Patent ID: 7870119

Claim:
A search system for identifying, in response to a base query, values in a selected row in a set of unfetched rows of data in a relational database comprised of a multitude of rows and a plurality of columns, each of the columns being associated with a respective one data class, and each of said plurality of columns of each row of the database having a value for the data class associated with the column, and said rows of the database are arranged in said database in a sequential order according to a given sequence of said data classes, the search system comprising a computer system including instructions for: identifying a row number for one of said rows in said database; determining values for the data classes in the row at said row number, using said row number by identifying the given sequence of data classes according to which said rows of the database are arranged in said sequential order in said database, and for each of the data classes in the given sequence, determining the value for the data class in the row at said row number, including: i) determining an order of precedence of the columns in the row at said row number, ii) for the first column in said order of precedence, determining the value for the data class associated with said first column from said row number and said base query, and iii) for the data class associated with each subsequent column in said order of precedence after said first column, (1) determining a maximum value and a minimum value for the data class from said base query and each value determined for each data class associated with each column previous to said each subsequent column in said order of precedence, and (2) determining a row value for the data class from said base query and said maximum and minimum values.