U.S. PATENT NUMBER 5,826,259
Easily expandable data processing and method
- Effective Filing Date: May 21, 1990
- Patent Issue Date: October 20, 1998
A uniform system of entity and relationship identifiers that include Entity Type as a key component.
The Prior Art required software developers to develop complex code to handle their application’s specific entity and relationship keys. This locked their business functionality code to a specific data model design inside hand coded programs - which was both a time consuming and error prone methodology.
Note: having an entity type stored within the entity identifier is essential to support relationship categories.
Having all entities and / or relationships use the same format of identifier (i.e., the same key size and format) simplifies and enhances relationship processing code without the complication of having to deal with custom primary and foreign keys.
Software applications that require flexible and powerful relationship management capabilities.