Platt Hierarki

Sammanfattning

The relational database model was defined in the 1970?s and is the dominating database type today. The main difference between data from a relational database and a hierarchical data structure is that the relational database stores records in tables. The records have no particular order, but can include links in terms of relationships with other records. A hierarchical structure organizes data in the form of a tree structure and can for an example be found in organizational structures in which different levels involves different responsibilities.

If the data stored in a relational database is to be presented in a hierarchically, a conversion of the data structure is required. The intention of this paper is to describe how such a conversion can be performed.

To investigate the conversion methods, case studies has been conducted on the basis of a specific organization’s hierarchical structure. Web based prototypes were developed in Silverlight to evaluate the conversion of a hierarchical structure, based on the organization that was represented in a relational database. Existing tools were used in order to extract data from a database and transfer data in a client-server architecture.

The result is a framework for the conversion of relational data into hierarchical structure and describes the process step by step. A conversion process includes the design of the database source, extraction and transfer of data to a web client and the algorithm for performing the conversion into a tree structure.