Method and system for using associative metadata
First Claim
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1. A method for storing a file to enable searching comprising:
- storing the file in a set of files;
extracting a set of context information from the file during the step of storing the file in a set of files;
storing the set of context information in a set of associative information;
deriving feature information from a set of features contained in the file during the step of storing the file in a set of files;
storing the feature information in the set of associative information; and
storing a reference to the file in the set of associative information.
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Abstract
A method and system are disclosed for storing a file to enable searching, where the file is stored in a set of files, a set of context information is extracted from the file and from the process of storing the file, the context information is stored in a set of associative information, and a reference to the file is stored in the set of associative information.
473 Citations
17 Claims
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1. A method for storing a file to enable searching comprising:
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storing the file in a set of files;
extracting a set of context information from the file during the step of storing the file in a set of files;
storing the set of context information in a set of associative information;
deriving feature information from a set of features contained in the file during the step of storing the file in a set of files;
storing the feature information in the set of associative information; and
storing a reference to the file in the set of associative information. - View Dependent Claims (2, 3, 4, 5, 6, 7, 8, 9)
inputting a set of preferences, each preference associated with a feature extractor in a set of feature extractors;
applying a subset of the set of feature extractors to the file to produce a set of ratings;
modifying each rating by the preference associated with the feature extractor producing that rating; and
storing the set of modified ratings in the set of associative information.
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3. The method of claim 2, where each preference determines whether or not a feature extractor associated with the preference is applied to the file.
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4. The method of claim 3 further comprising the step of storing user entered context information in the set of associative information.
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5. The method of claim 4, where the files are images.
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6. The method of claim 1, further comprising:
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accepting a user query;
applying the user query to at least one of the set of associative information and the set of files; and
selecting a subset of the set of files, each file in the subset corresponding to the user query.
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7. The method of claim 6, where the user query includes at least a set of preferences, each preference associated with a feature extractor in a set of feature extractors, the method further comprising the step of:
searching the set of associative information using the set of preferences.
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8. The method of claim 7, where the file contains an image.
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9. The method of claim 8 further comprising the step of storing user entered context information in the set of associative information.
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11. A system for storing files, enabling searching on the files, the system comprising:
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a set of files;
an associative information database including at least a set of references, each reference in the set of references corresponding to a file, a set of subsets of context information, each subset of context information corresponding to a file, and a set of subsets of user relevant information, each subset of user relevant information corresponding to a file. - View Dependent Claims (10, 12, 13, 14)
a query module accepting a user query, applying the user query to at least one of the set of associative information and the set of files, and selecting a subset of the set of files, each file in the subset corresponding to the user query.
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14. The system of claim 13, where the user query includes at least a set of preferences, each preference associated with a feature extractor in a set of feature extractors, the query module searching the set of associative information using the set of preferences.
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15. A program storage device readable by a computer system, for storing a plurality of instructions for storing a file to enable searching, the plurality of instructions comprising:
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instructions for storing a file in a set of files;
instructions for storing the set of context information from the file and from the storage of the file;
instructions for storing the set of context information in a set of associative information;
instructions for deriving feature information from a set of features contained in the file and corresponding to a set of user entered preferences; and
instructions for storing a reference to the file in the set of associative information. - View Dependent Claims (16, 17)
instructions for applying a subset of a set of feature extractors to the file to produce a set of ratings;
instructions for modifying each rating by an associated preference; and
instructions for storing each rating in the set of associative information.
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17. The program storage device of claim 16, where each file contains an image.
Specification