Batching document identifiers for result trimming

• US 7,636,712 B2
• Filed: 11/14/2006
• Issued: 12/22/2009
• Est. Priority Date: 11/14/2006
• Status: Active Grant

• Current Assignee: Microsoft Technology Licensing LLC (Microsoft Corporation)
• Original Assignee: Microsoft Corporation
• Inventors: Petriuc, Mihai, Larimore, Stefan
• Primary Examiner(s): Wong; Don
• Assistant Examiner(s): Thai; Hanh B
• Application Number:
  US11/600,307
• Publication Number:
  US 20080114730A1
• Time in Patent Office: 1,134 Days
• Field of Search: 707 3- 6, 707/104.1, 707/10
• US Class Current: 1/1
• CPC Class Codes: G06F 16/3325 Reformulation based on results of preceding query
• CPC Class Codes: G06F 16/3331 Query processing
• CPC Class Codes: G06F 16/93 Document management systems
• 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 707/99935 Query augmenting and refining, e.g. inexact access
• CPC Class Codes: Y10S 707/99945 Object-oriented database structure processing

Abstract

A query is separated into subqueries including a first subquery containing terms applicable to a first data store and a second subquery containing terms applicable to a second data store, where both data stores maintain information regarding the documents. Applying the first subquery to the first data store retrieves a first list of document identifiers associated with documents that satisfy the terms of the first subquery. The first list is combined with the second subquery to form a masked subquery, which is applied to the second data store. The masked subquery only seeks to identify document identifiers that both are included the first list and that satisfy terms of the second query. The document identifiers included in the first list may be ordered to match an order in which the document identifiers are ordered in the second data store.

Claims

1. A computer-implemented method for forming a message to communicate a query to a data store to selectively identify documents from a data store that maintains information on each of a plurality of documents including an associated document identifier and associated descriptive information, the method comprising:

transmitting from a first computing device a first subquery to retrieve a plurality of document identifiers from a first data store;

generating a masked subquery by combining the plurality of document identifiers with at least one condition, the generation of the masked subquery including;

specifying the at least one condition the associated descriptive information must satisfy for each of the plurality of documents to be identified by the masked subquery;

specifying a document identifier list including the plurality of document identifiers restricting the masked subquery, the document identifier list comprising;

a restriction type indicating a restriction satisfied when a property value is equal to any one entry in the document identifier list;

a plurality of document restrictions, each of the document restrictions including a document identifier within the plurality of document identifiers; and

a document restriction count specifying a number of document restrictions included in the document identifier list;

transmitting from the first computing device the masked subquery via a named pipe protocol to a second data store;

receiving results of the masked subquery such that only documents having associated descriptive information satisfying the at least one condition and having an associated document identifier included in the document identifier list are selectively identified by the masked subquery and retrieved from the second data store.

2. The computer-implemented method of claim 1, wherein specifying the at least one condition comprises:

at least one restriction that selectively identifies documents according to the information maintained by the second data store; and

a node type indicating how the restriction is to be applied to the information to specify a condition a document must satisfy to be selectively identified by the masked subquery.

3. The computer-implemented method of claim 1, further comprising ordering the document identifiers to present the document identifiers in an order in which the document identifiers in the second data store are ordered.

4. A computer-readable storage medium having computer-executable instructions that when executed perform a method for assembling a plurality of nodes to present a query message to a data store to selectively identify a portion of a plurality of documents for which the data store maintains an associated document identifier and associated descriptive information for each of the plurality of documents, the method comprising:

retrieving a plurality of document identifiers;

generating the query message by;

presenting at least one conditional node within the query including;

a restriction operable to selectively identify documents according to the information maintained by the data store; and

a node type indicating how the restriction is to be applied to the information to specify a condition a document must satisfy to be selectively identified by the query; and

presenting at least one document identifier node including;

a plurality of document identifier restrictions identifying the retrieved plurality of document identifiers;

a document identifier node type indicating that the query will selectively identify only those documents for which the condition is satisfied by the associated descriptive information and for which the associated document identifier is included among the plurality of document identifier restrictions;

a document identifier count specifying a number of document identifier restrictions included in the document identifier node;

transmitting from the first computing device the query via a named pipe protocol to the data store;

receiving results of the query such that only documents having associated descriptive information satisfying the at least one conditional node and having an associated one of the retrieved plurality of document identifier included in the at least one document identifier node are selectively identified by the query and retrieved from the data store.

5. The computer-readable storage medium of claim 4, wherein each of the nodes further comprises a weight indicating an importance of the node relative to other nodes included in the query message.

6. The computer-readable storage medium of claim 4, wherein the query message is a variable length message.

7. The computer-readable storage medium of claim 4, further comprising ordering the plurality of document identifier restrictions to present the document identifier restrictions in an order in which the document identifiers in the data store are ordered.

8. A computer system for forming a message to communicate a query to a data store to selectively identify documents from a data store that maintains information on each of a plurality of documents including an associated document identifier and associated descriptive information, the computer system comprising:

one or more processors for executing computer executable instructions; and

one or more computer storage media storing the computer executable instructions that when executed by the one or more processors perform a method comprising;

transmitting from a first computing device a first subquery to retrieve a plurality of document identifiers from a first data store;

generating a masked subquery by combining the plurality of document identifiers with at least one condition, the generation of the masked subquery including;

specifying the at least one condition the associated descriptive information must satisfy for each of the plurality of documents to be identified by the masked subquery;

specifying a document identifier list including the plurality of document identifiers restricting the masked subquery, the document identifier list comprising;

a restriction type indicating a restriction satisfied when a property value is equal to any one entry in the document identifier list;

a plurality of document restrictions, each of the document restrictions including a document identifier within the plurality of document identifiers; and

a document restriction count specifying a number of document restrictions included in the document identifier list;

transmitting from the first computing device the masked subquery via a named pipe protocol to a second data store;

receiving results of the masked subquery such that only documents having associated descriptive information satisfying the at least one condition and having an associated document identifier included in the document identifier list are selectively identified by the masked subquery and retrieved from the second data store.

9. The computer system of claim 8, wherein specifying the at least one condition comprises:

at least one restriction that selectively identifies documents according to the information maintained by the second data store; and

a node type indicating how the restriction is to be applied to the information to specify a condition a document must satisfy to be selectively identified by the masked subquery.