Apparatus and method for deterministically constructing a text question for application to a data source

1 . A computer readable medium storing executable instructions to deterministically construct a text question for application to a data source, comprising executable instructions to:

supply a user with an initial text question;

allow the user to alter a sentence component of the initial text question to form an altered sentence component;

identify when the altered sentence component in combination with remaining sentence components creates a grammatically incorrect question;

supply a grammatically correct text question including the altered sentence component in response to the executable instructions to identify;

construct a data source query from the grammatically correct text question;

apply the data source query to a data source to produce data results; and

present the data results to the user.

2 . The computer readable medium of claim 1 further comprising executable instructions to add a plurality of selectable sentence components in response to the altered sentence component, wherein each selectable sentence facilitates subsequent selection of a valid question.

3 . The computer readable medium of claim 1 wherein the executable instructions to allow include executable instructions to supply a pull-down menu of sentence components that may be altered.

4 . The computer readable medium of claim 1 further comprising executable instructions to offer the user a plurality of formatting options for the data results.

5 . The computer readable medium of claim 1 further comprising executable instructions to modify the visible appearance of an altered sentence component.

6 . A computer readable medium storing executable instructions to deterministically construct a text question for application to a data source, comprising executable instructions to:

supply a user with a first valid and grammatically correct text question comprising a set of first values of selectable and non-selectable sentence components, and supply a first list of possible values for a selectable sentence component;

allow the user to alter the selectable sentence component to select a second value of the selectable sentence component from the first list of possible values;

determine when the second value in combination with the remaining set of first values creates an invalid or grammatically incorrect question, and supply the user with a second valid and grammatically correct text question comprising the second value, a set of modified values of selectable and non-selectable sentence components, and a second list of possible values for the second value;

construct a data source query from the second valid and grammatically correct text question;

apply the data source query to a data source to produce data results; and

present the data results to the user.

7 . The computer readable medium of claim 6 wherein the second list of possible values facilitates the selection of new valid and grammatically correct text question.

8 . The computer readable medium of claim 6 wherein the second valid and grammatically correct text question includes selectable and non-selectable sentence components in a different order than the order of the selectable and non-selectable sentence components of the first valid and grammatically correct text question.

9 . The computer readable medium of claim 6 wherein the executable instructions to allow include executable instructions to supply a pull-down menu displaying the first list of possible values.

10 . The computer readable medium of claim 6 wherein the executable instructions to supply include executable instructions to supply a user with a first valid and grammatically correct text question comprising a selectable sentence component selected from a subject, a verb, a predicate noun and a time period.

11 . The computer readable medium of claim 6 further comprising executable instructions to offer the user a plurality of formatting options for the data results.

12 . The computer readable medium of claim 6 further comprising executable instructions to modify the visible appearance of an altered selectable sentence component.

13 . A method of deterministically constructing a text question for application to a data source, comprising:

supplying a user with an initial text question;

allowing the user to alter a sentence component of the initial text question to form an altered sentence component;

identifying when the altered sentence component in combination with remaining sentence components creates a grammatically incorrect question;

supplying a grammatically correct text question including the altered sentence component in response to identifying;

constructing a data source query from the grammatically correct text question;

applying the data source query to a data source to produce data results; and

presenting the data results to the user.

14 . The method of claim 13 further comprising adding a plurality of selectable sentence components in response to the altered sentence component, wherein each selectable sentence component facilitates subsequent selection of a valid question.

15 . The method of claim 13 wherein allowing includes supplying a pull-down menu of sentence components that may be altered.

16 . The method of claim 13 further comprising offering the user a plurality of formatting options for the data results.

17 . The method of claim 13 further comprising modifying the visible appearance of an altered sentence component.