PROCESSING QUERY CONDITIONS HAVING FILTERED FIELDS WITHIN A DATA ABSTRACTION ENVIRONMENT

• US 20080319968A1
• Filed: 09/04/2008
• Published: 12/25/2008
• Est. Priority Date: 02/26/2002
• Status: Active Grant

• Current Assignee: Workday Incorporated
• Original Assignee: International Business Machines Corporation
• Inventors: Dettinger, Richard D., Glowacki, Janice R., Kulack, Frederick A.
• Granted Patent: US 8,458,200 B2
• Time in Patent Office: Days
• US Class Current: 707/4
• CPC Class Codes: G06F 16/2423 Interactive query statement specification based on a database schema
• CPC Class Codes: G06F 16/2452 Query translation

Abstract

Embodiments of the invention provide techniques for composing and executing queries using filtered fields. In one embodiment, a query may be composed with compatible fields, meaning filtered fields that store related data of a particular data type. Such compatible fields may be combined into a single query condition, thus simplifying the composition and execution of the query. In one embodiment, fields may be identified as compatible based on metadata included in a database abstraction model.

Claims

1. A computer-implemented method for composing abstract queries, comprising:

receiving a selection, from a plurality of filtered fields, of a first field to be included in an abstract query, the plurality of filtered fields defined in an abstraction model that models underlying physical data in a manner making a schema of the physical data transparent to a user of the abstraction model;

determining one or more physical columns storing at least one value defining the first field;

identifying, from the plurality of filtered fields, one or more filtered fields defined by one or more values stored in the one or more physical columns;

presenting the one or more filtered fields to a user;

receiving a user selection, from the one or more filtered fields, of at least one filtered field to be included in the abstract query; and

composing the abstract query using the first field together with the at least one filtered field.

2. The method of claim 1, further comprising:

transforming the abstract query to generate an executable query; and

executing the executable rule to produce a set of query results.

3. The method of claim 2, wherein transforming the abstract query is performed on the basis of the abstraction model.

4. The method of claim 2, wherein the executable query is generated such that the first field and the one or more filtered fields are queried together in one executable sub-query.

5. The method of claim 1, wherein identifying one or more filtered fields is performed on the basis of predefined metadata.

6. The method of claim 1, wherein determining one or more physical columns comprises retrieving, from the abstraction model, a logical field specification specifying the first field, the logical field specification comprising a physical name column and a physical value column.

7. The method of claim 1, wherein the at least one value comprises a field name and a field value.

8. The method of claim 1, wherein identifying one or more filtered fields comprises identifying one or more logical fields specified by logical field specifications comprising the same physical name column and physical value column as the logical field specification specifying the first field.

9. The method of claim 1, wherein presenting the one or more filtered fields to a user and receiving the user selection of at least one filtered field are performed in a graphical user interface.

10. A computer-readable storage medium including a program, which when executed on a processor performs an operation, the operation comprising:

receiving a selection, from a plurality of filtered fields, of a first field to be included in an abstract query, the plurality of filtered fields defined in an abstraction model that models underlying physical data in a manner making a schema of the physical data transparent to a user of the abstraction model;

determining one or more physical columns storing at least one value defining the first field;

identifying, from the plurality of filtered fields, one or more filtered fields defined by one or more values stored in the one or more physical columns;

presenting the one or more filtered fields to a user;

receiving a user selection, from the one or more filtered fields, of at least one filtered field to be included in the abstract query; and

composing the abstract query using the first field together with the at least one filtered field.

11. The computer-readable storage medium of claim 10, further comprising:

transforming the abstract query to generate an executable query; and

executing the executable rule to produce a set of query results.

12. The computer-readable storage medium of claim 11, wherein transforming the abstract query is performed on the basis of the abstraction model.

13. The computer-readable storage medium of claim 11, wherein the executable query is generated such that the first field and the one or more filtered fields are queried together in one executable sub-query.

14. The computer-readable storage medium of claim 10, wherein identifying one or more filtered fields is performed on the basis of predefined metadata.

15. The computer-readable storage medium of claim 10, wherein determining one or more physical columns comprises retrieving, from the abstraction model, a logical field specification specifying the first field, the logical field specification comprising a physical name column and a physical value column.

16. The computer-readable storage medium of claim 10, wherein the at least one value comprises a field name and a field value.

17. The computer-readable storage medium of claim 10, wherein identifying one or more filtered fields comprises identifying one or more logical fields specified by logical field specifications comprising the same physical name column and physical value column as the logical field specification specifying the first field.

18. The computer-readable storage medium of claim 10, wherein presenting the one or more filtered fields to a user and receiving the user selection of at least one filtered field are performed in a graphical user interface.

19. A computer-implemented method for composing abstract queries, comprising:

receiving a selection, from a plurality of logical fields, of a first field to be included in an abstract query, the plurality of logical fields defined in an abstraction model that models underlying physical data in a manner making a schema of the physical data transparent to a user of the abstraction model;

identifying, from the plurality of logical fields, one or more logical fields selected from;

(i) filtered fields defined with a name column and a value column used to define the first field, and (ii) logical fields generated by a field template used to generate the first field, the field template being configured to generate multiple logical fields based on received parameters values;

presenting the one or more logical fields to a user;

receiving a user selection, from the one or more logical fields, of at least one logical field to be included in the abstract query; and

composing the abstract query using the first field together with the at least one logical field.

20. The method of claim 19, wherein identifying one or more logical fields comprises:

retrieving, from the abstraction model, a dynamic entity specification specifying a field template used to generate a group of logical fields.

21. The method of claim 20, wherein the dynamic entity specification specifies a predefined data query to retrieve a set of parameter values used by the field template to generate the group of logical fields.