Patent ID: 7647632

Claim:
A method for updating an object reference table comprising a plurality of records, wherein each record represents an object and comprises an object identifier (OID) field and a uniform resource identifier (URI) field, and wherein an object is electronic data that encodes configuration information for a processor-based system, the method comprising: using a processor to determine that an object has been deleted, or to determine that an object has been created, or to determine that an object's URI has changed, wherein the object is associated with an OID and a URI; responsive to determining that the object has been deleted: determining a record in the object reference table that corresponds to the deleted object, wherein a reference identifier associated with the record matches a reference identifier associated with the object; and deleting the OID field value of the record or setting the OID field value of the record to null; responsive to determining that the object has been created: determining a record in the object reference table that corresponds to the created object, wherein the URI associated with the record matches the URI associated with the created object; and setting the OID field value of the record to the OID associated with the created object; and responsive to determining that the object's URI has changed: determining a record in the object reference table that corresponds to the changed object, wherein the OID associated with the record matches the OID associated with the changed object; and setting the URI field value of the record to the URI associated with the changed object.