Patent ID: 7966333
Filing Date: 2011-06-21
Classification: G06F

Abstract:
1. A method in a computing system for populating a segment from a population of individuals, comprising: from one or more fact tables each comprised of rows, each row divided into columns including an individual identifier column and at least one fact column, the individual identifier column containing an individual identifier value uniquely identifying an individual, each fact column containing a fact relating to the individual identified by the individual identifier value, extracting the individual identifier column and the fact columns; creating a hash column, wherein, in each entry of the hash column, the hash column stores a hash value computed by applying a hash function to the value contained in the corresponding entry of the extracted individual identifier column, wherein the hash function creates one or more groups based on the values contained in the corresponding entries that hash to the same value, and wherein a substantially equal number of individual identifiers is attributed to each of the one or more groups; for each distinct hash value occurring in the hash column: receiving a request to populate a segment, the segment being defined by a segment definition containing a reference to a specialized routine for evaluating individuals for segment membership, the referenced specialized routine depending on a subset of the fact columns; for each distinct hash value occurring in the hash column: