System and method for exploring a semantic file network

• US 20070239792A1
• 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 7,624,130 B2
• Time in Patent Office: Days
• US Class Current: 1/1
• CPC Class Codes: G06F 16/313 Selection or weighting of terms for indexing
• CPC Class Codes: Y10S 707/99936 Pattern matching access
• CPC Class Codes: Y10S 707/99953 Recoverability
• CPC Class Codes: Y10S 707/99954 Version management

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 building semantic links in a file network, the method comprising the steps of:

identifying one or more attributes associated with a first file;

identifying one or more attributes associated with a second file;

determining a level of similarity between the first file and the second file based on a comparison of the one or more attributes associated with the first file and the one or more attributes associated with the second file;

determining whether the level of similarity is above a threshold; and

creating a link between the first file and the second file in response to determining that the similarity is above the threshold.

2. The computer readable medium of claim 1, wherein the one or more attributes associated with the first and second files are semantic attributes.

3. The computer readable medium of claim 1, wherein determining a level of similarity between the first file and second file further comprises comparing the values associated with the one or more attributes associated with each of the first and second files.

4. The computer readable medium of claim 1, further comprising the steps of:

evaluating one or more user operations associated with at least the first file;

determining whether a semantic relationship between the first file and the second file is implied by the one or more user operations; and

in response to determining that a semantic relationship is implied, constructing a semantic link between the first file and the second file.

5. The computer readable medium of claim 4, wherein the one or more user operations include a copy command and a paste command.

6. The computer readable medium of claim 1, wherein the step of determining a level of similarity between the first file and the second file further comprises evaluating the similarity between the first file and one or more files associated with the second file.

7. The computer readable medium of claim 1, further comprising the steps of:

detecting a change in the one or more attributes associated with the second file; and

in response to detecting the change, determining whether the link should be removed.

8. A computer readable medium storing computer readable instructions that, when executed, generate a user interface, wherein the user interface comprises:

a first portion displaying a selected file; and

a second portion displaying one or more files associated with the selected file, wherein the one or more files are semantically related with the selected file.

9. The computer readable medium of claim 8, wherein the first portion includes a file network navigation pane and the second portion includes a related documents pane.

10. The computer readable medium of claim 8, wherein contents of the second portion are modified in response to the first portion displaying a different selected file.

11. The computer readable medium of claim 8, wherein a second portion further includes an option to display one or more additional files associated with the selected file.

12. The computer readable medium of claim 11, wherein the user interface includes a third portion that displays a list of the one or more additional files in response to a selection of the option.

13. The computer readable medium of claim 8, wherein the first portion includes an application window displaying one or more contents of the selected file.

14. A computer readable medium storing computer readable instructions that, when executed, perform a method for determining file relevance, the method comprising the steps of:

identifying one or more attributes associated with a first file;

identifying one or more attributes associated with a query;

identifying one or more attributes associated with a second file, wherein the second file is associated with the first file;

determining mutual information shared by the first file and the query based on a comparison of the one or more attributes associated with the first file and the one or more attributes associated with the query;

determining mutual information shared by the query and the second file based on a comparison of the one or more attributes associated with the query and the one or more attributes associated with the second file; and

determining a level of relevance between the first file and the query based on the mutual information shared by the first file and the query and the mutual information shared by the query and the second file.

15. The computer readable medium of claim 14, wherein the first file and the second file are semantically linked.

16. The computer readable medium of claim 14, wherein determining a level of relevance between the first file and the query includes weighting the mutual information shared by the first file and query differently than the mutual information shared by the query and the second file.

17. The computer readable medium of claim 14, further comprising the steps of:

determining whether the level of relevance meets a predefined threshold; and

in response to determining that the level of relevance meets the predefined threshold, returning the first file as a result of the query.

18. The computer readable medium of claim 14, further including the step of identifying the second file from a plurality of files based on one or more user operations associated with the first file.

19. The computer readable medium of claim 18, wherein the one or more user operations are related to an implicit relationship between the first file and the second file.

20. The computer readable medium of claim 14, wherein the query is constructed based on a group of selected files.