RELATIONSHIP MANAGEMENT IN A DATA ABSTRACTION MODEL

• US 20100023498A1
• Filed: 10/06/2009
• Published: 01/28/2010
• Est. Priority Date: 06/25/2004
• Status: Active Grant

• Current Assignee: International Business Machines Corporation
• Original Assignee: International Business Machines Corporation
• Inventors: Kolz, Daniel P., Dettinger, Richard D., Wenzel, Shannon E., Stevens, Richard J.
• Granted Patent: US 8,027,971 B2
• Time in Patent Office: Days
• US Class Current: N/A
• CPC Class Codes: G06F 16/9032 Query formulation
• CPC Class Codes: Y10S 707/99934 Query formulation, input preparation, or translation

Abstract

A method, system and article of manufacture for managing relationships in a data abstraction model abstractly describing data in a database. One embodiment provides a method of linking logical branches of data in a database based on the relationships. The method includes accessing a data abstraction model abstractly describing the data in the database. The data abstraction model defines a logical tree structure having a plurality of logical branches. Relationships between logical fields of different logical branches are identified and logical links abstractly describing the identified relationships are created.

Claims

1. A method of managing relationships between logical fields in a data abstraction model, wherein the logical fields correspond to physical fields in a database, comprising:

providing a structure with links between logical branches of the data abstraction model defining logical fields, some of which share a common name, wherein the links allow for the proper joining of data structures containing the physical fields when executing an abstract query containing a reference to a common name shared by multiple logical fields; and

constructing an executable query on the basis of one or more of the links.

2. The method of claim 1, wherein each logical branch is defined by a category specification of the data abstraction model.

3. The method of claim 2, comprising:

including at least one created logical link with a corresponding category specification.

4. The method of claim 2, wherein the data abstraction model includes a plurality of logical field specifications, each defining a particular logical field, the method further comprising:

including at least one created logical link with a corresponding logical field specification of the plurality of logical field specifications.

5. The method of claim 1, wherein each logical link defines a path between different data structures of a physical representation of the data in the database.

6. The method of claim 5, wherein the physical representation is a relational representation.

7. The method of claim 6, wherein each data structure is a table of the relational representation.

8. The method of claim 6, wherein each data structure is a column from a table of the relational representation.

9. The method of claim 1, comprising:

identifying, for each of the plurality of logical branches, a corresponding data structure of a physical representation of the data in the database; and

determining whether identified data structures are related to each other.

10. A computer readable storage medium containing a program which, when executed by one or more processors, performs a method for managing relationships between logical fields in a data abstraction model, wherein the logical fields correspond to physical fields in a database, the operation comprising:

accessing a structure with links between logical branches of the data abstraction model defining logical fields, wherein some of logical fields share a common name, and wherein the links allow for the proper joining of data structures containing the physical fields when executing an abstract query containing a reference to a common name shared by multiple logical fields; and

transforming the abstract query into an executable query using the accessed structure, wherein transforming comprises generating logic to join a plurality of the data structures as defined by the one or more links.

11. The computer readable storage medium of claim 10, wherein each logical branch is defined by a category specification of the data abstraction model.

12. The computer readable storage medium of claim 11, comprising:

including at least one created logical link with a corresponding category specification.

13. The computer readable storage medium of claim 11, wherein the data abstraction model includes a plurality of logical field specifications, each defining a particular logical field, the method further comprising:

including at least one created logical link with a corresponding logical field specification of the plurality of logical field specifications.

14. The computer readable storage medium of claim 10, wherein each logical link defines a path between different data structures of a physical representation of the data in the database.

15. The computer readable storage medium of claim 14, wherein the physical representation is a relational representation.

16. The computer readable storage medium of claim 15, wherein each data structure is a table of the relational representation.

17. The computer readable storage medium of claim 16, wherein each data structure is a column from a table of the relational representation.

18. The computer readable storage medium of claim 10, comprising:

identifying, for each of the plurality of logical branches, a corresponding data structure of a physical representation of the data in the database; and

determining whether identified data structures are related to each other.

19. A computer system, comprising:

a memory containing a program for managing relationships between logical fields in a data abstraction model, wherein the logical fields correspond to physical fields in a database; and

a computer processor, which when executing the program, performs an operation comprising;

accessing a structure with links between logical branches of the data abstraction model defining logical fields, wherein some of logical fields share a common name, and wherein the links allow for the proper joining of data structures containing the physical fields when executing an abstract query containing a reference to a common name shared by multiple logical fields; and

transforming the abstract query into an executable query using the accessed structure, wherein transforming comprises generating logic to join a plurality of the data structures as defined by the one or more links.