Database systems having single-association structures

A method for searching data in a database system, comprising:

• providing at least a first and a second database;
• providing a first and a second database driver associated with said first and said second databases, respectively, said first and said second database drivers being designed to perform searches on said first and said second databases, respectively, said first and said second database drivers having a first and a second parameter file, respectively;
• providing a software module interacting with said first and said second drivers to achieve a desired search result;
• sending a first search instruction to said first parameter file by said software module;
• searching said first database by said first database driver in accordance with said first search instruction to generate a first search result;
• sending a second search instruction to said second parameter file by said software module;
• searching said second database by said second database driver in accordance with said second search instruction to generate a second search result;
• and
• combining said first and said second search results by said software module to obtain a desired search result.

A database system comprising:

• at least a first database and a second database;
• a first and a second database software driver associated with said first and said second databases, respectively;
• said first database driver containing a first parameter file and being designed to perform searches on said first database;
• said second database driver containing a second parameter file and being designed to perform searches on said second database;
• said first database driver containing means for sending a first command to said second parameter file;
• said second database driver containing means for sending a second command to said first parameter file;
• said first database driver containing means for executing said second command without returning result of execution to said second database driver;
• and
• said second database driver containing means for executing said first command without returning result of execution to said first database driver;
• and
• a software module for interacting with said first and said second drivers to achieve a desired search result.

A network database system including a plurality of computers coupled to a network, comprising:

• a first database and a second database;
• a first database software driver designed to perform searches on said first database, said first database software driver containing a first parameter file;
• a second database software driver designed to perform searches on said second database, said second database software driver containing a second parameter file;
• said first database, said second database, said first database software driver and said second database software driver may reside on different computers on said network;
• means for downloading said first database, said second database, said first database driver and said second database driver to a selected computer on said network, if said first database, said second database, said first database driver and said second database driver are not already residing on said selected computer;
• said first database driver containing means for sending a first command to said second parameter file;
• said second database driver containing means for sending a second command to said first parameter file;
• said first database driver containing means for executing said second command without returning result of execution to said second database driver;
• said second database driver containing means for executing said first command without returning result of execution to said first database driver;
• and
• a software module on said selected computer for interacting with said first and said second drivers to achieve a desired search result.