Method and apparatus for implementing dynamic database traversal
A method, apparatus and computer program product are therefore provided for implementing requests for data using independent data objects. In this regard, the method, apparatus and computer program may receive a request for set of data. The request may include an identifier for the particular set of data. The method may further determine a structure of the set of data using an attribute table associated with one or more data objects, and generate a query using the determined structure of the set of data. The generated query may be executed to retrieve a set of data responsive to the request. The retrieved data may be used along with the determined structure to provide a response to the request.
1. A method comprising:
providing an interface having a plurality of interface controls;
receiving, via a first interface control of the plurality of interface controls, a selection of a first data object of a relational database;
updating, in response to the selection of the first data object, at least a second interface control of the plurality of interface controls to display a dependency relationship between the first data object and at least one of a second data object or a third data object, such that the dependency relationship depicts at least one key-pair relationship between the first data object and the at least one of the second data object or the third data object;
receiving, via a third interface control of the plurality of interface controls, a selection of a field of at least one data object displayed within the second interface control, wherein the selected field is displayed for selection based upon the displayed dependency relationship;
generating a request for a set of data stored in the relational database based on the selected field;
determining a first entry in at least one attribute table associated with the set of data, wherein the first entry comprises at least one reference to at least one additional entry within the at least one attribute table, where the first entry is associated with a column of a first data table of the relational database and the additional entry is associated with a column of a second data table of the relational database, different from the first table;
retrieving, using a processor and the first entry and in response to the request, three or more attributes for the set of data from the at least one attribute table, the three or more attributes providing at least a portion of a query for obtaining the set of data, wherein each attribute identifies at least one data object to be joined by the query to obtain the set of data, wherein a first attribute of the three or more attributes indicates the first data object, a second attribute of the three or more attributes indicates the second data object, and a third attribute of the three or more attributes indicates the third data object, wherein the first data object is not dependent upon any data objects, wherein the second data object references the first data object but does not depend on the first data object, and wherein the third data object references the first data object and depends on the first data object;
generating the query using the three or more attributes; and
executing the query to obtain, via data transferred through a network, the set of data from one or more data tables within the relational database that are distinct from the at least one attribute table.
2. The method of claim 1 , further comprising providing the retrieved data to a remote computer that generated the request.
3. The method of claim 1 , wherein the at least one attribute table comprises a plurality of rows, and wherein the first entry is associated with at least one column of a first data table of the relational database.
4. The method of claim 1 , wherein the first entry corresponds to a row of the at least one attribute table.
5. The method of claim 1 , wherein the query is at least one of a join query or a select query.
6. The method of claim 1 , further comprising providing an interface to define a data object comprising at least a portion of the set of data.
7. The method of claim 1 , wherein each entry within the at least one attribute table comprises data indicating a data table name and a data table column associated with each particular entry.
8. An apparatus comprising at least one processor and a memory, the memory comprising instructions that, when executed by the processor, configure the apparatus to:
provide an interface having a plurality of interface controls;
receive, via a first interface control of the plurality of interface controls, a selection of a first data object of a relational database;
update, in response to the selection of the first data object, at least a second interface control of the plurality of interface controls to display a dependency relationship between the first data object and at least one of a second data object or a third data object such that the dependency relationship depicts at least one key-pair relationship between the first data object and the at least one of the second data object or the third data object;
receive, via a third interface control of the plurality of interface controls, a selection of a field of at least one data object displayed within the second interface control, wherein the selected field is displayed for selection based upon the displayed dependency relationship;
generate a request for a set of data stored in a relational database;
determine a first entry in at least one attribute table associated with the set of data, wherein the first entry comprises at least one reference to at least one additional entry within the at least one attribute table, where the first entry is associated with a column of a first data table of the relational database and the additional entry is associated with a column of a second data table of the relational database, different from the first table;
retrieve, using the first entry and in response to the request, three or more attributes for the set of data from the at least one attribute table, the three or more attributes providing at least a portion of a query for obtaining the set of data, wherein each attribute identifies at least one data object to be joined by the query to obtain the set of data, wherein a first attribute of the three or more attributes indicates the first data object, a second attribute of the three or more attributes indicates the second data object, and a third attribute of the three or more attributes indicates the third data object, wherein the first data object is not dependent upon any data objects, wherein the second data object references the first data object but does not depend upon the first data object, and wherein the third data object references the first data object and depends upon the first data object;
generate the query using the three or more attributes; and
execute the query to obtain, via data transferred through a network, the set of data from one or more data tables within the relational database that are distinct from the at least one attribute table.
9. The apparatus of claim 8 , wherein the apparatus is further configured to provide the retrieved data to a remote computer that generated the request.
10. The apparatus of claim 8 , wherein the at least one attribute table comprises a plurality of rows, and wherein the first entry is associated with at least one column of a first data table of the relational database.
11. The apparatus of claim 8 , wherein the first entry corresponds to a row of the at least one attribute table.
12. The apparatus of claim 8 , wherein the query is at least one of a join query or a select query.
13. The apparatus of claim 8 , wherein the apparatus is further configured to provide an interface to define a data object comprising at least a portion of the set of data.
14. A non-transitory computer readable storage medium comprising instructions that, when executed by a processor, cause the processor to configure an apparatus to:
provide an interface having a plurality of interface controls;
receive, via a first interface control of the plurality of interface controls, a selection of a first data object of a relational database;
update, in response to the selection of the first data object, at least a second interface control of the plurality of interface controls to display a dependency relationship between the first data object and at least one of a second data object or a third data object, such that the dependency relationship depicts at least one key-pair relationship between the first data object and the at least one of the second data object or the third data object;
receive, via a third interface control of the plurality of interface controls, a selection of a field of at least one data object displayed within the second interface control, wherein the selected field is displayed for selection based upon the displayed dependency relationship;
generate a request for a set of data stored in a relational database;
determine a first entry in at least one attribute table associated with the set of data, wherein the first entry comprises at least one reference to at least one additional entry within the at least one attribute table, where the first entry is associated with a column of a first data table of the relational database and the additional entry is associated with a column of a second data table of the relational database, different from the first table;
retrieve, using the first entry and in response to the request, three or more attributes for the set of data from the at least one attribute table, the three or more attributes providing at least a portion of a query for obtaining the set of data, wherein each attribute identifies at least one data object to be joined by the query to obtain the set of data, wherein a first attribute of the three or more attributes indicates the first data object, a second attribute of the three or more attributes indicates the second data object, and a third attribute of the three or more attributes indicates the third data object, wherein the first data object is not dependent upon any data objects, wherein the second data object references the first data object but does not depend upon the first data object, and wherein the third data object references the first data object and depends upon the first data object;
generate the query using the three or more attributes; and
execute the query to obtain, via data transferred through a network, the set of data from one or more data tables within the relational database that are distinct from the at least one attribute table.