Fast determination of subtype relationship in a single inheritance type hierarchy
US5267349A · kind A · utility
6Cited by
1References
9Claims
0Family size
Assignee
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Key dates
| Filing date | Mar 6, 1990 |
| Grant date | Nov 30, 1993 |
| Priority date | — |
| Expiry date | Mar 6, 2010 |
Classification
- Technology area (CPC G)Physics
- CPC primaryG06F9/4492
- WIPO fieldComputer technology
- WIPO sectorElectrical engineering
Abstract
A system and method for quickly determining whether a requested object is an ancestor of a particular object where both objects are contained in a single inheritance type hierarchy. The system encodes each object in memory with a binary pattern that indicates the ancestry of the object and a mask which indicates which bits of the binary pattern are significant for determining ancestry. This allows a system, upon receiving a request for an object, to determine in only two steps whether any particular object in memory can satisfy the request as a sub-type of the requested object.
Source: USPTO / EPO open patent data. Objective bibliographic and citation counts.