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:
Dec. 31, 2002
Filed:
Jul. 08, 1999
Kimberly Lynn Gajda, Raleigh, NC (US);
Bradley Allan Hess, Rockville, MD (US);
Julie Anne Hill Kemp, Raleigh, NC (US);
Jerry Jay Lewis, Raleigh, NC (US);
Robert Tod Thorpe, Cary, NC (US);
International Business Machines Corporation, Armonk, NY (US);
Abstract
The method and system of the present invention provides improved access to databases in a computer system. The present invention includes a plurality of data sources, the data sources including at least one non-relational data source; a server coupled to the plurality of data sources, the server capable of providing client access to the plurality of data sources; and a store place data access layer (SPDAL) coupled to the server and the at least one non-relational data source, the SPDAL providing relational features to the at least one non-relational data source. In the preferred embodiment, the relational features provided include a two-phase commit process; a process for performing Structured Query Language (SQL) operations from within a single application; a referential integrity process; and a process for providing indices for non-relational data source files. These features allow the computer system to perform data changes across multiple database sources within a single operation; perform SQL operations from a single application across heterogeneous file systems; provide referential integrity of data in both relational and non-relational databases; and perform ad-hoc queries of data and other queries efficiently in non-relational databases. By adding these features, significant flexibility is added to the computer system.