Patent ID: 7031956

Claim:
A method for synchronizing and updating a relational database containing existing data with supplemental data, the relational database having a set of tables defined by a relational schema, the supplemental data comprising formatted data having a document type definition representative of the relational schema, the method comprising the steps of: receiving at least one proposed data update representative of the supplemental data from a source external to the relational database, the supplemental data being represented by a document object; and propagating the received at least one proposed data update into the relational database in a manner which ensures compliance with both the relational database relational schema and the document type definition without requiring reloading the existing data in the relational database, said propagating step comprising the sub-steps of traversing the document object to determine at least one path expression identifying at least one element of the document object, said at least one element being identified by said at least one proposed data update, and using said at least one path expression to determine relational identifiers of data to be updated in the relational database.