Configurable data accumulators

• US 10,152,682 B2
• Filed: 05/16/2014
• Issued: 12/11/2018
• Est. Priority Date: 05/16/2013
• Status: Active Grant

• Current Assignee: Toshiba Global Commerce Solutions Holdings Corporation (Toshiba Corporation)
• Original Assignee: Toshiba Global Commerce Solutions Holdings Corporation (Toshiba Corporation)
• Inventors: Bond, Julia Patten, Noonan, William James, Prasad, Kavita, Rogers, David Thomas, Selvaraj, Kathiresan R.
• Primary Examiner(s): Delich, Stephanie Z
• Application Number:
  US14/280,381
• Publication Number:
  US 20140343979A1
• Time in Patent Office: 1,670 Days
• CPC Class Codes: G06F 16/2282 Tablespace storage structures; Management thereof
• CPC Class Codes: G06Q 10/063 Operations research, analysis or management
• CPC Class Codes: G06Q 20/047 using payment protocols involving electronic receipts
• CPC Class Codes: G06Q 20/209 Specified transaction journal output feature, e.g. printed receipt or voice output
• CPC Class Codes: G06Q 30/0207 Discounts or incentives, e.g. coupons or rebates
• CPC Class Codes: G06Q 30/0238 at point-of-sale [POS]
• CPC Class Codes: G07G 5/00 Receipt-giving machines cash registers giving receipts G07G1/00
• CPC Class Codes: H04L 67/10 in which an application is distributed across nodes in the network software deployment G06F8/60; multiprogramming arrangements G06F9/46
• CPC Class Codes: H04L 67/1012 based on compliance of requirements or conditions with available server resources

Abstract

Embodiments provide techniques for creating and managing accumulator tables for use in generating reports for a business entity. Embodiments include identifying a report for a business entity. A plurality of data fields are determined across two or more database tables that are used to generate the report. Embodiments include creating an accumulator table and populating the accumulator table with data values for all of the plurality of data fields. Upon receiving, from a point of sale system, an indicator of an occurrence of a business event for the business entity, an instance of the report is automatically generated using the populated accumulator table.

Claims

1. A computer-implemented method of report generation based on accumulator tables, the computer-implemented method comprising:

identifying a report for a business entity, the report having an associated accumulator flag;

determining a plurality of data fields across two or more database tables that are used to generate the report, wherein the two or more database tables are located within a database managed by a database management system;

creating an accumulator table within the database, the accumulator table including one or more of the determined plurality of data fields;

upon determining that a first transaction event for the business entity has completed successfully on a point of sale system and that the accumulator flag associated with the report is enabled, automatically populating, by operation of one or more computer processors, the accumulator table with at least one data value from the first transaction event and corresponding to at least one of the plurality of data fields, wherein the at least one data value remains stored in the two or more database tables after populating the accumulator table;

upon receiving, from the point of sale system, an indicator of an occurrence of a business event for the business entity, automatically generating an instance of the report by submitting one or more database queries for execution against the populated accumulator table, wherein the database management system does not perform a join operation between the two or more database tables in executing the one or more database queries, wherein the report is not generated using any of the two of more database tables; and

upon determining that the accumulator flag associated with the report is disabled, ceasing the populating of the accumulator table with data values for all of the plurality of data fields.

2. The computer-implemented method of claim 1, wherein the business event comprises at least one of a store open event and a store close event.

3. The computer-implemented method of claim 1, wherein the accumulator table stores data values only for the plurality of data fields used to generate the identified report.

4. The computer-implemented method of claim 1, further comprising:

upon determining that the accumulator flag associated with the report is enabled, resuming populating of the accumulator table with the at least one data value.

5. The computer-implemented method of claim 1, wherein populating the accumulator table with the at least one data value comprises:

receiving, from the point of sale system, transaction data corresponding to the first transaction event on the point of sale system; and

storing at least part of the transaction data in the accumulator table.

6. The computer-implemented method of claim 1, further comprising:

subsequent to generating the instance of the report, disabling the accumulator flag associated with the report, whereafter even upon determining that a second transaction event for the business entity has completed successfully on the point of sale system, the accumulator table is not populated with any data value from the second transaction event, as a result of the accumulator flag being disabled.

7. The computer-implemented method of claim 6, wherein the accumulator table stores data values only for the plurality of data fields used to generate the identified report, wherein the business event comprises, in respective instances, a store open event and a store close event.

8. The computer-implemented method of claim 7, further comprising:

subsequent to disabling the accumulator flag associated with the report, enabling the accumulator flag associated with the report; and

upon determining that the accumulator flag associated with the report is enabled, resuming populating of the accumulator table with the at least one data value.

9. The computer-implemented method of claim 8, wherein populating the accumulator table with the at least one data value comprises:

receiving, from the point of sale system, transaction data corresponding to the first transaction event on the point of sale system; and

storing at least part of the transaction data in the accumulator table.

10. The computer-implemented method of claim 9, wherein each of the two or more database tables comprises a respective data transaction table separate from the accumulator table, wherein the point of sale system is operatively connected to an enterprise server via a network, wherein the enterprise server includes a plurality of components including the database management system and a data accumulation component, wherein the data accumulation component is configured to create and automatically populate the accumulator table, wherein the first and second transaction events correspond to distinct transactions on the point of sale system.

11. A system of report generation based on accumulator tables, the system comprising:

one or more computer processors; and

a memory containing a program that, when executed by the one or more computer processors, performs an operation comprising;

identifying a report for a business entity, the report having an associated accumulator flag;

determining a plurality of data fields across two or more database tables that are used to generate the report, wherein the two or more database tables are located within a database managed by a database management system;

creating an accumulator table within the database, the accumulator table including one or more of the determined plurality of data fields;

upon determining that a first transaction event for the business entity has completed successfully on a point of sale system and that the accumulator flag associated with the report is enabled, automatically populating the accumulator table with at least one data value from the first transaction event and corresponding to at least one of the plurality of data fields, wherein the at least one data value remains stored in the two or more database tables after populating the accumulator table;

upon receiving, from the point of sale system, an indicator of an occurrence of a business event for the business entity, automatically generating an instance of the report by submitting one or more database queries for execution against the populated accumulator table, wherein the database management system does not perform a join operation between the two or more database tables in executing the one or more database queries, wherein the report is not generated using any of the two of more database tables; and

upon determining that the accumulator flag associated with the report is disabled, ceasing the populating of the accumulator table with data values for all of the plurality of data fields.

12. The system of claim 11, wherein the business event comprises at least one of a store open event and a store close event.

13. The system of claim 11, wherein the accumulator table stores data values only for the plurality of data fields used to generate the identified report.

14. The system of claim 11, the operation further comprising:

upon determining that the accumulator flag associated with the report is enabled, resuming populating of the accumulator table with the at least one data value.

15. The system of claim 11, wherein populating the accumulator table with the at least one data value comprises:

receiving, from the point of sale system, transaction data corresponding to the first transaction event on the point of sale system; and

storing at least part of the transaction data in the accumulator table.

16. A non-transitory computer-readable medium containing a program that, when executed, performs an operation for report generation based on accumulator tables, the operation comprising:

identifying a report for a business entity, the report having an associated accumulator flag;

determining a plurality of data fields across two or more database tables that are used to generate the report, wherein the two or more database tables are located within a database managed by a database management system;

creating an accumulator table within the database, the accumulator table including one or more of the determined plurality of data fields;

upon determining that a first transaction event for the business entity has completed successfully on a point of sale system and that the accumulator flag associated with the report is enabled, automatically populating, by operation of one or more computer processors when executing the program, the accumulator table with at least one data value from the first transaction event and corresponding to at least one of the plurality of data fields, wherein the at least one data value remains stored in the two or more database tables after populating the accumulator table; and

upon receiving, from the point of sale system, an indicator of an occurrence of a business event for the business entity, automatically generating an instance of the report by submitting one or more database queries for execution against the populated accumulator table, wherein the database management system does not perform a join operation between the two or more database tables in executing the one or more database queries, wherein the report is not generated using any of the two of more database tables; and

upon determining that the accumulator flag associated with the report is disabled, ceasing the populating of the accumulator table with data values for all of the plurality of data fields.

17. The non-transitory computer-readable medium of claim 16, wherein the accumulator table stores data values only for the plurality of data fields used to generate the identified report.

18. The non-transitory computer-readable medium of claim 16, wherein the business event comprises at least one of a store open event and a store close event.

19. The non-transitory computer-readable medium of claim 16, the operation further comprising:

upon determining that the accumulator flap associated with the report is enabled, resuming populating of the accumulator table with the at least one data value.

20. The non-transitory computer-readable medium of claim 16, wherein populating the accumulator table with the at least one data value comprises:

receiving, from the point of sale system, transaction data corresponding to the first transaction event on the point of sale system; and

storing at least part of the transaction data in the accumulator table.