System and method for analyzing data sources to generate metadata
First Claim
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1. A method for generating metadata relating to at least one data source, the at least one data source including one or more tables, each table having one or more columns, said method comprising steps of:
- inferring constraints existing on at least one of the tables and columns in the data source based on data in the tables and columns; and
generating metadata including information on the inferred constraints.
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Abstract
A system and method are provided for generating metadata relating to an enterprise management system including at least one data source having one or more of tables and columns. Constraints existing on at least one of the tables and columns in the data source are inferred based on data in the tables and columns. Metadata that includes information on the inferred constraints is generated.
282 Citations
41 Claims
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1. A method for generating metadata relating to at least one data source, the at least one data source including one or more tables, each table having one or more columns, said method comprising steps of:
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inferring constraints existing on at least one of the tables and columns in the data source based on data in the tables and columns; and generating metadata including information on the inferred constraints. - View Dependent Claims (2, 3, 4, 5, 6, 7, 8, 9, 10, 11, 12)
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13. A system for generating metadata for one or more data sources, said system comprising:
one or more computer program units configured to access one or more data sources and to generate metadata by inferring constraints based on data in tables and columns of the one or more data sources. - View Dependent Claims (14, 15, 16, 17, 18, 19, 20, 21, 22, 23, 24, 25, 26, 27, 28)
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29. A computer-readable medium storing computer-executable instructions for generating metadata relating to at least one data source having a one or more of tables, each table having one or more columns, by performing operations comprising:
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inferring constraints existing on at least one of the tables and columns in the data source based on data in the tables and columns; and generating metadata including information on the inferred constraints. - View Dependent Claims (30, 31, 32, 33, 34, 35, 36, 37, 38, 39, 40)
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41. A method for generating a metadata repository comprising metadata relating to one or more data sources, said method comprising steps of:
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A. identifying a set of data sources to be analyzed from said data sources and connection information corresponding to each identified data source, and storing the identification of each data source and the corresponding connection information in a metadata repository; B. for each database instance identified in step A, determining one or more tables of interest from each database instance along with column names for each table and storing the identified tables of interest along with the column names in the metadata repository; C. for each table and column obtained in step B, determining a list of explicitly defined constraints for each table, and storing the list of explicitly defined constraints in the metadata repository; D. converting column names obtained in step B to a user-friendly form by applying a function to each column name to generate aliases and storing the aliases in the metadata repository; E. determining indices on each of the tables obtained in step B; F. identifying view definitions including corresponding query statements for each of the data sources; G. determining procedural code including corresponding query statements for each of the data sources; H. obtaining a list of query statements that have been executed against each of the data sources; I. normalizing each query statement identified in steps F through H to extract table and column information, and storing the table and column information in the metadata repository; J. identifying potential keys for each table identified in step C based on the table and column information of at least one of steps E through I and storing the potential keys in the metadata repository; and K. identifying sets of columns that are not known to be potential keys that have similar names to potential keys identified in step J and storing the sets of columns as additional potential keys in the metadata repository.
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Specification