Hierarchical data-driven navigation system and method for information retrieval

• US 20060053104A1
• Filed: 11/08/2005
• Published: 03/09/2006
• Est. Priority Date: 05/18/2000
• Status: Abandoned Application

• Current Assignee: Endeca Technologies Incorporated (Oracle Corporation)
• Original Assignee: Endeca Technologies Incorporated (Oracle Corporation)
• Inventors: Johnson, Keith, Walter, John S., Knabe, Frederick C., Ferrari, Adam J., Gourley, David, Tunkelang, Daniel
• Application Number:
  US11/268,868
• Publication Number:
  US 20060053104A1
• Time in Patent Office: Days
• US Class Current: 1/1
• CPC Class Codes: G06F 16/00 Information retrieval; Database structures therefor; File system structures therefor
• CPC Class Codes: G06F 16/2428 Query predicate definition using graphical user interfaces, including menus and forms G06F16/2423 takes precedence
• CPC Class Codes: G06F 16/3323 using document space presentation or visualization, e.g. category, hierarchy or range presentation and selection
• CPC Class Codes: G06F 16/954 Navigation, e.g. using categorised browsing
• CPC Class Codes: G06F 3/0482 Interaction with lists of selectable items, e.g. menus
• CPC Class Codes: Y10S 707/962 Entity-attribute-value
• 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 707/99935 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 data-driven, hierarchical information navigation system and method enable search of sets of documents or other materials by certain common attributes that characterize the materials. The invention includes several aspects of a data-driven, hierarchical navigation system that employs this navigation mode. The navigation system of the present invention includes features of an interface, a knowledge base and a taxonomy definition process and a classification process for generating the knowledge base, a graph-based navigable data structure and method for generating the data structure, World Wide Web-based applications of the system, and methods of implementing the system. Users are able to search or browse a particular collection of documents by selecting desired values for the attributes. A data-driven, hierarchical information navigation system and method enable this navigation mode by associating terms with the materials, defining a set of hierarchical relationships among the terms, and providing a guided search mechanism based on the relationship between the terms.

Claims

1. A computer-implemented method for enabling a user to browse information, the method comprising:

storing a plurality of attribute-value pairs associated with a collection of materials, wherein each of a plurality of values has an association with at least one of a plurality of attributes characterizing the materials;

displaying a free-text search box;

accepting a search term entered in the free-text search box;

determining the attribute-value pairs that match the search term;

displaying a representation of the matching attribute-value pairs for the search term;

accepting a selection of an initial set of one or more of the matching attribute-value pairs;

entering a first navigation state corresponding to a first set of attribute-value pairs including at least the initial set of matching attribute-value pairs and to a first particular subset of the materials, the first particular subset of the materials consisting of those materials in the collection of materials that are each described by every attribute-value pair in the first set of attribute-value pairs; and

entering a second navigation state in response to a user action, the second navigation state corresponding to a second set of attribute-value pairs and to a second particular subset of the materials, the second set including at least two mutually incomparable attribute-value pairs, the second particular subset of the materials consisting of those materials in the collection of materials that are each described by every attribute-value pair in the second set of attribute-value pairs.

2. The method of claim 1, wherein the second set of attribute-value pairs includes an attribute-value pair that represents a refinement of the value of an attribute-value pair within the first set of attribute-value pairs.

3. The method of claim 1, wherein the second set of attribute-value pairs includes an attribute-value pair that represents a generalization of the value of an attribute-value pair within the first set of attribute-value pairs.

4. The method of claim 1, further comprising deselecting an attribute-value pair from the first set of attribute-value pairs to obtain the second set of attribute-value pairs.

5. The method of claim 1, wherein the first particular subset of the materials includes an integrally navigable subset of the collection of materials.

6. The method of claim 5, wherein within the integrally navigable subset of the collection of materials at least one of the materials also belongs to a second integrally navigable subset of the collection of materials.

7. The method of claim 1, further comprising presenting navigation options for selection from the first navigation state, the navigation options including refinements of the first set of attribute-value pairs.

8. The method of claim 1, further comprising presenting navigation options for selection from the first navigation state, the navigation options including lists of attribute-value pairs, each list corresponding to one of the plurality of attributes.

9. A computer-implemented method for enabling a user to browse information, the method comprising:

storing a plurality of attribute-value pairs associated with a collection of materials, wherein each of a plurality of values has an association with at least one of a plurality of attributes characterizing the materials;

displaying a free-text search box;

accepting a search term entered in the free-text search box;

determining the attribute-value pairs that match the search term;

displaying a representation of the matching attribute-value pairs for the search term;

accepting a selection of a selected set of one or more of the matching attribute-value pairs; and

entering a first navigation state corresponding to a first set of attribute-value pairs including at least the selected set of matching attribute-value pairs and to a first particular subset of the materials, the first set of attribute-value pairs including at least two mutually incomparable attribute-value pairs, the first particular subset of the materials consisting of those materials in the collection of materials that are each described by every attribute-value pair in the first set of attribute-value pairs.

10. A computer program product, residing on a computer-readable medium, for use in browsing information associated with a collection of materials, the computer program product comprising instructions for causing a computer to:

access a data structure containing a plurality of attribute-value pairs associated with the materials, wherein each of a plurality of values has an association with at least one of a plurality of attributes characterizing the materials;

display a free-text search box;

accept a search term entered in the free-text search box;

determine the attribute-value pairs that match the search term;

display a representation of the matching attribute-value pairs for the search term;

accept a selection of a selected set of one or more of the matching attribute-value pairs;

enter a first navigation state corresponding to a first set of attribute-value pairs including at least the selected set of one or more matching attribute-value pairs and to a particular subset of the materials, the particular subset of the materials consisting of those materials in the collection of materials that are each described by every attribute-value pair in the first set of attribute-value pairs; and

enter a second navigation state in response to a user action, the second navigation state corresponding to a second set of attribute-value pairs and to a second particular subset of the materials, the second set including at least two mutually incomparable attribute-value pairs, the second particular subset of the materials consisting of those materials in the collection of materials that are each described by every attribute-value pair in the second set of attribute-value pairs.

11. The computer program product of claim 10, wherein some of the attribute-value pairs in the data structure refine other of the attribute-value pairs.

12. The computer program product of claim 11, wherein the second set of attribute-value pairs includes an attribute-value pair that represents a refinement of the value of an attribute-value pair within the first set of attribute-value pairs.