Tagging data assets

• US 7,287,029 B1
• Filed: 09/25/2003
• Issued: 10/23/2007
• Est. Priority Date: 09/25/2003
• Status: Active Grant

• Current Assignee: Adobe Inc.
• Original Assignee: Adobe Systems Incorporated (Adobe Inc.)
• Inventors: Caro, Perry A., Pasqua, Joseph, Brotsky, Daniel C., Craft, Daniel H.
• Primary Examiner(s): Cottingham; John
• Assistant Examiner(s): PHAM, MICHAEL
• Application Number:
  US10/672,252
• Time in Patent Office: 1,489 Days
• Field of Search: 707/102, 707 1-100
• US Class Current: 1/1
• CPC Class Codes: G06F 16/907 Retrieval characterised by using metadata, e.g. metadata not derived from the content or metadata generated manually
• CPC Class Codes: Y10S 707/99931 Database or file accessing
• CPC Class Codes: Y10S 707/99932 Access augmentation or optimizing
• CPC Class Codes: Y10S 707/99933 Query processing, i.e. searching
• CPC Class Codes: Y10S 707/99937 Sorting

Abstract

Computer-implemented methods, program products and data structures for tagging data assets are disclosed. An interface which can receive location information to identify a storage location identifier for a data asset to be saved is presented to a user. The location information for the data asset to be saved and a selection identifying a concept and a relation between the concept and the data asset to be saved are received from the user through the interface. The asset reference for the data asset to be saved is stored in a tag database and an association is created in the tag database representing the relation between the data asset to be saved and the identified concept.

Claims

1. A computer program product, tangibly stored on a computer-readable storage medium, the program comprising instructions operable to cause a computer to:

present to a user a storage interface to receive location information from the user to identify a storage location identifier for a data asset to be saved;

link the storage interface to a searchable tag database of concept data elements, asset references, and associations, the concept data elements each representing a concept and having a hierarchy specified by concept hierarchy information, the asset references each comprising a storage location identifier for a corresponding one of a plurality of data assets, and the associations representing different types of relations between one of the plurality of data assets and one of a plurality of concepts represented by the concept data elements;

receive from the user through the storage interface the location information for the data asset to be saved and a selection identifying a concept and a relation between the concept and the data asset to be saved; and

store in the tag database an asset reference for the data asset to be saved and create in the tag database an association representing the identified relation between the data asset to be saved and the identified concept.

2. The product of claim 1, further comprising instructions to:

receive information from the tag database identifying concepts and relations that can be selected during a “

save”

operation;

display the tag information to the user through a tag data interface, the tag data interface allowing the user to select tag elements to identify associations for data assets to be saved.

3. The product of claim 1, further comprising instructions to:

present to the user a tag creation interface to receive information from a user to define a new concept; and

store a new concept data element representing the new concept in the tag database.

4. The product of claim 3, further comprising instructions to:

receive from the user through the tag creation interface hierarchy information identifying a hierarchical relation between the new concept and the plurality of concepts; and

store concept hierarchy information representing the hierarchical relation between the new concept and the plurality of concepts represented by the concept data elements in the tag database.

5. The product of claim 1, wherein the tag database further comprises a plurality of relation data elements each identifying a relation and having a hierarchy specified by relation hierarchy information, and wherein the product further comprises instructions to:

present to the user a tag creation interface to receive information from a user to define a new relation; and

store a new relation data element representing the new relation in the tag database.

6. The product of claim 5, further comprising instructions to:

receive from the user through the tag creation interface hierarchy information identifying a hierarchical relation between the new relation and relations identified by the plurality of relation data elements;

store relation hierarchy information representing the hierarchical relation between the new relation and the plurality of relation data elements in the tag database.

7. The product of claim 5, wherein the tag database further comprises detail associations each representing a relation between a first and a second concept, and

the product further comprises instructions to:

receive from the user through the tag creation interface new detail association information identifying a relation between a first and a second one of the plurality of concepts;

store the new detail association information in the tag database.

8. The product of claim 1, wherein the searchable tag database includes detail associations that describe relationships between concepts in the tag database, the relationships selected from a plurality of different types of relationships.

9. A computer-implemented method comprising:

presenting to a user a storage interface to receive location information from the user to identify a storage location identifier for a data asset to be saved;

linking the storage interface to a searchable tag database of concept data elements, asset references, and associations, the concept data elements each representing a concept and having a hierarchy specified by concept hierarchy information, the asset references each comprising a storage location identifier for a corresponding one of a plurality of data assets, and the associations representing different types of relations between one of the plurality of data assets and one of a plurality of concepts represented by the concept data elements;

receiving from the user through the storage interface the location information for the data asset to be saved and a selection identifying a concept and a relation between the concept and the data asset to be saved; and

storing in the tag database of a memory an asset reference for the data asset to be saved and creating in the tag database an association representing the identified relation between the data asset to be saved and the identified concept.

10. The method of claim 9, further comprising:

receiving information from the tag database identifying concepts and relations that can be selected during a “

save”

operation;

displaying the tag information to the user through a tag data interface, the tag data interface allowing the user to select tag elements to identify associations for data assets to be saved.

11. The method of claim 9, further comprising:

presenting to the user a tag creation interface to receive information from a user to define a new concept; and

storing a new concept data element representing the new concept in the tag database.

12. The method of claim 11, further comprising:

receiving from the user through the tag creation interface hierarchy information identifying a hierarchical relation between the new concept and the plurality of concepts; and

storing concept hierarchy information representing the hierarchical relation between the new concept and the plurality of concepts represented by the concept data elements in the tag database.

13. The method of claim 9, wherein the tag database further comprises a plurality of relation data elements each identifying a relation and having a hierarchy specified by relation hierarchy information, and wherein the method further comprises:

presenting to the user a tag creation interface to receive information from a user to define a new relation; and

storing a new relation data element representing the new relation in the tag database.

14. The method of claim 13, further comprising:

receiving from the user through the tag creation interface hierarchy information identifying a hierarchical relation between the new relation and relations identified by the plurality of relation data elements;

storing relation hierarchy information representing the hierarchical relation between the new relation and the plurality of relation data elements in the tag database.

15. The method of claim 13, wherein the tag database further comprises detail associations each representing a relation between a first and a second concept, and

the method further comprises:

receiving from the user through the tag creation interface new detail association information identifying a relation between a first and a second one of the plurality of concepts;

storing the new detail association information in the tag database.

16. The method of claim 9, wherein the searchable tag database includes detail associations that describe relationships between concepts in the tag database, the relationships selected from a plurality of different types of relationships.

17. A computer system comprising:

a processor;

means for presenting a user a storage interface to receive location information from the user to identify a storage location identifier for a data asset to be saved;

means for linking the storage interface to a searchable tag database of concept data elements, asset references, and associations, the concept data elements each representing a concept and having a hierarchy specified by concept hierarchy information, the asset references each comprising a storage location identifier for a corresponding one of a plurality of data assets, and the associations representing different types of relations between one of the plurality of data assets and one of a plurality of concepts represented by the concept data elements;

means for receiving from the user through the storage interface the location information for the data asset to be saved and a selection identifying a concept and a relation between the concept and the data asset to be saved; and

means for storing in the tag database of a memory an asset reference for the data asset to be saved and creating in the tag database an association representing the identified relation between the data asset to be saved and the identified concept.