U.S. patent application number 11/419442 was filed with the patent office on 2006-09-07 for system and method for retrieving and organizing information from disparate computer network information services.
This patent application is currently assigned to INXIGHT SOFTWARE, INC.. Invention is credited to Gregory J. Bishop, Sundar Kadayam, William A. Miller, Viral Vora.
Application Number | 20060200462 11/419442 |
Document ID | / |
Family ID | 29406637 |
Filed Date | 2006-09-07 |
United States Patent
Application |
20060200462 |
Kind Code |
A1 |
Kadayam; Sundar ; et
al. |
September 7, 2006 |
System and Method for Retrieving and Organizing Information From
Disparate Computer Network Information Services
Abstract
A system and method is provided for accessing information from a
plurality of searchable information sources. The method includes
the steps of: analyzing a user search query to determine a subject
matter of the query; and selecting a sub-set of information from
the plurality of information sources based upon the determined
subject matter of the query. In further detailed embodiment, the
analyzing step combines at least two methods of deriving the
subject matter from the search query; and the method further
includes the step of searching the information source(s) in the
sub-set of information sources, substantially in parallel, for
documents relevant to the search query. A system and method is also
provided for searching a plurality of searchable information
sources, where the information sources include at least one secure
source. This method includes the steps of: (a) storing security
credentials necessary for accessing the secure source; (b)
accessing the secure source utilizing the stored security
credentials; (c) accessing a non-secure source; (d) searching the
accessed sources, substantially in parallel, for documents relevant
to a search query; and (e) displaying results of the searching
step.
Inventors: |
Kadayam; Sundar;
(Cincinnati, OH) ; Bishop; Gregory J.;
(Cincinnati, OH) ; Miller; William A.;
(Cincinnati, OH) ; Vora; Viral; (Cincinnati,
OH) |
Correspondence
Address: |
HAYNES BEFFEL & WOLFELD LLP
P O BOX 366
HALF MOON BAY
CA
94019
US
|
Assignee: |
INXIGHT SOFTWARE, INC.
500 Macara Avenue
Sunnyvale
CA
|
Family ID: |
29406637 |
Appl. No.: |
11/419442 |
Filed: |
May 19, 2006 |
Related U.S. Patent Documents
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Application
Number |
Filing Date |
Patent Number |
|
|
10378554 |
Mar 3, 2003 |
|
|
|
11419442 |
May 19, 2006 |
|
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60360754 |
Mar 1, 2002 |
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Current U.S.
Class: |
1/1 ;
707/999.005; 707/E17.108 |
Current CPC
Class: |
Y10S 707/99934 20130101;
G06F 16/951 20190101; Y10S 707/99933 20130101 |
Class at
Publication: |
707/005 |
International
Class: |
G06F 17/30 20060101
G06F017/30 |
Claims
1. A computer implemented method for generating a searchable source
broker for defining patterns of search-result information specific
to a searchable source, the method comprising the steps of:
accessing a given searchable source; performing an example search
on the given searchable source to produce search results by that
searchable source; identifying regular expressions from the search
results.
2. The computer implemented method of claim 1, further comprising
the step of storing the regular expressions for the given
searchable source for subsequent re-use by a federated search
system.
3. The computer implemented method of claim 1, wherein: the step of
identifying regular expressions is performed substantially
automatically; the method further comprises the step of reviewing,
by a user, output of applying the regular expressions to search
results produced by the given searchable source; and the method
further comprises the step of approving by the user the regular
expressions based upon the reviewing step.
4. The computer implemented method of claim 3, wherein the method
further includes a step of modifying the regular expressions by the
user before the approving step, if the user determines the
modifying step is necessary based upon the reviewing step.
5. The computer implemented method of claim 3, wherein the
reviewing step involves the step of simultaneously displaying to
the user search results produced by the given search and the output
of applying the regular expressions to the search results.
6. The computer implemented method of claim 1, wherein the step of
identifying regular expressions includes the steps of: distilling a
structure of the search results; parsing the search results to
distill a structure of the search results; identifying repeating
blocks of information from the parsed search results; identifying
essential search-result elements from the repeating blocks of
information; and generating a regular expression for each
identified essential search-result elements and a regular
expression for the repeating block.
7. The computer implemented method of claim 6, wherein the
essential search-result elements include at least one element taken
from a group consisting of: a title; a URL; a date; a key-word; a
summary; a passage; and a score.
8. The computer implemented method of claim 2, wherein the
accessing step includes the steps of: providing a log-in form, for
the searchable source; logging into the searchable source by
entering the appropriate log-in information to the log-in form by
the user; recording security credential information provided by the
user during the logging step; and storing the security credential
information with the searchable source broker for re-use by the
searchable source broker in the federated search system.
Description
CROSS REFERENCE TO RELATED APPLICATIONS
[0001] The present application is a division of U.S. patent
application Ser. No. 10/738,554, filed 3 Mar. 2003, entitled SYSTEM
AND METHOD FOR RETRIEVING AND ORGANIZING INFORMATION FROM DISPARATE
COMPUTER NETWORK INFORMATION SOURCES; which claims the benefit from
U.S. Provisional Patent Application Ser. No. 60/360,754, filed Mar.
1, 2002 entitled SYSTEM AND METHOD FOR RETRIEVING AND ORGANIZING
INFORMATION FROM DISPARATE COMPUTER NETWORK INFORMATION SOURCES;
the contents of which are incorporated herein by reference.
BACKGROUND
[0002] The present invention is a computerized system and method
for searching through and retrieving information from a plurality
of information sources; and more particularly, the present
invention is an enterprise-scale system and method for searching
for and retrieving information from a plurality of disparate
electronic information sources within a large computer network
and/or from the Internet.
[0003] A federated search system, by its very definition,
distributes search queries in real-time to the information sources
selected for querying. In a very large scale federated search
system, one that involves hundreds or even thousands of information
sources, the method of real-time querying of large numbers of
information sources becomes impractical. It is desired to bring
some intelligence to the search process that would permit an
appropriate subset of the information sources to be selected for
querying rather than all the available sources.
[0004] Secure information sources within a federated search system
also pose a unique set of challenges. At a fundamental level, the
federated search system should be able to proxy the user
credentials to a secure information source (i.e., make it appear to
the secure information source that the user was natively
interacting with it). This is complicated, however, by the
following circumstances: multiple secure information sources could
be in the searching mix at the same time; each secure information
source could require different methods for handling security (this
can include LDAP, HTTP-basic authentication, HTTPS, cookie-based
authentication using custom forms, proprietary single-sign-ons,
etc.); and the system should transparently handle the security
log-ins, parameters and protocols for multiple users, possibly
accessing multiple secure information sources at the same time.
[0005] Finally, in a large federated search system, a reasonable
effort could involve manually creating brokers (sometimes referred
to as "wrappers") to define and interface between the system and
the respective multiple searchable information sources accessed by
the system. It is desired to reduce user interaction needed to
create and maintain the brokers by providing an automated, or
semi-automated broker generation capability.
SUMMARY
[0006] The present invention provides an enterprise-scale system
and method for searching and retrieving electronic information from
disparate electronic information sources within a large
organization (an intranet) and/or from the Internet. At the heart
of the system is a "federated search" architecture and system that
enables a single search query from a user to be delivered in
real-time to various selected islands of information. Depending
upon the embodiment, the system can collate results, removes
duplicates and dead-links, apply composite relevance scoring, and
deliver the relevant results to the user.
[0007] In an exemplary embodiment, each island of information is a
searchable source that is represented in the system by a "broker",
which defines how the system accesses the respective information
source and how the system handles the interface between the system
and the information source. Further, in the exemplary embodiment, a
broker-definition tool referred to as the "agent development kit"
(ADK) is used to create the brokers in a semi-automated fashion
(and, possibly, a completely automated fashion) and deploy them to
the live, operational system.
[0008] The exemplary embodiment of the system and method of the
present invention also provides a technique, referred to as
"adaptive search", which intelligently selects subsets of
information sources (from a body of available information sources)
to route search queries to in the large federated search scenario.
The selection of sources is based upon an analysis of the subject
matter of the query. The search in this selected subset of
information sources can occur automatically, or the user can be
provided the option to have the search run in this subset of
information sources (when the general search results are displayed,
for example).
[0009] This adaptive search function is facilitated, in the
exemplary embodiment, by the use of a knowledge-base (also referred
to as a "subject taxonomy"), which is a hierarchical arrangements
of subjects, where each subject is represented by a "fingerprint"
of information that will typically be found in documents specific
to such subjects. These fingerprints can be generated from example
documents provided for each of the subjects in the taxonomy.
Subjects in the subject taxonomy can also be linked to entity
lists, which provide a list of names, symbols or other terms
typically associated with a respective subject. By comparing the
search query against the subject taxonomy and/or the entity lists,
the subject matter of the search query can be determined within a
desired level of confidence.
[0010] The exemplary embodiment of the present invention also
utilizes a comprehensive, multi-user, multi-source, multi-modal
security handling architecture to allow users to query open sources
(non-secure sources) as well as secure sources simultaneously in a
substantially transparent fashion. Additionally, the exemplary
embodiment of the present invention provides a methodology to
incorporate the security handling protocols and parameters into the
definitions of the brokers, again, in a semi-automated fashion.
[0011] Therefore, it is a first aspect of the present invention to
provide A computer implemented method for accessing information
from a plurality of searchable information sources. The method
includes the steps of: (a) analyzing a user search query to
determine a subject matter of the query; and (b) selecting a
sub-set of information from the plurality of information sources
based upon the determined subject matter of the query. In a
detailed embodiment, the analyzing step combines at least two
different methods of deriving a subject matter from the search
query. In a further detailed embodiment, the method further
includes the step of (c) searching at least one information source
in the sub-set of information sources for documents relevant to the
search query. In another alternate detailed embodiment, one
deriving method of the analyzing step includes the step of
comparing at least a portion of the search query against a
plurality of entity lists, where each entity list includes a list
of phrases, and where each of the phrases corresponds with one or
more subject matters; and the comparing step includes the step of
matching the phrase in an entity list against at least a portion of
the search query, and upon such match, returning a subject matter
corresponding to the matched phrase in the entity list.
[0012] In yet another alternate embodiment of the first aspect of
the present invention, one deriving method of the analyzing step
includes the step of comparing the search query against a knowledge
base, where the knowledge base includes a taxonomy of subject
matters and a set of terms for at least some of the respective
subject matters in the taxonomy, where the set of terms represent
information likely to be found for the respective subject matters;
and the comparing step compares at least portions of the search
query against the set of terms in the knowledge base to determine
the respective subject matters of the matching terms. In a further
detailed embodiment, the method further includes the step of
building the knowledge base, where the building step includes the
steps of: (i) defining a taxonomy of subject matters; (ii) for at
least some of the subject matters in the taxonomy, providing at
least one example document that represents content typically found
for the respective subject matter; (iii) generating a set of terms
from the example document; and (iv) linking the set of terms to the
respective subject matter. In yet a further detailed embodiment,
the taxonomy is structured as a multi-tier hierarchy. In an
alternate detailed embodiment, the step of comparing the search
query against the knowledge-base further includes a step of
assigning a score to the determined subject matter based upon a
confidence level of the comparison. In yet a further detailed
embodiment, the step of determining a subject matter of the query
further includes the steps of displaying one or more of the subject
matters having a score greater than a predetermined threshold and
selecting, by a user, at least one of the displayed subject
matters. In yet another alternate detailed embodiment, the
analyzing step determines a plurality of the subject matters, and
the method further includes a step of organizing the determined
plurality of subject matters according, at least in part, to the
scores assigned to the plurality of subject matters.
[0013] In yet another alternate detailed embodiment of the first
aspect of the present invention, the steps of selecting a sub-set
of information sources includes the steps of (i) providing a
category-to-source map that includes a plurality of categories,
where the categories have at least one information source linked
thereto, (ii) obtaining at least one category pertaining to the
subject matter of the query, and (iii) adding the information
source linked to the category in the category-to-source map to the
sub-set of information sources. In a further detailed embodiment,
each information source is assigned a performance score pertaining
to at least one performance quality of the information source. In
yet a further detailed embodiment, the method further includes the
steps of searching at least one information source in the sub-set
of information sources for document(s) relevant to the search query
and displaying the search results from the output of the searching
step, where the displaying step displays the search results in an
order based upon, at least in part, the performance scores of the
information sources from which the search results are obtained. In
an alternate detailed embodiment, the performance quality is based
upon the frequency that the respective information source is
accessed, the amount of time spent accessing the respective
information source, the frequency of problems accessing the
respective information source, and/or feedback provided by users of
the respective information source. In yet a further alternate
detailed embodiment, the method further includes the step of
eliminating from the sub-set of information sources any information
source having a performance score lower than a predetermined
threshold.
[0014] In a alternate detailed embodiment of the first aspect of
the present information, the method further includes the steps of
(c) assigning each information source in the sub-set of information
sources a performance score pertaining to performance qualities of
the information source; (d) searching the information sources in
the sub-set of information sources for documents relevant to the
search query; and (e) displaying search results from the output of
the searching step, where the search results are ordered based
upon, at least in part, the performance scores of the information
sources from which the search results are obtained. In a further
detailed embodiment, the performance scores are calculated based,
at least in part, upon the number of times the respective
information source is accessed by a community of users.
[0015] In yet another alternate detailed embodiment of the first
aspect of the present invention, the method further includes the
steps of (c) searching the information sources in the sub-set of
information sources for document relevant to the search query; and
(d) displaying the search results from the output of the searching
step, where the search results are segregated for each of the
information sources in the sub-set of information sources. In a
further detailed embodiment, the searching step searches the
information sources in the sub-set of information sources
substantially in parallel and the displaying step displays the
segregated searches in parallel.
[0016] In yet a further detailed embodiment of the first aspect of
the present invention, the method further includes the steps of:
(c) searching a standard information source (such as the World Wide
Web) for documents relevant to the search query; and (d) displaying
the results of the step of searching the standard information
source along with an option, selectable by the user, for searching
the sub-set of information sources for documents relevant to the
search query upon selection of the option by the user. As mentioned
above, this standard information source could be the World Wide Web
and further, the sub-set of information sources may be maintained,
for example, on a private computer network. In a further detailed
embodiment, the analyzing step determines a plurality of subject
matters from the query, the selecting step selects a sub-set of
information sources for each of the plurality of the subject
matters determined in the analyzing step, the displaying step
displays the plurality of options for each subject matter
determined in the analyzing step, where each option is identified
by its respective subject matter in the displaying step and where
each option is provided for searching the sub-set of information
sources associated therewith for documents relevant to the search
query upon selection of the option by the user.
[0017] In yet a further detailed embodiment of the first aspect of
the present invention, the method further includes the steps of (c)
searching a standard information source for documents relevant to
the search query, (d) searching the sub-set of information sources
for documents relevant to the search query, and (e) simultaneously
displaying the results of the step of searching the standard
information source and the step of searching the sub-set of
information sources. In a further detailed embodiment, the
displaying step segregates the results of the step of searching the
standard information source from the step of searching the sub-set
of information sources.
[0018] In yet a further detailed embodiment of the first aspect of
the present invention, the analyzing step determines a plurality of
subject matters from the query, and the selecting step selects a
sub-set of information sources for each of the plurality of subject
matters determined in the analyzing step. In a further detailed
embodiment, the method further includes the step of automatically
searching the sub-set of information sources associated with the
subject matter having the closest match to the search query for
documents relevant to the search query.
[0019] It is the second aspect of the present invention to provide
a computer-implemented method for searching a plurality of
information sources, where the information sources include at least
one secure source. This method includes the steps of: (a) storing
security credentials necessary for accessing the secure source; (b)
accessing the secure source utilizing the stored security
credentials; (c) accessing a non-secure source; (d) searching the
accessed sources, substantially in parallel, for documents relevant
to a search query; and (e) displaying results of the searching
step. In a further detailed embodiment, the plurality of
information sources includes a plurality of secure sources, the
step of storing security credentials includes the step of storing
respective security credentials necessary for accessing each secure
source, and the step of accessing the secure source involves the
step of accessing the plurality of secure sources, substantially in
parallel, using the respective stored security credentials. In yet
a further detailed embodiment, the method operates on a computer
network system having a plurality of users and the step of storing
security credentials includes the step of storing respective
security credentials for accessing each secure server by each user
of the computer network system. In an alternate detailed
embodiment, the security credentials are stored in a database that
includes a table for each user, where each table includes a set of
respective security credentials for accessing each secure source by
each respective user. It is within the scope of the invention that
at least certain of the security credentials may be shared by
certain users (or groups of users) during the accessing and/or
searching steps.
[0020] In an alternate detailed embodiment of the second aspect of
the present invention, the step of storing security credentials
includes the steps of recording a user's security credentials as
the user preliminarily enters the secure source and storing the
recorded user's security credentials for the step of accessing the
secure server. In yet a further detailed embodiment, the stored
user's security credentials are reusable for multiple steps of
accessing the secured server. In an alternate detailed embodiment,
the security credentials are used substantially transparently to
the user during the step of accessing the secure server. In yet
another alternate detailed embodiment, the step of accessing the
secure source further includes the step of storing session cookies
set by the source for the duration of the search process.
[0021] It is a third aspect of the present invention to provide a
computer-implemented method for searching a plurality of searchable
information sources by a plurality of users to a computer network
system, where the information sources include at least one secure
source. The method includes the steps of: (a) for each user,
storing security credentials necessary for accessing the secure
source; (b) accessing, by each user, the secure source utilizing
the stored security credentials for each user; and (c) searching
the accessed secure source, by the plurality of users,
substantially in parallel, for documents relevant to one or more
search queries. In a further detailed embodiment, the method
further includes the step of (d) creating a session record for each
user accessing the secure source. In a further detailed embodiment,
the session record includes cookies, session parameters, session
IDs, and/or a session state. In yet a further detailed embodiment,
the information sources include a plurality of secure sources, the
storing step includes the step of storing, for each user, security
credentials necessary for accessing one or more of the plurality of
the secure sources, the accessing step includes the step of
accessing, by each user, one or more of the plurality of secure
sources utilizing the stored security credentials for each user,
and the searching step includes the step of searching the accessed
secure sources, by the plurality of users, for documents relevant
to one or more search queries. In yet a further detailed
embodiment, a session record is created each time a user accesses a
secure source.
[0022] In an alternate detailed embodiment of the third aspect of
the present invention, the information sources include a plurality
of secure sources, the storing step includes the step of storing,
for each user, security credentials necessary for accessing one or
more of the plurality of secure sources, the accessing step
includes the step of accessing, by each user, one or more of the
plurality of secure sources utilizing the stored security
credentials for each user, and the searching step includes the step
of searching the accessed secured sources, by the plurality of
users, for documents relevant to one or more search queries.
[0023] It is a fourth aspect of the present invention to provide a
computer implemented method for generating searchable source
brokers for defining interface parameters specific to each of the
searchable sources. The method includes the steps of: (a) accessing
a given searchable source; (b) performing an example search on the
given searchable source to produce search results by that
searchable source; and (c) identifying regular expressions from the
search results. In a further detailed embodiment, the method
further includes the step of storing the regular expressions for
the given searchable source for subsequent reuse by a federated
search system. In a further detailed embodiment, the step of
identifying regular expressions is performed substantially
automatically, the method further includes the step of reviewing,
by a user, output of applying the regular expressions to search
results produced by the given searchable source, and the method
further includes the step of approving by the user the regular
expressions based upon the reviewing step. In a further detailed
embodiment, the method further includes a step of modifying the
regular expressions by the user before the approving step, if the
user determines the modifying step is necessary based upon the
reviewing step. In an alternative detailed embodiment, the
reviewing step involves the step of simultaneously displaying to
the user the search results produced by the given search and the
output of applying the regular expressions to the search
results.
[0024] In an alternate detailed embodiment of the fourth aspect of
the present invention, the step of identifying regular expressions
includes the steps of: (i) parsing the search results to distill a
structure of the search results; (ii) identifying repeating blocks
of information from the parsed search results; (iii) identifying
essential search-result elements from the repeating blocks of
information; and (iv) generating a regular expression for each
identified essential search-result element and a regular expression
for the repeating block. In a further detailed embodiment, the
essential search-result elements include a title, a URL, a date, a
keywords, a summary, a passage, and/or a score.
[0025] It is a fifth aspect of the present invention to provide a
computer implemented method for accessing information from a
plurality of searchable information sources. The method includes
the steps of: analyzing a user's search query to determine a
subject matter of the query; selecting a subset of information
sources from the plurality of information sources based upon the
determined subject matter of the query, wherein at least one of the
subset of information sources is a secure information source;
accessing the secure information source utilizing stored security
credentials for the information source; and searching the
information sources in the subset of information sources for
documents relevant to the search query. In a more detailed
embodiment the searching step involves the step of searching the
information sources in the subset of information sources,
substantially in parallel, for documents relevant to the query. In
an alternate detailed embodiment, the step of accessing the secure
information source utilizes the stored security credentials
substantially automatically and substantially transparently to the
user.
[0026] In another alternate detailed embodiment of the fifth aspect
of the present invention the step of searching the information
sources in the subset of information sources utilizes source
brokers for each of the information sources in the subset of
information sources, where the source brokers define patterns of
search-result information specific to their respective information
source. In a further detailed embodiment, the source broker for the
secure information source includes the stored security credentials
utilized in the accessing step. In an alternate detailed
embodiment, method further includes the step of defining the source
broker for each of the information sources in the subset of
information sources. In a further detailed embodiment, the defining
step includes the steps of: preliminarily accessing the respective
information source; preliminarily performing an example search on
the respective information source to produce example search
results; identifying regular expressions from the example search
results; and storing the regular expressions as at least part of
the source broker. In a further detailed embodiment, the defining
step further includes the steps of detecting whether the respective
information source is a secure information source, and if the
detecting step determines that the respective information source is
a secure information source, performing the additional steps of:
providing a log-in form for the secure information source; logging
into the secure information source by entering the appropriate
log-in information to the log-in form by the user; recording
security credential information provided by the user during the
logging step; and storing the security credential information with
the respective source broker.
BRIEF DESCRIPTION OF THE DRAWINGS
[0027] FIG. 1 is a general block diagram of the system architecture
of the exemplary embodiment of the present invention;
[0028] FIG. 2 is an example screen-shot illustrating the universal
search interface of the exemplary embodiment;
[0029] FIG. 3 is an example screen-shot of the exemplary embodiment
illustrating intelligent source selection capabilities combined
with general search results;
[0030] FIG. 4 is an example screen shot of the exemplary embodiment
illustrating intelligent query routing to subsets of information
sources with general search results;
[0031] FIG. 5 is an illustration of a source taxonomy, an
organization of searchable information sources in XML format, of
the exemplary embodiment;
[0032] FIG. 6 is an illustration of a structure of mapping subjects
to information sources, maintained in an XML file, of the exemplary
embodiment;
[0033] FIG. 7 is a block diagram representation of the interplay
between the intelligent source selection, federated search and
adaptive learner functions of the exemplary embodiment;
[0034] FIG. 8 is an illustration of example entity lists according
to the exemplary embodiment;
[0035] FIG. 9 is an illustration of a structure of mapping entity
lists to information sources, maintained in an XML file, of the
exemplary embodiment;
[0036] FIG. 10 is an illustration of a subject taxonomy and example
documents linked to the subjects in the subject taxonomy, according
to the exemplary embodiment;
[0037] FIG. 11 is an illustration of the information performance
source ranking structure according to the exemplary embodiment;
[0038] FIG. 12 is an example output representation of a broker
definition generated by the broker-definition tool according to the
exemplary embodiment;
[0039] FIG. 13 a block diagram representation of the multi-user,
multi-source, multi-modal secure information source architecture
according to the exemplary embodiment;
[0040] FIG. 14 is an illustration of a session-details database
utilized by the exemplary embodiment for secure information source
handling;
[0041] FIG. 15 is an example screen shot of the exemplary
embodiment illustrating an initial stage of the broker-definition
tool;
[0042] FIG. 16 is an example screen shot of the exemplary
embodiment illustrating an extraction testing stage of the
broker-definition tool,
[0043] FIG. 17 is an example screen shot of the exemplary
embodiment illustrating a query definition stage of the
broker-definition tool;
[0044] FIG. 18 is an example screen shot of the exemplary
embodiment illustrating another testing stage of the
broker-definition tool; and
[0045] FIG. 19 is an example screen shot of the exemplary
embodiment illustrating secure source handling stage of the
broker-definition tool.
DETAILED DESCRIPTION
[0046] The present invention provides an enterprise-scale system
and method for searching and retrieving electronic information from
disparate electronic information sources within a large
organization (an intranet) and/or from the Internet. At the heart
of the system is a "federated search" architecture and system that
enables a single search query from a user to be delivered
(preferably, in real-time) to various searchable information
sources.
[0047] As used herein, "information source", "source" and
"searchable information source" pertain to searchable information
sources accessible over a data network such as, for example, the
World Wide Web or a proprietary computer network. The searchable
information sources will typically be search engines, or may
include search engines or search capabilities associated therewith
that provides the ability for a user to search the searchable
information source for desired information. It is not necessary,
however, for the searchable information source to have its own
search capabilities embedded therein or associated therewith, as
such search capabilities can be provided elsewhere. Examples of
such searchable information sources accessible over the World Wide
Web include, MSN.com, LYCOS.com, TEOMA.com, Intellihealth.com,
WebMD.com, WSJ.com, etc. Likewise, "secure information source",
"secure source" and "secure searchable information source" pertain
to such searchable information sources that require certain
security credentials (such as passwords, for example) to access
and/or perform searches therein/therewith.
[0048] As used herein, "search query" and "query" pertain to an
expression of the information that a user or system wishes or
requests to search for in one or more searchable information
sources. While the expression will typically be in the form of a
term or phrase typed into a field of an electronic form by the
user, it is within the scope of the invention that the expression
be automatically generated and presented to the searchable
information source(s) and it is within the scope of the invention
that the expression be pre-stored and presented to the searchable
information source(s).
[0049] As used herein, "document" means an electronic body or
collection of information or data that the user or system will
typically be provided access to by the searchable information
source(s) in the search result(s) provided by the searchable
information source(s) (although some searchable information sources
only identify the documents, without providing access). This is
typically the body or collection of information or data that the
user/system is ultimately seeking in the searching process.
[0050] As used herein, the act of "searching" an information source
or within an information source, and the act of "searching by" an
information source pertains to the act of applying the search query
to one or more of the searchable information sources to produce
search results, which may or may not provide the user/system access
to documents; but which will usually provide at least the identity
of document(s) if the search is successful. It is to be understood
that the present invention is not limited to any specific searching
algorithm or technique.
[0051] As used herein, the act of "comparing" or "matching" a
search query (or any other expression of information/data) against
another expression of information/data pertains to the use of any
available techniques and/or algorithms to perform a lexical
comparison of the expression (or a portion of the expression)
against terms, phrases or other expressions of information or data
in the other entity. The results of this comparison often do not
necessitate exact matches to be considered "successful"; and, thus,
often include confidence scores with the results that indicate the
relative confidence or closeness of the comparison. While the
exemplary embodiments herein often refer to lexical comparisons, it
is within the scope of the invention that alternate
techniques/algorithms be used when the comparison is not a
language-based comparison.
[0052] FIG. 1 provides a functional flow diagram representation of
the federated search system deployed according to an exemplary
embodiment of the present invention. The searching function 10
provides a configurable, hierarchically organized group of
information sources, described below, to users to fulfill different
information needs and requests from the multiple groups of users. A
simple search involves taking search query terms from the user to
conduct the search. An advanced search enables users to select
multiple groups of sources, or multiple sources within a group, and
to control many settings, including the depth of the search,
analysis options, and time-outs. Personalized searching preferences
are stored for each user by the system. Searches initiated in the
system are conducted in real-time, and results are displayed in
configurable web page format or in XML format.
[0053] In the intelligent source selection function 12, a user's
search query is analyzed to determine the subject matter
corresponding to the user's query. Upon identifying this subject
matter of the search query, a sub-set of information sources can be
isolated from the vast body of information sources to perform the
search. For example, a search for "pancreatic cancer treatment
protocol" can be determined by the system to be broadly based on
the subject-heading of "health", and more specifically, on the
specific subjects of "diseases and conditions", and "endocrinal
disorders". The sub-set of information sources is selected by
consulting an information source hierarchy, or subject-to-source
map, to find the best sources for the identified subject matters.
These best performing sources can automatically be given preference
for searching in real-time in addition to user-selected information
sources, or these best sources can be offered as recommendations to
the user for performing further related searches.
[0054] The federated searching function 14 implements the actual
real-time, distributed searching mechanism. This function receives
as inputs the search query parameters and other optional advance
settings, and accesses one or more groups of information sources to
perform the federated searching in all or certain subsets of the
information sources. Information sources from which the real-time
federated searching may be conducted include visible Web sources 16
accessible over the Internet, invisible Web sources 18 accessible
over the Internet, enterprise sources 20 (private information
sources accessible by the system over the system's intranet, for
example), and subscription sources 22, which may be accessible over
the Internet or through separate network connections. Each
information source in the sub-set of selected information sources
is searched by the system in real-time, with user credentials being
transparently proxied, if necessary, to each secure source 22.
Multi-processing and multi-threading mechanisms are implemented for
scalability to large numbers of concurrently searched sources as
well as large numbers of concurrent users searching with the
system. This federated searching function 14 translates a user's
search query into the native forms required for each information
source, communicates with each information source using native
protocols and methods, navigates through one or more search result
sets from each source, extracts search result records including
uniquely defined fields of information for each of the records from
each source, normalizes the results, removes duplicates, and
performs composite relevance ranking based upon specified,
configurable relevance ranking criteria. An XML result stream is
produced that can be operated upon by other components in the
system.
[0055] The analysis/filtering function 24 is optionally triggered
by the user to perform real-time retrieval and analysis of the
full-text contents (documents) for each result from the composite
result set delivered from the federated searching function 14. Each
"document" is retrieved from the corresponding information source
in the essential text content along with relevant meta-data is
extracted from it. This function 24, in essence, "converts" content
from different document formats like Adobe PDF, Microsoft Word,
etc. to native text. The text and meta-data content corresponding
to each result record is then passed through a real-time filtering
component that takes one or more search queries representing the
user's input and then determines the strength of match of the
result to the user's need. In this analysis/filtering function 24,
the passages (sentences or paragraphs) from the documents matching
the user's query are extracted and ranked to determine the strength
of the match and to compute a native "analysis score" which is used
for relevance ranking purposes. Next, a dynamic summary is composed
from the extracted passages for each matching document. Each result
record is then enhanced with additional meta-data including an
"analysis score", an updated relevance score, a dynamic summary
snippet, as well as additional information when the result document
doesn't match the user's query.
[0056] The categorization function 26 categorizes the results from
the federated searching (and, optionally, the analysis/filtering
function 24) into a configured subject taxonomy. An administrator
first creates a taxonomy of subjects representing a given
information domain, provides example documents for each subject,
and runs an administrative tool to train the taxonomy and create a
model that is used for the real-time categorization of the search
result documents. During searching, the categorization process
involves deriving a "fingerprint" (important terms representative
of a respective content of the record, which can be phrases or
individual words) from each result record and matching it with the
taxonomy model configured for use in the system. The best matching
subject is determined for each result record, and is tagged as
additional meta-data in the result record. In the presentation
function 28, the results from the previous steps of searching 10,
analysis/filtering 24, and categorization 26 are received in XML. A
standards-based template mechanism allows the results to be
displayed rapidly in any desired format. Information can be
organized into multiple views such as "by relevance," "by source",
and "by concept." The relevance view orders the results at
decreasing order based upon the "relevance score". The source view
provides a graphical tree-view of the results organized by the
sources from which they came from. And the concept view provides a
graphical, tree-view of the results, organized into the matching
taxonomy of subjects from the categorization process 26.
[0057] The tracking/alerts function 30 is an optional function that
may be set up to run periodic searches for a given search query or
set of search queries automatically and to alert the user when a
desired set of results are obtained from the periodic searches, or
when any results are obtained.
[0058] Referring to FIG. 2, an example screen display 32 of initial
searching screen provides a field 34 into which a searcher can
enter a search query. If the user enters the search query in this
field, the exemplary embodiment will perform an automatic search as
described in further detail below. Optionally, prior to entering a
search query, the user can select specific subjects from the source
taxonomy 36 (provided in this exemplary embodiment in the form of
hyperlinks) to allow the search to be performed within narrow
sub-sets of information sources specific to the subject matter of
interest. The taxonomy 36 in the exemplary embodiment includes an
upper level of subjects 38 that generally define a subject matter
and a second tier of more specific subject matters 40. As will be
discussed in further detail below, upon selecting an identified
subject (hyperlink) in the source taxonomy 36 displayed in the
window 32, the system will then perform the searching in the
specific sub-set of sources represented by the subject
heading/subject 38/40 selected by the user.
[0059] As shown in FIG. 3, an example screen shot 42 is provided
that illustrates the results of performing a general search of the
exemplary embodiment using the search query of "cjd". In the
exemplary embodiment, if no specific subject headings 38 or
subjects 40 are selected from the subject taxonomy 36, then the
exemplary embodiment will perform the search set forth in the
search query from a federated group of Web search engines (such as
"MSN", "LYCOS", "TEOMA", etc.) and display the results of the
search on the screen in order based upon relevance of the documents
from the search results in comparison to the subject of the search
query. Additionally, the exemplary embodiment also analyzes the
search query to determine a subject matter (or subject matters) of
the query and provides links to the subsets of information sources
44 (in the form of hyperlinks) associated with the subject
matter(s) determined from the search query above the general search
results. If the user selects the identified subsets of information
sources 44, the system will perform the same search in the sub-set
of information sources. Exemplary methods for identifying the
subject matters from the search query 34 are discussed in further
detail below. In the example shown in FIG. 3, the search query
"cjd" was identified by the system as being related to the specific
subject matters, "Health tips", "Health news" and "Health
discussions". The system was able to make this recommendation based
upon analyzing the query and identifying that the closest subject
heading that it corresponded to was health; hence, the
recommendation from the system that this search be conducted within
"health-related" sources.
[0060] As shown in FIG. 4, when a general search is requested, the
exemplary embodiment may also be configured to automatically
perform the search within a sub-set of information sources
corresponding to a subject matter matching the search query. The
display 46 shown in FIG. 4 illustrates that the specific search for
the search query "cjd" was automatically conducted within the
sub-set of information sources associated with the "Health Tips"
subject matter. The search results resulting from this specific
search may come from information sources such as "American Medical
Association", "Intellihealth", and "WebMD", etc. for the best
results on the subject.
[0061] FIG. 5 illustrates the exemplary structure of the source
taxonomy 36, and FIG. 6 illustrates the exemplary subject-to-source
map 42 (also referred to, herein, as a category-to-source map). As
discussed above, the subject-to-source map 42 is used to identify
one or more information sources corresponding to identified subject
matters of the search query, to allow for more focused searching of
the subject matter in these sources. The subject-to-source map 42,
in the exemplary embodiment, is arranged as a hierarchy that
includes an upper level of subject headings 38 (such as "health"),
and for each subject heading 38 there are one or more information
source subsets 41 such as "health news", "health publications",
"health tips", and "alternative medicine" linked thereto. Finally,
for information source subset 41, there are linked to it one ore
more information sources 48. For example, the specific subject
"health tips" will have linked to it information sources such as
"American Medical Association", "Intellihealth.com", "WebMD.com",
etc.
[0062] FIG. 6 more specifically illustrates how a subject in the
ontology is mapped to a group of sources or to a single source by
an administrator in the exemplary embodiment. Health as a general
subject 38 may be mapped to a group of searchable sources 40 called
"health tips". The more narrow subjects under the general subject
"health", such as "cancer", may be mapped to specialized sources
providing information on cancer treatment, cancer trials, etc. The
ability to map the subject headers and specific subjects to
information source(s) is completely flexible and can be tuned to
the needs of the specific search scenario in which the system will
be used.
[0063] Referring to FIG. 7, as discussed above, the intelligent
source selection function 12 utilizes a query analysis algorithm to
determine a subject matter or subject matters of the search query,
where such identified subject matters are used to help the user
identify specific sub-sets of information sources to perform more
focused searches. Generally, the query analysis algorithm uses a
combination of deterministic look-ups within a group of provided
entities lists 50 along with fuzzy look-ups ("auto-categorization")
within a knowledge-base 54 to determine within a certain degree of
confidence the subject matter of the query. Then, based upon the
determined subject matter(s), subsets of information sources can be
provided for these subject matter(s) using the subject-to-source
map 42.
[0064] Examples of entity lists 50 can be found in FIG. 8. For
example, an entity list can include a list of ticker symbols or an
entity list can include a list of company names. Other
representative entity lists could be, for example, health
conditions, places, sports, etc. Generally, an entity list 50 is a
list of words, names, or other terms that collectively fall under a
general subject heading 38 or fall under a specific subject 40. As
will be discussed in further detail below, the more general entity
lists are referred in the exemplary embodiment as "fall through"
lists (having a lower confidence level) and the more specific
entity lists are referred to as non-fall through lists (having a
higher confidence level).
[0065] FIG. 9 provides an example entity list-to-source mapping 52
which maps certain entity lists directly to specific subject
matters. For example, the mapping shown in FIG. 9 includes the
entity list "places" mapped to the specific subject matters "maps",
"travel guides", "almanacs", and "encyclopedias". Additionally, the
entity list "ticker symbols" is mapped to the subjects "financial
discussions", "financial tips", "company profiles", "SEC filings",
and "mutual funds".
[0066] Referring again to FIG. 7, as mentioned above, the fuzzy
look-up step involves a "digital fingerprint" match of terms in the
search query with "digital fingerprint" of topics in a subject
knowledge-base 54. This methodology is referred to as
"auto-categorization", emanating from the problem of trying to
"automatically" find the "category" in a taxonomy that a stream of
input text corresponds to. An example of the knowledge-base is
shown in FIG. 10. The left pane 56 in the display illustrates a
subject hierarchy labeled the "Whole Web Subject Taxonomy". The
first level 58 in the hierarchy are the general subject headings
such as "Health", the next level 60 in the hierarchy includes more
specific subject headings such as "Alternative", "Child Health",
and "Conditions and Diseases" and the most specific level 62 in the
hierarchy includes very specific subject matters such as "Cancer",
"Cardio-Vascular Disorders", "Communication Disorders", "Digestive
Disorders", etc., which are specific subjects of the "Conditions
and Diseases" subject heading in the second tier 60. The right pane
64 of the display provides a list of example documents 65
identified by the administrator as being relevant to the selected
subject, "Digestive Disorders", in the specific level 62 of the
subject hierarchy 56.
[0067] Therefore, once the taxonomy of subjects 56 is created and
example documents 65 are provided to represent content typically
found for each subject, the system will then learn from these
example documents to create the knowledge-base 54 of subject matter
representing the ontology. In the general sense, the knowledge-base
includes a list of words, phrases or other terms "learned" from the
example documents provided for each subject. Generally, the
methodology for "learning" from a taxonomy of subjects and example
documents for each subject, is based upon creating topic or subject
specific "digital fingerprints" using the familiar vector-space
model for analyzing and representing a body of unstructured texts.
The "digital fingerprints" for topics are, in essence, weighted
vectors of terms (words and phrases) that best represent
information most likely to be found in those specific topics. This
"digital fingerprint" information is then stored in the "subject
knowledge-base" for enabling the query analysis.
[0068] More specifically, in the vector-space algorithm, a
vector-space model is trained off-line by parsing the collection of
example documents for each subject to generate a representative
vector of terms and frequencies for that subject. In the
implementation of the exemplary embodiment, the terms identified
can be individual words or phrases (phrases are determined via a
measure known as mutual information). Typically, the subject matter
vectors are normalized in some fashion, to account for variation in
the size and number of training documents. In addition, a
uniqueness score is calculated for each term associated with a
given subject. This uniqueness score is often referred to as "IDF"
for "inverse document frequency" since one over the number of
documents that a term appears in is one way to measure uniqueness.
In the present exemplary embodiment, the uniqueness score is one
over the total of all normalized category vector weights for that
term. To classify texts, a vector-space classifier parses the text
to be classified to generate the vector of terms in frequencies.
This vector is compared with the vectors computed off-line for each
subject matter, taking into account the uniqueness of each term. In
the implementation of the exemplary embodiment, for each subject
matter that has a non-zero normalized weight for all terms in the
text vector, and for each term in the text, the term frequency from
the text is multiplied with the normalized weight for the subject
matter, then that value is multiplied by the uniqueness score for
the term exponentiated by a configurable constant. These values are
summed to give a score for each subject matter. The resulting
values determine which subject matters best match the text.
[0069] In the exemplary embodiment, the search query analysis
program operates substantially as follows. Given a user's search
query, at least portions of the search query (i.e., after possibly
eliminating stock words, and/or after stemming remaining words to
root form) are compared against zero or more of the entity lists
50, each of which may be stored in RAM as a dictionary. As
discussed above, the general entity lists (having lower confidence
levels) are designated as fall-through lists, while the more
specific entity lists (having a higher confidence value) are
designated as non-fall-through lists. Accordingly, the fall-through
lists are assigned a confidence score of 1.0 and the
non-fall-through lists are assigned confidence scores of 1.5. If
the search query is matched with one or more of the
non-fall-through lists, then the exemplary embodiment does not
perform the "auto-categorization" of the search query; however, if
not found in a non-fall-through list, then the query is compared
against the "fingerprints" in the knowledge-base 54 to identify
subject matters corresponding to the "fingerprint" of the search
query. Any matches in this comparison will be assigned confidence
levels from 0 to 1 depending upon the confidence of the match. The
subject matters developed from the auto-categorization step are
added to the array of subject matters developed in the comparison
with the entity lists above. At this point, there exists an array
of subject matters (entity list names and subject headings from the
knowledge-base) along with associated confidence levels, where the
array is sorted by the confidence level. Each entry in the subject
matter array is linked to a sub-set of information sources using
the subject-to-source map 42 as discussed above. In the exemplary
embodiment, if a particular subject category from the array is not
found in the subject-to-source map 42, the parent category will be
checked for a sub-set of information sources. For example, if the
subject matter heading
"health/conditions&discases/digestive_disorders" is not found,
then a look-up will be made for "health/conditions&diseases".
This step is repeated until a sub-set of information sources is
matched to the subject matter (i.e., if
"health/conditions&diseases" is not matched with a sub-set of
information sources, then a look-up will be made for the general
heading of "health"). Thus, an array of searchable information
source groups associated with the array of subject matters and
associated confidence levels has been constructed.
[0070] Furthermore, each information source in each respective
sub-set of information sources may also be ranked with respect to
each other utilizing the adaptive learner function 56. Generally
speaking, the adaptive learner function 56 provides a method for
prioritizing the information sources by rating (in real-time) the
information sources based upon the popularity of the source or upon
other performance or statistical considerations (or combinations
thereof) to provide performance scores 57 for the information
sources. The adaptive learner process is a means to learn the
on-going performance of sources (in the manner in which they return
relevant results to users on various subjects), so that the
intelligent source selection function 12 continually improves and
keeps pace with the changing content or behavior of the individual
sources. From a simplistic perspective, this method simply rates
the up-to-minute popularity of each source for each subject in the
ontology.
[0071] As shown in FIG. 11, an internal database 58 maintains an
internal ranking of the performance of sources in specific subject
areas. For example, the highlighted source in FIG. 11 "Mayo health"
database has been rated as the best performing source by the system
having a performance score 57 of 0.61. Some of the performance
criteria utilized in adjusting this performance score include: (a)
adjusting the performance score based upon the number of times
users access the source from search result listings; (b) adjusting
the score based upon the amount of time spent on each source; (c)
adjusting the score based upon access problems or performance of
the source (such as, lowering the score if users have trouble
accessing the source at various times); and (d) adjusting the score
based upon user feedback, such as through questionnaires or rating
polls. The impact of the adaptive learner function 56 is not
typically instantaneous to start with. Depending on the
subject-spread of the queries being performed, the source is put to
use, and the volume of users and queries, the adaptive learner
process 56, over time, provides a reasonably accurate measure of
the performance of specific sources on specific subjects.
[0072] As mentioned above, the adaptive learner process 56 gauges
the "popularity" of a particular information source for a
particular subject measured, in the exemplary embodiment, through
result "click-throughs" from the community of users. The result
links returned from the federated search function 14 are directed
to a "click-through" handler when activated by a user. The
"click-through" handler redirects the user's browser to the actual
result after optionally updating the per-source category weights
for the information sources that returned the result. Optionally,
the per-source category weights can be adjusted by the
"click-through" handler periodically (i.e., every 100.sup.th
access) to reduce the rate of change. In the exemplary embodiment,
each result link returned from the federated search function 14
include the following: the original result link; a list of the
information sources that returned the result; the ESS query; and a
list of the subjects assigned to the search query.
[0073] In addition to the "click-through" handling described above,
the following measures can also be used to stabilize the "learning
loop". [0074] 1. Measure the duration of time the user spent
looking at/reading through a give result document and use this to
discern the "usefulness" of the document to the user, and by
correlation, the usefulness of the information source that returned
that document for the subject corresponding to the search query;
[0075] 2. Categorize the result document matched up with the
subject corresponding to the user's search query; and/or [0076] 3.
Assign a penalty (something the would reduce the weight value) to
information sources, or are slow to respond periodically.
[0077] Referring again to FIG. 7, the federated search function 14
performs the substantially parallel real-time searches on the
plurality of information sources. The federated search function 14
utilizes brokers 66 which are electronic definitions stored on the
system that define for each of the information sources to the
federated search function 14 how to interface with the respective
information source; for example, how the federated search function
14 is to communicate with the information source, how the federated
search function is to structure its queries (in its native form) to
the specific information source, how the federated search function
14 interprets results from the particular information source, how
the federated search function is to navigate through multiple
"pages" of the results set from the specific information source,
any security methods used by the particular information source,
etc. An example broker definition for the Intellihealth.com
information source is provided in FIG. 12.
[0078] The present invention also makes it possible for
non-operational brokers (brokers can become non-operational if the
information source they correspond to ceases to exist, moves to a
different location, delivers different content, delivers content in
a different format, has new capabilities for search and retrieval,
has new security structures, etc.) to be healed automatically
through an automated background testing process.
[0079] As mentioned above, the brokers 66 can provide the security
parameters and credentials necessary for federated search system to
access a secure or subscription information source or sources 22.
Consequently, the present invention also provides a security
handling architecture that enables the system to proxy user
credentials for multiple users to multiple secure sources using
multiple security methods in real-time.
[0080] As shown in FIG. 13, the multi-user, multi-source,
multi-modal security architecture utilizes a security broker
function 68 within the federated search system that utilizes user
security information 70 and security parameters embedded within the
brokers 66 to drive the multi-user session manager 72. The
multi-user session manager 72 creates an active user session 74 for
each secure source 22 respectively accessed by each user.
Therefore, if, for example, WSJ Archives are accessed by
thirty-three of the active users, then thirty-three active user
sessions 74 will be created for each individual access.
[0081] The security broker 68 is invoked during the federated
search function 14 for each secure information source in the search
request. The security broker 68 examines the broker definition 66
to determine the type of authentication (e.g., basic
authentication, challenge-response, log-in form, etc.) required by
the secure information source 22. For secure information sources
that use a log-in form, the broker definition 66 will also describe
the log-in parameters used by the information source. Next, the
security broker 68 retrieves the authentication credentials 70
assigned to the user for the secure information source. This
information is stored in the user security database 70. Using the
combined information, the security broker 68 performs the initial
steps in the establishment of the per-user session and verifies
that the session has been successfully initialized. If the secure
information source uses session parameters, the security broker 68
extracts the parameters from the response and stores them in the
respective active user session 74. From this point on, the
federated search process 14 proceeds normally. If the secure
information source 22 uses session parameters, the security broker
68 will be re-invoked at each step in the search process to
transmit the appropriate session parameters for the respective
active user session 74. As discussed above, the session manager 72
is responsible for maintaining a separate active user session 74
for each user/source combination. Separate "session parameters" are
maintained by the session manager 72 for each active user session
74. FIG. 14 illustrates the conceptual organization of the internal
security information structure maintained by the session
manager.
[0082] As shown in FIG. 14, session parameters are stored in
"Session Details" records and state is managed for each secure
source searched by each user in real-time. Such session parameters
may include, cookies, session parameters, session IDs, sessions
date, etc. The session parameters will vary depending upon the
mode, type of security encountered at each secure source. Using
this dynamic security information structure, the session manager 72
maintains the integrity of the unique security requirements at each
secure source 22 in a multi-user environment, while at the same
time, not compromising a user's privacy of individual security
requirements. It should be understood that it is within the scope
of the invention that at least certain of the security credentials
and/or session parameters may be shared by certain users (or groups
of users) during the accessing and/or searching steps. These shared
credentials/parameters may be included in the "Session Details"
records for each user or in a shared record accessible for all
users sharing the credentials/parameters.
[0083] FIG. 15 illustrates a visual broker-definition tool 76
(referred to as the "Agent Development Kit" or "ADK") that provides
the exemplary embodiment of the present invention with the ability
to create the brokers 66 for the information sources using a
substantially automated process. This broker-definition tool 76
automatically analyzes the structure and form from the search
result content generated by a searchable information source to
determine patterns that exist within it; and automatically
generates the necessary pattern extraction logic for the broker
substantially without any user involvement. The broker-definition
tool 76, in this exemplary embodiment, utilizes familiar "wizards"
interface in a left pane 78 to guide the user rapidly through the
broker generation process. The right pane 80 provides visual
results of the information source search result output or of the
broker output. As can be seen in FIG. 15, the interface pane 78
first requests that the user enter the information source address
in field 82 and activate the "Capture" icon 84. In the right pane
80 the graphical interface for the selected information source is
presented. Next, the interface 78 requests that the user run a
search query on the requested information source and wait for the
results to be displayed. As can be seen in the right pane 80 on
FIG. 15, the uset has requested a search for documents related to
"patio furniture". Finally, this interface 78 requests that the
user enter the number of results received on the page shown in the
pane 80. When these three steps are completed, the user activates
the "Next" icon 86.
[0084] Referring to FIG. 16, the broker-definition tool 76 then
automatically extracts search results 88 from the search results
generated by the information source shown in the pane 80. The
broker-definition tool accomplishes this utilizing automatic
pattern detection, extraction and generation. The basis for this
process can be understood by noting that virtually every searchable
source provides its search output through a program-generated HTML
page. Inherent in this observation is the fact that
program-generated pages (especially where repeating elements are
included, like a series of search results) have some pattern
driving its production. This makes it possible, in most cases, to
put together a methodology to find that pattern, and generate logic
to extract it. Consequently, the broker-definition tool extracts
the search results from the information source, generally, using
the following methodology; first, the HTML document corresponding
to the result page shown in the pane 80 is saved locally to a file;
next, the file is parsed utilizing a specialized parser that
distills the "structure" of the page (locating tables, paragraphs,
divisions, etc.) from the "cosmetics" of the page (what font is
being used, what color is being used, where an image is inserted,
etc.); next, with this distilled structure of the page, the
broker-definition tool proceeds to find "blocks" of structure
(paragraphs, table rows, tables, etc.) repeating some minimum
number of times (the broker-definition tool takes the input
provided by the user on the previous page answering the question
"enter the number of results you received on the page."); next, if
at least some minimum number of repeating blocks are discovered,
then the broker-definition tool looks to see that these blocks
contain some essential elements that are typical of search results
("essential elements", for example, are fields or entities such as
a URL--a link to a detailed record, a title--a brief title of the
individual results, a date, a summary, etc.); next, if the blocks
have been found to contain at least some of these essential
elements, the broker-definition tool proceeds to create "regular
expressions for each of these fields" and one for the blocks
representing the result record; with the regular expressions in
place, the broker-definition tool proceeds to apply the regular
expression on the text of the original result page and extracts
only those portions of the text that correspond to the result
records and fields contained within them; finally, these extracted
results are then displayed in the left pane 88 as shown in FIG.
16.
[0085] A "regular expression" is a classic computer science device
utilized to "extract" the desired portion of text or other
information from a larger stream of text. See [0086]
http://www.python.org/doc/lib/re-syntax.html or
http://msdn.microsoft.com/library/default.asp?url=/library/en-us/script56-
/html/js56jsrpRegExpSyntax.asp for more information on regular
expressions. Typically, regular expressions have been created by
advanced/power users or developers for solving information
extraction problems. The broker-definition tool methodology takes
this powerful method and makes it work in a simple visual
interface.
[0087] If the broker-definition tool 76 is successful in performing
the automatic pattern detection, regular expression generation and
result extraction for every single source available, then the
broker generation process could indeed become 100% automatic.
Nevertheless, the process is semi-automated because there are
typically situations where there are exceptions that cannot be
dealt with automatically by the broker-definition tool such as, for
example when unique fields of information exist within the result
records, (for example, a thumbnail picture, a price, a delivery
date, etc., that may all be specific to a search source, these need
to be specified by the user and then the broker-definition tool can
generate the expressions for them); and when the search result
records vary in structure for each record (for example, the source
may optionally include, for example, a special discount price only
for a few of the returned records).
[0088] FIG. 17 illustrates a source-specific "search query
translation" in the interface 78 of the broker-definition tool 76
to enable universal searches to be conducted using a single query
language to multiple disparate sources. As shown in FIG. 17, in the
interface pane 78 the user is able to select alternate languages
other than English that are supported in the information source's
query field. Then, the interface provides fields 92 where the user
can specify the symbols or terms used for the boolean operations of
a general search tool. Therefore, the system of the exemplary
embodiment of the present invention implements capabilities such as
searching for "all of the words", "any of the words", "phrase",
"boolean". Boolean queries specifically allow users to combine
terms using operators such as `AND`, `OR`, `AND NOT`, `NEAR`,
`NEAR/N` to accurately gather the type of information needed. Each
information source, however, is equipped with different levels of
capability for searching the information repositories they provide
access to. Specifically, the query language syntax may vary widely.
For example, in some sources, the search for
[0089] <"pancreatic cancer" and "treatment protocol">
may be expressed as
[0090] <+"pancreatic cancer"+"treatment protocol">
[0091] This means that queries provided for federated searching by
users need to be "translated" into the native syntax for each
source by the brokers 66. This query translation is specified
through the broker definition process, and it enables universal
searches to be conducted using a single query language to multiple
disparate sources.
[0092] FIG. 18 illustrates a self-contained testing capability
within the broker-definition tool 76 that permits a broker that has
been created to be tested immediately. The interface pane 78
provides fields 94 for the user to enter a search query, a search
type and list the number of pages in the results. These fields may
also request a user name and password if the source is a secure
source. Once these fields are filled in the user activates the
"test icon" and a testing interface will actually perform a live
query against the information source (for which the broker is being
defined), just as the federated search function 14 would in the
run-time system, and gathers the result data, and applies the
broker definition to extract result records in all the defined
fields of each result record. This extracted result set is
presented in the right pane 80 to give instant feedback to the user
on how well their broker definition is working and if it is ready
for deploying to the run-time system.
[0093] FIG. 19 illustrates how the broker-definition tool 76 is
able to capture security information for a secure source. The
broker definition can capture information by multiple security
methods including the standard "HTTP basic authentication", and
"web-based log-in forms". As shown in FIG. 19, the interface pane
78 includes a form 98 in which the user can identify the type of
security that is being used by the search engine and a field 100
where the user enters the URL or address of the secure information
source. Once the log-in page for the secure source is loaded into
the right pane 80, the broker-definition tool captures the
necessary log-in details, such as navigating the log-in form,
logging in, navigating to the search interface, etc., by "watching"
(recoding) the user's interaction with the information source in
the right pane 80. These security credentials will then be stored
in the brokers 66 as discussed above. As also discussed above, the
security broker 68 during the federated searching function 14 will
essentially "replay" the log-in process to connect to the secure
information source, and to supply the user's credentials for that
source transparently, prior to performing a search. Nuances such as
handling session cookies that may be set for each user, by each
secure source, are transparently handled by the security broker 68
at run-time.
[0094] Following from the above description and invention
summaries, it should be apparent to those of ordinary skill in the
art that, while the systems and processes herein described
constitute exemplary embodiments of the present invention, it is to
be understood that the invention is not limited to these precise
systems and processes and that changes may be made therein without
departing from the scope of the invention as defined by the claims.
Additionally, it is to be understood that the invention is defined
by the claims and it is not intended that any limitations or
elements describing the exemplary embodiments set forth herein are
to be incorporated into the meaning of the claims unless such
limitations or elements or explicitly listed in the claims.
Likewise, it is to be understood that it is not necessary to meet
any or all of the identified advantages or objects of the invention
disclosed herein in order to fall within the scope of any claims,
since the invention is defined by the claims and since inherent
and/or unforeseen advantages of the present invention may exist
even though they may not have been explicitly discussed herein.
* * * * *
References