REPOSITORY-BASED ENTERPRISE SEARCH WITH USER CUSTOMIZATIONS

• US 20150026171A1
• Filed: 07/22/2013
• Published: 01/22/2015
• Est. Priority Date: 07/22/2013
• Status: Active Grant

• Current Assignee: Cisco Technology, Inc. (Cisco Systems, Inc.)
• Original Assignee: Cisco Technology, Inc. (Cisco Systems, Inc.)
• Inventors: Tanner, David A., Gibson, Anna, Church, Ashley, Johnson, Samuel Craig
• Granted Patent: US 9,262,489 B2
• Time in Patent Office: Days
• US Class Current: 707/728
• CPC Class Codes: G06F 16/2471 Distributed queries
• CPC Class Codes: G06F 16/248 Presentation of query results
• CPC Class Codes: G06F 16/338 Presentation of query results
• CPC Class Codes: G06F 16/34 Browsing; Visualisation therefor
• CPC Class Codes: G06F 16/972 Access to data in other repository systems, e.g. legacy data or dynamic Web page generation

Abstract

In one embodiment, a search string is received from a user and the search type of the search is determined from the search string. Based on the search type, an order of repositories to search is determined and each repository is searched. The search results from each repository are displayed for the user in separate panels for each repository and the panels are ordered based on search type and the search results within each panel are ordered using that respective repository'"'"'s relevancy.

Claims

1. A method, comprising:

receiving a search string from a user;

determining a search type of the search string;

based on the search type, determining an order of repositories to search;

searching each repository; and

displaying search results to the user in separate panels for each repository, wherein the panels are ordered based on search type and search results within each panel are ordered using that respective repository'"'"'s relevancy.

2. The method as in claim 1, further comprising:

receiving a plurality of plug-in components, wherein each plug-in component corresponds to a repository and the plug-in component includes a search algorithm native to for that repository and a user interface specific to that repository;

sending the search to each plug-in component to provide parallel processing of each repository; and

receiving search results from each repository, wherein the search results include a separate panel for each plug-in component and the plug-in component formats the search results within that panel.

3. The method as in claim 1, wherein the search type is at least one of a file, a tool, a username, a document name, person'"'"'s name, a group name, a game, an idea, a statute, a user ID, or a product.

4. The method as in claim 1, wherein, each repository panel includes a user interface from that repository searching algorithm that applies to only search results within that repository.

5. The method as in claim 1, further comprising:

using a search algorithm native to each repository to search within each repository;

sending the search to each repository to provide parallel processing of each repository of the set of repositories; and

receiving search results from each repository.

6. The method as in claim 1, further comprising:

providing a search algorithm for each repository, wherein the search algorithm for each repository is based on characteristics of that repository.

7. The method as in claim 1, further comprising:

providing a profile user interface to allow a user to see the order of repositories that were included within the search, wherein the user can move the relative location of each repository within the profile user interface, and results in a different order of repositories within a display interface.

8. The method as in claim 7, wherein the profile user interface further provides a profile module to allow a user to determine the set of repositories searched and to save that set of repositories for future searches.

9. The method as in claim 1, wherein the repository is at least one of a database, web system, directory, social media, server, or cloud.

10. The method as in claim 1, wherein the search results for a repository includes more than one different type of search results, wherein the display interface allows the user to select between a sorted display or a combined display.

11. The method as in claim 1, further comprising:

receiving a plug-in component, wherein the plug-in component includes a repository searching algorithm for a single repository and a user-interface for formatting search results to be displayed within that repositories panel.

12. An apparatus, comprising:

a search user interface configured to receive a search string from a user;

a processor coupled to the user interfaces and adapted to execute one or more processes; and

a memory configured to store a process executable by the processor, the process when executed operable to;

determine a search type from the search string;

determine an order of repositories to search based on the search type;

searching within each repository using a searching algorithm associated with each repository; and

a display user interface configured to display the search results in repository panels to the user, wherein the repository panels are ordered based on search type and the search results within each panel are sorted based on the searching algorithm associated with that repository.

13. The apparatus as in claim 12, further comprising a profile user interface and is configured to display the order of repositories searched to the user.

14. The apparatus as in claim 13, wherein the profile user interface is further configured to allow the user to move one or more of the repositories displayed to change the ordering of the repositories in the display user interface.

15. The apparatus as in claim 13, wherein the profile user interface is further configured to generate a saved search profile when a user selects one or more repositories and an order of those repositories, wherein when a new search is performed, the set of repositories searched is based on the saved search profile for that user.

16. The apparatus as in claim 13, wherein the profile user interface is further configured to allow the user to delete one or more repositories from the displayed set of repositories in the display user interface.

17. The apparatus as in claim 13, wherein the profile user interface is further configured to allow the user to add one or more repositories.

18. The apparatus as in claim 13, wherein the profile user interface is further configured to allow the user to change the number of results displayed in each separate repository.

19. The apparatus as in claim 13, wherein the display user interface includes different options for connecting a user to an item displayed a repository based on the type of item displayed.

20. A tangible, non-transitory, computer-readable media having software encoded thereon, the software when executed by a processor operable to:

receive a search string from a user;

determine a search type of the search string;

based on the search type, determine an order of repositories to search;

search each repository; and

display search results to the user in separate panels for each repository, wherein the panels are ordered based on search type and the search results within each panel are sorted based on relevancy.