Representation of multiplicities for Docflow reporting

1. A method for determining a multiplicity of predecessor relationships, the method comprising:

identifying multiple predecessor documents for a single successor document in an online analytical processing (OLAP) system using a data structure from an online transaction processing (OLTP) system including,

accessing the data structure stored within the OLTP system, wherein the data structure includes a representation of an object tree that includes relational information specifying relationships between objects and sub-objects of the objects and relationships among the sub-objects, the object tree further includes representations of a successor object associated with a first document, successor sub-objects having items of the first document, a first predecessor object associated with a second document, a first predecessor sub-object having an item of the second document, a second predecessor object associated with a third document, a second predecessor sub-object having an item of the third document;

extracting first relationship information based on the relational information, the first relationship information indicating a first sub-object relationship between the first predecessor object and the first predecessor sub-object and a second sub-object relationship between the second predecessor object and the second predecessor sub-object;

extracting second relationship information based on the relational information, the second relationship information indicating a third sub-object relationship between the successor object and each of the successor sub-objects; and

extracting third relationship information based on the relational information, the third relationship information indicating a first predecessor sub-object relationship between at least one successor sub-object and the first predecessor sub-object based on the item of the second document being same as an item of the first document, and a second predecessor sub-object relationship between at least one successor sub-object and the second predecessor sub-object based on the item of the third document being same as an item of the first document;

deducing a first predecessor relationship between the successor object and the first predecessor object based the first, second, and third relationship information such that the second document is identified as a predecessor of the first document; and

deducing a second predecessor relationship between the successor object and the second predecessor object based on the first, second, and third relationship information such that the third document is identified as a predecessor of the first document.

2. The method according to claim 1 , wherein extracting the first relationship information, extracting the second relationship information, and extracting the third relationship information each further comprise utilizing a data source provided to an extraction system, the data source specifying at least one of an extraction structure and a function module for performing the extracting.

3. The method according to claim 1 , further comprising performing analytic functions on the first and second predecessor objects and the successor object using the deduced predecessor relationships.

4. The method according to claim 1 , wherein the objects and the sub-objects are associated through the object tree in the OLTP system, the object tree comprising a plurality of tables representing objects and relations.

5. The method according to claim 4 , wherein extracting the first relationship information, the second relationship information, and the third relationship information further comprises: reading a first table corresponding to the first relationship information and the second relationship information, and a second table corresponding to the third relationship information.

6. The method according to claim 5 , wherein the second table stores a relation between a first item and a second item.

7. The method according to claim 1 , wherein the data structure stored within the OLTP system comprises a plurality of tables pairs, each table pair comprising two tables, and representing:

a relationship between an object and a sub-object and

a relationship between two or more sub-objects.

8. The method according to claim 7 , wherein extracting the first relationship information comprises reading a first table, wherein the first table comprises the first relationship information; and wherein extracting the third relationship information comprises reading a second table, wherein the second table comprises the third relationship information.

9. The method according to claim 1 , wherein the data structure stored within the OLTP system comprises information detailing which sub-objects are included by which objects, and the predecessor/successor relationship between pluralities of sub-objects.

10. An apparatus for determining a multiplicity of predecessor relationships, the apparatus comprising:

a processor, wherein the processor is configured to:

identify multiple predecessor documents for a single successor document in an online analytical processing (OLAP) system using a data structure from an online transaction processing (OLTP) system including,

access the data structure stored within the OLTP system, wherein the data structure includes a representation of an object tree that includes relational information specifying relationships between objects and sub-objects of the objects and relationships among the sub-objects, the object tree further includes representations of a successor object associated with a first document, successor sub-objects having items of the first document, a first predecessor object associated with a second document, a first predecessor sub-object having an item of the second document, a second predecessor object associated with a third document, a second predecessor sub-object having an item of the third document;

extract first relationship information based on the relational information, the first relationship information indicating a first sub-object relationship between the first predecessor object and the first predecessor sub-object and a second sub-object relationship between the second predecessor object and the second predecessor sub-object;

extract second relationship information based on the relational information, the second relationship information indicating a third sub-object relationship between the successor object and each of the successor sub-objects;

extract third relationship information based on the relational information, the third relationship information indicating a first predecessor sub-object relationship between at least one successor sub-object and the first predecessor sub-object based on the item of the second document being same as an item of the first document, and a second predecessor sub-object relationship between at least one successor sub-object and the second predecessor sub-object based on the item of the third document being same as an item of the first document;

deduce a first predecessor relationship between the successor object and the first predecessor object based the first, second, and third relationship information such that the second document is identified as a predecessor of the first document; and

deduce a second predecessor relationship between the successor object and the second predecessor object based on the first, second, and third relationship information such that the third document is identified as a predecessor of the first document.

11. The apparatus according to claim 10 , wherein the processor is configured to extract the first, second, and third relationship information based upon received data, the data source specifying at least one of an extraction structure and a function module for performing an extraction process.

12. The apparatus according to claim 10 , wherein the data structure stored within the OLTP system comprises a plurality of tables pairs, each table pair comprising two tables, and representing:

a relationship between an object and a sub-object and

a relationship between two or more sub-objects.

13. A system comprising:

at least one processor;

a non-transitory computer-readable medium storing executable instructions that when executed by the at least one processor are configured to implement,

a relation extractor, the relation extractor configured to:

identify multiple predecessor documents for a single successor document in an online analytical processing (OLAP) system using a data structure from an online transaction processing (OLTP) system including,

access the data structure stored within the OLTP system, wherein the data structure includes a representation of an object tree that includes relational information specifying relationships between objects and sub-objects of the objects and relationships among the sub-objects, the object tree further includes representations of a successor object associated with a first document, successor sub-objects having items of the first document, a first predecessor object associated with a second document, a first predecessor sub-object having an item of the second document, a second predecessor object associated with a third document, a second predecessor sub-object having an item of the third document;

extract first relationship information based on the relational information, the first relationship information indicating a first sub-object relationship between the first predecessor object and the first predecessor sub-object and a second sub-object relationship between the second predecessor object and the second predecessor sub-object;

extract second relationship information based on the relational information, the second relationship information indicating a third sub-object relationship between the successor object and each of the successor sub-objects; and

extract third relationship information based on the relational information, the third relationship information indicating a first predecessor sub-object relation between at least one successor sub-object and the first predecessor sub-object based on the item of the second document being same as an item of the first document, and a second predecessor sub-object relationship between at least one successor sub-object and the second predecessor sub-object based on the item of the third document being same as an item of the first document; and

a sequence deduction unit, the sequence deduction unit configured to:

deduce a first predecessor relationship between the successor object and the first predecessor object based the first, second, and third relationship information such that the second document is identified as a predecessor of the first document; and

deduce a second predecessor relationship between the successor object and the second predecessor object based on the first, second, an third relationship information such that the third document is identified as a predecessor of the first document.

14. The apparatus according to claim 13 , wherein extracting the first relationship information comprises reading a first table, wherein the first table comprises the first relationship information; and wherein extracting the third relationship information comprises reading a second table, wherein the second table comprises the third relationship information.