Patent ID: 7761403

Claim:
A method for processing a query, the method comprising the computer-implemented steps of: examining said query; wherein said query evaluates to a relation; wherein the query defines an away and a set of formulas that reference the array, wherein each formula of said set of formulas has a right side and a left side, wherein said right side is to be evaluated to values that are assigned to cells of said away that are indicated by said left side; wherein the away has one or more dimensions that correspond to columns of the relation; wherein the query includes a clause specifying at least one partition column of said relation by which to partition the relation into partitions; assigning a plurality of partitions to processing elements for processing, wherein the relation is partitioned into said plurality of partitions based on a set of one or more partition columns that include said at least one partition column; and processing said query based on the assignment of said plurality of partitions; wherein the steps of the method are performed by one or more computer systems.