Method of storing, maintaining and distributing computer intelligible electronic data

• US 20030037037A1
• Filed: 08/24/2001
• Published: 02/20/2003
• Est. Priority Date: 08/17/2001
• Status: Active Grant

• Current Assignee: EC Outlook, Inc. (Lannsys, Inc.)
• Original Assignee: EC Outlook, Inc. (Lannsys, Inc.)
• Inventors: Zimmerman, Steven R., Kiani, Fouzia S., Davee, James R., Adams, Steven E.
• Granted Patent: US 6,931,408 B2
• Time in Patent Office: Days
• US Class Current: 707/1
• CPC Class Codes: G06F 16/2228 Indexing structures
• CPC Class Codes: Y10S 707/966 Distributed
• CPC Class Codes: Y10S 707/99945 Object-oriented database structure processing

Abstract

The present invention provides an improved method of storing, maintaining, and distributing computer intelligible electronic data that substantially reduces the cost and complexity of traditional database management systems. The present invention provides a unstructured database capable of efficiently accessing and storing electronic data, regardless of the data'"'"'s structure. Instead of slotting incoming data into a predefined rigid storage structure, the present invention analyzes the inherent structure of the incoming data. Based upon the results of this analysis, the unstructured database of the present invention generates a storage model using tokenized symbology representing the inherent structure of the data. The tokenized symbology of the present invention is utilized to provide immediate access to each data field in a given record. The present invention utilizes logical and positional pointers to allow entire records associated with any data field to be generated without the need for additional search queries.

Claims

1. A method of storing, maintaining and distributing computer intelligible electronic data comprising the steps of:

providing a database capable of storing electronic data;

accessing a first set of electronic data having a structure;

analyzing said structure of said first set of electronic data;

assigning a first tokenized symbolic identifier to said first set of data based upon said structure of said first set of data; and

storing said first set of data within said database using said first identifier.

2. The method of claim 1, further comprising the steps of:

creating, within said database, a data storage structure associated with one or more symbolic identifiers; and

comparing said first identifier to a second symbolic tokenized identifier stored upon said database.

3. The method of claim 2, further comprising the step of:

if said first identifier substantially matches said second tokenized identifier, storing said first set of data within said data storage structure associated with said second tokenized identifier.

4. The method of claim 1, further comprising the step of:

assigning one or more referential pointers to said first set of data.

5. The method of claim 1, further comprising the step of:

assigning one or more referential pointers to said first tokenized symbolic identifier.

6. A computer readable medium comprising a plurality of instructions for storing, maintaining and distributing computer intelligible electronic data which, when read by a computer system having a database capable of storing one or more electronic data, causes the computer to perform the steps of:

accessing a first set of data having a structure;

analyzing said structure of said first set of data;

assigning a first tokenized symbolic identifier to said first set of data based upon said structure of said first set of data; and

storing said first set of data within said database using said first identifier.

7. The computer readable medium of claim 6, wherein said plurality of instructions causes the computer to perform the additional step of:

creating, within said database, a data storage structure associated with one or more symbolic identifiers; and

comparing said first identifier to a second symbolic tokenized identifier stored upon said database.

8. The computer readable medium of claim 7, wherein said plurality of instructions causes the computer to perform the additional step of:

if said first identifier substantially matches said second tokenized identifier, storing said first set of data within said data storage structure associated with said second tokenized identifier.

9. The computer readable medium of claim 6, wherein said plurality of instructions causes the computer to perform the additional step of:

assigning one or more referential pointers to said first set of data.

10. The computer readable medium of claim 6, wherein said plurality of instructions causes the computer to perform the additional step of:

assigning one or more referential pointers to said first tokenized symbolic identifier.