System and method for search and retrieval of digital information by making and scaled viewing

• US 6,026,409 A
• Filed: 09/26/1996
• Issued: 02/15/2000
• Est. Priority Date: 09/26/1996
• Status: Expired due to Fees

• Current Assignee: Joshua O. Blumenthal
• Original Assignee: Joshua O. Blumenthal
• Inventors: Blumenthal, Joshua O.
• Primary Examiner(s): HOMERE, JEAN RAYMOND
• Application Number:
  US08/721,568
• Time in Patent Office: 1,237 Days
• Field of Search: 707/3, 707/104, 707/4, 707/528, 345/431, 345/332, 345/340, 345/145, 345/432, 345/341, 345/186
• US Class Current: 1/1
• CPC Class Codes: G06F 16/338 Presentation of query results
• CPC Class Codes: Y10S 707/99933 Query processing, i.e. searching
• CPC Class Codes: Y10S 707/99934 Query formulation, input preparation, or translation
• CPC Class Codes: Y10S 707/99945 Object-oriented database structure processing
• CPC Class Codes: Y10S 707/99948 Application of database or data structure, e.g. distributed, multimedia, or image

Abstract

The invention comprises a visual search and retrieval system and method. At least one viewing window is provided on a screen. The viewing window has a first and second pane. The first pane provides a global view of digitally stored information and the second pane provides a local view of the digitally stored information. The first pane has first indicia which indicate results of a search performed by a user and the second pane has a second indicia which also indicate the results of the search performed by the user. The second indicia corresponds substantially to the first indicia.

Claims

1. A visual search and retrieval system comprising:

at least one viewing window provided on a screen;

a first pane within the viewing window providing a scrollable global view of digitally stored information;

a second pane within the viewing window providing a scrollable scaled local view of the digitally stored infomation, each of the global and local views being scrollable independent of the other;

a database capable of holding entries selected from the digitally stored information and associated attributes representing colors;

first indicia within the first pane indicating results of a search performed by associating a data item with a color; and

second indicia within the second pane indicating, using the color, results of the search performed and corresponding substantially to the first indicia.

2. The system in claim 1 further comprising third indicia viewable in the first pane indicating substantially the scaled local view provided by the second pane.

3. The system of claim 2 wherein the second indicia and third indicia are interrelated so that the movement of the second indicia causes a corresponding movement of the third indicia.

4. The system in claim 2 wherein the third indicia is movable throughout the first pane.

5. The system in claim 2 wherein the third indicia comprises a zoombox.

6. The system in claim 1 wherein said first indicia is presented in the color.

7. The system of claim 1 wherein the digitally stored information provided in the first pane is displayable with a first user selectable magnification factor and the digitally stored information provided in the second pane is displayable with a second user selectable magnification factor.

8. The system of claim 7 wherein the first and second magnification factors are different.

9. The system of claim 8 wherein the second magnification factor is smaller than the first magnification factor.

10. The system of claim 1 wherein the first pane further comprises a documents map having user manipulable display characteristics.

11. The system of claim 1 further comprising a search engine wherein the search engine is constructed to process a query according to one of a keyword, a phrase, a Boolean, a conceptual, a statistical or a misspelled word search algorithm.

12. The system of claim 1 wherein the second indicia is displayable with a varying brightness corresponding to the relevance of the results.

13. The system of claim 1 wherein the digitally stored information comprises one of text, graphics, spreadsheets, tables, audio, video, 3D, virtual reality information or databases.

14. The system of claim 1 wherein the digitally stored information comprises multiple media.

15. The system of claim 1 wherein the digitally stored information in the first pane comprises text and the text is displayed as a thumbnail view.

16. The system of claim 15 wherein the thumbnail view is displayed as a column.

17. The system of claim 16 wherein a portion of the column is obscured from view.

18. The system of claim 16 wherein the the thumbnail view wraps from a first column to a second column.

19. The system of claim 16 wherein the column includes a header.

20. The system of claim 1 wherein the digitally stored information in the first pane comprises a plurality of documents and wherein each of the plurality of the documents is displayed in individual columns.

21. The system of claim 1 wherein the digitally stored information comprises multiple documents which are represented as a singular combined document.

22. The system of claim 1 further comprising a user input device for entering a query.

23. The system of claim 1 wherein the database has contents consisting essentially of queries representing the entries selected from the digitally stored information and colors associated with the queries.

24. The system of claim 23 wherein the second indicia is a visual representation of the contents of the database.

25. The system of claim 23 further comprising a processor capable of accessing the database by continuous searching.

26. The system of claim 25 wherein the processor is further constructed for responding to an input and modifying the contents of the database in response to the input.

27. The system of claim 25 wherein the processor can handle threaded processes.

28. The system of claim 27 wherein the at one viewing window is a first viewing window and the first viewing window is a first process, the system further comprising a second process having a second viewing window, a first pane within the second viewing window providing a global view of new digitally stored information and a second pane within the second viewing window providing a local view of the new digitally stored information.

29. The system of claim 25 wherein the processor further comprises means for continually searching the first process and the second process simultaneously.

30. The system of claim 27 wherein the digitally stored information comprises a first document running in a first process and a second document running in a second process.

31. The system of claim 30 wherein the processor further comprises means for continually searching the first process and the second process simultaneously.

32. The system of claim 23 further comprising a dialog box having elements, each of the elements being selectable using an input device, a first of the elements being capable of displaying a query and a second of the elements being capable of displaying colors so that in response to a selection of a color using the input device, the contents of the database will be updated to associate the selected color with the query.

33. The system of claim 23 further comprising a unitary save file, the unitary save file including the digitally stored information and the database.

34. The system of claim 1 wherein the first indicia is displayable with a varying brightness corresponding to the relevance of the results.

35. The system of claim 1 further comprising a query window.

36. The system of claim 35 wherein the query window includes a listing of queries represented by the first indicia.

37. The system of claim 36 wherein the listing of queries is sorted by color categories.

38. The system of claim 1 further comprising a search process for processing a first query according to one of a keyword, a phrase, a Boolean, or complex Boolean search algorithms and a second query according to another of a keyword, a phrase, a Boolean or complex Boolean search algorithms and for displaying a combined result thereof on the screen in the first pane.

39. The system of claim 38 wherein the first query is associated with a first color, the second query is associated with a second color and the combined result is displayed using an indicator different from the first and second colors when a first portion of the first query corresponds to a first portion of the second query.

40. The system of claim 39 wherein the indicator is a color.

41. The system of claim 1 further comprising a search application program, the search application program having a substantially fixed size and the database having a database size based upon a contents consisting essentially of previously selected queries and colors associated with the queries, and

wherein the digitally stored information comprises a plurality of files, each of the files having sizes, such that the maximum storage requirements necessary for running the search application program on the digitally stored information is equal to the sum of the substantially fixed size, the database size, and the sizes of the plurality of files.

42. A visual search and retrieval method comprising the steps of:

a) displaying a global view of first digitally stored information within a first pane of a viewing window;

b) displaying a local view of the digitally stored information within a second pane of the viewing window;

c) maintaining a database capable of holding entries and associated attributes representing colors;

d) processing a query by adding an entry and an associated attribute representing a preselected color into the database; and

e) responsive to the query, updating the global and local views to display the search result within the digitally stored information, using a first indicia in the preselected color, individually inside both the first and second panes.

43. The method of claim 42 further comprising the steps of:

scrolling through the local view in response to user input; and

simultaneously displaying the digital information in the global view which corresponds to the digital data displayed in the local view.

44. The method of claim 42 further comprising running one of steps a) through d) using a first process.

45. The method of claim 44 wherein the running step is performed in the foreground.

46. The method of claim 44 wherein the running step is performed in the background.

47. The method of claim 44 further comprising the step of running one of steps a) through d) using a second process in the background simultaneous with running the first process.

48. The method of claim 42 further including the step of:

opening a second viewing window, the second viewing window containing two panes, a first of the panes being capable of displaying a global view of searchable digital information and a second of the panes being capable of displaying a local view of the searchable digital information, the searchable digital information being displayable in the two panes according to different magnification factors.

49. A threaded process visual search and retrieval system comprising:

a first process having a first viewing window including a first pane and a second pane,

a second process having a second viewing window including a first pane and a second pane,

a database consisting essentially of fields for queries and color indicators associated with the queries, and a processor for running the first and second processes, processing searches in response to queries, and for searching the database so that in response to a query, the processor will search the database and identify a color indicator associated with the query and display a result of the search in one of the first or second processes using the color indicator.

50. The method of claim 49 further comprising the step of providing at least one scrollbar in each of the first and second panes of each of the first and second viewing windows.

51. A system comprising:

a window including two panes, a first of the panes being capable of sequentially displaying a plurality of independent documents having headers,

manipulable scroll bars associated with each of the two panes, the scroll bars each being configured to respond to a user input so that when a scroll bar is manipulated in either of the first pane or the second pane, documents and headers displayed within the pane can be strolled through the pane independent of the other pane; and

a database configured to consist essentially of items of data and visually displayable attributes so that when a first item of data present in one of the plurality of documents is selected, a first associated attribute will be displayed at every occurrence of the first item of data in the two panes.

52. The system of claim 51 wherein the plurality of documents comprise a plurality of individual files.

53. The system of claim 52 wherein at least one of the plurality of individual files comprises a non-text file.

54. The system of claim 51 further including overlap detection and display means for identifying overlapping portions of selected items of data such that, when a second item of data present in one of the plurality of documents is selected and a second associated attribute is displayed at every occurrence of the second item of data in the two panes, and the first and second items of data share a spatial relationship such that there is a common overlapping portion of the first and second items of data, the overlap detection and display means will cause the common overlapping portion of the first and second items of data to be displayed differently than a non-overlapping portion of either of the first or second items of data.