Methods for hypertext reporting in a relational database management system
First Claim
1. In a computer system, a method for publishing database information to a hypertext database report, the method comprising:
- (a) receiving first input specifying information taken from a first set comprising at least one database table;
(b) receiving second input specifying information taken from a second set comprising at least one database table; and
(c) if information is relatable between said first and second sets, publishing database information to a hypertext database report by generating a hypertext report having at least one hypertext link for cross-referencing relatable information in the two sets, such that user invocation of said at least one hypertext link invokes display of cross-referenced relatable information.
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Abstract
A system of the present invention includes a relational database management system (RDBMS) having a hypertext report writing module. Methods are described for automatically recognizing relations between reports which are generated from the same or related database tables. The system automatically embeds (or assists the user in embedding) appropriate hypertext links so that information from one report may be cross-referenced immediately with information in another, related report. Drill-down hypertext reports of increasing level of detail are illustrated. In addition to drill-down reports, the system may create comprehensive hypertext reports for automatically tying together information which is related through underlying table relations but which ordinarily appears in different reports. By automatically placing hypertext links or cross-indexes between reports, the system ties together relatable information into a single, cross-indexed hypertext report.
121 Citations
25 Claims
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1. In a computer system, a method for publishing database information to a hypertext database report, the method comprising:
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(a) receiving first input specifying information taken from a first set comprising at least one database table; (b) receiving second input specifying information taken from a second set comprising at least one database table; and (c) if information is relatable between said first and second sets, publishing database information to a hypertext database report by generating a hypertext report having at least one hypertext link for cross-referencing relatable information in the two sets, such that user invocation of said at least one hypertext link invokes display of cross-referenced relatable information. - View Dependent Claims (2, 3, 4, 5, 6, 7, 8, 9, 10, 11, 12)
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13. A method for creating hypertext reports of information stored in a database management system, the method comprising:
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(a) receiving input specifying a first set of database information; (b) receiving input specifying a second set of database information; (c) determining whether information of the second set can be linked through a foreign key to information of the first set; and (d) if information of the first set can be linked to information of the second set, generating a hypertext report including at least one hypertext link for cross-referencing in the hypertext report information from the second set to that of the first set, such that user selection of said at least one hypertext link, while viewing display of information of the first set invokes display of hypertext report information from the second set which is cross-referenced to that of the first set. - View Dependent Claims (14, 15, 16, 17, 18, 19, 20, 21)
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22. A hypertext report system comprising:
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(a) input means for specifying first and second sets of database information, each set comprising at least one database table, each database table having at least one database column; (b) comparison means for determining whether information of the second set can be linked to information of the first set, through one or more database columns; and (c) means for generating a hypertext document which cross-references information in the second set to information in the first set by providing at least a hypertext link for information of the first set which can be linked to information of the second set, such that user selection of said at least one hypertext link while viewing display of information of the first set invokes display of hypertext report information from the second set which is cross-referenced to that of the first set. - View Dependent Claims (23, 24, 25)
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Specification