FULL TEXT QUERY AND SEARCH SYSTEMS AND METHOD OF USE
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Abstract
Roughly described, a database searching method for searching a database, in which hits are ranked in dependence upon an information measure of itoms shared by both the hit and the query. The information measure can be a Shannon information score, or another measure which indicates the information value of the shared itoms. An itom can be a word or other token, or a multi-word phrase, and can overlap with each other. Synonyms can be substituted for itoms in the query, with the information measure of substituted itoms being derated in accordance with a predetermined measure of the synonyms'"'"' similarity. Indirect searching methods are described in which hit from other search engines are re-ranked in dependence upon the information measures of shared itoms. Structured and completely unstructured databases may be searched, with hits being demarcated dynamically. Hits may be clustered based upon distances in an information-measure-weighted distance space.
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Citations
133 Claims
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1-100. -100. (canceled)
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101. A method for searching a database, for use with a data processing system, comprising the steps of:
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the data processing system developing a plurality of preliminary queries in dependence upon a provided first query, each of preliminary queries identifying itoms to search for, all the itoms identified by each of the preliminary queries to search for being identified by the first query, and at least two of the preliminary queries differing from each other; the data processing system forwarding the preliminary queries to a set of at least one external search engine, each combination of a preliminary search query and an external search engine yielding a respective set of preliminary hits; and identifying to a user at least one of the hits returned from at least one of the preliminary queries. - View Dependent Claims (102, 103, 104, 105, 106, 107, 114, 115, 116, 117, 118, 119, 120)
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108-113. -113. (canceled)
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121. A system for searching a database, comprising:
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a memory subsystem; and a data processor coupled to the memory subsystem, the data processor configured to; develop a plurality of preliminary queries in dependence upon a provided first query, each of preliminary queries identifying itoms to search for, all the itoms identified by each of the preliminary queries to search for being identified by the first query, and at least two of the preliminary queries differing from each other; forward the preliminary queries to a set of at least one external search engine, each combination of a preliminary search query and an external search engine yielding a respective set of preliminary hits; and identify to a user at least one of the hits returned from at least one of the preliminary queries. - View Dependent Claims (122, 123, 124, 125, 126, 127, 128, 129, 130, 131, 132, 133)
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Specification