End user query facility
First Claim
1. An end user query facility for accessing a database having a plurality of database files formed using a database model, comprising:
- a knowledge base which stores key-types of items of said database files and a set of linkages of the database model;
a keyword library which stores a set of keywords of said database model representative of items of said database files;
a semantics extractor for reading said database model and extracting the semantics of said database model, and which stores in said knowledge base said key-types of items and said set of linkages and which stores in said keyword library said set of keywords;
an information scout for interfacing with a user to obtain from the user a designation of the information to be extracted from said database;
an inference engine which, based upon said designation of information to be extracted from said database, identifies one or more of said database files which Contain the desired information and searches said knowledge base to determine the linkage(s) connecting said one or more identified files;
a program generator which accesses the linkages obtained by said inference engine and generates a program to extract said desired information from said database; and
a model purifier for interfacing with a user to alter said key-types of items and said set of linkages in the knowledge base.
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Accused Products
Abstract
An end user query technology is taught which is capable of automatically understanding the database model and guiding the user to scout for the desired information, thereby increasing productivity and ease of information access. The user is freed from the need to understanding the database model, with the end user query facility of this invention quickly guiding the user to acquire the information. This is made possible by the end user query facility of this invention first recapturing the application semantics from the existing database model to provide a set of derived semantics. The derived semantics are then used by the end user query facility to intelligently guide the user to scout for the desired information in the database. In addition, the derived semantics can be easily updated by the end user query facility when the database model is changed.
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Citations
37 Claims
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1. An end user query facility for accessing a database having a plurality of database files formed using a database model, comprising:
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a knowledge base which stores key-types of items of said database files and a set of linkages of the database model; a keyword library which stores a set of keywords of said database model representative of items of said database files; a semantics extractor for reading said database model and extracting the semantics of said database model, and which stores in said knowledge base said key-types of items and said set of linkages and which stores in said keyword library said set of keywords; an information scout for interfacing with a user to obtain from the user a designation of the information to be extracted from said database; an inference engine which, based upon said designation of information to be extracted from said database, identifies one or more of said database files which Contain the desired information and searches said knowledge base to determine the linkage(s) connecting said one or more identified files; a program generator which accesses the linkages obtained by said inference engine and generates a program to extract said desired information from said database; and a model purifier for interfacing with a user to alter said key-types of items and said set of linkages in the knowledge base. - View Dependent Claims (2, 3, 4, 5, 6, 7, 8, 12, 16, 17, 24, 25, 26, 27, 28, 29, 30, 31, 32, 33, 34, 35, 36, 37)
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9. An end user query facility for accessing a database having a plurality of database files formed using a database model, comprising:
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a knowledge base which stores a set of linkages of the database model; a semantics extractor for reading said database model and extracting the semantics of said database model, and which stores in said knowledge base said set of linkages; an information scout for interfacing with a user to obtain from the user a designation of the information to be extracted from said database; an inference engine which, based upon said designation of information to be extracted from said database, identifies one or more of said database files which contain the desired information and searches said knowledge base to determine the linkage(s) connecting said one or more identified files; a program generator which accesses the linkages obtained by said inference engine and generates a program to extract said desired information from said database; and a program analyzer which analyzes and derives new items and new files from source code of application programs that access said database model. - View Dependent Claims (10, 11)
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13. An end user query facility for accessing a database having a plurality of database files formed using a database model, comprising:
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a knowledge base which stores a set of linkages of the database model; a semantics extractor for reading said database model and extracting the semantics of said database model, and which stores in said knowledge base said set of linkages; an information scout for interfacing with a user to obtain from the user a designation of the information to be extracted from said database; an inference engine which, based upon said designation of information to be extracted from said database, identifies one or more of said database files which contain the desired information and searches said knowledge base to determine the linkage(s) connecting said one or more identified files; a program generator which accesses the linkages obtained by said inference engine and generates a program to extract said desired information from said database; and a security model specifier to allow a user to input a security model which specifies restrictions on the information a user can obtain from said database. - View Dependent Claims (14, 15)
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18. An end user query facility for accessing a database having a plurality of database files formed using a database model, comprising:
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a knowledge base which stores a set of linkages of the database model; a semantics extractor for reading said database model and extracting the semantics of said database model, and which stores in said knowledge base said set of linkages; an information scout for interfacing with a user to obtain from the user a designation of the information to be extracted from said database; an inference engine which, based upon said designation of information to be extracted from said database, identifies one or more of said database files which contain the desired information and searches said knowledge base to determine the linkage(s) connecting said one or more identified files; and a program generator which accessed the linkages obtained by said inference engine and generates a program to extract said desired information from said database; and a model purifier for interfacing with a user to obtain new linkages and to store said new linkages in the knowledge base.
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19. An end user query facility for accessing a database having a plurality of database files formed using a database model, comprising:
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a knowledge base which stores key-types of items of said database files and a set of linkages of the database model; a keyword library which stores a set of keywords of said database model representative of items of said database files; a semantics extractor for reading said database model and extracting the semantics of said database model, and which stores in said knowledge base said key-types of items and said set of linkages and which stores in said keyword library said set of keywords; an information scout for interfacing with a user to obtain from the user a designation of the information to be extracted from said database; an inference engine which, based upon said designation of information to be extracted from said database, identifies one or more of said database files which contain the desired information and searches said knowledge base to determine the linkage(s) connecting said one or more identified files; a program generator which accesses the linkages obtained by said inference engine and generates a program to extract said desired information from said database; and a model purifier for a user to define new item(s) and new file(s) using items of said database file. - View Dependent Claims (20)
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21. An end user query facility for accessing a database having a plurality of database files formed using a database model, comprising:
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a knowledge base which stores key-types of items of said database files and a set of linkages of the database model; a keyword library which stores a set of keywords of said database model representative of items of said database files; a semantics extractor for reading said database model and extracting the semantics of said database model, and which stores in said knowledge base said key-types of items and said set of linkages and which stores in said keyword library said set of keywords; an information scout for interfacing with a user to obtain from the user a designation of the information to be extracted from said database; an inference engine which, based upon said designation of information to be extracted from said database, identifies one or more of said database files which contain the desired information and searches said knowledge base to determine the linkage(s) connecting said one or more identified files; a program generator which access the linkages obtained by said inference engine and generates a program to extract said desired information from said database; and a model purifier comprising means for a user to specify and store in said keyword library multiple domains for item(s) of said database files, to specify file aliases for said database files containing such item(s), and to interface with said semantics extractor to derive new linkages using said file aliases with said database files.
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22. An end user query facility for accessing a database having a plurality of database files formed using a database model, comprising:
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a knowledge base which stores a set of linkages of said database model; a semantics extractor for reading said database model and extracting the semantics of said database model, and which stores in said knowledge base said set of linkages; an information scout for interfacing with a user to obtain from the user a designation of the information to be extracted from said database; an inference engine which, based upon said designation of information to be extracted from said database, identifies one or more of said database files which contain the desired information and searches said knowledge base to determine the linkage(s) connecting said one or more identified files; a program generator which accesses the linkages obtained by said inference engine and generates a program to extract said desired information from said database; and a model purifier comprising means for a user to define key-types for items of said database. - View Dependent Claims (23)
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Specification