Patent ID: 8171017

Claim:
A method for interacting with data stored in databases, the method comprising: receiving, at one or more computer systems, information defining a hierarchy of business data containers representing books of business, each business data container in the hierarchy of business data containers limiting data access to a subset of data stored in a database according to predetermined criteria; generating, with one or more processors associated with one or more computer systems, one or more book entries for each business data container configured to contain data in the hierarchy of business data containers according to a data schema associated with the business data container and data stored in the database in response to the predetermined criteria associated with the business data container; generating, with the one or more processors associated with one or more computer systems, a book index for each business data container configured to contain data in the hierarchy of business data containers based on the one or more book entries of the business data container and one or more key attributes of data stored in at least one book entry; generating, with the one or more processors associated with one or more computer systems, a graphical user interface that enables users of the graphical user interface to select a visual representation of each business data container in the hierarchy of business data containers; receiving, at the one or more computer systems, information indicative of a selection of a user of the graphical user interface of a visual representation of a business data container in the hierarchy of business data containers; generating, with the one or more processors associated with the one or more computer systems, a query plan to be executed by a database management system based on the book index associated with the business data container and a task associated with the selected business data container; and executing, with the one or more processors associated with the one or more computer systems, the query plan by the database management system to obtain information stored in the database.