Granted Patent B1

US 8,042,041 · App. 09/565,901 · Granted Oct 18, 2011

Abstract

Claims (52)

1. A method for pipelined processing of data, the method comprising:

receiving a user request to process data;

obtaining the data from a data storage based upon the user request;

grouping at least a portion of the data to create a hierarchical data;

paginating at least a portion of the hierarchical data by dividing the data into pages to create a paginated result set, the pagination beginning before the grouping completes; and

transferring one or more pages of the paginated result set to a client before the pagination completes.

2. The method of claim 1 wherein the one or more pages are identified by the user.

3. The method of claim 1 wherein a client is any one of a web server, a design studio, and a browser.

4. The method of claim 1 further comprising randomly accessing pages of the paginated result set by the user.

5. The method of claim 1 further comprising:

setting an indicator to notify the user what pages are available to be accessed; and

updating the indicator once more pages are available to be accessed.

6. The method of claim 1 wherein paginating the grouped data includes building an index of report pages.

7. The method of claim 1 further comprising storing the paginated result set in a cache.

8. The method of claim 7 further comprising:

receiving a second user request to process the data;

retrieving one or more pages of the paginated result set from the cache; and

displaying the one or more pages to the user.

9. The method of claim 1 further comprising:

transferring a page including a total value field to the client before a total value is determined;

displaying the page to the user, the total value field being marked as pending; and

updating the total value field with the total value once the total value is determined.

10. The method of claim 1 wherein the user request identifies a plan to be used for processing the data.

11. An apparatus for pipelined processing of data, the apparatus including a processor, the apparatus further comprising:

means for receiving a user request to process data;

means for obtaining the data from a data storage based upon the user request;

means for grouping at least a portion of the data to create a hierarchical data;

means for paginating at least a portion of the hierarchical data by dividing the data into pages to create a paginated result set, the pagination beginning before the grouping completes;

means for transferring one or more pages of the paginated result set to a client before the pagination completes.

12. The apparatus of claim 11 wherein the one or more pages are identified by the user.

13. The apparatus of claim 11 wherein a client is any one of a web server, a design studio, and a browser.

14. The apparatus of claim 11 further comprising means for randomly accessing pages of the paginated result set by the user.

15. The apparatus of claim 11 further comprising:

means for setting an indicator to notify the user what pages are available to be accessed; and

means for updating the indicator once more pages are available to be accessed.

16. The apparatus of claim 11 wherein means for paginating the grouped data includes means for building an index of report pages.

17. The apparatus of claim 11 further comprising means for saving the paginated result set in a cache.

18. The apparatus of claim 17 further comprising:

means for receiving a second user request to process the data;

means for retrieving one or more pages of the paginated result set from the cache; and

means for displaying the one or more pages to the user.

19. The apparatus of claim 11 further comprising:

means for transferring a page including a total value field to the client before a total value is determined;

means for displaying the page to the user, the total value field being marked as pending; and

means for updating the total value field with the total value once the total value is determined.

20. The apparatus of claim 11 wherein the user request identifies a plan to be used for processing the data.

21. A computer readable medium comprising instructions, which when executed on a processor, cause the processor to perform a method for pipelined processing of data, the method comprising:

receiving a user request to process data;

obtaining the data from a data storage based upon the user request;

grouping at least a portion of the data to create a hierarchical data;

paginating at least a portion of the hierarchical data by dividing the data into pages to create a paginated result set, the pagination beginning before the grouping completes; and

transferring one or more pages of the paginated result set to a client before the pagination completes.

Assignments (10)