Technique for providing enhanced relevance information for documents retrieved in a multi database search

• US 6,006,217 A
• Filed: 11/07/1997
• Issued: 12/21/1999
• Est. Priority Date: 11/07/1997
• Status: Expired due to Fees

• Current Assignee: International Business Machines Corporation
• Original Assignee: International Business Machines Corporation
• Inventors: Lumsden, Mark W.
• Primary Examiner(s): Lintz, Paul R.
• Assistant Examiner(s): Colbert, Ella
• Application Number:
  US08/966,132
• Time in Patent Office: 774 Days
• Field of Search: 707/3, 707/10, 707/100, 707/104, 707/506
• US Class Current: 1/1
• CPC Class Codes: G06F 16/951 Indexing; Web crawling techniques
• CPC Class Codes: G06F 16/9532 Query formulation
• CPC Class Codes: G06F 16/9538 Presentation of query results
• CPC Class Codes: Y10S 707/99932 Access augmentation or optimizing
• CPC Class Codes: Y10S 707/99933 Query processing, i.e. searching

Abstract

A computer implemented technique, system and method for providing enhanced search results for searches for documents on the Internet. In response to a search request form a user at a client computer, a search engine at a search server performs a search for documents at Internet sites matching the search criteria. A list of matching documents is provided to the client in the form of a hits list. For each document on the hits list, a link is provided to a server which will provide the document to the client in an enhanced format. Upon selection of such a link for a document, a message is sent to the server, and the server retrieves the document from its home server, and modifies the document to graphically highlight the matches to the search criteria found in the document and logically links the matches, so that selection of one match in the document by the user will automatically cause the client to display the portion of the document having the next sequential match. The server sends the modified document to the client for review by the user.

Claims

1. In a computing environment, computer readable code associated with a server employed to provide search information in response to a request from a user at a client for documents available on the Internet matching search criteria, the server having a database associated therewith which includes information about documents available on the Internet, comprising:

first subprocesses for searching the associated database for documents which match the user'"'"'s search criteria;

second subprocesses for generating a list of documents which match the user'"'"'s search criteria, said list including, for each document in the list, a server link which upon selection sends a message to the server that the server link for its associated document was selected, and providing the list to the client;

third subprocesses for causing the server to retrieve a first document included on the list following user selection of a server link associated with the first document;

fourth subprocesses for modifying the first document to visually distinguish elements in the document which match the user'"'"'s search criteria and link the elements logically by providing links for each element in the first document which matches the user'"'"'s search criteria so that selection of one of the elements causes the client to display a next sequential matching element in the first document to the user; and

fifth subprocesses for sending the modified document to the client for review by the user.

2. Computer readable code according to claim 1, wherein said fourth subprocesses are performed by a document enhancement server.

3. Computer readable code according to claim 1, wherein the list also includes a document link for each document on the list, wherein, upon selection of one of the document links by the user, the client retrieves the document which corresponds to the selected document link directly from a document server for the corresponding document.

4. In a computing environment, a method for searching the Internet for documents matching user-input search criteria and providing enhanced search results, the computing environment including a client used by a user, a search server which performs searching, the search server having a database of document information comprising information about document content of documents accessible through the Internet, document servers with which documents are associated, and a document enhancing server, with the client, the search server, the document servers and the document enhancing server being linked together by a network, said method comprising the steps of:

in response to receipt by the search server of the user-input search criteria, searching the database associated with the search server for documents which match the user-input search criteria;

generating a list of documents which match the user-input search criteria, the list including a unique enhanced document request link for each of the documents in the list;

sending the list to the client;

in response to user selection of a first enhanced document request link which corresponds to a first document from the list, sending an enhanced document request for the first document to the document enhancing server;

retrieving the first document by the document enhancing server from a document server on which the first document is maintained;

modifying the first document to visually distinguish elements in the first document which match the search criteria and to link the elements logically so that selection of at least one linked element which matches said search criteria causes said client to display a next sequential matching link; and

sending the modified first document to the client.

5. A method for providing enhanced search results according to claim 4, wherein the search server and the enhanced document server are a single server.

6. A method for providing enhanced search results according to claim 4, wherein said modifying step modifies the first document so that a first sequential match of the search criteria in the first document appears on a portion of first document first displayed by the client to the user.

7. A system for providing enhanced search results and an enhanced document in response to a search request for matching documents from any of a plurality of document databases from a user at a client, the search request being made of a server having a multiple database search function, the server having an index associated therewith of documents available from the plurality of databases, comprising:

means for searching the index for documents which match search criteria included in the search request;

means for generating a list of documents which match the search criteria, the list including a server link for each of the documents on the list which, upon selection from within the list, sends a message to the server;

means for sending the list to the client;

means for causing the server to retrieve a first document listed on the list from a document database from the plurality of databases which contains the first document upon receipt by the server of a message generated by selection of a first server link associated with the first document;

means for modifying the first document to visually distinguish elements in the first document which match the search criteria and logically link the elements which match the search criteria so that selection of one of the elements by the user when the first document is displayed to the user by the client causes the client to display another matching element in the first document to the user; and

means for sending the modified document to the client.

8. A system according to claim 7, wherein each of the plurality of databases is associated with a site on the Internet.

9. A system according to claim 7 wherein said modifying means modifies the first document so that a first sequential match of the search criteria in the first document appears on a portion of first document first displayed by the client to the user.