(12) United States Patent ao) Patent No.: us 6,363,394 Bi
Rajarajan et al. (45) Date of Patent: Mar. 26,2002
(54) AUTO-GENERATION OF TABLE NEIGHBORHOODS
(75) Inventors: Vij Rajarajan, Issaquah; Casey L.
Kiernan, Kirkland, both of WA (US)
(73) Assignee: Microsoft Corporation, Redmond, WA (US)
( * ) Notice: Subject to any disclaimer, the term of this patent is extended or adjusted under 35 U.S.C. 154(b) by 0 days.
(21) Appl. No.: 09/272,016
(22) Filed: Mar. 18, 1999
(51) Int. CI.7 G06F 17/30
(52) U.S. CI 707/102; 707/4; 707/103
(58) Field of Search 707/1, 2, 4, 102,
707/101, 103, 203, 204; 705/35; 345/334
(56) References Cited
U.S. PATENT DOCUMENTS
4,961,139 A * 10/1990 Hong et al 707/1
5,428,776 A * 6/1995 Rothfield 707/1
5,495,567 A * 2/1996 Iizawa et al 345/334
5,752,018 A * 5/1998 Sheffield 707/2
5,778,390 A * 7/1998 Nelson et al 707/204
5,950,210 A * 9/1999 Nelson 707/203
A system for automatically generating table neighborhoods comprises a database designer which automatically generates a database diagram for a selected table. The database designer automatically compiles a set of tables having the desired relation to a selected table. The desired level of relation may be several levels removed from the selected table, in which case, the database designer searches multiple levels for tables to be included in the database diagram. Thereafter, the database designer gathers format data for the selected table and the set of tables having the desired relation to the selected table. Finally, the database designer displays the selected table, the tables in the set of tables having the desired relation to the selected table, and the relationships between these tables.
21 Claims, 10 Drawing Sheets
