Methods and apparatus for mapping a hierarchical data structure to a flat data structure for use in generating a report

• US 20060064428A1
• Filed: 09/17/2004
• Published: 03/23/2006
• Est. Priority Date: 09/17/2004
• Status: Active Grant

• Current Assignee: Open Text Holdings, Inc. (Open Text Corporation)
• Original Assignee: Actuate Corporation (Open Text Corporation)
• Inventors: Jain, Vishal, Colaco, Rohit
• Granted Patent: US 7,925,658 B2
• Time in Patent Office: Days
• US Class Current: 1/1
• CPC Class Codes: G06F 16/86 Mapping to a database

Abstract

Methods and apparatus for generating a report from hierarchically formatted data are disclosed. First, a data source including one or more files having a hierarchical file format is identified, where each of the files includes one or more data elements. A relational database model is obtained, where the relational database model includes one or more virtual tables, each of the virtual tables including one or more virtual columns. The relational database model is then mapped to the hierarchical file format. A query may be obtained using the virtual relational database. Data is then obtained from the virtual relational database corresponding to the query, thereby enabling a report including the data to be generated.

Claims

1. A method of generating a report, comprising:

identifying a data source including one or more files having a hierarchical file format including one or more data elements;

obtaining a relational database model, the relational database model including one or more virtual tables, each of the virtual tables including one or more virtual columns; and

mapping the relational database model to the hierarchical file format.

2. The method as recited in claim 1, further comprising:

defining a relationship between the virtual tables.

3. The method as recited in claim 2, wherein defining a relationship between the virtual tables comprises:

defining a virtual primary key.

4. The method as recited in claim 2, wherein defining a relationship between the virtual tables comprises:

defining a virtual foreign key.

5. The method as recited in claim 1, wherein the data elements are nested to indicate hierarchical relationships between the data elements.

6. The method as recited in claim 1, further comprising:

defining a column name for each of the virtual columns.

7. The method as recited in claim 1, further comprising:

defining a table name for each of the virtual tables.

8. The method as recited in claim 1, further comprising:

modifying one or more of the virtual tables.

9. The method as recited in claim 1, further comprising:

removing one or more of the virtual columns from one of the virtual tables.

10. The method as recited in claim 1, further comprising:

adding one or more virtual columns to one of the virtual tables.

11. The method as recited in claim 1, further comprising:

deleting one or more of the virtual tables.

12. The method as recited in claim 1, wherein mapping the relational database model to the hierarchical file format comprises:

generating a tree data structure mapping the relational database model to the hierarchical file format.

13. The method as recited in claim 1, wherein mapping the relational database model to the hierarchical file format comprises:

generating a tree data structure mapping the relational database model to at least a portion of data from the data source.

14. The method as recited in claim 1, wherein the data source comprises:

a plurality of files, wherein a first set of one or more of the files have a first hierarchical file format and wherein a second set of one more of the files have a second hierarchical file format, wherein the mapping is performed for the first set of files and the second set of files.

15. The method as recited in claim 14, wherein at least one of the files is a XML file or a XSD file.

16. The method as recited in claim 1, further comprising:

parsing the one or more files to obtain data corresponding to the one or more virtual columns.

17. The method as recited in claim 1, wherein the hierarchical file format includes a plurality of data elements, each of the plurality of data elements having an element name and an associated path in the corresponding file.

18. The method as recited in claim 17, wherein the element name corresponds to a single level in the hierarchical file format.

19. The method as recited in claim 17, wherein the element name corresponds to all levels in the hierarchical file format.

20. The method as recited in claim 17, wherein the hierarchical file format is XML or XSD.

21. The method as recited in claim 17, wherein mapping the relational database model to the hierarchical file format comprises:

mapping each of the virtual tables and each of the virtual columns to an element name or path in the corresponding file.

22. The method as recited in claim 21, wherein the hierarchical file format is XML or XSD.

23. The method as recited in claim 22, wherein each of the virtual tables has an associated table definition and each of the virtual columns has an associated column definition, wherein each table definition and column definition is defined by the element name or path in the corresponding file.

24. The method as recited in claim 21, wherein each of the virtual tables has an associated table definition and each of the virtual columns has an associated column definition, wherein each table definition and column definition is defined by the element name or path in the corresponding file.

25. The method as recited in claim 24, wherein a column name associated with each of the virtual columns corresponds to the element name or path in the corresponding file and a table name associated with each of the virtual tables corresponds to the element name or path in the corresponding file.

26. The method as recited in claim 24, wherein each of the virtual columns and virtual tables has an associated name that has been user defined.

27. The method as recited in claim 24, further comprising:

adding a table definition defining a virtual table.

28. The method as recited in claim 24, further comprising:

adding a column definition defining a virtual column.

29. The method as recited in claim 24, further comprising:

modifying a table definition such that the virtual table is defined by a different element name or path in the corresponding file.

30. The method as recited in claim 24, further comprising:

modifying a column definition such that the virtual column is defined by a different element name or path in the corresponding file.

31. The method as recited in claim 24, further comprising:

deleting a table definition defining a virtual table.

32. The method as recited in claim 24, further comprising:

deleting a column definition defining a virtual column.

33. The method as recited in claim 1, further comprising:

inserting a virtual primary key into at least one of the files.

34. The method as recited in claim 1, further comprising:

inserting a virtual foreign key into at least one of the files.

35. The method as recited in claim 1, wherein each of the virtual columns has a number associated therewith, the method further comprising:

inserting a number associated with at least one of the virtual columns in at least one of the files, thereby inserting at least one of a foreign key and primary key into at least one of the files.

36. The method as recited in claim 1, further comprising:

obtaining a query using the relational database model;

obtaining data from the relational database model corresponding to the query; and

generating a report including the data.

37. The method as recited in claim 36, wherein the data is obtained from the data source.

38. The method as recited in claim 36, wherein the data is obtained from an intermediary data structure.

39. A method of generating a report, comprising:

providing a virtual relational database including one or more virtual tables, each of the virtual tables including one or more virtual columns, the virtual relational database being mapped to at least a portion of data obtained from a data source including one or more files having a hierarchical file format;

obtaining a query using the virtual relational database;

obtaining data from the virtual relational database corresponding to the query; and

generating a report including the data.

40. The method as recited in claim 39, wherein the query identifies one or more of the virtual tables and one or ore of the virtual columns in the virtual relational database.

41. The method as recited in claim 39, wherein the hierarchical file format is XML or XSD.

42. The method as recited in claim 39, wherein obtaining data from the virtual relational database comprises:

obtaining data from the data source mapped to the relational database.

43. The method as recited in claim 39, wherein a tree data structure maps data from the data source to the virtual relational database, wherein obtaining data from the virtual relational database comprises:

obtaining data from the tree data structure corresponding to the query.

44. The method as recited in claim 43, wherein the data from the data source is data obtained from the data source corresponding to the query.

45. The method as recited in claim 43, wherein the data from the data source is all data in the data source.

46. A computer-readable medium storing thereon computer-readable instructions for generating a report, comprising:

instructions for identifying a data source including one or more files having a hierarchical file format including one or more data elements;

instructions for obtaining a relational database model, the relational database model including one or more virtual tables, each of the virtual tables including one or more virtual columns; and

instructions for mapping the relational database model to the hierarchical file format.

47. An apparatus for generating a report, comprising:

means for identifying a data source including one or more files having a hierarchical file format including one or more data elements;

means for obtaining a relational database model, the relational database model including one or more virtual tables, each of the virtual tables including one or more virtual columns; and

means for mapping the relational database model to the hierarchical file format.

48. An apparatus for generating a report, comprising:

a processor; and

a memory, at least one of the processor and the memory being adapted for;

identifying a data source including one or more files having a hierarchical file format including one or more data elements;

obtaining a relational database model, the relational database model including one or more virtual tables, each of the virtual tables including one or more virtual columns; and

mapping the relational database model to the hierarchical file format.

49. A computer-readable medium storing thereon computer-readable instructions for generating a report, comprising:

instructions for providing a virtual relational database including one or more virtual tables, each of the virtual tables including one or more virtual columns, the virtual relational database being mapped to at least a portion of data obtained from a data source including one or more files having a hierarchical file format;

instructions for obtaining a query using the virtual relational database;

instructions for obtaining data from the virtual relational database corresponding to the query; and

instructions for generating a report including the data.

50. An apparatus for generating a report, comprising:

means for providing a virtual relational database including one or more virtual tables, each of the virtual tables including one or more virtual columns, the virtual relational database being mapped to at least a portion of data obtained from a data source including one or more files having a hierarchical file format;

means for obtaining a query using the virtual relational database;

means for obtaining data from the virtual relational database corresponding to the query; and

means for generating a report including the data.

51. An apparatus for generating a report, comprising:

a processor; and

a memory, at least one of the processor and the memory being adapted for;

providing a virtual relational database including one or more virtual tables, each of the virtual tables including one or more virtual columns, the virtual relational database being mapped to at least a portion of data obtained from a data source including one or more files having a hierarchical file format;

obtaining a query using the virtual relational database;

obtaining data from the virtual relational database corresponding to the query; and

generating a report including the data.