Profiling data with location information

• US 9,323,749 B2
• Filed: 10/22/2013
• Issued: 04/26/2016
• Est. Priority Date: 10/22/2012
• Status: Active Grant

• Current Assignee: Ab Initio Technology LLC (Ab Initio Software Corporation)
• Original Assignee: Ab Initio Technology LLC (Ab Initio Software Corporation)
• Inventors: Anderson, Arlen
• Primary Examiner(s): Hu, Jensen
• Application Number:
  US14/059,590
• Publication Number:
  US 20140114968A1
• Time in Patent Office: 917 Days
• Field of Search: 707/687
• US Class Current: 1/1
• CPC Class Codes: G06F 16/00 Information retrieval; Database structures therefor; File system structures therefor
• CPC Class Codes: G06F 16/215 Improving data quality; Data cleansing, e.g. de-duplication, removing invalid entries or correcting typographical errors
• CPC Class Codes: G06F 16/2228 Indexing structures
• CPC Class Codes: G06F 16/2365 Ensuring data consistency and integrity
• CPC Class Codes: G06F 16/245 Query processing
• CPC Class Codes: G06F 16/24544 Join order optimisation
• CPC Class Codes: G06F 16/258 Data format conversion from or to a database

Abstract

Profiling data includes processing an accessed collection of records, including: generating, for a first set of distinct values appearing in a first set of one or more fields, corresponding location information; generating, for the first set of fields, a corresponding list of entries identifying a distinct value from the first set of distinct values and the location information for the distinct value; generating, for a second set of one or more fields, a corresponding list of entries, with each entry identifying a distinct value from a second set of distinct values appearing in the second set of fields; and generating result information, based at least in part on: locating at least one record of the collection using the location information for at least one value appearing in the first set of fields, and determining at least one value appearing in the second set of fields of the located record.

Claims

1. A method for profiling data stored in at least one data storage system, the method including:

accessing at least one collection of records stored in the data storage system over an interface coupled to the data storage system; and

processing the collection of records to generate result information characterizing values appearing in a first set of one or more fields of the collection of records based on profile information for one or more values, where profile information for a value appearing in a field that is being profiled summarizes the collection of records in which the value appears in the field that is being profiled, the processing including;

receiving, for a second set of two or more fields of the collection of records, a corresponding list of entries, with each entry identifying (1) a distinct combination of values appearing in the second set of two or more fields, and (2) profile information for the distinct combination of values that includes location information that identifies, for each distinct combination of values, every record in the collection in which the distinct combination of values appears; and

generating the result information characterizing values appearing in the first set of one or more fields of the collection of records, based at least in part on;

combining first profile information from a first entry of the list having a first distinct combination of values, and second profile information for at least one field having at least one value different from the first distinct combination of values, and determining profile information for at least one value appearing in at least one field of the first set of one or more fields based on the combined profile information.

2. The method of claim 1, wherein the list includes an entry for every distinct combination of values appearing in the second set of two or more fields.

3. The method of claim 2, wherein the first set of one or more fields does not include any fields from the second set of two or more fields.

4. The method of claim 3, wherein combining first profile information from a first entry of the list having a first distinct combination of values, and second profile information for at least one field having at least one value different from the first distinct combination of values includes:

combining first profile information from a first entry of the list having a first distinct combination of values, and second profile information for at least one field of the first set of one or more fields.

5. The method of claim 4, wherein the profile information from the first entry of the list includes location information that identifies every record in the collection in which the first distinct combination of values appears in the second set of two or more fields.

6. The method of claim 5, wherein the profile information for at least one field having at least one value different from the first distinct combination of values includes location information that identifies every record in the collection in which the at least one value appears in the first set of one or more fields.

7. The method of claim 4, wherein combining the first profile information and second profile information includes performing an intersection of the first profile information and second profile information.

8. The method of claim 2, wherein each entry in the list is associated with an index value for that entry that is unique among all of the index values associated with the entries in the list.

9. The method of claim 8, wherein the first set of one or more fields is a subset of fewer than all fields from the second set of two or more fields.

10. The method of claim 9, wherein combining first profile information from a first entry of the list having a first distinct combination of values, and second profile information for at least one field having at least one value different from the first distinct combination of values includes:

combining first profile information from a first entry of the list having a first distinct combination of values, and second profile information from a second entry of the list having a second distinct combination of values.

11. The method of claim 10, wherein the first distinct combination of values and the second distinct combination of values have an identical value for a first field and different values for a second field, where the first field is in both the first set and the second set and the second field is in the second set but not in the first set.

12. The method of claim 10, wherein the first profile information includes a first index value associated with the first entry and the second profile information includes a second index value associated with the second entry.

13. The method of claim 1, wherein each entry further identifies a count of the number of records in which a distinct combination of values appears in the second set of two or more fields.

14. The method of claim 13, wherein the processing further includes sorting the entries in each list by the identified count.

15. The method of claim 1, wherein the result information includes location information that identifies, for each distinct combination of values appearing in the first set of one or more fields, every record in the collection in which the distinct combination of values appears.

16. The method of claim 1, wherein generating the location information for a distinct combination of values includes determining an intersection between location information for a first distinct value from the distinct combination of values and location information for a second distinct value from the distinct combination of values.

17. The method of claim 1, wherein the location information identifies a unique index value for every record in which the distinct value appears.

18. The method of claim 17, wherein the location information identifies a particular unique index value by storing that particular unique index value.

19. The method of claim 17, wherein the location information identifies a unique index value by encoding the unique index value within the location information.

20. The method of claim 19, wherein encoding the unique index value includes storing a bit at a position within a vector corresponding to the unique index value.

21. A computer program, stored on a computer-readable storage medium, for profiling data stored in at least one data storage system, the computer program including instructions for causing a computing system to:

access at least one collection of records stored in the data storage system over an interface coupled to the data storage system; and

process the collection of records to generate result information characterizing values appearing in a first set of one or more fields of the collection of records based on profile information for one or more values, where profile information for a value appearing in a field that is being profiled summarizes the collection of records in which the value appears in the field that is being profiled, the processing including;

receiving, for a second set of two or more fields of the collection of records, a corresponding list of entries, with each entry identifying (1) a distinct combination of values appearing in the second set of two or more fields, and (2) profile information for the distinct combination of values that includes location information that identifies, for each distinct combination of values, every record in the collection in which the distinct combination of values appears; and

generating the result information characterizing values appearing in the first set of one or more fields of the collection of records, based at least in part on;

combining first profile information from a first entry of the list having a first distinct combination of values, and second profile information for at least one field having at least one value different from the first distinct combination of values, and determining profile information for at least one value appearing in at least one field of the first set of one or more fields based on the combined profile information.

24. The computer program of claim 21, wherein the list includes an entry for every distinct combination of values appearing in the second set of two or more fields.

25. The computer program of claim 24, wherein the first set of one or more fields does not include any fields from the second set of two or more fields.

26. The computer program of claim 25, wherein combining first profile information from a first entry of the list having a first distinct combination of values, and second profile information for at least one field having at least one value different from the first distinct combination of values includes:

combining first profile information from a first entry of the list having a first distinct combination of values, and second profile information for at least one field of the first set of one or more fields.

27. The computer program of claim 26, wherein the profile information from the first entry of the list includes location information that identifies every record in the collection in which the first distinct combination of values appears in the second set of two or more fields.

28. The computer program of claim 27, wherein the profile information for at least one field having at least one value different from the first distinct combination of values includes location information that identifies every record in the collection in which the at least one value appears in the first set of one or more fields.

29. The computer program of claim 26, wherein combining the first profile information and second profile information includes performing an intersection of the first profile information and second profile information.

30. The computer program of claim 24, wherein each entry in the list is associated with an index value for that entry that is unique among all of the index values associated with the entries in the list.

31. The computer program of claim 30, wherein the first set of one or more fields is a subset of fewer than all fields from the second set of two or more fields.

32. The computer program of claim 31, wherein combining first profile information from a first entry of the list having a first distinct combination of values, and second profile information for at least one field having at least one value different from the first distinct combination of values includes:

combining first profile information from a first entry of the list having a first distinct combination of values, and second profile information from a second entry of the list having a second distinct combination of values.

33. The computer program of claim 32, wherein the first distinct combination of values and the second distinct combination of values have an identical value for a first field and different values for a second field, where the first field is in both the first set and the second set and the second field is in the second set but not in the first set.

34. The computer program of claim 32, wherein the first profile information includes a first index value associated with the first entry and the second profile information includes a second index value associated with the second entry.

35. The computer program of claim 21, wherein each entry further identifies a count of the number of records in which a distinct combination of values appears in the second set of two or more fields.

36. The computer program of claim 35, wherein the processing further includes sorting the entries in each list by the identified count.

37. The computer program of claim 21, wherein the result information includes location information that identifies, for each distinct combination of values appearing in the first set of one or more fields, every record in the collection in which the distinct combination of values appears.

38. The computer program of claim 21, wherein generating the location information for a distinct combination of values includes determining an intersection between location information for a first distinct value from the distinct combination of values and location information for a second distinct value from the distinct combination of values.

39. The computer program of claim 21, wherein the location information identifies a unique index value for every record in which the distinct value appears.

40. The computer program of claim 39, wherein the location information identifies a particular unique index value by storing that particular unique index value.

41. The computer program of claim 39, wherein the location information identifies a unique index value by encoding the unique index value within the location information.

42. The computer program of claim 41, wherein encoding the unique index value includes storing a bit at a position within a vector corresponding to the unique index value.

22. A computing system for profiling data stored in at least one data storage system, the computing system including:

an interface coupled to the data storage system configured to access at least one collection of records stored in the data storage system; and

at least one processor configured to process the collection of records to generate result information characterizing values appearing in a first set of one or more fields of the collection of records based on profile information for one or more values, where profile information for a value appearing in a field that is being profiled summarizes the collection of records in which the value appears in the field that is being profiled, the processing including;

receiving, for a second set of two or more fields of the collection of records, a corresponding list of entries, with each entry identifying (1) a distinct combination of values appearing in the second set of two or more fields, and (2) profile information for the distinct combination of values that includes location information that identifies, for each distinct combination of values, every record in the collection in which the distinct combination of values appears; and

generating the result information characterizing values appearing in the first set of one or more fields of the collection of records, based at least in part on;

combining first profile information from a first entry of the list having a first distinct combination of values, and second profile information for at least one field having at least one value different from the first distinct combination of values, and determining profile information for at least one value appearing in at least one field of the first set of one or more fields based on the combined profile information.

43. The computing system of claim 22, wherein the list includes an entry for every distinct combination of values appearing in the second set of two or more fields.

44. The computing system of claim 43, wherein the first set of one or more fields does not include any fields from the second set of two or more fields.

45. The computing system of claim 44, wherein combining first profile information from a first entry of the list having a first distinct combination of values, and second profile information for at least one field having at least one value different from the first distinct combination of values includes:

combining first profile information from a first entry of the list having a first distinct combination of values, and second profile information for at least one field of the first set of one or more fields.

46. The computing system of claim 45, wherein the profile information from the first entry of the list includes location information that identifies every record in the collection in which the first distinct combination of values appears in the second set of two or more fields.

47. The computing system of claim 46, wherein the profile information for at least one field having at least one value different from the first distinct combination of values includes location information that identifies every record in the collection in which the at least one value appears in the first set of one or more fields.

48. The computing system of claim 45, wherein combining the first profile information and second profile information includes performing an intersection of the first profile information and second profile information.

49. The computing system of claim 43, wherein each entry in the list is associated with an index value for that entry that is unique among all of the index values associated with the entries in the list.

50. The computing system of claim 49, wherein the first set of one or more fields is a subset of fewer than all fields from the second set of two or more fields.

51. The computing system of claim 50, wherein combining first profile information from a first entry of the list having a first distinct combination of values, and second profile information for at least one field having at least one value different from the first distinct combination of values includes:

combining first profile information from a first entry of the list having a first distinct combination of values, and second profile information from a second entry of the list having a second distinct combination of values.

52. The computing system of claim 51, wherein the first distinct combination of values and the second distinct combination of values have an identical value for a first field and different values for a second field, where the first field is in both the first set and the second set and the second field is in the second set but not in the first set.

53. The computing system of claim 51, wherein the first profile information includes a first index value associated with the first entry and the second profile information includes a second index value associated with the second entry.

54. The computing system of claim 22, wherein each entry further identifies a count of the number of records in which a distinct combination of values appears in the second set of two or more fields.

55. The computing system of claim 54, wherein the processing further includes sorting the entries in each list by the identified count.

56. The computing system of claim 22, wherein the result information includes location information that identifies, for each distinct combination of values appearing in the first set of one or more fields, every record in the collection in which the distinct combination of values appears.

57. The computing system of claim 22, wherein generating the location information for a distinct combination of values includes determining an intersection between location information for a first distinct value from the distinct combination of values and location information for a second distinct value from the distinct combination of values.

58. The computing system of claim 22, wherein the location information identifies a unique index value for every record in which the distinct value appears.

59. The computing system of claim 58, wherein the location information identifies a particular unique index value by storing that particular unique index value.

60. The computing system of claim 58, wherein the location information identifies a unique index value by encoding the unique index value within the location information.

61. The computing system of claim 60, wherein encoding the unique index value includes storing a bit at a position within a vector corresponding to the unique index value.

23. A computing system for profiling data stored in at least one data storage system, the computing system including:

means for accessing at least one collection of records stored in the data storage system; and

means for processing the collection of records to generate result information characterizing values appearing in a first set of one or more fields of the collection of records based on profile information for one or more values, where profile information for a value appearing in a field that is being profiled summarizes the collection of records in which the value appears in the field that is being profiled, the processing including;

receiving, for a second set of two or more fields of the collection of records, a corresponding list of entries, with each entry identifying (1) a distinct combination of values appearing in the second set of two or more fields, and (2) profile information for the distinct combination of values that includes location information that identifies, for each distinct combination of values, every record in the collection in which the distinct combination of values appears; and

generating the result information characterizing values appearing in the first set of one or more fields of the collection of records, based at least in part on;

combining first profile information from a first entry of the list having a first distinct combination of values, and second profile information for at least one field having at least one value different from the first distinct combination of values, and determining profile information for at least one value appearing in at least one field of the first set of one or more fields based on the combined profile information.

62. A method for profiling data stored in at least one data storage system, the method including:

accessing at least one collection of records stored in the data storage system over an interface coupled to the data storage system; and

processing the collection of records to generate result information characterizing values appearing in a first set of one or more fields of the collection of records based on profile information for one or more values, where profile information for a value appearing in a field that is being profiled summarizes the collection of records in which the value appears in the field that is being profiled, the processing including;

receiving, for a second set of two or more fields of the collection of records, a corresponding list of entries, with each entry identifying (1) a distinct combination of values appearing in the second set of two or more fields, and (2) profile information for the distinct combination of values; and

generating the result information characterizing values appearing in the first set of one or more fields of the collection of records, based at least in part on;

combining first profile information from a first entry of the list having a first distinct combination of values, and second profile information for at least one field having at least one value different from the first distinct combination of values, and determining profile information for at least one value appearing in at least one field of the first set of one or more fields based on the combined profile information;

wherein the list includes an entry for every distinct combination of values appearing in the second set of two or more fields;

wherein the first set of one or more fields does not include any fields from the second set of two or more fields;

wherein combining first profile information from a first entry of the list having a first distinct combination of values, and second profile information for at least one field having at least one value different from the first distinct combination of values includes;

combining first profile information from a first entry of the list having a first distinct combination of values, and second profile information for at least one field of the first set of one or more fields; and

wherein the profile information from the first entry of the list includes location information that identifies every record in the collection in which the first distinct combination of values appears in the second set of two or more fields.

63. The method of claim 62, wherein the profile information for at least one field having at least one value different from the first distinct combination of values includes location information that identifies every record in the collection in which the at least one value appears in the first set of one or more fields.

64. A computer program, stored on a computer-readable storage medium, for profiling data stored in at least one data storage system, the computer program including instructions for causing a computing system to:

access at least one collection of records stored in the data storage system over an interface coupled to the data storage system; and

process the collection of records to generate result information characterizing values appearing in a first set of one or more fields of the collection of records based on profile information for one or more values, where profile information for a value appearing in a field that is being profiled summarizes the collection of records in which the value appears in the field that is being profiled, the processing including;

receiving, for a second set of two or more fields of the collection of records, a corresponding list of entries, with each entry identifying (1) a distinct combination of values appearing in the second set of two or more fields, and (2) profile information for the distinct combination of values; and

generating the result information characterizing values appearing in the first set of one or more fields of the collection of records, based at least in part on;

combining first profile information from a first entry of the list having a first distinct combination of values, and second profile information for at least one field having at least one value different from the first distinct combination of values, and determining profile information for at least one value appearing in at least one field of the first set of one or more fields based on the combined profile information;

wherein the list includes an entry for every distinct combination of values appearing in the second set of two or more fields;

wherein the first set of one or more fields does not include any fields from the second set of two or more fields;

wherein combining first profile information from a first entry of the list having a first distinct combination of values, and second profile information for at least one field having at least one value different from the first distinct combination of values includes;

combining first profile information from a first entry of the list having a first distinct combination of values, and second profile information for at least one field of the first set of one or more fields; and

wherein the profile information from the first entry of the list includes location information that identifies every record in the collection in which the first distinct combination of values appears in the second set of two or more fields.

65. The computer program of claim 64, wherein the profile information for at least one field having at least one value different from the first distinct combination of values includes location information that identifies every record in the collection in which the at least one value appears in the first set of one or more fields.

66. A computing system for profiling data stored in at least one data storage system, the computing system including:

an interface coupled to the data storage system configured to access at least one collection of records stored in the data storage system; and

at least one processor configured to process the collection of records to generate result information characterizing values appearing in a first set of one or more fields of the collection of records based on profile information for one or more values, where profile information for a value appearing in a field that is being profiled summarizes the collection of records in which the value appears in the field that is being profiled, the processing including;

receiving, for a second set of two or more fields of the collection of records, a corresponding list of entries, with each entry identifying (1) a distinct combination of values appearing in the second set of two or more fields, and (2) profile information for the distinct combination of values; and

generating the result information characterizing values appearing in the first set of one or more fields of the collection of records, based at least in part on;

combining first profile information from a first entry of the list having a first distinct combination of values, and second profile information for at least one field having at least one value different from the first distinct combination of values, and determining profile information for at least one value appearing in at least one field of the first set of one or more fields based on the combined profile information;

wherein the list includes an entry for every distinct combination of values appearing in the second set of two or more fields;

wherein the first set of one or more fields does not include any fields from the second set of two or more fields;

wherein combining first profile information from a first entry of the list having a first distinct combination of values, and second profile information for at least one field having at least one value different from the first distinct combination of values includes;

combining first profile information from a first entry of the list having a first distinct combination of values, and second profile information for at least one field of the first set of one or more fields; and

wherein the profile information from the first entry of the list includes location information that identifies every record in the collection in which the first distinct combination of values appears in the second set of two or more fields.

67. The computing system of claim 66, wherein the profile information for at least one field having at least one value different from the first distinct combination of values includes location information that identifies every record in the collection in which the at least one value appears in the first set of one or more fields.

68. A computing system for profiling data stored in at least one data storage system, the computing system including:

means for accessing at least one collection of records stored in the data storage system; and

means for processing the collection of records to generate result information characterizing values appearing in a first set of one or more fields of the collection of records based on profile information for one or more values, where profile information for a value appearing in a field that is being profiled summarizes the collection of records in which the value appears in the field that is being profiled, the processing including;

receiving, for a second set of two or more fields of the collection of records, a corresponding list of entries, with each entry identifying (1) a distinct combination of values appearing in the second set of two or more fields, and (2) profile information for the distinct combination of values; and

generating the result information characterizing values appearing in the first set of one or more fields of the collection of records, based at least in part on;

combining first profile information from a first entry of the list having a first distinct combination of values, and second profile information for at least one field having at least one value different from the first distinct combination of values, and determining profile information for at least one value appearing in at least one field of the first set of one or more fields based on the combined profile information;

wherein the list includes an entry for every distinct combination of values appearing in the second set of two or more fields;

wherein the first set of one or more fields does not include any fields from the second set of two or more fields;

wherein combining first profile information from a first entry of the list having a first distinct combination of values, and second profile information for at least one field having at least one value different from the first distinct combination of values includes;

combining first profile information from a first entry of the list having a first distinct combination of values, and second profile information for at least one field of the first set of one or more fields; and

wherein the profile information from the first entry of the list includes location information that identifies every record in the collection in which the first distinct combination of values appears in the second set of two or more fields.

69. The computing system of claim 68, wherein the profile information for at least one field having at least one value different from the first distinct combination of values includes location information that identifies every record in the collection in which the at least one value appears in the first set of one or more fields.

70. A method for profiling data stored in at least one data storage system, the method including:

accessing at least one collection of records stored in the data storage system over an interface coupled to the data storage system; and

processing the collection of records to generate result information characterizing values appearing in a first set of one or more fields of the collection of records based on profile information for one or more values, where profile information for a value appearing in a field that is being profiled summarizes the collection of records in which the value appears in the field that is being profiled, the processing including;

receiving, for a second set of two or more fields of the collection of records, a corresponding list of entries, with each entry identifying (1) a distinct combination of values appearing in the second set of two or more fields, and (2) profile information for the distinct combination of values; and

generating the result information characterizing values appearing in the first set of one or more fields of the collection of records, based at least in part on;

combining first profile information from a first entry of the list having a first distinct combination of values, and second profile information for at least one field having at least one value different from the first distinct combination of values, and determining profile information for at least one value appearing in at least one field of the first set of one or more fields based on the combined profile information;

wherein the list includes an entry for every distinct combination of values appearing in the second set of two or more fields;

wherein the first set of one or more fields does not include any fields from the second set of two or more fields;

wherein combining first profile information from a first entry of the list having a first distinct combination of values, and second profile information for at least one field having at least one value different from the first distinct combination of values includes;

combining first profile information from a first entry of the list having a first distinct combination of values, and second profile information for at least one field of the first set of one or more fields; and

wherein combining the first profile information and second profile information includes performing an intersection of the first profile information and second profile information.

71. A computer program, stored on a computer-readable storage medium, for profiling data stored in at least one data storage system, the computer program including instructions for causing a computing system to:

access at least one collection of records stored in the data storage system over an interface coupled to the data storage system; and

process the collection of records to generate result information characterizing values appearing in a first set of one or more fields of the collection of records based on profile information for one or more values, where profile information for a value appearing in a field that is being profiled summarizes the collection of records in which the value appears in the field that is being profiled, the processing including;

receiving, for a second set of two or more fields of the collection of records, a corresponding list of entries, with each entry identifying (1) a distinct combination of values appearing in the second set of two or more fields, and (2) profile information for the distinct combination of values; and

generating the result information characterizing values appearing in the first set of one or more fields of the collection of records, based at least in part on;

combining first profile information from a first entry of the list having a first distinct combination of values, and second profile information for at least one field having at least one value different from the first distinct combination of values, and determining profile information for at least one value appearing in at least one field of the first set of one or more fields based on the combined profile information;

wherein the list includes an entry for every distinct combination of values appearing in the second set of two or more fields;

wherein the first set of one or more fields does not include any fields from the second set of two or more fields;

wherein combining first profile information from a first entry of the list having a first distinct combination of values, and second profile information for at least one field having at least one value different from the first distinct combination of values includes;

combining first profile information from a first entry of the list having a first distinct combination of values, and second profile information for at least one field of the first set of one or more fields; and

wherein combining the first profile information and second profile information includes performing an intersection of the first profile information and second profile information.

72. A computing system for profiling data stored in at least one data storage system, the computing system including:

an interface coupled to the data storage system configured to access at least one collection of records stored in the data storage system; and

at least one processor configured to process the collection of records to generate result information characterizing values appearing in a first set of one or more fields of the collection of records based on profile information for one or more values, where profile information for a value appearing in a field that is being profiled summarizes the collection of records in which the value appears in the field that is being profiled, the processing including;

receiving, for a second set of two or more fields of the collection of records, a corresponding list of entries, with each entry identifying (1) a distinct combination of values appearing in the second set of two or more fields, and (2) profile information for the distinct combination of values; and

generating the result information characterizing values appearing in the first set of one or more fields of the collection of records, based at least in part on;

combining first profile information from a first entry of the list having a first distinct combination of values, and second profile information for at least one field having at least one value different from the first distinct combination of values, and determining profile information for at least one value appearing in at least one field of the first set of one or more fields based on the combined profile information;

wherein the list includes an entry for every distinct combination of values appearing in the second set of two or more fields;

wherein the first set of one or more fields does not include any fields from the second set of two or more fields;

wherein combining first profile information from a first entry of the list having a first distinct combination of values, and second profile information for at least one field having at least one value different from the first distinct combination of values includes;

combining first profile information from a first entry of the list having a first distinct combination of values, and second profile information for at least one field of the first set of one or more fields; and

wherein combining the first profile information and second profile information includes performing an intersection of the first profile information and second profile information.

73. A computing system for profiling data stored in at least one data storage system, the computing system including:

means for accessing at least one collection of records stored in the data storage system; and

means for processing the collection of records to generate result information characterizing values appearing in a first set of one or more fields of the collection of records based on profile information for one or more values, where profile information for a value appearing in a field that is being profiled summarizes the collection of records in which the value appears in the field that is being profiled, the processing including;

receiving, for a second set of two or more fields of the collection of records, a corresponding list of entries, with each entry identifying (1) a distinct combination of values appearing in the second set of two or more fields, and (2) profile information for the distinct combination of values; and

generating the result information characterizing values appearing in the first set of one or more fields of the collection of records, based at least in part on;

combining first profile information from a first entry of the list having a first distinct combination of values, and second profile information for at least one field having at least one value different from the first distinct combination of values, and determining profile information for at least one value appearing in at least one field of the first set of one or more fields based on the combined profile information;

wherein the list includes an entry for every distinct combination of values appearing in the second set of two or more fields;

wherein the first set of one or more fields does not include any fields from the second set of two or more fields;

wherein combining first profile information from a first entry of the list having a first distinct combination of values, and second profile information for at least one field having at least one value different from the first distinct combination of values includes;

combining first profile information from a first entry of the list having a first distinct combination of values, and second profile information for at least one field of the first set of one or more fields; and

wherein combining the first profile information and second profile information includes performing an intersection of the first profile information and second profile information.