Join key propagation

An apparatus for join key propagation, the apparatus comprising a computer processor, a computer memory operatively coupled to the computer processor, the computer memory having disposed within it computer program instructions that, when executed by the computer processor, cause the apparatus to carry out the steps of:

• receiving a request to generate a referencing worksheet linked from a data source worksheet, wherein the data source worksheet is a presentation of a data set organized in columns from two data source tables joined using a join key, and wherein the referencing worksheet presents at least a subset of the data set presented by the data source worksheet;
• retrieving data source worksheet metadata and the join key using a reference to the data source worksheet metadata in the request;
• determining an additional column from the two data source tables to add to the referencing worksheet, wherein the additional column is excluded from the data source worksheet;
• and
• creating, using the data source worksheet metadata and the join key, the referencing worksheet presenting the columns from the two data source tables with the additional column, wherein creating the referencing worksheet comprises:
• generating a database query using the data source worksheet metadata, referencing worksheet metadata received in the request, and the join key;
• and
• issuing the database query to the database.

A computer program product for join key propagation, the computer program product disposed upon a non-transitory computer readable medium, the computer program product comprising computer program instructions that, when executed, cause a computer to carry out the steps of:

• receiving a request to generate a referencing worksheet linked from a data source worksheet, wherein the data source worksheet is a presentation of a data set organized in columns from two data source tables joined using a join key, and wherein the referencing worksheet presents at least a subset of the data set presented by the data source worksheet;
• retrieving data source worksheet metadata and the join key using a reference to the data source worksheet metadata in the request;
• determining an additional column from the two data source tables to add to the referencing worksheet, wherein the additional column is excluded from the data source worksheet;
• and
• creating, using the data source worksheet metadata and the join key, the referencing worksheet presenting the columns from the two data source tables with the additional column, wherein creating the referencing worksheet comprises:
• generating a database query using the data source worksheet metadata, referencing worksheet metadata received in the request, and the join key;
• and
• issuing the database query to the database.