JP4787935B2 - Database search support method, apparatus and program thereof - Google Patents

Description

  The present invention relates to a database (DB) search technique, and more particularly to a technique for easily generating and executing a search request procedure for a DB even for a user who has little knowledge about DB structure and DB operation language.

In order to efficiently construct and maintain network facilities, a mechanism that can easily acquire necessary facility information when an operator or the like is required is important. However, at present, the search conditions are limited by the business support system (OpS), and it is difficult to flexibly cope with new search needs that occur according to various situations. Even if the system is changed in response to new needs, it is difficult for the operator side to have knowledge of the DB operation language and DB schema, etc., and it is not easy for the developer side in terms of labor and development costs. It was. In view of this, for example, it has been considered to use a method for easily obtaining related information of a search item designated by a user as a search result in DB search as described in Patent Document 1.
Japanese Patent No. 3601456 “Search Item Completion Method and Apparatus in Database Search, Search Item Completion Program in Database Search, and Storage Medium Stored with Search Item Supplement Program in Database Search”

However, in network facility management information,
-Multiple relations are defined between the elements that constitute the system (here network equipment) or the entities that are the concept, and it is difficult to uniquely generate a search request procedure (hereinafter referred to as search procedure).
・ Depending on the entity, a relationship that circulates to itself may be defined, requiring a complicated search procedure.
However, it is difficult to solve these problems by the method described in Patent Document 1 above.

  The present invention generates a search procedure uniquely and easily even when multiple relations are defined between entities or when a relation that circulates in itself is defined and a complicated search procedure is required. The purpose is to be able to.

The present invention (Claim 1) is a method for supporting a search for a database by using a computer including at least an input device, a display device, a storage device, and an arithmetic processing device, and the arithmetic processing device of the computer inputs A step of receiving information related to a conditional entity that is an entity that is a search condition and an information that is related to a target entity that is a search target, received from a user via the device, together with information related to the conditional entity and information related to the target entity, Based on the database metadata that contains the database schema information that represents the information related to each entity that constitutes the database to be searched and the information related to each relation stored in the storage device, the condition entity and the target entity are Extract information about complex relationships in a condition-target entities between relations consisting of communicating with that multiple relations, a step of registering in the storage device, information about the condition entity, information about the target entity, the database meta Based on data and information on relations between conditions and target entities, a process for generating a search procedure and storing it in the storage device, and reading the search procedure from the storage device, executing search processing on the search target database, and the result in the database search supporting method for performing the step of presenting to a user via a display device, together with the inclusion of multiplicities information for each relation as database metadata related to reference the self a relation with the particular entity A cyclic relation (provided that the cyclic relation is a one-to-one, one-to-many, or many-to-one relationship if the cyclic relation is composed of a single relation, and the cyclic relation has a plurality of relations) ) Except for many-to-one relations, one-to-many relations, and one-to-many relations, many-to-one relations. If there are multiple relations between the condition and target entity, it will be detected and the relation between the condition and target entity will be composed of the condition entity, the many-to-one relationship, the one-to-many relationship, And relations between conditions and target entities that do not include two or more one-to-many relationships The search procedure is generated by outputting only the instance of the target entity directly related to the instance of the condition entity as a search result by removing the search item from the generation target of the search procedure .

The present invention (Claim 2), in the database search support method according to claim 1, to detect if the entity has a cyclic relation on the relation between the conditions, the target entity is present in the circulating Relations A search procedure that repeats the search is generated.

The present invention (Claim 3), in the database search support method according to claim 1, or relations each relation in the database metadata associated with the relation or lower entity associating the upper entity and the lower entity to the upper entity Include information about the direction of the relation indicating, and if there is an entity with a circular relation on the relation between the condition and the target entity, it will be detected and the search specified by the user in the upward direction or the downward direction will be detected A search procedure that repeats the search along the circulation relation is generated according to a search direction indicating whether the search is performed.

The present invention (Claim 4), in the database search support method according to claim 1, or relations each relation in the database metadata associated with the relation or lower entity associating the upper entity and the lower entity to the upper entity Information about the direction of the relation indicating the relationship, and if an entity having a circular relation exists on the relation between the condition and the target entity, it is detected, and the target entity is associated with the upper direction of the entity having the circular relation. A search procedure that repeats the search along the cyclic relation is generated according to a search direction determined depending on whether the search is associated with the lower direction or the lower direction.

According to the present invention (Claim 5 ), in the database search support method according to Claim 1, a search procedure in a machine-readable format generated in advance is stored in a storage device together with information on a conditional entity and information on a target entity of the search procedure. In addition to accumulating and managing, the retrieval procedure stored and managed is searched based on the information on the conditional entity and the information on the target entity input by the user, and if there is an applicable retrieval procedure, it is reused and executed. Otherwise, a new search procedure is generated and executed.

According to the present invention (Claim 6 ), in the database search support method according to Claim 1, the generated search procedure or the search procedure stored and read in advance in the storage device is executed as it is or before the execution. The search procedure is presented to the user, and the search procedure corrected by the user is executed.

According to the present invention (Claim 7 ), in the database search support method according to Claim 1, the entity name, at least one attribute name of the entity, and all or part of the attribute value are included as information on the conditional entity. If the entity name and all or a part of at least one attribute name of the entity are used as information about the target entity, and the attribute value is not input at the time of receiving information, The user is requested to input the attribute value in an input format corresponding to the attribute value type.

Further, the present invention (claim 8 ) is an apparatus for supporting a search for a database, and registers and stores information on each entity and information on each relation constituting the search target database as an entity management table and a relation management table, respectively. Receives input and various operations of the database metadata management unit and information related to the condition entity that is an entity that is a search condition from the user and information related to the target entity that is an entity to be searched, and the received input information and operation Or a search interface for presenting the processing results in each unit to the user, information on the condition entity and information on the target entity input from the user via the search interface , Database metadata based on the stored entity management table and relationship management table to the management unit, between conditions entity and to associate the target inter-entity comprises a combination of multiple relations complex relationships in a condition-target entities Information related to relations and information related to circular relations are extracted and registered in the database metadata management unit as relation management tables and cyclic relation management tables between condition / target entities respectively, and information related to the condition entities and information related to the target entities and database Entity management table, relation management table, condition / target entity relation management table saved in the metadata management section A search procedure generation unit for generating a search procedure based on the bull and circular relation management table, a search procedure storage unit for storing the search procedure generated by the search procedure generation unit, and a search procedure from the search procedure storage unit A database search support apparatus comprising: a search procedure execution unit that reads and executes a search process on a search target database and presents a result thereof to a user via a search interface; and the database metadata management unit includes: In addition, the database metadata includes multiplicity information of each relation, and in addition to the above, the search procedure generation unit is a relation that a specific entity has and relates to refer to itself as a circular relation (however, The circular relation consists of a single relation The multiplicity is one-to-one, one-to-many, and many-to-one, and when the cyclic relation is referenced through multiple relations, the order of the many-to-one relation and the one-to-many relation , And one-to-many relations and many-to-one relations. ) Except when there are multiple relations between the condition and target entity, it is detected, and the condition / target is composed of the condition entity, the many-to-one relation, the one-to-many relation, and the relation that goes through the target entity in this order. By excluding the relation between entities and the condition / target entity relation that does not include two or more one-to-many relations from the generation target of the search procedure, only the instances of the target entity that are directly related to the condition entity instances are used as the search results. A search procedure to be output is generated .

The present invention (Claim 9 ) is a program for causing a computer to function as each means constituting the apparatus according to Claim 8 .

  These methods, apparatuses, and programs can solve the problems in the prior art.

  According to the present invention, even when a plurality of relations are defined between entities, or when a relation that circulates in itself is defined and a complicated search procedure is required, the search procedure is unique and easy. Can be generated.

  FIG. 1 shows a database search support apparatus according to an example of an embodiment of the present invention. In the figure, 1 is an equipment database (equipment DB), 2 is an equipment database metadata management section (equipment DB metadata management section). 3 is a search interface (search IF), 4 is a search procedure generation unit, 5 is a search procedure storage unit, and 6 is a search procedure execution unit.

  The facility DB 1 is a relational database that manages a database to be searched, here, network facility information.

  The equipment DB metadata management unit 2 registers and stores information on each entity and information on each relation constituting the equipment DB 1 as an entity management table and a relation management table, respectively. In addition, the facility DB metadata management unit 2 registers and stores the condition / target entity relation management table, the circulation relation management table, and the search procedure management table generated by the search procedure generation unit 4.

  The search IF 3 receives input information from an operator (user), that is, information on a condition entity that is an entity that is a search condition, information on a target entity that is an entity that is a search target, and various operations, and the received input information And the operation result or the processing result in each unit is presented (displayed) to the user.

The search procedure generation unit 4 uses the condition management information and the relation management table stored in the facility DB metadata management unit 2 based on the information on the condition entity and the information on the target entity input from the user via the search IF 3. extract information about information and circulation relationships regarding conditions, target inter-entity relations are complex relationships comprising a combination of multiple relations to associate between entities and target entity, between the respective conditions, the target entity relationship management table and circulation While registering in the equipment DB metadata management unit 2 as a relation management table, information on the condition entity and information on the target entity and equipment DB metadata management 2. Information on search procedures based on the entity management table, relation management table, condition / target entity relation management table and circular relation management table (including registered search procedure management tables, if any) stored in FIG. Search procedure information) is generated and registered in the search procedure storage unit 5, and a search procedure management table related to the search procedure information is registered in the facility DB metadata management unit 2.

  The search procedure storage unit 5 registers and stores the search procedure information generated by the search procedure generation unit 4.

  The search procedure execution unit 6 reads the search procedure information from the search procedure storage unit 5, executes a search process on the facility DB 1, and presents the result to the user via the search IF 3.

  The device described above can also be realized on a well-known computer. At this time, the facility DB 1, the facility DB metadata management unit 2, and the search procedure storage unit 5 are configured by a storage device such as a hard disk in the computer. The search IF 3 is composed of an input device such as a keyboard and mouse in a computer and a display device such as a liquid crystal display and a CRT. The search procedure generation unit 4 and the search procedure execution unit 6 will be described later together with a CPU, a memory and the like in the computer. It is configured by a program shown in flowcharts in FIGS.

  Next, the outline of the database search method according to the present invention will be described with reference to the apparatus configuration diagram of FIG. 1 and the flowchart of FIG.

<S1> Conditional Entity Information / Target Entity Information Acceptance The search IF3 accepts input information from the user, here information regarding the conditional entity and information regarding the target entity, and temporarily stores them in a storage device (not shown). Here, as the information related to the conditional entity (conditional entity information), it is conceivable to input the entity name, at least one attribute name of the entity and all or part of the attribute value, and the attribute value at the time of executing the search. In this case, it is possible to omit the attribute value input here. In addition, as information on the target entity (target entity information), it is conceivable to input an entity name and all or a part of at least one attribute name of the entity, and target all attribute values of the entity. When doing so, the input of attribute names can be omitted.

<S2> Condition / Target Entity Relation and Circular Relation Extraction The search procedure generation unit 4 includes the condition entity information and target entity information input via the search IF 3 and a DB stored in advance in the facility DB metadata management unit 2 metadata, i.e. based on the relationship management table of entity management table and information about each relation consisting of information about each entity constituting the equipment DB1, consisting of a combination of conditions entity and the number of multiple of to associate the target inter-entity relations complex A relation between a condition and a target entity that is a general relation, and a relation that an entity on the relation has so as to refer to itself as a circular relation (If the relation is composed of a single relation, the multiplicity is limited to one-to-one, one-to-many, and many-to-one. Also, if the relation is referenced through a plurality of relations, (Excluding those that are routed in the order of many-to-one relationships, one-to-many relationships, and one-to-many relationships, those that are routed in the order of many-to-one relationships). It is registered and stored in the facility DB metadata management unit 2 as a relation management table and a circulation relation management table. When a plurality of condition / target entity relations are extracted, the search procedure generation unit 4 selects the input / output entity relations.

<S3> Search Procedure Generation The search procedure generation unit 4 includes the input conditional entity information and target entity information, an entity management table and a relationship management table stored in advance in the facility DB metadata management unit 2, and an facility DB meta Based on the relation management table and the circular relation management table stored in the data management unit 2 and the relation management table (including any registered search procedure management table), information related to the search procedure (search procedure information) ) Is stored in the search procedure storage unit 5 and a search procedure management table related to the search procedure information is registered and stored in the facility DB metadata management unit 2. Further, in response to a user request, the generated search procedure information can be presented to the user via the search IF 3 to accept corrections.

<S4> Search Procedure Execution The search procedure execution unit 6 reads the search procedure information from the search procedure storage unit 5, executes search processing on the facility DB 1 according to the search procedure information, and sends the search result to the user via the search IF3. To present.

  In addition, when the user omits the input of the attribute value when inputting the conditional entity information, the user can be requested to input the value. At this time, the input format can be changed according to the type of the attribute value. For example, if the value type is a character string, it is possible to input in the OR format. If the value type is an integer, in addition to the OR format, it is possible to input in the range specification format using equal signs and inequality signs. be able to.

  FIG. 3 shows an example data structure of an equipment DB to be searched by an entity relationship diagram (ER diagram). Here, a rack, a shelf accommodated in the rack, a core wire (optical fiber) accommodated in the shelf, and an ONU (Optical Network Unit) connected to the end of the core wire are defined.

  FIG. 4 shows an example of a management table related to the facility DB 1 created in advance and stored in the facility DB metadata management unit 2. In the entity management table, information (attribute name, attribute type, attribute type) regarding the entity ID of each entity and its attributes is managed. Further, in the relationship management table, the relationship ID of each relationship (when two related entities are a and b, “(R) (entity ID of entity a) − (entity ID of entity b)” is expressed ( However, in actuality, parentheses “(” and “)” are not described.)) And information related to the attributes (entity a multiplicity, entity b multiplicity, direction, entity aID, entity bID, entity a attribute name, entity b Attribute name) is managed.

  Here, the attributes “entity a multiplicity” and “entity b multiplicity” in the relationship management table (1) are the multiplicity (“1”, “multiple”, etc.) of the two entities a and b associated in each relation. ). For example, the multiplicity of the “shelf entity” corresponding to the entity a in the relation with the relationship ID “R shelf-rack” is “many”, and the multiplicity of the “shelf entity” corresponding to the entity b is “1”. The attribute “direction” indicates whether the entity b hits the upper entity or the lower entity when viewed from the entity a. For example, the “shelf entity” corresponding to the entity “b” when viewed from the “shelf entity” corresponding to the entity “a” is defined as the upper entity because it is an entity including itself, and the “shelf entity” corresponding to the entity “a” is the upper The “core entity” corresponding to the entity b referred to by the core ID is defined as being an upper entity because it is an entity existing on the upstream side of the entity “b”.

  In addition, the attributes “entity aID” and “entity bID” in the relationship management table (2) indicate entity IDs in the two entities a and b associated with each relationship, and the attributes “entity a attribute name” and “entity b” The “attribute name” indicates the entity ID of the reference destination entity in the two entities a and b associated with each relation.

  As for the “direction” attribute in the relationship management table (1), when entity b is registered as “upper” when viewed from entity a, entity a is recognized as “lower” when viewed from entity b. When the former is registered as “lower”, the latter is recognized as “upper”.

  FIG. 5 is a flowchart of the relation / target entity relation and circular relation extraction process in the search procedure generation unit 4, and FIG. 6 is generated by the above process in the search procedure generation unit 4 and registered in the facility DB metadata management unit 2. -It shows an example of the management table regarding equipment DB1 preserve | saved.

  Hereinafter, with respect to the condition-target entity relation and the cyclic relation extraction process in the search procedure generation unit 4 using these, a specific example, here “shelf entity” as a condition entity for the facility DB 1 having the structure of FIG. The case where “ONU entity” is designated as the target entity will be described in detail as an example.

<S21>
First, the search procedure generation unit 4 extracts a condition / target entity relation based on the input information and DB metadata, and stores the condition / target entity relation management tables (1) and (2) shown in FIG. Register / save in the data management unit 2. Note that here, the cyclic relation of a specific entity is excluded. Specifically, except for the circular relation that the core entity has, the relation of “shelf → core → ONU” (relation ID between condition / target entities: R ′ shelf−core−ONU) and “shelf → mount → The relation “Condition / target entity relation ID: R ′ shelf−mount−core−ONU” is extracted and its condition entity information and target entity information (condition entity ID and target) are extracted in table (1). Entity ID) and relation information (relation ID) constituting them are registered in the table (2).

<S22>
Next, based on the relation management table and the relation management table between conditions / target entities stored in the equipment DB metadata management section 2, the search procedure generation unit 4 sets the condition entity → multiple for each condition / target entity relation. It is determined whether or not the relation is passed in the order of one-to-one relation → one-to-many relation → target entity, and the corresponding one is excluded. Specifically, the relation of “shelf → mount → core → ONU” (relation ID: R ′ shelf−mount−core−ONU) corresponds to this and is excluded. It should be noted that there are other entities and relationships between the conditional entity and the many-to-one relationship, between the many-to-one relationship and the one-to-many relationship, and between the one-to-many relationship and the target entity. Even in this case, this condition is satisfied, and the relation between the condition and the target entity is excluded.

<S23>
Next, based on the DB metadata, the search procedure generation unit 4 extracts the circular relation that the entity on the registered condition / target entity relation has, and the circular relation management table (1) (2) shown in FIG. Is registered and stored in the facility DB metadata management unit 2. Specifically, the circulation relation (circulation relation ID: R ′ core-core) that the “core entity” has is extracted, and the entity information (entity ID) having the relation in the table (1) Relation information (relation ID) constituting them is registered in the table (2).

  FIG. 7 is a flowchart of search procedure generation processing in the search procedure generation unit 4, and FIG. 8 is search procedure management generated by the above-described processing in the search procedure generation unit 4 and registered and stored in the facility DB metadata management unit 2. FIG. 9 shows an example of a table, and FIG. 9 shows an example of a search procedure generated by the above-described processing in the search procedure generation unit 4 and stored in the search procedure storage unit.

  Hereinafter, the search procedure generation processing in the search procedure generation unit 4 will be described in detail using these.

<S31>
First, the search procedure generation unit 4 searches a search procedure management table for managing a search procedure that has been generated previously and stored in the facility DB metadata management unit 2 based on the conditional entity information and the target entity information.

<S32>
Next, the search procedure generation unit 4 determines whether or not the corresponding search procedure exists in the search procedure management table, and if it exists, reads out the corresponding procedure in S33 ′, and executes S34 and subsequent steps. If not, S33 and subsequent steps are performed. Here, if only the entity name matches the condition entity information and the target entity information, and the attribute name etc. do not match, it is possible to process that the corresponding search procedure does not exist, but read the corresponding search procedure It is also possible to automatically modify and use attribute names. This operation may be performed after S1 (condition / target entity information reception) in FIG.

<S33>
Next, the search procedure generation unit 4 generates a search procedure. At this time, a search procedure is generated for each section which is on the relation between the condition and the target entity and is divided by an entity having a cyclic relation. Here, the search procedure is generated in the section from the “shelf entity” that is the condition entity to the “core entity” that has a circular relation, and the section from the “core entity” to the “ONU entity” that is the target entity. The

(1) Section from “shelf entity” to “cardiac entity” First, based on the following search statement template, each entity on the relation between the condition and target entity from “shelf entity” to “cardiac entity” The search sentence is generated by tracing the above in order and generating a search sentence that realizes the combining process with each entity as needed.

select? attributes from? tables
where? conditions
That is, every time you repeat the join? attribute to attribute, variable? Entity name in table, variable? By adding a join condition to conditions, a search statement is generated, and a procedure for executing the search statement is generated in a script format or the like. Specifically, the SQL sentence sql1 in FIG. Procedure is generated. Here, FIG. 9 shows the case where only the entity name “shelf” and the entity attribute name “shelf ID” are input as the conditional entity information, and the entity name “ONU” and the entity attribute name “ONUID” are input as the target entity information. It is an example.

  Next, a search procedure in the circulation relation that the core line has is added. Also in this case, based on the above template, the entity that has the cyclic relation is followed in order from the entity on the cyclic relation, and a search statement that realizes the join processing with each entity is generated as needed, and finally the search that realizes the self-join. A procedure for generating a statement and repeatedly executing the statement is generated in a script format or the like. Specifically, the SQL sentence sql2 in FIG. 9 is generated and 2.3.4.5. Procedure is generated.

  At this time, when generating a search sentence corresponding to the circular relation, it is possible to generate a search sentence in both the upper direction and the lower direction, but in this example, the target entity “ONU entity” "Is associated with the lower direction of the core line (see the relation management table (1) in FIG. 4), a procedure for searching the lower direction with respect to the core line is generated. If the direction between the target entity and the entity having a circular relation is undefined (any direction can be possible), both directions or according to the search direction specified by the user, as shown in FIG. It is also possible to search based on the direction information of the relation management table (1). Here, in the case where the relation for associating the target entity with the entity having the cyclic relation is composed of a plurality of relations, the entire direction is derived from the direction of each relation. For example, in the case where all of the relations are in the upper direction, it is understood that the relation is in the upper direction as a whole.

(2) About the section from the “core entity” to the “ONU entity” The same as in the case of (1), but here there is no circular relation in the “ONU entity” at the end point, Only the search procedure that realizes the joining process from “ONU entity” is generated. Specifically, SQL statements sql3 and 6.7. Procedure is generated.

<S34>
Next, the search procedure generation unit 4 performs the search procedure read from the facility DB metadata management unit 2 or the search procedure generated by understanding as described above via the search IF 3 in response to a request from the user. Present and accept corrections.

<S35>
Next, the search procedure generation unit 4 stores the generated / corrected search procedure in the search procedure storage unit 5, and also stores information related to the search procedure, that is, procedure ID, condition, target entity information, and the like as a search procedure management table. Register and save in the facility DB metadata management unit 2. In addition, when the search direction in the cyclic relation can be any direction, when managing the procedure for each direction, the direction information can be registered in the table.

The block diagram of the database search assistance apparatus concerning an example of Embodiment of this invention The flowchart of the database search assistance method concerning an example of an embodiment of the invention Explanatory drawing which shows the data structure of an example of equipment DB Explanatory drawing which shows an example of the management table regarding equipment DB created beforehand. Flowchart of condition / target entity relation and circular relation extraction process Explanatory drawing which shows an example of the management table regarding equipment DB produced | generated by the relation between condition and object entities, and a cyclic relation extraction process Flow chart of search procedure generation processing Explanatory drawing which shows an example of the search procedure management table produced | generated by the search procedure production | generation process Explanatory drawing which shows an example of the search procedure produced | generated by the search procedure production | generation process

Explanation of symbols

  1: equipment database (maintenance DB), 2: equipment database metadata management section (equipment DB metadata management section), 3: search interface (search IF), 4: search procedure generation section, 5: search procedure storage section, 6 : Search procedure execution department.

Claims (9)

A method for supporting a search for a database using a computer having at least an input device, a display device, a storage device, and an arithmetic processing device,
The arithmetic processing unit of the computer is
Receiving information on a condition entity that is an entity that is a search condition input from a user via an input device and information on a target entity that is an entity that is a search target;
Based on database metadata including database schema information representing information related to each entity constituting the search target database and information related to each relation, which is stored in a storage device in advance together with information related to the conditional entity and information related to the target entity, a step of extracting information about the complex relationships in a condition-target entities between relations consisting of multiple relations to associate between entities and target entity is registered in the storage device,
Generating a search procedure based on information on the condition entity, information on the target entity, database metadata and information on the relation between the condition and the target entity, and storing the search procedure in a storage device;
In a database search support method for reading a search procedure from a storage device, executing a search process on a search target database and presenting the result to a user via a display device ,
A circular relation that includes the multiplicity information of each relation as database metadata and is a relation that a specific entity has and associates it with reference to itself (however, this circular relation consists of a single relation) If the multiplicity is one-to-one, one-to-many, and many-to-one, and the cyclic relation is referenced through multiple relations, then the many-to-one relation and the one-to-many relation Except when there are multiple relations between the condition and target entity, except for those that are routed, and those that are routed in the order of one-to-many relations and many-to-one relations). Go through many-to-one relationships, one-to-many relationships, and target entities in this order. Conditions directly related to the instance of the condition entity by excluding the relation between the condition / target entity composed of relations and the condition / target entity relation that does not include two or more one-to-many relations from the generation target of the search procedure Generate a search procedure that outputs only entity instances as search results .
A database search support method characterized by the above. The database search support method according to claim 1 ,
To detect if the entity has a cyclic relation to conditions, target inter-entity on a relation exists, generates a search procedure to repeat the search along the circulation relations,
A database search support method characterized by the above. The database search support method according to claim 1,
Together with the database metadata each relation is include information about the direction of the relation that determines relationships to associate with the relation or lower entity associating the upper entity and the lower entity to the upper entity, circulatory relations on inter Conditions subject entity relation A search procedure that detects an entity having a search and repeats the search along the circular relation according to a search direction indicating whether the search is performed in the upper direction or the lower direction specified by the user. Generate
A database search support method characterized by the above. The database search support method according to claim 1,
Together with the database metadata each relation is include information about the direction of the relation that determines relationships to associate with the relation or lower entity associating the upper entity and the lower entity to the upper entity, circulatory relations on inter Conditions subject entity relation If there is an entity with, then it will be detected and the target entity will follow the circular relation depending on the direction of the search depending on whether it is associated with the top or bottom direction of the entity with the circular relation. Generate a search procedure that repeats the search,
A database search support method characterized by the above. The database search support method according to claim 1,
Stores and manages a search procedure in a machine-readable format generated in advance in a storage device together with information on a conditional entity and information on a target entity of the search procedure, and based on information on a conditional entity and information on a target entity input by a user Search for the stored / managed search procedure, and re-execute the search procedure if there is one, and generate and execute a new search procedure if not.
A database search support method characterized by the above. The database search support method according to claim 1,
The generated search procedure or the search procedure stored and read in advance in the storage device is directly executed, or the search procedure is presented to the user before execution, and the search procedure corrected by the user is executed.
A database search support method characterized by the above. The database search support method according to claim 1,
The entity name, at least one attribute name that the entity has and all or part of its attribute value are used as information about the conditional entity, and the entity name and at least one attribute name that the entity has are used as information about the target entity. When all or a part of the attribute value is used and the attribute value is not input at the time of information reception, the user is requested to input the attribute value in an input format corresponding to the attribute value type at the time of search execution.
A database search support method characterized by the above. A device that supports searching a database,
A database metadata management unit for registering and storing information on each entity constituting the search target database and information on each relation as an entity management table and a relation management table, respectively;
Accepts input and various operations related to the condition entity that is the search condition entity and information related to the target entity that is the search target, and the received input information and operation, or the processing results in each part. A search interface to present to the user;
Association between condition entity and target entity based on information about condition entity and target entity input by user through search interface and entity management table and relation management table stored in database metadata management unit complex extracts information about information and circulation relations concerning relations in a condition-target inter-entity relations, database metadata as between the respective conditions, the target entity relationship management table and the circulating relationship management table consisting of a combination of multiple relationships that In addition to registering with the management unit, information on the conditional entity, information on the target entity, and database metadata Conserved entity management table processing section, relationship management table, based on the condition-target inter-entity relationship management table and the circulating relationship management table, a search procedure generation unit for generating a search procedure,
A search procedure storage unit for storing the search procedure generated by the search procedure generation unit;
In a database search support device comprising a search procedure execution unit that reads a search procedure from a search procedure storage unit, executes a search process on a search target database, and presents the result to a user via a search interface .
In addition to the above, the database metadata management unit includes multiplicity information of each relation as database metadata,
In addition to the above, the search procedure generation unit, in addition to the above, has a circular relation that is a relation that a specific entity has and associates with reference to itself (however, if the circular relation is constituted by a single relation, When the multiplicity is one-to-one, one-to-many, and many-to-one, and the cyclic relation is referenced through multiple relations, the relation goes through in the order of many-to-one relations and one-to-many relations , And one-to-many relations, and many-to-one relations in the order of many-to-one relations)). Conditions / targets consisting of relations in the order of target relationships, one-to-many relationships, and target entities As a result of the search, only the target entity instances that are directly related to the condition entity instance are excluded from the generation target of the search procedure by excluding the relationship between entities and the condition-target entity relation that does not include two or more one-to-many relationships. Generate search procedure to output ,
A database search support device characterized by that. A program for causing a computer to function as each means constituting the apparatus according to claim 8 .

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