Systems and user interfaces for dynamic and interactive simultaneous querying of multiple data stores

Abstract

Embodiments of the present disclosure relate to a computer system and interactive user interfaces configured to enable efficient and rapid access to multiple different data sources simultaneously, and by an unskilled user. The unskilled user may provide simple and intuitive search terms to the system, and the system may thereby automatically query multiple related data sources of different types and present results to the user. Data sources in the system may be efficiently interrelated with one another by way of a mathematical graph in which nodes represent data sources and/or portions of data sources (for example, database tables), and edges represent relationships among the data sources and/or portions of data sources. For example, edges may indicate relationships between particular rows and/or columns of various tables. The table graph enables a compact and memory efficient storage of relationships among various disparate data sources.

What is claimed is: 
     
         1 . A computer system configured to link data tables, the computer system comprising:
 one or more hardware computer processors configured to execute code in order to cause the one or more hardware computer processors to:
 provide a user interface configured to display at least a first panel and a second panel, wherein:
 the first panel is configured to provide selectable indications of data tables, 
 the second panel is configured to provide visual indications of relationships among data tables, and 
 in the second panel, tables are indicated by nodes and relationships between tables are indicated by edges connecting nodes; 
 
 in response to a user input from a user selecting a first data table in the first panel, add a first node to the second panel, wherein the first node represents the first data table; 
 in response to another user input from the user selecting a second data table in the first panel, add a second node to the second panel, wherein the second node represents the second data table; and 
 provide, in the second panel of the user interface, a first edge connecting the first node and the second node, wherein the first edge indicates a relationship between the first data table and the second data table. 
   
     
     
         2 . The computer system of  claim 1 , wherein the user interface is configured to simultaneously display at least the first panel and the second panel, and wherein the user input comprises a selection and drag of a visual representation of the first data table from the first panel to the second panel. 
     
     
         3 . The computer system of  claim 1 , wherein the first edge further indicates a relationship between a field of the first data table and a field of the second data table. 
     
     
         4 . The computer system of  claim 1 , wherein the first data table and the second data table are of different types. 
     
     
         5 . The computer system of  claim 1 , wherein the one or more hardware computer processors are configured to execute code in order to cause the one or more hardware computer processors to further:
 provide the first edge in response to yet another user input indicating a relationship between the first data table and the second data table.   
     
     
         6 . The computer system of  claim 1 , wherein the first node, second node, and first edge provided in the second panel are representative of a table graph. 
     
     
         7 . The computer system of  claim 6 , wherein the table graph is executable in order to access data stored in the first data table and subsequently data in the second data table based at least partly on the data stored in the first data table. 
     
     
         8 . The computer system of  claim 1 , wherein the one or more hardware computer processors are configured to execute code in order to cause the one or more hardware computer processors to further:
 in response to yet another user input selecting a third data table as indicated in the first panel, add a third node to the second panel that represents the third data table; and   provide, in the second panel of the user interface, a second edge connecting the third node and at least one of the first node or the second node, wherein the second edge indicates a relationship between the third data table and at least one of the first data table or the second data table corresponding to the at least one of the first node or the second node.   
     
     
         9 . The computer system of  claim 1 , wherein the one or more hardware computer processors are configured to execute code in order to cause the one or more hardware computer processors to further:
 in response to yet another user input, execute a search query based on the relationship between the first data table and the second data table represented by the first edge.   
     
     
         10 . The computer system of  claim 1 , wherein a type of the relationship between the first data table and the second data table is indicated in the second panel by way of the first edge. 
     
     
         11 . A computer-implemented method for linking data tables, the method comprising:
 by one or more hardware processors executing program instructions:
 providing a user interface configured to display at least a first panel and a second panel, wherein:
 the first panel is configured to provide selectable indications of data tables, 
 the second panel is configured to provide visual indications of relationships among data tables, and 
 
 in the second panel, tables are indicated by nodes and relationships between tables are indicated by edges connecting nodes; 
 in response to a user input from a user selecting a first data table in the first panel, adding a first node to the second panel, wherein the first node represents the first data table; 
 in response to another user input from the user selecting a second data table in the first panel, adding a second node to the second panel, wherein the second node represents the second data table; and 
 providing, in the second panel of the user interface, a first edge connecting the first node and the second node, wherein the first edge indicates a relationship between the first data table and the second data table. 
   
     
     
         12 . The computer-implemented method of  claim 11 , wherein the user interface is configured to simultaneously display at least the first panel and the second panel, and wherein the user input comprises a selection and drag of a visual representation of the first data table from the first panel to the second panel. 
     
     
         13 . The computer-implemented method of  claim 11 , wherein the first edge further indicates a relationship between a field of the first data table and a field of the second data table. 
     
     
         14 . The computer-implemented method of  claim 11 , wherein the first data table and the second data table are of different types. 
     
     
         15 . The computer-implemented method of  claim 11  further comprising:
 by the one or more hardware processors executing program instructions:
 providing the first edge in response to yet another user input indicating a relationship between the first data table and the second data table. 
 
 
     
     
         16 . The computer-implemented method of  claim 11 , wherein the first node, second node, and first edge provided in the second panel are representative of a table graph. 
     
     
         17 . The computer-implemented method of  claim 16 , wherein the table graph is executable in order to access data stored in the first data table and subsequently data in the second data table based at least partly on the data stored in the first data table. 
     
     
         18 . The computer-implemented method of  claim 11  further comprising:
 by the one or more hardware processors executing program instructions:
 in response to yet another user input selecting a third data table as indicated in the first panel, adding a third node to the second panel that represents the third data table; and 
 providing, in the second panel of the user interface, a second edge connecting the third node and at least one of the first node or the second node, wherein the second edge indicates a relationship between the third data table and at least one of the first data table or the second data table corresponding to the at least one of the first node or the second node. 
 
 
     
     
         19 . The computer-implemented method of  claim 11  further comprising:
 by the one or more hardware processors executing program instructions:
 in response to yet another user input, executing a search query based on the relationship between the first data table and the second data table represented by the first edge. 
 
 
     
     
         20 . The computer-implemented method of  claim 11 , wherein a type of the relationship between the first data table and the second data table is indicated in the second panel by way of the first edge.