Method and system for accessing and managing information
First Claim
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1. A system comprising a processor coupled to a memory, for managing and accessing data, comprising:
- a set of one or more data repositories arranged to store items, wherein each item is data that represents an item in the real world, the item in the real world having a corresponding product lifecycle management (PLM) business object that represents information and process that is of importance to a business in the context of executing and planning functions for one or more product life phases, encompassing both the information and a definition of the process, wherein some of the items are managed and some are unmanaged, wherein a managed item'"'"'s revisions are automatically controlled such that revisions to the managed item may only be made according to defined business rules, and wherein an unmanaged item'"'"'s revisions are not automatically controlled;
a search engine arranged to search, within a selected particular context, for both managed and unmanaged items in the set of one or more repositories such that a result of the search may include both managed and unmanaged items from the set of one or more repositories; and
a component arranged to track revisions to, store, and make accessible product information, the component further arranged to query the search engine to obtain managed and unmanaged items from the set of one or more data repositories,wherein the component is further arranged to receive an indication, based on user input to the system, of an unmanaged item in the result provided from the search engine, and to take the indicated unmanaged item from one of the repositories and establish a persistent reference to the indicated unmanaged item such that the indicated unmanaged item to be managed within the selected particular context, by automatically controlling revisions to that item, upon demand based on the received indication of the unmanaged item in the result provided by the search engine.
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Abstract
A method and system for finding, accessing, connecting, and sharing information in the context of business activities. Authorized users may search and view information content from managed or unmanaged data repositories maintained at various locations. Users may connect and share this information to their business process (e.g., projects, products, and processes) without losing referential integrity. A virtual repository unifies information from multiple sources. On demand, information may be automatically managed and converted into structured information used to execute business processes.
37 Citations
20 Claims
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1. A system comprising a processor coupled to a memory, for managing and accessing data, comprising:
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a set of one or more data repositories arranged to store items, wherein each item is data that represents an item in the real world, the item in the real world having a corresponding product lifecycle management (PLM) business object that represents information and process that is of importance to a business in the context of executing and planning functions for one or more product life phases, encompassing both the information and a definition of the process, wherein some of the items are managed and some are unmanaged, wherein a managed item'"'"'s revisions are automatically controlled such that revisions to the managed item may only be made according to defined business rules, and wherein an unmanaged item'"'"'s revisions are not automatically controlled; a search engine arranged to search, within a selected particular context, for both managed and unmanaged items in the set of one or more repositories such that a result of the search may include both managed and unmanaged items from the set of one or more repositories; and a component arranged to track revisions to, store, and make accessible product information, the component further arranged to query the search engine to obtain managed and unmanaged items from the set of one or more data repositories, wherein the component is further arranged to receive an indication, based on user input to the system, of an unmanaged item in the result provided from the search engine, and to take the indicated unmanaged item from one of the repositories and establish a persistent reference to the indicated unmanaged item such that the indicated unmanaged item to be managed within the selected particular context, by automatically controlling revisions to that item, upon demand based on the received indication of the unmanaged item in the result provided by the search engine. - View Dependent Claims (2, 3, 4, 5, 6, 7, 8, 9, 10)
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11. A method executing on a processor coupled to a memory, for managing and accessing information, comprising:
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querying a search engine to search for both managed and unmanaged items, to obtain a result of one or more search engine items that corresponds to a managed or unmanaged item in a virtual repository associated with the search engine, wherein each item is data that represents an item in the real world, the item in the real world having a corresponding product lifecycle management (PLM) business object that represents information and process that is of importance to a business in the context of executing and planning functions for one or more product life phases, encompassing both the information and a definition of the process, wherein some of the items are managed and some are unmanaged, wherein a managed item'"'"'s revisions are automatically controlled such that revisions to the managed item may only be made according to defined business rules, and wherein an unmanaged item'"'"'s revisions are not automatically controlled and wherein querying the search engine is from within a selected particular context; and upon demand based on an indication resulting from user input via a user interface, of an unmanaged item in the obtained result from the search engine, establishing a persistent reference to the indicated unmanaged item such that the indicated unmanaged item to be managed as a business object within the selected particular context by making the business object'"'"'s revisions automatically controlled, and make accessible product information via business objects. - View Dependent Claims (12, 13, 14, 15, 16, 17)
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18. A tangible computer-readable storage medium having computer-executable instructions for execution by a computing system comprising a processor coupled to a memory, the instructions comprising:
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querying a search engine and obtaining therefrom an identifier that identifies a search engine query; associating the identifier of the search engine query with an unmanaged business object via a tuple stored by a component arranged to manage and make accessible product information via business objects, wherein business objects represents information and process that is of importance to a business in the context of executing and planning functions for one or more product life phases, encompassing both the information and a definition of the process, wherein some of the business objects are managed and some are unmanaged, wherein a managed business object'"'"'s revisions are automatically controlled such that revisions to the managed business object may only be made according to defined business rules, and wherein an unmanaged business object'"'"'s revisions are not automatically controlled and stored, and wherein querying the search engine is from within a selected particular context of a business process; and receiving an indication, based on user input, of the unmanaged item to which the identifier of the search engine query has been associated and establishing a persistent reference to the indicated unmanaged item such that the indicated unmanaged item to be managed within the selected particular context as a managed business object upon demand, wherein a managed business object'"'"'s revisions are automatically controlled and stored. - View Dependent Claims (19, 20)
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Specification