Electronic taxonomy for construction product information

• US 6,625,619 B1
• Filed: 03/15/2001
• Issued: 09/23/2003
• Est. Priority Date: 03/15/2000
• Status: Active Grant

• Current Assignee: Building Systems Design, Inc. (Schneider Electric SE)
• Original Assignee: Building Systems Design, Inc. (Schneider Electric SE)
• Inventors: McClendon, Susan, Dean, Robert Paul, Witherspoon, John R.
• Primary Examiner(s): Mizrahi, Diane D.
• Application Number:
  US09/809,466
• Time in Patent Office: 922 Days
• Field of Search: 707/3, 707/5, 707/104.1, 707/2, 707/6, 707/10, 707/101, 707/103.R, 707/102, 705/26, 705/20, 717/107, 717/108, 345/629
• US Class Current: 1/1
• CPC Class Codes: G06F 16/954 Navigation, e.g. using categorised browsing
• CPC Class Codes: Y10S 707/99933 Query processing, i.e. searching
• 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 present invention provides systems and methods for identifying and organizing assembly project item information in such a way that item data sets can be readily defined and recorded, quickly searched and compared, and accurately transmitted among software applications and translated into the form needed without the need for human intervention or interpretation. A typical environment will include a common taxonomy to provide standardize communication. The taxonomy uses a common set of terms including element names representing items and item categories and criteria associated with given elements. A common data structure is used to store criteria across disparate elements. The taxonomy is typically organized hierarchically, and many embodiments use a hierarchical criteria interface to view, select and insert element information. One such embodiment encompasses a virtual product library wherein disparate item information developers can index relevant item information according to the taxonomy and submit the generated indexes to the virtual product library for searching and procuring by relevant user communities. In another embodiment, disparate assembly project related applications can be used to select and specify items related to a given assembly project. A centralized link manager according to the present invention can support centralized organization of item information related to the project. Some such embodiments may support identification of mismatched item information selected or specified via the disparate assembly project related applications.

Claims

1. A method for searching and transmitting assembly item information related to an assembly project to an end user, using an end user computer, the method comprising the steps of:

a) receiving a query from an end user computer, the query comprising;

i) an element name corresponding to a desired item or item category for an assembly project; and

ii) a set of criteria associated with the element name, wherein the set of criteria are selected from a taxonomy comprising a set of terms, wherein the set of terms comprises;

(1) element names representing items and item categories; and

(2) criteria associated with each element name, wherein the associated criteria correspond to properties of the respective item or item categories represented by each element name,

wherein a common data structure is used to store criteria for all items and item a categories in the taxonomy; and

b) searching a data store for an item result set based upon the received query; and

c) presenting to the end user the item result set via an item set interface.

2. The method of claim 1, wherein each criteria associated with each element name in the set of terms in the taxonomy comprises:

(a) a criteria name,

(b) a criteria value,

(c) a unit of measure, and

(d) a method of observation.

3. The method of claim 1, and further comprising the step of updating the taxonomy.

4. The method of claim 3, wherein the step of updating the taxonomy occurs at periodic intervals.

5. The method of claim 3, wherein the step of updating the taxonomy occurs immediately prior to use of the taxonomy.

6. The method of claim 3, wherein the step of updating the taxonomy comprises the steps of establishing a communication channel with a designated taxonomy authority, transmitting a request for a taxonomy update to the designated taxonomy authority via the established communication channel and receiving the taxonomy update from the designated taxonomy authority via the established communication channel.

7. The method of claim 1, wherein the taxonomy is organized as a hierarchy wherein each element corresponds to a node in the hierarchy.

8. The method of claim 1, wherein the assembly project is a construction project and wherein each element in the taxonomy is of a type selected from the group consisting of built-elements, built-element categories, products and product categories.

9. The method of claim 8, wherein the taxonomy data is organized as a hierarchy wherein each element corresponds to a node in the hierarchy.

10. The method of claim 1, and further comprising the step of providing a criteria selection interface via the end user computer by which an end user may select the set of criteria associated with the element name corresponding to the desired item or item category for the assembly project.

11. The method of claim 10, wherein the step of providing a criteria selection interface comprises the step of generating the criteria selection interface based upon the taxonomy.

12. The method of claim 11, wherein the provided criteria selection interface is organized into a hierarchical display of selectable element names;

wherein, upon selection of a selected selectable element name representing an item by the end user via the provided criteria selection interface, the provided criteria selection interface displays criteria associated with the selected selectable element name;

wherein, upon selection of a selected selectable element name representing an item category by the end user via the provided criteria selection interface, the provided criteria selection interface displays criteria associated with the selected selectable element name and further selectable element names corresponding to items within the item category represented by the selected selectable element name; and

wherein, upon selection of a displayed criteria, the provided criteria selection interface allows designation of a value to be associated with the selected, displayed criteria.

13. The method of claim 10, wherein the provided criteria selection interface accesses the set of criteria from a project data store associated with the assembly project.

14. The method of claim 10, wherein the step of providing the criteria selection interface comprises the step of transmitting the criteria selection interface to the end user computer via a communication channel.

15. The method of claim 14, wherein the communication channel is a channel selected from the group consisting of computer network, direct serial or parallel connection, bus connection, wireless connection and dial-up connection.

16. The method of claim 15, wherein the communication channel is the Internet.

17. The method of claim 10, wherein the step of presenting the item result set via an item set interface comprises utilizing the provided criteria selection interface as the item set interface by populating the provided criteria selection interface with the item result set.

18. The method of claim 1, wherein the step of receiving the set of criteria comprises the step of accessing a project data store associated with the assembly project.

19. The method of claim 1, and further comprising the steps of establishing a communication channel with a project data store associated with the assembly project and transmitting via the established communication channel a query requesting the set of criteria.

20. The method of claim 19, wherein the established communication channel is a channel selected from the group consisting of computer network, direct serial or parallel connection, bus connection, wireless connection and dial-up connection.

21. The method of claim 20, wherein the established communication channel is the Internet.

22. The method of claim 1, wherein the step of searching the data store comprises establishing a communication channel with the data store, formatting the received set of criteria as a query, submitting the query to the data store via the established communication channel and receiving the item result set from the data store.

23. The method of claim 1, wherein the step of searching the data store comprises performing a nearest match search of the data store based upon the received set of criteria.

24. The method of claim 1, and further comprising the step of formatting the item result set into the item set interface for presentation to the end user.

25. The method of claim 24, wherein the item result set is formatted using a format selected from the group consisting of HTML, XML, aecXML and SGML.

26. The method of claim 24, wherein the step of formatting the item result set into the item set interface comprises formatting the item result set into a tabular arrangement suitable for side-by-side comparison among items in the item result set.

27. The method of claim 1, wherein the step of presenting the item result set comprises the steps of establishing a communication channel with the end user computer and transmitting the item set interface to the end user computer via the established communication channel.

28. The method of claim 1, wherein the item set interface comprises a link correlated to a specific item in the item result set that upon activation by the end user triggers presentation of additional information related to the specific item from an information source associated with the specific item.

29. The method of claim 1, wherein the item set interface provides the end user with an opportunity to select and purchase a specific item in the item result set.

30. The method of claim 1, wherein the item set interface provides the end user with an opportunity to save the item result set to a taxonomy compliant data store.

31. A system for searching and transmitting assembly item information related to an assembly project to an end user, using an end user computer, the system comprising:

a) a data store for storing a taxonomy comprising a set of terms, wherein the set of terms comprises;

(1) element names representing items and item categories; and

(2) criteria associated with each element name, wherein the associated criteria correspond to properties of the respective item or item categories represented by each element name,

wherein a common data structure is used to store criteria for all items and item categories in the taxonomy; and

b) a processor in communication with the data store, wherein the processor;

i) receives a query from an end user computer, the query comprising;

(1) an element name corresponding to a desired item or item category for an assembly project; and

(2) a set of criteria associated with the element name, wherein the set of criteria are selected from a taxonomy comprising a set of terms, wherein the set of terms comprises;

(a) element names representing items and item categories; and

(b) criteria associated with each element name, wherein the associated criteria correspond to properties of the respective item or item categories represented by each element name,

 

wherein a common data structure is used to store criteria for all items and item categories in the taxonomy; and

;

ii) searches the data store for an item result set based upon the received set of criteria; and

iii) presents to the end user the item result set via an item set interface.

32. The system of claim 31, wherein each criteria associated with each element name in the set of terms in the taxonomy comprises:

(a) a criteria name,

(b) a criteria value,

(c) a unit of measure, and

(d) a method of observation.

33. The system of claim 31, wherein the data store organization is selected from the group consisting of a database, a flat file and a hash table.

34. The system of claim 33, wherein the data store is a relational database.

35. The system of claim 33, wherein the data store comprises flat files formatted in a format selected from the group consisting of HTML, SGML, XML, and aecXML.

36. The system of claim 31, wherein the data store is segregated into a taxonomy data store and an item index data store.

37. The system of claim 36, wherein the data store is logically segregated into the taxonomy data store and the item index data store.

38. The system of claim 36, wherein the data store is physically segregated into the taxonomy data store and the item index data store.

39. The system of claim 31, wherein the end user computer comprises the processor.

40. The system of claim 39, wherein the end user computer further comprises the data store.

41. The system of claim 31, wherein the processor is in communication with the end user computer.

42. The system of claim 31, wherein the processor updates the taxonomy in the data store.

43. The system of claim 42, wherein the processor updates the taxonomy by establishing a communication channel with a designated taxonomy authority, transmitting a request for a taxonomy update to the designated taxonomy authority via the established communication channel, receiving the taxonomy update from the designated taxonomy authority via the established communication channel, and storing the received taxonomy update in the data store.

44. The system of claim 31, wherein the assembly project is a construction project and wherein each element in the taxonomy is of a type selected from the group consisting of built-elements, built-element categories, products and product categories.

45. The system of claim 31, wherein the processor provides a criteria selection interface via an end user computer by which an end user may select the set of criteria associated with the desired item for the assembly project.

46. The system of claim 45, wherein the provided criteria selection interface is organized into a hierarchical display of selectable element names;

wherein, upon selection of a selected selectable element name representing an item by the end user via the provided criteria selection interface, the provided criteria selection interface displays criteria associated with the selected selectable element name;

wherein, upon selection of a selected selectable element name representing an item category by the end user via the provided criteria selection interface, the provided criteria selection interface displays criteria associated with the selected selectable element name and further selectable element names corresponding to items within the item category represented by the selected selectable element name; and

wherein, upon selection of a displayed criteria, the provided criteria selection interface allows designation of a value to be associated with the selected, displayed criteria.

47. The system of claim 45, wherein the processor generates the criteria selection interface based upon the taxonomy.

48. The system of claim 31, wherein the processor accesses a project data store associated with the assembly project.

49. The system of claim 31, wherein the processor searches the data store by performing a nearest match search of the data store based upon the received set of criteria.

50. The system of claim 31, wherein the processor presents the item result set by establishing a communication channel with the end user computer and transmitting the item set interface to the end user computer via the established communication channel.

51. A computer readable storage media storing instructions that, upon execution by a computer, cause the computer to search and transmit assembly item information related to an assembly project to an-end user using an end user computer by performing the steps of:

a) providing a criteria selection interface via an end user computer by which an end user may select a set of criteria associated with a desired item for an assembly project;

b) receiving a query from the provided criteria selection interface, the query comprising;

i) an element name corresponding to a desired item or item category for an assembly project; and

ii) a set of criteria associated with the element name, wherein the set of criteria are selected from a taxonomy comprising a set of terms, wherein the set of terms comprises;

(1) element names representing items and item categories; and

(2) criteria associated with each element name, wherein the associated criteria correspond to properties of the respective item or item categories represented by each element name,

wherein a common data structure is used to store criteria for all items and item categories in the taxonomy; and

c) searching a data store for an item result set based upon the received set of criteria;

d) formatting the item result set for transmission to the end user computer; and

e) presenting the item result set to the end user via the provided criteria selection interface.