Accessing datasets

Abstract

A method of accessing a dataset to fulfil a query over an intended audience is provided. A user interface comprises input means for a user to select an intended audience dataset from a plurality of datasets which the user has permission to access. The user interface is configured to receive from the user a query defining an intended operation to be performed on entries of the intended audience dataset to generate the target audience. The query is received from the user and a supporting candidate dataset is selected. It is determined whether the selected supporting candidate dataset comprises entries which enhance the entries of the audience dataset for performing the intended operation. If so, the candidate dataset and the audience dataset are selected to contribute to performance of the operation. If not, a next candidate dataset is selected, and the determining step is repeated.

1 . A method of accessing a dataset to fulfil a query over an intended audience, the method comprising:
 generating a user interface to be rendered on a display of a computer device, the user interface comprising input means for a user to select at least one intended audience dataset from a plurality of datasets which the user has permission to access, each dataset having a plurality of data entries, each data entry having at least one key, the user interface being configured to receive from the user a query defining an intended operation to be performed on entries of the intended audience dataset to generate the target audience;   receiving the query from the user;   selecting at least one supporting candidate dataset from a plurality of candidate supporting datasets;   determining whether the selected supporting candidate dataset comprises entries which enhance the entries of the audience dataset for performing the intended operation; and   if so, selecting the candidate dataset and the audience dataset to contribute to performance of the operation and   if not, selecting a next candidate dataset from the plurality of supporting candidate datasets and repeating the determining step.   
     
     
         2 . A method according to  claim 1 , wherein the intended operation defines a join intent on the intended audience dataset and at least one further one of the plurality of datasets which the user has permission to access. 
     
     
         3 . A method according to  claim 2 , comprising generating on the user interface one or more of:
 a visual representation of the join intent;   a visual representation of the application of the join intent with a further one of the datasets;   for a plurality of different further datasets, a respective visual representation of the application of the join intent with the respective further dataset   a visual representation of results of the filtering operation;   a respective icon visually representing the respective datasets; and   a visual indicator representing the status of the results of the data aggregation, the visual indicator comprising: a first indication of the number of entries in the target audience having an attribute matching the filtering expression; a second indication of a total number of entries in the target audience having an attribute not matching the filtering expression; and a third indication of the number of entries in the target audience not having an attribute matching the filtering expression.   
     
     
         4 . A method according to  claim 1 , comprising configuring the user interface to receive a user indication of join intent. 
     
     
         5 . A method according to  claim 2 , wherein the join intent is a set operation optionally selected from one or more of an exclude operation, a union operation and an intersection operation. 
     
     
         6 . A method according to  claim 1 , wherein the at least one supporting candidate dataset comprises one or more of: an enrichment dataset storing attribute information for at least one of the entries in the target audience; a via dataset storing associations between keys of a type present in the target audience and keys of a type present in a further dataset to be joined with the audience dataset, or associations between keys of a type present in the target audience and keys of a type present in an enrichment dataset. 
     
     
         7 . A method according to  claim 1 , wherein enhancing the audience entries comprises adding to the number of entries in the audience from the selected supporting dataset. 
     
     
         8 . A method according to  claim 1 , wherein the intended operation is a filtering operation on attributes associated with entries. 
     
     
         9 . A method according to  claim 1 , wherein the user interface is configured to receive an aggregation expression for aggregating the result entries. 
     
     
         10 . A method according to  claim 1 , comprising generating on the user interface one or more of:
 a visual representation of the join intent;   a visual representation of the application of the join intent with a further one of the datasets;   for a plurality of different further datasets, a respective visual representation of the application of the join intent with the respective further dataset   a visual representation of results of the filtering operation;   a respective icon visually representing the respective datasets; and   a visual indicator representing the status of the results of the data aggregation, the visual indicator comprising: a first indication of the number of entries in the target audience having an attribute matching the filtering expression; a second indication of a total number of entries in the target audience having an attribute not matching the filtering expression; and a third indication of the number of entries in the target audience not having an attribute matching the filtering expression.   
     
     
         11 . A method according to  claim 10 , comprising receiving user input confirming selection of one of the further datasets, and using the confirmed further dataset and the audience dataset to contribute to performance of the operation. 
     
     
         12 . A method according to  claim 10 , wherein the visual indicator has visually distinct regions identifying relative proportions of the first, second and third indications. 
     
     
         13 . A method according to  claim 1 , wherein each of the candidate supporting datasets has a user-defined quality metric, and said selecting at least one supporting candidate datasets is based on the user-defined quality metric, the user-defined quality metric indicating a value of the at least one key and/or a category of each candidate supporting dataset when used to enhance the entries in the target audience for which the intended operation is to be performed. 
     
     
         14 . A method according to  claim 1 , comprising applying result entries resulting from performance of the intended operation to an identity database holding raw identifiers of entries in the intended audience. 
     
     
         15 . A method according to  claim 1 , comprising applying result entries resulting from performance of the intended operation to an additional audience dataset prior to aggregating the result entries. 
     
     
         16 . A method according to  claim 15 , comprising using a query expression for aggregating results when accessing the additional audience dataset. 
     
     
         17 . A method according to  claim 16  wherein the operation comprises a data aggregation operation to be performed on the audience and selected candidate supporting database. 
     
     
         18 . A method according to  claim 2  comprising executing a data aggregation algorithm which carries out the steps of:
 selecting one or more of the candidate datasets according to optimisation criteria based on at least one quality metric for the data aggregation operation pertaining to the join intent; 
 searching the at least one audience data set or one or more selected ones of the candidate datasets using at least one first expression to obtain a filtering set of entries matching the at least one first expression; 
 applying identifiers only of the filtering set of entries to one or more of the selected candidate datasets to search amongst the filtering set of entries only for result entries and aggregating the result entries; 
 determining the value of the at least one quality metric based on the aggregated result entries; and 
 comparing the value of the at least one quality metric with a threshold to provide an output indication of quality of the data aggregation operation. 
 
     
     
         19 . A computer program product comprising computer-executable instructions stored on a non-transitory storage medium configured so as when executed by one or more processing units to perform a method of accessing a dataset to fulfil a query over an intended audience, the method comprising:
 generating a user interface to be rendered on a display of a computer device, the user interface comprising input means for a user to select at least one intended audience dataset from a plurality of datasets which the user has permission to access, each dataset having a plurality of data entries, each data entry having at least one key, the user interface being configured to receive from the user a query defining an intended operation to be performed on entries of the intended audience dataset to generate the target audience;   receiving the query from the user;   selecting at least one supporting candidate dataset from a plurality of candidate supporting datasets;   determining whether the selected supporting candidate dataset comprises entries which enhance the entries of the audience dataset for performing the intended operation; and   if so, selecting the candidate dataset and the audience dataset to contribute to performance of the operation and   if not, selecting a next candidate dataset from the plurality of supporting candidate datasets and repeating the determining step.   
     
     
         20 . A computing device for accessing a dataset to fulfil a query over an intended audience, the computing device comprising:
 a display; and   a controller configured to:   generate a user interface to be rendered on the display, the user interface comprising input means for a user to select at least one intended audience dataset from a plurality of datasets which the user has permission to access, each dataset having a plurality of data entries, each data entry having at least one key, the user interface being configured to receive from the user a query defining an intended operation to be performed on entries of the intended audience dataset to generate the target audience;   receive the query from the user;   selecting at least one supporting candidate dataset from a plurality of candidate supporting datasets;   determine whether the selected supporting candidate dataset comprises entries which enhance the entries of the audience dataset for performing the intended operation; and   if so, select the candidate dataset and the audience dataset to contribute to performance of the operation and   if not, select a next candidate dataset from the plurality of supporting candidate datasets and repeating the determining step.