Patent attributes
A method and apparatus are provided for providing access to a remotely located nested object in a distributed database system. For example, a first server receives a request to access a complex database object that is not situated at the first server. When this occurs, the first server sends a second request to a second server. When the first server receives data in response to the second request, it detects whether the received data includes a reference to a nested object. If the first server detects a reference to a nested object, the first server modifies the received data by replacing the reference with a virtual reference to the nested object. The first server stores mapping data that associates the virtual reference with the reference and with an associated server, wherein the associated server is capable of resolving the reference. The first server forwards the modified data to the requestor.
