System and method for user defined data object hierarchy

• US 7,010,518 B1
• Filed: 06/20/2001
• Issued: 03/07/2006
• Est. Priority Date: 06/20/2001
• Status: Active Grant

• Current Assignee: Microstrategy Incorporated
• Original Assignee: Microstrategy Incorporated
• Inventors: Yuan, Jun, Sahasrabudhe, Sadanand, Hurwood, William, Bedell, Jeffrey A., Li, Benjamin Z., Martin, Fabrice
• Primary Examiner(s): ALAM, SHAHID AL
• Application Number:
  US09/884,476
• Time in Patent Office: 1,721 Days
• Field of Search: 707/1, 707/3, 707/5, 707/10, 707/103.R, 707/104.1, 715/513, 715/853, 704/8, 700/106, 709/217, 709/218, 709/201, 709/219, 706/11
• US Class Current: 1/1
• CPC Class Codes: G06F 16/21 Design, administration or maintenance of databases
• CPC Class Codes: Y10S 707/99933 Query processing, i.e. searching
• CPC Class Codes: Y10S 707/99944 Object-oriented database structure

Abstract

The invention provides a configuration tool to allow a user to build a custom-selected data object hierarchy, for business intelligence or other purposes. Under conventional data storage technologies, the physical layout of the disk drive or other media has dictated what logical views and searches a user could run on the underlying data. For instance, levels could not be readily skipped or many-to-many data object relationships were difficult to maintain. In the invention, a user may select and connect a set of data objects into a hierarchy of their choosing, to permit desired reports and other manipulations on the data to be performed. The hierarchy may be edited, and entry points may be defined. Different levels of security may be applied to the different levels of the hierarchy. Multiple hierarchies or representations may be built for one database or other data source.

Claims

1. A computer system for configuring a representation of data objects in a reporting system, comprising:

a set of at least two data objects; and

a selection tool, communicating with the set of at least two data objects, the selection tool being operable to select at least two of the at least two data objects to define an editable relationship between the at least two data objects in the reporting system; and

wherein the relationship defines a direction of one object to another and the direction of the object with respect to the other object differs from the directional relationship of those objects in the database where those data objects reside.

2. The computer system of claim 1, wherein the relationship comprises a network graph.

3. The computer system of claim 2, wherein the network graph comprises a directed graph.

4. The computer system of claim 3, wherein the selection tool is operable to designate at least one of the set of at least two data objects as an entry point.

5. The computer system of claim 2, wherein the network graph is traversable.

6. The computer system of claim 1, wherein the editable relationship establishes relationships between at least one object that is not related to the database where other data objects reside.

7. The computer system of claim 6, wherein the at least one object not related to the database is derived from an object in the database.

8. The computer system of claim 7, further comprising a request engine, the request engine translating requests based on the relationship into requests for access to the at least one database.

9. The computer system of claim 8, wherein the requests generate results from the at least one database, and the request engine presents the results in the representation.

10. The computer system of claim 1, wherein the editable relationship may skip objects that otherwise exist in the relationship of objects in the database.

11. The computer system of claim 1, wherein the set of at least two data objects corresponds to data stored in at least one data source.

12. The computer system of claim 11, wherein the at least one data source comprises at least one database.

13. The computer system of claim 11 wherein a plurality of representations may be generated from the at least one data source.

14. The computer system of claim 1, wherein the selection tool comprises a graphical user interface.

15. The computer system of claim 1, wherein the set of at least two data objects is associated with an OLAP-compliant database.

16. The computer system of claim 1, wherein the relationship is extensible.

17. The computer system of claim 1, further comprising at least one of a relationship table, a binary tree and a linked list, storing a representation of the relationship.

18. The computer system of claim 1, wherein at least one of the at least two data objects comprises an associated security attribute.

19. The computer system of claim 18, wherein the associated security attribute restricts access to the at least one data object according to predetermined criteria.

20. A computer system for configuring a representation of data objects in a reporting system, comprising:

a set of at least two data objects; and

a selection tool, communicating with the set of at least two data objects, the selection tool being operable to select at least two of the at least two data objects to define an editable relationship between the at least two data objects in the reporting system, wherein the relationship defines an ordering of one object with respect to another and the ordering in the editable relationship differs from the ordering of the two objects in the database where those data objects reside.

21. A computer-implemented method for configuring a representation of data objects in a reporting system, comprising:

a) accessing a set of at least two data objects; and

b) enabling a user to perform the act of selecting at least two of the set of at least two data objects to define an editable relationship between the at least two data objects in the reporting system;

wherein the relationship defines a direction of one object to another and the direction of the object with respect to the other object differs from the directional relationship of those objects in the database where those data objects reside.

22. The computer-implemented method of claim 21, wherein the relationship comprises a network graph.

23. The computer-implemented method of claim 22, wherein the network graph comprises a directed graph.

24. The computer-implemented method of claim 22, wherein the network graph is traversable.

25. The computer-implemented method of claim 21, further comprising a step of c) designating at least one of the set of at least two data objects as an entry point.

26. The computer-implemented method of claim 21, wherein the set of at least two data objects corresponds to data stored in at least one data source.

27. The computer-implemented method of claim 26, wherein the at least one data source comprises at least one database.

28. The computer-implemented method of claim 26, further comprising a step of d) translating requests based on the relationship into requests for access to the at least one database.

29. The computer-implemented method of claim 28, further comprising a step of e) generating results from the at least one database based on the requests, and f) presenting the results in the representation.

30. The computer-implemented method of claim 26, further comprising a step of h) generating a plurality of representations based on the at least one data source.

31. The computer-implemented method of claim 21, wherein the editable relationship establishes relationships between at least one object that is not related to the database where other data objects reside.

32. The computer-implemented method of claim 31, wherein the at least one object not related to the database is derived from an object in the database.

33. The computer-implemented method of claim 21, wherein the editable relationship may skip objects that otherwise exist in the relationship of objects in the database.

34. The computer-implemented method of claim 21, wherein the selection tool comprises a graphical user interface.

35. The computer-implemented method of claim 21, wherein the set of at least two data objects is associated with an OLAP-compliant database.

36. The computer-implemented method of claim 21, wherein the relationship is extensible.

37. The computer-implemented method of claim 21, further comprising a step of f) storing the representation of the relationship in at least one of a relationship table, a binary tree and a linked list.

38. The computer-implemented method of claim 21, wherein at least one of the at least two data objects comprises an associated security attribute.

39. The computer-implemented method of claim 38, further comprising a step of g) restricting access to the at least one data object based on the security attribute according to predetermined criteria.

40. A computer-implemented method for configuring a representation of data objects in a reporting system, comprising:

a) accessing a set of at least two data objects; and

b) enabling a user to perform the act of selecting at least two of the set of at least two data objects to define an editable relationship between the at least two data objects in the reporting system, wherein the relationship defines an ordering of one object with respect to another and the ordering in the editable relationship differs from the ordering of the two objects in the database where those data objects reside.

41. A machine readable medium, the machine readable medium being readable to execute a method for configuring a representation of data objects in a reporting system, the machine readable medium comprising:

a) code for causing a computer-based machine to perform the act of accessing a set of at least two data objects; and

b) code for causing a computer-based machine to perform the act of enabling a user to perform the act of selecting at least two of the set of at least two data objects to define an editable relationship between the at least two data objects in the reporting system;

wherein the relationship defines a direction of one object to another and the direction of the object with respect to the other object differs from the directional relationship of those objects in the database where those data objects reside.

42. The medium of claim 41, wherein the set of at least two data objects corresponds to data stored in at least one data source.

43. The medium of claim 42, wherein the at least one data source comprises at least one database.

44. The medium of claim 43, further comprising code for causing a computer-based machine to perform the act of c) translating requests based on the relationship into requests for access to the at least one database.

45. A machine readable medium, the machine readable medium being readable to execute a method for configuring a representation of data objects in a reporting system, the machine readable medium comprising:

code for causing a computer-based machine to perform the act of accessing a set of at least two data objects;

code for causing a computer-based machine to perform the act of enabling a user to perform the act of selecting at least two of the set of at least two data objects to define an editable relationship between the at least two data objects in the reporting system; and

wherein the relationship defines an ordering of one object with respect to another and the ordering in the editable relationship differs from the ordering of the two objects in the database where those data objects reside.