Method and system for indexing and searching contents of extensible markup language (XML) documents

• US 20050004935A1
• Filed: 07/30/2004
• Published: 01/06/2005
• Est. Priority Date: 04/14/2000
• Status: Active Grant

• Current Assignee: dtSearch Corp.
• Original Assignee: dtSearch Corp.
• Inventors: Thede, David Victor
• Granted Patent: US 7,289,986 B2
• Time in Patent Office: Days
• US Class Current: 1/1
• CPC Class Codes: G06F 16/81 Indexing, e.g. XML tags; Data structures therefor; Storage structures
• CPC Class Codes: Y10S 707/99932 Access augmentation or optimizing
• CPC Class Codes: Y10S 707/99933 Query processing, i.e. searching
• CPC Class Codes: Y10S 707/99934 Query formulation, input preparation, or translation
• CPC Class Codes: Y10S 707/99935 Query augmenting and refining, e.g. inexact access
• CPC Class Codes: Y10S 707/99943 Generating database or data structure, e.g. via user interface

Abstract

A method and a computer system for indexing and searching the data content of nested field records, such as those in Extensible Markup Language (XML). The system includes an indexing and searching engine that constructs an improved full-text search index on the input XML data and then performs searches using the index. The system supports exact matches and partial matches using a wildcard character. The method transforms the input XML data into a form that encodes the data structural information by suffixing each word with its corresponding field qualifiers or an equivalent numerical pattern thereof. The resulting encoded words are then stored in a full-text index structure. Various types of full-index search may be performed. One alternative embodiment is to combine string matching and numeric or integer pattern matching to identify a particular word in a particular field. The portion of the word without field qualifiers is matched against the words in the index, and the pattern of numerals representing the word'"'"'s field qualifiers is matched against the numeral patterns of the words in the index that correspond to their respective field qualifiers. Therefore, evaluation of complex field criteria is reduced to simpler and faster numeric matching.

Claims

1. A method of creating a searchable index for a nested field record containing data, comprising assigning at least one abbreviated identifier to at least one field of the record containing data, and creating an index comprising a string that includes the abbreviated identifier matched with the data of said field.

2. The method of claim 1, wherein the nested field record is an XML record.

3. The method of claim 2, wherein the abbreviated identifier is a numeral.

4. The method of claim 3, wherein the data of the XML record includes words.

5. The method of claim 4, wherein the string of the index is organized as numeral/word, wherein the numeral identifies the field and the word is the data from the XML record.

6. An index created by the method of claim 1.

7. A method of searching for desired data contained in a nested field record, comprising searching the index of claim 5 for the desired data and the matched abbreviated identifier.

8. A computer readable medium comprising instructions for carrying out the method of claim 7.

9. A method of searching the content of a record in Extensible Markup Language (XML) for desired data, comprising transforming the content of the XML record into an index entry that includes corresponding field qualifiers, building a full-text index with said index entries, and performing a full-text index search to identify said desired data.

10. A method of indexing the content of a document in Extensible Markup Language (XML), comprising:

modifying each word in the content of said XML document by suffixing to the word its field qualifiers in the nested order; and

building a full-text index with said modified words.

11. A method of indexing the content of a document in XML as set forth in claim 10, wherein building a full-text index further comprises placing each modified word in an alphabetic order in an index structure.

12. A method of indexing content of a document in Extensible Markup Language (XML), comprising:

assigning a numerical code to each field qualifier in said XML document;

creating a code pattern for each word in said XML document from the word'"'"'s field qualifiers in the nested order using said numerical code;

modifying each word by suffixing to the word said code pattern; and

10 building a full-text index with said modified words.

13. A method of indexing the content of a document in XML as set forth in claim 12, wherein building a full-text index further comprises placing each modified word in an alphabetic order in an index structure.

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