Data Processing System

• US 20100223296A1
• Filed: 02/26/2010
• Published: 09/02/2010
• Est. Priority Date: 09/04/1998
• Status: Active Grant

• Current Assignee: Kalido Ltd. (Insightsoftware UK Trading Ltd.)
• Original Assignee: Kalido Ltd. (Insightsoftware UK Trading Ltd.)
• Inventors: Angus, Christopher, Ottmann, Douglas John Bruce
• Granted Patent: US 8,359,299 B2
• Time in Patent Office: Days
• US Class Current: 707/795
• CPC Class Codes: G06F 16/254 Extract, transform and load [ETL] procedures, e.g. ETL data flows in data warehouses
• CPC Class Codes: Y10S 707/99931 Database or file accessing
• CPC Class Codes: Y10S 707/99936 Pattern matching access
• CPC Class Codes: Y10S 707/99942 Manipulating data structure, e.g. compression, compaction, compilation

Abstract

A data processing system is provided for storing and managing multiple data entries. The data processing system employs a data structure which allows the storage and management of a vast number of interrelated data entries the interrelations of which change over time. The data structure reflects such changing interrelations over time and allows the querying and extracting of data entries on the basis of their interrelations as they were or are defined at any desired point in time.

Claims

1. A data processing system, comprising:

a processor for generating a data model in accordance with a data structure, the data model being adaptable to represent a change in the data structure; and

computer memory for storing the data in accordance with the generated data model, said stored data includes information representative of the time of change in the data structure, said stored data including validity data indicative of a period of time during which said stored data was valid data.

2. The data processing system of claim 1, wherein the stored data comprises:

transaction data representative of one or more measures associated with one or more units said measures being determined relative to one or more references;

reference data representative of said one or more references; and

metadata descriptive of the transaction data and the reference data.

3. The data processing system of claim 2, wherein the metadata defines hierarchical associations between classes of the reference data.

4. The data processing system of claim 2, wherein the stored data comprises a number of elements of reference data, each element of reference data comprising information which defines an association with one or more other elements of reference data.

5. The data processing system of claim 4, wherein each element of reference data further comprises information representative of a first period of validity of a defined association.

6. The data processing system of claim 2, wherein the associations between the one or more measures and the one or more units are associated with a second period of validity.

7. The data processing system of any of claim 2, wherein the stored data comprises a number of items of transaction data, each item of transaction data being associated with a date of transaction.

8. The data processing system of any of claims 2, wherein the metadata defines associations between classes of reference data and the one or more measures, the associations between the classes of reference data and the one or more measures being representative of classes of transaction data.

9. The data processing system of claim 2, further comprising:

first interface means for receiving data of any structure from a data source for storage in the data processing system.

10. The data processing system claim 9, further comprising:

second interface means for outputting data from the storage means in a required format.

11. A data processing system, comprising:

a processor for generating a data model representative of data of a first structure, and for adapting the data model to represent also data of a second structure; and

computer memory for storing data in accordance with the data model, said stored data including validity data indicative of a period of time during which said stored data was valid data.

12. The data processing system of claim 11, wherein the stored data includes information representative of the time of adaptation of the data model.

13. A method for managing data in a data structure, comprising the steps of:

storing in computer memory a data model in said data structure, said data model identifying a plurality of relationships among classes of entities, each of said entity class relationships having associated therewith a temporal period of validity;

storing in computer memory a plurality of datasets in said data structure, each of said datasets including an identification of at least one of said classes of entities and at least one measure; and

using a processor to relate each of said datasets to a respective subset of relationships in said data model, at least first and second ones of said datasets being related to respective first and second different ones of said subsets.

14. A method according to claim 13, wherein at least one of the relationships in said first subset is inconsistent with one of the relationships in said second subset.

15. A method according to claim 13, wherein the relationships identified in at least one of said subsets are hierarchical.

16. A method according to claim 13, wherein said step of relating each of said datasets to a respective subset or relationships in said data model comprises the step of associating with each of said datasets a respective temporal period of coverage.

17. A method according to claim 13, further comprising the step of causing said computer memory to return data from said data structure in response to a query.

18. A method for managing data in a data structure stored in computer memory, comprising the steps of storing a data model in said data structure in the computer memory, said data model identifying a plurality of relationships among classes of entities each of said entity class relationships having associated therewith a respective temporal period of validity;

and

storing a plurality of datasets in said data structure in the computer memory, each of said datasets including an identification of at least one of said classes of entities and at least one measure, and further having associated therewith a respective temporal period of coverage.

19. A method according to claim 18, wherein the subset of the relationships in said data model whose temporal periods of validity include a first temporal position are hierarchical.

20. A method according to claim 18, further comprising the step of returning data from said data structure in the computer memory in response to a query.

21. A method for extracting data from a data structure stored in computer memory, said data structure including a plurality of datasets, comprising the steps of:

identifying with a processor, in response to a query that requires data values of at least one measure, a superset of said datasets which together are more than sufficient to satisfy said query;

selecting with a processor, in accordance with a predetermined optimisation function, a proper subset of the datasets in said superset, the datasets in said subset being sufficient to satisfy said query, said proper subset of datasets being selected based on the datasets in the selected subset being sufficient to allow all of the required measures in said query set to be sourced;

determining with said processor whether all of the datasets in said subset were valid data sets during a period of time identified by said query; and

satisfying said query from datasets in said subset.

22. A method according to claim 21, wherein said query cannot be satisfied from fewer than all of the datasets in said subset.