SYSTEM AND METHOD FOR HANDLING VALIDITY-DEPENDENT DATA SETS

1 . A method comprising:

defining a set of dimensions for a validity dependent data set;

associating at least a first dimension, belonging to the set of dimensions, with a validity independent structure of the data set;

associating at least a second dimension, belonging to the set of dimensions and being different from the first dimension, with one or more validity constraints effective for the data set;

retrieving, in a processor, the validity dependent data set and its association with the set of dimensions;

generating, in the processor, a plural dimensional model of the retrieved data; and

responding, from the processor, to a request of a consuming application with information derived from the plural dimensional model.

2 . The method of claim 1 , wherein an aspect represents a unique list of data fields and wherein the validity independent structure of the data set comprises at least one of:

objects of one or multiple aspects;

relations between objects of one or multiple aspects;

components of one or multiple aspects, a component containing objects and relations; or

features of one or multiple aspects, a feature being a subordinate characteristic to an object, a relation, a component or another feature.

3 . The method of claim 1 wherein associating the first dimension comprises:

defining a first index for a validity independent existence of an object and assigning the first index uniquely to the first dimension; and

defining a first link for a validity independent existence of a relation between objects; and

wherein associating the second dimension comprises:

defining a second index for a bound of a validity constraint effective for at least a part of the data set and assigning the second index uniquely to the second dimension; and

defining a second link for an order between two validity indices of the second dimension.

4 . The method of claim 1 wherein associating the first and the second dimension comprise:

at least one of mapping a state of an object to a first index representing the object or mapping a state of a relation to a first link representing the relation; and

mapping a state of an object or a relation to a second index which represents a bound of a validity constraint effective for the state.

5 . The method of claim 1 wherein generating comprises:

creating an element for each dimension, each index and for at least one of each object state or each relation state.

6 . The method of claim 5 wherein the data set is hierarchical further comprising:

enabling navigation between elements of the model to permit the processor to directly or indirectly access all elements.

7 . The method of claim 5 wherein the data set is hierarchical and wherein responding comprises:

substituting at least one of:

a component by all objects and relations contained by it;

a dimension by all indices assigned to it;

an index by all states mapped to it;

a link by all states mapped to it; and

a relation state involving at least one object by derived relation states at least resulting from substituting the object by all its object states.

8 . The method of claim 1 wherein responding comprises:

returning one or more elements of the model satisfying a set of constraints specified in the request.

9 . The method of claim 8 wherein returning comprises:

considering a first element from the model not satisfying the set of constraints;

substituting one or more other elements for the first element to yield a set of elements satisfying the set of constraints.

10 . The method of claim 7 further comprising:

limiting the substituting based on one or more constraints in the request.

11 . A system comprising:

a consuming application;

a database containing a validity dependent data set; and

a processor to retrieve the data set, associate at least a first dimension with a validity independent structure of the data set and at least a second dimension with a validity constraint of the data set, generate a plural dimensional model of the data set, and to respond to requests from the consuming application with data derived from the model and satisfying a set of constraints supplied by the consuming application.

12 . The system of claim 11 wherein the processor comprises:

a consumption interface;

a modeler; and

a retrieval interface.

13 . The system of claim 12 wherein the modeler comprises:

a navigation module to permit the processor to access all elements of the model; and

a substitution module to permit substitution of:

a component by all objects and relations contained by it;

a dimension by all indices assigned to it;

an index by all states mapped to it;

a link by all states mapped to it; and

a relation state involving at least one object by derived relation states at least resulting from substituting the object by all its object states.

14 . A computer readable medium having instructions stored thereon that when executed by a processor cause the processor to:

retrieve a validity dependent data set;

associate the data set with a set of dimensions, at least a first dimension with a validity independent structure of the data set, and at least a second dimension with a validity constraint of the data set; and

respond to requests of a consuming application with information derived from the data set retrieved.

15 . The computer readable medium of claim 14 wherein the instructions further cause the processor to:

at least one of map a state of an object to the index representing the object or map a state of a relation to the link representing the relation;

and

map a state of an object or a relation to an index which represents a bound of a validity constraint effective for the state.

16 . The computer readable medium of claim 14 wherein the instructions causing the processor to respond cause the processor to:

consider a first element from the model not satisfying a set of constraints specified in a request; and

substitute one or more other elements for the first element to yield a set of elements satisfying the set of constraints.