System and Method to Provide Custom Constraints for Faceted Exploration

• US 20080086451A1
• Filed: 10/05/2006
• Published: 04/10/2008
• Est. Priority Date: 10/05/2006
• Status: Active Grant

• Current Assignee: International Business Machines Corporation
• Original Assignee: International Business Machines Corporation
• Inventors: Holt, Alexander W., Torres, Robert J., Brown, Douglas S., Moran, Michael E., Rudd, James R.
• Granted Patent: US 8,214,345 B2
• Time in Patent Office: Days
• US Class Current: 707/3
• CPC Class Codes: G06F 16/338 Presentation of query results
• CPC Class Codes: G06F 16/951 Indexing; Web crawling techniques

Abstract

The Facet Navigator permits users to set custom constraints for searching databases by facet, displays facets representing fields in a database, and provides a manipulator for each facet. The manipulator may be a slider bar, or a drop-down menu, or some other interactive device known to persons skilled in the art. When a user sets constraints for a facet with the manipulator, the Facet Navigator searches the database based on the constraints and displays a list of items in the database that satisfy the constraints. The Facet Navigator displays a preview of interim results whenever a cursor is moved over an active region of the manipulator, where the preview includes details of database items meeting a search criteria based on the location of the cursor on the manipulator.

Claims

1. A computer implemented process for searching databases by facet, the computer implemented process comprising:

displaying facets representing fields in a database;

providing a manipulator for each facet wherein the manipulator comprises a graphical representation of constraints related to the facet;

setting constraints for a facet with the manipulator;

searching the database based on the constraints; and

displaying the searched list of items from the database that satisfy the constraints.

2. The computer implemented process of claim 1 wherein the manipulator comprises a slider bar representing constraints of a continuous facet.

3. The computer implemented process of claim 2 wherein setting constraints for a continuous facet with the slider bar manipulator includes setting a range for the constraint.

4. The computer implemented process of claim 1 wherein the manipulator comprises a series of constraints for a discrete facet.

5. The computer implemented process of claim 4 wherein setting constraints for a discrete facet with the manipulator includes selecting more than one constraint from the series of constraints.

6. The computer implemented process of claim 1 further comprising an option to select, display, manipulate and search by an extended collection of facets related to fields in the database.

7. The computer implemented process of claim 1 further comprising displaying a preview of search results whenever a cursor is moved over an active region of the manipulator, wherein the preview includes details of database items satisfying a search criteria based on the location of the cursor over the manipulator.

8. An apparatus for searching databases by facet, the apparatus comprising:

a processor;

a memory connected to the processor;

a database file in the memory;

a web hosting application running in the memory operable to be accessed by a web browser, wherein the web hosting application is further operable to search and display items in the database; and

a facet navigator program in the memory operable to display facets representing fields in a database, provide a manipulator for each facet wherein the manipulator comprises a graphical representation of constraints related to the facet, set constraints for a facet with the manipulator, search the database based on the constraints, and display the searched list if items from the database that satisfy the constraints.

9. The apparatus of claim 8 wherein the manipulator comprises a slider bar representing constraints of a continuous facet.

10. The apparatus of claim 9 wherein setting constraints for a continuous facet with the slider bar manipulator includes setting a range for the constraint.

11. The apparatus of claim 8 wherein the manipulator comprises a series of constraints for a discrete facet.

12. The apparatus of claim 11 wherein setting constraints for a discrete facet with the manipulator includes selecting more than one constraint from the series of constraints.

13. The apparatus of claim 8 wherein the facet navigator program is further operable to provide an option to select, display, manipulate and search by an extended collection of facets related to fields in the database.

14. The apparatus of claim 8 wherein the facet navigator program is further operable to display a preview of search results whenever a cursor is moved over an active region of the manipulator, wherein the preview includes details of database items satisfying a search criteria based on the location of the cursor over the manipulator.

15. A computer readable memory containing a plurality of instructions to cause a computer to search databases by facet, the plurality of instructions comprising:

a first instruction to display facets representing fields in a database;

a second instruction to provide a manipulator for each facet wherein the manipulator comprises a graphical representation of constraints related to the facet;

a third instruction to set constraints for a facet with the manipulator; and

a fourth instruction to search the database based on the constraints, and display the searched list if items from the database that satisfy the constraints.

16. The computer readable memory of claim 15 wherein the manipulator comprises a slider bar representing constraints of a continuous facet.

17. The computer readable memory of claim 16 wherein setting constraints for a continuous facet with the slider bar manipulator includes setting a range for the constraint.

18. The computer readable memory of claim 15 wherein the manipulator comprises a series of constraints for a discrete facet.

19. The computer readable memory of claim 18 wherein setting constraints for a discrete facet with the manipulator includes selecting more than one constraint from the series of constraints.

20. The computer readable memory of claim 15 comprising an additional instruction to provide an option to select, display, manipulate and search by an extended collection of facets related to fields in the database.

21. The computer readable memory of claim 15 comprising an additional instruction to display a preview of search results whenever a cursor is moved over an active region of the manipulator, wherein the preview includes details of database items satisfying a search criteria based on the location of the cursor over the manipulator.