion, and modification of the at least one node.

8. The system (100) as claimed in claim 5, wherein the one or more hardware processors are further configured to generate and display the impact of execution by:
identifying all child nodes of the at least one node the change request is directed to;
identifying data stored in all the identified child nodes; and
displaying the identified data as the data being affected upon execution of the change request.
, Description:FORM 2

THE PATENTS ACT, 1970
(39 of 1970)
&
THE PATENT RULES, 2003

COMPLETE SPECIFICATION
(See Section 10 and Rule 13)

Title of invention:

METHOD AND SYSTEM FOR PROVIDING TRACEABILITY IN A DATA REPOSITORY

Applicant

Tata Consultancy Services Limited
A company Incorporated in India under the Companies Act, 1956
Having address:
Nirmal Building, 9th floor,
Nariman point, Mumbai 400021,
Maharashtra, India

The following specification particularly describes the invention and the manner in which it is to be performed.

CROSS-REFERENCE TO RELATED APPLICATIONS AND PRIORITY
[001] The present application is a patent of addition of Indian Patent Application No. 463/MUM/2012, filed on February 21st, 2012, the entire content of which is hereby incorporated herein by way of reference.

TECHNICAL FIELD
[002] The disclosure herein generally relates to data management systems, and, more particularly, to a method and system for providing traceability of data in a data repository.

BACKGROUND
[003] Data management is one of the major tasks in any industry. From any industry perspective, data being managed internally would comprise of operations related, core work related, management related, and management of such data could be critical for the industry. ‘Data management’ is a broad term that consists of activities/processes such as but not limited to data storage, data transformation, facilitating data access, and so on.
[004] As part of a heterogeneous data management, data of different types (formats) may have to be managed at once. Data of different types may be stored in a database, and upon request, the data may be provided to a user. Such systems also perform various types of data processing as part of the data management process.
[005] Many of such data management systems that are currently being used collect inputs in the form of metadata. However, when a user changes one or more data stored in the database, the system does not provide visibility and control over subsequent change(s) that may happen at data level, in the database.
SUMMARY
[006] Embodiments of the present disclosure present technological improvements as solutions to one or more of the above-mentioned technical problems recognized by the inventors in conventional systems. For example, in one embodiment, a processor-implemented method for data management is provided. Initially, a change request is collected from a user, via one or more hardware processors, wherein the change request corresponds to change of a node structure of a database that stores data for which the data management is being performed. Further, in response to the change request received, at least one node the change request is directed to, is identified from a plurality of nodes in the database, via the one or more hardware processors. Further, all dependencies of the identified at least one node with other nodes of the database is identified via the one or more hardware processors. Further, based on the identified dependencies, an impact of execution of the change request is generated and displayed, via the one or more hardware processors.
[007] In another aspect, a system is provided. The system includes one or more data storage devices operatively coupled to one or more hardware processors and configured to store instructions configured for execution by the one or more hardware processors to: collect a change request from a user, wherein the change request corresponds to change of a node structure of a database that stores data for which the data management is being performed; identify from a plurality of nodes in the database, at least one node the change request is directed to; identify all dependencies of the at least one node the change request is directed to, with other nodes of the database; and generate and display impact of execution of the change request, based on the identified dependencies.
[008] In yet another aspect, there is provided a computer program product comprising a non-transitory computer readable medium having a computer readable program embodied therein, wherein the computer readable program, when executed on a computing device, causes the computing device to: collect a change request from a user, wherein the change request corresponds to change of a node structure of a database that stores data for which the data management is being performed; identify from a plurality of nodes in the database, at least one node the change request is directed to; identify all dependencies of the at least one node the change request is directed to, with other nodes of the database; and generate and display impact of execution of the change request, based on the identified dependencies.
[009] It is to be understood that both the foregoing general description and the following detailed description are exemplary and explanatory only and are not restrictive of the invention, as claimed.

BRIEF DESCRIPTION OF THE DRAWINGS

[010] The accompanying drawings, which are incorporated in and constitute a part of this disclosure, illustrate exemplary embodiments and, together with the description, serve to explain the disclosed principles:
[011] FIG. 1 illustrates an exemplary block diagram of a system for providing traceability in a data repository, according to some embodiments of the present disclosure.
[012] FIG. 2 is a flow diagram depicting steps involved in the process of providing traceability in a data repository, using system in FIG. 1, according to some embodiments of the present disclosure.
[013] FIG. 3 is an example diagram that depicts process of providing traceability in a data repository, using system in FIG. 1, according to some embodiments of the present disclosure.

DETAILED DESCRIPTION OF EMBODIMENTS
[014] Exemplary embodiments are described with reference to the accompanying drawings. In the figures, the left-most digit(s) of a reference number identifies the figure in which the reference number first appears. Wherever convenient, the same reference numbers are used throughout the drawings to refer to the same or like parts. While examples and features of disclosed principles are described herein, modifications, adaptations, and other implementations are possible without departing from the spirit and scope of the disclosed embodiments. It is intended that the following detailed description be considered as exemplary only, with the true scope and spirit being indicated by the following claims.
[015] The present application claims priority from the Indian patent application 463/MUM/2012, which claims a universal data transformation tool that can perform transformation of data in any database from a source format to a target format, as per requirements. The applicant has addressed concerns with respect to data transformation, in the aforementioned application. It is to be noted that the system disclosed herein also is capable of performing/handling all capabilities/functions as disclosed in 463/MUM/2012. The capability to provide traceability in a database is in addition to all the functionalities covered in the aforementioned application from the applicant.
[016] Referring now to the drawings, and more particularly to FIGS. 1 through FIG. 3, where similar reference characters denote corresponding features consistently throughout the figures, there are shown preferred embodiments and these embodiments are described in the context of the following exemplary system and/or method.
[017] FIG. 1 illustrates an exemplary block diagram of a system for providing traceability in a data repository, according to some embodiments of the present disclosure.
[018] In an embodiment, the system 100 includes one or more processors 104, communication interface device(s) or input/output (I/O) interface(s) 106, and one or more data storage devices or memory 102 operatively coupled to the one or more processors 104. The one or more processors 104 that are hardware processors can be implemented as one or more microprocessors, microcomputers, microcontrollers, digital signal processors, central processing units, state machines, graphics controllers, logic circuitries, and/or any devices that manipulate signals based on operational instructions. Among other capabilities, the processor(s) are configured to fetch and execute computer-readable instructions stored in the memory. In an embodiment, the system 100 can be implemented in a variety of computing systems, such as laptop computers, notebooks, hand-held devices, workstations, mainframe computers, servers, a network cloud and the like.
[019] The I/O interface device(s) 106 can include a variety of software and hardware interfaces, for example, a web interface, a graphical user interface, and the like and can facilitate multiple communications within a wide variety of networks N/W and protocol types, including wired networks, for example, LAN, cable, etc., and wireless networks, such as WLAN, cellular, or satellite. In an embodiment, the I/O interface device(s) can include one or more ports for connecting a number of devices to one another or to another server.
[020] The memory 102 may include any computer-readable medium known in the art including, for example, volatile memory, such as static random access memory (SRAM) and dynamic random access memory (DRAM), and/or non-volatile memory, such as read only memory (ROM), erasable programmable ROM, flash memories, hard disks, optical disks, and magnetic tapes. In an embodiment, one or more modules (not shown) of the system 100 can be stored in the memory 102.
[021] In an embodiment, the system 100 includes one or more data storage devices or memory 102 operatively coupled to the one or more processors
104 and is configured to store instructions configured for execution of steps of the method 200 by the one or more processors 104.
[022] FIG. 2 is a flow diagram depicting steps involved in the process of providing traceability in a data repository, using system in FIG. 1, according to some embodiments of the present disclosure. In an embodiment, though the steps are described in a sequential order, neither the figure nor the description intend to indicate that the steps are performed in that order. The steps may be performed in any order practical, and some of the steps may be even performed simultaneously.
[023] In the data repository, data is stored at different levels, in the form of parent and child nodes (as depicted in Fig. 3a). As depicted in 3a, there is one parent node (G). The node G can have any number of child nodes. In 3a, two child nodes P1&P2 are depicted. To each of the P1 and P2, further child nodes can be added. While adding a child node for a node, a user can import data from the corresponding parent node. In an embodiment, metadata of actual data is stored in the nodes of the network. Links between each node in the database, and corresponding information (for example, parent-child node information) is identified accordingly. This data is captured and stored in the memory module 101.
[024] A user of the system 100 can access data stored in the database, through a user interface provided by the I/O interface 103, and can perform one or more permitted actions/functions on the database. A few examples of the actions that can be performed on the database by the user are, but not limited to, data transformation, addition, deletion, and/or modification of one or more nodes in the database. The data transformation is done using the data transformation mechanism covered in 463/MUM/2012, which allows transformation of data from a source format to a target format, by generating a conversion program. A database in which stored data are interlinked, transformation of data in a node of the database affects data in all the interlinked/interconnected nodes i.e. when data in a parent node is transformed, all the corresponding child nodes are affected.
[025] The user can submit request pertaining to one or more of such actions, to the system 100, in the form of a change request. The system 100 collects (202) the change request as input, from the user, using one or more of the hardware processors 102. By processing the change request using the one or more hardware processors 102, the system 100 identifies (204) one or more nodes in the database the change request is directed to. Upon identifying the one or more nodes, the system 100, based on data on dependencies stored in a reference database in the memory module 101, identifies (208) all dependencies of the identified one or more nodes, in the database. The dependency between nodes may be identified by the system 100 statically or dynamically. For example, whenever a new node is created (for a new data being added to the database), the system fetches and stores data pertaining to parent node(s) of the new node. This information can be utilized by the system 100 for identifying impact of a change. In an embodiment, the system 100, while identifying dependencies, identifies details pertaining to child node(s) of the one or more nodes. In an embodiment, the dependencies between different nodes are stored by mapping the dependencies between the nodes, in the database (as in Fig. 3b). The system 100 then identifies data present in the identified child nodes, and displays (210) to the user, as the data being impacted upon execution of the change request received from the user. Various steps in method 200 can be performed in the same order as depicted, or in different order(s) as required. In another embodiment, one or more of the steps in method 200 can be omitted if required.
[026] In addition to providing traceability, the system 100 provides the following features with respect a database management:
1. The system 100 provides customizability which allows a user to accept or discard change made to data in any node, at any level of hierarchy.
2. The system 100 can be configured to save/store data pertaining to any change made, and the corresponding impact, as history data, and can permit authorized personnel to access the history data for reference or reuse at a later point of time.
[027] The written description describes the subject matter herein to enable any person skilled in the art to make and use the embodiments. The scope of the subject matter embodiments is defined by the claims and may include other modifications that occur to those skilled in the art. Such other modifications are intended to be within the scope of the claims if they have similar elements that do not differ from the literal language of the claims or if they include equivalent elements with insubstantial differences from the literal language of the claims.
[028] The embodiments of present disclosure herein addresses unresolved problem of providing traceability of data in a database. The embodiment, thus provides mechanism to identify impact of a change in a node of the database, on other nodes of the database.
[029] It is to be understood that the scope of the protection is extended to such a program and in addition to a computer-readable means having a message therein; such computer-readable storage means contain program-code means for implementation of one or more steps of the method, when the program runs on a server or mobile device or any suitable programmable device. The hardware device can be any kind of device which can be programmed including e.g. any kind of computer like a server or a personal computer, or the like, or any combination thereof. The device may also include means which could be e.g. hardware means like e.g. an application-specific integrated circuit (ASIC), a field-programmable gate array (FPGA), or a combination of hardware and software means, e.g. an ASIC and an FPGA, or at least one microprocessor and at least one memory with software modules located therein. Thus, the means can include both hardware means and software means. The method embodiments described herein could be implemented in hardware and software. The device may also include software means. Alternatively, the embodiments may be implemented on different hardware devices, e.g. using a plurality of CPUs.
[030] The embodiments herein can comprise hardware and software elements. The embodiments that are implemented in software include but are not limited to, firmware, resident software, microcode, etc. The functions performed by various modules described herein may be implemented in other modules or combinations of other modules. For the purposes of this description, a computer-usable or computer readable medium can be any apparatus that can comprise, store, communicate, propagate, or transport the program for use by or in connection with the instruction execution system, apparatus, or device.
[031] The illustrated steps are set out to explain the exemplary embodiments shown, and it should be anticipated that ongoing technological development will change the manner in which particular functions are performed. These examples are presented herein for purposes of illustration, and not limitation. Further, the boundaries of the functional building blocks have been arbitrarily defined herein for the convenience of the description. Alternative boundaries can be defined so long as the specified functions and relationships thereof are appropriately performed. Alternatives (including equivalents, extensions, variations, deviations, etc., of those described herein) will be apparent to persons skilled in the relevant art(s) based on the teachings contained herein. Such alternatives fall within the scope and spirit of the disclosed embodiments. Also, the words “comprising,” “having,” “containing,” and “including,” and other similar forms are intended to be equivalent in meaning and be open ended in that an item or items following any one of these words is not meant to be an exhaustive listing of such item or items, or meant to be limited to only the listed item or items. It must also be noted that as used herein and in the appended claims, the singular forms “a,” “an,” and “the” include plural references unless the context clearly dictates otherwise.
[032] Furthermore, one or more computer-readable storage media may be utilized in implementing embodiments consistent with the present disclosure. A computer-readable storage medium refers to any type of physical memory on which information or data readable by a processor may be stored. Thus, a computer-readable storage medium may store instructions for execution by one or more processors, including instructions for causing the processor(s) to perform steps or stages consistent with the embodiments described herein. The term “computer-readable medium” should be understood to include tangible items and exclude carrier waves and transient signals, i.e., be non-transitory. Examples include random access memory (RAM), read-only memory (ROM), volatile memory, nonvolatile memory, hard drives, CD ROMs, DVDs, flash drives, disks, and any other known physical storage media.
[033] It is intended that the disclosure and examples be considered as exemplary only, with a true scope and spirit of disclosed embodiments being indicated by the following claims.