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View Patent ↗A computer system uses a search engine to search a dataset using an initial query provided by a user and thereby to produce initial search results. The system enables the user to select portions of the initial search results. The system identifies metadata associated with the selected portions, and displays information representing that metadata in a form that is easily understandable by a person not trained in the annotation system in which the search results are encoded. The user may instruct the system to add one or more of the displayed metadata elements to the initial query, in response to which the system may add the specified metadata elements to the initial query to produce a modified query. The system may search the dataset using the modified query and thereby produce modified search results. The process may be repeated as desired by the user to further refine the search results.
1. A method performed by at least one computer processor executing computer program instructions stored on at least one non-transitory computer-readable medium, the at least one computer processor using a search engine, and the method comprising:
(A) receiving, by the at least one processor, an initial query input from a user, through a user interface, defining an initial query;
(B) executing, by the at least one processor, the initial query on a dataset to produce initial search results, the initial search results including a first content and a first metadata associated with the first content;
(C) rendering, by the at least one processor, in the user interface, an initial search result output, based on the initial search results, to the user for selecting one or more terms from a plurality of terms displayed in the initial search result output, wherein the initial search result output includes the first content and excludes the first metadata, wherein the first content comprises a first text in an XML document, and wherein the first metadata comprises an XML tag, in the XML document, associated with the first text;
(D) storing, by the at least one processor, a mapping between each of the plurality of terms displayed in the initial search result output and the corresponding first content and first metadata of the initial search results;
(E) identifying, based on the stored mapping, by the at least one processor, at least some of the first metadata in the initial search results, wherein the at least some of the first metadata is associated with the one or more terms selected by the user;
(F) rendering, by the at least one processor, in the user interface, data to represent the first identified metadata in the initial search results in a simplified form to the user, thereby producing rendered first metadata, wherein the rendered first metadata includes content which is not contained within the first metadata;
(G) receiving, by the at least one processor, via the user interface, query modification input from the user, wherein the query modification input includes a term selection input, and wherein the query modification input represents an instruction to use a portion of the rendered first metadata in the initial query;
(H) modifying, by the at least one processor, the initial query to include the first metadata in the initial query, thereby producing a modified query, wherein modifying the initial query facilitates refinement of the initial query to generate specific search results;
(I) executing the modified query on the dataset to produce modified search results; and
(J) providing, by the at least one processor, the produced modified search results on the user interface.
2. The method of claim 1 , wherein (F) comprises rendering less than all of the first metadata.
3. The method of claim 1 , wherein (F) comprises adding, to the rendered first metadata, content that is absent in the first metadata.
4. The method of claim 1 , wherein the rendered first metadata comprises text.
5. The method of claim 1 , wherein (A) comprises performing a transformation on the initial query input to produce the initial query.
6. The method of claim 1 , wherein (G) further comprises receiving, by the at least one processor, term selection input identified responsive to receiving an indication of a portion of the rendered first metadata with which the user interacted via the user interface.
7. A non-transitory computer-readable medium storing computer program instructions executable by at least one computer processor to perform a method, the at least one computer processor using a search engine, and the method comprising:
(A) receiving an initial query input, by the at least one processor, from a user, through a user interface, defining an initial query;
(B) executing the initial query on a dataset, by the at least one processor, to produce initial search results, the initial search results including a first content and a first metadata associated with the first content;
(C) rendering an initial search result output, by the at least one processor, in the user interface, based on the initial search results, to the user for selecting one or more terms from a plurality of terms displayed in the initial search result output, wherein the initial search result output includes the first content and excludes the first metadata, wherein the first content comprises a first text in an XML document, and wherein the first metadata comprises an XML tag, in the XML document, associated with the first text;
(D) storing, by the at least one processor, a mapping between each of the plurality of terms displayed in the initial search result output and the corresponding first content and first metadata of the initial search results;
(E) identifying, based on the stored mapping, at least some of the first metadata in the initial search results, by the at least one processor, wherein the at least some of the first metadata is associated with the one or more terms selected by the user;
(F) rendering, in the user interface, data to represent the first identified metadata in the initial search results, by the at least one processor, in a simplified form to the user, thereby producing rendered first metadata, wherein the rendered first metadata includes content which is not contained within the first metadata;
(G) receiving, via the user interface, query modification input from the user, by the at least one processor, wherein the query modification input includes a term selection input, and wherein the query modification input represents an instruction to use a portion of the rendered first metadata in the initial query;
(H) modifying the initial query, by the at least one processor, to include the first metadata in the initial query, thereby producing a modified query, wherein modifying the initial query facilitates refinement of the initial query to generate specific search results;
(I) executing the modified query on the dataset to produce modified search results; and
(J) providing, by the at least one processor, the produced modified search results on the user interface.
8. The non-transitory computer-readable medium of claim 7 , wherein (F) comprises rendering less than all of the first metadata.
9. The non-transitory computer-readable medium of claim 7 , wherein (F) comprises adding, to the rendered first metadata, content that is absent in the first metadata.
10. The non-transitory computer-readable medium of claim 7 , wherein the rendered first metadata comprises text.
11. The non-transitory computer-readable medium of claim 7 , wherein (A) comprises performing a transformation on the initial query input to produce the initial query.