| 摘要 |
The present invention describes a system and method for maintaining databases. An ordered genealogy table is provided for implying hierarchical relations on an as-needed basis. The invention further provides relational search capabilities to a hierarchical database. The invention also allows a database that is maintained on a computer system in a hierarchical structure to be converted into a database that is maintained in a relational structure, and vice versa. In addition, the invention may be used with currently existing hierarchical and relational databases. The invention provides a plurality of records; a unique identifier for each of the records; a database for maintaining the records; and a table which contains one or more table entries, wherein each table entry contains a genealogy including the unique identifier of a particular record and the unique identifiers of any records that can be considered ancestors of that particular record in a hierarchy, and wherein the table entries are sorted in collating sequence according to their genealogies.
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