| CPC G06F 16/24544 (2019.01) [G06F 16/26 (2019.01)] | 20 Claims |

|
1. A computer implemented method for database hierarchy-independent data drilling comprising:
(a) selecting one or more primary keys of one or more records from a first data structure in response to a query received from a user;
(b) identifying one or more second data structures related to the first data structure based at least in part on the one or more primary keys of the one or more records;
(c) determining that at least one of the one or more second data structures is an intermediate relation table, wherein a row in the intermediate relation table defines a mapping relationship between at least two elements and wherein the row comprises two foreign keys of the two elements with a first foreign key same as a primary key of the first data structure and a second foreign key same as a primary key of a third data structure;
(d) for the intermediate relation table, identifying one or more result foreign keys based on the one or more primary keys and one or more of the third data structures, wherein at least one of the one or more third data structures comprises one of the two elements uniquely identified by the one or more result foreign keys, and wherein the first data structure, the one or more second data structures, and the one or more third data structures are hierarchical independent and the element in the at least one of the one or more third data structures do not have a parent or child relationship with other elements; and
(e) presenting the one or more third data structures to the user for selection for further data drilling, wherein the combination of the first data structure, the one or more second data structures, and the one or more third data structures permits efficient data drilling with reduced computational resources.
|