Extracting semantic attributes

• US 20070239697A1
• Filed: 03/30/2006
• Published: 10/11/2007
• Est. Priority Date: 03/30/2006
• Status: Active Grant

• Current Assignee: Microsoft Technology Licensing LLC (Microsoft Corporation)
• Original Assignee: Microsoft Corporation
• Inventors: Chen, Zheng, Zhang, Benyu, Li, Lei, Wang, Jian, Lin, Chenxi, Liu, Qiaoling
• Granted Patent: US 7,502,785 B2
• Time in Patent Office: Days
• US Class Current: 1/1
• CPC Class Codes: G06F 16/156 Query results presentation
• CPC Class Codes: G06F 16/164 File meta data generation
• CPC Class Codes: G06F 16/313 Selection or weighting of terms for indexing
• CPC Class Codes: Y10S 707/99933 Query processing, i.e. searching

Abstract

Extraction of semantic information and the generation of semantic attributes allows for improved organization and management of data. Semantic attributes are automatically generated and eliminate the need for manual entry of attribute information. A semantic file network may further be constructed based on similarities between files that are based on the semantic attribute information. Semantic links representing a semantic relationship may be built between similar or relevant files. In addition, user operations and user operation patterns may also be considered in building the file network. Semantic attributes and information may further facilitate browsing the file systems as well as improve the accuracy and speed of queries.

Claims

1. A computer readable medium storing computer readable instructions that, when executed, perform a method for extracting semantic information, the method comprising the steps of:

determining content corresponding to a source of a file;

determining context information associated with the content; and

generating one or more semantic attributes of the file based on the determined context information.

2. The computer readable medium of claim 1, wherein the source includes a directory in which the file is stored.

3. The computer readable medium of claim 2, wherein the step of determining content corresponding to the identified source includes identifying one or more additional files stored in the directory.

4. The computer readable medium of claim 1, wherein the source includes an e-mail message.

5. The computer readable medium of claim 3, wherein the step of determining context information includes comparing content information associated with at least two files stored in the directory.

6. The computer readable medium of claim 1, wherein determining content corresponding to the identified source includes determining one or more attributes of the identified source.

7. The computer readable medium of claim 1, wherein the step of determining context information includes identifying keywords associated with the content.

8. A computer readable medium storing computer readable instructions that, when executed, perform a method for extracting semantic information, the method comprising the steps of:

identifying one or more user operations associated with a plurality of files;

determining implicit information associated with at least one file of the plurality of files based on the one or more user operations;

determining one or more semantic attributes of the at least one file based on the determined implicit information.

9. The computer readable medium of claim 8, further comprising the steps of:

receiving the one or more user operations associated with the plurality of files; and

storing the one or more user operations, wherein storing the one or more user operations includes storing an association between the one or more user operations and at least one file of the plurality of files.

10. The computer readable medium of claim 8, wherein the step of determining one or more semantic attributes is further based on a spatial relationship between at least two files associated with the one or more user operations.

11. The computer readable medium of claim 8, wherein the one or more user operations include a modification to a content of the file.

12. The computer readable medium of claim 8, wherein the one or more user operations includes a first user operation and a second user operation.

13. The computer readable medium of claim 8, wherein the step of determining implicit information includes evaluating a relationship between the first and second user operations.

14. The computer readable medium of claim 13, wherein the step of determining implicit information is further based on a sequence of the first and second user operations.

15. A computer readable medium storing computer readable instructions that, when executed, perform a method for extracting semantic information, the method comprising the steps of:

detecting a first user operation and a second user operation associated with a file, wherein the file corresponds to a source;

determining context information from data associated with the source;

drawing one or more inferences from the first and second user operations; and

generating a semantic attribute of the file based on the one or more inferences and the determined context information.

16. The computer readable medium of claim 15, wherein the data associated with the source includes one or more additional files.

17. The computer readable medium of claim 15, further comprising the step of storing the first user operation and the second user operation in a buffer.

18. The computer readable medium of claim 15, wherein the user operation includes a copy command and the second user operation includes a paste command associated with a destination file.

19. The computer readable medium of claim 18, wherein the semantic attribute includes a reference to the destination file.

20. The computer readable medium of claim 15, wherein the step of drawing one or more inferences from the first and second user operations includes determining a relationship between the first and second user operations.