System and methods to configure a query language using an operator dictionary

• US 9,460,151 B2
• Filed: 10/06/2015
• Issued: 10/04/2016
• Est. Priority Date: 07/25/2012
• Status: Active Grant

• Current Assignee: PayPal, Inc. (PayPal Holdings, Inc.)
• Original Assignee: PayPal, Inc. (PayPal Holdings, Inc.)
• Inventors: Lakshminath, Anand, Henderson, Richard D, Libenzi, Davide, Song, Guanglei, Sriram, Prasad, Whyte, Nicholas, Tutundjian, Raffi
• Primary Examiner(s): Spieler, William
• Application Number:
  US14/876,635
• Publication Number:
  US 20160026686A1
• Time in Patent Office: 364 Days
• US Class Current: 1/1
• CPC Class Codes: G06F 16/2433 Query languages
• CPC Class Codes: G06F 16/24534 Query rewriting; Transformation
• CPC Class Codes: G06F 16/2455 Query execution
• CPC Class Codes: G06F 16/248 Presentation of query results
• CPC Class Codes: G06F 16/437 Administration of user profiles, e.g. generation, initialisation, adaptation, distribution
• CPC Class Codes: G06F 16/93 Document management systems
• CPC Class Codes: G06F 21/6227 where protection concerns the structure of data, e.g. records, types, queries

Abstract

Systems and methods to configure a query language using an operator dictionary are described. The system receives, from a first user, a search query to search for document information in a database. The system determines that terms of the search query from the first user are in accordance with dictionary information that corresponds to the first user. The dictionary information includes a first list of compatible query operators. The system applies the search query to the index data structure in the database to identify the document information. The system sends an electronic interface to the first user that includes the document information.

Claims

1. A system comprising:

a processor and executable instructions accessible on a computer-readable medium that, when executed, cause the processor to perform operations comprising;

receive, from a first user, a search query to search for document information in a database, the database including an index data structure;

determine that terms of the search query are in accordance with dictionary information that corresponds to the first user, the dictionary information for the first user including a first list of compatible query operators;

apply the search query to the index data structure in the database to identify the document information; and

send an electronic interface to the first user, the electronic interface including the document information.

2. The system of claim 1, wherein the executable instructions cause the processor to further perform the operations comprising:

generate dictionary information that corresponds to a second user, the dictionary information that corresponds to the second user includes a second list of compatible query operators and a description of compatible data types that correspond to each operator in the second list of compatible query operators, wherein the dictionary information that corresponds to the second user is different from the dictionary information that corresponds to the first user.

3. The system of claim 2, wherein the executable instructions cause the processor to further perform the operations comprising:

receive, from the second user, a search query to search for document information in the database, wherein the search query from the second user is different than the search query from the first user.

4. The system of claim 3, wherein the executable instructions cause the processor to further perform the operations comprising:

determine, using one or more processors, that the terms of the search query from the second user are in accordance with the dictionary information corresponding to the second user.

5. The system of claim 2, wherein the executable instructions cause the processor to further perform the operations comprising:

receive, from the second user, a search query to search for document information in the database, wherein the search query from the second user is identical to the search query from the first user.

6. The system of claim 5, wherein the executable instructions cause the processor to further perform the operations comprising:

determine, using one or more processors, that the terms of the search query from the second user are not in accordance with the dictionary information corresponding to the second user.

7. The system of claim 1, wherein the executable instructions cause the processor to further perform the operations comprising:

determine that an operator in the search query is included in the first list of compatible query operators.

8. The system of claim 1, wherein the executable instructions cause the processor to further perform the operations comprising:

determine that an input to an operator in the search query is described as a compatible data type that is included in the description of compatible data types.

9. The system of claim 1, wherein the executable instructions cause the processor to further perform the operations comprising:

determine that an output of an operation corresponds to an operator in the search query is described as a compatible data type.

10. The system of claim 1, wherein the search query is arranged as an expression tree that includes at least one child node coupled to at least one parent node and wherein data included in the at least one child node is an input to an operator included in the at least one parent node.

11. The system of claim 10, wherein the executable instructions cause the processor to further perform the operations comprising:

determine that the data included in the at least one child node is described as a compatible data type to the operator included in the at least one parent node.

12. A method comprising:

receiving, from a first user, a search query to search for document information in a database, the database including an index data structure;

determining that terms of the search query are in accordance with dictionary information corresponding to the first user, the dictionary information including a first list of compatible query operators;

applying the search query to the index data structure in the database to identify the document information; and

sending an electronic interface to the first user, the electronic interface including the document information.

13. The method of claim 12, further comprising:

generating dictionary information corresponding to a second user, the dictionary information corresponding to the second user including a second list of compatible query operators and a description of compatible data types that correspond to each operator in the second list of compatible query operators, wherein the dictionary information corresponding to the second user is different from the dictionary information corresponding to the first user.

14. The method of claim 13, further comprising:

receiving, from a second user, a search query to search for document information in the database, wherein the search query from the second user is different than the search query from the first user.

15. The method of claim 14, further comprising:

determining that the terms of the search query from the second user are in accordance with the dictionary information corresponding to the second user.

16. The method of claim 13, further comprising:

receiving, from the second user, a search query to search for document information in the database, wherein the search query from the second user is identical to the search query from the first user.

17. The method of claim 16, further comprising:

determining the terms of the search query from the second user are not in accordance with the dictionary information corresponding to the second user.

18. The method of claim 12, wherein the search query is arranged as an expression tree including at least one child node coupled to at least one parent node and wherein data included in the at least one child node is an input to an operator included in the at least one parent node.

19. The method of claim 18, wherein the determining that terms of the search query are in accordance with the dictionary information includes determining that the data included in the at least one child node is described as a compatible data type to the operator included in the at least one parent node.

20. A non-transitory machine-readable medium storing instructions which, when executed by one or more processors, cause the one or more processors to perform operations comprising:

receiving, from a first user, a search query to search for document information in a database, the database including an index data structure;

determining that terms of the search query from the first user are in accordance with dictionary information corresponding to the first user, the dictionary information including a first list of compatible query operators;

applying the search query to the index data structure in the database to identify the document information; and

sending an electronic interface to the first user, the electronic interface including the document information.