System and method for processing database queries
A system and method is provided wherein a user chooses from an allowed preselected domain of query element values, presenting a query comprising a plurality of selected query element values, which form the basis for indexing query results. A database lookup is done according to the user's selections and index values, as well as relevancy values of other members of the allowed preselected domain of query element values. In some embodiments the query results are assigned to arbitrary tags or numbers to prevent unauthorized competing search providers from appropriating the query results.
1. A method for processing a query on a database using a server operatively connected to the database, the method comprising:
presenting from the server, to a user, a plurality of query elements, each query element having a plurality of allowed query element values, the plurality of allowed query element values for each query element being presented to the user for selection of a query element value from the plurality of allowed query element values, the query element values not selected by the user being non-selected query element values;
receiving at the server, from the user, a selected query element value for at least one of the plurality of query elements;
retrieving information objects stored in the database, the database storing a first relevance value which defines a relevance of at least one information object with respect to the selected query element value and a second relevance value which defines a relevance of the at least one information object with respect to the non-selected query element value, the first relevance value and the second relevance value being assigned by a human editor other than the user, the first relevance value and the second relevance value being assigned before the plurality of query elements is presented to the user, the information objects being retrieved based on the first relevance value and the second relevance value, the database further including an index, the index associating at least one information object stored in the database with at least the selected query element value;
wherein retrieving the information objects based on the first relevance value and the second relevance value is performed by the server in response to receiving the selected query element value for at least one of the plurality of query elements, and
returning query results to the user, the query results corresponding to the information objects.
2. The method of claim 1 , further comprising ranking the query results according to the relevance value.
3. The method of claim 1 , further comprising presenting the query results to the user on a graphical user interface.
4. The method of claim 3 , wherein the graphical user interface is based on an Internet browser.
5. The method of claim 1 , further comprising ranking the information objects according to a ranking scheme.
6. The method of claim 1 , further comprising mapping the retrieved information objects into corresponding mapped information objects.
7. The method of claim 6 , wherein the corresponding mapped information objects are numbers corresponding to the retrieved information objects.
8. The method of claim 7 , further comprising arbitrarily assigning the numbers to the corresponding retrieved information objects.
9. The method of claim 7 , further comprising sequentially assigning the numbers to the corresponding retrieved information objects.
10. The method of claim 1 , wherein the index is formed using allowed query element values other than the selected query element values as well as the selected query element values.
11. The method of claim 1 , further comprising using a formula to form the index.
12. The method of claim 1 , further comprising calculating the index using the relevance value associated with a selected query element value.
13. The method of claim 1 , further comprising checking a link state of an information object.
14. The method of claim 13 , wherein the link state is a time of last check.
15. The method of claim 13 , wherein the link state is a status of a link.
16. The method of claim 1 , wherein the information objects comprise links.
17. The method of claim 16 , wherein the links comprise Internet links.
18. A system for processing a database query, comprising:
a server;
a client coupled to the server through a network;
user interface running on the client;
a selector, implemented in the user interface, to present, to a user, a plurality of query elements, each query element having a plurality of allowed query element values, the plurality of allowed query element values for each query element being presented to the user for selection of a query element value from the plurality of allowed query element values, the query element values not selected by the user being non-selected query element values;
said server, receiving from the user, a selected query element value for at least one of the plurality of query elements;
a database coupled to the server, the database comprising information objects, the database storing a first relevance value which defines the relevance of at least one of the information objects with respect to the selected query element value and a second relevance value which defines a relevance of the at least one information object with respect to a non-selected query element value, the first relevance value and the second relevance value being assigned by a human editor other than the user, the first relevance value and the second relevance value being assigned before the plurality of query elements is presented to the user;
an indexer for forming an index to the database, the index associating at least one of the information objects with at least the selected query element value;
wherein information objects are retrieved from the database based on the first relevance value and the second relevance value, in response to the selection of the selected query element value by the user via the selector, wherein the information objects correspond to the index, and
wherein a result to the database query is returned to the user and the result corresponds to the information objects.
19. The system of claim 18 , wherein the server comprises a structured query constructor for formulating the allowed query element values.
20. The system of claim 18 , wherein the server comprises a query result presenter for presenting query results to the client.
21. The system of claim 20 , wherein the query result presenter ranks the query results.
22. The system of claim 18 , further comprising a classification-based analyzer, coupled to the database, for analyzing data based on the query.
23. The system of claim 18 , wherein the user interface is a graphical user interface.
24. The system of claim 23 , wherein the graphical user interface is Internet browser-based.
25. The system of claim 18 , wherein the database is a relational database.
26. The system of claim 18 , wherein the information objects comprise links.
27. The system of claim 26 , wherein the links comprise Internet links.
28. The system of claim 18 , wherein the database comprises a link state of an information object.
29. The system of claim 28 , wherein the link state comprises a time of last check.
30. The system of claim 28 , wherein the link state comprises a status of a link.
31. The system of claim 18 , further comprising a mapper for mapping a retrieved information object to a mapped information object.
32. A method for processing a query on a database using a server operatively connected to the database, the method comprising:
presenting from the server, to a user, a plurality of query elements, each query element having a plurality of allowed query element values, the plurality of allowed query element values for each query element being presented to the user for selection of a query element value from the plurality of allowed query element values, the query element values not selected by the user being non-selected query element values;
receiving at the server, from the user, a selected query element value for at least one of the plurality of query elements;
retrieving information objects stored in the database, the database storing a relevance value which defines a relevance of at least one information object with respect to the selected query element value and a second relevance value which defines a relevance of the at least one information object with respect to the non-selected query element value, the relevance value and the second relevance value being assigned by a human editor other than the user, the relevance value and the second relevance value being assigned before the plurality of query elements is presented to the user, the information objects being retrieved based on the relevance value and the second relevance value, the database further including an index, the index associating at least one information object stored in the database with at least one selected query element value; and
presenting, to the user, mapped information objects representing the information objects retrieved from the database, each mapped information object comprising a hyperlink, each hyperlink comprising a number assigned to the respective information object to obscure the respective information object;
wherein retrieving the information objects based on the relevance value and the second relevance value is performed by the server in response to receiving the selected query element value for at least one of the plurality of query elements, and
returning query results to the user, the query results corresponding to the information objects.