Secure data access in a multidimensional data environment

• US 7,039,871 B2
• Filed: 03/30/2001
• Issued: 05/02/2006
• Est. Priority Date: 10/27/2000
• Status: Active Grant

• Current Assignee: SNL Financial LC (S&P Global Inc.)
• Original Assignee: SwiftKnowledge, Inc. (S&P Global Inc.)
• Inventors: Cronk, David Wesley
• Primary Examiner(s): Bayerl, Raymond J.
• Application Number:
  US09/823,233
• Publication Number:
  US 20020087686A1
• Time in Patent Office: 1,859 Days
• Field of Search: 715/968, 715/741, 715/733, 715/854, 715/853, 715/841, 715/742, 715/743, 715/744, 715/745, 715/747, 715/748, 715/760, 707/10, 707/3, 707/4, 707/5, 707/7, 707/9
• US Class Current: 715/741
• CPC Class Codes: G06F 16/957 Browsing optimisation, e.g. caching or content distillation
• CPC Class Codes: H04L 63/105 Multiple levels of security
• CPC Class Codes: H04L 63/20 for managing network security; network security policies in general filtering policies H04L63/0227
• CPC Class Codes: H04L 67/02 based on web technology, e.g. hypertext transfer protocol [HTTP]
• CPC Class Codes: Y10S 707/99934 Query formulation, input preparation, or translation
• CPC Class Codes: Y10S 707/99939 Privileged access
• CPC Class Codes: Y10S 715/968 interface for database querying and retrieval

Abstract

A web-based data access system is described that allows users to securely access, manipulate and share information. The data access system includes a database that stores multidimensional data and transactional data. A server presents a user interface for setting access rights to members of the multidimensional data and access rights to transactional data. The server presents a web-based interactive environment for creating electronic reports from the multidimensional data. A page generation module executing on the server generates web pages for the environment based on the set access rights. The page generation module formats the web pages to permit an author of the electronic report to include only the accessible dimensions and members in the electronic report according to the set access rights.

Claims

1. A method comprising:

presenting a user interface for setting access rights to members of a data cube and access rights to transactional data from which the data cube was derived;

formatting a web page by which a user can compose an electronic report that includes members of the data cube as well as the transactional data to which the user has access based on the set access rights;

communicating the web page to a client device for display to the user; and

publishing the electronic report to include the members of the data cube to which the user has access and an icon for viewing the accessible transactional data from which the members of data cube accessible by the user were derived.

2. The method of claim 1, wherein presenting the user interface comprises:

displaying a dimensional hierarchy for the data cube, wherein the dimensional hierarchy includes the dimensions and members included in the electronic report; and

receiving input granting the user access to a subset of the displayed members and dimensions.

3. The method of claim 1, wherein presenting the user interface comprises:

displaying data fields from one or more database tables that store the transactional data; and

receiving input granting the user access to a subset of the displayed fields.

4. A method comprising:

storing a data cube having multidimensional data derived from transactional data;

presenting an interactive environment for creating an electronic report of the multidimensional data;

permitting an author of the electronic report to include in the electronic report only multidimensional data to which the author has access by controlling access to the multidimensional data based on access rights set by a first user;

publishing the electronic report from the interactive environment to include the multidimensional data to which the author has access and a icon for viewing the transactional data;

receiving input from a user viewing the electronic report selecting a range of the multidimensional data displayed by the electronic report;

controlling access to the transactional data based on the set access rights by determining whether the user viewing the electronic report has access to transactional data corresponding to the selected range of the multidimensional data displayed by the electronic report by; and

displaying the corresponding transactional data based on the determination.

5. A computer-readable medium having instructions thereon for causing a programmable processor to:

present a user interface for setting access rights to members of a data cube and access rights to transactional data from which the data cube was derived;

format a web page by which a user can compose an electronic report that includes members of the data cube as well as the transactional data to which the user has access based on the set access rights;

communicate the web page to a client device for display to a user; and

publish the electronic report to include the members of the data cube to which the user has access and an icon for viewing the accessible transactional data from which the members of data cube accessible by the user were derived.

6. The computer-readable medium of claim 5 further including instructions to cause the processor to:

display a dimensional hierarchy for the data cube, wherein the dimensional hierarchy includes the dimensions and members included in the electronic report; and

receive input granting the user access to a subset of the displayed members and dimensions.

7. The computer-readable medium of claim 5 further including instructions to cause the processor to:

displaying data fields from one or more database tables that store the transactional data; and

receiving input granting the user access to a subset of the displayed fields.

8. The computer-readable medium of claim 5 further including instructions to cause the processor to:

present an interactive environment for creating the electronic report from the multidimensional data; and

permit an author of the electronic report to include in the report only the multidimensional data to which the author has access based on the set access rights.

9. The computer-readable medium of claim 8 further including instructions to cause the processor to:

publish the electronic report from the interactive environment to include the multidimensional data to which the author has access and a icon for viewing the transactional data;

receive input from a user viewing the electronic report selecting a range of the multidimensional data displayed by the electronic report;

determine whether the user viewing the electronic report has access to transactional data corresponding to the selected range of the multidimensional data displayed by the electronic report; and

display the corresponding transactional data based on the determination.

10. A system comprising:

a database storing multidimensional data and transactional data;

a server to present a user interface for setting access rights to dimensions and members of the multidimensional data and access rights to the transactional data; and

a page generation module executing on the server to format a web page by which a user can compose an electronic report that includes members of the multidimensional data as well as the transactional data to which the user has access based on the set access rights, and publish the electronic report to include the members of the multidimensional data to which the user has access and an icon for viewing the accessible transactional data from which the members of multidimensional data accessible by the user were derived.

11. The system of claim 10, wherein the web page presents an interactive environment for creating the electronic report from the multidimensional data.

12. The system of claim 10, wherein the server determines whether a user viewing the electronic report has access to transactional data corresponding to a selected range of the multidimensional data included in the electronic report and the page generation modules formats a web page to display the corresponding transactional data based on the determination.