Abstract: Data mining operations are performed within a columnar database management system. The columnar database management system stores input sets of data for a data mining operation. An input set of data is represented as a column of data in the columnar database management system. The columnar database management system stores instructions to perform one or more data mining operations for processing the input sets of data. The columnar database management system receives requests for performing data mining operations and performs the processing of the data mining operation within the columnar database management system. As a result, the processing of data mining operations is performed without requiring multiple data transfers between an application implementing the data mining operations and the columnar database management system.

Abstract: Venn diagrams are computed for a given plurality of input sets. The process of computing the Venn diagrams is executed on columnar database systems for efficient execution. The computation of various subsets of the Venn diagrams is performed by determining subsets of various combinations of the input sets and computing set differences of the intersection sets. The process orders the execution of various steps of computing the subsets for the Venn diagram in an order that reduces the number of times an input set is loaded. Information describing various subsets of a Venn diagram is used to render the Venn diagram for display, for example, on a client device.

Abstract: Cross tabulation operation is performed within a columnar database management system. The columnar database management system receives a request to perform a cross-tabulation operation on a set of database tables. The columnar database management system determines values of cross tabulation operation for each row of the result. The columnar database management system determines a domain for each value of the row dimension corresponding to a row combination. The columnar database management system determines an intersection set of the domains corresponding to values of the row dimensions for the row combination. The columnar database management system determines a value for the result column for the row combination as an aggregate value based on the records of the intersection set.

Abstract: Disclosed are methods and apparatus for generating accessible documents. In one embodiment, an initial document in a print format is obtained. The print format of the initial document is identified as one of a plurality of print formats. A parser corresponding to the one of the plurality of print formats is applied such that the initial document is parsed according to the print format of the initial document. An intermediate document that conforms to an intermediate format is generated based upon results obtained from applying the parser. A template for converting the intermediate document into an accessible document is obtained. The template is then such that an accessible document corresponding to the initial document is generated, wherein the accessible document includes a plurality of tags that designate an order of a plurality of regions of the accessible document.

Abstract: Disclosed are methods and apparatus for generating accessible documents. In one embodiment, an initial document in a print format is obtained. The print format of the initial document is identified as one of a plurality of print formats. A parser corresponding to the one of the plurality of print formats is applied such that the initial document is parsed according to the print format of the initial document. An intermediate document that conforms to an intermediate format is generated based upon results obtained from applying the parser. A template for converting the intermediate document into an accessible document is obtained. The template is then such that an accessible document corresponding to the initial document is generated, wherein the accessible document includes a plurality of tags that designate an order of a plurality of regions of the accessible document.

Abstract: Disclosed are methods and apparatus for accessing data from electronic documents stored as print streams are disclosed. In one embodiment, an electronic document conforming to one of a plurality of print formats is obtained. The electronic document is parsed according to the one of the plurality of print formats to generate an intermediate data structure conforming to an intermediate format such that the electronic document is converted to the intermediate format, wherein the intermediate format is different from the plurality of print formats. One or more rules are applied to obtain data for a plurality of regions of the electronic document from the intermediate data structure. The data for the plurality of regions of the electronic document that has been obtained from the intermediate data structure is stored or provided, thereby enabling a report to be generated using at least a portion of the data for the plurality of regions that has been stored or provided.

Abstract: Disclosed are methods and apparatus for generating accessible documents. In one embodiment, an initial document in a print format is obtained. The print format of the initial document is identified as one of a plurality of print formats. A parser corresponding to the one of the plurality of print formats is applied such that the initial document is parsed according to the print format of the initial document. An intermediate document that conforms to an intermediate format is generated based upon results obtained from applying the parser. A template for converting the intermediate document into an accessible document is obtained. The template is then such that an accessible document corresponding to the initial document is generated, wherein the accessible document includes a plurality of tags that designate an order of a plurality of regions of the accessible document.

Abstract: In accordance with one aspect of the invention, methods and apparatus for providing information for use in generating or modifying an expression are disclosed. Input from a user is received within an expression. A list of one or more suggestions is provided in response to the input. A selection of one of the suggestions in the list is received. The expression is then built to include the selection.

Abstract: Methods and apparatus for joining two or more tables are disclosed. A query including a join query is received, where the join query requests that a new table be generated from data obtained from two or more tables, where the two or more tables are stored at two or more data sources. One or more columns for each of the tables for which data is to be obtained are identified from the query. A query plan to execute the query to obtain data for the identified columns from the two or more tables is then generated.

Abstract: Methods and apparatus for generating a report from hierarchically formatted data are disclosed. First, a data source including one or more files having a hierarchical file format is identified, where each of the files includes one or more data elements. A relational database model is obtained, where the relational database model includes one or more virtual tables, each of the virtual tables including one or more virtual columns. The relational database model is then mapped to the hierarchical file format. A query may be obtained using the virtual relational database. Data is then obtained from the virtual relational database corresponding to the query, thereby enabling a report including the data to be generated.

Abstract: Methods and apparatus for storing and retrieving annotations accessible by a plurality of reports are disclosed. When an annotation including comments entered by an author is received in association with a data element or field of one of the plurality of reports, the annotation is stored such that it is retrievable using a key. Specifically, the key is composed of both a scope of the annotation and a period end date of the annotation. The scope indicates a subject matter with which the annotation is associated. When annotations associated with a particular data element or field of a report are viewed, the scope of the annotation and the period end date of the data element or field are ascertained. A key composed of the scope and period end date is then used to retrieve the annotation(s) that are pertinent to the data element or field of the report.

Abstract: Methods and apparatus for supporting an additional data source in a system adapted for processing data from one or more data sources are disclosed. A design-time driver for the additional data source is obtained, where the design-time driver supports the definition of data including one or more fields of the additional data source to retrieve from the additional data source. In addition, a run-time driver for the additional data source is obtained, where the run-time driver supports retrieval of data corresponding to the one or more fields from the additional data source and where the run-time driver has a second application programming interface. The design-time driver is executed via a first application programming interface, where the first application programming interface enables definition of the data including the one or more fields to be retrieved from the additional data source.

Abstract: A method and system for providing data integration of multiple data stores with diverse formats. The data integration engine accepts queries using a standard query language such as XML-QL, executes those queries against the multiple data stores, and returns the results. The data stores may include relational databases, hierarchical databases, file systems, application data available via APIs, and so on. A query may reference data that resides in different data stores. The data integration engine allows operations such as joins across multiple data stores.

Abstract: Methods and apparatus for joining two or more tables are disclosed. A query including a join query is received, where the join query requests that a new table be generated from data obtained from two or more tables, where the two or more tables are stored at two or more different data sources. Data from the tables is retrieved corresponding to the query. A new table is then generated from the retrieved data.

Abstract: In response to the provision of a collection of semi-structured data (or its schema), a mapper generates a structured organization to store the collection of semi-structured data. The mapper further collaterally generates a description of how the semi-structured data are stored under the structured organization. In one embodiment, normalized relational tables are used for the structured organization. In alternate embodiments, non-normalized relational tables or other structured organization may also be used. The reverse, that is, the creation of a semistructured data organization for a collection of structured data may also be performed.

Abstract: Methods and apparatus for joining two or more tables are disclosed. A query including a join query is received, where the join query requests that a new table be generated from data obtained from two or more tables, where the two or more tables are stored at two or more data sources. One or more columns for each of the tables for which data is to be obtained are identified from the query. A query plan to execute the query to obtain data for the identified columns from the two or more tables is then generated.

Abstract: Methods and computer program products are disclosed for generating and viewing an electronic report having security features that allow for “virtual bursting” of the report for multiple users. A single report having multiple pages is generated such that each or some of the pages have security tags that are compared to a security identifier list of a particular user that acts as a security clearance for that user. Through this comparison, a subset of pages from the report is formed which makes up a “report” from the user's point of view that contains only data the user is allowed to see. This allows multiple users to view only authorized portions of a single report having page-level security determined by level breaks in the data.

Abstract: Methods and apparatus for generating a report template for generation of a spreadsheet report are disclosed. First, a grid including a plurality of cells is displayed. One or more database fields for which data is to be obtained from a database are identified, where each of the database fields is associated with a separate group with which one or more rows in the grid can be associated. One or more groups as defined by the one or more database fields are then associated with a corresponding set of one or more rows in the grid, thereby associating cells within the set of rows with the corresponding group. A user may then enter information within one or more of the plurality of cells of the displayed grid, where the received information indicates at least one of a format of the spreadsheet report to be created and information to be displayed in one or more cells of the spreadsheet report.

Abstract: A method and system for querying data sources. The query system provides a query definition for defining queries in a uniform manner. The query definition includes a query specification, a data source identifier, and optionally, one or more results transforms. The query definition may be stored as a data structure on computer-readable media, such as a CD-ROM. The query specification includes query text and parameters. The query text specifies the query expression that is to be applied to the identified data source to generate the results. The parameters specify portions of the query text that can be changed by a user before a query is executed.

Abstract: In response to the provision of a collection of semi-structured data (or its schema), a mapper generates a structured organization to store the collection of semi-structured data. The mapper further collaterally generates a description of how the semi-structured data are stored under the structured organization. In one embodiment, normalized relational tables are used for the structured organization. In alternate embodiments, non-normalized relational tables or other structured organization may also be used. The reverse, that is, the creation of a semistructured data organization for a collection of structured data may also be performed.