User-defined aggregate functions in database systems without native support

A computer-implemented method of generating an aggregate of a plurality of entities stored in a database, comprising:

• successively computing a combination of an entity among the plurality of entities and an intermediate result comprising a combination of other entities among the plurality of entities to provide a new intermediate result;
• for each new intermediate result, assigning an identifier that includes a value that is greater than a value associated with an identifier of the preceding intermediate result;
• determining a final aggregated result by finding an identifier having a maximum value among the plurality of identifiers;
• and
• using the determined identifier having the maximum value to access the final aggregated result.

A computer program embodied on a computer readable medium, for generating an aggregate of a plurality of entities stored in a database, the computer program comprising:

• program instructions for successively computing a combination of an entity among the plurality of entities and an intermediate result comprising a combination of other entities among the plurality of entities to provide a new intermediate result;
• program instructions for assigning an identifier for the new intermediate result, wherein the identifier includes a value that is greater than a value associated with an identifier of the preceding intermediate result;
• program instructions for determining a final aggregated result by finding an identifier having a maximum value among the plurality of identifiers;
• and
• program instructions for accessing the final aggregated result by using the determined identifier having the maximum value.

A computer-implemented method of generating an aggregate of a plurality of entities stored in a database, comprising:

• successively computing a combination of an entity among the plurality of entities and an intermediate result comprising a combination of other entities among the plurality of entities to provide a new intermediate result;
• for each new intermediate result, assigning an identifier that includes a value that is less than a value associated with an identifier of the preceding intermediate result;
• determining a final aggregated result by finding an identifier having a minimum value among the plurality of identifiers;
• and
• using the determined identifier having the minimum value to access the final aggregated result.

A computer program embodied on a computer readable medium, for generating an aggregate of a plurality of entities stored in a database, the computer program comprising:

• program instructions for successively computing a combination of an entity among the plurality of entities and an intermediate result comprising a combination of other entities among the plurality of entities to provide a new intermediate result;
• program instructions for assigning an identifier for the new intermediate result, wherein the identifier includes a value that is less than a value associated with an identifier of the preceding intermediate result;
• program instructions for determining a final aggregated result by finding an identifier having a minimum value among the plurality of identifiers;
• and
• program instructions for accessing the final aggregated result by using the determined identifier having the minimum value.