Method and system for obtaining images from a database having images that are relevant to indicated text

• US 7,051,019 B1
• Filed: 08/17/1999
• Issued: 05/23/2006
• Est. Priority Date: 08/17/1999
• Status: Expired due to Fees

• Current Assignee: Ben Group, Inc.
• Original Assignee: Corbis Corporation
• Inventors: Lindsey, Roland C., Land, Stephen D., Stratmeyer, Curtis M., Craig, Michael D., Linker, Debra L.
• Primary Examiner(s): Pham, Khanh B.
• Application Number:
  US09/376,748
• Time in Patent Office: 2,471 Days
• Field of Search: 707/104, 707/515, 707 3- 6, 707/516, 707/500
• US Class Current: 1/1
• CPC Class Codes: G06F 16/58 Retrieval characterised by using metadata, e.g. metadata not derived from the content or metadata generated manually
• CPC Class Codes: Y10S 707/99934 Query formulation, input preparation, or translation
• CPC Class Codes: Y10S 707/99935 Query augmenting and refining, e.g. inexact access
• CPC Class Codes: Y10S 707/99945 Object-oriented database structure processing

Abstract

A method and system for using indicated text to automatically query a search engine for a database and return images that are relevant to the indicated text. At least five integrated components are employed by a client program to get, view and use a returned image. A user interface component provides for automatically creating search criteria for a query from the indicated text and inserting a thumbnail or higher quality image into an open document. A metadata results component provides for managing the storing, parsing and displaying of the metadata results returned from a query of the database of images. A navigation component provides for managing user interface navigation elements that are employed to control the display of the results (thumbnail images) of the query, e.g., play, stop, back and next controls. An image binary data component provides for managing the display of returned images and managing the storage of the binary image data for the thumbnail and higher quality images. Also, a network component provides for detecting the presence of a network and its settings and managing the transfer of data across the network such as the Internet and an intranet. Additionally, a qualification engine may be used to determine the context of the indicated text. An electronic commerce service may be used to purchase higher quality versions (improved resolution and/or color) of the thumbnail images.

Claims

1. A method for searching a database to obtain an object that is related to an indicated object in a document, comprising:

automatically creating a query directly from the indicated object, the query having a data structure that is recognizable by a local search engine and a remote search engine, wherein the query is created by;

enabling a sentence comprising a plurality of words to be input into the document,

repositioning a cursor nearest to any one of the words in the sentence other than a last word input into the document, wherein the cursor is capable of being repositioned nearest to any one of the words after the sentence is entered into the document, and

after repositioning the cursor, automatically selecting the nearest word to the cursor in the sentence as the indicated object without having a user to make a selection for the query in a separate document;

if the remote search engine is accessible, providing the query over a network to the remote search engine to search a remote database for at least one object that is related to the indicated object, and if the remote search engine is inaccessible, providing the query to the local search engine to search a local database for at least one object that is related to the indicated object;

returning a result from the query, the result indicating when at least one object is related to the indicated object; and

producing a display of one of the related objects, so that at least one of the related objects may be associated with the indicated object.

2. The method of claim 1, wherein the indicated object and the related object include data, the data comprising video, picture, sound, and text.

3. The method of claim 1, further comprising:

enabling a qualification engine to determine a context of the indicated object; and

employing the context of the indicated object to automatically create the query for the database.

4. The method of claim 1, wherein producing a display of a related object further comprises displaying one of the related objects from a plurality of related objects using a slide show mechanism rather than displaying the plurality of related objects, the plurality of related objects being indicated in the result from the query.

5. The method of claim 1, further comprising:

indicating the at least one related object that is to be purchased over the network;

providing financial information to an electronic commerce service over the network, the electronic commerce service enabling the purchase of the at least one related object when the financial information is complete; and

inserting the at least one purchased object into the document so that the indicated object is displayed with the indicated text.

6. A method for obtaining an image from a database for insertion into a document, the image being related to an indicated text, comprising:

enabling an automatic creation of a query directly from the indicated text, the query having a data structure that is recognizable by a local search engine and a remote search engine, wherein the indicated text comprises an automatic selection of a nearest word to a cursor when no indicated text is provided, and the query is created without having the user make a selection for the query in a separate document;

if the remote search engine is accessible, providing the query over a network to the remote search engine to search a remote database for an image that is related to the indicated text, and if the remote search engine is inaccessible, providing the query to the local search engine to search a local database for an image that is related to the indicated text;

returning a result from the query of the database, the result indicating when at least one image is related to the indicated text;

enabling the display of at lest one image indicated by the result from the query, a displayed image being selectable for insertion into the document; and

displaying a related image that is inserted into the document, so that the related image is associated with the indicated text in the document;

wherein the automatic selection of a nearest word further comprises;

enabling a sentence comprising a plurality of words to be input into the document;

repositioning a cursor nearest to any one of the words in the sentence other than a last word input into the document, wherein the cursor is capable of being repositioned nearest to any one of the words after the sentence is entered into the document; and

after repositioning the cursor, automatically selecting the nearest word to the cursor in the sentence as the indicated object.

7. The method of claim 6, further comprising employing a user interface component to automatically create the query for the database, the creation of the query being related to the indicated text.

8. The method of claim 7, wherein the user interface component enables the indicated text to be edited.

9. The method of claim 7, wherein the user interface component enables the indicated text to be chosen in the document.

10. The method of claim 9, further comprising choosing the indicated text in the document for the query of the database from within an application program that provides the document.

11. The method of claim 10, further comprising choosing a command to create the query for the indicated text, the command including an indication in a context menu, drop-down menu, pop-up window, dialogue box, toolbar and hot key.

12. The method of claim 9, further comprising choosing the indicated text in the document for the query of the database from an application program that is separate from another application program that provides the document.

13. The method of claim 7, further comprising:

enabling a qualification engine to determine a context of the indicated text within the document; and

providing the context of the indicated text to the user interface component, the user interface component employing the context of the indicated text to automatically create the query for the database.

14. The method of claim 13, wherein the determined context of the indicated text includes text, template, sound, video, picture, use and user preference.

15. The method of claim 6, further comprising enabling the indicated text to be chosen in another application program that does not provide the document, including a clipboard program.

16. The method of claim 6, wherein the local search engine employing the query to search for related images on a local drive that includes the database.

17. The method of claim 16, wherein the local drive includes hard disk, floppy disk, tape drive, DVD and CD-ROM.

18. The method of claim 6, wherein the query'"'"'s data structure includes XML.

19. The method of claim 6, further comprising employing a network component to communicate with the remote search engine over a network, the network including an intranet and the Internet.

20. The method of claim 6, further comprising employing a result component to manage the result of the query returned by the search engine, the result component enabling the parsing, storing and display of the result of the query.

21. The method of claim 6, wherein the result is in a metadata format.

22. The method of claim 6, further comprising requesting at least one related image from the database that is indicated by the result of the query, the related image being provided as binary image data.

23. The method of claim 22, further comprising employing an image component for managing the storage and display of binary image data.

24. The method of claim 22, further comprising employing a navigation component to provide at least one control for displaying at least one related image.

25. The method of claim 22, wherein a navigation component enables the display of a group of related images in a slide show, the group of related images being indicated in the result from the query.

26. The method of claim 25, wherein the navigation component enables another group of related images to be displayed in the slide show, the other group of related images being indicated in the result from the query.

27. The method of claim 26, wherein the navigation component includes a control for, indicating each group of related images that are currently displayed in the slide show.

28. The method of claim 25, wherein the navigation component includes a control for determining a period of time that each related image is displayed in the slide show.

29. The method of claim 25, wherein the navigation component includes a control for indicating the number of the related images in the group that is currently displayed in the slide show.

30. The method of claim 6, further comprising enabling a help facility to provide an explanation of a chosen topic and the help facility being launched in response to an input.

31. The method of claim 6, wherein the display of at least one related image further comprises displaying a thumbnail of the related image.

32. The method of claim 6, further comprises including a digital watermark with the related image, the digital watermark including information related to the content of the related image.

33. The method of claim 6, further comprises including a cookie with the query, the cookie including information related to a user.

34. The method of claim 6, further comprising:

indicating a higher quality image of the related image is to be purchased

providing financial information to an electronic commerce service over the network, the electronic commerce service enabling the purchase of the higher quality image when the financial information is complete; and

inserting the purchased higher quality image into the document so that the higher quality image is displayed with the indicated text.

35. The method of claim 34, further comprising employing an electronic shopping cart to store a potential purchase of the higher quality image.

36. The method of claim 34, further comprising enabling a parameter of the higher quality image to be indicated.

37. The method of claim 34, further comprising enabling a use of the higher quality image to be indicated.

38. The method of claim 6, further comprising:

each time indicated text is employed to create the query, automatically saving the indicated text as an entry in a history file; and

enabling at least one of the entries in the history file to be chosen for the currently indicated text.

39. The method of claim 6, further comprising embedding a URL with the related image pasted into the document, the URL providing a link to information associated with the related image.

40. The method of claim 19, wherein the network component employs a transmission device to automatically connect to the search engine for the database, the transmission device including cable modem, network interface card, telephony modem, satellite dish and radio transceiver.

41. The method of claim 19, further comprising employing the network component to automatically connect to the search engine for the database when the search engine is remotely located from the indicated text.

42. The method of claim 19, wherein the network component employs a proxy server to automatically connect to the search engine for the database.

43. The method of claim 19, wherein the network component employs a dial up facility to automatically connect to the search engine for the database.

44. The method of claim 19, wherein the network component launches a browser to automatically connect to the search engine for the database.

45. The method of claim 19, wherein the network component automatically connects to the search engine.

46. The method of claim 19, wherein the network component launches a browser to manage a purchase of a higher quality image associated with the related image.

47. The method of claim 19, wherein the network component manages a purchase of a higher quality image associated with the related image.

48. A system for obtaining an image from a database for pasting into a document, the image being related to indicated text, comprising:

(a) a client process for causing functions to be performed, including;

(i) enabling an automatic creation of a query directly from the indicated text, the query having a data structure that is recognizable by a local search engine and a remote search engine, wherein the indicated text comprise an automatic selection of a nearest word to a cursor and the query is create without having the user make a selection for the query in a separate document;

(ii) if the remote search engine is accessible, providing the query over a network to the remote search engine to search a remote database, and if the remote search engine is inaccessible, providing the query to the local search engine to search a local database for an image that is related to the indicated text;

(iii) enabling a display of at least one related image indicated by the a result from the query, the display of a related image being selectable for insertion into the document; and

(iv) displaying the related image that is inserted into the document, the related image being associated with the indicated text in the document; and

(b) a server process for causing functions to be performed, including;

(i) returning the result from the query of the remote database, the result indicating when at least one image is related to the indicated text; and

(ii) enabling the remote search engine to locate at least one image in the remote database that is related to the indicated text;

wherein the automatic selection of the nearest word is achieved by enabling a sentence comprising a plurality of words to be input into the document, repositioning the cursor nearest to any of the words in the sentence other than a last word input into the document, wherein the cursor is capable of being repositioned nearest to any one of the words after the sentence is entered into the document, and after repositioning the cursor, automatically selecting the nearest word to the cursor in the sentence as the indicated text.

49. The system of claim 48, wherein the client process causes further functions to be performed, comprising:

(c) indicating a higher quality image of the related image is to be purchased over a network;

(d) providing financial information to an electronic commerce service over the network, the electronic commerce service enabling the purchase of the higher quality image when the financial information is complete; and

(e) inserting the purchased higher quality image into the document so that the higher quality image is displayed with the indicated text.

50. A computer readable medium having computer-executable components, comprising:

a component for automatically creating a query directly from indicated text, the query having a data structure that is recognizable by a local search engine and a remote search engine, wherein the indicated text comprises an automatic selection of a nearest word to a cursor, and wherein the query is created without having the user make a selection for the query in a separate document;

a component for providing the query over a network to the remote search engine that searches a remote database for an image that is related to the indicated text if the remote search engine is accessible, and to the local search engine that searches a local database for an image that is related to the indicated text if the remote search engine is inaccessible;

a component for returning a result from the query, the result indicating when at least one image is related to the indicated text;

a component for enabling the a display of at least one related image indicated by the result from the query, the display of the related image being selectable for insertion into the document; and

a component for displaying the related image that is inserted into the document, so that related image is associated with the indicated text in the document;

wherein the automatic selection of the nearest word is achieved by enabling a sentence comprising a plurality of words to be input into the document, enabling a repositioning of the cursor nearest to any one of the words in the sentence other than a last word input into the document, wherein the cursor is capable of being repositioned nearest to any one of the words after the sentence is entered into the document, and after repositioning the cursor, automatically selecting the nearest word to the cursor in the sentence as the indicated text.

51. A method for electronically purchasing an image over a network, comprising:

(a) automatically creating a query related to an indicated object, the query having a data structure that is recognizable by a local search engine and a remote search engine, wherein the query is created by automatically selecting a nearest word to a cursor as the indicated object without having a user make a selection for the query in a separate document;

(b) if the remote search engine is accessible, providing the query over a network to the remote search engine to search a remote database for at least one image that is related to the indicated object, and if the remote search engine is inaccessible, providing the query to the local search engine to search a local database for at least one image that is related to the indicated object;

(c) returning a result from the query of the database, the result indicating when at least one image is related to the indicated object;

(d) indicating a related image is to be purchased over the network, financial information being provided to an electronic commerce service that enables the purchase of the related image when the financial information is complete; and

(e) when the related image is purchased, inserting of the related image into a document, so that the related image may be associated with the indicated object;

wherein automatically selecting of the nearest word further comprises;

enabling a sentence comprising a plurality of words to be input into a document, enabling a repositioning of the cursor nearest to any one of the words in the sentence other than a last word input into the document, wherein the cursor is capable of being repositioned nearest to any one of the words after the sentence is entered into the document, and after repositioning the cursor, automatically selecting the nearest word to the cursor in the sentence as the indicated object.

52. The method of claim 51, wherein the indicated object includes data, comprising video, picture, sound, and text.

53. The method of claim 51, further comprising:

(f) enabling a qualification engine to determine a context of the indicated object; and

(g) employing the context of the indicated object to automatically create the query for the database.