Data processing: database and file management or data structures – Database design – Data structure types
Reexamination Certificate
2001-04-30
2004-11-09
Corrielus, Jean M. (Department: 2172)
Data processing: database and file management or data structures
Database design
Data structure types
C707S793000, C707S793000
Reexamination Certificate
active
06816868
ABSTRACT:
TECHNICAL FIELD
The present invention relates to a database system into which information is stored as data made up of category names, title names, and the substantial contents, and more particularly to a system into which information belonging to all categories is stored in an extremely simple table structure and managed by small-scale software, which can be applied as an online database enabling storage and viewing from a client.
BACKGROUND ART
With widespread use being made of information devices such as personal computers and a fleshing out of online services via networks such as the Internet, the last few years have seen a dramatic increase in the number and variety of databases available.
In the past, database models have included network, hierarchal, relational, and object-oriented types, with the relational database (hereinafter referred to as the RDB) being the most widely used at present, and the object-oriented database (hereinafter referred to as the OODB), formed by introducing object orientation into a database system, being used as the main method for software development, the development and implementation of which are being actively pursued.
The implementation of object relational databases (hereinafter referred to as the ORDB), formed by introducing objection orientation into the RDB, is also being actively pursued.
The RDB, as the term is used herein, refers to representation of data by tables made up of rows and columns and the relationships between each table, the table representation of data facilitating an understanding of the data model structure, making the design thereof relatively simple.
In the RDB, normal forms are used to reduce data redundancy (that is, reduce the duplication of data) and to simplify lookup and updating, by using a table structure free from such waste. In the past, several standard normal forms have been proposed (the Codd first to third normal form, the Boyce/Codd extended third normal form, and the fourth normal form by R. Fagin and so on), and it is possible to obtain the most efficient table structure based on these standards.
Additionally, SQL (Structured Query Language) has become the standard access language, this having the advantage of enabling extraction of data without coding a procedure via an engine that interprets SQL statements.
On the other hand, in the OODB, objects, which encompass data and the associated procedures (methods), are the subject of management, with the program being coded for the exchange of instructional commands and data (messages) between objects.
Objects of one and the same type are grouped into a class (abstractly defined in terms of functions and attributes common to the objects), with an upper-order class method being inherited by a lower-order class.
In the OODB, there is a large number of data structure types, and by encapsulating the data and methods as noted above it is possible to achieve an operating environment in which the data is treated directly in the same easy-to-understand manner as would real objects, this special feature being that it is now possible to store not only characters and values, but also to store images and sounds. Object-oriented languages include such languages as C++, Smalltalk, and Java.
In the RDB, although the table structure is designed in accordance with conforming to the above-noted standard of normal forms, these standards are merely a system of logic, with actual tasks being performed sequentially while graphing a large number of individual file groups, thereby rendering the design of a table structure extremely complex and troublesome, and requiring the expenditure of a great amount of time and labor.
In a database handling a wide range of information, there is an extremely large number of table groups, and it is necessary to manage each table group individually. Additionally, in the operating process, if there is a change in an item or the like of one table, it is often necessary to make a change to related tables and programs, the resulting editing task also, as noted-above, being extremely difficult.
In the case of the OODB, because data and methods with regard to individual stored information are encapsulated in objects, in the case, for example, of a change made to items or data in a company employee database, it is necessary to open the object of each employee and make successive changes, and when this is associated with a method, it is necessary to do an in-depth study of whether an inheriting class would be influenced, the result usually being that it is necessary to perform more complex and difficult re-editing of the program than would have been involved with the RDB.
Stated differently, although the OODB is directed at achieving a user interface for efficient operation, and provides efficient programming at the point at which a method is inherited, it requires a high level of experience with regard to storage and management of individual objects, and programming of messages, and when a large amount of data is involved, the amount of work required for maintenance of the OODB becomes much greater than the work required by the RDB.
With regard to the ORDB, which is basically a hybrid of the RDB and the OODB, because its configuration is more complex, it is accompanied by the same problems as the RDB or the OODB.
Accordingly, it is an object of the present invention to provide a highly functional database, which has only an extremely simplified table structure and handles the storage of any category of information, enabling efficient execution of the essential database functions of entry, storage, retrieval, and output of data using small-scale software, and further enabling the implementation of a database system providing extreme flexibility and simplicity in making changes to an item associated with stored information, solving the above-described problems associated with the RDB and the OODB, and providing economical implementation and operation.
A database system according to the present invention enables free interactive storage of information from a client via a communication line such as the Internet, without the intervention of a programmer, and further provides the same level of user interface convenience as would be provided by the OODB.
DISCLOSURE OF INVENTION
The first invention is a database system, while managing category names, which are abstract contents of registered information (phenomena or things), and the hierarchy thereof by a data dictionary file, registers category name, individual title name, and substantial contents of each piece of information being registered, wherein the above-noted system comprising a first table and a second table, which are formed by data cells, and in the above-noted first table, category identification information given by the above-noted data dictionary file is stored in a data cell of a specific column, and names of items which represent an attribute and/or a function associated with the category and attributes of data representing the substantial contents associated with the above-noted items (hereinafter referred to as item data attributes) are stored in other cells, each belonging to a row in which the above-noted category identification information is stored, and in the above-noted second table, category identification information and a title name are stored in each cell of two specific columns, the substantial contents associated with each item name being stored in other data cells, each belonging to a row in which category identification information and title names are stored, in the same sequence with regard to item names as the row-direction sequence of data cells into which are stored item names and item data attributes in the above-noted first table, and each method for input, storage, searching, and output of data associated with registered information being generated based on data stored in the above-noted first table.
In this first invention, data of registered information belonging to all categories is managed using two tables having a simple structure.
In the first tab
Corrielus Jean M.
Hwang Joon Hwan
Obun Insatsu Co., Ltd.
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