NATURAL LANGUAGE HELP INTERFACE
First Claim
1. A computer program product for use with a computer system having a user interface, the computer program product comprising:
- a computer useable medium having program code means embodied in the medium for enabling a user to obtain information from the computer system with user-defined queries, the medium further comprising;
program code means, responsive to user-defined query, for identifying a selected portion of the query;
program code means, responsive to the selected portion of the user-defined query, for comparing the selected portion of the user-defined query with a plurality of predefined information segments;
program code means, responsive to the program code means for comparing, for selecting one of the plurality of information segments which best corresponds to the user-defined query in accordance with a predetermined criteria;
program code means, responsive to the selected information segment, for presenting the selected information segment to the user through the user interface.
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Abstract
A help interface capable of receiving user-defined queries in a natural language and selecting the most appropriate answer from a plurality of potential answers, includes facilities for parsing and storing the character string content of the query in a buffer. Lists of punctuation characters as well as single and multiple word character strings are successively compared with the content of the buffer to eliminate punctuation, superfluous words, location reference words, and to identify synonyms to base words meaningful in the selection of an appropriate answer. The identified base words are used as references into a predefined rule set which inherently matches the base word with a potential answer and assigns a value based on the relationship of the potential answer to the base word. The cumulative values of all potential answers are computed and ranked with the highest ranking value presented to the user as a response to the query.
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Citations
25 Claims
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1. A computer program product for use with a computer system having a user interface, the computer program product comprising:
a computer useable medium having program code means embodied in the medium for enabling a user to obtain information from the computer system with user-defined queries, the medium further comprising;
program code means, responsive to user-defined query, for identifying a selected portion of the query;
program code means, responsive to the selected portion of the user-defined query, for comparing the selected portion of the user-defined query with a plurality of predefined information segments;
program code means, responsive to the program code means for comparing, for selecting one of the plurality of information segments which best corresponds to the user-defined query in accordance with a predetermined criteria;
program code means, responsive to the selected information segment, for presenting the selected information segment to the user through the user interface. - View Dependent Claims (2, 3, 4, 5, 6, 7, 8, 9, 10, 25)
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11. An interface for user with a computer system comprising:
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a user interface for receiving a user-defined query;
a memory for storing a plurality of predefined information segments;
means, responsive to the user-defined query, for selecting one of the predefined information segments which corresponds to the user-defined query according to the predetermined criteria; and
means for presenting the selected information segment to the user. - View Dependent Claims (12, 13, 14, 15, 16, 17, 19)
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18. In a computer system having a user interface, and a memory, a method of providing a information to the user, the method comprising the steps of:
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A. receiving a query through the user interface, the query being defined by the user in a natural language;
B. selecting from the memory one of a plurality of predefined information segments which corresponds to the query in accordance with a predetermined criteria; and
C. presenting the selected information segment to the user through the user interface, as a response to the query.
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20. In a computer system having a user interface and plurality of predefined information segments stored in memory, a method of providing information to the user the method comprising the steps of:
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A. receiving a query through the user interface, the query being defined in a natural language;
B. storing the user-defined query in a buffer;
C. evaluating the content of the buffer to determine the character content thereof;
D. comparing the contents of the buffer to a predefined list of character strings;
E. generating a list of references to all character strings found within the buffer;
F. associating the character string references with a plurality of the predefined information segment;
G. assigning a value to the plurality of predefined information segments in response to the comparison in step F;
H. determining which of the predefined information segments has the value according to a predetermined criteria; and
I. presenting the predefined information segment determined in step H to the user as a response to the query. - View Dependent Claims (21, 22, 23, 24)
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Specification