Patent ID: 8775478

Claim:
A method for managing state within an end-user interface for working with the data within a relational database, the end-user interface operating under control of a processor, the relational database comprising a plurality of tables, constraints and relationships and also operating under control of a processor, said method comprising providing a hierarchical context stack for suspending the working state of a primary table within the relational database while drilling-down across a relationship to work with related information in a subordinate table within the relational database, wherein the relational database may be any arbitrary relational database, and said method is effective regardless of the size or complexity of the database, wherein said method is applied recursively, so that the working state of the subordinate table is suspended while drilling-down across a further relationship to work with related information in a further-subordinated table, wherein said method further comprises imposing (as necessary) within the hierarchical context stack a constraining working context on the further-subordinated table, so as to reveal and enforce any relational interdependency between the subordinate and further-subordinated tables.