Note: Descriptions are shown in the official language in which they were submitted.
METHOD AND SYSTEM FOR IMPROVED SEARCH
TECHNICAL FIELD
This invention relates to a method and system for improved search, and a
machine readable
medium containing instructions to perform such method.
BACKGROUND
There are very large number of contents available on network. Search systems
provide
functionality to help user locate contents on network using search query. The
search query which is
originated by a client can be a collection of words/phrases/metadata and any
operators such as
AND/OR/NOT conditions. Search system typically matches words/phrases/metadata
in the search
query to words/phrases/metadata contained in contents available on the
network. The search system
may exclude/include contents based on the operators and send reference
information/link/brief
description to the partially/fully matched contents to a client which
originated the search query to
the search system. The contents selected by the search system responsive to a
search query do not
always satisfy the need of a particular user as the search query may not fully
and clearly describe
what a user is looking for. For example, a search system can return
references/links to home pages
of airlines which fly to airports near Gobi desert and also hotels in the area
when 8 years old student
is looking for information on Gobi desert for his/her home assignment by
originating a search query
consisting of a phrase "Gobi desert" . Usually a user navigates through large
number of contents
suggested by a search system before reaching the content he/she is looking
for. Thus, there is a need
for an improved method for producing search query which clearly defines the
intent of the user
originating the search query and a search system which produce search result
based on such search
query.
SUMMARY OF THE INVENTION
A method and system for producing search results includes; receiving a group
of parts of the
navigated contents relevant to a specific topic in their original or modified
form and any associated
information from a client, performing analysis of the said received parts of
the navigated contents to
a specific topic in their original or modified form and performing analysis of
any associated
information, producing at least one search query based on the output of the
said performed analysis,
retrieving the search result by executing the search query, including the
partial/full search results in
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a document if there is a requirement to produce a document with search result,
transferring the
partial/full search results with or without being formatted into a document to
the client.
BRIEF DESCRIPTION OF THE DRAWINGS
The accompanying drawings together with the description, serve to explain the
principles of
the invention.
FIG. 1 is a exemplary flow chart illustrating operation of an exemplary search
system which
produces a search result responsive to a search query and is according to
prior art.
FIG. 2 is a diagram conceptually illustrating an exemplary search system which
produces
search result responsive to search query and is according to prior art.
FIG. 3 is a exemplary flow chart illustrating operation of an exemplary search
system which
produces search result responsive to selected parts of the navigated contents
and is according to
present invention.
FIG. 4 is an exemplary flow chart illustrating operation of generating a
search query using
parts of the navigated contents that are transferred to the search system
according to present
invention.
FIG. 5 is a diagram conceptually illustrating an exemplary search system which
produces
search result responsive to parts of navigated contents sent to the search
system according to the
method of the present invention.
FIG. 6 illustrates a block diagram of an exemplary computer system on which
the computer
instructions can be executed to implement the method of the present invention.
FIG. 7 illustrates an exemplary client for user and exemplary usage according
to method of
the present invention, which can be used to select parts of the navigated
contents at the client for
transferring to search system.
FIG. 8 illustrates the same exemplary client as FIG. 7 when user of the client
has navigated
to a different content in an exemplary usage according to the method of the
present invention.
FIG. 9 illustrates the same exemplary client as FIG. 8 when user of the client
has navigated
to a different content in an exemplary usage according to the method of the
present invention.
FIG. 10 illustrates an exemplary user interface which can be used to
refine/modify selected
parts of the navigated content at the client for transferring to a search
system in an exemplary usage
according to the method of the present invention.
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DETAILED DESCRIPTION OF THE PREFERRED EMBODIMENT
FIG. 1 is a flow chart illustrating operation of a search system which
produces a search
result response to a search query according to prior art. FIG. 2 conceptually
illustrates such search
system 200 which acts according to the flow chart of FIG. 1. The operation of
the search system
200 begins when the search system 200 receives a search query (act 101). The
search system 200
analyzes the search query and determines the relevant keywords from the search
query (act 102).
The search system executes the search query and prepares the ranked search
result responsive to the
search query (act 103). The search results may be formatted into a document
(act 103). The search
system sends the full/partial search result with/without being formatted into
a document to the client
(act 104). The user may not be satisfied with the received search result from
the search system 200
and may modify the search query for executing modified search query. When the
search system 200
receives the modified search query (act 105), the search system 200 repeats
the act 101, act 102, act
103 and act 104 in the given order.
FIG. 2 is a diagram conceptually illustrating an exemplary search system 200
according to
prior art which search result with or without being formatted into a document
in response to search
query. The search system 200 stores information in database/OS level files
201. The search system
200 generally consists of multiple modules 202 203 204 205 206. Query parsing
module 202 parses
the search query received from the client and transforms it into a form which
can be executed to
retrieve information from database/OS level files 201. Query execution module
203 executes the
search query and manages the search result of the executed search query.
Indexing module 204
indexes the contents available on the network. Ranking module 205 ranks the
indexed contents
available on the network. The ranking module 205 may use different algorithms
to rank the indexed
contents. Presentation module 206 prepares the full/partial search result
with/without being
formatted in a document.
FIG. 3 is a flow chart illustrating operation of according to the present
invention which
produces search result responsive to parts of navigated contents. FIG. 5
conceptually illustrates such
search system 500 which acts according to the flow chart of FIG. 3. A user
selects parts of navigated
contents displayed in a browser through a graphical user interface and adds
any other associated
information (act 301). Here, a browser refer to any application, process or
executable which outputs
contents and allows interaction through a graphical user interface. A browser
can have multiple
windows and/or multiple tabs (act 301). The search system 500 receives the
selected parts of the
navigated contents and any associated information, when a user submits these
selected parts of the
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navigated contents and any associated information through a graphical user
interface to the search
system 500 (act 302). An executable may submit these selected parts of the
navigated contents
without involving a graphical user interface at a specified time which is
selected by a user. The
search system 500 analyze the submitted selected parts of the navigated
contents and associated
information to generate at least one search query (act 303). A search query
can be a collection of
sub-queries. Generated search query is executed by the search system 500 (act
304). The search
system 500 produces the ranked full/partial search result responsive to the
search query and the
ranked full/partial search result may be formatted into a document (act 305).
The search system
sends the ranked search result with/without being formatted into a document to
the client or to
another location which is specified in the associated information (act 306).
The search system may
associate the search query and search result with a unique identifier and
store those for future
reference by the search system. The user may modify the parts of the navigated
contents and any
associated information when he/she is not satisfied with the search result.
When the search system
500 receives the modified parts of the navigated contents and any associated
information (act 307),
it repeats the act 301, act 302, act 303, act 304, act 305 and act 306 in the
given order.
FIG. 4 is an exemplary flow chart 400 detailing the operation of analyzing the
transferred
parts of the navigated contents and generating at least one search query
according to the present
invention (act 303). The part of navigated contents is divided further into
sub-parts and weight is
assigned to each sub-part (act 401). The weight may be assigned using level of
importance value
1003 determined at the client by the user. New sub-parts are prepared by
replacing words/phrases
with their synonymous (act 402). Words/phrases in sub-parts and new sub-parts
are formatted to
make search easier (act 403). Set of queries and relationship information
among them is generated
(act 404).
FIG. 5 is a diagram conceptually illustrating an exemplary search system 500
which
prepares search result with/without being formatted into a document responsive
to parts of
navigated contents sent to the search system according to the method of the
present invention. The
search system 500 uses database/OS level files 501 for storing information.
The search system 500
consists of multiple modules 502 503 504 505 506 507. Navigated contents parts
analysis module
507 analyzes the parts of the navigated contents that are selected at the
client 700 800 900 and may
have modification made through the user ir.terface 1000. Navigated contents
parts analysis module
507 also analyzes any associated information. Query parsing module 502 parses
the search query
initiated by a user through a client and transforms it into a form which could
be executed. Query
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execution module 503 executes the search query and manages the result of the
executed search
query. Indexing module 504 indexes the contents available on the network.
Ranking module 505
ranks the indexed contents available on the network. The ranking module 505
may use different
algorithms to rank the contents. Presentation module 506 prepares the search
result in different
formats. Presentation module 506 may also include other information such as
product/services
promotional contents. Presentation module 506 also transfers the search result
with/without being
formatted into a document to the client or any other location which is
specified in the associated
information.
FIG. 6 shows a block diagram of an example computer system 600 on which the
computer
.. instructions can be executed to implement the method of the present
invention. Computing devices
such as laptop, desktop, server, cluster, virtual machine, mainframe, wireless
telephone, wired
telephone, a personal digital assistance are examples of such computer system
600. Processor 601
can be microprocessor, digital signal processor, a conventional processor,
micro-controller, virtual
machine or any logic that executes computer instructions. Memory 602 can be
any kind of memory
device such as read only memory (ROM), random access memory (RAM) and flash
memory.
Storage device 603 can be any medium which can be used as persistence storage.
For example, hard
drive, tape drive, optical disk drive and disk arrays. Input device 604 is
used to input external data
and can be any kind of device such as mouse, trackball, light pen, biometric
mechanism including
voice recognition. Output device 605 can be any kind of device used for data
output. For example,
cathode-ray-tube (CRT) monitor, plasma display, crystal display, projector,
printer and speaker.
Communication interface 606 can be a interface to any kind of network such as
internet, intranet,
local area network, wide area network, a telephone network such as Public
Switched Telephone
Network, or combination of different kinds of networks. Bus 607 is used to
communicate
information and commands between different sub systems 601 602 603 604 605
606. Bus 607 may
be implemented using any kind of data transfer technology such as USB, serial
connection, parallel
connection and circuit board connections. In some computer system embodiments
on which the
computer instructions to implement the method of the present invention can be
executed, the
storage device 603 may be connected to bus 607 through communication interface
606.
FIG. 7 illustrates an exemplary client 700 for a user according to method of
the present
invention, which can be used to select parts of the navigated contents at the
client 700 for
transferring to the search system 500. The user of exemplary client 700 in
exemplary usage of the
present invention in FIG. 7, navigates to other contents on network to plan
his/her next holiday by
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accessing contents on different network locations describing how other people
planned and enjoyed
their last summer holiday. The client 700 has an input field 701 with drop
down list that can be used
to select and display the network location of content that is displayed using
content display pane
713. The client 700 may have multiple content display panes such as in form of
multiple tabs or
multiple windows. A content display pane 713 can be in the form of a plug-in
or a separate
application started/controlled by the client 700 which can communicate with
the client 700. The
client 700 has content navigation history stored. PREVIOUS button 702 in the
client 700 allows
changing content displayed in content display pane 713 to content displayed
previously.
FORWARD button 703 in the client 700 allows changing content displayed in
content display pane
713 to content listed next in the navigation history. The content displayed by
content display pane
713 at the client 700 can be refreshed using REFRESH button 704. The client
700 also has a the
network location saved as home page which can be displayed in the content
display pane 713 when
HOME PAGE button 705 is pressed. The user is allowed to associate relevant
parts of the navigated
contents to a specific topic with unique name listed in the drop down list
706. Drop down list 706 in
the client 700 contains list of specific topics with unique name. The user of
the client 700 can add,
edit and remove specific topic with unique name in the drop down list 706. The
user selects the part
of the navigated content in the content display pane 713 and press RECORD
button 709. The
selected part of the navigated content in the content display pane 713 is
associated with specific
topic with unique name that is selected in the drop down list 706. In the
client 700, the underlined
content "chance to feed elephants" 714 in content display pane 713 is added to
specific topic with
unique name "Holiday Plan" in drop down list 706. The content display pane 713
shows selected
parts of the navigated contents 714 underlined. However, the selected part of
the navigated content
714 in content display pane 713 may be indicated with different ways such as
change of font color,
change of font background or change in the font size. The SETTING button 710
allows changing
different settings such as the name of the default search system and the
temporary store location of
the parts of the navigated contents displayed in content display pane 713.
VIEW button 707
displays the parts of the navigated contents that were added to the unique
name "Holiday Plan" in
the drop down list 706. EDIT button 708 edits the parts of the navigated
contents that were added to
the unique name "Holiday Plan" in the drop down list 706. Drop down list with
list of search
systems 711 can be used to select at least one search system to transfer
selected parts of the
navigated contents in the content display pane 713. Drop down list with list
of search systems 711
has search system 500 selected. SUBMIT button 712 transfers the selected parts
of the navigated
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contents 714 814 914 associated with specific topic with unique name "Holiday
Plan" in drop down
list 706 to the selected search system 500.
In the exemplary client 700, user interface in toolbar 706 707 708 709 710 711
712 are
provided to realize the ability to select a part of the navigated content 714
in the content display
pane 703. However, this functionality can be implemented with a different form
of user interface,
such as using a floating pane with buttons, buttons added in the task bar of
operating system, icons
on the desktop, input of combination of keys on the key board, voice commands.
FIG. 7 is showing
only those functionalists of the client 700 that are necessary to explain the
present invention. In
other exemplary embodiments, a client may include many other or less
functionality compared to
what are described in the exemplary client 700.
FIG. 8 illustrates a client 800 which is the same as the client 700 in FIG.7
but has a different
content displayed in content display pane 802 as the user of the client 700
has navigated to another
content. The underlined content "mountain retreat surrounded by flowers and
trees" 814 in content
display pane 802 is added to a specific topic with unique name "Holiday Plan"
in drop down list
806. The drop down list 806 has the same role as the drop down list 706.
FIG. 9 illustrates client 900 which is the same as the client 800 in FIG. 8,
but has different
content displayed in content display pane 902 as the user of the client 800
has navigated to another
content. The underlined content "fishing in remote areas while enjoying
beautiful nature" 914 in
content display pane 902 is added to specific topic with unique name "Holiday
Plan" in drop down
list 906. The drop down list 906 has the same role as the drop down list 806.
FIG. 10 illustrates an exemplary user interface 1000 which can be used to
refine/modify
selected parts of the navigated contents 714 814 914 at the client for
transferring to the search
system 500. The user of the client 700 can display this user interface 1000 by
using VIEW button
707 or EDIT button 708. Pane 1002 displays the selected parts of the navigated
contents 714 814
914 from FIG. 7, FIG. 8 and FIG. 9. Pane 1002 displays all of the selected
part of the navigated
contents. In other exemplary embodiment, the pane 1002 may display a subset of
the selected parts
of the navigated contents. Pane 1002 also displays indicator 1003 indicating
the importance of the
selected part of the navigated content 714 814 914 for the user. Here, the
number of plus/minus
signs 1003 indicates the extent of importance of the selected parts of the
contents for the user. The
pane 1002 also displays the type of the selected part of the navigated content
1005. Search result
format 1012 allows setting the format of the search result, such as; HTML
document, XML. Search
result viewer 1013 allows selecting the viewer of the search result. Search
result saving location
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1014 may allow selecting the location where the search result is to be saved.
Search execution time
1015 may allow a user to select the time of the search execution. User
interface 1000 contains ADD
button 1009. ADD button 1009 initiates an interface to add new content to the
list of selected parts
of the navigated contents in pane 1002. In this exemplary usage of the present
invention, the user
add the contents "In Alberta or in British Columbia" and "In Malaysia or in
Thailand or in
Australia" using ADD button 1009, as the user is planning to spend his summer
vacation in Alberta
or British Columbia rather than making an international family trip to
Thailand, Malaysia and
Australia. EDIT button 1007 allows the ability to modify any part of the
navigated content that is
displayed in pane 1002. Modification of any part of the navigated content in
pane 1002 may include
change to the importance of the contents listed in pane 1002. DELETE button
1008 removes part(s)
of the navigated contents from the pane 1002. SAVE button 1010 saves any
modification made to
the information related to part(s) of the navigated contents from the pane
1002. CANCEL button
1011 close the user interface 1000. In another exemplary embodiment, user
interface 1000 may also
display metadata related to any part of the navigated contents that is
displayed in pane 1002.
The search system 300 may receive time to execute search from the client.
Search query is a query which is automatically generated by the search system
after analyzing
received arts of the navigated contents.
Search result is based on contents available over the network which is indexed
by the search
system. The search result does not include user specific browsing history
which is typically
generated and managed by a search system.
Search result format is the format of a document which contains search result
and is formatted
based on open document standards such as HTML and XML.
The selected parts of the navigated contents are not highlighted with an
embedded control.
The term "set" means "one or more".
It is to be understood that while the detailed description describes the
present invention, the
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foregoing description is for illustrative purpose and does not limit the scope
of the present invention
which is defined by the scope of the appended claims. Other embodiments,
arrangements and
equivalents will be evident to those skilled in the art. Such other
embodiments, arrangements and
equivalents are within the scope of the present invention as defined by the
appended claims.
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