Patent ID: 7246116

Claim:
A computer-implemented method for managing execution of a query against data in one or more database tables, comprising: receiving a query to be executed against the one or more database tables; determining whether the query requires relating a first column and a second column, each having associated units metadata, the first and second columns being included in the one or more database tables; determining, from the associated units metadata, a first measurement unit for the first column and a second measurement unit for the second column, wherein the first measurement unit specifies a first unit of measure for data values in the first column and the second measurement unit specifies a second unit of measure for data values in the second column; determining that the data values quantified using the first measurement unit can be converted into equivalent data values quantified using the second measurement unit; determining a conversion algorithm for converting the data values; using the conversion algorithm to convert the data values in the first column quantified using the first measurement unit into the equivalent data values when quantified using to the second measurement unit; executing the query against the converted data values in the first column and the data values in the second column; and receiving a query result for the executed query, wherein the query result includes data values measured using at least one of the first and second measurement units.