System and method for searching a virtual content repository

• US 20050251512A1
• Filed: 08/10/2004
• Published: 11/10/2005
• Est. Priority Date: 04/13/2004
• Status: Abandoned Application

• Current Assignee: BEA Systems Incorporated (Oracle Corporation)
• Original Assignee: BEA Systems Incorporated (Oracle Corporation)
• Inventors: Owen, James, Posner, Brad, Patadia, Jalpesh, Toussaint, Alexander, McCauley, Rodney
• Application Number:
  US10/915,504
• Publication Number:
  US 20050251512A1
• Time in Patent Office: Days
• US Class Current: 1/1
• CPC Class Codes: G06F 16/43 Querying
• CPC Class Codes: G06F 16/48 Retrieval characterised by using metadata, e.g. metadata not derived from the content or metadata generated manually

Abstract

A system and method for searching a virtual content repository (VCR), comprising integrating a plurality of repositories into the VCR searching the VCR for information that satisfies at least one search expression to yield a result set wherein the information can include at least one of: content information and schema information wherein the VCR includes a namespace that encompasses the plurality of repositories, and wherein the information can include one or more version histories.

Claims

1. A method for searching a virtual content repository (VCR), comprising:

integrating a plurality of repositories into the VCR;

searching the VCR for information that satisfies at least one search expression to yield a result set;

wherein the information can include at least one of;

content information and schema information;

wherein the VCR includes a namespace that encompasses the plurality of repositories; and

wherein the information can include one or more version histories.

2. The method of claim 1 wherein:

the namespace is hierarchical.

3. The method of claim 1 wherein:

the schema information includes one or more properties.

4. The method of claim 1 wherein:

the information includes at least one of the following;

a content node, a schema node, and an hierarchy node.

5. The method of claim 1, further comprising:

ranking the information that satisfies the at least one search expression.

6. The method of claim 1, further comprising:

refining the result set.

7. The method of claim 1, wherein searching includes:

searching the plurality of repositories.

8. The method of claim 1, further comprising:

combining the results of searching each one of the plurality of repositories into the result set.

9. The method of claim 1 wherein:

the at least one search expression can include at least one of;

a logical expression, a Boolean operator, a property name, a property value, a nested expression, a variable, an identifier, a function/method invocation, a remote procedure call, a mathematical function, a mathematical operator, a string operator, an image operator, a Structured Query Language expression, a natural language query, a proximity expression, a wildcard expression, and a ranging search type.

10. The method of claim 1, further comprising:

implementing a service provider interface (SPI) for each of the plurality of repositories wherein the SPI is compatible with the VCR.

11. A system for searching a plurality of repositories, comprising:

a plurality of repositories;

a Virtual Content Repositorv (VCR) to integrate the plurality of repositories;

a search service to search the VCR for information that satisfies at least one search expression to yield a result set;

wherein the information can include at least one of;

content information and schema information;

wherein the VCR includes a namespace that encompasses the plurality of repositories; and

wherein the information can include one or more version histories.

12. The system of claim 11 wherein:

the namespace is hierarchical.

13. The system of claim 11 wherein:

the schema information includes one or more properties.

14. The system of claim 11 wherein:

the information includes at least one of the following;

a content node, a schema node, and an hierarchy node.

15. The system of claim 11 wherein:

information that satisfies the at least one search expression can be ranked.

16. The system of claim 11 wherein:

information that satisfies the at least one search expression can be refined.

17. The system of claim 11 wherein:

the search service searches the plurality of repositories.

18. The system of claim 11 wherein:

the results of searching each one of the plurality of repositories are combined into the result set.

19. The system of claim 11 wherein:

the at least one search expression can include at least one of;

a logical expression, a Boolean operator, a property name, a property value, a nested expression, a variable, an identifier, a function/system invocation, a remote procedure call, a mathematical function, a mathematical operator, a string operator, an image operator, a Structured Query Language expression, a natural language query, a proximity expression, a wildcard expression, and a ranging search type.

20. The system of claim 11, further comprising:

a service provider interface (SPI) for each of the plurality of repositories that is compatible with the VCR.

21. A machine readable medium having instructions stored thereon that when executed by one or more processors cause a system to:

integrate a plurality of repositories into a virtual content repository (VCR);

search the VCR for information that satisfies at least one search expression to yield a result set;

wherein the information can include at least one of;

content information and schema information;

wherein the VCR includes a namespace that encompasses the plurality of repositories; and

wherein the information can include one or more version histories.

22. The machine readable medium of claim 21 wherein:

the namespace is hierarchical.

23. The machine readable medium of claim 21 wherein:

the schema information includes one or more properties.

24. The machine readable medium of claim 21 wherein:

the information includes at least one of the following;

a content node, a schema node, and an hierarchy node.

25. The machine readable medium of claim 21, further comprising instructions that when executed cause the system to:

rank the information that satisfies the at least one search expression.

26. The machine readable medium of claim 21, further comprising instructions that when executed cause the system to:

refine the result set.

27. The machine readable medium of claim 21, further comprising instructions that when executed cause the system to:

search the plurality of repositories.

28. The machine readable medium of claim 21, further comprising instructions that when executed cause the system to:

combine the results of searching each one of the plurality of repositories into the result set.

29. The machine readable medium of claim 21 wherein:

the at least one search expression can include at least one of;

a logical expression, a Boolean operator, a property name, a property value, a nested expression, a variable, an identifier, a function/machine readable medium invocation, a remote procedure call, a mathematical function, a mathematical operator, a string operator, an image operator, a Structured Query Language expression, a natural language query, a proximity expression, a wildcard expression, and a ranging search type.

30. The machine readable medium of claim 21, further comprising instructions that when executed cause the system to:

implement a service provider interface (SPI) for each of the plurality of repositories that is compatible with the VCR.

31. A computer data signal embodied in a transmission medium, comprising:

a code segment including instructions to integrate a plurality of repositories into a virtual content repository (VCR);

a code segment including instructions to search the VCR for information that satisfies at least one search expression to yield a result set;

wherein the information can include at least one of;

content information and schema information;

wherein the VCR includes a namespace that encompasses the plurality of repositories; and

wherein the information can include one or more version histories.