TECHNIQUE FOR PROVIDING A UNIVERSAL QUERY FOR MULTIPLE DIFFERENT DATABASES

A technique for permitting a client in a client/server computing environment to query a plurality of databases for desired data utilizing a single query sent over a network one time. The single query need not be written in the syntax for the target database, but includes the names of the database and table within the database which contains the desired data. The query is sent from the client over the network via a specified socket, and is received by servers connected to the network which are listening to the specified socket. Each server includes code which determines if the desired data is present in a database which is associated therewith. If so, the server code generates an appropriate query for its associated database, retrieves the desired data from the database and forwards the data to the client over the network. If the data is not present in the associated database, the server preferably informs the client that the data is not present in its associated database, and the client makes a record of the responses from the servers.