Patent ID: 8898197

Claim:
A method for generating a data structure that identifies relationships between entity instances in a first entity structure and entity instances in a second entity structure, comprising: accessing, by a computing device, a database comprising at least three entity reference relationship structures, each of the at least three entity reference relationship structures establishing a relationship between a different pair of entity structures of at least four entity structures which form a one-to-one entity structure group, wherein entity instances in each entity structure of the one-to-one entity structure group have a one-to-one relationship with entity instances of another entity structure in the one-to-one entity structure group; determining, automatically by the computing device, each different path from a first vertex that corresponds to the first entity structure through at least one intermediate vertex that corresponds to an intermediate entity structure to a second vertex that corresponds to the second entity structure, wherein the each different path comprises a plurality of edges, each respective edge connecting two vertices and corresponding to an entity reference relationship structure that establishes a relationship between two entity structures that correspond to the two vertices connected by the respective edge, a quantity of different paths comprising at least two different paths; for each said different path, automatically identifying, by the computing device, all coupled sets of pairs of entity instance identifiers, wherein each coupled set comprises a pair of entity instance identifiers from each entity reference relationship structure corresponding to the each said path, wherein at least one entity instance identifier from each pair of entity instance identifiers in the coupled set matches an entity instance identifier from another pair of entity instance identifiers in the coupled set; and for each said coupled set, storing a first entity instance identifier in the each coupled set that refers to the first entity structure and a second entity instance identifier in the each coupled set that refers to the second entity structure in association with one another in a new entity reference relationship structure.