A multilingual ordered data retrieval system

Claim 1

A multilingual database (60) comprising: a data store (62) for storing multilingual data; a common index (63) of sort keys (163) wherein said sort keys are ordered according to predetermined criteria and each said sort key has associated therewith an indication (67) of an entry in said data store with which it is associated.

Claim 5

A method of operation for a multilingual ordered database (60) having a data store (62) for storing multilingual data, and a common index (63) of sort keys (163) for facilitating access to said data store, said method comprising the steps of: a) receiving information (90) to be stored in said database; b) encoding (91), according to predetermined criteria, one sort key (163) for each language to be supported by said database; c) storing said information in a known location in said data store; and d) storing (93) said sort keys (163) in sorted order in said common index (63) along with an indication of the known location of the corresponding information in said data store (62).

Claim 6

A method of operation for a multilingual ordered database (60) having a data store (62) for storing multilingual data, and a common index (63) of sort keys (163) for facilitating access to said data store, said method comprising the steps of: a) receiving information (90) to be stored in said database; b) encoding (91), according to predetermined criteria, one sort key (163) for each language to be supported by said database; c) storing said information in a known location in said data store; and d) storing (93) said sort keys (163) in sorted order in said common index (63) along with an indication of the known location of the corresponding information in said data store (62).

Claim 14

A method of operation for a multilingual ordered database (60) having a data store (62) for storing multilingual data, and a common index (63) of sort keys (163) for facilitating access to said data store, said method comprising the steps of: a) accepting (90) input data; b) storing said input data in a known location in said data store (62); c) encoding (91) at least a portion of said input data via encoding tables (24), such that one sort key (163) is formed per language supported; d) inserting (93) said sort keys (163) so formed into said common index in numerical order along with an indication of the known location of the correponding data in said data store.

Claim 15

A method of operation for a multilingual ordered database (60) having a data store (62) for storing multilingual data, and a common index (63) of sort keys (163) for facilitating access to said data store, said method comprising the steps of: a) accepting (90) input data; b) storing said input data in a known location in said data store (62); c) encoding (91) at least a portion of said input data via encoding tables (24), such that one sort key (163) is formed per language supported; d) inserting (93) said sort keys (163) so formed into said common index in numerical order along with an indication of the known location of the correponding data in said data store.

Claim 18

A method of operation for a multilingual ordered database (60) having a data store (62) for storing multilingual data, and a common index (63) of sort keys (163) for facilitating access to said data store, said method comprising the steps of: a) accepting (90) input data; b) storing said input data in a known location in said data store (62); c) encoding (91) at least a portion of said input data via encoding tables (24), such that one sort key (163) is formed per language supported; d) inserting (93) said sort keys (163) so formed into said common index in numerical order along with an indication of the known location of the corresponding data in said data store; e) if other sort keys stored in said common index have the same numerical value as does a newly encoding sort key, then the data corresponding to all said sort keys having said same numerical value, is extracted from said data store and is encoded using an accent priority encoding table (29); f) all the sort keys of step (e) are then sorted in the numerical order indicated by the accent encoding table (29) and are then stored in said index in said order.

Claim 19

A method of operation for a multilingual ordered database (60) having a data store (62) for storing multilingual data, and a common index (63) of sort keys (163) for facilitating access to said data store, said method comprising the steps of: a) accepting (90) input data; b) storing said input data in a known location in said data store (62); c) encoding (91) at least a portion of said input data via encoding tables (24), such that one sort key (163) is formed per language supported; d) inserting (93) said sort keys (163) so formed into said common index in numerical order along with an indication of the known location of the corresponding data in said data store; e) if other sort keys stored in said common index have the same numerical value as does a newly encoding sort key, then the data corresponding to all said sort keys having said same numerical value, is extracted from said data store and is encoded using an accent priority encoding table (29); f) all the sort keys of step (e) are then sorted in the numerical order indicated by the accent encoding table (29) and are then stored in said index in said order.

Claim 22

A method of operation for a multilingual ordered database (60) having a data store (62) for storing multilingual data, and a common index (63) of index sort keys (163) for facilitating access to said data store, said method, including the insertion of data into, and the extraction of data from, said database, comprising the following steps: a) accepting (90) first input data to be stored in said database; b) storing said first input data in a known location in said data store (62); c) encoding (91) at least a portion of said first input data via sort encoding tables (24), such that one index sort key (163) is formed per language supported; d) inserting (93) said index sort keys (163) so formed into said common index in numerical order along with an indication of the known location of the corresponding first input data in said data store; e) if other index sort keys stored in said common index have the same numerical value as does a newly encoded index sort key, then the data corresponding to all said index sort keys having said same numerical value, is extracted from said data store and is encoded using an accent priority encoding table (29); f) all the index sort keys of step (e) are then sorted in the numerical order indicated by the accent encoding table and are then stored in said index in said order; g) accepting second input data (101), the presence of which is to be searched for in said database; h) encoding (102) said second input data via a sort encoding table (24) corresponding to the language of said user to produce a search sort key (103); i) comparing said search sort key (103) with the index sort keys (163) of said common index to find any index sort keys in said index that are identical to said search sort key and extracting (104), as found data (105), data from said data store corresponding to any index sort keys that are identical to said search sort key; j) encoding (110) at least a portion of each data entry (105) extracted during step (i) and also encoding (107) said second input data (101) via a match encoding table (34) corresponding to the language of said user to produce encoded match keys (111 and 108); k) comparing (106) the match key (108) corresponding to said second input data (101) with the match keys (111) corresponding to said found data (105) to find any that are identical, and extracting data from said data store corresponding to any match keys from said found data that are identical to the match key corresponding to said second input data.

Claim 23

A method of operation for a multilingual ordered database (60) having a data store (62) for storing multilingual data, and a common index (63) of index sort keys (163) for facilitating access to said data store, said method, including the insertion of data into, and the extraction of data from, said database, comprising the following steps: a) accepting (90) first input data to be stored in said database; b) storing said first input data in a known location in said data store (62); c) encoding (91) at least a portion of said first input data via sort encoding tables (24), such that one index sort key (163) is formed per language supported; d) inserting (93) said index sort keys (163) so formed into said common index in numerical order along with an indication of the known location of the corresponding first input data in said data store; e) if other index sort keys stored in said common index have the same numerical value as does a newly encoded index sort key, then the data corresponding to all said index sort keys having said same numerical value, is extracted from said data store and is encoded using an accent priority encoding table (29); f) all the index sort keys of step (e) are then sorted in the numerical order indicated by the accent encoding table and are then stored in said index in said order; g) accepting second input data (101), the presence of which is to be searched for in said database; h) encoding (102) said second input data via a sort encoding table (24) corresponding to the language of said user to produce a search sort key (103); i) comparing said search sort key (103) with the index sort keys (163) of said common index to find any index sort keys in said index that are identical to said search sort key and extracting (104), as found data (105), data from said data store corresponding to any index sort keys that are identical to said search sort key; j) encoding (110) at least a portion of each data entry (105) extracted during step (i) and also encoding (107) said second input data (101) via a match encoding table (34) corresponding to the language of said user to produce encoded match keys (111 and 108); k) comparing (106) the match key (108) corresponding to said second input data (101) with the match keys (111) corresponding to said found data (105) to find any that are identical, and extracting data from said data store corresponding to any match keys from said found data that are identical to the match key corresponding to said second input data.

Claim 26

A method of operation for a multilingual ordered database (60) having a data store (62) for storing multilingual data, and a common index (63) of index sort keys (163) for facilitating access to said data store, said method including the extraction of data from said database, in response to a request from a user, according to the following steps: a) accepting input data (101); b) encoding (102) said input data (101) via a sort encoding table (24) corresponding to the language of said user to produce a search sort key (103); c) comparing said search sort key (103) with the index sort keys (163) of said common index to find any index sort keys in said index that are identical to said search sort key and identifying any that are the same; d) extracting (104) the data (105) corresponding to said index sort keys identified as being the same as said search sort key; e) encoding (110) said data (105) from step (d) and said input data (101) via a match encoding table (34) corresponding to the language of said user to produce encoded match keys (111,108); f) comparing (106) the match key (108) corresponding to said input data (101) with the match keys (111) correponding to said found data (105) to find any match keys that are identical to the match key corresponding to said input data and extracting data from said data store corresponding to any match keys from said found data that are identical to the match key corresponding to said second input data.

Claim 27

A method of operation for a multilingual ordered database (60) having a data store (62) for storing multilingual data, and a common index (63) of index sort keys (163) for facilitating access to said data store, said method including the extraction of data from said database, in response to a request from a user, according to the following steps: a) accepting input data (101); b) encoding (102) said input data (101) via a sort encoding table (24) corresponding to the language of said user to produce a search sort key (103); c) comparing said search sort key (103) with the index sort keys (163) of said common index to find any index sort keys in said index that are identical to said search sort key and identifying any that are the same; d) extracting (104) the data (105) corresponding to said index sort keys identified as being the same as said search sort key; e) encoding (110) said data (105) from step (d) and said input data (101) via a match encoding table (34) corresponding to the language of said user to produce encoded match keys (111,108); f) comparing (106) the match key (108) corresponding to said input data (101) with the match keys (111) correponding to said found data (105) to find any match keys that are identical to the match key corresponding to said input data and extracting data from said data store corresponding to any match keys from said found data that are identical to the match key corresponding to said second input data.

Claim 28

A method of operation for a multilingual ordered database (60) having a data store (62) for storing multilingual data, and a common index (63) of index sort keys (163) for facilitating access to said data store, said method including the extraction of data from said database, in response to a request from a user, according to the following steps: a) accepting input data (101); b) encoding (102) said input data (101) via a sort encoding table (24) corresponding to the language of said user to produce a search sort key (103); c) comparing said search sort key (103) with the index sort keys (163) of said common index to find any index sort keys in said index that are identical to said search sort key and identifying any that are the same; d) extracting the data corresponding to said index sort keys identified as being the same. as said search sort key.

Claim 29

A method of operation for a multilingual ordered database (60) having a data store (62) for storing multilingual data, and a common index (63) of index sort keys (163) for facilitating access to said data store, said method including the extraction of data from said database, in response to a request from a user, according to the following steps: a) accepting input data (101); b) encoding (102) said input data (101) via a sort encoding table (24) corresponding to the language of said user to produce a search sort key (103); c) comparing said search sort key (103) with the index sort keys (163) of said common index to find any index sort keys in said index that are identical to said search sort key and identifying any that are the same; d) extracting the data corresponding to said index sort keys identified as being the same. as said search sort key.