Instance browser for ontology
First Claim
Patent Images
1. An instance browser comprising:
- a repository of class and relation definitions for an information model and a plurality of repositories of instances of classes, wherein classes correspond to sets of instances having a common characterization, and relations correspond to inter-relationships between classes and serve to relate instances of one or more classes;
a server having access to said repository of class and relation definitions and to said plurality of repositories of instance of classes, for responding to queries relating to class and relation definitions and instances of classes; and
a graphical user interface communicating with said server and interactively displaying icons representing instances of classes as a user browses said information model and navigates from one instance to another via the relations, wherein information about instances from more than one repository is graphically accessible from the same icon, the graphical user interface enabling a user to interactively (i) select and view an icon representing a specific instance, I1, of a specific class, C1, (ii) view a list of one or more relations relating the class C1 to other classes, (iii) select a specific relation, R, within the list, and (iv) view an icon representing an instance, I2, of another class, C2, related to the instance I1 according to the selected relation R.
4 Assignments
0 Petitions
Accused Products
Abstract
An instance browser including a repository of class and relation definitions, a server for responding to queries relating to class and relation definitions in the repository, and a graphical user interface including icons for representing instances of classes. A method is also described and claimed.
246 Citations
102 Claims
-
1. An instance browser comprising:
-
a repository of class and relation definitions for an information model and a plurality of repositories of instances of classes, wherein classes correspond to sets of instances having a common characterization, and relations correspond to inter-relationships between classes and serve to relate instances of one or more classes; a server having access to said repository of class and relation definitions and to said plurality of repositories of instance of classes, for responding to queries relating to class and relation definitions and instances of classes; and a graphical user interface communicating with said server and interactively displaying icons representing instances of classes as a user browses said information model and navigates from one instance to another via the relations, wherein information about instances from more than one repository is graphically accessible from the same icon, the graphical user interface enabling a user to interactively (i) select and view an icon representing a specific instance, I1, of a specific class, C1, (ii) view a list of one or more relations relating the class C1 to other classes, (iii) select a specific relation, R, within the list, and (iv) view an icon representing an instance, I2, of another class, C2, related to the instance I1 according to the selected relation R. - View Dependent Claims (2, 3, 4, 5, 6, 7, 8, 9, 10, 11, 12, 13, 14, 15, 16, 17, 18, 19, 20, 21, 22, 23, 24)
-
-
25. A method for instance browsing comprising:
-
managing a repository of class and relation definitions for an information model, and a plurality of repositories of instance documents that describe instances of classes and tuples of relations, wherein classes correspond to sets of instances having a common characterization, and relations correspond to inter-relationships between classes and serve to relate instances of one or more classes; responding to queries relating to class and relation definitions and instance of classes in the repository of class and relation definitions and in the plurality of repositories of instance documents; and interactively displaying icons representing instances of classes as a user browses the information model and navigates from one instance to another via the relations, based on said responding, whereby instance documents from more than one repository are graphically accessible from the same icon, thereby enabling a user to interactively (i) select and view an icon representing a specific instance, I1, of a specific class, C1, (ii) view a list of one or more relations relating the class C1 to other classes, (iii) select a specific relation, R, within the list, and (iv) view an icon representing an instance, I2, of another class, C2, related to the instance I1 according to the selected relation R. - View Dependent Claims (26, 27, 28, 29, 30, 31, 32, 33, 34, 35, 36, 37, 38, 39, 40, 41, 42, 43, 44, 45, 46, 47, 48, 49, 50, 51, 53, 54, 55)
-
-
52. A distributed ontology system comprising:
-
a central computer comprising a global ontology directory; a plurality of ontology server computers, each comprising; a repository of class and relation definitions for an ontology and a repository of instances of classes, wherein classes correspond to sets of instances having a common characterization, and relations correspond to inter-relationships between classes and serve to relate instances of one or more classes; and a repository manager for responding to queries relating to class and relation definitions and instances of classes in said repository of class and relation definitions and in said repository of instance of classes, wherein, for at least one class, a portion of the relations involving the class reside in a repository in a different server computer than others of the relations involving the class; a computer network connecting said central computer with said plurality of ontology server computers; and a graphical user interface communicating with said computer network interactively displaying icons representing instances of classes as a user browses said ontology and navigates from one instance to another via the relations, the graphical user interface enabling a user to interactively (i) select and view an icon representing a specific instance, I1, of a specific class, C1, (ii) view a list of one or more relations relating the class C1 to other classes, (iii) select a specific relation, R, within the list, and (iv) view an icon representing an instance, I2, of another class, C2, related to the instance I1 according to the selected relation R. - View Dependent Claims (56, 57, 58, 59, 60, 61, 62, 63, 64, 65, 66, 67, 68, 69, 70, 71, 72, 73, 74, 75)
-
-
76. A method comprising:
-
managing a plurality of repositories of class and relation definitions for an ontology, and a repository of instance documents that describe instances of classes and tuples of relations, wherein classes correspond to sets of instances having a common characterization, and relations correspond to inter-relationships between classes and serve to relate instances of one or more classes, and wherein, for at least one class, a portion of the relations involving the class reside in a repository in a different server computer than others of the relations involving the class; managing a global ontology directory for the plurality of repositories; responding to queries relating to class and relation definitions and instances of classes in at least one repository by consulting the global ontology directory; and interactively displaying icons representing instances of classes as a user browses the ontology and navigates from one instance to another via the relations, based on said responding, thereby enabling a user to interactively (i) select and view an icon representing a specific instance, I1, of a specific class, C1, (ii) view a list of one or more relations relating the class C1 to other classes, (iii) select a specific relation, R, within the list, and (iv) view an icon representing an instance, I2, of another class, C2, related to the instance I1 according to the selected relation R. - View Dependent Claims (77, 78, 79, 80, 81, 82, 83, 84, 85, 86, 87, 88, 89, 90, 91, 92, 93, 94, 95, 96, 97, 98, 99, 100, 101, 102)
-
Specification