Automatically generating web forms from database schema

• US 20070282869A1
• Filed: 06/05/2006
• Published: 12/06/2007
• Est. Priority Date: 06/05/2006
• Status: Active Grant

• Current Assignee: Microsoft Technology Licensing LLC (Microsoft Corporation)
• Original Assignee: Microsoft Corporation
• Inventors: Millington, Bradley D., Niyogi, Shanku Shivabrata, Gibbs, Matthew E., Sanabria, Andres, Guthrie, Scott David, Paulus, Polita Mila, Alam, Kashif, Goldfarb, Brian Matthew
• Granted Patent: US 7,624,114 B2
• Time in Patent Office: Days
• US Class Current: 1/1
• CPC Class Codes: G06F 16/972 Access to data in other repository systems, e.g. legacy data or dynamic Web page generation
• CPC Class Codes: Y10S 707/99931 Database or file accessing
• CPC Class Codes: Y10S 707/99934 Query formulation, input preparation, or translation
• CPC Class Codes: Y10S 707/99935 Query augmenting and refining, e.g. inexact access
• CPC Class Codes: Y10S 707/99942 Manipulating data structure, e.g. compression, compaction, compilation
• CPC Class Codes: Y10S 707/99944 Object-oriented database structure

Abstract

The present invention extends to methods, systems, and computer program products for creating Web forms with automatically generated links. A database mapping for a database is accessed. One or more dynamic queries for querying a database are automatically formulated. The dynamic queries are included in an automatically generated Web site for the database in accordance with the database mapping. User-selected links are also included for executed the dynamic queries. Selection of a link causes a corresponding dynamic query to execute. Relationships between tables in a database can be inferred even when a relationship is not expressly described in schema describing the database. Dynamic queries can be any of sorting, pagination, addition, deletion, and modification queries.

Claims

1. At a computer system, a method for generating a Web based user-interface for interacting with a database, the method comprising:

an act of accessing a database mapping for a database, the database mapping having been generated from schema describing the configuration of data contained in the database, including describing a foreign key relationship from a first table to a second table of the database;

an act of inferring, from the existence of the foreign key relationship, that a relationship from the second table to the first table is also relevant, even though a relationship from the second table to the first table is not expressly described in the schema; and

an act of automatically generating a Web site for the database in accordance with the database mapping, the Web site configured to provide a plurality of navigable linked Web based forms for interacting with the data, including a first Web based form for interacting with data from the first table, the first Web based form configured with a navigable link to a second Web based form that utilizes the inferred relationship to provide a view of the first table in the context of a row from the second table.

2. The method as recited in claim 1, wherein the act of accessing a database mapping comprises an act of accessing a database mapping that was created through reflecting on a dynamic link library.

3. The method as recited in claim 1, wherein the act of inferring, from the existence of the foreign key relationship, that a relationship from the second table to the first table is also relevant comprising an act of inferring that values for a field in the second table represented by the foreign key in the first table can be included in a plurality of rows in the first table.

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

an act of automatically formulating a dynamic query for querying the database for records of the first table in the context of a row of the second table.

5. The method as recited in claim 4, wherein the act of automatically generating a Web site for the database in accordance with the database mapping comprises an act including the dynamic query in the automatically generated Web site.

6. The method as recited in claim 1, wherein the act of automatically generating a Web site for the database in accordance with the database mapping comprises an act of automatically generating a Web site that includes links for dynamic queries to perform at least of one sorting records from the first table and paging through records from the first table.

7. At a computer system, a method for generating a Web based user-interface for interacting with a database, the method comprising:

an act of accessing a database mapping for a database, the database mapping having been generated from schema describing the configuration of data contained in the database;

an act of automatically formulating a dynamic query configured to query a database table included in the database, the dynamic query being executable in response to a user initiated command to change the arrangement of records from the database table within a Web based form, the dynamic query configured to request records form the database table that are to be presented in the Web based form in the order they are to be presented such that the entire database table need not be queried; and

an act of automatically generating a Web site for the database in accordance with the database mapping, the Web site including the automatically formulated dynamic query so as to allow users to automatically change the arrangement of records from the database table within the Web based form.

8. The method as recited in claim 7, wherein the act of accessing a database mapping comprises an act of accessing a database mapping that was created through reflecting on a dynamic link library.

9. The method as recited in claim 7, wherein the act of automatically formulating a dynamic query configured to query a database table comprises an act formulating a dynamic query for one or more of sorting, deleting, adding, and modifying records in the database table.

10. The method as recited in claim 9, wherein the act of formulating a dynamic query for sorting records in the database table comprises an act formulating a dynamic query that can toggle between sorting records of the database table in ascending and descending order based on values in one of fields of the records.

11. The method as recited in claim 7, wherein the act of automatically formulating a dynamic query configured to query a database table comprises an act formulating a dynamic query for paging through records in the database table.

12. The method as recited in claim 7, wherein the act of automatically generating a Web site for the database in accordance with the database mapping comprises an act of including a user-selectable link that can be selected to execute a query selected from among a pagination query, an addition query, a deletion query, and a modification query.

13. The method as recited in claim 7, wherein the act of automatically generating a Web site for the database in accordance with the database mapping comprises an act of including a user-selectable link that can be selected to execute a sorting query.

14. The method as recited in claim 7, wherein the act of automatically generating a Web site for the database in accordance with the database mapping comprises an act of including a user-selectable link that can be selected to execute a query to records form a first table in the context of a row form a second table.

15. At a computer system, a method for providing data from a database that is to be presented through Web based forms, the method comprising:

an act of forwarding records from a database table to a Web browser so that the records can be presented through a Web based form in accordance with a first configuration;

an act of receiving a user initiated message from the Web browser indicating that presentation of records through the Web based form is to be changed to a second different configuration;

an act of issuing a dynamic query to the database in response to the user initiated message, the dynamic query requesting records from the database table that are to be presented in the second different configuration in the order they are to be presented such that the entire database table need not be queried, the dynamic query having been automatically included in a Web site for the database table when the Web site was created;

an act of receiving the requested records in the order they are to be presented, the records being responsive to the dynamic query; and

an act of forwarding the requested records to the Web browser in the order they are to be presented so that the requested records can be presented through the Web based form in accordance with the second different configuration.

16. The method as recited in claim 15, wherein the act of receiving a user initiated message from the Web browser comprises an act of receiving a message indicating that records for a table are to be sorted based on values in a field of the records.

17. The method as recited in claim 15, wherein the act of receiving a user initiated message from the Web browser comprises an act of receiving a message indicating that a new page of records is to be presented.

18. The method as recited in claim 15, wherein the act of receiving a user initiated message from the Web browser comprises an act of receiving a message indicating that records form the a first table are to be presented in the context of a row from a second table.

19. The method as recited in claim 15, wherein an act of receiving the requested records in the order they are to be presented comprises an act of receiving sorted records.

20. The method as recited in claim 15, wherein an act of issuing a dynamic query comprises an act of issuing a query selected from among a pagination query, a sorting query, an addition query, a deletion query, and a modification query.