Method for minimizing storage requirements for production assembly information and updates
First Claim
1. A method of organizing a user accessible database for minimizing the amount of duplicate information stored in tables contained therein and used for generating bill of materials documents for manufacturing a number of board assembly products, the method comprising the steps of:
- (a) including as a first table, a product directory index table structure for storing a number of index value entries coded in a predetermined manner that represent all of board assembly products being currently manufactured, each index value entry containing a first type of key values to be used as a filtering mechanism in extracting data entries from other tables contained in the database containing information related to a particular board assembly product and for designating points within the database tables where entries were added or deleted;
(b) including as the other tables in the database, data table structures for storing data entries containing different assembly board product related information required in generating the bill of materials documents used in manufacturing the board assembly products, each entry containing a second type of key values for defining data selection criteria conditions to be used in extracting entries utilized by a particular board assembly product;
(c) including a first data retrieval component in the database, the first component for accessing the product index table structure to present the user with all of the entries associated with a particular board product and for generating the first type of key values in response to a user product selection from the entries presented; and
,(d) including a second data retrieval component in the database, the second component for accessing data entries contained in the number of other tables of the database, the second component being operative in response the first type of key values to search each of the entries in the other tables for extracting as a function of criteria conditions defined by the second type of key values contained in each table data entry, only those data entries identified as being required for the generation of a bill of materials document for the selected board assembly product.
1 Assignment
0 Petitions
Accused Products
Abstract
A method and database organization for use by a plurality of client systems wherein a database contains a plurality of table structures for storing a product directory index and a minimum number of product related information entries utilized in generating a bill of materials document for a particular user designated customer product. The system also includes a selection menu facility component and a data selection component, both of which operatively couple to the database. The selection menu facility component enables an operator to access the product directory index for obtaining a number of key information values pertaining to a particular printed circuit board assembly. These values are utilized by the data selection component in searching and extracting from the database tables as a function of the states of predefined key values contained in the table entries, all of the pertinent information entries needed to generate/display a bill of materials document based on information generated in response to an operator selection.
58 Citations
30 Claims
-
1. A method of organizing a user accessible database for minimizing the amount of duplicate information stored in tables contained therein and used for generating bill of materials documents for manufacturing a number of board assembly products, the method comprising the steps of:
-
(a) including as a first table, a product directory index table structure for storing a number of index value entries coded in a predetermined manner that represent all of board assembly products being currently manufactured, each index value entry containing a first type of key values to be used as a filtering mechanism in extracting data entries from other tables contained in the database containing information related to a particular board assembly product and for designating points within the database tables where entries were added or deleted; (b) including as the other tables in the database, data table structures for storing data entries containing different assembly board product related information required in generating the bill of materials documents used in manufacturing the board assembly products, each entry containing a second type of key values for defining data selection criteria conditions to be used in extracting entries utilized by a particular board assembly product; (c) including a first data retrieval component in the database, the first component for accessing the product index table structure to present the user with all of the entries associated with a particular board product and for generating the first type of key values in response to a user product selection from the entries presented; and
,(d) including a second data retrieval component in the database, the second component for accessing data entries contained in the number of other tables of the database, the second component being operative in response the first type of key values to search each of the entries in the other tables for extracting as a function of criteria conditions defined by the second type of key values contained in each table data entry, only those data entries identified as being required for the generation of a bill of materials document for the selected board assembly product. - View Dependent Claims (2, 3, 4, 5, 6, 7, 8, 9, 10, 11, 12, 13, 14)
-
-
15. A database system organized for minimizing the amount of duplicate information stored in tables contained in a database and for generating bill of materials documents in response to user requests used in manufacturing a number of board assembly products, the database system comprising:
-
(a) a product directory index table structure for storing a number of index value entries coded in a predetermined manner that represent all of board assembly products being currently manufactured, each index value entry containing a first type of key values to be used as a filtering mechanism in extracting data entries from the database containing information related to a particular board assembly product and for designating points within the database tables where data entries were added or deleted; (b) a number of data table structures for storing data entries containing different assembly board items of the information required in generating the bill of materials documents used in manufacturing the board assembly products, each data entry containing a second type of key values for defining data selection criteria conditions to be used in extracting entries utilized for generating the bill of materials document for a particular board assembly product; (c) a first data retrieval component for accessing the product index table structure to present the user with all of the entries associated with a particular board product and for generating the first type of key values in response to a user product selection from the entries presented; and
,(d) a second data retrieval component operatively coupled to the first data retrieval component and to the number of data table structures, the second component being operative in response the first type of key values applied by the first data retrieval component to search each of the entries in the data tables for extracting as a function of criteria conditions defined by the second type of key values contained in each data table entry, only those data entries identified as being required for the generation of a bill of materials document for the selected board assembly product. - View Dependent Claims (16, 17, 18, 19, 20, 21, 22, 23, 24, 25, 26, 27, 28)
-
-
29. A software database system comprising data retrieval software and a database stored on a storage medium for use in minimizing the amount of duplicate information stored in the database and for generating bill of materials documents in response to user requests used in manufacturing a number of board assembly products, the database system comprising:
-
(a) a product directory index table structure for storing a number of index value entries coded in a predetermined manner that represent all of board assembly products being currently manufactured, each index value entry containing a first type of key values to be used as a filtering mechanism in extracting data entries from the database containing information related to a particular board assembly product and for designating points within the database tables where data entries were added or deleted; (b) a number of data table structures included in the database for storing data entries containing different assembly board items of the information required in generating the bill of materials documents used in manufacturing the board assembly products, each data entry containing a second type of key values for defining data selection criteria conditions to be used in extracting entries utilized for generating the bill of materials document for a particular board assembly product; (c) a menu selection component included in the data retrieval software for accessing the product index table structure to present the user with a display containing all of the entries associated with a particular board product and for generating the first type of key values in response to a user product selection from the displayed entries; and
,(d) a data selection component included in the data retrieval software operative in response the first type of key values applied by the menu selection component to search each of the entries in the data tables for extracting as a function of criteria conditions defined by the second type of key values contained in each data table entry, only those data entries identified as being required for the generation of a bill of materials document for the selected board assembly product.
-
-
30. A method of organizing a user accessible database for minimizing the amount of duplicate information stored in tables contained therein, and used for generating documents pertaining for a number of different objects, the method comprising the steps of:
-
(a) including as a first table, a directory index table structure for storing a number of index value entries coded in a predetermined manner that all of the objects currently being managed, each index value entry containing a first type of key values to be used as a filtering mechanism in extracting data entries from other tables contained in the database containing information related to a particular object and for designating points within the database tables where entries were added or deleted; (b) including as the other tables in the database, data table structures for storing data entries containing different object related information required in generating the documents used in managing the board assembly object, each entry containing a second type of key values for defining data selection criteria conditions to be used in extracting entries utilized by a particular object; (c) including a first data retrieval component in the database, the first component for accessing the directory index table structure to present the user with all of the entries associated with a particular object and for generating the first type of key values in response to a user selection from the entries presented; and
,(d) including a second data retrieval component in the database, the second component for accessing data entries contained in the number of other tables of the database, the second component being operative in response the first type of key values to search each of the entries in the other tables for extracting as a function of criteria conditions defined by the second type of key values contained in each table data entry, only those data entries identified as being required for the generation of a bill of materials document for the selected object.
-
Specification