Universal information warehouse system and method

• US 6,735,591 B2
• Filed: 01/26/1999
• Issued: 05/11/2004
• Est. Priority Date: 01/26/1999
• Status: Expired due to Fees

• Current Assignee: Joseph M. Khan
• Original Assignee: Joseph M. Khan
• Inventors: Khan, Joseph M.
• Primary Examiner(s): Alam, Shahid Al
• Assistant Examiner(s): Ly, Anh
• Application Number:
  US09/237,434
• Publication Number:
  US 20020184210A1
• Time in Patent Office: 1,932 Days
• Field of Search: 707/1-4, 707/100, 707/101, 707/104, 707/103, 707/102, 715/4, 345/335
• US Class Current: 1/1
• CPC Class Codes: G06F 16/284 Relational databases
• CPC Class Codes: Y10S 707/99934 Query formulation, input preparation, or translation
• CPC Class Codes: Y10S 707/99936 Pattern matching access
• CPC Class Codes: Y10S 707/99942 Manipulating data structure, e.g. compression, compaction, compilation
• CPC Class Codes: Y10S 707/99943 Generating database or data structure, e.g. via user interface
• CPC Class Codes: Y10S 707/99945 Object-oriented database structure processing

Abstract

The present invention, the Information Warehouse, is a method and apparatus for gathering, storing and organizing information related to all the aspects of any organization, using a novel classification system. The Information warehouse contains one or more information bases. Each Information base is a specially configured database. Each information base consists of thirteen tables containing specially defined and structured records. Seven tables contain information elements classified into seven categories. Three tables contain the information needed by the Relationships manager. Three tables contain information needed by the Transactions managers. The present invention allows for users to input information about the constituents of an organization and their activities into the information base. This populating of the information base can be done in two ways. Manually by direct input via data entry interfaces of this invention and via data feeds or input files converted by the conversion modules of this invention. The present invention also allows users to retrieve information from the information base using search techniques.

Claims

1. An information warehouse including a plurality of computer databases stored in a computer readable medium, said computer readable medium comprising:

a plurality of informational tables configured to store informational elements including a default object; and

a plurality of relational tables configured to store relationship links between pairs of informational elements stored in the informational tables, including a relationship link to said default object from each informational element in said informational tables, to associate attributes to particular relational links, and to store values for said attributes.

2. The information warehouse of claim 1, further comprising a plurality of transactional tables configured to store data related to changes made to said informational and relational tables.

3. The information warehouse of claim 1, wherein each said informational table is configured to store data as a plurality of records comprising:

an ID field for storing a value uniquely identifying that respective record in a particular informational table; and

a NAME field for storing a general description of each record in said informational table.

4. The information warehouse of claim 3, wherein said informational tables comprise:

at least one data table for storing said informational elements; and

at least one definitional table for storing relationship and attribute definitions.

5. The informational warehouse of claim 4, wherein each record in said data table further comprises a DESCRIPTION field for storing data augmenting the general description of each informational element stored in the name field.

6. The informational warehouse of claim 4, wherein each record in said data table further comprises a LinkID field for storing a data value to hierarchically associate a first record in said data table with a second record in said data table.

7. The informational warehouse of claim 4, wherein each record in said data table further comprises a DOB field for storing data indicating a date of origination of each information element stored in said data table.

8. The informational warehouse of claim 4, wherein each record in said data table further comprises a POB field for storing data indicating an origination location of each information element stored in said data table.

9. The informational warehouse of claim 4, wherein each record in said data table further comprises an ORIGINATOR field for storing data indicating an originator of each information element stored in said data table.

10. The informational warehouse of claim 4, wherein each record in said data table further comprises a BUILDER field for storing data identifying a party responsible for each information element stored in said data table.

11. The informational warehouse of claim 4, wherein each record in said data table further comprises an IDENTIFIER field for storing identification information associated with each information element stored in said data table.

12. The informational warehouse of claim 4, wherein each record in said data table further comprises a NOTE field for storing remarks associated with each information element stored in said data table.

13. The information warehouse of claim 4, wherein said at least one definitional table comprises:

a Relationship Names table configured to store relationship definitions, data stored in the NAME field for a record in said Relationship Names table representing a defined relationship type; and

each record in said Relationship Names table further comprising a RELATIVES_TABLE_ID field for storing data identifying a particular data table to which the defined relationship type refers.

14. The information warehouse of claim 13, wherein said plurality of relational tables are configured to store data as a plurality of records, each record comprising an ID field for storing a value uniquely identifying that respective record in a particular relational table;

said relational tables comprising a Relationship table and a Relatives_Data table, each record in said Relationship table further comprising;

a RELATIONSHIP_TYPE field for storing data identifying a particular record in the Relationship Names table to thereby identify a particular relationship type;

a RELATEE_TYPE field for storing data identifying a particular data table from the at least one data table; and

a RELATEE_ID field for storing data identifying a particular record in the particular data table identified by the data in the RELATEE_TYPE field, data stored in said RELATEE_TYPE and RELATEE_ID fields thereby identifying a first informational element, which first informational element is the object of the identified particular relationship type;

each record in said Relatives_Data table further comprising;

a RELATIONSHIP_ID field for storing data identifying a particular record in the Relationship Table; and

a RELATIVES_ID field for storing data identifying a particular record in the particular data table identified by data in the RELATIVES_TABLE_ID field of the particular record in the Relationship Names table identified by data in the RELATIONSHIP_TYPE field, thereby identifying a second informational element, which second informational element is the subject of the identified particular relationship type, a relationship defined by said subject, identified particular relationship type relationship, and object.

15. The information warehouse of claim 14, wherein said relational tables further comprise a Values table, each record in said Values table further comprising:

a RELATIVE_ID field for storing data identifying a particular record in the Relatives Data table, and thereby identifying a particular relationship; and

a VALUE field for storing a value associated with the identified particular relationship.

16. The information warehouse of claim 15, wherein said at least one definitional table further comprises an Attribute Names table configured to store attribute definitions, data stored in the NAME element for a record in said Attribute Names table representing a defined attribute type;

and

each record in said Values table further comprising an ATTRIBUTE_NAME_ID field for storing data identifying a particular record in the Attribute Names table to thereby identify a particular attribute type.

17. The information warehouse of claim 14, further comprising a Transactions table configured to store data related to transactional changes made to said relational tables.

18. The information warehouse of claim 17, wherein said Transactions table is configured to store data as a plurality of records comprising:

an ID field for storing a value uniquely identifying that respective record in the Transactions table;

a RELATIVE field for storing data to identify an object of a transaction;

a RELATIONSHIP field for storing data to identify the relationship which has changed;

a FROM_RELATEE field for storing data identifying the initial subject of the identified relationship; and

a TO RELATEE field for storing data identifying the final subject of the identified relationship.

19. The information warehouse of claim 18, wherein each record in said Transactions table further comprises a VALUE field to store data indicating a value attributed to a transactional change identified by data stored in said RELATIVE, RELATIONSHIP, FROM_RELATEE, and TO_RELATEE fields.

20. The information warehouse of claim 4, wherein said at least one data table comprises a plurality of data tables, each said data table being assigned to store a distinct category of informational elements.

21. The information warehouse of claim 20, wherein said distinct categories of informational elements are selected from a group of categories consisting of individuals, materials, locations, activities, and organizations.

22. The information warehouse of claim 21, wherein said plurality of data tables comprise five data tables assigned to store informational elements from the category of individuals, materials, locations, activities, and organizations, respectively.

23. The information warehouse of claim 3, wherein said at least one definitional table comprises:

a Relationship Names table configured to store relationship definitions; and

an Attribute Names table configured to store attribute definitions.

24. The information warehouse of claim 23, wherein data stored in the NAME field for a record in said Relationship Names table represents a defined relationship type;

and

each record in said Relationship Names table further comprising a RELATIVES_TABLE_ID field for storing data identifying a particular informational table to which the defined relationship name refers.

25. The information warehouse of claim 24, wherein each record in the Relationship Names table further comprises a DESCRIPTION field for storing data augmenting the general description of each informational element stored in the name field.

26. The information warehouse of claim 23, wherein data stored in the NAME field for a record in said Attribute Names table represents a defined attribute type.

27. The informational warehouse of claim 26, wherein each. record in the Attribute Names table further comprises a Per_UOM field for storing data identifying a time unit of measure associated with a defined attribute type represented by the NAME field of the respective Attribute Names table record.

28. An informational directory including a plurality of computer database tables stored in a computer readable medium, each said table configured to store data as a plurality of records, each record having an ID field for storing a value uniquely identifying that respective record in a particular informational table, said computer readable medium comprising:

a plurality of informational tables configured to store informational elements including a default object; and

a plurality of relational tables configured to store relationship links between pairs of informational elements stored in the informational tables, including a relationship link to said default object from each informational element in said informational tables, to associate attributes to particular relational links, and to store values for said attributes.

29. The information warehouse of claim 28, wherein:

each record in said informational table comprises a NAME field for storing a general description of each record in said informational table; and

said informational tables comprising a plurality of data tables for storing said informational elements, each said data table assigned to store a distinct category of informational elements.

30. The informational warehouse of claim 29, wherein each record in said data table further comprises a LinkID field for storing a data value to hierarchically associate a first record in said data table with a second record in said data table.

31. The information warehouse of claim 29, wherein said informational tables further comprise:

a Relationship Names table configured to store relationship definitions; and

an Attribute Names table configured to store attribute definitions.

32. The information warehouse of claim 31, wherein:

data stored in the NAME field for a record in said Attribute Names table represents a defined attribute type;

data stored in the NAME field for a record in said Relationship Names table represents a defined relationship type; and

each record in said Relationship Names table further comprising a RELATIVES_TABLE_ID field for storing data identifying a particular informational table to which the defined relationship name refers.

33. The information warehouse of claim 32, wherein said plurality of relational tables are configured to store data as a plurality of records, each record comprising an ID field for storing a value uniquely identifying that respective record in a particular relational table;

said relational tables comprising a Relationship table and a Relatives_Data table, each record in said Relationship table further comprising;

a RELATIONSHIP_TYPE field for storing data identifying a particular record in the Relationship Names table to thereby identify a particular relationship type;

a RELATEE_TYPE field for storing data identifying a particular data table from the at least one data table; and

a RELATEE_ID field for storing data identifying a particular record in the particular data table identified by the data in the RELATEE_TYPE field, data stored in said RELATEE_TYPE and RELATEE_ID fields thereby identifying a first informational element, which first informational element is the object of the identified particular relationship type;

each record in said Relatives_Data table further comprising;

a RELATIONSHIP_ID field for storing data identifying a particular record in the Relationship Table; and

a RELATIVE_ID field for storing data identifying a particular record in the particular data table identified by data in the RELATIVES_TABLE_ID field of the particular record in the Relationship Names table identified by data in the RELATIONSHIP_TYPE field, thereby identifying a second informational element, which second informational element is the subject of the identified particular relationship type, a relationship defined by said subject, identified particular relationship type relationship, and object.

34. The information warehouse of claim 33, wherein said relational tables further comprise a Values table, each record in said Values table further comprising:

a RELATIVE_ID field for storing data identifying a particular record in the Relatives Data table, and thereby identifying a particular relationship;

a VALUE field for storing a value associated with the identified particular relationship; and

an ATTRIBUTE_NAME_ID field for storing data identifying a particular record in the Attribute Names table to thereby identify a particular attribute type.

35. The information warehouse of claim 34, wherein said distinct categories of informational elements are selected from a group of categories consisting of individuals, materials, locations, activities, and organizations.

36. The information warehouse of claim 35, wherein said plurality of data tables comprise five data tables assigned to store informational elements from the category of individuals, materials, locations, activities, and organizations, respectively.

37. A method of storing data in an informational directory including at least one informational table configured to store informational elements including a default object and at least one relational table configured to store relationship links between pairs of informational elements stored in the informational tables, the method comprising the steps of:

storing data representing at least one informational element in at least one informational table; and

storing data representing a default relationship link between each informational element and the default object in one or more of the at least one relational tables.

38. The method of claim 37, further comprising the steps of:

storing data associating an attribute and attribute value to the default relationship link between a particular informational element and the default object in one or more of the at least one relational tables.

39. The method of claim 37, further comprising the step of:

storing data representing a custom relationship link between a first informational element and a second informational element in one or more of the at least one relational tables.

40. The method of claim 39, further comprising the step of:

storing data associating an attribute and attribute value to the custom relationship link between the first and second informational elements in one or more of the at least one relational tables.

41. The method of claim 40, wherein the step of storing data representing a custom relationship link comprises the steps of:

storing a record in a Relationship table including RELATIONSHIP_TYPE information identifying a particular relationship type, RELATEE_TYPE information identifying a particular informational table containing the second informational element, and RELATEE_ID information identifying a particular record in the particular data table identified by the RELATEE_TYPE information; and

storing a record in a Relatives_Data table including RELATIONSHIP_ID information identifying a particular record in the Relationship table and RELATIVE_ID information Identifying the first informational element.

42. The method of claim 41, further comprising the step of:

storing in a record in a Relationship Names table NAME information identifying a defined relationship type, and RELATIVES_TABLE_ID information identifying a particular informational table to which the defined relationship type refers;

wherein said RELATIONSHIP_TYPE information identifies a particular record in the Relationship Names table, and the RELATIVE_ID information identifies a particular record in the informational table identified by the RELATIVES_TABLE_ID information of the particular record in the Relationship Names table identified by the RELATIONSHIP_TYPE information.

43. The method of claim 42, wherein:

said informational tables comprise a plurality of informational tables each assigned to store a distinct category of informational elements selected from a plurality of distinct categories;

each of said at least one informational elements falls within one of said plurality of categories;

data representing each particular informational element being stored in a corresponding informational table having a matching assigned distinct category.

44. The method of claim 43, wherein said distinct categories are selected from a group of categories consisting of individuals, materials, locations, activities, and organizations.

45. The information warehouse of claim 44, wherein said plurality of data tables comprise five data tables assigned to store informational elements from the category of individuals, materials, locations, activities, and organizations, respectively.

46. An information warehouse including a plurality of computer databases stored in a computer readable medium, said computer readable medium comprising:

a plurality of informational tables configured to store a plurality of informational elements and at least one default object, each of said informational tables being associated with a table identification (ID); and

a plurality of relational tables configured to store a plurality of relationship links between a plurality of selected informational elements stored in the informational tables and said relationship links including a first relationship link to said table identification (ID) for at least one of said selected informational elements and a default relationship link between each of said informational elements and the default object in one of the informational tables.

47. The informational warehouse of claim 46 wherein said first relationship link is one of a RELATIONSHIP TYPE field and a RELATEE TYPE field of a Relationships Table.

48. The information warehouse of claim 46 further including at least one informational table comprising a plurality of subset informational tables, each said subset informational table being assigned to store a distinct category of informational elements.

49. The information warehouse of claim 48 wherein said distinct category includes one of individuals, materials, locations, activities, organizations, attributes and relationship names.

50. The information warehouse of claim 46 further including at least one informational table comprising a plurality of subset informational tables and each said subset informational tables being assigned to store a distinct category of informational elements, whereby said information table is assigned to store a plurality of distinct categories of informational elements.

51. The information warehouse of claim 50 wherein said plurality of distinct categories includes at least two of the group consisting of individuals, materials, locations, activities, and organizations.

52. The information warehouse of claim 50 wherein said plurality of distinct categories includes at least two of the group consisting of attributes and relationship names.

53. An informational directory including a plurality of computer database tables stored in a computer readable medium, each said table configured to store data as a plurality of records, each record having an ID field for storing a value uniquely identifying that respective record in a particular informational table, said computer readable medium comprising:

a plurality of informational tables configured to store a plurality of informational elements and at least one default object, each of said informational tables being associated with a table identification (ID) and at least one of said informational tables including a table identification link to at least one table identification; and

a plurality of relational tables configured to store a plurality of relationship links between a plurality of selected informational elements stored in the informational tables, said relationship links including a first relationship link to said table identification (ID) for at least one of said selected informational elements, a second relationship link to another of said selected informational elements based on at least said table identification link to said table identification and a default relationship link between each of said informational elements and the default object in one of the informational tables.

54. The information warehouse of claim 53, wherein the table identification (ID) is a table number, said first relationship link is the one of a RELATIONSHIP TYPE field and a RELATEE TYPE field of a Relationships Table and said second relationship link is a RELATIONSHIP_ID field of a Relatives Data Table.

55. The informational warehouse of claim 53 wherein said first relationship link is one of a RELATIONSHIP TYPE field and a RELATEE TYPE field of a Relationships Table.

56. The information warehouse of claim 53 further including at least one informational table comprising a plurality of subset informational tables, each said subset informational table being assigned to store a distinct category of informational elements.

57. The information warehouse of claim 53 further including at least one informational table comprising a plurality of subset informational tables and each said subset informational tables being assigned to store a distinct category of informational elements, whereby said information table is assigned to store a plurality of distinct categories of informational elements.

58. The information warehouse of claim 53 wherein said distinct category includes one of individuals, materials, locations, activities, organizations, attributes and relationship names.

59. The information warehouse of claim 53 wherein said plurality of distinct categories includes at least two of the group consisting of individuals, materials, locations, activities and organizations.

60. The information warehouse of claim 53 wherein said plurality of distinct categories includes at least two of the group consisting of attributes and relationship names.