Method and device for identifying an application type of unknown data

Abstract

The present embodiments relate generally to a computer device, system and method of identifying an application type of unknown data. The method may include: determining that the unknown data corresponds to database information, the database information comprising at least one table with at least one column; for a column of a table in the database information, determining if a column identifier of the column comprises a keyword associated with a particular application type; and if the column identifier comprises the keyword, identifying data stored in the database as belonging to an application that is of the particular application type.

1 . A method of identifying an application type of unknown data, the method comprising:
 determining that the unknown data corresponds to database information, the database information comprising at least one table with at least one column;   for a column of a table in the database information,   determining if a column identifier of the column comprises a keyword associated with a particular application type; and   if the column identifier comprises the keyword, identifying data stored in the database as belonging to an application that is of the particular application type.   
     
     
         2 . The method of  claim 1 , wherein the keyword is associated with a data field that is commonly used by an application of the particular application type. 
     
     
         3 . The method of  claim 2 , wherein prior to identifying the data stored in the database as belonging to an application that is of the particular application type, the method further comprises:
 sampling a data record in the table; and   determining that data for the column in the data record is consistent with data for the data field that would belong to an application of the particular application type.   
     
     
         4 . The method of  claim 3 , wherein the data field comprises a date/time field, and the method further comprises:
 converting the data in the column in the data record to each of a plurality of date/time formats;   comparing the converted data, in each respective date/time format, to each other to determine which converted data is closest to a reference date/time; and   for the converted data that is closest to the reference date/time, identifying the date/time format of the converted data as the date/time format of the data in the column of the table.   
     
     
         5 . The method of  claim 2 , wherein the method further comprises:
 storing a mapping between the data field and the column, the mapping being accessible during recovery of data in the database to indicate that data for the column in the table is associated with the data field.   
     
     
         6 . The method of  claim 5 , further comprising:
 displaying the mapping between the data field and the column in a user interface, wherein the user interface provides an option to select an alternative column of the table to be mapped to the data field;   receiving input indicating that the data field is to be mapped to the alternative column; and   storing an updated mapping for the data field, the updated mapping indicating that the data field is mapped to the alternative column.   
     
     
         7 . The method of  claim 2 , wherein the particular application type comprises a messaging application, and the data field that is commonly used comprises one of: a sender field, a recipient field, a message field, and a timestamp field. 
     
     
         8 . The method of  claim 2 , wherein the particular application type comprises a web browser application, and the data field that is commonly used comprises one of: an address field, a date field, a bookmark field, and a title field. 
     
     
         9 . The method of  claim 2 , wherein the particular application type comprises a geographic location-enabled application, and the data field that is commonly used comprises one of: a longitude field, a latitude field, a destination field, a direction field, and a route field. 
     
     
         10 . The method of  claim 1 , wherein the particular application type comprises a messaging application, and the keyword comprises one of the following words: message, subject, text, msg, body, content, date, time, timestamp, from, sender, author, uid, member, to, receiver, conversation, recipient, partner, participant, and party. 
     
     
         11 . The method of  claim 1 , wherein the particular application type comprises a web browser application, and the keyword comprises one of the following words: address, location, loc, URL, visited, date, bookmark, favorite and title. 
     
     
         12 . The method of  claim 1 , wherein the particular application type comprises a geographic location-enabled application, and the keyword comprises one of the following words: coordinate, longitude, latitude, location, loc, home, destination, direction, and route. 
     
     
         13 . A computing device comprising a processor and a memory storing instructions which, when executed by the processor, cause the processor to perform the method as claimed in  claim 1 . 
     
     
         14 . A computer readable medium comprising instructions which, when executed by a processor, cause the processor to perform the method as claimed in  claim 1 . 
     
     
         15 . The computer readable medium of  claim 14 , wherein the computer readable medium is non-transitory. 
     
     
         16 . A system adapted to perform any one or more of the methods as described in  claim 1 . 
     
     
         17 . A device comprising at least one processor adapted to perform any one or more of the methods as described in  claim 1 .