Patent · US Expired

Method and apparatus for structuring, maintaining, and using families of data

US6910044B2 · kind B2 · utility

37Cited by

4References

2Claims

0Family size

Assignee

SAP AG · DE

Inventors

Paul N. Weinberg · Los Angeles, US
Ariel Hazi · Los Angeles, US
Dave L. Sullivan · Calabasas, US
Philip A. Tinari · Pacifica, US
Alexander ALEXANDROV · West Hollywood, US
David Brookler · Los Angeles, US

Key dates

Filing date	Sep 20, 2001
Grant date	Jun 21, 2005
Priority date	—
Expiry date	May 3, 2022

Classification

Technology area (CPC Y)Emerging Cross-Sectional Technologies
CPC primaryY10S707/99942
WIPO fieldComputer technology
WIPO sectorElectrical engineering

Abstract

The invention describes a method and apparatus for structuring, maintaining, and using families of data. According to the invention, given one or more sets of partitioning data, one may construct a set of families based on the values of fields and attributes of the records in a database system. The families are stored and managed in separate tables. The records in data tables are identified as belonging to one or more families. Furthermore, families may be represented in a hierarchical structure. Families may also inherit from each other based on a parent to child relationship also stored in the database. The invention provides means for fast and organized retrieval of sets data from a database. These and other features greatly facilitate automatic and consistent document generation.

Source: USPTO / EPO open patent data. Objective bibliographic and citation counts.