US 7,010,540 B2 · System and method for maintaining a user's state within a database table

Abstract

A system and method are provided for delivering batches of data to a client, while maintaining the client's state in the accessed database. The system and method eliminate the need for a web server to maintain the location of any given client within a database. Accordingly, the web server operates with greater efficiency, because it is freed from having to maintain the state of any given client within a database and need not create or maintain a partitioned database. Maximum and minimum values of any data previously requested and received by the client are maintained. These maximum and minimum values are later used within a novel set of Structured Query Language (SQL) statements to indicate the user's state within the database. By maintaining minimum and maximum reference values, the user's state within the accessed database can be maintained without storing any information on the web server. The next and previous batches are successfully obtained by comparing these stored reference values to the database so that the user can quickly move between adjacent batches of records. The invention provides a simple and elegant means for maintaining a user's state within a database, without requiring the use of a web server's resources or the creation of a partitioned database.

Claims27

Dependent claims

A method for delivering batches of data to a client, while maintaining a user's state within a database table, the method comprising the steps of:

receiving a request for a first batch of records to be retrieved from the database table maintained by a database server;
retrieving the first batch of records from the database server;
determining a maximum value for at least one field in the first batch of records;
receiving a request for a second batch of records;
determining whether the request for the second batch of records was for a next batch of data, wherein the request for the second batch of records specifies a value for the at least one field that has a specific relationship relative to the maximum value for the at least one field in the first batch of records, to indicate whether the request is for the next batch of data;
and
in response to a determination that the request for the second batch of records was for the next batch of data, based on the value specified in the request for the second batch of records being greater than the maximum value for said at least one field in the first batch of records, retrieving the next batch of data from the database server.

4 more elements

A system for delivering batches of database records to a client, while maintaining a user's state within a database table, comprising:

a database server operative for maintaining the database table, which has a plurality of database records;
a client computer, operative for requesting successive batches of the database records from the database server and presenting the batches of database records to the user, where each successive batch of database records requested can comprise a next batch of database records, relative to a last batch of database records requested by the client computer;
a web server operative for retrieving a batch of database records from the database server and for providing the batch of database records to the client computer, said web server determining whether successive batches of database records are the next batch of database records, relative to the last batch of database records requested by the client computer;
wherein the client computer accesses at least one field value contained in the last batch of database records retrieved to determine a maximum value for said at least one field, said maximum value being provided to the web server by the client computer;
and
wherein the web server is further operative to determine whether to retrieve the next batch of database records from the database server, based on the maximum value of said at least one field value contained in the last batch of database records retrieved, said web server retrieving the next batch of database records from the database server if the next batch of database records contains a value for said at least one field that is greater than the maximum value of said at least one field in the last batch of database records retrieved.

3 more elements