Patent ID: 7756904

Claim:
A computer-readable medium storing thereon computer-readable instructions, the computer-readable medium storing thereon a data structure, the data structure comprising: a plurality of rows; a type column adapted for storing a row type for each of the plurality of rows of the data structure, each row type indicating a structure of the corresponding row, wherein the structure includes a set of columns, the row type being selectable from a set of row types such that the row type indicates an identity of each of the set of columns, thereby enabling the structure for each of the plurality of rows to vary based upon the row type for that row, wherein the type column is separate from the set of columns of the structure identified by each row type stored in the type column; computer-readable instructions for storing data retrieved from two or more data stores in the set of columns for the plurality of rows; and computer-readable instructions for storing a row type for each of the plurality of rows of the data structure in the type column, wherein the row type for a corresponding one of the plurality of rows indicates an identity of the set of columns of the structure storing data for the corresponding row; wherein the two or more data stores include a first data store and a second data store, wherein the first data store stores data in a different format from data stored in the second data store, thereby enabling data retrieved from data stores storing data in different formats to be stored in a single data structure.