Patent Publication Number: US-2013246341-A1

Title: System, method and computer program product for managing data created in an on-demand service from other data, utilizing a report

Description:
CLAIM OF PRIORITY 
     This application is a continuation of U.S. application Ser. No. 12/434,514, filed May 1, 2009, which claims priority to U.S. Provisional Patent Application No. 61/049,703, filed May 1, 2008, the entire contents of which are incorporated herein by reference. 
    
    
     COPYRIGHT NOTICE 
     A portion of the disclosure of this patent document contains material which is subject to copyright protection. The copyright owner has no objection to the facsimile reproduction by anyone of the patent document or the patent disclosure, as it appears in the Patent and Trademark Office patent file or records, but otherwise reserves all copyright rights whatsoever. 
     FIELD OF THE INVENTION 
     The current invention relates generally to database systems, and more particularly to managing data of such database systems, 
     BACKGROUND 
     The subject matter discussed in the background section should not be assumed to be prior art merely as a result of its mention in the background section. Similarly, a problem mentioned in the background section or associated with the subject matter of the background section should not be assumed to have been previously recognized in the prior art. The subject matter in the background section merely represents different approaches, which in and of themselves may also be inventions. 
     In conventional database systems, users access their data resources in one logical database. A user of such a conventional system typically retrieves data from and stores data on the system using the user&#39;s own systems. A user system might remotely access one of a plurality of server systems that might in turn access the database system. Data retrieval from the system might include the issuance of a query from the user system to the database system. The database system might process the request for information received in the query and send to the user system information relevant to the request. 
     There is often a desire to report on the contents of such database systems. To date, reports need to be executed to be displayed. In some cases, a refresh of the report may not be required, but the report execution may be costly. Further, historical data may be expensive to compute and may not always be available. 
     BRIEF SUMMARY 
     In accordance with embodiments, there are provided mechanisms and methods for managing data created in an on-demand service, utilizing a report. These mechanisms and methods for managing data created in an on-demand service can enable embodiments to derive data from reports in the form of analytic snapshots. The ability of embodiments to provide management may allow analytical snapshots to be generated and refreshed on a periodic basic such that historical data may be stored. 
     In an embodiment and by way of example, a method is provided for managing data created in an on-demand service, utilizing a report. In use, data is periodically derived in an on-demand service from data managed by the on-demand service. Additionally, a command to generate an analytical report is received. Furthermore, the derived data is stored. Still yet, the analytical report is generated based at least in part upon the derived data, the analytical report reflecting a plurality of states in the data managed by the on-demand service. 
     While the present invention is described with reference to an embodiment in which techniques managing data created in an on-demand service are implemented in an application server providing a front end for a multi-tenant database on-demand service, the present invention is not limited to multi-tenant databases or deployment on application servers. Embodiments may be practiced using other database architectures, i.e., ORACLE®, DB2® and the like without departing from the scope of the embodiments claimed. 
     Any of the above embodiments may be used alone or together with one another in any combination. Inventions encompassed within this specification may also include embodiments that are only partially mentioned or alluded to or are not mentioned or alluded to at all in this brief summary or in the abstract. Although various embodiments of the invention may have been motivated by various deficiencies with the prior art, which may be discussed or alluded to in one or more places in the specification, the embodiments of the invention do not necessarily address any of these deficiencies. In other words, different embodiments of the invention may address different deficiencies that may be discussed in the specification. Some embodiments may only partially address some deficiencies or just one deficiency that may be discussed in the specification, and some embodiments may not address any of these deficiencies. 
    
    
     
       BRIEF DESCRIPTION OF THE DRAWINGS 
         FIG. 1  shows a method for managing data created in an on-demand service, in accordance with one embodiment. 
         FIG. 2.1  shows an interface for managing data created in an on-demand service, in accordance with one embodiment. 
         FIG. 2.2  shows an example of data that is refreshed, in accordance with another embodiment. 
         FIG. 2.3  shows an example of data that is upserted, in accordance with another embodiment. 
         FIG. 2.4  shows an example of data that is added to a custom object, in accordance with another embodiment. 
         FIG. 2.5  shows an example of summary report data output, in accordance with yet another embodiment. 
         FIG. 3.1  shows an interface for managing data created in an on-demand service, in accordance with another embodiment. 
         FIG. 3.2  shows an example of allowable type mappings, in accordance with another embodiment. 
         FIG. 4  illustrates a block diagram of an example of an environment wherein an on-demand database service might be used. 
         FIG. 5  illustrates a block diagram of an embodiment of elements of  FIG. 4  and various possible interconnections between these elements. 
     
    
    
     DETAILED DESCRIPTION 
     General Overview 
     Systems and methods are provided for managing data created in an on-demand service. 
     Currently, reports need to be executed to be displayed. In some cases, a refresh of the report may not be required, but the report execution may be costly. Further, historical data may be expensive to compute and may not always be available. 
     Thus, mechanisms and methods are provided herein for managing data created in an on-demand service, utilizing a report. These mechanisms and methods for managing data created in an on-demand service can enable embodiments to derive data from reports in the form of analytic snapshots. The ability of embodiments to provide management may allow analytical snapshots to be generated and refreshed on a periodic basic such that historical data may be stored. 
     Next, mechanisms and methods for managing data created in an on-demand service will be described with reference to exemplary embodiments. 
       FIG. 1  shows a method  100  for managing data created in an on-demand service, in accordance with one embodiment. As shown, data in an on-demand service is periodically derived from data managed by the on-demand service. See operation  102 . 
     In the context of the present description, an on-demand service refers to any service that relies on a system that is accessible over a network. For example, in one embodiment, the on-demand service may include an on-demand database service. An on-demand database service may include any service that relies on a database system that is accessible over a network. 
     In one embodiment, the on-demand database service may include a multi-tenant on-demand database service. In the present description, such multi-tenant on-demand database service may include any service that relies on a database system that is accessible over a network, in which various elements of hardware and software of the database system may be shared by one or more customers. For instance, a given application server may simultaneously process requests for a great number of customers, and a given database table may store rows for a potentially much greater number of customers. 
     In addition to periodically deriving data in the on-demand service, a command to generate an analytical report is received. See operation  104 . In one embodiment, the command to generate the analytical report may be received from a user of the on-demand database service. 
     Furthermore, the derived data is stored, See operation  106 . Additionally, the analytical report is prepared based at least in part upon the derived data, the analytical report reflecting a plurality of states in the data managed by the on-demand service. See operation  108 , 
     In one embodiment, generating the analytical report may include appending the derived data to at least a portion of the data managed by the on-demand service. In this case, appending the derived data to the data managed by the on-demand service may include appending the derived data to at least a portion of previously derived data. The previously derived data may include any data derived in a previous operation. 
     In another embodiment, generating the analytical report may include replacing at least a portion of the data managed by the on-demand service with the derived data. As an option, replacing the data managed by the derived data may include replacing at least a portion of previously derived data with the derived data. As another option, replacing the data managed by the derived data may include replacing at least a portion of any existing data with the derived data. 
     In still another embodiment, generating the analytical report may include adding the derived data to the data managed with the on-demand service. In this case, the data managed with the on-demand service may include data derived from a previous operation. 
     It should be noted that, in one embodiment, a user of the on-demand service may be capable of defining data to be derived. Furthermore, in various embodiments, deriving the data may include different operations. 
     For example, in one embodiment, deriving the data may include creating the derived data utilizing a subset of rows and fields associated with at least a portion of the data managed by the on-demand service. In this case, the derived data may include any portion of the data managed by the on-demand service. This may include a portion of previously derived data or any other existing data. For example, the derived data may include select rows, columns, fields, and/or any other portion of the data. 
     In another embodiment, deriving the data may include modifying a form of at least a portion of the data managed by the on-demand service, For example, a portion of the existing data (e.g. previously derived data or other data, etc.) may be modified from a first form or a first format to a second form or second format, as part of deriving the data. Additionally, deriving the data may further include aggregating at least a portion of the data managed by the on-demand service. 
     In addition to generating the analytical report, as an option, the analytical report may be displayed. For example, the analytical report may be displayed to a user of the on-demand service. In one embodiment, the user may view, access, modify, and/or evaluate information associated with the analytical report. 
     For example, information associated with the analytical report may be capable of being utilized as an input for a data transformation. As another option, information associated with the analytical report may be capable of being utilized for subsequent storage of data. Still yet, in one embodiment, the analytical report may be processed. As an option, an output of the processing of the analytical report may be batched into chunks of data. 
       FIG. 2.1  shows an interface  200  for managing data created in an on-demand service, in accordance with one embodiment. As an option, the present interface  200  may be utilized in the context of the functionality of  FIG. 1 . Of course, however, the interface  200  may be utilized in any desired environment. The aforementioned definitions may apply during the present description. 
     In operation, the interface  200  may be utilized to map fields in a report to an object. In this case, the object may refer to any data managed by an on-demand service. For example, in one embodiment, the object may include a table. Additionally, the report may include derived data. Further, the interface  200  may be utilized to select a technique for generating a report. For example, the interface may present a user with the option to replace all of the data in a selected object with results of an executed report, add the report results to data already in the object, or merge the report results into data already in the object. 
     Furthermore, using the interface  200  or another interface, a command to produce an analytical report may be sent by a user. The analytical report may then be prepared based at least in part upon derived data so that the analytical report reflects a plurality of states in the data managed by the on demand service. In this way, data created in an on-demand database service may be managed via a report. 
     For example, in some cases, reports may need to be executed to be displayed. In some cases, a refresh may not be required but report execution may still be costly. Additionally, historical data may not only be expensive to compute, but may not always be available. Deriving data from reports in the form of analytic snapshots may allow snapshots to be generated and refreshed on a periodic basic such that historical data may be stored. In addition, efficient reports may be built on top of these snapshots. 
     In operation, reports (e.g. tabular or summary reports, etc.) may be used to generate data which may then be inserted into custom objects. In one embodiment, execution may be scheduled using a scheduler. Additionally, as an option. new entities may be introduced to store analytic snapshot definitions (e.g. a source report, a target custom object, a field mapping, etc.) and run history information. 
     In various embodiments, the analytical source reports may be tabular or summary reports. In one embodiment, source reports may be created specially for and dedicated to analytic snapshots. As an option, report deletion may be prevented when it is referenced by an analytic snapshot. Furthermore, in some cases, modifying a report may eliminate analytic snapshots referencing it. 
     As noted above, in one embodiment, custom objects may be used as a destination for derived data. In some cases, several analytic snapshots may be used to update the same objects. In these cases, because several analytic snapshots may be updating the same objects, custom object definitions may not be created automatically in association with an analytic job. 
     As an option, a custom object may be created specifically for and dedicated to analytic snapshots. Furthermore, as an option, custom object deletion may be prevented when it is referenced by an analytic snapshot. 
     In one embodiment, field mapping may be checked when created/modified and at runtime before executing the analytic snapshot. As an option, a report column may be inserted into a field with an underlying column of the same type or of type text as a default. In one embodiment, only dynamic pick lists may be supported as a target enumerator. In this case, unknown new values may be inserted as inactive values and may be displayed and used in a report filter lists. 
     At any given time, a single analytic snapshot may be running for any custom object. The analytic snapshot may be scheduled or manually initiated. In one embodiment, an organization lock of an analytic snapshot type with a subtype set to a target custom object definition identifier row may be used to prevent concurrent executions. Additionally, in one embodiment, create, read, update, and delete (CRUD) functions may be allowed to be performed and may not be prevented while executing a report. 
     In one embodiment, analytic report snapshot execution may take place in a single transaction. At the end of the transaction, all processed rows may be either inserted in a target object or accounted for in a persisted snapshot run history of row errors. 
     As an option, an append mode may be utilized to append derived data to existing data, as noted above. In append mode, custom objects may be inserted using one or more APIs. As an option, reports may be streamed and processed in chunks (e.g. chunks of 100 rows, 200 rows, etc.). In this case, a bulk API may retry each row individually in the case there is any error, a failed row may cause, at a maximum, the number of the rows in the chunk to be individually retried. It should be noted that, in one embodiment, the derived data may include metadata associated with an execution date, a name of a report, and/or various other information. 
     In one embodiment, in order to limit the memory impact of processing a large number of entity objects in a single transaction (e.g. due to other entity objects read as a side effect and cached in the transaction, etc.), certain features may be disabled when inserting derived data. For example, any APEX triggers, workflow functions, validation functions (e.g. spanning formulas, etc,), etc, may be disabled. 
     Also, insertion into master objects may be supported, which may prevent side effects from rollup summary fields processing (e.g. APEX triggered in parent fields, etc.). In addition to the append mode, an update mode and replacement mode may be utilized. In this case, the update mode may allow for an object or a portion of the object to be updated with the data derived from the reports. Furthermore, in the update mode, a custom object external identifier may be used to store a concatenated composite key of the source rows. 
     The replacement mode may allow for an object or a portion of an object to be replaced by data derived from the reports. For example, in replacement mode, the target object may be bulk deleted. 
     Additionally, in one embodiment, a test mode may be available to a user. In this case, a user may manually run an analytic snapshot. At the end of the execution, a rollback may occur and any error may be displayed. As an option, the user may limit the number of processed rows for shorter trial/error cycles. 
     Implementing the test mode may allow for better handling of analytic snapshot dependencies which may cause snapshots to fail. In this way, the most common modifications which may cause an existing analytic snapshot to fail may be detected and prevented beforehand. In various embodiments, these modifications may include custom field modifications, report modifications, report deletions, and access right changes (e.g. source report and target custom object versus running user, etc.). 
     In one embodiment, report data and metadata may be configured to allow par reruns while preserving data consistency and avoiding snapshot data loss. As an option, only failed rows may be rerun. 
     Further, the state of object row may include a pending state, a confirmed state, an appended state, a replace or update state, and various other states. In the case of a replace or update state, a copy of the original data may be kept until a snapshot run is confirmed. Additionally, a user may have the ability to cancel a snapshot run (e.g. if source report needs changes, etc.). 
     In one embodiment, handling the state of a target object may require either custom object enhancements or dedicated target data structure as analytic snapshot specific metadata. Further, indexing on target custom objects may be required for efficient processing. With improved error recovery, it may be possible to have one transaction per chunk and process more rows. 
     In one embodiment, processing a report may be distributed among one of a plurality backend servers associated with an on-demand database service. As an option, analytic snapshots of multiple tenants may be processed in parallel. In this case, processing may occur within the context of a specific “running user,” which may be specified as part of the snapshot definition. 
     The analytical source report may be executed and its output data may be processed on the fly. In one embodiment, a report output may be batched in chunks of rows (e.g. 100 rows, 200 rows, etc.). By batching, only a fixed amount of memory is required where the amount is determined by chunk size instead of total number of rows in a report. As an option, each chunk may be processed in a single database call for efficiency purposes. 
     In the case that there are errors in a chunk, each row may be retried individually. In this case, as much valid data as possible may be inserted. Additionally, more information may be retrieved about failed rows. Statistically, most chunks are error free. Thus, chunking allows for efficient data insertion while still inserting as many valid rows as possible. 
     In one embodiment, data may be converted from report columns to target object fields according to tenant specific metadata. This may include snapshot fields mapping definitions (e.g. metadata such as snapshot execution timestamp, name, and running user, etc.), source report column and target object field data types, and currency. 
     When data is being refreshed or updated in an object, all records from the object may be emptied, the query may be executed, and one record may be created for each row returned on the screen (e.g. for aggregations, the detail rows may not inserted, etc.).  FIG. 2.2  shows an example implementation of this, in accordance with one embodiment. 
     When upserting data, a definition of the comparable identifiers may be present for records. Optionally, these identifying columns may be used to match records, and the other mapped columns may be updated. 
     For example, in  FIG. 2.3 , the identifying columns are A and B. In this example, C and D are measure columns that may be calculated in the report. 
     If the data is added to the custom object, no matching data may be performed, and the data may include all data ever placed into the object. This may be useful when the date of the data is also inserted.  FIG. 2.4  shows an example of adding data to a custom object, in accordance with one embodiment. 
     When using a summary report as a source, a user may need to select the level of aggregation at which the totals are taken. This may be useful to convert an n-dimensional hierarchy of a summary report into a I-dimensional tabular dataset ready to be inserted.  FIG. 2.5  shows an example of a summary report on opportunities and account information, grouped by close date (Q) and stage, and a summary report data output, when “stage summaries” is chosen as the summary level to take, in accordance with one embodiment. 
       FIG. 3.1  shows an interface  300  for managing data created in an on-demand service, in accordance with another embodiment. As an option, the present interface  300  may be utilized in the context of the functionality of the previous figures. Of course, however, the interface  300  may be utilized in any desired environment. Again, the aforementioned definitions may apply during the present description. 
     In operation, the interface  300  may be utilized to map fields of a report to a list of fields in an object. The interface  300  may also be utilized to select a technique for generating a report. For example, the interface may present a user with the option to replace all of the data in a selected object with results of an executed report, add the report results to data already in the object, or merge the report results into data already in the object. 
     It should be noted that, in various embodiments, many different mappings may be supported. For example,  FIG. 3.2  illustrates type mappings that may be allowed, in accordance with one embodiment. 
     System Overview 
       FIG. 4  illustrates a block diagram of an environment  410  wherein an on-demand database service might be used. As an option, any of the previously described embodiments of the foregoing figures may or may not be implemented in the context of the environment  410 . Environment  410  may include user systems  412 , network  414 , system  416 , processor system  417 , application platform  418 , network interface  420 , tenant data storage  422 , system data storage  424 , program code  426 , and process space  428 . In other embodiments, environment  410  may not have all of the components listed and/or may have other elements instead of, or in addition to, those listed above. 
     Environment  410  is an environment in which an on-demand database service exists. User system  412  may be any machine or system that is used by a user to access a database user system. For example, any of user systems  412  can be a handheld computing device, a mobile phone, a laptop computer, a work station, and/or a network of computing devices. As illustrated in  FIG. 4  (and in more detail in  FIG. 5 ) user systems  412  might interact via a network with an on-demand database service, which is system  416 . 
     An on-demand database service, such as system  416 , is a database system that is made available to outside users that do not need to necessarily be concerned with building and/or maintaining the database system, but instead may be available for their use when the users need the database system (e.g., on the demand of the users). Some on-demand database services may store information from one or more tenants stored into tables of a common database image to form a multi-tenant database system (MTS). Accordingly, “on-demand database service  416 ” and “system  416 ” will be used interchangeably herein. A database image may include one or more database objects. A relational database management system (RDMS) or the equivalent may execute storage and retrieval of information against the database object(s). Application platform  418  may be a framework that allows the applications of system  416  to run, such as the hardware and/or software, e.g., the operating system. In an embodiment, on-demand database service  416  may include an application platform  418  that enables creation, managing and executing one or more applications developed by the provider of the on-demand database service, users accessing the on-demand database service via user systems  412 , or third party application developers accessing the on-demand database service via user systems  412 . 
     The users of user systems  412  may differ in their respective capacities, and the capacity of a particular user system  412  might be entirely determined by permissions (permission levels) for the current user. For example, where a salesperson is using a particular user system  412  to interact with system  416 , that user system has the capacities allotted to that salesperson. However, while an administrator is using that user system to interact with system  416 , that user system has the capacities allotted to that administrator. In systems with a hierarchical role model, users at one permission level may have access to applications, data, and database information accessible by a lower permission level user, but may not have access to certain applications, database information, and data accessible by a user at a higher permission level. Thus, different users will have different capabilities with regard to accessing and modifying application and database information, depending on a user&#39;s security or permission level. 
     Network  414  is any network or combination of networks of devices that communicate with one another. For example, network  414  can be any one or any combination of a LAN (local area network), WAN (wide area network), telephone network, wireless network, point-to-point network, star network, token ring network, hub network, or other appropriate configuration. As the most common type of computer network in current use is a TCP/IP (Transfer Control Protocol and Internet Protocol) network, such as the global internetwork of networks often referred to as the “Internet” with a capital “I,” that network will be used in many of the examples herein. However, it should be understood that the networks that the present invention might use are not no limited, although TCP/IP is a frequently implemented protocol. 
     User systems  412  might communicate with system  416  using TCP/IP and, at a higher network level, use other common Internet protocols to communicate, such as HTTP, FTP, AFS, WAP, etc. In an example where HTTP is used, user system  412  might include an HTTP client commonly referred to as a “browser” for sending and receiving HTTP messages to and from an HTTP server at system  416 . Such an HTTP server might be implemented as the sole network interface between system  416  and network  414 , but other techniques might be used as well or instead. In some implementations, the interface between system  416  and network  414  includes load sharing functionality, such as round-robin HTTP request distributors to balance loads and distribute incoming HTTP requests evenly over a plurality of servers. At least as for the users that are accessing that server, each of the plurality of servers has access to the MTS&#39; data; however, other alternative configurations may be used instead. 
     In one embodiment, system  416 , shown in  FIG. 4 , implements a web-based customer relationship management (CRM) system. For example, in one embodiment, system  416  includes application servers configured to implement and execute CRM software applications as well as provide related data, code, forms, webpages and other information to and from user systems  412  and to store to, and retrieve from, a database system related data, objects, and Webpage content. With a multi-tenant system, data for multiple tenants may be stored in the same physical database object, however, tenant data typically is arranged so that data of one tenant is kept logically separate from that of other tenants so that one tenant does not have access to another tenant&#39;s data, unless such data is expressly shared. In certain embodiments, system  416  implements applications other than, or in addition to, a CRM application. For example, system  416  may provide tenant access to multiple hosted (standard and custom) applications, including a CRM application. User (or third party developer) applications, which may or may not include CRM, may be supported by the application platform  418 , which manages creation, storage of the applications into one or more database objects and executing of the applications in a virtual machine in the process space of the system  416 . 
     One arrangement for elements of system  416  is shown in  FIG. 5 , including a network interface  420 , application platform  418 , tenant data storage  422  for tenant data  423 , system data storage  424  for system data accessible to system  416  and possibly multiple tenants, program code  426  for implementing various functions of system  416 , and a process space  428  for executing MTS system processes and tenant-specific processes, such as running applications as part of an application hosting service. Additional processes that may execute on system  416  include database indexing processes. 
     Several elements in the system shown in  FIG. 4  include conventional, well-known elements that are explained only briefly here. For example, each user system  412  could include a desktop personal computer, workstation, laptop, PDA, cell phone, or any wireless access protocol (WAP) enabled device or any other computing device capable of interfacing directly or indirectly to the Internet or other network connection. User system  412  typically runs an HTTP client, e.g., a browsing program, such as Microsoft&#39;s Internet Explorer browser, Netscape&#39;s Navigator browser, Opera&#39;s browser, or a WAP-enabled browser in the case of a cell phone, PDA or other wireless device, or the like, allowing a user (e.g. subscriber of the multi-tenant database system) of user system  412  to access, process and view information, pages and applications available to it from system  416  over network  414 . Each user system  412  also typically includes one or more user interface devices, such as a keyboard, a mouse, trackball, touch pad, touch screen, pen or the like, for interacting with a graphical user interface (GUI) provided by the browser on a display (e.g. a monitor screen, LCD display, etc.) in conjunction with pages, forms, applications and other information provided by system  416  or other systems or servers. For example, the user interface device can be used to access data and applications hosted by system  416 , and to perform searches on stored data, and otherwise allow a user to interact with various GUI pages that may be presented to a user. As discussed above, embodiments are suitable for use with the Internet, which refers to a specific global internetwork of networks. However, it should be understood that other networks can be used instead of the Internet, such as an intranet, extranet, a virtual private network (VPN), a non-TCP/IP based network, any LAN or WAN or the like. 
     According to one embodiment, each user system  412  and all of its components are operator configurable using applications, such as a browser, including computer code run using a central processing unit such as an Intel Pentium® processor or the like. Similarly, system  416  (and additional instances of an MTS, where more than one is present) and all of their components might be operator configurable using application(s) including computer code to run using a central processing unit such as processor system  417  of  FIG. 4 , which may include an Intel Pentium® processor or the like, and/or multiple processor units. A computer program product embodiment includes a machine-readable storage medium (media) having instructions stored thereon/in which can be used to program a computer to perform any of the processes of the embodiments described herein. Computer code for operating and configuring system  416  to intercommunicate and to process webpages, applications and other data and media content as described herein are preferably downloaded and stored on a hard disk, but the entire program code, or portions thereof, may also he stored in any other volatile or non-volatile memory medium or device as is well known, such as a ROM or RAM, or provided on any media capable of storing program code, such as any type of rotating media including floppy disks, optical discs, digital versatile disk (DVD), compact disk (CD), microdrive, and magneto-optical disks, and magnetic or optical cards, nanosystems (including molecular memory ICs), or any type of media or device suitable for storing instructions and/or data. Additionally, the entire program code, or portions thereof, may be transmitted and downloaded from a software source over a transmission medium, e.g., over the Internet, or from another server, as is well known, or transmitted over any other conventional network connection as is well known (e.g. extranet, VPN, LAN, etc.) using any communication medium and protocols (e.g. TCP/IP, HTTP, HTTPS, Ethernet, etc.) as are well known. It will also be appreciated that computer code for implementing embodiments of the present invention can be implemented in any programming language that can be executed on a client system and/or server or server system such as, for example, C. C++, HTML, any other markup language, Java™, JavaScript, ActiveX, any other scripting language, such as VBScript, and many other programming languages as are well known may be used. (Java™ is a trademark of Sun Microsystems, Inc.). 
     According to one embodiment, each system  416  is configured to provide webpages, forms, applications, data and media content to user (client) systems  412  to support the access by user systems  412  as tenants of system  416 . As such, system  416  provides security mechanisms to keep each tenant&#39;s data separate unless the data is shared. If more than one MTS is used, they may be located in close proximity to one another/e.g. in a server farm located in a single building or campus), or they may be distributed at locations remote from one another (e.g. one or more servers located in city A and one or more servers located in city B). As used herein, each MTS could include one or more logically and/or physically connected servers distributed locally or across one or more geographic locations. Additionally, the term “server” is meant to include a computer system, including processing hardware and process space(s), and an associated storage system and database application (e.g. (OODBMS or RDBMS) as is well known in the art. It should also be understood that “server system” and “server” are often used interchangeably herein. Similarly, the database object described herein can be implemented as single databases, a distributed database, a collection of distributed databases, a database with redundant online or offline backups or other redundancies, etc., and might include a distributed database or storage network and associated processing intelligence. 
       FIG. 5  also illustrates environment  410 . However, in  FIG. 5  elements of system  416  and various interconnections in an embodiment are further illustrated.  FIG. 5  shows that user system  412  may include processor system  412 A, memory system  412 B, input system  412 C, and output system  412 D.  FIG. 5  shows network  414  and system  416 .  FIG. 5  also shows that system  416  may include tenant data storage  422 , tenant data  423 , system data storage  424 , system data  425 , User Interface (UI)  530 , Application Program Interface (API)  532 , PL/SOQL,  534 , save routines  536 , application setup mechanism  538 , applications servers  500   1 - 500   N , system process space  502 , tenant process spaces  504 , tenant management process space  510 , tenant storage area  512 , user storage  514 , and application metadata  516 . In other embodiments, environment  410  may not have the same elements as those listed above and/or may have other elements instead of, or in addition to, those listed above. 
     User system  412 , network  414 , system  416 , tenant data storage  422 , and system data storage  424  were discussed above in  FIG. 4 . Regarding user system  412 , processor system  412 A may be any combination of one or more processors. Memory system  412 B may be any combination of one or more memory devices, short term, and/or long term memory. Input system  412 C may be any combination of input devices, such as one or more keyboards, mice, trackballs, scanners, cameras, and/or interfaces to networks. Output system  412 D may be any combination of output devices, such as one or more monitors, printers, and/or interfaces to networks. As shown by  FIG. 5 , system  416  may include a network interface  420  (of  FIG. 4 ) implemented as a set of HTTP application servers  500 , an application platform  418 , tenant data storage  422 , and system data storage  424 . Also shown is system process space  502 , including individual tenant process spaces  504  and a tenant management process space  510 . Each application server  500  may be configured to tenant data storage  422  and the tenant data  423  therein, and system data storage  424  and the system data  425  therein to serve requests of user systems  412 . The tenant data  423  might be divided into individual tenant storage areas  512 , which can be either a physical arrangement and/or a logical arrangement of data. Within each tenant storage area  512 , user storage  514  and application metadata  516  might be similarly allocated for each user. For example, a copy of a user&#39;s most recently used (MRU) items might be stored to user storage  514 . Similarly, a copy of MRU items for an entire organization that is a tenant might be stored to tenant storage area  512 . A UI  530  provides a user interface and an API  532  provides an application programmer interface to system  416  resident processes to users and/or developers at user systems  412 . The tenant data and the system data may be stored in various databases, such as one or more Oracle™ databases. 
     Application platform  418  includes an application setup mechanism  538  that supports application developers&#39; creation and management of applications, which may be saved as metadata into tenant data storage  422  by save routines  536  for execution by subscribers as one or more tenant process spaces  504  managed by tenant management process  510  for example. Invocations to such applications may be coded using PL/SOQL  534  that provides a programming language style interface extension to API  532 . A detailed description of some PL/SOQL language embodiments is discussed in commonly owned U.S. Provisional Patent Application 60/828,192 entitled, “PROGRAMMING LANGUAGE METHOD AND SYSTEM FOR EXTENDING APIS TO EXECUTE IN CONJUNCTION WITH DATABASE APIS,” by Craig Weissman, filed Oct. 4, 2006, which is incorporated in its entirety herein for all purposes. Invocations to applications may be detected by one or more system processes, which manage retrieving application metadata  516  for the subscriber making the invocation and executing the metadata as an application in a virtual machine. 
     Each application server  500  may be communicably coupled to database systems, e.g., having access to system data  425  and tenant data  423 , via a different network connection. For example, one application server  500   1  might be coupled via the network  414  (e.g., the Internet), another application server  500   N-1  might be coupled via a direct network link, and another application server  500   N  might be coupled by yet a different network connection. Transfer Control Protocol and Internet Protocol (TCP/IP) are typical protocols for communicating between application servers  500  and the database system. However, it will be apparent to one skilled in the art that other transport protocols may be used to optimize the system depending on the network interconnect used. 
     In certain embodiments, each application server  500  is configured to handle requests for any user associated with any organization that is a tenant. Because it is desirable to be able to add and remove application servers from the server pool at any time for any reason, there is preferably no server affinity for a user and/or organization to a specific application server  500 . In one embodiment, therefore, an interface system implementing aloud balancing function (e.g., an F5 Big-IP load balancer) is communicably coupled between the application servers  500  and the user systems  412  to distribute requests to the application servers  500 . In one embodiment, the load balancer uses a least connections algorithm to route user requests to the application servers  500 . Other examples of load balancing algorithms, such as round robin and observed response time, also can be used. For example, in certain embodiments, three consecutive requests from the same user could hit three different application servers  500 , and three requests from different users could hit the same application server  500 . In this manner, system  416  is multi-tenant, wherein system  416  handles storage of, and access to, different objects, data and applications across disparate users and organizations. 
     As an example of storage, one tenant might be a company that employs a sales force where each salesperson uses system  416  to manage their sales process. Thus, a user might maintain contact data, leads data, customer follow-up data, performance data, goals and progress data, etc., all applicable to that user&#39;s personal sales process (e.g., in tenant data storage  422 ). In an example of a MTS arrangement, since all of the data and the applications to access, view, modify, report, transmit, calculate, etc., can be maintained and accessed by a user system having nothing more than network access, the user can manage his or her sales efforts and cycles from any of many different user systems. For example, if a salesperson is visiting a customer and the customer has Internet access in their lobby, the salesperson can obtain critical updates as to that customer while waiting for the customer to arrive in the lobby. 
     While each user&#39;s data might be separate from other users&#39; data regardless of the employers of each user, some data might be organization-wide data shared or accessible by a plurality of users or all of the users for a given organization that is a tenant. Thus, there might be some data structures managed by system  416  that are allocated at the tenant level while other data structures might be managed at the user level, Because an MTS might support multiple tenants including possible competitors, the MTS should have security protocols that keep data, applications, and application use separate, Also, because many tenants may opt for access to an MTS rather than maintain their own system, redundancy, up-time, and backup are additional functions that may be implemented in the MTS. In addition to user-specific data and tenant-specific data, system  416  might also maintain system level data usable by multiple tenants or other data. Such system level data might include industry reports, news, postings, and the like that are sharable among tenants. 
     In certain embodiments, user systems  412  (which may be client systems) communicate with application servers  500  to request and update system-level and tenant-level data from system  416  that may require sending one or more queries to tenant data storage  422  and/or system data storage  424 . System  416  (e.g., an application server  500  in system  416 ) automatically generates one or more SQL statements (e.g., one or more SQL queries) that are designed to access the desired information. System data storage  424  may generate query plans to access the requested data from the database. 
     Each database can generally be viewed as a collection of objects, such as a set of logical tables, containing data fitted into predefined categories. A “table” is one representation of a data object, and may be used herein to simplify the conceptual description of objects and custom objects according to the present invention. It should be understood that “table” and “object” may be used interchangeably herein. Each table generally contains one or more data categories logically arranged as columns or fields in a viewable schema. Each row or record of a table contains an instance of data for each category defined by the fields. For example, a CRM database may include a table that describes a customer with fields for basic contact information such as name, address, phone number, fax number, etc. Another table might describe a purchase order, including fields for information such as customer, product, sale price, date, etc. In some multi-tenant database systems, standard entity tables might be provided for use by all tenants. For CRM database applications, such standard. entities might include tables for Account, Contact, Lead, and Opportunity data, each containing pre-defined fields. It should be understood that the word “entity” may also be used interchangeably herein with “object” and “table”. 
     In some multi-tenant database systems, tenants may be allowed to create and store custom objects, or they may be allowed to customize standard entities or objects, for example by creating custom fields for standard objects, including custom. index fields. U.S. patent application Ser. No. 10/817,161, filed Apr. 2, 2004, entitled “CUSTOM ENTITIES AND FIELDS IN A MULTI-TENANT DATABASE SYSTEM,” which is hereby incorporated herein by reference, teaches systems and methods for creating custom objects as well as customizing standard objects in a multi-tenant database system. In certain embodiments, for example, all custom entity data rows are stored in a single multi-tenant physical table, which may contain multiple logical tables per organization. It is transparent to customers that their multiple “tables” are in fact stored in one large table or that their data may be stored in the same table as the data of other customers. 
     It should be noted that any of the different embodiments described herein may or may not be equipped with any one or more of the features set forth in one or more of the following published applications: US2003/0233404, titled “OFFLINE SIMULATION OF ONLINE SESSION BETWEEN CLIENT AND SERVER,” filed Nov. 4, 2002; US2004/0210909, titled “JAVA OBJECT CACHE SERVER FOR DATABASES,” filed Apr. 17, 2003, now issued U.S. Pat. No. 7,209,929; US2005/0065925, titled “QUERY OPTIMIZATION IN A MULTI-TENANT DATABASE SYSTEM,” filed Sep. 23, 2003; US2005/0223022, titled “CUSTOM ENTITIES AND FIELDS IN A MULTI-TENANT DATABASE SYSTEM,” filed Apr. 2, 2004; US2005/0283478, titled “SOAP-BASED WEB SERVICES IN A MULTI-TENANT DATABASE SYSTEM,” filed Jun. 16, 2004; and/or US2006/0206834, titled “SYSTEMS AND METHODS FOR IMPLEMENTING MULTI-APPLICATION TABS AND TAB SETS,” filed Mar. 8, 2005; which are each incorporated herein by reference in their entirety for all purposes. 
     While the invention has been described by way of example and in terms of the specific embodiments, it is to be understood that the invention is not limited to the disclosed embodiments. To the contrary, it is intended to cover various modifications and similar arrangements as would be apparent to those skilled in the art. Therefore, the scope of the appended claims should be accorded the broadest interpretation so as to encompass all such modifications and similar arrangements.