Hierarchical Data Paging via Segmentation and Position Indexing
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Solution Overview
Problem
Conventional data systems face performance issues when handling large, hierarchical datasets in client/server environments, particularly with increasing numbers of users, as operations like sorting, grouping, and editing become resource-intensive and scale poorly, leading to poor user experience and performance degradation.
Innovation Solution
The architecture optimizes performance by minimizing data transfer between client and server through intelligent paging of hierarchical datasets, allowing for viewing, editing, and managing parent/child relationships without sending entire recordsets, using a client-server implementation that processes only relevant rows and employs a position converter index to track expanded/collapsed states.
Engineering Contradictions & Design Principles
Engineering Contradiction Analysis
1Ease of operation
If the entire hierarchical dataset is sent to the client for viewing and editing operations, then the client can perform all operations locally, but the data transfer volume increases significantly and server performance deteriorates as the number of users increases
Solution Approach 1:
The patent segments the hierarchical dataset into multiple pages, where each page contains only the subset of records currently needed for display. Instead of transmitting the entire dataset, the system divides it into manageable chunks (pages) and sends only the relevant portion to the client at any given time. This segmentation approach maintains full client-side operation capability while dramatically reducing data transfer volume.
Solution Approach 2:
The system performs preliminary actions by pre-calculating and storing metadata about the hierarchical dataset structure (including parent-child relationships, record counts per page, and navigation information) on the server side. This allows the client to receive minimal data while still being able to perform local operations, as the server has already prepared the necessary structural information in advance.
2Measurement precision
If sorting, grouping, and view operations are performed on the entire dataset, then accurate results are obtained, but the operations become resource-intensive and scale poorly with increasing users
Solution Approach 1:
The patent applies segmentation by performing sorting, grouping, and view operations on segmented portions of the dataset (individual pages) rather than the entire dataset. Each page is processed independently, allowing multiple users to access different pages simultaneously without conflicting or requiring full-dataset processing. This maintains operation accuracy while improving server productivity through parallel processing of smaller segments.
Solution Approach 2:
The system performs partial actions by executing sorting and grouping operations only on the visible page data rather than the complete hierarchical dataset. Since users can only view and interact with one page at a time, performing these operations on the full dataset would be excessive. The partial action approach achieves sufficient accuracy for user needs while dramatically reducing computational resources required.
3Stability of the object's composition
If the complete hierarchical structure is maintained and transmitted, then parent/child relationships are preserved, but the complexity of data management increases and performance suffers
Solution Approach 1:
The patent extracts the essential hierarchical structure information (parent IDs, child counts, and relationship metadata) from the complete dataset and stores it separately on the server. When transmitting data to the client, only the necessary portions are sent, while the server maintains the complete hierarchical structure. This extraction approach preserves structure integrity while reducing data management complexity and transmission overhead.
Solution Approach 2:
The system introduces an intermediary layer (server-side metadata and pagination control mechanisms) that mediates between the complete hierarchical structure and the client's view. The server acts as an intermediary that maintains the full structure integrity while providing simplified, paginated views to clients. This intermediary approach preserves hierarchical relationships without requiring the client to manage complex complete datasets.
4Loss of energy
If read operations are optimized by sending minimal data, then data transfer is minimized, but edit operations become more complex
Solution Approach 1:
The patent applies preliminary action by pre-transmitting minimal structural metadata and parent-child relationship information to the client before edit operations are needed. This preliminary data includes sufficient information for the client to perform local edits (such as parent ID references and relationship structure), allowing edit operations to be executed client-side without requiring additional server communication. This maintains data transaction efficiency while enabling straightforward edit operations.
Data Source
AI summary
Architecture that provides the ability to intelligently page (slice) hierarchical datasets through viewing operations of a hierarchical view. This further provides the capability to make additions to/deletions from the hierarchy view and manage the parent/child relationship of view records without ever sending the entire recordset to the client or receiving the entire recordset back to the server, thereby optimizing operation performance on the hierarchical datasets.