Patent ID: 7236991

Claim:
A method for changing a data structure which an application program in a computer system uses to access database systems, the method comprising the following method steps: communicating, using the application program, with a first database system in order to store entries in a source table which has a first data structure; creating a destination table in the first database system, the destination table having a second data structure which is different than the first data structure; recording a type of change for those entries in the source table which are changed when the application program communicates with the source table; copying the destination table to a copy of the destination table in a second database system, the second data structure being retained in the copy of the destination table; copying the source table with its entries to a copy of the source table in the second database system, the first data structure being retained in the copy of the source table; converting the entries in the copy of the source table from the first data structure to the second data structure, the entries converted from the first data structure to the second data structure being stored in the copy of the destination table; and adjusting the entries changed when the application program communicates with the source table to the copy of the source table, the entries changed when the application program communicates with the source table being copied from the source table as changed entries to the copy of the source table.