Method and system to display and search in a language independent manner

• US 20050240392A1
• Filed: 04/23/2004
• Published: 10/27/2005
• Est. Priority Date: 04/23/2004
• Status: Active Grant

• Current Assignee: eBay Inc.
• Original Assignee: eBay Inc.
• Inventors: Munro, W. Barton Jr., Pritchett, Dan, Monier, Louis
• Granted Patent: US 9,189,568 B2
• Time in Patent Office: Days
• US Class Current: 704/8
• CPC Class Codes: G06F 16/84 Mapping; Conversion
• CPC Class Codes: G06F 16/90332 Natural language query formulation or dialogue systems
• CPC Class Codes: G06Q 30/0625 Directed, with specific intent or strategy
• CPC Class Codes: G06Q 30/0643 Graphical representation of items or shoppers

Abstract

A method to facilitate a language independent search includes displaying a search attribute, including an attribute name and a selection of attribute values, to a user and receiving from the user a search attribute value selection corresponding to the attribute name. Then, the attribute name and attribute value selection are translated into language independent symbols, such as numbers. The numbers are used in a search of a sellers item listings table to select item listings with attribute values that match the search attribute values selected by the user.

Claims

1. A method to facilitate an item search in a language independent manner, the method including:

receiving from a user a search attribute, the search attribute having an attribute name and an attribute value specified in a first language;

translating the attribute name and the attribute value into language independent symbols; and

,

performing a search to select items that have an item attribute matching the search attribute, wherein the search attribute and item attribute are represented as language independent symbols.

2. The method of claim 1, wherein the translating of the attribute name and the attribute value into language independent symbols includes translating the attribute name and attribute value into numbers.

3. The method of claim 2, wherein the translating of the attribute name and the attribute value into numbers includes selecting a language-specific look-up table to use for the translation, the selection of the language-specific look-up table based on the first language.

4. A system to facilitate an item search in a language independent manner, the system having at least one server to:

receive from a user a search attribute, the search attribute having an attribute name and an attribute value specified in a first language;

translate the attribute name and the attribute value into language independent symbols; and

,

perform a search to select items that have an item attribute matching the search attribute, wherein the search attribute and item attribute are represented as language independent symbols.

5. The system of claim 4, wherein the server is to translate the attribute name and the attribute value into numbers.

6. The system of claim 5, wherein the server is to select a language-specific look-up table to use for the translation, the selection of the language-specific look-up table based on the first language.

7. A method to facilitate an item search in a language independent manner, the method including:

presenting to a user a search attribute, the search attribute having an attribute name and a selection of attribute values, the attribute name and the selection of attribute values displayed in a first language;

receiving from the user an attribute value selection associated with the attribute name;

translating the attribute name and the attribute value selection into numbers based on a language-specific look-up table, the language-specific look-up table corresponding to the first language; and

performing a search to select items based on the numbers that correspond to the attribute name and the attribute value selected by the user.

8. The method of claim 7, wherein the first language is the native language of the user determined by the geographical location of the user.

9. The method of claim 7, wherein the first language is a language selected by the user.

10. The method of claim 7, wherein the language-specific look-up table includes a mapping of attribute names to attribute IDs and a mapping of attribute values to attribute value IDs, the attribute names and attribute values expressed in a specific language and the attribute IDs and attribute value IDs expressed as numbers.

11. The method of claim 7, wherein the performing of the search to select items includes selecting items that have an item attribute matching the search attribute, wherein the search attribute and item attribute are expressed as numbers.

12. The method of claim 11, wherein the item attribute has an item attribute ID and an item attribute value ID matching the translated numbers corresponding to the attribute name and attribute value received from the user.

13. A system to facilitate an item search in a language independent manner, the system including:

display logic to present to a user a search attribute, the search attribute having an attribute name and a selection of attribute values, the attribute name and the selection of attribute values displayed in a first language;

input logic to receive from the user an attribute value selection associated with the attribute name;

translation logic to translate the attribute name and the attribute value selection into numbers based on a language-specific look-up table, the language-specific look-up table corresponding to the first language; and

search logic to perform a search to select items based on the numbers that correspond to the attribute name and the attribute value selected by the user.

14. The system of claim 13, wherein the first language is the native language of the user determined by the geographical location of the user.

15. The system of claim 13, wherein the first language is a language selected by the user.

16. The system of claim 13, wherein the translation logic includes language-specific table selection logic to select a particular language-specific look-up table, the specific language-specific look-up table including a mapping of attribute names to attribute IDs and a mapping of attribute values to attribute value IDs, the attribute names and attribute values expressed in a specific language and the attribute IDs and attribute value IDs expressed as numbers.

17. The system of claim 13, wherein the search to select items includes selecting items that have an item attribute matching the search attribute, wherein the search attribute and item attribute are expressed as numbers.

18. The system of claim 17, wherein the search to select items includes selecting items that have an item attribute with an item attribute ID and an item attribute value ID matching the translated number corresponding to the attribute name and attribute value received from the user.

19. A machine-readable medium embodying a sequence of instructions for facilitating an item search in a language independent manner, the instructions, when executed by a machine, cause the machine to:

receive from a user a search attribute, the search attribute having an attribute name and an attribute value specified in a first language;

translate the attribute name and the attribute value into language independent symbols; and

,

perform a search to select items that have an item attribute matching the search attribute, wherein the search attribute and item attribute are represented as language independent symbols.

20. The machine-readable medium of claim 19, wherein the instructions further cause the machine to translate the attribute name and attribute value into numbers.

21. The machine-readable medium of claim 20, wherein the instructions further cause the machine to select a language-specific look-up table to use for the translation, the selection of the language-specific look-up table based on the first language.

22. A system to facilitate an item search in a language independent manner, the system including:

means to receive from a user a search attribute, the search attribute having an attribute name and an attribute value specified in a first language;

means to translate the attribute name and the attribute value into language independent symbols; and

,

means to perform a search to select items that have an item attribute matching the search attribute, wherein the search attribute and item attribute are represented as language independent symbols.

23. The system of claim 22, further including means to translate the attribute name and the attribute value into numbers.

24. The system of claim 23, further including means to select a language-specific look-up table to use for the translation, the selection of the language-specific look-up table based on the first language.

25. A system to facilitate an item search in a language independent manner, the system including:

means to present to a user a search attribute, the search attribute having an attribute name and a selection of attribute values, the attribute name and the selection of attribute values displayed in a first language;

means to receive from the user an attribute value selection associated with the attribute name;

means to translate the attribute name and the attribute value selection into numbers based on a language-specific look-up table, the language-specific look-up table corresponding to the first language; and

means to perform a search to select items based on the numbers that correspond to the attribute name and the attribute value selected by the user.

26. The system of claim 25, wherein the first language is the native language of the user determined by the geographical location of the user.

27. The system of claim 25, wherein the first language is a language selected by the user.

28. The system of claim 25, wherein the translation logic includes means to select a particular language-specific look-up table, the specific language-specific look-up table including a mapping of attribute names to attribute IDs and a mapping of attribute values to attribute value IDs, the attribute names and attribute values expressed in a specific language and the attribute IDs and attribute value IDs expressed as numbers.

29. The system of claim 25, wherein the search to select items includes selecting items that have an item attribute matching the search attribute, wherein the search attribute and item attribute are expressed as numbers.

30. The system of claim 29, wherein the search to select items includes selecting items that have an item attribute with an item attribute ID and an item attribute value ID matching the translated number corresponding to the attribute name and attribute value received from the user.

31. A method to display an item listing, the method including:

retrieving from a database an item listing, the item listing including an attribute name and an attribute value, the attribute name and attribute value represented as language independent symbols;

translating the language independent symbols into an attribute name and an attribute value specified in a first language; and

,

presenting the item listing to a user and displaying the attribute name and the attribute value in the first language.

32. The method of claim 31, wherein the language independent symbols are numbers.

33. The method of claim 32, wherein translating the numbers into an attribute name and an attribute value specified in a first language includes selecting a language-specific look-up table to use for the translation, the selection of the language-specific look-up table based on the first language.

34. A system to display an item listing, the system including at least one server to:

retrieve from a database an item listing, the item listing including an attribute name and an attribute value, the attribute name and attribute value represented as language independent symbols;

translate the language independent symbols into an attribute name and an attribute value specified in a first language; and

,

present the item listing to a user and displaying the attribute name and the attribute value in the first language.

35. The system of claim 34, wherein the language independent symbols are numbers.

36. The system of claim 35, wherein the server is to select a language-specific look-up table to use for the translation, the selection of the language-specific look-up table based on the first language.

37. A method to display an item listing, the method including:

receiving from a user a request to view an item listing in a first language;

retrieving from a database the item listing including one or more attributes associated with the item listing, each attribute having an attribute ID and an attribute value ID expressed as a number;

translating each attribute ID and attribute value ID into an attribute name and an attribute value using a language-specific look-up table, the language-specific look-up table selected based on the first language; and

,

presenting the item listing with the attribute names and attribute values expressed in the first language, regardless of whether the item listing was originally posted in a language other than the first language.

38. The method of claim 37, wherein the first language is the native language of the user determined by the geographical location of the user.

39. The method of claim 37, wherein the first language is a language selected by the user.

40. The method of claim 37, wherein the language-specific look-up table includes a mapping of attribute IDs to attribute names and a mapping of attribute value IDs to attribute values, the attribute IDs and attribute value IDs expressed as numbers and the attribute names and attribute values expressed in a specific language.

41. A system to display an item listing, the system including:

input logic to receive from a user a request to view an item listing in a first language;

search logic to retrieve from a database the item listing including one or more attributes associated with the item listing, each attribute having an attribute ID and an attribute value ID expressed as a number;

translation logic to translate each attribute ID and attribute value ID into an attribute name and an attribute value using a language-specific look-up table, the language-specific look-up table selected based on the first language; and

,

display logic to present the item listing with the attribute names and attribute values expressed in the first language, regardless of whether the item listing was originally posted in a language other than the first language.

42. The system of claim 41, wherein the first language is the native language of the user determined by the geographical location of the user.

43. The system of claim 41, wherein the first language is a language selected by the user.

44. The system of claim 41, wherein the translation logic includes language-specific table selection logic to select a particular language-specific look-up table, the particular language-specific look-up table including a mapping of attribute IDs to attribute names and a mapping of attribute value IDs to attribute values, the attribute IDs and attribute value IDs expressed as numbers and the attribute names and attribute values expressed in a specific language.

45. A machine-readable medium embodying a sequence of instructions for displaying an item listing, the instructions, when executed by a machine, cause the machine to:

retrieve from a database an item listing, the item listing including an attribute name and an attribute value, the attribute name and attribute value represented as language independent symbols;

translate the language independent symbols into an attribute name and an attribute value specified in a first language; and

,

present the item listing to a user and displaying the attribute name and the attribute value in the first language.

46. The machine-readable medium of claim 45, wherein the language independent symbols are numbers.

47. The machine-readable medium of claim 46, wherein the instructions further cause the machine to select a language-specific look-up table to use for the translation, the selection of the language-specific look-up table based on the first language.

48. A system to display an item listing, the system including:

means to retrieve from a database an item listing, the item listing including an attribute name and an attribute value, the attribute name and attribute value represented as language independent symbols;

means to translate the language independent symbols into an attribute name and an attribute value specified in a first language; and

,

means to present the item listing to a user and displaying the attribute name and the attribute value in the first language.

49. The system of claim 48, wherein the language independent symbols are numbers.

50. The system of claim 49, further including means to select a language-specific look-up table to use for the translation, the selection of the language-specific look-up table based on the first language.

51. A system to display an item listing, the system including:

means to receive from a user a request to view an item listing in a first language;

means to retrieve from a database the item listing including one or more attributes associated with the item listing, each attribute having an attribute ID and an attribute value ID expressed as a number;

means to translate each attribute ID and attribute value ID into an attribute name and an attribute value using a language-specific look-up table, the language-specific look-up table selected based on the first language; and

,

means to present the item listing with the attribute names and attribute values expressed in the first language, regardless of whether the item listing was originally posted in a language other than the first language.

52. The system of claim 51, wherein the first language is the native language of the user determined by the geographical location of the user.

53. The system of claim 51, wherein the first language is a language selected by the user.

54. The system of claim 51, wherein the translation logic includes means to select a particular language-specific look-up table, the particular language-specific look-up table including a mapping of attribute IDs to attribute names and a mapping of attribute value IDs to attribute values, the attribute IDs and attribute value IDs expressed as numbers and the attribute names and attribute values expressed in a specific language.