CA2458499C - Method and system for converting a schema-based hierarchical data structure into a flat data structure - Google Patents

Method and system for converting a schema-based hierarchical data structure into a flat data structure Download PDF

Info

Publication number
CA2458499C
CA2458499C CA2458499A CA2458499A CA2458499C CA 2458499 C CA2458499 C CA 2458499C CA 2458499 A CA2458499 A CA 2458499A CA 2458499 A CA2458499 A CA 2458499A CA 2458499 C CA2458499 C CA 2458499C
Authority
CA
Canada
Prior art keywords
data
schema
data structure
hierarchical
flat
Prior art date
Legal status (The legal status is an assumption and is not a legal conclusion. Google has not performed a legal analysis and makes no representation as to the accuracy of the status listed.)
Expired - Fee Related
Application number
CA2458499A
Other languages
French (fr)
Other versions
CA2458499A1 (en
Inventor
Chad Rothschiller
Michael J. Mccormack
Ramakrishnan Natarajan
Current Assignee (The listed assignees may be inaccurate. Google has not performed a legal analysis and makes no representation or warranty as to the accuracy of the list.)
Microsoft Technology Licensing LLC
Original Assignee
Microsoft Corp
Priority date (The priority date is an assumption and is not a legal conclusion. Google has not performed a legal analysis and makes no representation as to the accuracy of the date listed.)
Filing date
Publication date
Application filed by Microsoft Corp filed Critical Microsoft Corp
Publication of CA2458499A1 publication Critical patent/CA2458499A1/en
Application granted granted Critical
Publication of CA2458499C publication Critical patent/CA2458499C/en
Anticipated expiration legal-status Critical
Expired - Fee Related legal-status Critical Current

Links

Classifications

    • GPHYSICS
    • G06COMPUTING; CALCULATING OR COUNTING
    • G06FELECTRIC DIGITAL DATA PROCESSING
    • G06F40/00Handling natural language data
    • G06F40/10Text processing
    • G06F40/12Use of codes for handling textual entities
    • G06F40/151Transformation
    • G06F40/154Tree transformation for tree-structured or markup documents, e.g. XSLT, XSL-FO or stylesheets
    • GPHYSICS
    • G06COMPUTING; CALCULATING OR COUNTING
    • G06FELECTRIC DIGITAL DATA PROCESSING
    • G06F40/00Handling natural language data
    • G06F40/10Text processing
    • G06F40/12Use of codes for handling textual entities
    • G06F40/14Tree-structured documents
    • G06F40/143Markup, e.g. Standard Generalized Markup Language [SGML] or Document Type Definition [DTD]
    • GPHYSICS
    • G06COMPUTING; CALCULATING OR COUNTING
    • G06FELECTRIC DIGITAL DATA PROCESSING
    • G06F40/00Handling natural language data
    • G06F40/10Text processing
    • G06F40/166Editing, e.g. inserting or deleting
    • GPHYSICS
    • G06COMPUTING; CALCULATING OR COUNTING
    • G06FELECTRIC DIGITAL DATA PROCESSING
    • G06F40/00Handling natural language data
    • G06F40/10Text processing
    • G06F40/166Editing, e.g. inserting or deleting
    • G06F40/177Editing, e.g. inserting or deleting of tables; using ruled lines
    • G06F40/18Editing, e.g. inserting or deleting of tables; using ruled lines of spreadsheets
    • YGENERAL TAGGING OF NEW TECHNOLOGICAL DEVELOPMENTS; GENERAL TAGGING OF CROSS-SECTIONAL TECHNOLOGIES SPANNING OVER SEVERAL SECTIONS OF THE IPC; TECHNICAL SUBJECTS COVERED BY FORMER USPC CROSS-REFERENCE ART COLLECTIONS [XRACs] AND DIGESTS
    • Y10TECHNICAL SUBJECTS COVERED BY FORMER USPC
    • Y10STECHNICAL SUBJECTS COVERED BY FORMER USPC CROSS-REFERENCE ART COLLECTIONS [XRACs] AND DIGESTS
    • Y10S707/00Data processing: database and file management or data structures
    • Y10S707/99941Database schema or data structure
    • Y10S707/99943Generating database or data structure, e.g. via user interface

Abstract

A method and system are provided for converting a hierarchical data structure into a flat data structure based on a schema. The format of the hierarchical data structure may be XML. A hierarchical data structure conforming to a schema is loaded into an application program. The data structure includes elements and attributes linked together in a parent-child relationship. The schema defines the hierarchical relationships between the elements and attributes in the hierarchical data structure. After the hierarchical data structure conforming to the schema has been loaded, a plurality of layout rules is applied to the hierarchical data based on the schema to create a flat data structure. The layout rules determine how the hierarchical data will be inserted in the flat data structure. The layout rules may be applied by identifying properties in the schema which identify occurrence requirements for elements defined in the schema. After the layout rules have been applied to the hierarchical data, the hierarchical data is rendered into a spreadsheet by inserting the data in rows and columns.

Description

METHOD AND SYSTEM FOR CONVERTING A SCHEMA-BASED
HIERARCHICAL DATA STRUCTURE INTO A FLAT DATA STRUCTURE
Technical Field The present invention relates generally to the conversion of highly hierarchical data structures into non-hierarchical (or flat) data structures.
More particularly, the present invention relates to receiving input data associated with a schema in a standard format and converting it into a flat table data structure based on the schema.

Background of the Invention Historically, computer systems and databases have contained data in incompatible formats. As the organizations utilizing these systems and databases became more automated and computerized, the need to share data over computer networks, such as the Internet, became more and more prevalent. Due to this need, standard formats for the sharing of data were developed.
One such standard format developed is Extensible Markup Language ("XML"). XML is a very hierarchical data format, which includes a multitude of data structures having parent-child relationships. In the XML data format, the children of each parent may have further children, which in turn may have still further children, and so on. Due to the advent of this standard data format, many computer users have converted the aforementioned databases to the standard XML
data format. The XML format also allows computer users to tailor their data to specific documents using schemas. Schemas provide mechanisms to define and describe the structure, content, and to some extent semantics of XML
documents.
Along with the advent of the personal computer on the modem business landscape came many useful application programs including those utilizing electronic spreadsheets. Electronic spreadsheets typically operate on data contained in a matrix of cells comprising columns and rows. Generally, this data format is contained in a single table and is a very flat data structure in that the data is not maintained in hierarchical data structure utilized by XML.
With the ease of availability of the personal computer, many users have become proficient in their use and more specifically, in using electronic spreadsheet application programs. While electronic spreadsheets offer may advantages over prior conventional means, they also utilize a flat data structure. With huge amounts of data stored in hierarchical formats such as XML, the electronic spreadsheet with its flat data structure had no means to access this wealth of data, thus a means for accessing it with a spreadsheet has become desirable. While there are programs currently capable of converting XML formatted data into a spreadsheet, current programs fail to take into account the data relationships defined in schemas associated with hierarchical formatted documents. As a result, the display of hierarchical data contained in a document in a spreadsheet using current programs may be vastly different than the display intended by the author of the document.
It is with respect to these considerations and others that the present invention has been made.

Summary of the Invention In accordance with the present invention, the above and other problems are solved by a method and system for converting a hierarchical data structure into a flat data structure, based on a schema associated with the hierarchical data structure, suitable for use in electronic spreadsheet tables.
In accordance with one aspect of the present invention, a method and system are provided for converting a hierarchical data structure into a flat data structure based on a schema. The format of the hierarchical data structure may be XML.
First, the hierarchical data structure conforming to a schema is loaded into an application program. The data structure includes elements and attributes linked together in a parent-child relationship. The schema defines the hierarchical relationships between the elements and attributes in the hierarchical data structure.
Next, a plurality of layout rules is applied to the hierarchical data based on the schema. The layout rules determine how the hierarchical data will be inserted in the resulting flat data structure. The layout rules may be applied by identifying properties in the schema which identify occurrence requirements for elements defined in the schema. These properties may include a specifying the order in which elements occur in the hierarchical data and the number of times each element may occur. Once the properties have been identified, the layout rules are applied to the hierarchical data based on the identified properties. The layout rules may also be applied based on the type of elements defined in the schema. These element types may include attributes, ancestor elements, and sibling elements.
2 Finally, the layout rules are applied to the hierarchical data to create a flat data structure and the flat data structure is then rendered into the spreadsheet by inserting the data in rows and columns.

Aspects of the invention may be implemented as a computer process, a computing system, or as an article of manufacture such as a computer program product or computer-readable medium. The computer program product may be a computer storage media readable by a computer system and encoding a computer program of instructions for executing a computer process. The computer program product may also be a propagated signal on a carrier readable by a computing system and encoding a computer program of instructions for executing a computer process.

According to one aspect of the present invention, there is provided a method for converting a hierarchical data structure into a flat data structure comprising: in an application program, loading hierarchical data conforming to a schema wherein the hierarchical data includes elements and attributes linked together in a parent-child relationship, wherein the schema defines hierarchical relationships between the elements and attributes; applying a plurality of layout rules to the hierarchical data based on the schema to create the flat data structure; and rendering the hierarchical data so that the hierarchical data is inserted in rows and columns in the flat data structure, wherein applying a plurality of layout rules to the hierarchical data based on the schema comprises: identifying properties in the schema, wherein the properties identify occurrence requirements for the elements defined in the schema; and applying the plurality of layout rules based on the identified properties, wherein the properties include a first property specifying: the order in which the elements
3 occur in the hierarchical data; and the minimum and maximum number of times that each element may occur in the hierarchical data, wherein the first property is a sequence compositor or an all compositor, wherein the hierarchical data is XML data, wherein the application program is a spreadsheet application program, wherein the flat data structure is readily usable by an electronic spreadsheet.

According to another aspect of the present invention, there is provided a computer system for converting a hierarchical data structure into a flat data structure comprising: a memory for storing: the hierarchical data structure, a schema associated with the flat data structure, and the flat data structure; and a processing unit functionally coupled to the memory, for executing computer-executable instructions operable for: loading the hierarchical data conforming to the schema, wherein the hierarchical data includes elements and attributes linked together in a parent-child relationship, wherein the schema defines hierarchical relationships between the elements and attributes; identifying properties in the schema, wherein the properties identify occurrence requirements for the elements defined in the schema; applying a plurality of layout rules based on the identified properties to create the flat data structure; and rendering the hierarchical data so that the hierarchical data is inserted in rows and columns in the flat data, wherein the properties include a first property specifying: the order in which the elements occur in the hierarchical data; and the minimum and maximum number of times that each element may occur in the hierarchical data, wherein the first property is a sequence compositor or an all compositor, wherein the hierarchical data is XML data, wherein the application program is a spreadsheet application program, wherein the flat data structure is readily usable by an electronic spreadsheet.
3a According to another aspect of the present invention, there is provided a method for converting a hierarchical data structure into a flat data structure comprising: in an application program, loading a schema and loading hierarchical data conforming to the schema wherein the hierarchical data includes data fields and data content linked together in a hierarchical relationship, wherein the schema defines hierarchical relationships between the data fields and attributes appearing in the hierarchical data;

wherein the schema is separate from the hierarchical data;
wherein the schema to load is identified by the loaded hierarchical data; examining the loaded schema to identify properties and element types in the schema; wherein the properties identify occurrence requirements for the data fields and the data content defined in the schema, the properties comprising: a first property that specifies that data fields may occur in any order but may only occur once and that data fields within the first property are displayed within a same row; a second property that specifies that data fields must occur in the specified order and may occur zero to more than once and that data fields within the second property are displayed on.a same row unless the loaded schema defines an element as occurring more than once; and a third property that specifies that data fields do not share a relationship with each other and are chosen and that data fields within the third property are displayed on separate rows; applying a plurality of layout rules to the hierarchical data based on the examining of the loaded schema to create the flat data structure; and organizing the hierarchical data so that the hierarchical data is inserted in rows and columns in the flat data structure.

3b According to still another aspect of the present invention, there is provided a computer system for converting a hierarchical data structure into a flat data structure comprising: a memory for storing: the hierarchical data structure, a schema associated with the flat data structure, and the flat data structure; and a processing unit functionally coupled to the memory, for executing computer-executable instructions operable for: loading the schema and loading the hierarchical data conforming to the schema, wherein the hierarchical data includes data fields and data content linked together in a hierarchical relationship, wherein the schema defines hierarchical relationships between the data fields and the attributes; wherein the schema is separate from the hierarchical data and wherein the schema to load is identified by the hierarchical data;
identifying properties from the schema, wherein the properties identify occurrence requirements for the data fields defined in the schema, the properties comprising: a first property that specifies that data fields may occur in any order but may only occur once and that data fields within the first property are displayed within a same row; a second property that specifies that data fields must occur in the specified order and may occur zero to more than once and that data fields within the second property are displayed on a same row unless the loaded schema defines an element as occurring more than once; and a third property that specifies that data fields do not share a relationship with each other and are chosen and that data fields within the third property are displayed on separate rows; applying a plurality of layout rules based on the identified properties to create the flat data structure; and rendering 3c the hierarchical data so that the hierarchical data is inserted in rows and columns in the flat data structure.
According to yet another aspect of the present invention, there is provided a computer-readable storage medium having computer-executable instructions stored thereon which, when executed on a computer, cause the computer to perform a method for converting a hierarchical data structure into a flat data structure, the method comprising: in an application program, loading a schema and loading hierarchical data conforming to a schema wherein the hierarchical data includes data fields and data content linked together in a hierarchical relationship, wherein the schema defines hierarchical relationships between the data fields; wherein the schema is separate from the hierarchical data; wherein the schema to load is identified by the hierarchical data;
determining properties of the schema, the properties comprising: a first property that specifies that data fields may occur in any order but may only occur once and that data fields within the first property are displayed within a same row; a second property that specifies that data fields must occur in the specified order and may occur zero to more than once and that data fields within the second property are displayed on a same row unless the loaded schema defines an element as occurring more than once; and a third property that specifies that data fields do not share a relationship with each other and are chosen and that data fields within the third property are displayed on separate rows; applying a plurality of layout rules to the hierarchical data based on the schema to create the flat data structure; and organizing the hierarchical data so that the hierarchical data is inserted in rows and columns in the flat data structure.
3d According to still another aspect of the present invention, there is provided a computer-readable storage medium having computer-executable instructions stored thereon which, when executed on a computer, cause the computer to perform the method as described above or below.
These and various other features as well as advantages, which characterize the present invention, will be apparent from a reading of the following detailed description and a review of the associated drawings.

Brief Description of the Drawings Fig. 1 is a block diagram of a computer system that provides the illustrative operating environment for the present invention.

Fig. 2 illustrates an operational flow for converting XML
data into a flat data structure based on input XML schema data according to an embodiment of the present invention.
Fig. 3 illustrates an operational flow for applying layout rules to XML data according to various embodiments of the present invention.

Fig. 4 is a screenshot illustrating a flat data structure resulting from converted XML data according to an illustrative embodiment of the present invention.

Fig. 5 is a screenshot illustrating a flat data structure resulting from converted XML data according to an illustrative embodiment of the present invention.
3e Fig. 6 is a screenshot illustrating a flat data structure resulting from converted XML data according to an illustrative embodiment of the present invention.

Fig. 7 is a screenshot illustrating a flat data structure resulting from converted XML data according to an illustrative embodiment of the present invention.

3f Fig. 8 is a screenshot illustrating a flat data structure resulting from converted XML
data according to an illustrative embodiment of the present invention.

Fig. 9 is a screenshot illustrating a flat data structure resulting from converted XML
data according to an illustrative embodiment of the present invention.

Fig. 10 is a screenshot illustrating a flat data structure resulting from converted XML data according to an illustrative embodiment of the present invention.

Fig. 11 is a screenshot illustrating a flat data structure resulting from converted XML data according to an illustrative embodiment of the present invention.

Detailed Description of the Invention The present invention is directed to a method and system for flattening input XML data based on a schema associated with the data. In one embodiment, the present invention is incorporated into the "OFFICE" suite of application programs that is marketed by Microsoft Corporation of Redmond, Washington. Briefly described, the invention provides for receiving data formatted in a hierarchical data structure. An example of such a format could include XML, however those skilled in the art will appreciate that many other database structures are highly hierarchical.
In the following detailed description, references are made to the accompanying drawings that form a part hereof, and in which are shown by way of illustration specific embodiments or examples. Referring now to the drawings, in which like numerals represent like elements through the several figures, aspects of the present invention and the illustrative operating environment will be described.
Referring now to Fig. 1, an illustrative operating environment for implementing an illustrative embodiment of the present invention is shown.
Within the illustrative operating environment, the present invention may operate to facilitate the flattening of an XML data structure conforming to a schema into a flat data structure based on the schema. However, those skilled in the art should appreciate that the invention may be practiced in any type of computer operating environment such as hand-held devices, multiprocessor systems, microprocessor-based or programmable consumer electronics, minicomputers, mainframe computers, and the like. The invention may also be practiced in distributed computing environments where tasks are performed by remote processing devices.
4 The illustrative embodiment of the present invention will be described in the general context of a XML flattening program module 36 which receives an input XML schema data 38 and data from input XML data 37 and converts the data into a flat data structure 39 based on the schema data. The flat data structure 39 may be inserted by a spreadsheet in the application program. Those skilled in the art will recognize that the invention may be implemented in combination with various other program modules (not shown). Generally, program modules include routines, programs, components, data structures, etc., that perform particular tasks or implement particular abstract data types. Moreover, those skilled in the art will appreciate that the invention may be practiced with computer system configurations other than the one shown, that are linked through a communications network. In a distributed computing environment, program modules may be located in both local and remote memory storage devices.
An illustrative operating environment for implementing the invention includes a conventional personal computer system 20, including a processing unit 21, a system memory 22, and a system bus 23 that couples the system memory to the processing unit 21. The system memory 22 includes read only memory (ROM) 24 and random access memory (RAM) 25. A basic input/output system 26 (BIOS), containing the basic routines that help to transfer information between elements within the personal computer 20, such as during start-up, is stored in ROM 24.
The personal computer 20 further includes a hard disk drive 27, a magnetic disk drive 28, e.g., to read from or write to a removable disk 29, and an optical disk drive 30, e.g., for reading a CD-ROM disk 31 or to read from or write to other optical media.
The hard disk drive 27, magnetic disk drive 28, and optical disk drive 30 are connected to the system bus 23 by a hard disk drive interface 32, a magnetic .disk drive interface 33, and an optical drive interface 34, respectively. The drives and their associated computer-readable media provide nonvolatile storage for the personal computer 20. Although the description of computer-readable media above refers to a hard disk, a removable magnetic disk and a CD-ROM disk, it should be appreciated by those skilled in the art that other types of media which are readable by a computer, such as magnetic cassettes, flash memory cards, digital video disks, Bernoulli cartridges, and the like, may also be used in the exemplary operating environment.
5 A number of program modules may be stored in the drives and RAM 25, including an operating system 35, an XML flattening program module 36, input XML data 37, input XML schema data 38, a flat data structure 39, and other program modules (not shown).
A user may enter commands and information into the personal computer system 20 through a keyboard 40 and pointing device, such as a mouse 42. Other input devices (not shown) may include a microphone, joystick, game pad, satellite dish, scanner, or the like. These and other input devices are often connected to the processing unit 21 through a serial port interface 46 that is coupled to the system bus, but may be connected by other interfaces, such as a game port or a universal serial bus (USB). A monitor 47 or other type of display device is also connected to the system bus 23 via an interface, such as a video adapter 48. In addition to the monitor, personal computers typically include other peripheral output devices (not shown), such as speakers or printers.
The personal computer system 20 may operate in a networked environment using logical connections to one or more remote computers, such as a remote computer 49. The remote computer 49 may be a server, a router, a peer device or other common network node, and typically includes many or all of the elements described relative to the personal computer 20, although only a memory storage device 50 has been illustrated in Fig. 1. The logical connections depicted in Fig. 1 include a local area network (LAN) 51 and a wide area network (WAN) 52. Such networking environments are commonplace in offices, enterprise-wide computer networks, intranets and the Internet.
When used in a LAN networking environment, the personal computer system 20 is connected to the LAN 51 through a network interface 53. When used in a WAN networking environment, the personal computer 20 typically includes a modem 54 or other means for establishing communications over the WAN 52, such as the Internet. The modem 54, which may be internal or external, is connected to the system bus 23 via the serial port interface 46. In a networked environment, program modules depicted relative to the personal computer 20, or portions thereof, may be stored in the remote memory storage device. It will be appreciated that the network connections shown are illustrative and other means of establishing a communications link between the computers may be used. It will be further be appreciated that the invention could equivalently be implemented on host or server
6 computer systems other than personal computer systems, and could equivalently be transmitted to the host computer system by means other than a CD-ROM, for example, by way of the network interface 53.
The present invention may be implemented within a dynamic link library (DLL). Once example of such a DLL is the MSO.DLL provided in the "OFFICE"
suite of application programs marketed by the Microsoft Corporation of Redmond Washington. The DLL contains a library of executable functions that may be accessed by an application program by creating either a static or dynamic link to the DLL. A static link remains constant during program execution while a dynamic link is created by the program as needed.
Fig. 2 shows illustrative logical operations performed by the XML flattening program module 36 for converting the input XML data 37 into the flat data structure 39 based on the input XML schema data 38 in the personal computer system 20 described above. The logical operations of the various embodiments of the present invention are implemented (1) as a sequence of computer implemented acts or program modules running on a computing system and/or (2) as interconnected machine logic circuits or circuit modules within the computing system. The implementation is a matter of choice dependent on the performance requirements of the computing system implementing the invention. Accordingly, the logical operations making up the embodiments of the present invention described herein are referred to variously as operations, structural devices, acts or modules. It will be recognized by one skilled in the art that these operations, structural devices, acts and modules may be implemented in software, in firmware, in special purpose digital logic, and any combination thereof without deviating from the scope of the present invention as recited within the claims attached hereto.
The logical operations begin. at load operation 210 where the input XML data 37 containing hierarchical data is loaded into a memory such as the RAM 25 for use by an application program, such as a spreadsheet application program. The input XML data 37 may include a schema embedded in the data which defines the parent-child relationships between XML elements and attributes appearing in the data.
Optionally, the input XML data 37 may include a pointer to the input XML
schema data 38 which may be stored on the personal computer system 20 or on a remote computer (such as remote computer 49) accessible by the personal computer system 20 over the network interface 53. It will be appreciated that the schema in the input
7 XML schema data 38 is "mapped" to the flat data structure 39 in the application program so that the rows and columns of the spreadsheet correspond to the defined hierarchical relationships. The schema may be mapped by a user (i.e., by dragging and dropping schema elements into the spreadsheet) or alternatively, the mapping may be performed automatically by the spreadsheet application program. The "mapped" schema is associated with the data in the input XML data 37 once it is loaded into the application program.
Next, the operational flow continues to application operation 215 where the XML flattening program module 36 determines how the loaded XML data is to be inserted based on constructs within the schema which has been mapped to the spreadsheet. The XML flattening program module 36 makes its determination by applying a series of "layout rules" to the data. The layout rules are based on known schema constructs and govern how the data is to be inserted or "flattened." It will also be appreciated that the XML flattening program module 36 may flatten the entire input XML data 37 or a fragment of the data. The XML flattening program module 36 flattens fragments from the beginning of the fragment, considering the closest common parent of all the nodes of the fragment. After applying the layout rules, the XML flattening program module 36 creates the flat data structure.
The steps comprising application operation 215 are shown in Fig. 3 and will be described in greater detail below. Finally, the operational flow continues to rendering operation 220 where the XML flattening program module 36 renders the "flattened"
XML data in the spreadsheet. Illustrative screenshots showing how the data is rendered in the spreadsheet based on the layout rules is shown in Figs. 4-11 and will be described in greater detail below.
Fig. 3 illustrates an operational flow for depicting the steps of application operation 215 from Fig. 2 in which the layout rules are applied to the loaded XML
data by the XML flattening program module 36, based on the schema mapped to the spreadsheet. The operational flow begins at identification operation 310 where the XML flattening program module 36 identifies properties and element types defined in the schema. The properties and element types and their associated layout rules are summarized below:

Properties All: This property specifies that elements may occur in any order, but may only occur once. If the schema contains an All property, the XML flattening
8 program module 36 will display the elements within this property on the same row in the spreadsheet.

Sequence: This property specifies that elements must occur in the specified order and may occur zero to more than once. The sequence itself may also occur any number of times. If the schema contains a Sequence property, the XML flattening program module 36 will display the elements within this property on the same row in the spreadsheet unless the schema defines an element as occurring more than once.
Choice: This property specifies that elements do not share a relationship with each other and must be chosen (only one occurrence per choice). The chosen element, or group may occur zero to more than once. The choice itself may also occur more than once. If the schema contains a Choice property, the XML flattening program module 36 will display the elements within this compositor on separate rows in the spreadsheet Element Types Attribute: Attributes are equivalent to child elements in a schema. If the schema contains an attribute, the XML flattening program module 36 will display the attributes on the same row as its parent element in the spreadsheet. The XML flattening program module 36 will also "fill down"
attributes with other child elements defined in the schema.

Ancestor: Elements having descendants (such as child) are ancestor elements. The XML flattening program module 36 will "fill down" ancestor elements with their descendants.

Sibling: Two or more elements having a common parent are sibling elements. The XML flattening program module 36 will "fill down" sibling elements with other sibling elements unless one or more sibling elements occurs more than once.
9 As used in this description and the accompanying claims, the term "fill down"
is defined as the act of repeating a data value in a table. Thus, even though the data may appear only once in the XML data, it will be displayed more than once in the table. It should be understood that the All, Sequence, and Choice properties are also known as compositors. As is known to those skilled in the art, compositors are XML schema constructs which identify the occurrence requirements or expectations of an element's immediate descendants. Members within the same compositor are considered siblings. At step 315, the XML flattening program module 36 reviews the schema to determine if it contains an All compositor. If the schema contains an All compositor, the XML flattening program module 36 will insert the elements within this compositor on the same row in the resulting flat data structure at step 320. If the schema does not contain an All compositor, the XML flattening program module 36 determines if the schema contains a Sequence compositor at step 325.
An example of an input XML schema data 38 defining elements within an All compositor and a conforming input XML data 37 is shown below:
Schema Data <xsd:element name="root">
<xsd:complexType>
<xsd:sequence>
<xsd:element name="A" maxOccurs="unboun.ded">
<xsd:complexType>
<xsd:all>
<xsd: element name="B" type="xsd: string" />
<xsd:element name="C" type="xsd:string" h <xsd:element name="D" type="xsd: string" />
<xsd:element name="E" type="xsd: string" I>
</xsd:all>
</xsd:complexType>
</xsd:element>
</xsd:sequence>
</xsd:complexType>
</xsd: element>

Data <root>
<A>
<B>b l </B>
<C>c l </C>
<D>dl</D>
<E>e 1 </E>
</A>
<A>
<C>c2</C>
<B >b2</B>
<E>e2 </E>
<D>d2</D >
</A>

</root>
The input XML schema data 38 illustrated in the above example defines a base element "A" of the XML data structure. Elements "B," "C," "D," and "E" are elements which must be contained within the element "A" and are defined within the All compositor. The "bl," "el," "dl," and "el" in the input XML data 37 for the schema represent the data contained within the elements "B," "C," "D," and "E."
The "</B>, </C>, </D>, and </E> following the aforementioned data signifies the end of each element. Similarly, the input XML data 37 also indicates "C," "B,"
"E"
and "D" elements containing data "c2," "b2," "e2," and "d2" respectively, also contained within the element "A."
An illustrative resulting flat data structure 39 for the data in the input XML
data 37 in the above example is shown in Fig. 4. As shown on line 405 in Fig.
4, the column headings represent the elements "B," "C," "D," and "E" defined within the All compositor in the input XML schema data 38. On line 410, the "bl," "cl,"
"dl,"
and "e 1 " data is displayed on the same row. Similarly, on line 415, the "b2," "c2,"
"d2," and "e2" data is also displayed in the same row. As briefly described above the All compositor specifies that elements may be displayed in any order.
Thus, it will be appreciated that the order in which the elements displayed may be different from that shown in Fig. 4.

Returning now to Fig. 3, the XML flattening program module 36 reviews the schema to determine if it contains a Sequence compositor at step 325. If the schema contains a Sequence compositor, the XML flattening program module 36 will insert the elements within this compositor on the same row at step 330 as shown in Fig. 4 above for the All compositor, unless the schema defines an element as occurring more than once. If the schema does not contain a Sequence compositor, the XML
flattening program module 36 determines if the schema contains a Choice compositor at step 335.
An example of an input XML schema data 38 defining elements within a Sequence compositor and conforming input XML data 37 is shown below:

Schema Data <xsd:element name="root">
<xsd:complexType>
<xsd:sequence>
<xsd:element name="A" maxOccurs="unbounded">
<xsd:complexType>
<xsd:sequence maxOccurs="unbounded">
<xsd:element name="B" type="xsd:string" />
<xsd:element name="C" type="xsd:string" />
<xsd:element name="D" type="xsd: string" />
<xsd:element name="E" type="xsd: string" />
</xsd:sequence>
</xsd:complexType>
</xsd:element>
</xsd:sequence>
</xsd: complexType>
</xsd:element>
Data <root>
<A>

<B>bl <B>
<C>c 1 </C>
<D>d l </D>
<E>el <IE>
<B>b2<B>
<C>c2</C>
<D>d2<ID>
<E>e2</E>
</A>

</root>
The input XML schema data 38 illustrated in the above example defines elements "B," "C," "D," and "E" as unbounded elements (i.e., maxOccurs = "unbounded") within the Sequence compositor indicating that the data contained within these elements must occur in the specified order and that each element may occur more than once.
An illustrative resulting flat data structure 39 for the data in the input XML
data 37 for the unbounded sequence in the above example is shown in Fig. 5. As shown on line 505 in Fig. 5, the column headings represent the elements "B,"
"C,"
"D," and "E" defined within the Sequence compositor in the input XML schema data 38. On lines 510-525, the "b 1," "c 1," "dl," and "el" data are inserted on separate rows. Similarly, on lines 530-545, the "b2," "c2," "d2," and "e2" data are also inserted on separate rows. In an unbounded sequence the children of the sequence can appear any number of times. Thus, there is no apparent relationship between the siblings. For example, in the input XML data file of the example shown in Fig.
5, it is impossible to determine that the data sets "bl " "cl " "dl," and "el" and W," %2,"
"d2," and "e2" are not related to each other because they have a common parent.
Returning now to Fig. 3, the XML flattening program module 36 reviews the schema to determine if it contains a Choice compositor at step 335. If the schema contains a Choice compositor, the XML flattening program module 36 will insert the elements within this compositor on separate'rows at step 340. If the schema does not contain a Choice compositor, the XML flattening program module 36 determines if the schema contains an Attribute property at step 345.
An example of an input XML schema data 38 defining elements within a Choice compositor and a conforming input XML data 37 is shown below:

Schema Data <xsd:element name="root">
<xsd:complexType>
<xsd:sequence>
<xsd:element name="A" maxOccurs="unbounded">
<xsd:complexType>
<xsd:choice>
<xsd:element name="B" type="xsd:string" />
<xsd:element name="C" type="xsd:string" />
<xsd:element name="D" type="xsd: string" />
<xsd:element name="E" type="xsd: string" h </xsd:choice>
</xsd:complexType>
</xsd:element>
</xsd:sequence>
</xsd:complexType>
</xsd:element>
Data <root>
<A>
<E>e 1 </E>
</A>
<A>
<C>c2</C>
</A>
<A>
<D>dl </D>
</A>
<A>
<B>b 1 </B>
</A>
</root>

The input XML schema data 38 illustrated in the above example defines elements "B," "C," "D," and "E" as choice elements within the Choice compositor <xsd:
choice>, indicating that the data contained within these elements do not share a relationship with each other. As a result, the XML flattener program module 36 will insert each element on a separate row in the spreadsheet.
An illustrative resulting flat data structure 39 for the data in the input XML
data 37 for the above example is shown in Fig. 6. As shown on line 605 in Fig.
6, the column headings represent the elements "B," "C," "D," and "E" defined within the Choice compositor in the input XML schema data 38. On lines 610-625, the "el," "c2," "dl," and "bl" data are inserted on separate rows.
It should be understood that the input XML schema data 38 may include compositors nested within other compositors. For example, XML schema data may define elements within a Choice compositor which are nested within elements defined within a Sequence compositor. When flattening nested elements, the XML
flattening program module 36 inserts the data for each element according to the layout rules for each compositor. An example of input XML schema data 38 defining Choice compositor elements nested within sequence compositor elements and conforming input XML data 37 is shown below:
Schema Data <xsd:element name="root">
<xsd:complexType>
<xsd:sequence>
<xsd:element name="A" maxOccurs="unbounded">
<xsd:complexType>
<xsd:sequence>
<xsd:element name="B" type="xsd: string" />
<xsd:choice>
<xsd:element name="C" type="xsd:string" />
<xsd:element name="D" type= "xsd: string" />
</xsd:choice>
<xsd:element name="E" type="xsd:string" />
</xsd:sequence>

</xsd:complexType>
</xsd:element>
</xsd:sequence>
</xsd:complexType>
</xsd:element>
Data <root>
<A>

<B>b 1 </B>
<C>c l </C>
<E>el <(E>
</A>
<A>
<B>b2</B>
<D>d1</D >
<E>e2</E>
</A>

</root>
The input XML schema data 38 illustrated in the above example defines elements "B" and "E" as Sequence elements indicating that the data contained within these elements must occur in the specified order. The input XML schema data 38 also defines elements "C" and "D" as Choice elements indicating that the data contained within these elements do not share a relationship with each other. Thus, according to the XML schema data 38. elements "B" and "E" may be in sequence with element "C" or element "D." The XML data 37 indicates that the elements "B," "C," and "E"
contain the data "bl," "cl," and "el" respectively. The XML data 37 also indicates that the elements "B," "D," and "E" contain the data "b2," "dl," and "e2." As discussed above, the XML flattener program module 36 inserts data within Sequence elements on the same row in the spreadsheet (unless maxOccurs>1) and inserts data within Choice elements on separate rows in the spreadsheet.
An illustrative resulting flat data structure 39 for the data in the conforming input XML data 37 for the above example is shown in Fig. 7. As shown on line in Fig. 7, the column headings represent the elements "B," "C," "D," and "E"
defined within the Sequence and Choice compositors in the input XML schema data 38. On line 710, the "b 1" and "e 1 " Sequence data are inserted on the same row as the "c 1 "
Choice data, while on line 715, the "b2" and "e2" Sequence data are also inserted on the same row as the "dl" Choice data. Thus, as shown in Fig. 7, the layout rules for both Sequence and Choice compositors are satisfied. Choice data "c 1 " and "dl"
appear on different rows while Sequence data "bl," "el," "b2," and "e2" are in sequence with the Choice data.
Returning now to Fig. 3, the XML flattening program module 36 reviews the schema to determine if it defines attributes for the input XML data 37 at step 345. If the schema defines attributes, the XML flattening program module 36 will insert the attributes on the same row as their parent element content at step 350. The XML
flattening program module 36 will also "fill down" attributes with the descendants of each parent element (e.g., child elements) defined in the schema at step 360.
If the schema does not define attributes, the XML flattening program module 36 determines if the schema defines ancestor elements at step 355.
An example of input XML schema data 38 defining attributes and a conforming input XML data 37 is shown below:

Schema Data <xsd:element name="root">
<xsd:complexType>
<xsd:sequence>
<xsd:element name="A" maxOccurs="unbounded">
<xsd:complexType>
<xsd:simpleContent>
<xsd:restriction base="xsd:string">
<xsd:attribute name="ATTA" type="xsd:integer" />
</xsd:restriction>
</xsd: simpleContent>
</xsd:complexType>
</xsd:element>
</xsd:sequence>
</xsd:complexType>
</xsd:element>

Data <root>
<A ATTA=" 1 ">A 1 </A>
<A ATTA="2">A2</A>
<A ATTA="3">A3</A>
</root>

The input XML schema data 38 illustrated in the above example defines the element "A" and the attribute "ATTA" which is further defined as having an integer value (specified in the input XML data as "1," "2," or "3."
An illustrative resulting flat data structure 39 for the data in the input XML
data 37 for the above example is shown in Fig. 8. As shown on line 805 in Fig.
8, the column headings represent the attribute "ATTA" and the parent element "A"
defined in the input XML schema data 38. On lines 810-820, the integer attribute values "1," "2," and "3" are inserted are each inserted on the same row as parent element "A" data "Al," "A2," and "A3."
Another example of input XML schema data 38 defining attributes and conforming input XML data 37 is shown below:
Schema Data <xsd:element name="root">
<xsd:complexType>
<xsd: sequence>
<xsd:element name="A" maxOccurs="unbounded">
<xsd:complexType>
<xsd:sequence>
<xsd:element name="B">
<xsd:complexType>
<xsd:sequence>
<xsd:element name="C" type="xsd: string" />
<xsd:element name="D" type="xsd: string" />
</xsd:sequence>
</xsd:complexType>

</xsd:element>
</xsd:sequence>
<xsd:attribute name="ATTA" type="xsd:integer" />
</xsd:complexType>
</xsd:element>
</xsd:sequence>
</xsd:complexType>
</xsd:element>
Data <root>
<A ATTA="213">
<B>
<C>C 1 </C>
<D>D 1 </D>
</B>
<B>
<C>C2</C>
<D>D2</D>
</B>
</A>
</root>
The input XML schema data 38 illustrated in the above example defines the attribute "ATTA" (having an integer value of "213") with the parent element "A" as well as child elements "C" and "D" within the element "B."
An illustrative resulting flat data structure 39 for the data in the input XML
data 37 for the above example is shown in Fig. 9. As shown on line 905 in Fig.
9, the column headings represent the attribute "ATTA" and the repeating child elements "C" and "D." The data for repeating child elements "C" and "D" are inserted on lines 910 and 915. The data value "213" for the attribute "ATTA"
is also inserted alongside the data for child elements "C" and "D" on lines 910 and 915.
Thus, the data for the attribute "ATTA" which does not repeat is filled down with the data for the repeating child elements "C" and "D."

Returning now to Fig. 3, the XML flattening program module 36 reviews the schema to determine if it defines ancestor elements for the input XML data 37 at step 355. If the schema defines ancestor elements, the XML flattening program module 36 will "fill down" the ancestor elements with their descendants at step 365.
If the schema does not define ancestor elements, the XML flattening program module 36 determines if the schema defines sibling elements at step 370.
An example of an input XML schema data 38 defining ancestor elements and a conforming input XML data 37 is shown below:

Schema Data <xsd:element name="root">
<xsd:complexType>
<xsd:sequence>
<xsd:element name="A" maxOccurs="unbounded">
<xsd:sequence>
<xsd:element name="B" type="xsd:string" max/>
</xsd:sequence>
</xsd:element>
<xsd:element name="C" type="xsd:string" />
</xsd:sequence>
</xsd:complexType>
</xsd:element>
Data <root>
<A>
<B>B 1 </B>
</A>
<A>
<B>B2</B>
</A>
<C>C 1 </C>
</root>

The input XML schema data 38 illustrated in the above example specifies that element "C" is an ancestor of element "B." In the input XML data 37, element "B"
contains the data "131" and "B2," while the element "C" contains the content "C l ."
An illustrative resulting flat data structure 39 for the data in the input XML
data 37 for the above example is shown in Fig. 10. As shown on line 1005 in Fig.
10, the column headings represent the elements "B" and "C." The data for repeating element "B" is inserted on lines 1010 and 1015. The data for ancestor element "C"
"fills down" along with the data for element "B."
Returning now to Fig. 3, the XML flattening program module 36 reviews the schema to determine if it defines sibling elements for the input XML data 37 at step 370. If the schema defines sibling elements, the XML flattening program module XML flattening program module 36 will "fill down" sibling elements with other sibling elements unless one or more sibling elements occurs more than once. If the schema does not define sibling elements, the operative flow continues to step where the XML flattening program module 36 returns to the schema to determine if there are any more properties. If there are more properties defined in the schema, the operative flow returns to step 315 where the XML flattening program module determines the identity of the next property. If there are no more properties defined in the schema, the operative flow returns to the rendering operation 220 in Fig. 2.
An example of an input XML schema data 38 defining sibling elements and a conforming input XML data 37 is shown below:

Schema Data <xsd:element name="root">
<xsd:complexType>
<xsd:sequence>
<xsd:element name="A" maxOccurs="unbounded"/>
<xsd:element name="B" type="xsd:string" />
</xsd:sequence>
</xsd:complexType>
</xsd:element>
Data <root>

<A>A 1 </A>
<A>A2</A>
<B>B 1 </B>
</roots The input XML schema data 38 illustrated in the above example specifies that elements "A" and "B" are siblings. In the input XML data 37, element "A"
contains the data "Al" and "A2," while the element "B" contains the content "B 1."
An illustrative resulting flat data structure 39 for the data in the input XML
data 37 for the above example is shown in Fig. 12. As shown on line 1105 in Fig.
11, the column headings represent the elements "A" and "B." The data for repeating element "A" is inserted on lines 1110 and 1115. The data for sibling element "B"
"fills down" along with the data for element "A."
It should be understood that when two or more sibling elements, ancestor elements, or ancestor sibling elements are defined as occurring more than once in a schema, a Cartesian product is created. Cartesian products are the result of elements being combined into several combinations without any defined meaning. For example, if a sibling elements "A" and "B" are both defined in a schema as unbounded (i.e., occurring more than once), any number of element "As" would have to be inserted with any number of element "Bs." Cartesian products are often undesirable because they typically result in very large data sets. For example, given two columns of data each with "m" and "n" rows, a Cartesian product would result when the "m" rows are multiplied by the "n" rows of data. This could lead to very huge datasets as the number of rows and the number of columns increase.
Furthermore, it is difficult to determine the relationships of data in Cartesian products resulting in huge data sets especially since the data sets might not have originally been related at all. As a result, the XML flattener program module does not "fill down" these elements.
In view of the foregoing, it will be appreciated that the present invention provides a method and system for converting a hierarchical data structure into a flat data structure based on a schema. While the invention has been particularly shown and described with reference to illustrative embodiments thereof, it will be understood by those skilled in the art that various other changes in the form and details may be made therein without departing from the scope of the invention.

Claims (47)

CLAIMS:
1. A method for converting a hierarchical data structure into a flat data structure comprising:

in an application program, loading hierarchical data conforming to a schema wherein the hierarchical data includes elements and attributes linked together in a parent-child relationship, wherein the schema defines hierarchical relationships between the elements and attributes;

applying a plurality of layout rules to the hierarchical data based on the schema to create the flat data structure; and rendering the hierarchical data so that the hierarchical data is inserted in rows and columns in the flat data structure, wherein applying a plurality of layout rules to the hierarchical data based on the schema comprises:
identifying properties in the schema, wherein the properties identify occurrence requirements for the elements defined in the schema; and applying the plurality of layout rules based on the identified properties, wherein the properties include a first property specifying: the order in which the elements occur in the hierarchical data; and the minimum and maximum number of times that each element may occur in the hierarchical data, wherein the first property is a sequence compositor or an all compositor, wherein the hierarchical data is XML data, wherein the application program is a spreadsheet application program, wherein the flat data structure is readily usable by an electronic spreadsheet.
2. The method of claim 1, wherein the properties include a second property specifying the minimum and maximum number of times that chosen elements may occur in the hierarchical data.
3. The method of claim 4, wherein the second property is a choice compositor.
4. The method of claim 1, wherein the layout rules include inserting each element on the same row within the flat data structure according to the first property.
5. The method of claim 1, wherein the layout rules include inserting each element on a separate row within the flat data structure according to the first property if the maximum number of occurrences of each element is greater than one.
6. The method of claim 2, wherein the layout rules include inserting each chosen element on a separate row within the flat data structure according to the second property.
7. The method of claim 1, wherein the layout rules include inserting each attribute within the flat data structure.
8. The method of claim 1, wherein the layout rules include inserting each attribute on the same row as the content of its parent element within the flat data structure.
9. The method of claim 1, wherein the layout rules include inserting each attribute on the same row as the content of its parent element within the flat data structure for each and every occurrence of the content.
10. The method of claim 1, wherein the hierarchical data includes ancestor elements and sibling elements.
11. The method of claim 10, wherein the layout rules include inserting ancestor elements on the same row as their descendants within the flat data structure for each and every occurrence of the descendants.
12. The method of claim 10, wherein the layout rules include inserting sibling elements on the same row for each sibling occurring more than once.
13. The method of claim 10, wherein the layout rules include inserting each sibling element on a separate row within the flat data structure according if the maximum number of occurrences of a plurality of the sibling elements is greater than one.
14. A computer-readable storage medium having computer-executable instructions stored thereon which, when executed on a computer, cause the computer to perform the method of any one of claims 1 to 13.
15. A computer system for converting a hierarchical data structure into a flat data structure comprising:

a memory for storing:

the hierarchical data structure, a schema associated with the flat data structure, and the flat data structure; and a processing unit functionally coupled to the memory, for executing computer-executable instructions operable for:

loading the hierarchical data conforming to the schema, wherein the hierarchical data includes elements and attributes linked together in a parent-child relationship, wherein the schema defines hierarchical relationships between the elements and attributes;

identifying properties in the schema, wherein the properties identify occurrence requirements for the elements defined in the schema;

applying a plurality of layout rules based on the identified properties to create the flat data structure; and rendering the hierarchical data so that the hierarchical data is inserted in rows and columns in the flat data, wherein the properties include a first property specifying: the order in which the elements occur in the hierarchical data; and the minimum and maximum number of times that each element may occur in the hierarchical data, wherein the first property is a sequence compositor or an all compositor, wherein the hierarchical data is XML data, wherein the application program is a spreadsheet application program, wherein the flat data structure is readily usable by an electronic spreadsheet.
16. The system of claim 15, wherein the properties include a second property specifying the minimum and maximum number of times that chosen elements may occur in the hierarchical data.
17. The system of claim 16, wherein the second property is a choice compositor.
18. The system of claim 15, wherein the layout rules include inserting each element on the same row within the flat data structure according to the first property.
19. The system of claim 15, wherein the layout rules include inserting each element on a separate row within the flat data structure according to the first property if the maximum number of occurrences of each element is greater than one.
20. The system of claim 16, wherein the layout rules include inserting each chosen element on a separate row within the flat data structure according to the second property.
21. The system of claim 15, wherein the layout rules include inserting each element having content within the flat data structure.
22. The system of claim 15, wherein the layout rules include inserting each attribute within the flat data structure.
23. The system of claim 15, wherein the layout rules include inserting each attribute on the same row as the content of its parent element within the flat data structure.
24. The system of claim 15, wherein the layout rules include inserting each attribute on the same row as the content of its parent element within the flat data structure for each and every occurrence of the content.
25. The system of claim 15, wherein the layout rules include inserting ancestor elements on the same row as their descendants within the flat data structure for each and every occurrence of the descendants.
26. The system of claim 15, wherein the layout rules include inserting sibling elements on the same row for each sibling occurring more than once.
27. A method for converting a hierarchical data structure into a flat data structure comprising:

in an application program, loading a schema and loading hierarchical data conforming to the schema wherein the hierarchical data includes data fields and data content linked together in a hierarchical relationship, wherein the schema defines hierarchical relationships between the data fields and attributes appearing in the hierarchical data;
wherein the schema is separate from the hierarchical data;
wherein the schema to load is identified by the loaded hierarchical data;

examining the loaded schema to identify properties and element types in the schema; wherein the properties identify occurrence requirements for the data fields and the data content defined in the schema, the properties comprising: a first property that specifies that data fields may occur in any order but may only occur once and that data fields within the first property are displayed within a same row; a second property that specifies that data fields must occur in the specified order and may occur zero to more than once and that data fields within the second property are displayed on a same row unless the loaded schema defines an element as occurring more than once; and a third property that specifies that data fields do not share a relationship with each other and are chosen and that data fields within the third property are displayed on separate rows;

applying a plurality of layout rules to the hierarchical data based on the examining of the loaded schema to create the flat data structure; and organizing the hierarchical data so that the hierarchical data is inserted in rows and columns in the flat data structure.
28. The method of claim 27, wherein applying a plurality of layout rules to the hierarchical data based on the schema comprises:

applying the plurality of layout rules based on the identified properties and the data fields.
29. The method of claim 27, further comprising mapping the schema to the flat data structure.
30. The method of claim 29, wherein mapping the schema to the flat data structure comprises receiving the mapping by a user input.
31. The method of claim 27, wherein the layout rules include inserting each data field on the same row within a spreadsheet according to at least one of the properties.
32. The method of claim 27, wherein the layout rules include inserting each data field on a separate row within the flat data structure according to the first property if a maximum number of occurrences of each data field is greater than one.
33. The method of claim 27, wherein the layout rules include inserting each chosen data field on a separate row within the flat data structure according to at least one of the properties.
34. The method of claim 27, wherein the application program is a spreadsheet application program.
35. The method of claim 27, wherein the flat data structure is readily usable by an electronic spreadsheet.
36. A computer system for converting a hierarchical data structure into a flat data structure comprising:

a memory for storing:

the hierarchical data structure, a schema associated with the flat data structure, and the flat data structure; and a processing unit functionally coupled to the memory, for executing computer-executable instructions operable for:

loading the schema and loading the hierarchical data conforming to the schema, wherein the hierarchical data includes data fields and data content linked together in a hierarchical relationship, wherein the schema defines hierarchical relationships between the data fields and the attributes; wherein the schema is separate from the hierarchical data and wherein the schema to load is identified by the hierarchical data;

identifying properties from the schema, wherein the properties identify occurrence requirements for the data fields defined in the schema, the properties comprising: a first property that specifies that data fields may occur in any order but may only occur once and that data fields within the first property are displayed within a same row; a second property that specifies that data fields must occur in the specified order and may occur zero to more than once and that data fields within the second property are displayed on a same row unless the loaded schema defines an element as occurring more than once; and a third property that specifies that data fields do not share a relationship with each other and are chosen and that data fields within the third property are displayed on separate rows;

applying a plurality of layout rules based on the identified properties to create the flat data structure; and rendering the hierarchical data so that the hierarchical data is inserted in rows and columns in the flat data structure.
37. The system of claim 36, wherein the rendering is within a spreadsheet.
38. The system of claim 36, further comprising mapping the schema to the flat data structure.
39. The system of claim 38, wherein mapping the schema to the flat data structure comprises receiving the mapping by a user input.
40. The system of claim 37, wherein the layout rules include inserting each data field on a separate row within the spreadsheet according to at least one of the properties.
41. The system of claim 38, wherein the layout rules include inserting each chosen data field on a separate row of the spreadsheet according to at least one of the properties.
42. The system of claim 37, wherein the layout rules include inserting the data content within the flat data structure.
43. The system of claim 37, wherein the application program is a spreadsheet application program.
44. The system of claim 37, wherein the flat data structure is readily usable by an electronic spreadsheet.
45. A computer-readable storage medium having computer-executable instructions stored thereon which, when executed on a computer, cause the computer to perform a method for converting a hierarchical data structure into a flat data structure, the method comprising:

in an application program, loading a schema and loading hierarchical data conforming to a schema wherein the hierarchical data includes data fields and data content linked together in a hierarchical relationship, wherein the schema defines hierarchical relationships between the data fields; wherein the schema is separate from the hierarchical data; wherein the schema to load is identified by the hierarchical data;

determining properties of the schema, the properties comprising: a first property that specifies that data fields may occur in any order but may only occur once and that data fields within the first property are displayed within a same row; a second property that specifies that data fields must occur in the specified order and may occur zero to more than once and that data fields within the second property are displayed on a same row unless the loaded schema defines an element as occurring more than once; and a third property that specifies that data fields do not share a relationship with each other and are chosen and that data fields within the third property are displayed on separate rows;

applying a plurality of layout rules to the hierarchical data based on the schema to create the flat data structure; and organizing the hierarchical data so that the hierarchical data is inserted in rows and columns in the flat data structure.
46. The computer-readable storage medium of claim 45, wherein applying a plurality of layout rules to the hierarchical data based on the schema comprises:

applying the plurality of layout rules based on the data fields and the identified properties.
47. A computer-readable storage medium having computer-executable instructions stored thereon which, when executed on a computer, cause the computer to perform the method of any one of claims 27 to 35.
CA2458499A 2003-02-28 2004-02-24 Method and system for converting a schema-based hierarchical data structure into a flat data structure Expired - Fee Related CA2458499C (en)

Applications Claiming Priority (2)

Application Number Priority Date Filing Date Title
US10/376,442 2003-02-28
US10/376,442 US7003722B2 (en) 2003-02-28 2003-02-28 Method and system for converting a schema-based hierarchical data structure into a flat data structure

Publications (2)

Publication Number Publication Date
CA2458499A1 CA2458499A1 (en) 2004-08-28
CA2458499C true CA2458499C (en) 2012-12-04

Family

ID=32771492

Family Applications (1)

Application Number Title Priority Date Filing Date
CA2458499A Expired - Fee Related CA2458499C (en) 2003-02-28 2004-02-24 Method and system for converting a schema-based hierarchical data structure into a flat data structure

Country Status (14)

Country Link
US (2) US7003722B2 (en)
EP (1) EP1452974A3 (en)
JP (1) JP4104565B2 (en)
KR (1) KR100898476B1 (en)
CN (1) CN1558348A (en)
AU (1) AU2004200627B2 (en)
BR (1) BRPI0400362A (en)
CA (1) CA2458499C (en)
MX (1) MXPA04001934A (en)
MY (1) MY143418A (en)
PL (1) PL365651A1 (en)
RU (1) RU2378690C2 (en)
TW (1) TW200506662A (en)
ZA (1) ZA200401487B (en)

Families Citing this family (84)

* Cited by examiner, † Cited by third party
Publication number Priority date Publication date Assignee Title
US6948135B1 (en) * 2000-06-21 2005-09-20 Microsoft Corporation Method and systems of providing information to computer users
US6883168B1 (en) 2000-06-21 2005-04-19 Microsoft Corporation Methods, systems, architectures and data structures for delivering software via a network
US7191394B1 (en) 2000-06-21 2007-03-13 Microsoft Corporation Authoring arbitrary XML documents using DHTML and XSLT
US7000230B1 (en) 2000-06-21 2006-02-14 Microsoft Corporation Network-based software extensions
US6874143B1 (en) * 2000-06-21 2005-03-29 Microsoft Corporation Architectures for and methods of providing network-based software extensions
US7346848B1 (en) 2000-06-21 2008-03-18 Microsoft Corporation Single window navigation methods and systems
US7624356B1 (en) 2000-06-21 2009-11-24 Microsoft Corporation Task-sensitive methods and systems for displaying command sets
US7003722B2 (en) * 2003-02-28 2006-02-21 Microsoft Corporation Method and system for converting a schema-based hierarchical data structure into a flat data structure
US20040181748A1 (en) * 2003-03-10 2004-09-16 International Business Machines Corporation Thin client framework deployment of spreadsheet applications in a web browser based environment
US7275216B2 (en) * 2003-03-24 2007-09-25 Microsoft Corporation System and method for designing electronic forms and hierarchical schemas
US7370066B1 (en) * 2003-03-24 2008-05-06 Microsoft Corporation System and method for offline editing of data files
US7415672B1 (en) 2003-03-24 2008-08-19 Microsoft Corporation System and method for designing electronic forms
US7913159B2 (en) 2003-03-28 2011-03-22 Microsoft Corporation System and method for real-time validation of structured data files
US7296017B2 (en) 2003-03-28 2007-11-13 Microsoft Corporation Validation of XML data files
US7007033B1 (en) * 2003-04-28 2006-02-28 Microsoft Corporation Management of markup language data mappings available to a spreadsheet application workbook
US20040220954A1 (en) * 2003-04-29 2004-11-04 International Business Machines Corporation Translation of data from a hierarchical data structure to a relational data structure
JP4014160B2 (en) * 2003-05-30 2007-11-28 インターナショナル・ビジネス・マシーンズ・コーポレーション Information processing apparatus, program, and recording medium
US7197515B2 (en) * 2003-06-30 2007-03-27 Microsoft Corporation Declarative solution definition
US7451392B1 (en) 2003-06-30 2008-11-11 Microsoft Corporation Rendering an HTML electronic form by applying XSLT to XML using a solution
US20050010896A1 (en) * 2003-07-07 2005-01-13 International Business Machines Corporation Universal format transformation between relational database management systems and extensible markup language using XML relational transformation
US7406660B1 (en) 2003-08-01 2008-07-29 Microsoft Corporation Mapping between structured data and a visual surface
US7334187B1 (en) 2003-08-06 2008-02-19 Microsoft Corporation Electronic form aggregation
US20050071750A1 (en) * 2003-09-30 2005-03-31 Nelson Brent Dalmas Method and system for automated metamodel system file generation
JP2007520803A (en) * 2003-12-24 2007-07-26 モルガン・スタンレー Investment database application
US8819072B1 (en) 2004-02-02 2014-08-26 Microsoft Corporation Promoting data from structured data files
US7337395B2 (en) * 2004-02-27 2008-02-26 Sap Ag System and method for hierarchical data document modification
WO2005098659A1 (en) * 2004-04-08 2005-10-20 Justsystems Corporation Document processing device and document processing method
US7496837B1 (en) * 2004-04-29 2009-02-24 Microsoft Corporation Structural editing with schema awareness
US7281018B1 (en) 2004-05-26 2007-10-09 Microsoft Corporation Form template data source change
US7774620B1 (en) 2004-05-27 2010-08-10 Microsoft Corporation Executing applications at appropriate trust levels
US7536634B2 (en) * 2005-06-13 2009-05-19 Silver Creek Systems, Inc. Frame-slot architecture for data conversion
US7692636B2 (en) 2004-09-30 2010-04-06 Microsoft Corporation Systems and methods for handwriting to a screen
JP2006139764A (en) * 2004-10-14 2006-06-01 Hitachi Systems & Services Ltd Hierarchical structure information generating system
US8487879B2 (en) 2004-10-29 2013-07-16 Microsoft Corporation Systems and methods for interacting with a computer through handwriting to a screen
US20060107224A1 (en) * 2004-11-15 2006-05-18 Microsoft Corporation Building a dynamic action for an electronic form
US7712022B2 (en) 2004-11-15 2010-05-04 Microsoft Corporation Mutually exclusive options in electronic forms
WO2006055751A2 (en) * 2004-11-16 2006-05-26 Compography, Inc. Display/layout methods and apparatuses including content items and display containers
US7721190B2 (en) 2004-11-16 2010-05-18 Microsoft Corporation Methods and systems for server side form processing
US7904801B2 (en) 2004-12-15 2011-03-08 Microsoft Corporation Recursive sections in electronic forms
US7437376B2 (en) * 2004-12-20 2008-10-14 Microsoft Corporation Scalable object model
US7937651B2 (en) 2005-01-14 2011-05-03 Microsoft Corporation Structural editing operations for network forms
US7725834B2 (en) * 2005-03-04 2010-05-25 Microsoft Corporation Designer-created aspect for an electronic form template
US8010515B2 (en) 2005-04-15 2011-08-30 Microsoft Corporation Query to an electronic form
US7543228B2 (en) * 2005-06-27 2009-06-02 Microsoft Corporation Template for rendering an electronic form
US8200975B2 (en) 2005-06-29 2012-06-12 Microsoft Corporation Digital signatures for network forms
US7657549B2 (en) * 2005-07-07 2010-02-02 Acl Services Ltd. Method and apparatus for processing XML tagged data
US20070036433A1 (en) * 2005-08-15 2007-02-15 Microsoft Corporation Recognizing data conforming to a rule
WO2007045013A1 (en) * 2005-10-17 2007-04-26 Middlemarch Holdings Pty Ltd A method and apparatus for improved processing and analysis of complex hierarchic data
US8001459B2 (en) 2005-12-05 2011-08-16 Microsoft Corporation Enabling electronic documents for limited-capability computing devices
US7779343B2 (en) * 2006-01-30 2010-08-17 Microsoft Corporation Opening network-enabled electronic documents
US20080005721A1 (en) * 2006-06-29 2008-01-03 Augusta Systems, Inc. Method and System for Rapidly Developing Sensor-Enabled Software Applications
US7735060B2 (en) * 2006-06-29 2010-06-08 Augusta Systems, Inc. Method and system for rapidly developing and deploying sensor-enabled software applications
US8015547B2 (en) * 2006-06-29 2011-09-06 Augusta Systems, Inc. Reconfigurable, hierarchical component-based architecture and framework and methods for rapidly developing sensor device-enabling software applications
US8095923B2 (en) * 2006-06-29 2012-01-10 Augusta Systems, Inc. System and method for deploying and managing intelligent nodes in a distributed network
US8954396B2 (en) 2006-11-10 2015-02-10 Microsoft Corporation Validating and enabling validation of package structures
US8566375B1 (en) * 2006-12-27 2013-10-22 The Mathworks, Inc. Optimization using table gradient constraints
US8108768B2 (en) * 2007-07-20 2012-01-31 International Business Machines Corporation Improving efficiency of content rule checking in a content management system
US9021064B2 (en) * 2007-10-19 2015-04-28 Oracle International Corporation Web service architecture for product configuration
US8645434B2 (en) * 2008-03-18 2014-02-04 Apple Inc. Techniques for schema production and transformation
US8001155B2 (en) * 2008-06-20 2011-08-16 Microsoft Corporation Hierarchically presenting tabular data
JP5632593B2 (en) * 2009-07-01 2014-11-26 キヤノン株式会社 Information processing apparatus, control method, and program
US20110072340A1 (en) * 2009-09-21 2011-03-24 Miller Darren H Modeling system and method
EP2518644A1 (en) * 2011-04-29 2012-10-31 Siemens Aktiengesellschaft Method for controlling the implementation of pre-defined rules and/or incoming data of a data stream
US10546057B2 (en) * 2011-10-28 2020-01-28 Microsoft Technology Licensing, Llc Spreadsheet program-based data classification for source target mapping
US9430114B1 (en) 2011-11-03 2016-08-30 Pervasive Software Data transformation system, graphical mapping tool, and method for creating a schema map
US9201558B1 (en) 2011-11-03 2015-12-01 Pervasive Software Inc. Data transformation system, graphical mapping tool, and method for creating a schema map
US20130339399A1 (en) * 2012-06-18 2013-12-19 Dexter A. Dorris Dynamic Schema
US9063959B2 (en) 2013-01-24 2015-06-23 International Business Machines Corporation Decomposing XML schema documents into subsets
RU2527201C1 (en) * 2013-01-24 2014-08-27 Общество с ограниченной ответственностью "Системное моделирование и анализ" Data conversion method, data conversion device and data conversion system
US9298685B2 (en) * 2013-02-28 2016-03-29 Ricoh Company, Ltd. Automatic creation of multiple rows in a table
US11074231B1 (en) 2013-03-15 2021-07-27 Informatica Llc Validating modifications to mapping statements for processing hierarchical data structures
CN104142951B (en) * 2013-05-09 2017-09-19 阿里巴巴集团控股有限公司 A kind of data processing method
US9672558B2 (en) 2013-08-30 2017-06-06 Sap Se Table-form presentation of hierarchical data
EP2887240B1 (en) * 2013-12-23 2016-08-31 Sap Se Electronic product information display system
US9514118B2 (en) * 2014-06-18 2016-12-06 Yokogawa Electric Corporation Method, system and computer program for generating electronic checklists
CN106557531B (en) * 2015-09-30 2020-07-03 伊姆西Ip控股有限责任公司 Method, apparatus and storage medium for converting complex structured objects into flattened data
CN106557454B (en) * 2015-09-30 2021-04-06 腾讯科技(深圳)有限公司 Method and system for converting document into table
US20170185662A1 (en) * 2015-12-29 2017-06-29 International Business Machines Corporation Means to process hierarchical json data for use in a flat structure data system
US10984184B2 (en) * 2018-12-11 2021-04-20 Change Healthcare Holdings, Llc Maintenance of a metafile using spreadsheet software
US10983969B2 (en) 2019-02-18 2021-04-20 Boomi, Inc. Methods and systems for mapping flattened structure to relationship preserving hierarchical structure
US11748560B2 (en) 2020-08-14 2023-09-05 Kyndryl, Inc. Converting between tabular and structured data formats
US11537785B1 (en) * 2021-07-14 2022-12-27 Sap Se Spreadsheet flat data extractor
US20230034198A1 (en) * 2021-07-28 2023-02-02 Red Hat, Inc. Using dynamic data structures for storing data objects
WO2023110084A1 (en) * 2021-12-15 2023-06-22 Telefonaktiebolaget Lm Ericsson (Publ) Intelligent plane network functions for generating and sharing data across applications and network functions

Family Cites Families (29)

* Cited by examiner, † Cited by third party
Publication number Priority date Publication date Assignee Title
US5634053A (en) * 1995-08-29 1997-05-27 Hughes Aircraft Company Federated information management (FIM) system and method for providing data site filtering and translation for heterogeneous databases
US5767854A (en) * 1996-09-27 1998-06-16 Anwar; Mohammed S. Multidimensional data display and manipulation system and methods for using same
US6487566B1 (en) 1998-10-05 2002-11-26 International Business Machines Corporation Transforming documents using pattern matching and a replacement language
US6480865B1 (en) 1998-10-05 2002-11-12 International Business Machines Corporation Facility for adding dynamism to an extensible markup language
US6480860B1 (en) 1999-02-11 2002-11-12 International Business Machines Corporation Tagged markup language interface with document type definition to access data in object oriented database
US6418446B1 (en) 1999-03-01 2002-07-09 International Business Machines Corporation Method for grouping of dynamic schema data using XML
US6476833B1 (en) 1999-03-30 2002-11-05 Koninklijke Philips Electronics N.V. Method and apparatus for controlling browser functionality in the context of an application
JP3492247B2 (en) 1999-07-16 2004-02-03 富士通株式会社 XML data search system
US6631497B1 (en) 1999-07-19 2003-10-07 International Business Machines Corporation Binding data from data source to cells in a spreadsheet
US6502112B1 (en) 1999-08-27 2002-12-31 Unisys Corporation Method in a computing system for comparing XMI-based XML documents for identical contents
US6366299B1 (en) * 2000-02-21 2002-04-02 Verizon Laboratories Inc. Multidimensional information visualization using attribute rods
CA2405893A1 (en) * 2000-04-11 2001-11-01 Informatica Corporation Xml flattener
US7191394B1 (en) 2000-06-21 2007-03-13 Microsoft Corporation Authoring arbitrary XML documents using DHTML and XSLT
WO2002005065A2 (en) * 2000-07-11 2002-01-17 Juice Software, Inc. A method and system for integrating network-based functionality into productivity applications and documents
JP2002032263A (en) 2000-07-13 2002-01-31 Atl Systems:Kk Connecting method between systems using xml file with different structure
US6502101B1 (en) * 2000-07-13 2002-12-31 Microsoft Corporation Converting a hierarchical data structure into a flat data structure
JP2002151734A (en) * 2000-09-04 2002-05-24 Sharp Corp Light emitting diode
US6684222B1 (en) * 2000-11-09 2004-01-27 Accenture Llp Method and system for translating data associated with a relational database
JP2002207721A (en) 2001-01-11 2002-07-26 Axis Software Kk Means for converting two-dimensional data for hierarchical structure data
US7853553B2 (en) * 2001-03-26 2010-12-14 Siebel Systems, Inc. Engine for converting data from a source format to a destination format using user defined mappings
US7165239B2 (en) * 2001-07-10 2007-01-16 Microsoft Corporation Application program interface for network software platform
JP3773426B2 (en) * 2001-07-18 2006-05-10 株式会社日立製作所 Preprocessing method and preprocessing system in data mining
US20030172368A1 (en) * 2001-12-26 2003-09-11 Elizabeth Alumbaugh System and method for autonomously generating heterogeneous data source interoperability bridges based on semantic modeling derived from self adapting ontology
US20030187716A1 (en) * 2002-03-29 2003-10-02 International Business Machines Corporation Method and visual user interface for interactive visual analysis of business expenditure
US6917935B2 (en) * 2002-06-26 2005-07-12 Microsoft Corporation Manipulating schematized data in a database
US7428697B2 (en) * 2002-07-31 2008-09-23 Hewlett-Packard Development Company, L.P. Preserving content or attribute information during conversion from a structured document to a computer program
US7395255B2 (en) * 2002-09-13 2008-07-01 General Motors Corporation Data management system having a common database infrastructure
US7490097B2 (en) * 2003-02-20 2009-02-10 Microsoft Corporation Semi-structured data storage schema selection
US7003722B2 (en) * 2003-02-28 2006-02-21 Microsoft Corporation Method and system for converting a schema-based hierarchical data structure into a flat data structure

Also Published As

Publication number Publication date
MXPA04001934A (en) 2005-09-08
US20040172590A1 (en) 2004-09-02
TW200506662A (en) 2005-02-16
AU2004200627B2 (en) 2010-06-24
CA2458499A1 (en) 2004-08-28
KR20040077573A (en) 2004-09-04
MY143418A (en) 2011-05-13
JP4104565B2 (en) 2008-06-18
BRPI0400362A (en) 2004-12-28
PL365651A1 (en) 2004-09-06
EP1452974A2 (en) 2004-09-01
RU2378690C2 (en) 2010-01-10
KR100898476B1 (en) 2009-05-21
US7003722B2 (en) 2006-02-21
AU2004200627A1 (en) 2004-09-16
US8051373B2 (en) 2011-11-01
RU2004105879A (en) 2005-08-10
ZA200401487B (en) 2005-06-29
JP2004265405A (en) 2004-09-24
EP1452974A3 (en) 2006-04-05
CN1558348A (en) 2004-12-29
US20060117251A1 (en) 2006-06-01

Similar Documents

Publication Publication Date Title
CA2458499C (en) Method and system for converting a schema-based hierarchical data structure into a flat data structure
US6502101B1 (en) Converting a hierarchical data structure into a flat data structure
US8086959B2 (en) Method and system for inferring a schema from a hierarchical data structure for use in a spreadsheet
US7017112B2 (en) Importing and exporting markup language data in a spreadsheet application document
US5893125A (en) Non-modal database system with methods for incremental maintenance
US7370271B2 (en) Methods and apparatus for generating a spreadsheet report template
US8738667B2 (en) Mapping of data from XML to SQL
US7089491B2 (en) System and method for enhancing XML schemas
US20080098018A1 (en) Secondary lazy-accessible serialization of electronic content
JP2004240954A (en) Method for presenting hierarchical data
US20070143331A1 (en) Apparatus, system, and method for generating an IMS hierarchical database description capable of storing XML documents valid to a given XML schema
US20020152221A1 (en) Code generator system for digital libraries
US8005785B2 (en) Apparatus and method for routing composite objects to a report server
US20100241950A1 (en) Xpath-based display of a paginated xml document
US7979792B2 (en) Method and computer-readable medium for providing page and table formatting services
US9411792B2 (en) Document order management via binary tree projection
US7873902B2 (en) Transformation of versions of reports
WO2010147453A1 (en) System and method for designing a gui for an application program
Farfán et al. 2LP: A double-lazy XML parser
KR20020057709A (en) XML builder

Legal Events

Date Code Title Description
EEER Examination request
MKLA Lapsed

Effective date: 20210831

MKLA Lapsed

Effective date: 20200224