Patent ID: 7409401

Claim:
A method for managing data related to an index class in response to a query, the index class including at least one multivalue attribute, the method comprising the steps of: a) processing the query to determine a plurality of raw table rows, the plurality of raw table rows containing data satisfying the query; b) generating at least one result tree from the raw table rows, each result tree representing data in the raw table rows associated with a particular item in the index class, wherein each item in the index class is identified by an item identification serial number, and each row of the raw table rows is associated with an item in the index class identified by the item identification serial number, wherein the result tree generating step further comprises the steps of: b1) grouping the raw table rows by item identification serial number; b2) comparing values in the raw table rows for each group of raw table rows; b3) identifying non-redundant values for each group based on the comparing step (b2); and b4) populating the result tree for the item with the non-redundant values; and c) generating a unified row corresponding to each result tree, the unified row comprising a string of attribute values separated by an internally defined separator.