Interpreting relational database statements using a virtual multidimensional data model

• US 9,946,780 B2
• Filed: 02/06/2017
• Issued: 04/17/2018
• Est. Priority Date: 03/25/2014
• Status: Active Grant

• Current Assignee: AtScale, Inc.
• Original Assignee: AtScale, Inc.
• Inventors: Gerweck, Sarah, Mariani, David P.
• Primary Examiner(s): Ahn, Sangwoo
• Application Number:
  US15/424,890
• Publication Number:
  US 20170185663A1
• Time in Patent Office: 435 Days
• Field of Search: None
• CPC Class Codes: G06F 16/211 Schema design and management
• CPC Class Codes: G06F 16/2435 Active constructs
• CPC Class Codes: G06F 16/24535 of sub-queries or views
• CPC Class Codes: G06F 16/248 Presentation of query results
• CPC Class Codes: G06F 16/254 Extract, transform and load [ETL] procedures, e.g. ETL data flows in data warehouses
• CPC Class Codes: G06F 16/283 Multi-dimensional databases or data warehouses, e.g. MOLAP or ROLAP
• CPC Class Codes: G06F 16/284 Relational databases

Abstract

The present disclosure provides improved systems, methods, and computer program products suited to address the issues with legacy approaches. Specifically, the present disclosure provides a detailed description of techniques used in systems, methods, and in computer program products for interpreting relational database statements using a virtual multidimensional data model. Certain embodiments are directed to technological solutions for receiving a relational database statement comprising relational metadata mapped to a virtual multidimensional representation of a subject database, and generating a subject database statement based at least in part on the relational database statement and the virtual multidimensional representation, and configurable to operate on the subject database to produce a visualization result set, which embodiments advance the technical fields for addressing the problem of projecting a multidimensional data view of a subject database on to a relational data analysis environment to enable real time data analyses, as well as advancing peripheral technical fields.

Claims

1. A method comprising:

identifying a storage facility having a first area to store a subject database and having a second area to store a schema that characterizes the subject database, wherein the schema is described by database schema metadata;

identifying a query engine, interconnected to the storage facility and configured to interpret subject database statements on the subject database;

generating, from the schema, relational metadata describing a relational database structure, wherein the relational metadata is based at least in part on the database schema metadata comprising the schema;

receiving at least one relational database statement conforming to the relational metadata generated at least in part from the schema, wherein the at least one relational database statement is characterized by a first set of attributes;

generating, responsive to receiving the at least one relational database statement, at least one virtual multidimensional representation of the subject database, wherein the at least one virtual multidimensional representation is characterized by a second set of attributes, and wherein at least one of the second set of attributes is determined based at least in part on at least one of the first set of attributes that characterize the at least one relational database statement; and

generating at least one subject database statement to issue to the query engine, wherein the at least one subject database statement is based at least in part on at least one of the second set of attributes.

2. The method of claim 1, wherein generating the at least one subject database statement comprises identifying one or more dimensions from the second set of attributes, and wherein the at least one subject database statement is based at least in part on the one or more dimensions.

3. The method of claim 2, wherein the one or more dimensions describe a multidimensional space.

4. The method of claim 1, wherein generating the at least one subject database statement comprises selecting one or more structural attributes, wherein the structural attributes are selected based at least in part on at least one of, the first set of attributes that characterize the at least one relational database statement, the second set of attributes, or the schema, and wherein the at least one subject database statement is based at least in part on the one or more structural attributes.

5. The method of claim 4, wherein the one or more structural attributes comprise at least one of:

one or more clauses, one or more operators, or any combination thereof.

6. The method of claim 4, wherein selecting at least one of the one or more structural attributes is based at least in part on a query performance metric.

7. The method of claim 1, further comprising generating mapping metadata, wherein the mapping metadata is based at least in part on at least one of the first set of attributes that characterize the at least one relational database statement, or the second set of attributes, and wherein the mapping metadata maps a query result set produced by the at least one subject database statement to a visualization result set.

8. The method of claim 1, wherein the second set of attributes comprise at least one of:

one or more dimensions, one or more measures, or one or more relationships.

9. The method of claim 1, wherein generating the at least one subject database statement comprises mapping at least one of the first set of attributes that characterize the at least one relational database statement to at least one of the second set of attributes.

10. The method of claim 1, wherein generating the at least one subject database statement comprises determining at least one of one or more inferred relationships, or one or more groupings, wherein the one or more inferred relationships, or the one or more groupings are determined based at least in part on the first set of attributes that characterize the at least one relational database statement.

11. A computer program product, embodied in a non-transitory computer readable medium, the non-transitory computer readable medium having stored thereon a sequence of instructions which, when executed by a processor causes the processor to execute a process, the process comprising:

generating, from a schema characterizing a subject database, relational metadata describing a relational database structure, wherein the relational metadata is based at least in part on database schema metadata comprising the schema;

receiving at least one relational database statement conforming to the relational metadata generated at least in part from the schema, wherein the at least one relational database statement is characterized by a first set of attributes;

generating, responsive to receiving the at least one relational database statement, at least one virtual multidimensional representation of the subject database, wherein the at least one virtual multidimensional representation is characterized by a second set of attributes, and wherein at least one of the second set of attributes is determined based at least in part on at least one of the first set of attributes that characterize the at least one relational database statement; and

generating at least one subject database statement to issue to a query engine to interpret on the subject database, wherein the at least one subject database statement is based at least in part on at least one of the second set of attributes.

12. The computer program product of claim 11, wherein generating the at least one subject database statement comprises identifying one or more dimensions from the second set of attributes, and wherein the at least one subject database statement is based at least in part on the one or more dimensions.

13. The computer program product of claim 11, wherein generating the at least one subject database statement comprises selecting one or more structural attributes, wherein the structural attributes are selected based at least in part on at least one of:

the first set of attributes, the second set of attributes, or the schema, and wherein the at least one subject database statement is based at least in part on the one or more structural attributes.

14. The computer program product of claim 11, wherein the process further comprises instructions for generating mapping metadata, wherein the mapping metadata is based at least in part on at least one of the first set of attributes, or the second set of attributes, and wherein the mapping metadata maps a query result set produced by the at least one subject database statement to a visualization result set.

15. The computer program product of claim 11, wherein generating the at least one subject database statement comprises mapping at least one of the first set of attributes to at least one of the second set of attributes.

16. The computer program product of claim 11, wherein generating the at least one subject database statement comprises determining at least one of one or more inferred relationships, or one or more groupings, wherein the one or more inferred relationships, or the one or more groupings are determined based at least in part on the first set of attributes.

17. A system comprising:

a network access port to communicate over a bus to a query engine, wherein the query engine is interconnected to a storage facility having a first area to store a subject database and having a second area to store a schema that characterizes the subject database, and wherein the query engine interprets subject database statements on the subject database;

a data analytics engine comprising a processor to receive communications over the network access port, and to perform operations of, generating, from the schema, relational metadata describing a relational database structure, wherein the relational metadata is based at least in part on database schema metadata comprising the schema;

receiving at least one relational database statement conforming to the relational metadata generated at least in part from the schema, wherein the at least one relational database statement is characterized by a first set of attributes;

generating, responsive to receiving the at least one relational database statement, at least one virtual multidimensional representation of the subject database, wherein the at least one virtual multidimensional representation is characterized by a second set of attributes, and wherein at least one of the second set of attributes is determined based at least in part on at least one of the first set of attributes that characterize the at least one relational database statement; and

generating at least one subject database statement to issue to the query engine, wherein the at least one subject database statement is based at least in part on at least one of the second set of attributes.

18. The system of claim 17, wherein acts of generating the at least one subject database statement comprise identifying one or more dimensions from the second set of attributes, and wherein the at least one subject database statement is based at least in part on the one or more dimensions.

19. The system of claim 17, wherein acts of generating the at least one subject database statement comprise selecting one or more structural attributes, wherein the structural attributes are selected based at least in part on at least one of:

the first set of attributes, the second set of attributes, or the schema, and wherein the at least one subject database statement is based at least in part on the one or more structural attributes.

20. The system of claim 17, wherein operations performed at the data analytics engine further comprise generating mapping metadata, wherein the mapping metadata is based at least in part on at least one of the first set of attributes, or the second set of attributes, and wherein the mapping metadata maps a query result set produced by the at least one subject database statement to a visualization result set.