Dynamically Encoding Types and Inhabitants in a Relational Database
First Claim
1. In a computing environment, a system comprising, a database table that contains rows of type data representing types, and term data representing terms, in which at least one type is a relation type that specifies a relationship between two other types, between another type and a term, or between two terms.
2 Assignments
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Accused Products
Abstract
Described is a technology, such as for representing scientific data and information, in which a database table contains rows of type data representing types, and term data representing terms that inhabit the types. Types include composite types (e.g., that represent entities), and instances of relation types that express relationships between types, between a type and a term, or between terms. Types and/or terms may have multiple relationships with one another, and a relationship may span database tables. A new relationship may be established by adding a new row to the database table to represent a new relation term, along with one or more similar rows to represent the relation role terms associated with that relation term; relationships may be removed by removing rows. As a result, the database table may change its state rapidly, without needing to change the database schema.
11 Citations
20 Claims
- 1. In a computing environment, a system comprising, a database table that contains rows of type data representing types, and term data representing terms, in which at least one type is a relation type that specifies a relationship between two other types, between another type and a term, or between two terms.
- 11. One or more computer-readable media having stored thereon a data structure, comprising rows of type data representing types, including a row that includes a relation term that inhabits a relation type, whereby accessing the row that includes the relation term relates the relation term to another term.
- 17. One or more computer-readable media having stored thereon a data structure, comprising rows of type data representing types, including a row that includes a member term that inhabits a composite type, and data that relates the member term to another member term, whereby accessing the row that includes the member term provides access to the other member term.
Specification