Dynamic query of server applications

• US 20020123984A1
• Filed: 10/26/2001
• Published: 09/05/2002
• Est. Priority Date: 08/23/1999
• Status: Abandoned Application

• Current Assignee: Naveen Prakash
• Original Assignee: Naveen Prakash
• Inventors: Prakash, Naveen
• Application Number:
  US10/055,505
• Publication Number:
  US 20020123984A1
• Time in Patent Office: Days
• US Class Current: 707/1
• CPC Class Codes: G06F 8/34 Graphical or visual programming
• CPC Class Codes: G06F 9/454 Multi-language systems; Localisation; Internationalisation

Abstract

A framework for the creation and execution of a dynamic query (or recommended content) that includes a web-based interface for a business manager or administrator to query data in applications running on a server system. Graphical user interface screens will allow a user to create leaf conditions (or expressions), and to logically join the leaf conditions into more complex conditions. The conditions are then collectively joined into a query. The query will be persisted into database tables by saving the Where Clause in XML. The query can be executed using a adapter-connector framework provided by a host platform (i.e., the referenced Asera platform). Thereafter, the results will be displayed to the end user.

Claims

1. A method for creating information queries to be used for locating and displaying information from a variety of applications running on a server system, the method comprising:

interactively displaying at least one browser-based graphical user interface screen;

creating at least one condition in response to prompts from the graphical user interface screens;

prompting for the logical combination of the conditions into a query;

prompting for the logical combination of the queries into a complex query;

persisting the resulting query into associated database tables;

executing the query; and

displaying the results of the query to the end user.

2. The method of claim 1, wherein the step of persisting the resulting query includes saving the Where Clause in XML.

3. The method of claim 1 wherein the query includes attributes.

4. The method of claim 3, wherein the step of persisting the resulting query includes serializing the Where Clause and saving it with other query attributes.

5. The method of claim 1, wherein the step of creating at least one condition results in the formation of a plurality of logical trees corresponding to the conditions.

6. The method of claim 5, wherein the logical trees are comprised of leaf conditions having one expression, and non-leaf conditions having more than one expression.

7. The method of claim 5, wherein leaf conditions can be combined into non-leaf conditions.

8. The method of claim 6, wherein non-leaf conditions can be split back into leaf conditions.

9. The method of claim 4, wherein the plurality of logical trees are combined into one tree using logical operators.

10. The method of claim 1, wherein the step of executing the query includes executing the query using a query-adapter framework.

11. The method of claim 10, wherein the adapter-connector framework includes the Asera adapter-connector framework.

12. The method of claim 1, wherein the step of displaying the results includes rendering of personalization rule (PR) tags.

13. The method of claim 1, wherein the step of displaying the results includes rendering of micro-templates.

15. The graphical user interface of claim 14, wherein the Where Clause is serialized into an extensible markup language (XML) construct.

16. The graphical user interface of claim 14, wherein the conditions are rendered using HTML tables.

17. The graphical user interface of claim 14, wherein the conditions exist as trees which are grouped into sub-tree levels, and use parenthesized representation for condition sub-trees at a certain level N.

18. The graphical user interface of claim 17, wherein a tree that is only N levels deep uses HTML constructs for indentation.

19. The graphical user interface of claim 17, wherein N is 2.

20. The graphical user interface of claim 14, wherein the interactive screens are browser based.

14. A graphical user interface that provides for creating the conditions for a Where Clause of a query in any form, the interface comprising:

at least one interactive screen to allow the user to select query leaf conditions;

at least one interactive screen to allow the user to logically nest and join query leaf conditions;

at least one interactive screen to allow the user to change the nesting and joining of query leaf conditions; and

at least one interactive screen to allow the user to repeat certain screens, thereby adding more leaf conditions, and joining them into a more complex condition,

whereby the resulting query is saved in a persistent storage for execution of the query, and for display of the query results.