EP0336580A2
Expired / Lapsed
EP
⏱️ 0.0 years remaining
Relational databases
Assignee: International Business Machines Corp
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Filing: 1989-03-16
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Granted: —
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Expires: 2009-03-16
Abstract
Abstract A plurality of packed descriptions is provided as a column in a table each entry containing data defining attributes associated with a different object (such as a table or view defined to the database) and all its component objects (such as related columns and indexes). Accessing the row corresponding to a particular object returns a description of all of the attributes of the object's component objects, as well as information describing the object itself. The packed description information is redundantly stored conventionally in other system catalogs for use IN at IN querying physical definitions of objects in a manner consistent with other database products. The database state information comprising the packed descriptions is retained in internal format whereas the correlative redundant information is in a user-readable external format. By denormalising the schema for schema data whereby identifying relationships between objects is simplified, time required for compilation of statements referencing objects is substantially reduced. All information concerning attributes of an object specified in statement and its component objects necessary to compile the statement may thereby be fetched from the packed description field corresponding to the object in one I/O operation. Objects' descriptions must otherwise be retrieved from numerous I/Os to separate system catalogs and rows collectively containing the descriptions.
Inventors
- 👤 Philip Yen-Tang Chang
- 👤 Daniel Jerome Coyle, Jr.
- 👤 Lauren Denise Howie
- 👤 Bruce Gilbert Lindsay
Bibliographic Details
Application Number
—
Jurisdiction
EP
Data Source
google_patents
Last Synchronized
2026-10-24 15:15
CPC Classifications
G; G06; G06F; G06F17/00; G06F16/00; G06F16/20; G06F16/28; G06F16/284; G06F13/00
Claims Analysis
Total Claims: 33
Claim 1
Independent Claim
28 words
A method for implementing a computerised relational database system comprising: generating state information defining the relational database; and storing the state information as a plurality of packed descriptions.
Claim 2
Independent Claim
28 words
A method for implementing a computerised relational database system comprising: generating state information defining the relational database; and storing the state information as a plurality of packed descriptions.
Claim 3
Dependent Claim
14 words
A method as claimed in claim 1 wherein each packed description is a field.
Claim 4
Dependent Claim
21 words
A method as claimed in claim 1 or claim 2 wherein the state information is system catalogs of the relational database.
Claim 5
Dependent Claim
22 words
A method as claimed in claim 3 wherein the system catalogs define attributes of SYS.TABLES, SYS.COLUMNS, and SYS.INDEXES of the relational database.
Claim 6
Independent Claim
17 words
A method as claimed in any preceding claim wherein the state information is stored in internal format.
Claim 7
Independent Claim
18 words
A method as claimed in any preceding claim wherein each the packed description is a different long field.
Claim 8
Independent Claim
32 words
A method as claimed in any preceding claim wherein each the packed description is associated with a different object of the relational database and includes data defining component objects of the object.
Claim 9
Dependent Claim
29 words
A method as claimed in claim 7 wherein the object comprises a table or view and the component objects comprise columns and indexes associated with the tables or views.
Claim 10
Dependent Claim
29 words
A method as claimed in claim 8 wherein each the object is functionally related to a different the table or view of the system tables or system views, respectively.
Claim 11
Independent Claim
30 words
A method as claimed in any preceding claim including the step of redundantly storing the state information as a set of system catalogs of the relational database in external format.
Claim 12
Independent Claim
21 words
A method as claimed in any preceding claim wherein each the packed description is accessible by substantially a single I/O operation.
Claim 13
Dependent Claim
26 words
A method as claimed in claim 11 wherein the system catalogs are stored in a plurality of locations each requiring a separate I/O operation to access.
Claim 14
Independent Claim
35 words
A method according to any preceding claim comprising: updating the state information during operation of the relational database; and modifying the plurality of packed descriptions in functional response to the updating of the state information.
Claim 15
Dependent Claim
32 words
A method as claimed in claim 13 further comprising modifying the system catalogs in functional response to the updating of the state information and the modifying of the plurality of packed descriptions.
Claim 16
Independent Claim
50 words
A method as claimed in any preceding claim further comprising the steps of: generating a query statement; retrieving at least one of the packed descriptions as a function of the query statement; and compiling the query statement in functional response to the retrieved at least one of the packed descriptions.
Claim 17
Dependent Claim
84 words
A method as claimed in claim 1 comprising: generating a statement for accessing the database having specified therein at least one object of the database; generating a plurality of packed descriptions each associated with a different one of the at least one objects; storing each the plurality of packed descriptions as a different field in a system table of the relational database; and accessing during compilation of the statement at least one of the stored different fields for each the at least one object.
Claim 18
Independent Claim
80 words
A method as claimed in any one of the preceding claims, for implementing a relational database system of the type having a plurality of system catalogs and wherein a statement referencing a database object is compiled, the method, comprising: a.) generating representations of attributes of an object of one of the system catalogs; b.) initialising a packed description field; and c.) storing the representations of attributes of the object of one of the system catalogs in the packed description field.
Claim 19
Dependent Claim
31 words
The method of Claim 17 further including d.) redundantly storing the representations of attributes of an object of the one of the system catalogs in the one of the system catalogs.
Claim 20
Dependent Claim
36 words
The method of Claim 18 further including e.) generating representations functionally related to changes in at least one of the attributes; and f.) modifying the packed description field with the representations functionally related to the changes.
Claim 21
Dependent Claim
24 words
The method of Claim 19 further including g.) redundantly storing the representations functionally related to the changes in the one of the system catalogs.
Claim 22
Dependent Claim
37 words
The method of Claim 20 further including h.) generating representations of attributes of a component object the object; and i.) storing the representations of attributes of the component object of the object in the packed description field.
Claim 23
Dependent Claim
29 words
The method of Claim 21 further including: j.) redundantly storing the representations of attributes of the component object of the object in a corresponding one of the system catalogs.
Claim 24
Dependent Claim
44 words
The method of Claim 22 further including k.) repeating steps h.), i.) and j.) for next component objects of the object until the packed description and the system catalogs contain attributes of the object and substantially all the component objects corresponding to the object.
Claim 25
Independent Claim
33 words
A method as claimed in any one of claims 21 to 23 wherein the data defining the object and the functionally related component objects are stored as a row in a system catalog.
Claim 26
Dependent Claim
35 words
A method according to claim 24 when dependent on claim 23, wherein the data defining a the next object and functionally related next component objects are stored as a next row in the system catalog.
Claim 27
Dependent Claim
17 words
A relational database system comprising a plurality of packed descriptions for defining state information for the database.
Claim 28
Dependent Claim
17 words
A relational database system comprising a plurality of packed descriptions for defining state information for the database.
Claim 29
Dependent Claim
25 words
A system as claimed in claim 26 wherein each packed description is a first field defining attributes of a plurality of objects of the database.
Claim 30
Dependent Claim
25 words
A system as claimed in Claim 27 further comprising a plurality of second fields of representations redundantly defining the attributes of the plurality of objects.
Claim 31
Dependent Claim
28 words
A system as claimed in Claim 28 wherein portions of the plurality of second fields each define attributes corresponding to a correlative different system catalog of the system.
Claim 32
Dependent Claim
25 words
A system as claimed in Claim 29 wherein the different system catalogs correspond to members selected from a group including SYS.VIEWS, SYS.TABLES, SYS.COLUMNS, and SYS.INDEXES.
Claim 33
Independent Claim
36 words
A system as claimed in any of claims 27 to 30, wherein the first field contains substantially all data corresponding to the attributes of the objects required to compile one of the statements specifying the objects.
References Cited (Backward Citations)
No citation records indexed.
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