Claims Analysis
Total Claims: 8
Claim 1
Independent Claim
80 words
A method for determining the validity of a new referential constraint brought about by the creation or alteration of a selected data table within a relational database, in a data processing system, having a plurality of related data tables, characterised by the steps of: identifying which of said plurality of related data tables will be affected by the existence of said new referential constraint; and verifying the validity of said new referential constraint only upon said identified related data tables.
Claim 2
Independent Claim
80 words
A method for determining the validity of a new referential constraint brought about by the creation or alteration of a selected data table within a relational database, in a data processing system, having a plurality of related data tables, characterised by the steps of: identifying which of said plurality of related data tables will be affected by the existence of said new referential constraint; and verifying the validity of said new referential constraint only upon said identified related data tables.
Claim 3
Dependent Claim
45 words
A method as claimed in Claim 1 characterised in that said step of identifying which of said plurality of related data tables will be affected by the existence of said new referential constraint comprises creating a model of a selected portion of said relational database.
Claim 4
Dependent Claim
88 words
A method as claimed in Claim 2 characterised in that said step of creating a model of a selected portion of said relational database comprises creating a model which includes said selected data table; all data tables dependent from said selected data table; all data tables descendant from said dependent data tables which are delete-connected to said selected table; all data tables which are the parent table for a data table previously included; and any ancestor data table having a Cascade relationship with the parent table previously included.
Claim 5
Dependent Claim
86 words
A method as claimed in Claim 1 characterised by the steps of: examining all of the relationships for said selected data table to determine if any related data tables will be affected by the existence of said new referential constraint; in the event any of said related data tables will be affected, identifying which of said related data tables will be affected by the existence of said new referential constraints; and verifying the validity of said new referential constraint only upon said identified related data tables.
Claim 6
Dependent Claim
86 words
Apparatus for determining the validity of a new referential constraint brought about by the creation or alteration of a selected data table within a relational database (14), in a data processing system (8), having a plurality of related data tables, said apparatus comprising: means (14, 18) for identifying which of said plurality of related data tables will be affected by the existence of said new referential constraint; and means (14, 18) for verifying the validity of said new referential constraint only upon said identified related tables.
Claim 7
Dependent Claim
86 words
Apparatus for determining the validity of a new referential constraint brought about by the creation or alteration of a selected data table within a relational database (14), in a data processing system (8), having a plurality of related data tables, said apparatus comprising: means (14, 18) for identifying which of said plurality of related data tables will be affected by the existence of said new referential constraint; and means (14, 18) for verifying the validity of said new referential constraint only upon said identified related tables.
Claim 8
Dependent Claim
46 words
Apparatus as claimed in Claim 5 characterised in that said means for identifying which of said plurality of related data tables will be affected by the existence of said new referential constraint comprises means for creating a model of a selected portion of said relational database.