The patent badge is an abbreviated version of the USPTO patent document. The patent badge does contain a link to the full patent document.
The patent badge is an abbreviated version of the USPTO patent document. The patent badge covers the following: Patent number, Date patent was issued, Date patent was filed, Title of the patent, Applicant, Inventor, Assignee, Attorney firm, Primary examiner, Assistant examiner, CPCs, and Abstract. The patent badge does contain a link to the full patent document (in Adobe Acrobat format, aka pdf). To download or print any patent click here.
Patent No.:
Date of Patent:
Aug. 29, 2000
Filed:
Oct. 31, 1997
Anil Nori, Fremont, CA (US);
John Weisz, Belmont, CA (US);
Subramanian Muralidhar, Sunnyvale, CA (US);
Oracle Corporation, Redwood Shores, CA (US);
Abstract
An apparatus and process for storing representations of information objects having null values in a database are disclosed. A null object is established in memory associated with an information-bearing object. The null object has an attribute null value corresponding to each data-bearing attribute of the information-bearing object. Each attribute null value is set to a value indicating whether the corresponding attribute of the information-bearing object is null, not null, or not capable of having a null value. The null object also has an atomic null value that indicates whether the entire information-bearing object is null. When the information-bearing object is to be accessed, the null object is first accessed to determine whether the entire information-bearing object or any attributes thereof are null. Accordingly, unnecessary retrieval and manipulation of the information-bearing object is avoided.