Appeal No. 1996-0331
Application 08/239,942
BACKGROUND
The subject matter on appeal is directed to the field of database systems, and in particular, to a
method of altering an existing data structure in a database system using a change definition language
(CDL) (specification, page 2). A CDL is a form of structured query language (SQL), which is a high-
level programming language used to access and define data tables, objects, and indexes of the
database. Database software typically includes a catalog of definitions for defining the tables and
indexes. As indicated in the specification at page 3, it is common that a database system frequently
needs to be updated, debugged, or expanded. Appellants have recognized (see specification, page 4)
that a problem exists in the prior art that database definitions used by design and development people
are different from those used by production-level programmers. To solve this problem, of passing
changes from design and development to production and visa versa, appellants provide a CDL which
uses a SQL to allow changes to be made to existing definitions at all phases of the development and
production cycle (see specification, page 5). In general, appellants’ invention recited in independent
claims 1 and 31 on appeal seeks to provide a method of altering an existing data structure in a database
system which uses a change definition language based on a structured query language. As further
discussed, infra, we find that the applied reference to Hawkins fails to teach or suggest at least this
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