Systems and methods for selecting data elements, such as population members, from a data source

• US 8,620,934 B2
• Filed: 05/05/2011
• Issued: 12/31/2013
• Est. Priority Date: 05/05/2010
• Status: Active Grant

• Current Assignee: University of Washington
• Original Assignee: University of Washington
• Inventors: Fong, Tanming, Sorensen, Chris
• Primary Examiner(s): Lu, Charles
• Application Number:
  US13/101,895
• Publication Number:
  US 20110276920A1
• Time in Patent Office: 971 Days
• Field of Search: 707/706, 707/754
• US Class Current: 707/754
• CPC Class Codes: G06F 16/2423 Interactive query statement specification based on a database schema

Abstract

Systems and methods for selecting data elements, such as population members, from a data source include translating the data source into a reverse schema. The reverse schema includes one or more data objects, each data object having a reverse access identifier and at least one unique identifier from the data source corresponding to the reverse access identifier. In some embodiments, access to data elements is provided using the reverse schema translation. A user may select a filter represented by a reverse access identifier in order to exclude those data elements associated with that reverse access identifier. In response, information associated with non-excluded data elements, such as population size, is provided for display.

Claims

1. A method, in a computing system having a processor, for providing data from a data source, the method comprising:

receiving a master list comprising a plurality of unique identifiers associated with the data source, wherein the data source includes one or more attribute arrays;

identifying, by the processor, an attribute array of the data source, the attribute array containing a plurality of attributes;

translating, by the processor, the data source into a reverse schema, wherein the translating comprises assembling a data object that includes;

a reverse access identifier, wherein the reverse access identifier is an attribute selected from the plurality of attributes, and

a set of unique identifiers selected from the plurality of unique identifiers, wherein each unique identifier in the set of unique identifiers is associated with the reverse access identifier;

receiving a selection of the reverse access identifier;

generating, by the processor, a working list of unique identifiers, wherein the working list includes the plurality of unique identifiers associated with the data source;

flagging each unique identifier in the working list that is not associated with the data object corresponding to the selected reverse access identifier;

blacklisting each unique identifier in the master list that is not flagged in the working list; and

providing data associated with non-blacklisted unique identifiers for display.

2. The method of claim 1, wherein the receiving the selection of the reverse access identifier comprises receiving a selection of a graph bar, icon, graphic, or text associated with the reverse access identifier.

3. The method of claim 1, wherein a reference to the selected reverse access identifier is stored for subsequently providing data associated with an updated data source.

4. The method of claim 1, wherein the data associated with the non-blacklisted unique identifiers comprises a population size.

5. The method of claim 1, wherein receiving the plurality of unique identifiers comprises loading the entire data source into a dynamic memory of the computing system.

6. The method of claim 1, wherein receiving the plurality of unique identifiers from the data source comprises receiving the plurality of unique identifiers from multiple distinct data sources.

7. The method of claim 1, wherein translating the data source into the reverse schema further comprises:

identifying a second attribute array of the data source, the second attribute array containing a second plurality of attributes;

assembling a second data object, the second data object including;

a second reverse access identifier, wherein the second reverse access identifier is an attribute selected from the second plurality of attributes, and

a second set of unique identifiers selected from the plurality of unique identifiers, wherein each unique identifier in the second set of unique identifiers is associated with the second reverse access identifier, and wherein the set of unique identifiers and the second set of unique identifiers do not have unique attributes in common.

8. The method of claim 2 wherein the flagging of each unique identifier in the working list that is not associated with the data object corresponding to the selected reverse access identifier comprises flagging each unique identifier in the working list that is not associated with the data object corresponding to the selected reverse access identifier with a working flag.

9. The method of claim 8 wherein the blacklisting comprises flagging each unique identifier in the master list that is not flagged in the working list with a master flag.

10. The method of claim 9, wherein each master flag includes a reference to the selected reverse access identifier.

11. A computing system for providing data from a data source, the computing system comprising:

a processor;

a memory;

a reverse schema module implemented as instructions stored in memory and executed by the processor, the reverse schema module configured to;

receive a master list comprising one or more unique identifiers from the data source,

identify an attribute array of the data source, the attribute array containing a plurality of attributes, and

translate the data source into a reverse schema at least in part by assembling a data object, wherein the data object includes;

a reverse access attribute, wherein the reverse access attribute is an attribute selected from the plurality of attributes, and

at least one unique identifier selected from the one or more unique identifiers, wherein the at least one unique identifier is associated with the reverse access attribute;

receive a selection of the reverse access attribute;

generate a working list of unique identifiers, wherein the working list includes the one or more unique identifiers associated with the data source;

mark each unique identifier in the working list that is not associated with the data object corresponding to the selected reverse access attribute;

exclude each unique identifier of the master list that is not marked in the working list; and

provide data associated with non-excluded unique identifiers for display.

12. The system of claim 11, wherein a reference to the selected reverse access attribute is stored in the memory for subsequently providing data associated with an updated data source.

13. The system of claim 11, wherein a reference to the selected reverse access attribute is stored in the memory for subsequently deselecting the selected reverse access attribute.

14. The system of claim 11, wherein the data associated with the non-excluded unique identifiers comprises a population size.

15. The system of claim 11, wherein the reverse schema module is further configured to generate a report including the data associated with the non-excluded unique identifiers.

16. A physical computer-readable storage medium having stored thereon computer-executable instructions, the instructions comprising:

instructions for receiving a master list comprising a plurality of unique identifiers associated with the data source, wherein the data source includes one or more attribute arrays;

instructions for identifying an attribute array of the data source, the attribute array containing a plurality of attributes;

instructions for translating the data source into a reverse schema, wherein the instructions for translating comprise instructions for assembling a data object that includes;

a reverse access identifier, wherein the reverse access identifier is an attribute selected from the plurality of attributes, and

a set of unique identifiers selected from the plurality of unique identifiers,

wherein each unique identifier in the set of unique identifiers is associated with the reverse access identifier;

instructions for receiving a selection of the reverse access identifier;

instructions for generating a working list of unique identifiers, wherein the working list includes the plurality of unique identifiers associated with the data source;

instructions for flagging each unique identifier in the working list that is not associated with the data object corresponding to the selected reverse access identifier;

instructions for blacklisting each unique identifier in the master list that is not flagged in the working list; and

instructions for providing data associated with non-blacklisted unique identifiers for display.

17. The physical computer-readable storage medium of claim 16, wherein the instructions further comprise instructions for storing a reference to the selected reverse access attribute.

18. The physical computer-readable storage medium of claim 16, wherein the data associated with the non-blacklisted unique identifiers comprises a population size.

19. The physical computer-readable storage medium of claim 16, wherein the instructions further comprise instructions for generating a report including the data associated with the non-blacklisted unique identifiers.

20. The physical computer-readable storage medium of claim 16, wherein the instructions further comprise:

instructions for identifying a second group of data from the data source, the second group of data comprising a second plurality of attributes associated with a second common attribute category; and

instructions for generating a second data element, the second data element comprising;

a second reverse access attribute, wherein the second reverse access attribute is one of the plurality of attributes, and

a second unique identifier selected from the plurality of unique identifiers, wherein the second unique identifier is associated with the second reverse access attribute, and wherein the second unique identifier is different than the unique identifier.