Patent ID: 7139750

Claim:
A method of searching a database including a BOM table, the BOM table including a set of first level objects, wherein each first level object of the set of first level objects includes a set of second level objects, comprising: associating a first set of state indicia with each first level object of the set of first level objects, the first set of state indicia including a first object status, the first object status including one of a deleted status and a non-deleted status; associating a second set of state indicia with each second level object of the set of second level objects, the second set of state indicia including the first object status and a second object status, the second object status including one of the deleted status and the non-deleted status; executing a query on the BOM table, wherein when the query includes a non-deleted status criteria, at least one of a third set of first level objects that do not include the deleted status, and a fourth set of second level objects that do not include the deleted status, is returned.