Method and system for creating an embedded search link document

• US 7,003,506 B1
• Filed: 06/23/2000
• Issued: 02/21/2006
• Est. Priority Date: 06/23/2000
• Status: Expired due to Fees

• Current Assignee: Microsoft Technology Licensing LLC (Microsoft Corporation)
• Original Assignee: Microsoft Corporation
• Inventors: Fisk, Eric McKee, Slawson, Dean Alan
• Primary Examiner(s): Ali, Mohammad
• Assistant Examiner(s): LEROUX, ETIENNE PIERRE
• Application Number:
  US09/602,305
• Time in Patent Office: 2,069 Days
• Field of Search: 707/3, 707/5, 707/4, 707/10, 707/1, 707/100, 707/101, 707/201, 707/203, 709/217, 701/211, 434/118, 715/513
• US Class Current: 707/693
• CPC Class Codes: G06F 16/9558 Details of hyperlinks; Management of linked annotations
• CPC Class Codes: G06F 16/986 Document structures and storage, e.g. HTML extensions
• CPC Class Codes: G06F 40/169 Annotation, e.g. comment data or footnotes
• CPC Class Codes: Y10S 707/959 Network
• CPC Class Codes: Y10S 707/99931 Database or file accessing

Abstract

A method and system for creating and using an embedded search link document. Embedded search link documents are search-enabled through the use of a wizard. The wizard initially prompts a user to open an HTML-formatted genesis document in an editing pane. Once the genesis document is loaded, the user may add and manipulate search links by customizing the relevant search parameters. The invention permits a user to tailor a search by selecting various search parameters describing the search objective. Once the search parameters are specified, the search engine finds documents meeting the search criteria from a catalog that was built by crawling World Wide Web sites. These documents are filtered for relevance and compiled into a results list. The documents comprising the results list are placed into one of a set of site catalogs, depending on which of the search criteria are embodied in the individual document. The results list is returned to the user, who may designate certain links as preferred links. These preferred links will be compressed and stored, and will always show up at the top of the search results list. Similarly, the search criteria are compressed and stored as a portion of the search link embedded within the genesis document. Once the user has created all desired search links, the genesis document is saved as an embedded search link document. Later users may initiate searches by accessing an embedded search link.

Claims

1. A method for creating an embedded search link document, comprising the steps of:

accessing a genesis document;

performing a test search of a document source to identify test search results that satisfy a plurality of search parameters, whereby said test search is initiated by activating a test search control that causes a search engine to search the document source for all documents relevant to the plurality of search parameters, and wherein documents included on the document source can change over time;

in response to performing the test search, retrieving the test search results;

presenting the test search results to a user for a determination as to whether the plurality of search parameters should be adjusted to satisfy an intended use by a different user who will use the plurality of search parameters to obtain search results by accessing a search link created by the user; and

in response to the determination that the test search results returned using the plurality of search parameters are satisfactory, embedding the search link having the plurality of search parameters into the genesis document to create the embedded search link document, the search link being operative, when activated, to initiate a search of the document source for search results that match the search parameters and to retrieve the search results, the search results that are returned potentially changing over time as the documents included on the document source change.

2. The method of claim 1, wherein a test search query based on the search parameters is formed for performing the test search of the document source, further comprising the step of:

compressing and storing the test search query as a portion of the genesis document so that activating the search link causes the test search query to be accessed and used for performing the search of the document source.

3. The method of claim 1, wherein the embedded search link document comprises an interactive lesson plan.

4. The method of claim 1, wherein the genesis document comprises a curriculum standards document.

5. The method of claim 1, wherein the document source comprises a computer network.

6. The method of claim 1, wherein the document source comprises a site catalog.

7. The method of claim 1, further comprising the steps of:

receiving filtered test search results;

designating at least one of the filtered test search results as a preferred link; and

compressing and storing as a portion of the genesis document, a document identifier corresponding to the preferred link.

8. The method of claim 1, wherein the embedded search link document is stored on an Internet-accessible computer.

9. The method of claim 8, wherein the step of accessing the genesis document comprises the step of retrieving the genesis document from a remote location.

10. The method of claim 7, wherein the filtered test search results are stored as a site catalog, and

wherein the search link is operative, when activated, to initiate a search of the site catalog for the search results matching the search parameters.

11. The method of claim 1, further comprising the steps of:

creating a search catalog from the test search results;

filtering the search catalog to form a site catalog comprising those test search results that are most relevant to a particular context of the search parameters;

after creation of the embedded search link document, receiving a command for activating the search link; and

in response to the command, retrieving the search results from the site catalog.

12. The method of claim 1, wherein the genesis document is HTML-formatted.

13. The method of claim 7, wherein the preferred link is placed first within the search results.

14. The method of claim 1, wherein the search parameters relate to a subject, a topic, a minimum grade level, and a maximum grade level.

15. The method of claim 14, wherein the subject comprises a pre-approved level one entry, the topic comprises a pre-approved level two entry, the minimum grade level comprises a first number ranging from 1 to 12, and the maximum grade level comprises a second number ranging from 1 to 12.

16. The method of claim 7, wherein a Boolean filter is used to determine the filtered test search results.

17. The method of claim 16, wherein the Boolean filter classifies each of the search results based on the presence of positive words and negative words, positive words indicating that the search result corresponds to a particular context of the search parameter and negative words indicating that the search result does not correspond to the particular context of the search parameter.

18. A computer readable medium having stored thereon computer executable instructions for performing the method of claim 1.

19. A computer readable medium having stored thereon computer executable instructions for performing the method of claim 11.

20. A system for creating an embedded search link document, comprising:

a memory for storing a genesis document and machine instructions;

an input device for inputting a series of a plurality of search parameters;

a communications device for communicating with a remote server, the remote server being in communication with a document source, wherein the document source includes a plurality of documents, and wherein the documents comprising the plurality of documents can change over time;

a processor in communication with the memory, the input device and the communications device, for transmitting a request to the remote server for a test search of the document source based on the plurality of search parameters, such that all documents relevant to the plurality of search parameters are retrieved in response to the test search of the document source;

wherein the processor is further operable to execute the machine instructions stored in the memory, causing the processor to;

display test search results received from the remote server in response to the test search on a display device, enabling a user to determine whether the plurality of search parameters should be adjusted to satisfy an intended use by, a different user who will use the plurality of search parameters to obtain search results by accessing a search link created by the user; and

in response to a determination that the test search results returned using the plurality of search parameters are satisfactory, embed the search link having the plurality of search parameters into the genesis document to create the embedded search link document, the search link being operative, when activated, to initiate a search of the document source for search results matching the search parameters and to retrieve the search results, the search results that are returned potentially changing over time as the documents on the document source change.

21. The system of claim 20, wherein the request for the test search includes a test search query that is based on the search parameters;

wherein the machine instructions further cause the processor to compress and store the test search query as a portion of the genesis document; and

wherein activation of the search link causes the test search query to be accessed and used for performing the search of the document source.

22. The system of claim 20, wherein the embedded search link document comprises an interactive lesson plan.

23. The system of claim 20, wherein the genesis document comprises a curriculum standards document.

24. The system of claim 20, wherein the document source comprises the Internet.

25. The system of claim 20, wherein the document source comprises a site catalog.

26. The system of claim 20, wherein the remote server is operable for filtering the test search results through a filtering function, producing filtered test search results;

and wherein the machine instructions further cause the processor to;

receive the filtered test search results from the remote server via the communications device;

designate at least one of the filtered test search results as a preferred link; and

compress and store a document uniform resource locator (URL) corresponding to the preferred link as a portion of the genesis document.

27. The system of claim 26, wherein the remote server is further operable for storing the filtered test search results as a site catalog;

and wherein the search link is operative, when activated, to initiate a search of the site catalog for the search results matching the search parameters.

28. The system of claim 26, wherein the preferred link is placed first within the search results.

29. The system of claim 26, wherein the filtering function comprises a Boolean filter.

30. The system of claim 29, wherein the Boolean filter is operable for classifying each of the search results based on the presence of positive words and negative words, positive words indicating that the search result may be relevant to a particular context of the search parameter and negative words indicating that the search result may be irrelevant to the particular context of the search parameter.

31. The system of claim 20, wherein the search parameters relate to a subject, a topic, a minimum grade level, and a maximum grade level.

32. The system of claim 31, wherein the subject comprises a pre-approved level one entry, the topic comprises a pre-approved level two entry, the minimum grade level comprises a first number ranging from 1 to 12, and the maximum grade level comprises a second number ranging from 1 to 12.