Dynamic Data Linking via Conditional Rules
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Solution Overview
Problem
Existing data access technologies lack flexibility in linking and accessing data from multiple sources, requiring complex JOIN operations and structured database schemas, which limits their applicability in scenarios with unstructured or varied data sources.
Innovation Solution
A system that creates conditional rules to dynamically link data objects from different sources, allowing for a flexible merging of data without the need for explicit JOIN operations, enabling access to data as if it were from a single source, and allowing rules to be updated without modifying applications.
Engineering Contradictions & Design Principles
Engineering Contradiction Analysis
1Adaptability or versatility
If relational databases are used to join collections directly with hard foreign keys and special join mechanisms, then data access between separate collections is enabled, but the system becomes complex and inflexible when dealing with unstructured data sources
Solution Approach 1:
The patent introduces an intermediary mechanism (the rule-based system) that mediates between separate data collections without requiring direct structural joins. The rule acts as a mediator that dynamically links data objects from different collections based on conditional logic rather than rigid foreign key constraints, enabling flexible data access across unstructured sources.
Solution Approach 2:
The patent implements dynamic linking through executable rules that can be modified at runtime. Unlike static foreign key relationships, the linking logic is dynamic and adaptable, allowing the system to adjust data relationships based on changing business requirements without structural modifications to the underlying collections.
2Reliability
If hard foreign keys and special join mechanisms are employed to link database tables, then data integrity and relationship enforcement are improved, but the ability to access data from unstructured or varied data sources is reduced
Solution Approach 1:
The patent changes the parameters of data linking from rigid structural constraints (foreign keys) to flexible conditional parameters (executable rules). This allows the system to maintain data relationship integrity through logical conditions while adapting to various data source structures, including unstructured and semi-structured formats.
Solution Approach 2:
The rule-based linking mechanism serves multiple functions: it enforces data relationships like foreign keys, handles unstructured data sources, provides dynamic adaptability, and maintains referential integrity. This universal approach replaces the need for specialized join mechanisms while achieving their core objectives.
3Productivity
If separate data collections are maintained for activities and employee profiles, then data organization and storage efficiency are improved, but the complexity of retrieving and merging data increases
Solution Approach 1:
The patent extracts the merging logic from the data storage structure itself and places it in a separate rule-based layer. This allows efficient maintenance of separate data collections while delegating the merging complexity to executable rules that dynamically combine data only when needed, rather than maintaining complex joined structures continuously.
Data Source
AI summary
A present invention embodiment includes a system with at least one processor for accessing data. The system creates a rule including one or more conditional expressions to link a first data object of a first data source to a second data object of a second data source. Data of the first data object is retrieved from the first data source in accordance with a request for the first data object. The system processes the rule to retrieve data of the second data object from the second data source that satisfies the one or more conditional expressions of the rule. Results for the request are produced by merging the data retrieved from the first and second data objects. Embodiments of the present invention further include a method and computer program product for accessing data in substantially the same manner described above.