Method and system for performing conceptual joins across fields of a database

Claim 2

A computer-implemented method for performing a database join across a first field and a second field that represent a conceptual meaning, wherein the first field represents the conceptual meaning using a first value and the second field represents the conceptual meaning using a second value that is different from the first value, the method comprising the steps of: mapping the first value and the second value to the conceptual meaning using a code-mapping table; receiving a request that specifies a join operation between the first and second fields; and joining the first and second fields in response to identifying that the first and second fields map to the conceptual meaning in the code-mapping table.

Claim 3

The invention of claim 1 wherein the first field is included in a first table, and the second field is included in a second table, further comprising the steps of: providing the code-mapping table with a first entry and a second entry; providing the first entry with a field name identifying the first table and the first field, a code field value specifying the first field value, and a field for specifying the conceptual meaning; and providing the second entry with a field name identifying the second table and the second field, a code field specifying the second field value, and a field for specifying the conceptual meaning.

Claim 4

The invention of claim 2, further comprising the step of: identifying that the first and second field's map to the conceptual meaning by joining the code-mapping table with itself.

Claim 5

The invention of claim 3, further comprising the step of: performing the join of the code-mapping table (CT) with itself to join the first field (F1) with the second field (F2) using table aliases T1 and T2 by executing a query: ______________________________________ FROM CT T1 CT T2 ______________________________________ WHERE T1.field -- name=`F1`; T2.field -- name=`F2`; T1.conceptual meaning=T2.conceptual -- meaning; F1=T1.field -- value; and F2=T2.field value.

Claim 6

A computer-implemented method for performing joins across a first and second field in a database, wherein the first and second fields represent a particular concept using different field values, the method comprising the steps of: providing a code-mapping table, the code mapping table containing a plurality of entries corresponding to a plurality of fields in the database including the first and second fields, each of the plurality of entries including a field name of the field, the field value of the field, and a conceptual meaning represented by the field value; receiving a request that specifies a join operation between the first field and the second field; identifying entries in the code-mapping table corresponding to the first field and the second field that have matching conceptual meanings; and joining the first and second fields by generating a query language request that joins the fields corresponding to the identified entries in the code-mapping table.

Claim 7

A computer-implemented method for performing joins across a first and second field in a database, wherein the first and second fields represent a particular concept using different field values, the method comprising the steps of: providing a code-mapping table, the code mapping table containing a plurality of entries corresponding to a plurality of fields in the database including the first and second fields, each of the plurality of entries including a field name of the field, the field value of the field, and a conceptual meaning represented by the field value; receiving a request that specifies a join operation between the first field and the second field; identifying entries in the code-mapping table corresponding to the first field and the second field that have matching conceptual meanings; and joining the first and second fields by generating a query language request that joins the fields corresponding to the identified entries in the code-mapping table.

Claim 8

The invention of claim 5, further comprising the step of: identifying that the first and second fields have matching conceptual meanings by joining the code-mapping table with itself.

Claim 9

The invention of claim 6, further comprising the step of: performing the join of the code-mapping table (CT) with the code-mapping table in order to join the first field (F1) with the second field (F2) using tables aliases T1 and T2 by executing a query: ______________________________________ FROM CT T1 CT T2 ______________________________________ WHERE T1.field -- name=`F1`; T2.field -- name=`F2`; T1.conceptual meaning=T2.conceptual -- meaning; F1=T1.field -- value; and F2=T2.field value.

Claim 10

A computer-readable medium containing program instructions for performing joins across a first and second field in a database, wherein the first and second fields represent a particular concept using different field values, the program instructions comprising the steps of: providing a code-mapping table, the code mapping table containing a plurality of entries corresponding to a plurality of fields in the database including the first and second fields, each of the plurality of entries including a field name of the field, the field value of the field, and a conceptual meaning represented by the field value; receiving a request that specifies a join operation between the first field and the second field; identifying entries in the code-mapping table corresponding to the first field and the second field that have matching conceptual meanings; and joining the first and second fields by generating a query language request that joins the fields corresponding to the identified entries in the code-mapping table.

Claim 11

A computer-readable medium containing program instructions for performing joins across a first and second field in a database, wherein the first and second fields represent a particular concept using different field values, the program instructions comprising the steps of: providing a code-mapping table, the code mapping table containing a plurality of entries corresponding to a plurality of fields in the database including the first and second fields, each of the plurality of entries including a field name of the field, the field value of the field, and a conceptual meaning represented by the field value; receiving a request that specifies a join operation between the first field and the second field; identifying entries in the code-mapping table corresponding to the first field and the second field that have matching conceptual meanings; and joining the first and second fields by generating a query language request that joins the fields corresponding to the identified entries in the code-mapping table.

Claim 12

The invention of claim 8, further comprising the step of: identifying that the first and second fields have matching conceptual meanings by joining the code-mapping table with itself.

Claim 13

The invention of claim 9, further comprising the step of: performing the join of the code-mapping table (CT) with the code mapping table in order to join the first field (F1) with the second field (F2) using tables aliases T1 and T2 by executing a query: ______________________________________ FROM CT T1 CT T2 ______________________________________ WHERE T1.field -- name=`F1`; T2.field -- name=`F2`; T1.conceptual meaning=T2.conceptual -- meaning; F1=T1.field -- value; and F2=T2.field value.