Data caveats for database tables

• US 8,990,205 B2
• Filed: 01/28/2013
• Issued: 03/24/2015
• Est. Priority Date: 01/28/2013
• Status: Active Grant

• Current Assignee: International Business Machines Corporation
• Original Assignee: International Business Machines Corporation
• Inventors: Pinel, Florian, Shwartz, Larisa, Buco, Melissa J., Diao, Yixin, Loewenstern, David M.
• Primary Examiner(s): Cao, Phuong Thao
• Application Number:
  US13/751,316
• Publication Number:
  US 20140214827A1
• Time in Patent Office: 785 Days
• Field of Search: 707/736, 707/802, 707/E17.045
• US Class Current: 707/736
• CPC Class Codes: G06F 16/2282 Tablespace storage structures; Management thereof
• CPC Class Codes: G06F 16/284 Relational databases

Abstract

A method for storing data caveats for databases is described. The method includes storing at least one record in at least one content table in a database. The method includes storing at least one data caveat having a relationship to the content table in at least one record in a caveat table. A data caveat has a relationship to the content table when the data caveat applies to: a record in the content table or the content table in entirety. The method also includes storing, in a memory device, an indication of the relationship. Articles of manufacture are also described.

Claims

1. An article of manufacture comprising a non-transitory computer readable medium embodying computer readable instructions which, when executed, cause a computer to carry out the steps of a method comprising:

storing at least one record in at least one content table in a database, the at least one record comprising content data;

storing at least one data caveat in at least one record in a caveat table, the at least one data caveat having a relationship to the at least one record in the at least one content table, wherein the at least one data caveat has a relationship to the at least one content table, wherein the at least one data caveat applies to at least one of;

a record in the at least one content table or the content table in its entirety or at least one record stored in a plurality of content tables; and

storing, in a memory device, an indication of the relationship;

wherein the at least one data caveat is pointed to by an indicator stored in a field of the at least one record in the at least one content table, wherein the at least one data caveat comprises information, that is expressive to a user of the content data, at least of how the content data stored in the at least one record of the at least one content table was obtained, and wherein each record in the caveat table comprises a field indicating at least one content table associated with the data caveat in the record.

2. The article of manufacture of claim 1, wherein the at least one data caveat applies to the at least one content table, and wherein the indication of the relationship is embodied in a field in the caveat table.

3. The article of manufacture of claim 1, wherein the at least one data caveat applies to the at least one record in the at least one content table or the at least one content table itself, and wherein the indication of the relationship to specific records in the at least one content table is embodied in the field in the at least one content table.

4. The article of manufacture of claim 3, wherein the field comprises at least one bit and each of the at least one bit corresponds to a record in the caveat table.

5. The article of manufacture of claim 1, wherein storing the at least one data caveat comprises adding a record to the caveat table;

and wherein storing the indication of the relationship to specific records in the at least one content table comprises changing at least one bit in the field in the records in the at least one content table.

6. The article of manufacture of claim 1, wherein a particular one of at least one content table is associated with a data caveat when the data caveat has a relationship to the database.

7. The article of manufacture of claim 1, wherein the steps of the method further comprise receiving the at least one data caveat with the at least one record from the at least one content table.

8. The article of manufacture of claim 1, wherein the steps of the method further comprise:

receiving the at least one record from a particular content table at a first time; and

receiving the at least one data caveat at a second subsequent time.

9. The article of manufacture of claim 1, wherein the steps of the method further comprise:

receiving a query; and

responding to the query based at least in part on the caveat table and the at least one content table.

10. The article of manufacture of claim 9, wherein the query is a structured query language query.

11. The article of manufacture of claim 1, wherein the at least one data caveat comprises information that is expressive to a user of the content data of at least one of a warning or a qualification concerning the content data.

12. The article of manufacture of claim 1, wherein the at least one data caveat comprises information that is expressive to a user of the content data of at least one of a warning or a qualification concerning use of the content data.

13. The article of manufacture of claim 1, wherein the at least one data caveat comprises information that is expressive to a user of the content data of a procedure that was used for collecting the content data.

14. The article of manufacture of claim 1, wherein the at least one data caveat comprises information that is expressive to a user of the content data of a change, over a data collection period, in a procedure that was used for collecting the content data.

15. The article of manufacture of claim 1, wherein the at least one data caveat comprises information that is expressive to a user of the content data of a constraint that existed in a procedure that was used for collecting the content data.

16. The article of manufacture of claim 1, wherein the at least one data caveat comprises information that is expressive to a user of the content data of which data was included or excluded from the content data.