On-the-fly calculation scenario provision during query runtime

Patent metadata

Field	Value
Publication number	US-9916374-B2
Application number	US-201313907673-A
Country	US
Kind code	B2
Filing date	May 31, 2013
Priority date	May 31, 2013
Publication date	Mar 13, 2018
Grant date	Mar 13, 2018

Abstract

A query is received by a database server from a remote application server. The query encapsulates an on-the-fly calculation scenario that defines a data flow model that includes one or more calculation nodes. Thereafter, the database server instantiates the on-the-fly calculation scenario. The database server then executes the operations defined by the calculation nodes of the instantiated calculation scenario to result in a responsive data set so that the database server can provide the data set to the application server. Related apparatus, systems, methods, and articles are also described.

First claim

What is claimed is:

1. A method comprising:
receiving, at a database server, a query encapsulating an on-the-fly calculation scenario by at least including a definition of the on-the-fly calculation scenario, the inclusion of the definition of the on-the-fly calculation scenario enabling the on-the-fly calculation scenario to be defined at a runtime of the query, the query being received from a remote application server, the on-the-fly calculation scenario defining a data flow model that includes one or more calculation nodes, each of the one or more calculation nodes defining one or more operations to execute on the database server, the query being on a responsive data set resulting from executing the one or more operations on the database server, and the definition of the on-the-fly calculation scenario being used once for the query and is not persisted in memory for reuse by another query;
instantiating, based at least on the query including the definition of the one-the-fly calculation scenario, the on-the-fly calculation scenario, the on-the-fly calculation scenario being instantiated without generating a corresponding calculation view, and the instantiation of the on-the-fly calculation scenario including removal of at least one of a path and an attribute defined by the on-the-fly calculation scenario but are not requested by the query;
performing, by the database server, the one or more operations defined by the one or more calculation nodes of the instantiated calculation scenario, the execution of the one or more operations resulting in the responsive data set;
executing the query on the responsive data set; and
providing, to the application server, a result of the execution of the query.

2. A method as in claim 1 , wherein at least one of the one or more calculation nodes filters results obtained from the database server.

3. A method as in claim 1 , wherein at least one of the one or more calculation nodes sorts results obtained from the database server.

4. A method as in claim 1 , wherein the calculation scenario is instantiated in a calculation engine layer by a calculation engine.

5. A method as in claim 4 , wherein the calculation engine layer interacts with a physical table pool and a logical layer, the physical table pool comprising physical tables containing data to be queried, and the logical layer defining a logical meta model joining at least a portion of the physical tables in the physical table pool.

6. A method as in claim 1 , wherein an input for at least one of the one or more calculation nodes comprises one or more of: a physical index, a join index, an Online Analytical Processing (OLAP) index, and another calculation node.

7. A method as in claim 6 , wherein at least one of the one or more calculation nodes has at least one output table that is used to generate the data set.

8. A method as in claim 7 , wherein at least one of the one or more calculation nodes consumes an output table of another calculation node.

9. A method as in claim 1 , wherein the executing of the one or more operations defined by the one or more calculation nodes comprises:
forwarding the query to one of the one or more calculation nodes identified as a default calculation node at which the query should be executed.

10. A method as in claim 1 , wherein the calculation scenario comprises database metadata.

11. A method as in claim 4 , wherein the calculation engine invokes a structured query language (SQL) processor for executing set operations.

12. A system comprising:
a database server comprising memory and at least one data processor;
an application server in communication with and remote from the database server, the application server comprising memory and at least one data processor;
wherein the database server is configured to:
receive, from the application server, a query encapsulating an on-the-fly calculation scenario by at least including a definition of the on-the-fly calculation scenario, the inclusion of the definition of the on-the-fly calculation scenario enabling the on-the-fly calculation scenario to be defined at a runtime of the query, the on-the-fly calculation scenario defining a data flow model that includes one or more calculation nodes, each of the one or more calculation nodes defining one or more operations to execute on the database server, the query being on a responsive data set resulting from executing the one or more operations on the database server, and the definition of the on-the-fly calculation scenario being used once for the query and is not persisted in memory for reuse by another query;
instantiate, based at least on the query including the definition of the on-the-fly calculation scenario, the on-the-fly calculation scenario, the on-the-fly calculation scenario being instantiated without generating a corresponding calculation view, and the instantiation of the on-the-fly calculation scenario including removal of at least one of a path and an attribute defined by the on-the-fly calculation scenario but are not requested by the query;
perform the one or more operations defined by the one or more calculation nodes of the instantiated calculation scenario, the execution of the one or more operations resulting in the responsive data set;
execute the query on the responsive data set; and
provide, to the application server, a result of the execution of the query on the responsive data set.

13. A system as in claim 12 , wherein the database server is further coupled to at least one other application server.

14. A system as in claim 12 , wherein the database server comprises a calculation engine layer, a logical layer, and a physical table pool.

15. A system as in claim 14 , wherein the calculation scenario is instantiated, by a calculation engine, at calculation engine layer.

16. A system as in claim 15 , wherein the calculation engine layer is configured to interact with the physical table pool and the logical layer, the physical table pool comprising physical tables containing data to be queried, and the logical layer defining a logical meta model joining at least a portion of the physical tables in the physical table pool.

17. A system as in claim 12 , wherein an input for at least one of the one or more calculation nodes comprises one or more of: a physical index, a join index, an Online Analytical Processing (OLAP) index, and another calculation node; wherein each calculation node has at least one output table that is used to generate the final result set.

18. A non-transitory computer program product storing instructions, which when executed by at least one data processor of at least one computing system, result in operations comprising:
receiving, at a database server, a query encapsulating an on-the-fly calculation scenario by at least including a definition of the on-the-fly calculation scenario, the inclusion of the definition of the on-the-fly calculation scenario enabling the on-the-fly calculation scenario to be defined at a runtime of the query, the query being received from a remote application server, the on-the-fly calculation scenario defining a data flow model that includes one or more calculation nodes, each of the one or more calculation nodes defining one or more operations to execute on the database server, the query being on a responsive data set resulting from executing the one or more operations on the database server, and the definition of the on-the-fly calculation scenario being used once for the query and is not persisted in memory for reuse by another query;
instantiating, based at least on

Assignees

• Weyerhaeuser Christoph
• Mindnich Tobias
• Baeumges Daniel
• Merx Johannes
• Sap Se

Inventors

• Weyerhaeuser Christoph
• Mindnich Tobias
• Baeumges Daniel
• Merx Johannes

Classifications

• G06F16/283 Primary

  Multi-dimensional databases or data warehouses, e.g. MOLAP or ROLAP · CPC title

• G06F16/2264

  Multidimensional index structures · CPC title

• G06F17/30333

  Physics · mapped topic

• G06F17/30592 Primary

  Physics · mapped topic