Web-page-based system for designing database driven web applications

A computer-implemented method, comprising operations of:

• (a) initiating a database-driven application including one or more pages to store data in records of a database, report data from the database, or both store data in the database and report data from the database;
• where a schema defines characteristics of records in the database;
• (b) making fields including all of the following specified types of fields available for introduction into the pages:
• (b1) data collection fields to perform functions including collecting user data into the database, where introduction of a data collection field modifies the schema to define a new record field;
• (b2) report fields to perform functions including displaying data from records of the database;
• (b3) iterators, each including one or more of the following:
• at least one data collection field, at least one report field, at least one nested iterator;
• where each iterator that includes any report fields is configured to utilize records from the database to produce a repeating structure of record instances displaying data from said database in an instance of a dynamic page;
• where data collection iterators are defined as iterators containing any data collection fields;
• where report iterators are defined as iterator fields containing any report fields;
• (c) receiving human input introducing at least one field of the specified types to at least one of the pages, including at least one report field, and receiving human input associating an existing database attribute with the at least one report field, causing the at least one report field to display data associated with the existing database attribute;
• (d) introducing one or more iterators to at least one of the pages by one of the following:
• automatically, or via human input received in the operation (c);
• (e) where the operation (c) further includes introducing into at least one of the pages report fields that display data from records collected by data collection fields introduced in another page and the operation (c) additionally includes at least:
• receiving human input configuring iterator fields such that at least some of said iterators are nested in a parent iterator, and each of said parent iterators and said nested iterators include data collection fields;
• (f) a computer-driven inference engine automatically creating data structures representative of operations (a) and (c) and (d) and (e) in the database and automatically relating fields of the pages to the data structures in accordance with a predetermined logical framework.

A method of enabling users to configure and access web accessible database driven applications, including providing web accessible digital data processing equipment programmed to create database driven applications according to computer-implemented operations comprising:

• (a) initiating a database-driven application including one or more pages to store data in records of a database, report data from the database, or both store data in the database and report data from the database;
• where a schema defines characteristics of records in the database;
• (b) making fields including all of the following specified types of fields available for introduction into the pages:
• (b1) data collection fields to perform functions including collecting user data into the database, where introduction of a data collection field modifies the schema to define a new record field;
• (b2) report fields to perform functions including displaying data from records of the database;
• (b3) iterators, each including one or more of the following:
• at least one data collection field, at least one report field, at least one nested iterator;
• where each iterator that includes any report fields is configured to utilize records from the database to produce a repeating structure of record instances displaying data from said database in an instance of a dynamic page;
• where data collection iterators are defined as iterators containing any data collection fields;
• where report iterators are defined as iterator fields containing any report fields;
• (c) receiving human input introducing at least one field of the specified types to at least one of the pages, including at least one report field, and receiving human input associating an existing database attribute with the at least one report field, causing the at least one report field to display data associated with the existing database attribute;
• (d) introducing one or more iterators to at least one of the pages by one of the following:
• automatically, or via human input received in the operation (c);
• (e) where the operation (c) further includes introducing into at least one of the pages report fields that display data from records collected by data collection fields introduced in another page and the operation (c) additionally includes at least one of the following:
• (1) receiving human input configuring iterator fields such that at least some of said iterators are nested in a parent iterator, and each of said parent iterators and said nested iterators include data collection fields;
• (2) receiving human input adding both report fields and data collection fields pertaining to a given user-selected iterator, where a repeating structure produced by the user-selected iterator in an instance of a dynamic page displays record instances including both respective report field instances and data collection field instances, where said report instances display data from other iterators than the user selected iterator;
• (f) a computer-driven inference engine automatically creating data structures representative of operations (a) and (c) and (d) and (e) in the database and automatically relating fields of the pages to the data structures in accordance with a predetermined logical framework.

A computer-implemented method, comprising steps of:

• (a) a step for initiating a database-driven application including one or more pages to store data in records of a database, report data from the database, or both store data in the database and report data from the database;
• where a schema defines characteristics of records in the database;
• (b) a step for making fields including all of the following specified types of fields available for introduction into the pages:
• (b1) data collection fields to perform functions including collecting user data into the database, where introduction of a data collection field modifies the schema to define a new record field;
• (b2) report fields to perform functions including displaying data from records of the database;
• (b3) iterators, each including one or more of the following:
• at least one data collection field, at least one report field, at least one nested iterator;
• where each iterator that includes any report fields is configured to utilize records from the database to produce a repeating structure of record instances displaying data from said database in an instance of a dynamic page;
• where data collection iterators are defined as iterators containing any data collection fields;
• where report iterators are defined as iterator fields containing any report fields;
• (c) a step for receiving human input introducing at least one field of the specified types to at least one of the pages, including at least one report field, and receiving human input associating an existing database attribute with the at least one report field, causing the at least one report field to display data associated with the existing database attribute;
• (d) a step for introducing one or more iterators to at least one of the pages by one of the following:
• automatically, or via human input received in the step (c);
• (e) a step for where the step (c) further includes introducing into at least one of the pages report fields that display data from records collected by data collection fields introduced in another page and the step (c) additionally includes at least one of the following:
• (1) receiving human input configuring iterator fields such that at least some of said iterators are nested in a parent iterator, and each of said parent iterators and said nested iterators include data collection fields;
• (2) receiving human input adding both report fields and data collection fields pertaining to a given user-selected iterator, where a repeating structure produced by the user-selected iterator in an instance of a dynamic page displays record instances including both respective report field instances and data collection field instances, where said report instances display data from other iterators than the user selected iterator;
• (f) a step for a computer-driven inference engine automatically creating data structures representative of steps (a) and (c) and (d) and (e) in the database and automatically relating fields of the pages to the data structures in accordance with a predetermined logical framework.

A computer program product containing software to perform operations to facilitate user design of a database driven application or to install another program that upon installation performs operations to facilitate user design of a database driven application, the operations comprising:

• (a) initiating a database-driven application including one or more pages to store data in records of a database, report data from the database, or both store data in the database and report data from the database;
• where a schema defines characteristics of records in the database;
• (b) making fields including all of the following specified types of fields available for introduction into the pages:
• (b1) data collection fields to perform functions including collecting user data into the database, where introduction of a data collection field modifies the schema to define a new record field;
• (b2) report fields to perform functions including displaying data from records of the database;
• (b3) iterators, each including one or more of the following:
• at least one data collection field, at least one report field, at least one nested iterator;
• where each iterator that includes any report fields is configured to utilize records from the database to produce a repeating structure of record instances displaying data from said database in an instance of a dynamic page;
• where data collection iterators are defined as iterators containing any data collection fields;
• where report iterators are defined as iterator fields containing any report fields;
• (c) receiving human input introducing at least one field of the specified types to at least one of the pages;
• (d) introducing one or more iterators to at least one of the pages by one of the following:
• automatically, or via human input received in the operation (c);
• (e) where the operation (c) further includes introducing into at least one of the pages report fields that display data from records collected by data collection fields introduced in another page and the operation (c) includes:
• (1) receiving human input adding both report fields and data collection fields pertaining to a given user-selected iterator, where a repeating structure produced by the user-selected iterator in an instance of a dynamic page displays record instances including both respective report field instances and data collection field instances, where said report instances display data from other iterators than the user selected iterator;
• and
• (2) receiving human input specifying an existing data collection field causing an introduced report field to display data collected by the existing data collection field;
• and
• (f) a computer-driven inference engine automatically creating data structures representative of operations (a) and (c) and (d) and (e) in the database and automatically relating fields of the pages to the data structures in accordance with a predetermined logical framework.

A computer-implemented method, comprising operations of:

• (a) initiating a database-driven application including one or more pages to report data from the database;
• where a schema defines characteristics of records in the database;
• (b) making fields including all of the following specified types of fields available for introduction into the pages:
• (b1) report fields to perform functions including displaying data from records of tables of the database;
• (b2) iterator fields, each including one or more of the following:
• at least one report field, at least one nested iterator field;
• where each iterator field that includes at least one report field is configured to utilize records from tables of the database to produce a repeating structure of record instances that display data from said database in an instance of a dynamic page;
• (e) responsive to receiving human user input initiating introduction of a field X to a page Z, discovering attributes of tables that are semantically related to the page Z, and attributes of such tables are not already displayed in page Z,
• where said discovering operation discovers attributes having any of the following semantic relationships (1), (2), (3), or (4) to attributes that have been displayed into page Z:
• (1) attributes are related if they appear in iterators that share common context, where context of a given iterator includes:
• if the given iterator has report fields:
• tables whose records are utilized in order to produce record instances of the given report iterator;
• if the given iterator is nested in one or more ancestor iterators:
• tables whose records utilized in order to produce record instances of the ancestor iterators;
• (2) attributes are related if they originate in respective tables where one of the respective tables contains a reference to the records by another of the respective tables;
• (3) attributes are related if they appear in iterators related due to nesting;
• (4) indirect relationships that are built by combinations of any of the semantic relationships (1), (2), or (3);
• (f) providing a human-readable output including a listing of the discovered attributes.

A computer program product containing software to perform operations, comprising:

• (a) initiating a database-driven application including one or more pages to report data from the database;
• where a schema defines characteristics of records in the database;
• (b) making fields including all of the following specified types of fields available for introduction into the pages:
• (b1) report fields to perform functions including displaying data from records of tables of the database;
• (b2) iterator fields, each including one or more of the following at least one report field, at least one nested iterator field;
• where each iterator field that includes at least one report field is configured to utilize records from tables of the database to produce a repeating structure of record instances that display data from said database in an instance of a dynamic page;
• (e) responsive to receiving human user input initiating introduction of a field X to a page Z, discovering attributes of tables that are semantically related to the page Z, and attributes of such tables are not already displayed in page Z,
• where said discovering operation discovers attributes having any of the following semantic relationships (1), (2), (3), or (4) to attributes that have been displayed into page Z:
• (1) attributes are related if they appear in iterators that share common context, where context of a given iterator includes:
• if the given iterator has report fields:
• tables whose records are utilized in order to produce record instances of the given report iterator;
• if the given iterator is nested in one or more ancestor iterators:
• tables whose records utilized in order to produce record instances of the ancestor iterators;
• (2) attributes are related if they originate in respective tables where one of the respective tables contains a reference to the records by another of the respective tables;
• (3) attributes are related if they appear in iterators related due to nesting;
• (4) indirect relationships that are built by combinations of any of the semantic relationships (1), (2), or (3);
• (f) providing a human-readable output including a listing of the discovered attributes.

A computer-implemented method, comprising operations of:

• (a) initiating a database-driven application including one or more pages to store data in records of a database, report data from the database, or both store data in the database and report data from the database;
• where a schema defines characteristics of records in the database;
• (b) making fields including all of the following specified types of fields available for introduction into the pages:
• (b1) data collection fields to perform functions including collecting user data into the database, where introduction of a data collection field modifies the schema to define a new record field;
• (b2) report fields to perform functions including displaying and editing data from records of the database;
• (b3) iterators, each including one or more of the following:
• at least one data collection field, at least one report field, at least one nested iterator;
• where each iterator that includes any report fields is configured to utilize records from the database to produce a repeating structure of record instances displaying data from said database in an instance of a dynamic page;
• where data collection iterators are defined as iterators containing any data collection fields;
• where report iterators are defined as iterator fields containing any report fields;
• (c) receiving human input introducing at least one field of the specified types to at least one of the pages, including at least one report field, and receiving human input associating an existing database attribute with the at least one report field, causing the at least one report field to display data associated with the existing database attribute;
• (d) introducing one or more iterators to at least one of the pages by one of the following:
• automatically, or via human input received in the operation (c);
• (e) a computer-driven inference engine automatically creating data structures representative of operations (a) and (c) and (d) and (e) in the database and automatically relating fields of the pages to the data structures in accordance with a predetermined logical framework;
• where operation (c) further includes receiving introduction into at least one page report fields that display data from records collected by data collection fields introduced in another page;
• where operation (c) further includes receiving introduction of the following into a field of a source iterator S that includes at least one report field:
• a hyperlink pointing to a user-selected target page;
• where every record instance X of the source iterator S contains an instance of the hyperlink, said hyperlink instance configured to cause display of a target page instance retaining context of the record instance X;
• wherein context of the record instance X comprises (1) record instances that were utilized in order to produce the record instance X and (2) record instances utilized to produce ancestor record instances of the record instance X;
• where said target page instance retaining context of the record instance X is satisfied by a condition where:
• one or more iterators of the target page sharing context with the record instance X displaying only record instances sharing context with the record instance X.

A method of enabling users to configure and access web accessible database driven applications, including providing web accessible digital data processing equipment programmed to create database driven applications according to computer-implemented operations comprising:

• (a) initiating a database-driven application including one or more pages to store data in records of a database, report data from the database, or both store data in the database and report data from the database;
• where a schema defines characteristics of records in the database;
• (b) making fields including all of the following specified types of fields available for introduction into the pages:
• (b1) data collection fields to perform functions including collecting user data into the database, where introduction of a data collection field modifies the schema to define a new record field;
• (b2) report fields to perform functions including displaying data from records of the database;
• (b3) iterators, each including one or more of the following:
• at least one data collection field, at least one report field, at least one nested iterator;
• where each iterator that includes any report fields is configured to utilize records from the database to produce a repeating structure of record instances displaying data from said database in an instance of a dynamic page;
• where data collection iterators are defined as iterators containing any data collection fields;
• where report iterators are defined as iterator fields containing any report fields;
• (d) introducing one or more iterators to at least one of the pages by one of the following:
• automatically, or via human input received in the operation (c);
• (e) a computer-driven inference engine automatically creating data structures representative of operations (a) and (c) and (d) and (e) in the database and automatically relating fields of the pages to the data structures in accordance with a predetermined logical framework;
• where operation (c) further includes, for an introduced report field, receiving human input associating an existing database attribute with the introduced report field, causing the introduced report field to display data associated with the existing database attribute;
• where operation (c) further includes receiving introduction into at least one page report fields that display data from records collected by data collection fields introduced in another page;
• where operation (c) further includes receiving introduction of the following into a field of a source iterator S that includes at least one report field:
• a hyperlink pointing to a user-selected target page;
• where every record instance X of the source iterator S contains an instance of the hyperlink, said hyperlink instance configured to cause display of a target page instance retaining context of the record instance X;
• wherein context of the record instance X comprises (1) record instances that were utilized in order to produce the record instance X and (2) record instances utilized to produce ancestor record instances of the record instance X;
• where said target page instance retaining context of the record instance X is satisfied by a condition where:
• one or more iterators of the target page sharing context with the record instance X displaying only record instances sharing context with the record instance X.

A computer-implemented method, comprising steps of:

• (a) a step for initiating a database-driven application including one or more pages to store data in records of a database, report data from the database, or both store data in the database and report data from the database;
• where a schema defines characteristics of records in the database;
• (b) a step for making fields including all of the following specified types of fields available for introduction into the pages:
• (b1) data collection fields to perform functions including collecting user data into the database, where introduction of a data collection field modifies the schema to define a new record field;
• (b2) report fields to perform functions including displaying data from records of the database;
• (b3) iterators, each including one or more of the following:
• at least one data collection field, at least one report field, at least one nested iterator;
• where each iterator that includes any report fields is configured to utilize records from the database to produce a repeating structure of record instances displaying data from said database in an instance of a dynamic page;
• where data collection iterators are defined as iterators containing any data collection fields;
• where report iterators are defined as iterator fields containing any report fields;
• (d) a step for introducing one or more iterators to at least one of the pages by one of the following:
• automatically, or via human input received in the step (c);
• (e) a step for a computer-driven inference engine automatically creating data structures representative of steps (a) and (c) and (d) and (e) in the database and automatically relating fields of the pages to the data structures in accordance with a predetermined logical framework;
• where step (c) further includes, for an introduced report field, receiving human input associating an existing database attribute with the introduced report field, causing the introduced report field to display data associated with the existing database attribute;
• where step (c) further includes receiving introduction into at least one page report fields that display data from records collected by data collection fields introduced in another page;
• where step (c) further includes receiving introduction of the following into a field of a source iterator S that includes at least one report field:
• a hyperlink pointing to a user-selected target page;
• where every record instance X of the source iterator S contains an instance of the hyperlink, said hyperlink instance configured to cause display of a target page instance retaining context of the record instance X;
• wherein context of the record instance X comprises (1) record instances that were utilized in order to produce the record instance X and (2) record instances utilized to produce ancestor record instances of the record instance X;
• where said target page instance retaining context of the record instance X is satisfied by a condition where:
• one or more iterators of the target page sharing context with the record instance X displaying only record instances sharing context with the record instance X.

A computer program product containing software to perform operations to facilitate user design of a database driven application or to install another program that upon installation performs operations to facilitate user design of a database driven application, the operations comprising:

• (a) initiating a database-driven application including one or more pages to store data in records of a database, report data from the database, or both store data in the database and report data from the database;
• where a schema defines characteristics of records in the database;
• (b) making fields including all of the following specified types of fields available for introduction into the pages:
• (b1) data collection fields to perform functions including collecting user data into the database, where introduction of a data collection field modifies the schema to define a new record field;
• (b2) report fields to perform functions including displaying data from records of the database;
• (b3) iterators, each including one or more of the following:
• at least one data collection field, at least one report field, at least one nested iterator;
• where each iterator that includes any report fields is configured to utilize records from the database to produce a repeating structure of record instances displaying data from said database in an instance of a dynamic page;
• where data collection iterators are defined as iterators containing any data collection fields;
• where report iterators are defined as iterator fields containing any report fields;
• (d) introducing one or more iterators to at least one of the pages by one of the following:
• automatically, or via human input received in the operation (c);
• (e) a computer-driven inference engine automatically creating data structures representative of operations (a) and (c) and (d) and (e) in the database and automatically relating fields of the pages to the data structures in accordance with a predetermined logical framework;
• where operation (c) further includes, for an introduced report field, receiving human input associating an existing database attribute with the introduced report field, causing the introduced report field to display data associated with the existing database attribute;
• where operation (c) further includes receiving introduction into at least one page report fields that display data from records collected by data collection fields introduced in another page;
• where operation (c) further includes receiving introduction of the following into a field of a source iterator S that includes at least one report field:
• a hyperlink pointing to a user-selected target page;
• where every record instance X of the source iterator S contains an instance of the hyperlink, said hyperlink instance configured to cause display of a target page instance retaining context of the record instance X;
• wherein context of the record instance X comprises (1) record instances that were utilized in order to produce the record instance X and (2) record instances utilized to produce ancestor record instances of the record instance X;
• where said target page instance retaining context of the record instance X is satisfied by a condition where:
• one or more iterators of the target page sharing context with the record instance X displaying only record instances sharing context with the record instance X.