Displaying portions of text from multiple documents over multiple database related to a search query in a computer network
First Claim
1. A method for automatically displaying text from a database related to a query, comprising the steps of:
- generating a query on a computer;
prior to communicating with a database, automatically selecting at least one of a plurality of databases related to said query from a list stored in computer memory, wherein said list includes a list of a plurality of databases, corresponding addresses for said databases, and a description of said databases;
automatically searching the selected database(s) for documents related to said query;
organizing documents returned from said search in a relevance order corresponding to the relevance of said returned documents to said query; and
displaying portions of text on said computer, wherein said portions of text are related to said query from a plurality of said returned documents in said relevance order.
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Abstract
The system of the present invention provides for a method and apparatus of displaying portions of text from multiple documents over multiple databases related to a search query. The initial step in this method is to identify a search query. Based on this identification, a search against multiple databases is initiated. In particular, the computer system identifies auxiliary databases either within a network or between networks that are likely to contain documents relating to terms in the search query. Upon identification of these databases, the databases are then searched to identify those documents relating to the identified query. The various sets of identified documents from multiple databases are then returned and processed to create an ordered ranking for the returned documents. Text portions from the highest ranking documents across the multiple databases are then automatically displayed to the user.
57 Citations
18 Claims
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1. A method for automatically displaying text from a database related to a query, comprising the steps of:
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generating a query on a computer;
prior to communicating with a database, automatically selecting at least one of a plurality of databases related to said query from a list stored in computer memory, wherein said list includes a list of a plurality of databases, corresponding addresses for said databases, and a description of said databases;
automatically searching the selected database(s) for documents related to said query;
organizing documents returned from said search in a relevance order corresponding to the relevance of said returned documents to said query; and
displaying portions of text on said computer, wherein said portions of text are related to said query from a plurality of said returned documents in said relevance order. - View Dependent Claims (2, 3, 4, 5, 6)
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7. A system for displaying text from a database related to a query, comprising:
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a computer coupled to an input/output device for generating a query;
said computer coupled to a disk storage unit, prior to communicating with a database, said computer automatically selects at least one of a plurality of databases related to said query from a list stored in computer memory, wherein said list includes a list of a plurality of databases, corresponding addresses for said databases, and a description of said databases;
said computer automatically searches said selected database(s) for documents related to said query;
said computer organizes documents returned from said search in a relevance order corresponding to the relevance of said returned documents to said query; and
said computer coupled to a display unit for displaying portions of text related to said query from a plurality of said returned documents in said relevance order. - View Dependent Claims (8, 9, 10, 11, 12)
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13. A computer readable medium bearing sequences of instructions for searching database, said sequences of instructions comprising:
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generating a query;
prior to communicating with a database, automatically selecting at least one of a plurality of databases related to said query from a list stored in computer memory, wherein said list includes a list of a plurality of databases, corresponding addresses for said databases, and a description of said databases;
automatically searching the selected database(s) for documents related to said query;
organizing documents returned from said search in a relevance order corresponding to the relevance of said returned documents to said query; and
displaying portions of text related to said query from a plurality of said returned documents in said relevance order. - View Dependent Claims (14, 15, 16, 17, 18)
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Specification