Patent ID: 7487172

Claim:
A method of storing data in an operating environment having a plurality of domains, said method comprising: obtaining a computer storage medium comprising a relational database for storing data of a plurality of domains; storing data for multiple relational domains of the plurality of domains in the relational database as a three-dimensional data structure, said three-dimensional data structure comprising: multiple columns and multiple rows defining a two-dimensional array of data cells, and at least one column of data cells of the array of data cells comprising a cell depth greater than zero, thereby defining the three-dimensional structure, and wherein the cell depth greater than zero indicates that multiple depth-wise data values are provided for the at least one data cell of the array of data cells, each depth-wise data value being associated with a different domain of the multiple relational domains, and wherein for each data cell of the at least one data cell, one depth-wise data value of the data cell associated with one domain is different from at least one other depth-wise data value of the data cell associated with another domain of the multiple relational domains; and wherein the three-dimensional data structure further comprises at least one cell of the array of data cells having a depth of zero, meaning that the at least one data cell of zero depth is invariable for the multiple relational domains of the operating environment, and wherein the at least one data cell of zero depth contains an actual valid data value which is common to the multiple relational domains.