Patent ID: 8914422

Claim:
A method for defining a database schema comprising: sending, from a host machine to a user machine, a graphical representation of a schema, the host machine having one or more processors and a memory system, the graphical representation including: a plurality of graphical objects representing a plurality of database objects, each of the graphical objects representing a different one of database objects, and at least two types of lines having graphically different appearances, each line connecting at least two of the plurality of graphical objects, a first type of line represents a master-detail relationship between a first and second database object and a second type of line representing a lookup relationship between a third database object and a fourth database object, the second database object inheriting at least one usage constraint defined by the first database object and the third database object including at least one field that receives its values from at least one field of the fourth database object, receiving, at the host machine, user input from the client machine in the form of altering a graphical object of the graphical representation of the database schema; altering the database schema in response to the input.