Method for representation of knowledge in a computer as a network database system

Claim 1

A method for representing information in a computer system, comprising the steps of: establishing in said computer system a knowledge representation database made up of individual records, wherein each record is associated with a unique reference number (URN) which identifies each record and wherein each record stores at least one relationship comprised of a characterization and a value, the characterization of said relationship being a URN of a second record which defines [the]a nature of said relationship, and the value of said relationship being a complex data representation composed of at least one internal value, external value, or mixed value which define an object of said relationship, internal values storing only URNs of other records, external values storing external data such as character strings, integers, and real numbers, and mixed values storing a combination of internal and external values; establishing an index to said knowledge representation database made up of the name of each record together with the associated URN of said record, wherein the name of the record is an external value of a relationship stored therein which designates that external value as a character string description of a concept represented by said record; establishing, for each record in said knowledge representation database, fundamental relationships between said record and other records in said database, said fundamental relationships being comprised of intrastratum relationships which store URNs of other records on the same strata or level of abstraction designated as separate libraries within the knowledge representation system, said intrastratum relationships being designated as parent and children relationships which identify the record in which said parent and children relationships are stored as a member of the same library as the records identified by the URNs stored in said intrastratum relationships, and interstrata relationships which store URNs of other records in different strata or libraries, said interstrata relationships being designated as Type record relationships which identify the record in which said Type record relationships are stored as a particular instance of records in another stratum or library; designating certain records as system concepts by storing the URNs of said certain records in a system concept index to said database reserved for records which represent system concepts of said knowledge representation database, system concept records being records which are used as termination points of networks of said fundamental relationships and which are recognized by the system by determining whether the URN or the name of a particular record is in said system concept index, wherein system concept records designating strata or libraries (such as System library, Attribute library, Component library, and Project library) are the termination of parent fundamental relationships, system concept records designating attribute classes (such as Assignment, Connection, Non-Binding, Rules, and External) are the termination of parent fundamental relationships for records which are descendants thereof and which store the URN of the Attribute library system concept as a parent relationship, and system concept records designating attribute properties (such as Name, Data Type, Field Length, and Prompt) are the termination of relationship characterization networks, said system concepts being required to store only fundamental relationships; storing within each record comprising said Attribute library at least one relationship which is characterized by a URN of an attribute property system concept record, wherein said at least one relationship stores the value of the name of the concept represented by the record in which said attribute property System record URN is stored; storing within each record comprising said Component library at least one relationship which is characterized by a URN of an Attribute library record, wherein said at least one relationship stores the value of the name of the concept represented by the record in which said Attribute library record URN is stored; storing within each record comprising said Project library at least one relationship which is characterized by a URN of a Component library record, wherein said at least one relationship stores the value of the name of the concept represented by the record in which said Component library record URN is stored; establishing in said computer system at least one editor for modifying the records and relationships stored in said database, including means for recognizing patterns in the relationships stored in said records; storing said recognized patterns as relationships in the records associated with the recognized patterns; establishing an additional class of system concept records to identify relationships storing values that define said recognized patterns, wherein each of said additional class system concept records represent particular types of patterns in said relationships; operating on said stored patterns in the operation of said at least one editor by reading relationships storing patterns predetermined to be relevant to said at least one editor and using the values of said relationships in limiting the operation of said editor, said relationships storing patterns relevant to said editor being identified by the characterization of said relationships as system concepts identified by the system as being relevant to said editor; establishing in said computer a descriptive database for describing an active concept record designated by a user, comprised of a plurality of records each of which stores a single relationship having an associated URN for said active concept record, and an associated URN for a source record in which said relationship is stored, the URN for said active concept being the URN of the record in said knowledge representation database for which the description in the descriptive database is assembled, and the URN for said source record being the URN of that record in said knowledge representation database in which said relationship is stored; reading a descriptive network for said active concept by reading all records in said knowledge representation database forming a network of related records through the fundamental relationships of parent and type, combining the relationship lists from said read records, and storing said relationships from said read records in said descriptive database, said relationship lists being combined by applying Taxonomy, Type, Composition and User inheritance rules, said relationships being stored in said descriptive database together with the URN of said active concept and the URN of said source record; selecting a view, class and type of display for said active concept and deriving the selected type of display by assigning icons to the records representing concepts in said descriptive database according to the type of display selected, organizing and locating said icons in a display space of said computer according to the selected class, and creating connection icons for interconnections between concept icons located in said display space according to the selected view; and interacting with said knowledge representation database through interaction with said icons in said display space and evaluation of said icon interaction through the use of decision trees for evaluation of the view, command history, system flags, and icon association for identification of appropriate responses to said icon interaction.

Claim 2

A method for representing information in a computer system, comprising the steps of: establishing in said computer system a knowledge representation database made up of individual records, wherein each record is associated with a unique reference number (URN) which identifies each record and wherein each record stores at least one relationship comprised of a characterization and a value, the characterization of said relationship being a URN of a second record which defines [the]a nature of said relationship, and the value of said relationship being a complex data representation composed of at least one internal value, external value, or mixed value which define an object of said relationship, internal values storing only URNs of other records, external values storing external data such as character strings, integers, and real numbers, and mixed values storing a combination of internal and external values; establishing an index to said knowledge representation database made up of the name of each record together with the associated URN of said record, wherein the name of the record is an external value of a relationship stored therein which designates that external value as a character string description of a concept represented by said record; establishing, for each record in said knowledge representation database, fundamental relationships between said record and other records in said database, said fundamental relationships being comprised of intrastratum relationships which store URNs of other records on the same strata or level of abstraction designated as separate libraries within the knowledge representation system, said intrastratum relationships being designated as parent and children relationships which identify the record in which said parent and children relationships are stored as a member of the same library as the records identified by the URNs stored in said intrastratum relationships, and interstrata relationships which store URNs of other records in different strata or libraries, said interstrata relationships being designated as Type record relationships which identify the record in which said Type record relationships are stored as a particular instance of records in another stratum or library; designating certain records as system concepts by storing the URNs of said certain records in a system concept index to said database reserved for records which represent system concepts of said knowledge representation database, system concept records being records which are used as termination points of networks of said fundamental relationships and which are recognized by the system by determining whether the URN or the name of a particular record is in said system concept index, wherein system concept records designating strata or libraries (such as System library, Attribute library, Component library, and Project library) are the termination of parent fundamental relationships, system concept records designating attribute classes (such as Assignment, Connection, Non-Binding, Rules, and External) are the termination of parent fundamental relationships for records which are descendants thereof and which store the URN of the Attribute library system concept as a parent relationship, and system concept records designating attribute properties (such as Name, Data Type, Field Length, and Prompt) are the termination of relationship characterization networks, said system concepts being required to store only fundamental relationships; storing within each record comprising said Attribute library at least one relationship which is characterized by a URN of an attribute property system concept record, wherein said at least one relationship stores the value of the name of the concept represented by the record in which said attribute property System record URN is stored; storing within each record comprising said Component library at least one relationship which is characterized by a URN of an Attribute library record, wherein said at least one relationship stores the value of the name of the concept represented by the record in which said Attribute library record URN is stored; storing within each record comprising said Project library at least one relationship which is characterized by a URN of a Component library record, wherein said at least one relationship stores the value of the name of the concept represented by the record in which said Component library record URN is stored; establishing in said computer system at least one editor for modifying the records and relationships stored in said database, including means for recognizing patterns in the relationships stored in said records; storing said recognized patterns as relationships in the records associated with the recognized patterns; establishing an additional class of system concept records to identify relationships storing values that define said recognized patterns, wherein each of said additional class system concept records represent particular types of patterns in said relationships; operating on said stored patterns in the operation of said at least one editor by reading relationships storing patterns predetermined to be relevant to said at least one editor and using the values of said relationships in limiting the operation of said editor, said relationships storing patterns relevant to said editor being identified by the characterization of said relationships as system concepts identified by the system as being relevant to said editor; establishing in said computer a descriptive database for describing an active concept record designated by a user, comprised of a plurality of records each of which stores a single relationship having an associated URN for said active concept record, and an associated URN for a source record in which said relationship is stored, the URN for said active concept being the URN of the record in said knowledge representation database for which the description in the descriptive database is assembled, and the URN for said source record being the URN of that record in said knowledge representation database in which said relationship is stored; reading a descriptive network for said active concept by reading all records in said knowledge representation database forming a network of related records through the fundamental relationships of parent and type, combining the relationship lists from said read records, and storing said relationships from said read records in said descriptive database, said relationship lists being combined by applying Taxonomy, Type, Composition and User inheritance rules, said relationships being stored in said descriptive database together with the URN of said active concept and the URN of said source record; selecting a view, class and type of display for said active concept and deriving the selected type of display by assigning icons to the records representing concepts in said descriptive database according to the type of display selected, organizing and locating said icons in a display space of said computer according to the selected class, and creating connection icons for interconnections between concept icons located in said display space according to the selected view; and interacting with said knowledge representation database through interaction with said icons in said display space and evaluation of said icon interaction through the use of decision trees for evaluation of the view, command history, system flags, and icon association for identification of appropriate responses to said icon interaction.

Claim 10

A method for representing information in a computer system, comprising the steps of: establishing in said computer system a knowledge representation database made up of individual records, wherein each record is associated with a unique reference number (URN) which identifies each record; storing in each of a plurality of records of said knowledge representation database the URN of at least one other record of said knowledge representation database; and establishing means in said computer system for automatically deriving a human understandable format for displaying information contained in said records through reading and evaluation of said stored URNs.

Claim 11

A method for representing information in a computer system, comprising the steps of: establishing in said computer system a knowledge representation database made up of individual records, wherein each record is associated with a unique reference number (URN) which identifies each record; storing in each of a plurality of records of said knowledge representation database the URN of at least one other record of said knowledge representation database; and establishing means in said computer system for automatically deriving a human understandable format for displaying information contained in said records through reading and evaluation of said stored URNs.

Claim 19

The method for representing information in a computer system according to claims 15, further comprising the step of defining System Concepts designating attribute classes (such as Assignment, Connection, Non-Binding, and External).

Claim 54

A method for representing information in a computer system, comprising the steps of: establishing in said computer system a knowledge representation database made up of individual records, wherein each record is associated with a unique reference number (URN) by which each record is identified and wherein each record stores at least one relationship comprised of a characterization and a value, the characterization of said relationship being a URN of a second record which defines the nature of said relationship, and the value of said relationship being a complex data representation composed of at least one internal value, external value, or mixed value which define the object of said relationship, internal values storing only URNs of other records, external values storing external data such as character strings, integers, and real numbers, and mixed values storing a combination of internal and external values; designating certain records of said knowledge representation database as System Concepts by including the names and associated URNs of said certain records in a System Concept index to said knowledge representation database provided in said computer system; creating user defined records based on said System Concepts, and storing said user defined records in said knowledge representation database, wherein at least one user defined record stores therein the URN of a System Concept as a relationship thereof, and wherein all of said user defined records store therein the URN of least one other record in said knowledge representation database; and deriving comprehensible information through evaluation of relationships stored in said records of said knowledge representation database and recognition of System Concepts through consultation of said System Concept index.

Claim 55

A method for representing information in a computer system, comprising the steps of: establishing in said computer system a knowledge representation database made up of individual records, wherein each record is associated with a unique reference number (URN) by which each record is identified and wherein each record stores at least one relationship comprised of a characterization and a value, the characterization of said relationship being a URN of a second record which defines the nature of said relationship, and the value of said relationship being a complex data representation composed of at least one internal value, external value, or mixed value which define the object of said relationship, internal values storing only URNs of other records, external values storing external data such as character strings, integers, and real numbers, and mixed values storing a combination of internal and external values; designating certain records of said knowledge representation database as System Concepts by including the names and associated URNs of said certain records in a System Concept index to said knowledge representation database provided in said computer system; creating user defined records based on said System Concepts, and storing said user defined records in said knowledge representation database, wherein at least one user defined record stores therein the URN of a System Concept as a relationship thereof, and wherein all of said user defined records store therein the URN of least one other record in said knowledge representation database; and deriving comprehensible information through evaluation of relationships stored in said records of said knowledge representation database and recognition of System Concepts through consultation of said System Concept index.

Claim 56

A method for representing information in a computer system, comprising the steps of: establishing in said computer system a knowledge representation database made up of individual records, wherein each record is associated with a unique reference number (URN) by which each record is identified and wherein each record stores at least one relationship comprised of a URN to a second record, said stored relationships constituting a knowledge network conceptually interconnecting said records of said database in said computer system so as to yield comprehensible information; and deriving comprehensible information by designating a record in said database as an active record, assembling in said computer system all records related to said active record by reading relationships stored in said active record, and deriving information about said designated active record by evaluating said assembled records.

Claim 57

A method for representing information in a computer system, comprising the steps of: establishing in said computer system a knowledge representation database made up of individual records, wherein each record is associated with a unique reference number (URN) by which each record is identified and wherein each record stores at least one relationship comprised of a URN to a second record, said stored relationships constituting a knowledge network conceptually interconnecting said records of said database in said computer system so as to yield comprehensible information; and deriving comprehensible information by designating a record in said database as an active record, assembling in said computer system all records related to said active record by reading relationships stored in said active record, and deriving information about said designated active record by evaluating said assembled records.