Method and system for defining semantic categories and actions

• US 20020029304A1
• Filed: 07/17/2001
• Published: 03/07/2002
• Est. Priority Date: 06/06/2000
• Status: Active Grant

• Current Assignee: Microsoft Technology Licensing LLC (Microsoft Corporation)
• Original Assignee: Microsoft Corporation
• Inventors: Ammerlann, Michael, Hunt, Lee C., Reynar, Jeff
• Granted Patent: US 7,716,163 B2
• Time in Patent Office: Days
• US Class Current: 719/332
• CPC Class Codes: G06F 40/30 Semantic analysis
• CPC Class Codes: G06Q 30/02 Marketing; Price estimation or determination; Fundraising

Abstract

An XML (eXtensible Markup Language) schema to define a list of terms to be recognized as semantic categories is disclosed. Using an instance of the XML schema, a user may easily define terms to be recognized as semantic categories without having to compile a complete recognizer plug-in. The XML schema may be written using any editing tool or XML schema editing tool to create an instance of the schema. An instance of the semantic category list schema is also referred to as a semantic category list file. Typically, the user completes all of the properties of the XML schema and specifies the list of terms to recognize directly in the XML schema. In addition to specifying terms directly in the XML schema, the user may use a binary representation of the list of terms because of size constraints. The user may also define actions in the semantic category list file.

Claims

1. In a computer system for recognizing a semantic category in an electronic document, a semantic category list file comprising:

a list of terms, wherein the terms are strings to be recognized as the semantic category; and

a plurality of actions, wherein the plurality of actions are actions that may be performed in reference to the semantic category.

2. The semantic category file of claim 1 wherein the list of terms is stored in a term file.

3. The semantic category file of claim 2 wherein the term file is a compressed binary file.

4. The semantic category file of claim 1 wherein the semantic category file further comprises a localeID identifying the language in which the terms are to be recognized.

5. The semantic category file of claim 4 further comprising a lastcheckpoint value, wherein the lastcheckpoint value identifies the version number of the last update of the semantic category file.

6. The semantic category file of claim 5 further comprising a lastupdate value, wherein the last update value identifies the time of the last update of the semantic category file.

7. The semantic category file of claim 6 further comprising an update Universal Resource Locator (URL), wherein the update URL is a website address to check for updates to the list of terms.

8. The semantic category file of claim 7 further comprising an update frequency value, wherein the update frequency value specifies how often the list of terms should be updated.

9. The semantic category file of claim 1 further comprising an action identifier uniquely identifying the action that applies to the semantic category.

10. The semantic category file of claim 9 further comprising an action URL specifying the URL to activate for the action.

11. A method for creating a semantic category list file for recognizing a semantic category in an electronic document, the method comprising the steps of:

creating a text file and completing the elements of a semantic category list schema to create a semantic category list file; and

storing the semantic category list file in a directory.

12. The method of claim 11 wherein the semantic category list file comprises the following elements:

a list of terms, wherein the terms are strings to be recognized as the semantic category; and

a plurality of actions, wherein the plurality of actions are actions that may be performed in reference to the semantic category.

14. The method of claim 13 further comprising the step of updating the lastcheckpoint value in the semantic category list file to be equal to the checkpoint value of the semantic category update file.

15. The method of claim 14 further comprising the step of setting a lastupdate value of the semantic category list file to a current time setting.

16. The method of claim 13 wherein the step of determining whether to proceed with an update comprises determining whether the user has initiated an action associated with a semantic category list file, and, if so, then determining to perform an update.

17. The method of claim 13 wherein the step of determining whether to proceed with an update comprises determining whether an interval specified in the semantic category list file has elapsed, and, if so, then determining to perform an update.

18. The method of claim 17 wherein the interval comprises an updatefrequency element.

13. A computer-implemented method for performing an update to a semantic category list file, comprising the steps of:

determining whether to proceed with the update;

calling an update Universal Resource Locator (URL) of a web server to locate a semantic category update file;

sending a lastcheckpoint value of the semantic category list file to the web server; and

determining whether a checkpoint value of the semantic category update file is greater than the lastcheckpoint value of the semantic category list file, and, if so, then downloading a plurality of semantic category terms from the semantic category update file to replace a plurality of semantic category terms in the semantic category list file.