PROCESSING PRECOMPUTED VIEWS
A user database query (90) on precomputation strategy effectivenes is responded to by defining, based upon user database query history, an analysis space consisting of a subset of all possible views for the database (104), and by characterizing the views in the analysis space. A structure is imposed on an analysis space consisting of a subset of all possible views for the database based upon the capabilities of a query rewriting facility (92), and the views in the analysis space is characterized. A cost formula is applied to the analysis space based upon a user-defined subset of the data contained in the database. The analysis space includes a candidate view composed of a combination of two or more constituent views is defined. A user query on the database is analyzed, and a candidate view based upon the user query is generated. A system for answering user queries on a database stored on a server includes a query processing system (18) integrated into the server and configured to respond to user queries, and a query processing system integrated into the server and configured to process precomputed results (38) of user queries on the database.