Search-on-the-fly with merge function
First Claim
1. A method for displaying data comprising:
- determining a database schema for a database;
providing a list of database fields, wherein the list includes a descriptor indicating a data category;
receiving a search selection for a database field on the provided list of database fields;
determining a quantity of entries in the selected database field;
if the quantity exceed a specified amount, truncating data, and displaying the truncated data; and
if the quantity does not exceed the specified amount, displaying content from the database field.
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Accused Products
Abstract
Sort-on-the-Fly/Search-on-the-Fly data retrieval or analysis provides an intuitive means for accessing databases, allowing a user to access or obtain information about data in the database without having to know anything about the database structure. A user selects a desired term, and the method or apparatus delivers all instances of the desired term, even if a specific file or table does not contain the instance. The database need not have a specific file (in a flat database) or a table (in a relational database) of names. The user may specify other criteria, or constraints to narrow the search results, or for other reasons. The method or apparatus then conducts further analysis or searching using this criteria and produces a second result. Further narrowing or broadening of the process is permitted, with search-on-the-fly returning results based on any new constraints. If the returned information would be too large to be conveniently displayed at a terminal, the process executes a truncation routine so that the returned data is easily displayed.
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Citations
41 Claims
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1. A method for displaying data comprising:
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determining a database schema for a database;
providing a list of database fields, wherein the list includes a descriptor indicating a data category;
receiving a search selection for a database field on the provided list of database fields;
determining a quantity of entries in the selected database field;
if the quantity exceed a specified amount, truncating data, and displaying the truncated data; and
if the quantity does not exceed the specified amount, displaying content from the database field. - View Dependent Claims (2)
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3. A method for formatting data for display, comprising:
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generating a list of data fields;
receiving a first data field selection from the list of data fields;
determining a first quantity indicative of a number of entries of the selected data field;
if the first quantity exceeds a specified limit, reducing a size of data to be displayed from the selected data field; and
displaying data from the selected data field. - View Dependent Claims (4, 5, 6, 7, 8, 9, 10, 11, 12, 13, 14, 16, 17, 18, 19)
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15. A method for searching a database, comprising:
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selecting a first search term;
sending the first search term to a search engine;
receiving a first search result;
selecting and sending a second search term to the search engine; and
receiving a second search result, wherein the second search results represents a combination of the first and the second search terms.
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20. A method for searching a database, comprising:
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generating a list of data fields;
receiving a first data field selection from the list of data fields;
receiving a first constraint, wherein the first constraint is related to a data element in a data field; and
receiving one or more subsequent constraints, wherein search results are generated based on a combination of the first and the one or more subsequent constraints. - View Dependent Claims (21, 22, 23, 24, 25, 26, 27, 28, 29, 30, 31)
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32. A method for providing search functions in one or more databases, comprising:
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receiving a first search term;
searching at least a first database using the first search term;
returning a first search result, wherein the first search result comprises a first list of elements in the first database;
receiving a second search term;
conducting a second search by applying the second search term to one of the first list of elements and a second database; and
returning a second search result, wherein the second search results represents a combination of the first and the second search terms. - View Dependent Claims (33, 34, 36, 38, 39, 40)
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35. A method for navigating one or more databases, comprising:
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receiving a first attribute associated with elements in one or more of the databases, wherein the first attribute comprises a first search term;
retuning a first search result based on the first attribute;
receiving a second attribute associated with elements in one or more of the databases, wherein the second attributes comprises a second search term;
generating a second search result based on the second attribute;
merging the first and the second search results to provide a merged search result; and
returning the merged search result.
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37. A method for retrieving data from one or more databases;
- comprising;
receiving a first constraint, wherein the first constraint relates to a first data attribute;
receiving a second constraint, wherein the second constraint relates to a second data attribute;
determining if the first and the second constraint are in a same merge group;
generating a database query based on the determining step; and
returning a first merged search result.
- comprising;
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41. A method for searching one or more databases, wherein each of the one or more databases comprises a plurality of fields, comprising:
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getting a first list of fields of a first database;
applying a first filter to the final list of fields, wherein the final filter comprises a first search constraint;
applying a second filter to the first list of fields, wherein the second filter comprises a second search constraint;
applying a third filter to the first list of filters, wherein the third filter comprises a third search constraint;
removing at least one of the first, second and third filters, whereby a search result is generated; and
displaying the search result.
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Specification