Metadata driven reporting and editing of databases

Patent metadata

Field	Value
Publication number	US-9372876-B2
Application number	US-201314018684-A
Country	US
Kind code	B2
Filing date	Sep 5, 2013
Priority date	Oct 26, 2007
Publication date	Jun 21, 2016
Grant date	Jun 21, 2016

Abstract

Embodiments described herein are directed to providing enhanced database editing and reporting capabilities. In one scenario, a computer system receives a data item request that identifies which data items are to be reported. The computer system accesses a relational data store to determine which information sets are to be used for reporting the requested data items. Based on the determination, the computer system accesses those information sets that are to be used in the reporting the requested data items. The computer system then determines that metadata has been provided for at least one of the accessed information sets. The metadata includes instructions at least partially indicating how the data items are to be reported. The computer system also reports the data items according to the instructions in the provided metadata, regardless of how the data items are to be reported using the existing information sets.

First claim

We claim:

1. At a computer system including at least a processor and a memory, a method for customized data item reporting, the method comprising:
receiving, at an accessing module of the computer system, a data item request that requests presentation of a plurality of data items that are stored in a relational data store;
based at least on receiving the data item request, identifying, by the accessing module, one or more information sets that are also stored at the relational data store and that are usable to access the plurality of data items from the relational data store and to present the plurality of data items;
based at least on identifying the one or more information sets, sending, by the accessing module, an identity of the one or more information sets to a reporting module at the computer system;
based at least on receiving the identity of the one or more information sets, identifying, by the reporting module, at least (i) first user-supplied metadata that includes one or more first instructions indicating how the one or more information sets are to present the plurality of data items, and (ii) second pre-existing metadata that includes one or more second instructions indicating how the one or more information sets are to present the plurality of data items, the one or more first instructions being different from the one or more second instructions;
based at least on receiving the identity of the one or more information sets, accessing by the reporting module, the one or more information sets from the relational data store;
based at least on identifying the first user-supplied metadata and the second pre-existing metadata, determining, by the reporting module, that at least a portion of the first user-specified metadata will override at least a portion of the second pre-existing metadata to create combined metadata;
providing, by the reporting module, the combined metadata to the one or more information sets, including combining the second pre-existing metadata with the first user-specified metadata by at least overriding the one or more second instructions of the second pre-existing metadata with the one or more first instructions of the first user-specified metadata; and
based at least on providing the combined metadata to the one or more information sets, presenting, by the reporting module, the plurality of data items in accordance with the second pre-existing metadata at least as modified by the one or more first instructions of the first user-specified metadata.

2. The method of claim 1 , further comprising linking the first user-specified metadata to the second pre-existing metadata at the relational data store.

3. The method of claim 1 , wherein the relational data store comprises a structured query language (SQL) database.

4. The method of claim 1 , wherein at least one of the plurality of data items comprises a schema.

5. The method of claim 1 , wherein the information set comprises at least one of the following: one or more queries, one or more scripts, one or more read/write messages, and one or more code portions used to access the plurality of data items.

6. A computer program product comprising one or more hardware storage devices having stored thereon computer-executable instructions that are executable by one or more processors of a computer system and that configure the computer system for customized data item reporting, including computer-executable instructions that configure the computer system to perform at least the following:
receive, at an accessing module of the computer system, a data item request that requests presentation of a plurality of data items that are stored in a relational data store;
based at least on receiving the data item request, identify, by the accessing module, one or more information sets that are also stored at the relational data store and that are usable to access the plurality of data items from the relational data store and to present the plurality of data items;
based at least on identifying the one or more information sets, send, by the accessing module, an identity of the one or more information sets to a reporting module at the computer system;
based at least on receiving the identity of the one or more information sets, identify, by the reporting module, at least (i) first user-supplied metadata that includes one or more first instructions indicating how the one or more information sets are to present the plurality of data items, and (ii) second pre-existing metadata that includes one or more second instructions indicating how the one or more information sets are to present the plurality of data items, the one or more first instructions being different from the one or more second instructions;
based at least on receiving the identity of the one or more information sets, access, by the reporting module, the one or more information sets from the relational data store;
based at least on identifying the first user-supplied metadata and the second pre-existing metadata, determine, by the reporting module, that at least a portion of the first user-specified metadata will override at least a portion of the second pre-existing metadata to create combined metadata;
provide, by the reporting module, the combined metadata to the one or more information sets, including combining the second pre-existing metadata with the first user-specified metadata by at least overriding the one or more second instructions of the second pre-existing metadata with the one or more first instructions of the first user-specified metadata; and
based at least on providing the combined metadata to the one or more information sets, present, by the reporting module, the plurality of data items in accordance with the second pre-existing metadata at least as modified by the one or more first instructions of the first user-specified metadata.

7. The computer program product of claim 6 , wherein the first user-specified metadata alters which data items are reported.

8. The computer program product of claim 6 , also including computer-executable instructions that configure the computing system to link the first user-specified metadata to the second pre-existing metadata at the relational data store.

9. The computer program product of claim 6 , wherein the information set comprises at least one of the following: one or more queries, one or more scripts, one or more read/write messages, and one or more code portions used to access the plurality of data items.

10. The computer program product of claim 6 , wherein at least one of the plurality of data items comprises a schema.

11. A computer system comprising the following:
one or more processors;
system memory; and
one or more computer-readable storage media having stored thereon computer-executable instructions that are executable by the one or more processors and that configure the computer system for customized data item reporting, including computer-executable instructions that configure the computer system to perform at least the following:
receive, at an accessing module of the computer system, a data item request that identifies requests presentation of a plurality of data items that are stored in a relational data store and that are requested to be reported to the user, and (ii) user specified metadata that defines a first specification of how the plurality of data items are requested to be reported to the user;
based at least on receiving the data item request, identify, by the accessing module, one or more information sets that are also stored at the relational data store and that are usable to access the plurality of data items from the relational data store and to present the plurality of data items;

b

Assignees

• Microsoft Technology Licensing Llc

Inventors

• Bloesch Anthony Christopher
• Jayadevan Siddharth
• Flynn James R
• Williams Antony Scott

Classifications

• G06F16/23

  Updating · CPC title

• G06F17/301

  Physics · mapped topic

• G06F17/30386

  Physics · mapped topic

• G06F17/30289 Primary

  Physics · mapped topic

• G06F11/1435

  using file system or storage system metadata · CPC title