GUI Tool for Qualifying Relational Data Routes
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Solution Overview
Problem
In computing systems that use relational data models, identifying and exporting desired data to another system can be difficult and time-consuming, especially when the target system requires data formatted differently than how it is stored, such as combining separate attributes like street, city, and zip code into a single string.
Innovation Solution
A graphical user interface (GUI) tool is provided to select a navigation route through a relational data model, qualify attributes, and perform data integration operations, allowing users to retrieve and format data according to the requirements of the target system, such as aggregating attributes into a single string for address data.
Engineering Contradictions & Design Principles
Engineering Contradiction Analysis
1Measurement precision
If manual traversal through the relational data model is performed to identify desired data, then data can be located, but the process becomes difficult and time-consuming
Solution Approach 1:
The patent introduces a visual navigation tool as an intermediary between the user and the relational data model. This tool displays entities and relationships in a graphical interface, allowing users to visually traverse and select desired data without manually navigating through complex relational structures, thereby reducing time while maintaining identification accuracy
Solution Approach 2:
The patent creates a visual copy or representation of the relational data model in the graphical interface. Instead of directly interacting with the complex relational structure, users interact with a simplified visual representation that mirrors the data relationships, making data identification faster and easier
2Device complexity
If separate attributes (street, city, state, zip code) are stored individually in the relational data model, then data normalization is achieved, but aggregation into a single string for target systems requires additional processing steps
Solution Approach 1:
The patent performs preliminary aggregation of separate attributes into a single string value during the data selection process. The visual navigation tool allows users to specify that attributes should be aggregated, and this aggregation is performed before data export, preparing the data in advance for target systems that require concatenated values
Solution Approach 2:
The patent extracts the data formatting and aggregation logic from the manual process and integrates it into the visual navigation tool. The tool automatically handles the extraction of individual attributes and their concatenation into a single string, removing the need for users to manually perform these formatting operations
Data Source
AI summary
Some embodiments provide a non-transitory machine-readable medium that stores a program executable by at least one processing unit of a device. The program receives a selection of a navigation route through a relational data model. The relational data model includes several entities and a set of relationships among the several entities. The program also provides, through a graphical user interface (GUI), a tool for qualifying an attribute associated with an entity in the selected navigation route. The program further receives a selection of a value for the attribute associated with the entity in the navigation route for a data integration operation.