Patent ID: 8392359
Filing Date: 2013-03-05
Classification: G06F

Abstract:
1. A method for supply trend data from data sources not having a specified time dimension, the method being implemented by one or more data processors and comprising: analyzing, by at least one data processor, a query associated with a report to identify interdependent query clauses, wherein the query is applied against a data source that does not have a specified time dimension, wherein the report is part of a business intelligence system that automatically retrieves information from at least one data source and structures the retrieved information in accordance with a report schema, wherein the forming, by at least one data processor, an audit log to store data changes at the data source and temporal values associated with the data changes; constructing, by at least one data processor, a state table to track only data identified in the analysis of the query associated with the report; recording, by at least one data processor, the value of the data required by each query clause into the state table and record states of each row of the state table; processing, by at least one data processor, records in the audit log by reverse temporal order and by modifying the content of the state table to produce updated state tables; identifying, by at least one data processor, data changes at the data source that impact a result produced by the query; deriveing, by at least one data processor, transition tables from the updated state tables to associate temporal values with the data changes at the data source that impact a result produced by the query, the transition tables being different than the updated state tables; and supplying, by at least one data processor, trend data derived from the transition tables to generate the report as time-dependent, wherein a user can change a frequency for the trend data in the report using the transition tables.