Directory lookup method and apparatus
First Claim
1. A directory lookup method comprising the steps ofsubdividing a given directory of character strings into at least one subdirectory of character strings having bounds defined by a character of a presented character string, andexamining said subdirectory for matches between a particular character of said presented character string and a particular character of said subdirectory character string.
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Accused Products
Abstract
There is disclosed a spelling correction arrangement for use in directory lookup applications. The arrangement corrects errors by finding the name in the directory that most closely resembles the name requested by the user. The arrangement is based on a recursive routine that continually subdivides the problem of finding a given name in a given directory into smaller subproblems in which shorter names are to be found in smaller directories. Multiple spelling errors are easily accommodated since the technique uses the given directory of names to limit the search. The technique allows the algorithm to find the closest name in the directory without actually considering the vast majority of the names that appear in the directory.
134 Citations
59 Claims
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1. A directory lookup method comprising the steps of
subdividing a given directory of character strings into at least one subdirectory of character strings having bounds defined by a character of a presented character string, and examining said subdirectory for matches between a particular character of said presented character string and a particular character of said subdirectory character string.
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14. A method of providing directory look up, said method comprising the steps of
continually subdividing a given directory into a subdirectory of character strings having bounds defined by certain characters of a presented name, recursively examining said subdirectory character strings for matches between a certain presented name character and a certain subdirectory character, said examination to cease when the last character of the presented name characters has been examined and when the first character string in the subdirectory is zero, calculating an error number for each subdirectory string of characters where matches occur, and sequentially providing indications of the subdirectory names having error numbers lower than a preestablished number.
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18. The method of identifying from a directory of character strings a particular one of said character strings that most closely matches an input character string, said method comprising the steps of
recursively defining the limits of a directory that is to be searched, and recursively defining a character index in each said defined directory and a character index of said input character string and comparing said defined characters for mismatches.
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30. In a text editing system an arrangement for controlling spelling errors in said text, said arrangement comprising
means for identifying words in said text which are misspelled, means for comparing each said identified misspelled word with a dictionary of correctly spelled words, and means cooperating with said comparing means for presenting a word from said dictionary corresponding to the closest match between said misspelled word and a word in said dictionary.
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41. In a communication system, an arrangement for communicating between at least two terminals of said system, said arrangement comprising
means for accepting at a first terminal, a name to which communication is to be directed, means for comparing an accepted name to a directory of defined names, means for selecting from said directory the closest name to said accepted name, and means controlled by said selection means for retrieving from said directory control information associated with said closest directory name.
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48. A system for providing directory look up, said system comprising
means for subdividing a given directory into a subdirectory of names having bounds defined by a certain character of a presented name, means for recursively examining said subdirectory names for matches between a certain presented name character and a certain subdirectory character, said examination to cease when the last character of the presented name has been examined and when the first character string in the subdirectory is zero, means for calculating an error number for each subdirectory string of characters where matches occur, and means for sequentially providing indications of the directory names having error numbers lower than a preestablished number.
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52. In a computer system, an algorithm for solving the problem of identifying from a set of character strings a particular character string that most closely resembles an input character string, said algorithm comprising the steps of
decomposing said original problem into smaller subproblems in which smaller subdirectories, consisting of characters from said original directory, are searched to identify character strings closely resembling character strings obtained by removing characters from said input character string, and selecting from any said identified character strings, said particular character string.
Specification