Method for transforming and storing data for search and display and a searching system utilized therewith

• US 5,781,773 A
• Filed: 08/22/1997
• Issued: 07/14/1998
• Est. Priority Date: 05/10/1995
• Status: Expired due to Term

• Current Assignee: 3M Company
• Original Assignee: 3M Company
• Inventors: Vanderpool, Brian T., Parro, TJ, Vanderpool, Thomas R., Lenz, Craig K., Threlfall, John D.
• Primary Examiner(s): Black, Thomas G.
• Assistant Examiner(s): HO, RUAY L
• Application Number:
  US08/916,868
• Time in Patent Office: 326 Days
• Field of Search: 395/601, 395/611, 395/612, 395/613, 395/614, 395/615, 395/616, 345/334, 345/335, 345/336, 345/339, 345/340
• US Class Current: 707/693
• CPC Class Codes: G06F 16/40 of multimedia data, e.g. slideshows comprising image and additional audio data retrieval of still image data G06F16/50; retrieval of audio data G06F16/60; retrieval of video data G06F16/70
• CPC Class Codes: G06F 16/51 Indexing; Data structures therefor; Storage structures
• CPC Class Codes: Y10S 707/915 Image
• CPC Class Codes: Y10S 707/917 Text
• CPC Class Codes: Y10S 707/99943 Generating database or data structure, e.g. via user interface

Abstract

A method of transforming and storing data for search and display by a computer system includes formatting and aligning data records of a plurality of objects to a common table mapped format. The formatted and aligned data records are merged and a database is generated therefrom. The database is stored on an optical disc and includes index tables corresponding to searchable data fields. Image data for the objects is compressed and a main compressed image and an image of lesser resolution are randomly stored to a plurality of storage subdirectories on an optical disc. A program for searching and further processing the stored data is also stored on the optical disc with the database and the storage subdirectories. The program for search and display of the data uses an index bar interface for searching the indexed tables. The objects may include real estate properties.

Claims

1. A method of transforming and storing data to create a pre-recorded storage media, the method comprising the steps of:

providing image data for a plurality of objects, each object associated with a corresponding identifier of a plurality of identifiers;

providing at least one group of textual data records for the plurality of objects associated with corresponding identifiers, each group of textual data records including data records having corresponding same or different map records;

providing a definition map for each group of textual data records defining a common format for transforming the corresponding map records to a common table mapped format;

formatting and aligning the data records of each group of textual data records using the transformed corresponding map records to the common table mapped format;

merging the formatted and aligned data records of the at least one group of textual data records into a merged data file;

generating a database from the merged data file and storing the database on a master storage media, the database including data tables having a textual file for each object, each textual file having a plurality of data fields and being associated with a corresponding identifier, the database further including a plurality of index tables at least in part corresponding to searchable data fields of the plurality of data fields of the textual files;

compressing the image data for each of the plurality of objects resulting in at least one compressed image for each object;

storing the at least one compressed image for each object to a plurality of storage subdirectories of the master storage media as a function of the identifier corresponding to the object;

storing a program for manipulating the stored image data and textual data on the master storage media with the database and the storage subdirectories; and

duplicating the master storage media.

2. The method according to claim 1, wherein the method further comprises the step of decompressing and recompressing a compressed image for each object resulting in a thumbnail image for each object.

3. The method according to claim 2, wherein the storing the at least one compressed image step includes the step of randomly storing the at least one compressed image and the thumbnail image to the plurality of storage subdirectories on the master storage media.

4. The method according to claim 2, further comprising the steps of:

providing an index bar interface for at least one searchable data field of the plurality of data fields, each index bar interface for allowing a user to select options for a search parameter corresponding to the at least one searchable data field resulting in a defined search query;

searching the index table corresponding to the at least one searchable data field for objects satisfying the search query;

generating a table of references to a storage media duplicated from the master storage media indicating the position of textual and image data for objects satisfying the search query;

displaying a count of objects satisfying the search query;

retrieving image data and textual data for all of the objects satisfying the search query, the retrieved image data including the thumbnail image and certain summary data fields of the textual file having a plurality of data fields for each object; and

decompressing the thumbnail image and displaying the decompressed thumbnail image with the certain summary data fields for at least two objects of the all of the objects satisfying the search query.

5. The method according to claim 4, further including the steps of:

selecting one of the at least two objects;

retrieving a substantial number of the data fields of the textual file and the at least one compressed image of the selected object; and

decompressing the at least one compressed image of the selected object and displaying the decompressed image with the substantial number of data fields of the textual file.

6. The method according to claim 5, further comprising the steps of retrieving supplemental textual data or images associated with the selected object and randomly stored in the storage subdirectories upon selection by the user when the decompressed at least one compressed image and the substantial number of data fields for the selected object are displayed.

7. The method according to claim 4, wherein a plurality of index bar interfaces are provided and further wherein the method further includes the step of displaying a composite result count of objects satisfying search queries defined for all of the search parameters corresponding to the plurality of index bar interfaces.

8. The method according to claim 4, wherein the generating step further includes the step of generating references to additional storage media indicating the position of additional data.

9. The method according to claim 8, wherein the additional data includes updated textual and image data for the objects.

10. A method for search, retrieval and display of data using a computer with a media read apparatus for communication with the computer, the method comprising the steps of:

providing a pre-recorded database on storage media which is accessible utilizing the computer and media read apparatus, the pre-recorded database including a plurality of textual files corresponding to a plurality of objects, each textual file having a plurality of text fields and being associated with an identifier corresponding to one of the plurality of objects, the prerecorded database further having a plurality of indexed tables, each indexed table corresponding to a searchable data field of the plurality of text fields;

providing pre-recorded compressed image data for one or more objects of the plurality of objects stored on the storage media as a function of the corresponding identifier, the compressed image data including at least one compressed image and a compressed thumbnail image of the compressed image;

providing a table driven program on the storage media, the program operable using the computer for performing the steps of;

displaying a plurality of interfaces, each displayed interface of the plurality of interfaces corresponding to one of the indexed tables, and wherein each displayed interface allows a user to define a search query for a search parameter associated with one of the searchable data fields corresponding to one of the indexed tables;

searching each of the indexed tables for objects satisfying the search query defined for the search parameter associated with the searchable data field corresponding to the indexed table being searched;

generating a table of references to the storage media indicating the position of textual and image data for objects resulting from the searching step;

displaying with each displayed interface a count of objects satisfying the search query defined using the displayed interface;

displaying with the plurality of interfaces a composite count of objects satisfying all of the search queries defined using all of the displayed interfaces;

retrieving the compressed thumb nail image and certain summary data fields of the textual file for all of the objects of the composite count; and

decompressing the compressed thumbnail image and displaying the decompressed thumbnail image with the certain summary data fields for at least two objects of all of the objects of the composite count.

11. The method according to claim 10, further including the steps of:

selecting one of the at least two objects;

retrieving at least a substantial number of the data fields of the textual file and the compressed image of the selected object; and

decompressing the compressed image of the selected object and displaying the decompressed image with the substantial number of data fields of the textual file.

12. The method according to claim 11, further comprising the steps of retrieving supplemental textual data or images associated with the selected object and stored on the storage media upon selection by the user when the decompressed image and the substantial number of data fields for the selected object are displayed.

13. The method according to claim 10, wherein the plurality of interfaces includes a plurality of index bar interfaces, each index bar interface including an icon for selection by a user to initiate definition of a search query for the index table corresponding to the index bar interface, a search query definition portion, and a count portion for displaying the count of objects satisfying the search query defined using the search query portion.

14. The method according to claim 13, wherein the count portions of the plurality of interfaces are aligned with a composite count portion for display of the composite count of objects satisfying the search queries defined for all of the displayed index bar interfaces.

15. A computer implemented data searching system using a computer having a processor and an optical media read apparatus connected to the computer for communication with the processor thereof, the system comprising:

pre-recorded optical storage media operable with the optical media read apparatus under control of the computer and table-driven program means, the pre-recorded optical storage media for storing a database including a plurality of textual files corresponding to a plurality of objects, each textual file having a plurality of data fields and being associated with an identifier corresponding to one of the plurality of objects, the database further having a plurality of indexed tables, each indexed table corresponding to a searchable data field of the plurality of data fields, the pre-recorded optical storage media further for storing compressed image data for one or more objects of the plurality of objects in a plurality of subdirectories as a function of the identifiers, the compressed image data including at least one compressed image and a compressed thumbnail image of the compressed image; and

the table-driven program means prerecorded to the optical storage media including;

means for displaying a plurality of index bar interfaces, each index bar interface of the plurality of index bar interfaces corresponding to and displayed based on one of the indexed tables, and wherein the means for displaying includes means for allowing a user to define a search query for a search parameter associated with one of the searchable data fields which corresponds to one of the indexed tables;

means for searching each of the indexed tables for objects satisfying the search query defined for the search parameter associated with the searchable data field corresponding to the indexed table being searched;

means for generating a table of references to the pre-recorded optical storage media indicating the position of textual and image data for objects resulting from the search query;

means for displaying with each displayed interface a count of objects satisfying the search query defined using the displayed interface;

means for displaying a composite count of objects satisfying all of the search queries defined using all of the displayed interfaces;

means for retrieving the compressed thumbnail image and certain summary data fields of the textual file for all of the objects of the composite count; and

means for decompressing the compressed thumbnail image and displaying the decompressed thumbnail image with the certain summary data fields for at least two of the objects of the composite count.

16. The system according to claim 15, wherein the table-driven program means further includes:

means for retrieving a substantial number of data fields of the textual file and the at least one compressed image of an object selected from the at least two of the objects using the table of references; and

means for decompressing the at least one compressed image of the selected object.

17. The system according to claim 15, wherein the generating means includes means for generating references to additional storage media indicating the position of additional data.

18. The system to claim 17, wherein the additional data includes updated textual and image data for the objects and the additional storage media includes at least one of a hard drive and a network.

19. The system according to claim 15, wherein each index bar interface includes an icon for selection by a user to initiate definition of a search query for the index table corresponding to the index bar interface, a search query definition portion, and a count portion for displaying the count of objects satisfying the search query defined using the search query portion.

20. The method according to claim 41, wherein the count portions of the plurality of index bar interfaces are aligned with a composite count portion for display of the composite count of objects satisfying the search queries defined for all of the displayed index bar interfaces.

21. A method of transforming and storing property data to create a pre-recorded storage media, the method comprising the steps of:

providing image data for a plurality of properties, each property associated with a corresponding listing number of a plurality of listing numbers;

providing at least a first group of property listing textual data records for the plurality of properties associated with corresponding identifiers and a second group of tax data textual records for the plurality of properties, the first group of property listing textual data records including property data records having corresponding same or different property map records and the second group of tax data textual records including tax data records having corresponding same or different tax map records;

providing a property definition map defining a common format for transforming the corresponding property map records to a common property table mapped format;

providing a tax definition map defining a common format for transforming the corresponding tax map records to a common tax table mapped format;

formatting and aligning the property data records of the group of property listing textual data records using the transformed corresponding property map records to the common property table mapped format and formatting and aligning the tax data records of the group of tax textual data records using the transformed corresponding tax map records to the common tax table mapped format;

merging the formatted and aligned property data records and tax data records into a merged data file;

generating a database from the merged data file and storing the database on a master optical disc, the database including data tables having a textual file for each property, the textual file having a plurality of data fields and is associated with a corresponding listing number, the database further including a plurality of index tables at least in part corresponding to searchable data fields of the plurality of data fields of the textual files;

compressing the image data for each of the plurality of properties resulting in at least one compressed image for each property;

randomly storing the at least one compressed image for each property to a plurality of image storage subdirectories on the master optical disc as a function of the listing number; and

storing a program for manipulating the stored image data and textual data on the master optical disc with the database and the image storage subdirectories, the master optical disc being replicable.

22. The method according to claim 21, wherein the method further comprises the steps of:

decompressing and recompressing a compressed image for each property resulting in a compressed thumbnail image for each property; and

randomly storing the compressed thumbnail image for each property to the plurality of image storage subdirectories on the master optical disc as a function of the listing number.

23. The method according to claim 22, further comprising the steps of:

providing a plurality of index bar interfaces, each index bar interface corresponding to one of the searchable data fields and for allowing a user to select options for a search parameter of the one of the searchable data fields resulting in a defined search query;

searching the index tables corresponding to the searchable data fields for properties satisfying the search queries defined for the plurality of index bar interfaces;

generating a table of references to an optical disc replicated from the master optical disc indicating the position of the text and image data for properties resulting from searching the index tables;

displaying a count of properties resulting from searching of the index tables;

retrieving image data and textual data of all the properties resulting from the search of the index tables, the retrieved image data including the compressed thumbnail image and certain summary data fields of the textual file having a plurality of data fields for each property;

decompressing the thumbnail image and displaying the decompressed thumbnail image with the certain summary data fields for at least two properties;

selecting one of the at least two properties;

retrieving at least a substantial number of the data fields of the textual file and the at least one compressed image of the selected property; and

decompressing the at least one compressed image of the selected property and displaying the decompressed image data with the substantial number of data fields of the textual file.

24. The method according to claim 23, further comprising the steps of retrieving supplemental textual data or images associated with the selected property and randomly stored in the subdirectories as a function of the listing number upon selection by the user when the decompressed at least one compressed image and the substantial number of data fields for the selected property are displayed.

25. The method according to claim 23, wherein the generating step further includes the step of generating references to additional storage media indicating the position of additional data.

26. The method according to claim 25, wherein the additional data includes updated textual and image data for the properties.

27. A method for search, retrieval and display of property data using a computer with an optical media read apparatus for communication with the computer, the method comprising the steps of:

providing a pre-recorded database on optical media which is accessible utilizing the computer and the optical media read apparatus, the pre-recorded database including a plurality of textual files corresponding to a plurality of properties, each textual file having a plurality of data fields and being associated with a listing number corresponding to one of the plurality of properties, the pre-recorded database further having a plurality of indexed tables, each indexed table corresponding to a searchable data field of the plurality of data fields;

providing pre-recorded compressed image data for one or more properties stored in a plurality of subdirectories on the optical media as a function of the listing number, the compressed image data including at least one compressed image and a compressed thumbnail image of the compressed image;

providing a table driven program on the storage media, the program operable using the computer for performing the steps of;

displaying a plurality of index bar interfaces, each index bar interface corresponding to one of the indexed tables and wherein each displayed index bar interface allows a user to define a search query for a search parameter associated with one of the searchable data fields corresponding to one of the indexed tables;

searching each of the indexed tables for properties satisfying the search query defined for the corresponding index bar interface;

generating a table of references to the optical media indicating the position of textual and image data for properties resulting from the searching step;

displaying with each displayed index bar interface a count of properties satisfying the search query defined using the index bar interface;

displaying a composite count of properties satisfying all of the search queries defined using all of the displayed index bar interfaces;

retrieving the compressed thumbnail image and certain summary data fields of the textual file for each property of the composite count; and

decompressing the compressed thumbnail image and displaying the decompressed thumbnail image with the certain summary data fields for at least two of the properties of the composite count.

28. The method according to claim 27, further including the steps of:

selecting one of the at least two properties;

retrieving at least a substantial number of the data fields of the textual file and the compressed image of the selected property using the table of references; and

decompressing the compressed image of the selected property and displaying the decompressed image data with the substantial number of data fields of the textual file.

29. The method according to claim 28, further comprising the steps of retrieving supplemental textual data or images associated with the selected object and randomly stored in the subdirectories as a function of the listing number upon selection by the user when the decompressed image and the substantial number of data fields for the selected property are displayed.

30. The method according to claim 27, wherein the generating step further includes the step of generating references to additional storage media indicating the position of additional data.

31. The method according to claim 30, wherein the additional data includes updated textual and image data for the properties.

32. A computer implemented property data searching system having a computer with a processor and an optical media read device connected to the computer for communication with the processor thereof, the system comprising:

pre-recorded optical storage media operable with the optical media read device under control of the computer and table-driven program means, the pre-recorded optical storage media for storing a database including a plurality of textual files corresponding to a plurality of properties, each textual file having a plurality of data fields and being associated with a listing number corresponding to one of the plurality of properties, the database further having a plurality of indexed tables, each indexed table corresponding to a searchable data field of the plurality of data fields, the pre-recorded optical storage media further for storing compressed image data for one or more properties of the plurality of properties in a plurality of subdirectories as a function of the listing numbers, the compressed image data including at least one compressed image and a compressed thumbnail image of the compressed image; and

the table-driven program means pre-recorded on the optical storage media including;

means for displaying a plurality of index bar interfaces, each index bar interface corresponding to one of the plurality of indexed tables, and wherein the means for displaying includes means for allowing a user to define a search query for a search parameter associated with one of the searchable data fields corresponding to one of the indexed tables;

means for searching each of the indexed tables for properties satisfying the search query defined using the index bar interface corresponding to the indexed table being searched;

means for generating a table of references to the pre-recorded optical media indicating the position of textual and image data for properties resulting from the search queries;

means for displaying with each displayed index bar interface a count of objects satisfying the search queries defined using the displayed index bar interface;

means for displaying a composite count of properties resulting from the search queries defined using all of the displayed index bar interfaces;

means for retrieving the compressed thumbnail image and certain summary data fields of the textual file for each property of the composite count; and

means for decompressing the compressed thumbnail image and displaying the decompressed thumbnail image with the certain summary data fields for at least two of the properties of the composite count.

33. The system according to claim 32, further including:

means for retrieving a substantial number of data fields of the textual file and the at least one compressed image of a property selected from the at least two of the properties using the table of references; and

means for decompressing the at least one compressed image of the selected property.

34. The system according to claim 32, wherein the generating means includes means for generating references to additional storage media indicating the position of additional data.

35. The system according to claim 34, wherein the additional data includes updated textual and image data for the properties and the additional storage media includes at least one of a hard drive and a network.

36. A pre-recorded program storage media readable by a media read apparatus under control of a computer, tangibly embodying a program executable to perform property data searching, the pre-recorded program storage media comprising:

a database including a plurality of textual files corresponding to a plurality of properties, each textual file having a plurality of data fields and being associated with a listing number corresponding to one of the plurality of properties, the database further having a plurality of indexed tables, each indexed table corresponding to a searchable data field of the plurality of data fields, the pre-recorded storage media further for storing compressed image data for one or more properties of the plurality of properties in a plurality of subdirectories as a function of the listing numbers, the compressed image data including at least one compressed image and a compressed thumbnail image of the compressed image; and

table driven program means including;

means for causing the display of a plurality of index bar interfaces, each index bar interface corresponding to one of the plurality of indexed tables, and wherein the means for displaying includes means for allowing a user to define a search query for a search parameter associated with one of the searchable data fields corresponding to one of the indexed tables;

means for causing a search of each of the indexed tables for properties satisfying the search query defined using the index bar interface corresponding to the indexed table being searched;

means for causing the generation of a table of references to the storage media indicating the position of textual and image data for properties resulting from the search queries;

means for causing display with each displayed index bar interface a count of objects satisfying the search query defined using the displayed index bar interface;

means for causing display of a composite count of properties satisfying the search queries defined for all of the displayed index bar interfaces;

means for causing the retrieval of the compressed thumbnail image and certain summary data fields of the textual file for each property of the composite count; and

means for causing the decompression of the compressed thumbnail image and causing the display of the decompressed thumbnail image with the certain summary data fields for at least two of the properties of the composite count.

37. The pre-recorded program storage media according to claim 36, further comprising:

means for causing the retrieval of a substantial number of data fields of the textual file and the at least one compressed image of a property selected from the at least two of the properties; and

means for causing the decompression of the at least one compressed image of the selected property and causing the display of the decompressed image with the substantial number of data fields of the textual file.