Systems and methods for information retrieval

• US 8,805,875 B1
• Filed: 10/05/2009
• Issued: 08/12/2014
• Est. Priority Date: 10/04/2008
• Status: Expired due to Fees

• Current Assignee: StrataCloud, Inc. (Exitlag LLC)
• Original Assignee: Reflex Systems LLC (Exitlag LLC)
• Inventors: Bawcom, Aaron N., Madden, Christopher M., Wronski, Michael C.
• Primary Examiner(s): BOWEN, RICHARD L
• Application Number:
  US12/573,587
• Time in Patent Office: 1,772 Days
• Field of Search: None
• US Class Current: 707/770
• CPC Class Codes: G06F 16/245 Query processing
• CPC Class Codes: G06F 16/2455 Query execution
• CPC Class Codes: G06F 16/2471 Distributed queries
• CPC Class Codes: G06F 16/256 in federated or virtual databases

Abstract

An information retrieval system implements a search language, through which a querying entity (e.g., a user, a program or process, or the like) formulates a search query. Preferably, a search query is composed of an ordered set of clause definitions, and each clause can have set membership operations applied to it. Each clause includes a clause pipeline, and a time constraint. A clause pipeline includes an ordered set of clause specifications separated by a pipeline operator. A clause specification can be either an expansion operation or a filtering operation. Preferably, a first clause specification in a pipeline operates on an initial universe of all objects, and each subsequent clause specification operates on a set of objects produced from the previous clause specification. The search language is exposed to users (typically, IT administrators), and one or more builder programs within the system (each referred to as a “model builder”) are used internally to present data models to the search language. A model builder extracts data from a given type of data source (including, without limitation, a relational database system, an application programming interface (API), or the like), and enables that data to be presented to one or more constructs of the search language according to a single unified data model.

Claims

1. A machine-implemented method of information retrieval, comprising:

receiving, at a processing device, object-oriented data from multiple data sources;

receiving, at the processing device, a query from a query application that formulates the query and supplies the query to an information retrieval system, wherein the query application is not part of the information retrieval system, the query comprising an ordered set of clause definitions each comprising a clause pipeline and a time constraint,

wherein the clause pipeline comprises an ordered set of clause specifications that comprises;

an expansion operation and/or a filter operation,

wherein a first clause specification in the clause pipeline operates on an initial set of objects of the object-oriented data, and each subsequent clause specification in the clause pipeline operates on one or more objects that is produced from a respective previous clause specification that is executed directly before the subsequent clause specification within the ordered set of clause specifications,

parsing, at the processing device, the query into a graph of data nodes;

processing, at the processing device, the data nodes in the graph on the object-oriented data to generate a current object set, wherein each data node is processed using a data model generated by a model builder component, the model builder component obtaining data for the data model from a given data source of the multiple data sources; and

returning, at the processing device, the current object set to the query application in response to the query.

2. The method as described in claim 1 wherein the expansion operation produces a set of objects from a given object from the object oriented data.

3. The method as described in claim 1 wherein the filter operation filters a set of objects to a reduced set of objects.

4. The method as described in claim 1 wherein multiple data models are generated by model builder components, and the data models generated by the model builder components are mapped to a unified data model across all model builder components.

5. The method as described in claim 1 wherein the query uses multiple model builder components to provide the current object set, wherein the multiple model builder components are one of:

a model builder of static data, a model builder of dynamic data, and a model builder of streaming data.

6. The method as described in claim 1 wherein the given data source comprises:

a relational database, an application programming interface, or any data source that produces objects;

or any combination thereof.

7. The method as described in claim 1 wherein the query application comprises a monitoring tool for an IT infrastructure.

8. A system, comprising:

a processing device; and

a computer memory holding computer instructions for information retrieval, the instructions comprising;

receiving, at a processing device, object-oriented data from multiple data sources;

receiving, at the processing device, a query from a query application that formulates the query and supplies the query to an information retrieval system, wherein the query application is not part of the information retrieval system, the query comprising an ordered set of clause definitions each comprising a clause pipeline and a time constraint,

wherein the clause pipeline comprises an ordered set of clause specifications that comprises;

an expansion operation and/or a filter operation,

wherein a first clause specification in the clause pipeline operates on an initial set of objects of the object-oriented data, and each subsequent clause specification in the clause pipeline operates on one or more objects that is produced from a respective previous clause specification that is executed directly before the subsequent clause specification within the ordered set of clause specifications,

parsing, at the processing device, the query into a graph of data nodes;

processing, at the processing device, the data nodes in the graph on the object-oriented data to generate a current object set, wherein each data node is processed using a data model generated by a model builder component, the model builder component obtaining data for the data model from a given data source of the multiple data sources; and

returning, at the processing device, the current object set to the query application in response to the query.

9. The system of claim 8 wherein multiple data models are generated by model builder components, wherein the data models generated by the model builder components are mapped to a unified data model across all model builder components.

10. The system of claim 8 wherein the expansion operation produces a set of objects from a given object from the object oriented data.

11. The system of claim 8 wherein the filter operation filters a set of objects to a reduced set of objects.

12. The system of claim 8 wherein the query uses multiple model builder components to provide the current object set, wherein the multiple model builder components are one of:

a model builder of static data, a model builder of dynamic data, and a model builder of streaming data.

13. The system of claim 8 wherein the given data source comprises a relational database, an application programming interface, or any data source that produces objects;

or any combination thereof.

14. The system of claim 8 wherein the query application comprises a monitoring tool for an IT infrastructure.