System and method for retrieving records from a database
The present invention relates generally to the technological field of search engines. More specifically, the present invention relates to detecting statistical irregularities in data and retrieving records pertaining to these irregularities. The invention represents a system and methods of retrieving records from an indexed database which provide an improvement of the technological field of search engines and information retrieval by making the detection and retrieval of records representing statistical irregularities in the database faster, more efficient, and less computationally complex.
1 . A method of facilitating database exploration of records of a database accessed by a search engine that is interacted with via a user interface (UI) by a user for identification of irregularities in the records of the database in real time, the method comprising:
providing a search query to the search engine configured to retrieve records from the database storing said records indexed by at least one attribute, wherein the search query is defined by a set of query conditions;
iteratively performing, automatically by the search engine, a search query refining procedure until a break condition is satisfied, said search query refining procedure comprising:
(i) calculating for each index value of the at least one attribute, a significance score value S determined as:
S
=
N
x
y
/
N
x
N
y
/
N
t
,
wherein N xy represents a number of records corresponding to said set of query conditions and associated with a respective index value, N x represents a total number of records corresponding to said set of query conditions, N y represents a total number of records associated with the respective index value, and N t represents a total number of records in the database; and
(ii) supplementing said set of query conditions with at least one query condition comprising association of said records with at least one index value having the significance score value higher than a first predefined threshold, thereby refining the search query;
wherein said break condition is satisfied when, for the records corresponding to the supplemented set of query conditions, there is no index values having the significance score value higher than the first predefined threshold;
retrieving, by the search engine, records from the database corresponding to the refined search query; and
displaying the records retrieved from the database to the user via the user interface.
2 . The method of claim 1 , wherein providing the search query to the search engine is performed via the user interface (UI).
3 . The method of claim 2 , further comprising providing a list of the retrieved records via the UI.
4 . The method of claim 2 , further comprising providing, via the UI, a list of index values of the at least one attribute;
wherein providing the search query to the search engine comprises obtaining, via the UI, selection of at least one index value from the list; and
wherein said set of query conditions comprises a query condition comprising an association of said records with the selected at least one index value.
5 . The method of claim 1 , wherein said set of query conditions comprises at least one of: (i) a query condition indicating at least one specific keyword to be found in said records; (ii) a query condition comprising an association of said records with at least one specific index value.
6 . The method of claim 1 , wherein said search query refining procedure further comprises:
when at least two index values of different attributes have (i) the significance score values higher than the first predefined threshold; and (ii) an absolute value of a difference between the significance score values lower than a second predefined threshold,
providing, via the user interface (UI), a request to select a desired index value of said at least two index values of different attributes;
obtaining, via the UI, a selection of the desired index value; and
supplementing said set of query conditions with at least one query condition comprising association of said records with the desired index value.
7 . The method of claim 6 , further comprising setting at least one of the first predefined threshold and the second predefined threshold via the UI.
8 . A system for facilitating database exploration of records of a database accessed by a search engine that is interacted with via a user interface (UI) by a user for identification of irregularities in the records of the database in real time, the system comprising: at least one non-transitory memory device, wherein modules of instruction code are stored, and at least one processor associated with said at least one memory device, and configured to execute the modules of instruction code, whereupon execution of said modules of instruction code, the at least one processor is configured to:
provide a search query to the search engine configured to retrieve records from the database storing said records indexed by at least one attribute, wherein the search query is defined by a set of query conditions;
iteratively perform, automatically by the search engine, a search query refining procedure until a break condition is satisfied, said search query refining procedure comprising:
(i) calculating for each index value of the at least one attribute, a significance score value S determined as:
S
=
N
x
y
/
N
x
N
y
/
N
t
,
wherein N xy represents a number of records corresponding to said set of query conditions and associated with a respective index value, N x represents a total number of records corresponding to said set of query conditions, N y represents a total number of records associated with the respective index value, and N t represents a total number of records in the database; and
(ii) supplementing said set of query conditions with at least one query condition comprising association of said records with at least one index value having the significance score value higher than a first predefined threshold, thereby refining the search query;
wherein said break condition is satisfied when, for the records corresponding to the supplemented set of query conditions, there is no index values having the significance score value higher than the first predefined threshold;
retrieve, by the search engine, records from the database corresponding to the refined search query; and
display the records retrieved from the database to the user via the user interface.
9 . The system of claim 8 , wherein the at least one processor is further configured to provide the search query to the search engine via the user interface (UI).
10 . The system of claim 9 , wherein the at least one processor is further configured to provide a list of the retrieved records via the UI.
11 . The system of claim 9 , wherein the at least one processor is further configured to:
provide, via the UI, a list of index values of the at least one attribute; and
provide the search query to the search engine by obtaining, via the UI, selection of at least one index value from the list;
wherein said set of query conditions comprises a query condition comprising an association of said records with the selected at least one index value.
12 . The system of claim 8 , wherein said set of query conditions comprises at least one of: (i) a query condition indicating at least one specific keyword to be found in said records; (ii) a query condition comprising an association of said records with at least one specific index value.
13 . The system of claim 8 , wherein said search query refining procedure further comprises:
when at least two index values of different attributes have (i) the significance score values higher than the first predefined threshold; and (ii) an absolute value of a difference between the significance score values lower than a second predefined threshold,
providing, via the user interface (UI), a request to select a desired index value of said at least two index values of different attributes;
obtaining, via the UI, a selection of the desired index value; and
supplementing said set of query conditions with at least one query condition comprising association of said records with the desired index value.