Interactive relational database analysis with successive refinement steps in selection of ouput data from underlying database

摘要

A multi-step method enables a user to extract useful information from a complex relational database without needing to construct elaborate Structured Query Language statements or to become familiar with details of the particular data model involved. In particular, the method generates a table of output data from a relational database having one or more database tables made up of columns of attributes, rows instances, and one or more keys composed of one or more attributes each as elements. In the method, the steps include selecting an attribute from one of the database tables upon which to base an intermediate table, displaying a key of the database table containing the selected attribute, selecting an attribute element of that key for constraint, generating and displaying a list of alternative attribute sets the members of any of which when constrained will constrain the selected attribute element, selecting a set from that list of alternative attribute sets, generating and displaying a list of combinations of values for the selected attribute set, selecting one of the combinations of values from the list of value combinations, generating an intermediate table in accordance with the selected combinations of values from the list of value combinations, and generating the table of output data from the intermediate table. The intermediate table has only keys whose values have not been constrained.