Method and system for migrating xml schemas in application releases

Abstract

A method and system for migrating Extensible Markup Language (XML) schemas between releases of a computing application. The method provides first and second versions of an XML document by the computing application, each version having a different schema. The first version is migrated to the second version using a migration step. The method uses a Dependency Injection Framework to abstract the characteristics of the at least one migration step. The method also transforms the first schema to the second schema, based on the abstracted characteristics of the at least one migration step, in such a way that the first version of the XML document is migrated into the second version of the XML document. The method migrates the first version into the second version in such a way that the second version can access application data from the first version.

1 . A method for migrating Extensible Markup Language (XML) schemas between releases of a computing application, the method comprising:
 providing a first version of an XML document by the computing application, the first version of the XML document having a first schema; and   providing at least one second version of an XML document by the computing application, the second version of the XML document having a second schema, wherein the second schema is different than the first schema;   migrating the first version of the XML document to the second version of the XML document using at least one migration step;   using a Dependency Injection Framework to abstract the characteristics of the at least one migration step; and   transforming the first schema to the second schema, based on the abstracted characteristics of the at least one migration step, in such a way that the first version of the XML document is migrated into the second version of the XML document,   wherein the first version of the XML document is migrated into the second version of the XML document in such a way that the second version of the XML document can access application data from the first version of the XML document.   
     
     
         2 . The method as recited in  claim 1 , wherein migrating the first version of the XML document into a second version of the XML document uses an Extensible Stylesheet Language Transformation (XSLT) to convert the structure of the XML document from the first version of the XML document to the second version of the XML document. 
     
     
         3 . The method as recited in  claim 1 , wherein migrating the first version of the XML document into a second version of the XML document comprises:
 inputting the first version of the XML document into an Extensible Stylesheet Language Transformation (XSLT) processor,   inputting an XSLT document into the XSLT processor, and   applying Extensible Stylesheet Language Transformation by the XSLT processor to generate the second version of the XML document.   
     
     
         4 . The method as recited in  claim 3 , wherein the XSLT processor:
 identifies the structure of the first version of the XML document, and   applies a template from the XSLT document to generate the second version of the XML document.   
     
     
         5 . The method as recited in  claim 3 , wherein the XSLT processor:
 filters the structure of the first version of the XML document,   reorders the structure of the first version of the XML document, and   adds an arbitrary structure to the first version of the XML document.   
     
     
         6 . The method as recited in  claim 3 , wherein the characteristics of the at least one migration step include the first version of the XML document, the second version of the XML document, and the XSLT document. 
     
     
         7 . The method as recited in  claim 1 , wherein the Dependency Injection Framework removes all dependencies between the at least one migration step and the application performing the migration of the first version of the XML document to the second version of the XML document. 
     
     
         8 . The method as recited in  claim 6 , wherein the first version of the XML document is migrated to the second version of the XML document without the application performing the migration being dependent on the at least one migration step. 
     
     
         9 . The method as recited in  claim 1 , wherein the first version of the XML document is released before the second version of the XML document, and wherein migrating the first version of the XML document to the second version of the XML document comprises an upgrade migration step. 
     
     
         10 . The method as recited in  claim 1 , wherein the second version of the XML document is released before the first version of the XML document, and wherein migrating the first version of the XML document to the second version of the XML document comprises a downgrade migration step. 
     
     
         11 . An Extensible Markup Language (XML) migration manager system for migrating schemas between releases of a computing application, the XML migration manager system comprising:
 a migration step executor;   a migration step container coupled to the migration step executor; and   a Dependent Injection Framework coupled to the migration step container,   wherein the Dependent Injection Framework collects at least one migration step for migrating a first version of an XML document by the computing application to a second version of an XML document by the computing application, wherein the first version of the XML document has a first schema, wherein the second version of the XML document has a second schema, and wherein the second schema is different than the first schema,   wherein the migration step container collects the at least one migration step from the Dependent Injection Framework and stores the at least one migration step within the migration step container,   wherein the Dependent Injection Framework removes any dependencies between the migration manager system and the at least one migration step by abstracting the characteristics of the at least one migration step,   wherein the migration step container determines a migration path based on the first version of the XML document and the second version of the XML document,   wherein the migration step executor fetches the migration path from the migration step container,   wherein the migration step executor transforms the first schema to the second schema, based on the abstracted characteristics of the at least one migration step, in such a way that the first version of the XML document is migrated into the second version of the XML document, and   wherein the first version of the XML document is migrated into the second version of the XML document in such a way that the second version of the XML document can access application data from the first version of the XML document.   
     
     
         12 . The XML migration manager system as recited in  claim 11 , wherein the migration step executor uses an Extensible Stylesheet Language Transformation (XSLT) processor to convert the structure of the XML document from the first version of the XML document to the second version of the XML document. 
     
     
         13 . The XML migration manager system as recited in  claim 11 , wherein the migration step executor:
 inputs the first version of the XML document into an Extensible Stylesheet Language Transformation (XSLT) processor, and   inputs an XSLT document into the XSLT processor, and   wherein the XSLT processor applies Extensible Stylesheet Language Transformation to generate the second version of the XML document.   
     
     
         14 . The XML migration manager system as recited in  claim 13 , wherein the XSLT processor:
 identifies the structure of the first version of the XML document, and   applies a template from the XSLT document to generate the second version of the XML document.   
     
     
         15 . The XML migration manager system as recited in  claim 13 , wherein the XSLT processor:
 filters the structure of the first version of the XML document,   reorders the structure of the first version of the XML document, and   adds an arbitrary structure to the first version of the XML document.   
     
     
         16 . The XML migration manager system as recited in  claim 13 , wherein the characteristics of the at least one migration step include the first version of the XML document, the second version of the XML document, and the XSLT document. 
     
     
         17 . The XML migration manager system as recited in  claim 11 , wherein the first version of the XML document is released before the second version of the XML document, and wherein migrating the first version of the XML document to the second version of the XML document comprises an upgrade migration step. 
     
     
         18 . The XML migration manager system as recited in  claim 11 , wherein the second version of the XML document is released before the first version of the XML document, and wherein migrating the first version of the XML document to the second version of the XML document comprises a downgrade migration step.