Graphical user interface for querying relational data models

Patent metadata

Field	Value
Publication number	US-10296504-B2
Application number	US-201514970061-A
Country	US
Kind code	B2
Filing date	Dec 15, 2015
Priority date	Dec 15, 2015
Publication date	May 21, 2019
Grant date	May 21, 2019

Abstract

Some embodiments provide a non-transitory machine-readable medium that stores a program executable by at least one processing unit of a device. The program receives a selection of a first entity and a second entity in a relational data model. The relational data model includes several entities and a set of relationships among the several entities. The program also determines a set of navigation routes through the relational data model based on the first and second entities. The program further provides the determined navigation routes through a graphical user interface (GUI) in order to provide a visual context of data in the relational data model.

First claim

What is claimed is:

1. A non-transitory machine-readable medium storing a program executable by at least one processing unit of a device, the program comprising sets of instructions for:
receiving a selection of a first entity and a second entity in a relational data model, the relational data model defining a plurality of entities and a set of relationships among the plurality of entities, each entity in the plurality of entities comprising a set of attributes;
determining a set of navigation routes through the relational data model based on the first and second entities and the set of relationships among the plurality of entities, each navigation route in the set of navigation routes comprising a different path through the relational data model, the different path comprising a subset of the set of relationships in the relational data mode and a set of entities in the plurality of entities of the relational data model that includes the first entity and the second entity;
providing each navigation route in the determined set of navigation routes through a graphical user interface (GUI) in order to provide a visual context of data in the relational data model by displaying the set of entities along the path of the navigation route that starts at the first entity and ends at the second entity;
receiving a selection of a navigation route in the set of determined navigation routes;
retrieving data from a data source based on the relational data model and the selected navigation route, the data source configured to store instances of entities defined by the relational data model and, for each instance of an entity, a set of values for the set of attributes defined to be associated with the entity in the relational data model; and
sending the retrieved data to a system in order for the system to integrate the data into the system.

2. The non-transitory machine-readable medium of claim 1 , wherein the system is a first system, wherein the program further comprises a set of instructions for sending the retrieved data to a second system in order for the second system to integrate the data into the second system.

3. The non-transitory machine-readable medium of claim 1 , wherein the set of navigation routes through the relational data model is a first set of navigation routes through the relational data model, wherein the navigation route is a first navigation route, wherein the data retrieved from the data source is a first data, wherein the system is a first system, wherein the program further comprises a set of instructions for:
receiving a selection of a third entity and a fourth entity in the relational data model;
determining a second set of navigation routes through the relational data model based on the third and fourth entities and the set of relationships among the plurality of entities, each navigation route in the second set of navigation routes comprising a different path through the relational data model, the different path comprising a subset of the set of relationships in the relational data mode and a set of entities in the plurality of entities of the relational data model that includes the third entity and the fourth entity;
providing each navigation route in the determined second set of navigation routes through the GUI in order to provide a visual context of data in the relational data model by displaying the set of entities along the path of the navigation route that starts at the third entity and ends at the fourth entity;
receiving a selection of a second navigation route in the second set of determined navigation routes;
retrieving second data from the data source based on the relational data model and the selected second navigation route; and
sending the retrieved second data to a second system in order for the second system to integrate the data into the second system.

4. The non-transitory machine-readable medium of claim 1 , wherein the system is a first system, wherein a second system comprises the data source.

5. The non-transitory machine-readable medium of claim 1 , wherein the set of instructions for determining the set of navigation routes through the relational data model comprises sets of instructions for starting at the first entity in the relational data model, traversing entities in the relational data model based on the relationships among the entities, and ending at the second entity in the relational data model.

6. The non-transitory machine-readable medium of claim 1 , wherein the GUI comprises a first panel for providing a first visual context of the data in the relational data model and a second panel for providing a second, different visual context of the data in the relational data model.

7. The non-transitory machine-readable medium of claim 1 , wherein each navigation route in the set of determined navigation routes comprises a number of entities that is less than a defined number of entities.

8. A method comprising:
receiving a selection of a first entity and a second entity in a relational data model, the relational data model defining a plurality of entities and a set of relationships among the plurality of entities, each entity in the plurality of entities comprising a set of attributes;
determining a set of navigation routes through the relational data model based on the first and second entities and the set of relationships among the plurality of entities, each navigation route in the set of navigation routes comprising a different path through the relational data model, the different path comprising a subset of the set of relationships in the relational data mode and a set of entities in the plurality of entities of the relational data model that includes the first entity and the second entity;
providing each navigation route in the determined set of navigation routes through a graphical user interface (GUI) in order to provide a visual context of data in the relational data model by displaying the set of entities along the path of the navigation route that starts at the first entity and ends at the second entity;
receiving a selection of a navigation route in the set of determined navigation routes;
retrieving data from a data source based on the relational data model and the selected navigation route, the data source configured to store instances of entities defined by the relational data model and, for each instance of an entity, a set of values for the set of attributes defined to be associated with the entity in the relational data model; and
sending the retrieved data to a system in order for the system to integrate the data into the system.

9. The method of claim 8 , wherein the system is a first system, the method further comprising sending the retrieved data to a second system in order for the second system to integrate the data into the second system.

10. The method of claim 8 , wherein the set of navigation routes through the relational data model is a first set of navigation routes through the relational data model, wherein the navigation route is a first navigation route, wherein the data retrieved from the second data storage is a first data, wherein the system is a first system, the method further comprising:
receiving a selection of a third entity and a fourth entity in the relational data model stored in the first data storage;
determining a second set of navigation routes through the relational data model based on the third and fourth entities and the set of relationships among the plurality of entities, each navigation route in the second set of navigation routes comprising a different path through the relational data model, the different path comprising a subset of the set of relationships in the relational data mode and a set of entities in t

Assignees

• Successfactors Inc

Inventors

• Hock David Joseph
• Tully Kevin

Classifications

• G06F16/2423 Primary

  Interactive query statement specification based on a database schema · CPC title