Unique identification management

Patent metadata

Field	Value
Publication number	US-11892992-B2
Application number	US-202217649475-A
Country	US
Kind code	B2
Filing date	Jan 31, 2022
Priority date	Jan 31, 2022
Publication date	Feb 6, 2024
Grant date	Feb 6, 2024

Abstract

Techniques are disclosed relating to implementing synthetic identifiers (IDs) for a non-relational database. A server system may operate a database, which includes receiving requests to access records of the database using synthetic IDs. But the database may be searchable using natural IDs. The server system may receive a request to insert a record. In response, the server system may obtain, from a first instance of multiple ID generator instances that implement a distributed ID generator service, a synthetic ID generated based on an identifier assigned to the first ID generator instance. The server system may insert the record with the synthetic ID and a natural ID that corresponds to one or more values of the record. The server system may cause the synthetic ID and the natural ID to be stored in an index of the database to enable the record to be accessed via the synthetic ID.

First claim

What is claimed is:

1. A method, comprising:
operating, by a server system, a database, including receiving requests to access records of the database, wherein the requests specify synthetic identifiers (IDs) that are included in respective corresponding records currently stored in the database and are usable to access the respective corresponding records but do not include user-provided values of the records, and wherein the database is searchable using natural IDs that respectively comprise one or more values of a record that uniquely identify a corresponding record of the database;
receiving, by the server system, a request to insert a new record into the database;
in response to the request, obtaining, by the server system from a first instance of a plurality of identifier (ID) generator instances that implement a distributed ID generator service, a new synthetic ID for the new record, wherein the new synthetic ID is generated based on an identifier assigned to the first ID generator instance to ensure uniqueness of the new synthetic ID across the database;
inserting, by the server system, the new record into the database, wherein the new record includes the new synthetic ID and a natural ID that corresponds to one or more values of the new record; and
causing, by the server system, an index of the database to be updated to store the new synthetic ID and the natural ID, wherein the index enables the new record to be accessed using the natural ID based on the new synthetic ID stored in the index.

2. The method of claim 1 , wherein the new record is a child record that specifies a natural ID of a parent record, and wherein the method further comprises:
after inserting the child record, the server system:
accessing the parent record using the natural ID of the parent record specified by the child record; and
updating the child record to specify a synthetic ID of the parent record.

3. The method of claim 1 , wherein the new record is a child record inserted before a corresponding parent record, and wherein the method further comprises:
after inserting the child record, the server system:
inserting the parent record into the database; and
updating the child record to specify a synthetic ID of the parent record.

4. The method of claim 1 , wherein the record is a child record that specifies a natural ID of a parent record and a synthetic ID of the parent record, and wherein the method further comprises the server system:
deleting the parent record from the database;
reinserting the parent record into the database;
updating the child record to specify a null value for the synthetic ID of the parent record; and
after the updating, updating the child record to specify the synthetic ID of the parent record.

5. The method of claim 1 , wherein the database is a non-relational database operated by a plurality of server systems, and wherein synthetic IDs generated by the distributed ID generator service are unique across the plurality of server systems.

6. The method of claim 1 , wherein the obtaining of the new synthetic ID includes the server system:
providing, to the first ID generator instance, a record type and a tenant ID of a tenant associated with the new record, wherein the new synthetic ID is unique to records of the record type with respect to the tenant.

7. The method of claim 1 , wherein the obtaining of the new synthetic ID includes the server system:
sending a synthetic ID request to the first ID generator instance to generate a batch of synthetic IDs having the new synthetic ID, wherein the server system is operable to insert a set of records using ones of the batch of synthetic IDs without issuing another synthetic ID request to the first ID generator instance.

8. The method of claim 1 , further comprising:
deleting the new record from the database; and
reinserting the new record into the database, wherein the reinserted record includes the natural ID but a different synthetic ID.

9. The method of claim 1 , wherein the new record is queryable using the new synthetic ID and the natural ID.

10. The method of claim 1 , wherein the natural ID is specified by a provider of the request to insert the new record.

11. A non-transitory computer-readable medium having program instructions stored thereon that are capable of causing a computer system to perform operations comprising:
operating a database, including receiving requests to access records of the database, wherein the requests specify synthetic identifiers (IDs) that are included in respective corresponding records currently stored in the database and are usable to access the respective corresponding records but do not include user-provided values of the records, and wherein the database is searchable using natural IDs that respectively comprise one or more values of a record that uniquely identify a corresponding record of the database;
receiving a request to insert a new record into the database;
obtaining, from a first instance of a set of identifier (ID) generator instances that implement a distributed ID generator service, a new synthetic ID for the new record, wherein the new synthetic ID is generated based on an identifier assigned to the first ID generator instance to ensure uniqueness of the new synthetic ID across the database;
inserting the new record into the database, wherein the new record includes the new synthetic ID and a natural ID that corresponds to one or more values of the new record; and
causing an index of the database to be updated to store the new synthetic ID and the natural ID, wherein the index enables the new record to be accessed using the natural ID based on the new synthetic ID stored in the index.

12. The medium of claim 11 , wherein the new record is a child record that specifies a natural ID of a parent record, and wherein the operations further comprise:
accessing the parent record using the natural ID of the parent record specified by the child record; and
updating the child record to specify a synthetic ID of the parent record to enable the child record to be accessed using the synthetic ID of the parent record.

13. The medium of claim 11 , wherein the new record is a child record inserted before a corresponding parent record, and wherein the operations further comprise:
after inserting the parent record, updating the child record to specify a synthetic ID included in the parent record.

14. The medium of claim 11 , wherein the new synthetic ID is obtained as a part of a batch of synthetic IDs provided by the first ID generator instance.

15. The medium of claim 11 , wherein a portion of the new synthetic ID specifies the identifier assigned to the first ID generator instance.

16. A system, comprising:
at least one processor; and
memory having program instructions stored thereon that are executable by the at least one processor to cause the system to perform operations comprising:
operating a database, including receiving requests to access records of the database, wherein the requests specify synthetic identifiers (IDs) that are included in respective corresponding records currently stored in the database and are usable to access the respective corresponding records but do not include user-provided values of the record, and wherein the database is searchable using natural IDs that respectively comprise one or more values of a record that uniquely identify a corresponding record of the database;
receiving a request to insert a new record into the database;
obtaining, from a first instance of a set of identifier (ID) generator instances that implement a distributed

Assignees

• Salesforce Com Inc
• Salesforce Inc

Inventors

• Gaydorus Danielle Elise
• Busjaeger Benjamin
• Babu Sharath Gilbuena

Classifications

• G06F16/22 Primary

  Indexing; Data structures therefor; Storage structures · CPC title

• G06F16/213

  with details for schema evolution support · CPC title

• G06F16/2358

  Change logging, detection, and notification (replication G06F16/27) · CPC title

• G06F16/2445

  Data retrieval commands; View definitions · CPC title

• G06F16/2228 Primary

  Indexing structures · CPC title