Method and apparatus for implementing search and channel features in an enterprise-wide computer system

Claim 1

A computer system configured to search for structured and unstructured data objects, the computer system connected to a network interface that may be connected to at least one user through a computer network; the computer system comprising: a service broker electrically connected to the network interface, the service broker adapted to control a level of access to the computer system by a user; a repository electrically connected to the service broker, the repository comprising a computer memory encoded with a plurality of objects including structured data objects and unstructured data objects; a knowledge server electrically connected to the service broker and to the repository, the knowledge server comprising: i) a computer memory encoded with at least one information source comprising a searchable index describing at least one set of structured and unstructured data objects; ii) a crawl server configured to manage at least one crawler, wherein said at least one crawler is configured to process a set of structured and unstructured data objects and generate a searchable index describing the set of objects, and wherein said at least one crawler is configured to store the searchable index in a corresponding information source; and iii) a search server configured to process a search request so as to generate a search result, wherein the search request comprises at least one query term, a corresponding set of search properties, and a list identifying at least one information source to be searched, and wherein the search result comprises a list of objects identified during the search.

Claim 30

A method of conducting a search in a computer system comprising a service broker, a repository, and a knowledge server, wherein the knowledge server comprises a computer memory including at least one information source, a crawl server configured to manage at least one crawler, and a search server, the method comprising: associating said at least one crawler with a set of structured and unstructured data; assigning a set of crawler properties to said at least one crawler, wherein the set of crawler properties defines how said at least one crawler will process data objects; executing the crawler with said set of crawler properties and said set of structured and unstructured data so as to generate index data corresponding to said set of structured and unstructured data; storing the generated index data in a corresponding information source in the computer memory of the knowledge server; receiving a search request comprising at least one query term, a corresponding set of search properties, and a list identifying at least one information source to be searched; and processing the search request with each of the listed information sources so as to generate a search result comprising a list of objects identified during the search.

Claim 31

A method of conducting a search in a computer system comprising a service broker, a repository, and a knowledge server, wherein the knowledge server comprises a computer memory including at least one information source, a crawl server configured to manage at least one crawler, and a search server, the method comprising: associating said at least one crawler with a set of structured and unstructured data; assigning a set of crawler properties to said at least one crawler, wherein the set of crawler properties defines how said at least one crawler will process data objects; executing the crawler with said set of crawler properties and said set of structured and unstructured data so as to generate index data corresponding to said set of structured and unstructured data; storing the generated index data in a corresponding information source in the computer memory of the knowledge server; receiving a search request comprising at least one query term, a corresponding set of search properties, and a list identifying at least one information source to be searched; and processing the search request with each of the listed information sources so as to generate a search result comprising a list of objects identified during the search.

Claim 36

A method of conducting a search in a computer system comprising a service broker, a repository, and a knowledge server, wherein the knowledge server comprises a computer memory including at least one information source, a crawl server configured to manage at least one crawler, and a search server, wherein the repository comprises a computer memory encoded with a plurality of objects including structured data objects, unstructured data objects, and at least one channel, wherein said at least one channel comprises at least one query term and a list identifying at least one information source to be searched, the method comprising: associating said at least one crawler with a set of structured and unstructured data; assigning a set of crawler properties to said at least one crawler, wherein the set of crawler properties defines how said at least one crawler will process data objects; executing the crawler with said set of crawler properties and said set of structured and unstructured data so as to generate index data corresponding to said set of structured and unstructured data; storing the generated index data in a corresponding information source in the computer memory of the knowledge server; retrieving a channel from the repository; and processing said at least one query term on the retrieved channel with each of the information sources listed in the channel so as to generate a search result comprising a list of objects identified during the search.

Claim 37

A method of conducting a search in a computer system comprising a service broker, a repository, and a knowledge server, wherein the knowledge server comprises a computer memory including at least one information source, a crawl server configured to manage at least one crawler, and a search server, wherein the repository comprises a computer memory encoded with a plurality of objects including structured data objects, unstructured data objects, and at least one channel, wherein said at least one channel comprises at least one query term and a list identifying at least one information source to be searched, the method comprising: associating said at least one crawler with a set of structured and unstructured data; assigning a set of crawler properties to said at least one crawler, wherein the set of crawler properties defines how said at least one crawler will process data objects; executing the crawler with said set of crawler properties and said set of structured and unstructured data so as to generate index data corresponding to said set of structured and unstructured data; storing the generated index data in a corresponding information source in the computer memory of the knowledge server; retrieving a channel from the repository; and processing said at least one query term on the retrieved channel with each of the information sources listed in the channel so as to generate a search result comprising a list of objects identified during the search.

Claim 42

A method of conducting a search in a computer system comprising a service broker, a repository, and a knowledge server, wherein the knowledge server comprises a computer memory including at least one information source, a crawl server configured to manage at least one crawler, and a search server, the method comprising: associating said at least one crawler with a set of structured and unstructured data; assigning a set of crawler properties to said at least one crawler, wherein the set of crawler properties includes a name of a corresponding crawler, a list of URLs to be processed by the corresponding crawler, and a set of limits defining a number of links to follow beyond a starting URL; for each URL listed in the crawler properties, executing said at least one crawler to perform the following: i) retrieving a data object corresponding to the URL; ii) generating index data corresponding to the retrieved data object, the index data including a name of the retrieved data object, a document type corresponding to the retrieved data object, a date field corresponding to the last date on which the retrieved data object was modified, and a set of keywords associated with retrieved data object; iii) storing the index data in a corresponding information source in the computer memory of the knowledge server; iv) determining a number of links which have been followed since retrieving the data object corresponding to the listed URL; v) if the number of links which have been followed is less than the number of links defined in the set of limits in the crawler properties, then performing steps a) through b); a) processing the retrieved data object to generate a list of hyperlinks that appear in the retrieved data object; b) for each hyperlink in the retrieved data object, performing the following steps aa) through dd): aa) retrieving a data object corresponding to the hyperlink; bb) generating index data corresponding to the retrieved data object, the index data including a name of the retrieved data object, a document type corresponding to the retrieved data object, a date field corresponding to the last date on which the retrieved data object was modified, and a set of keywords associated with retrieved data object; cc) storing the generated index data in a corresponding information source in the computer memory of the knowledge server; dd) recursively performing steps iv) through v) for the retrieved data object corresponding to the hyperlink; receiving a search request comprising at least one query term, a set of search properties, and a list identifying at least one information source to be searched, wherein the set of search properties includes a relevancy property, a document type property, a date modified property, and a sorting criteria property; for each entry in each of the information sources listed in the search request, executing the search server to perform the following steps: vi) comparing the entry in the information source with said at least one query term so as to generate a relevancy score; vii) if the generated relevancy score is greater than the relevancy property of the search request, then performing the following step c): c) if the document type property of the entry matches the document type property of the search request, then performing the following step ee): ee) if the date field of the entry is more recent than the date modified property of the search request, then storing the index data corresponding to the entry in a corresponding search result; arranging the entries in the corresponding search result according to the sorting criteria property of the search request.

Claim 43

A method of conducting a search in a computer system comprising a service broker, a repository, and a knowledge server, wherein the knowledge server comprises a computer memory including at least one information source, a crawl server configured to manage at least one crawler, and a search server, the method comprising: associating said at least one crawler with a set of structured and unstructured data; assigning a set of crawler properties to said at least one crawler, wherein the set of crawler properties includes a name of a corresponding crawler, a list of URLs to be processed by the corresponding crawler, and a set of limits defining a number of links to follow beyond a starting URL; for each URL listed in the crawler properties, executing said at least one crawler to perform the following: i) retrieving a data object corresponding to the URL; ii) generating index data corresponding to the retrieved data object, the index data including a name of the retrieved data object, a document type corresponding to the retrieved data object, a date field corresponding to the last date on which the retrieved data object was modified, and a set of keywords associated with retrieved data object; iii) storing the index data in a corresponding information source in the computer memory of the knowledge server; iv) determining a number of links which have been followed since retrieving the data object corresponding to the listed URL; v) if the number of links which have been followed is less than the number of links defined in the set of limits in the crawler properties, then performing steps a) through b); a) processing the retrieved data object to generate a list of hyperlinks that appear in the retrieved data object; b) for each hyperlink in the retrieved data object, performing the following steps aa) through dd): aa) retrieving a data object corresponding to the hyperlink; bb) generating index data corresponding to the retrieved data object, the index data including a name of the retrieved data object, a document type corresponding to the retrieved data object, a date field corresponding to the last date on which the retrieved data object was modified, and a set of keywords associated with retrieved data object; cc) storing the generated index data in a corresponding information source in the computer memory of the knowledge server; dd) recursively performing steps iv) through v) for the retrieved data object corresponding to the hyperlink; receiving a search request comprising at least one query term, a set of search properties, and a list identifying at least one information source to be searched, wherein the set of search properties includes a relevancy property, a document type property, a date modified property, and a sorting criteria property; for each entry in each of the information sources listed in the search request, executing the search server to perform the following steps: vi) comparing the entry in the information source with said at least one query term so as to generate a relevancy score; vii) if the generated relevancy score is greater than the relevancy property of the search request, then performing the following step c): c) if the document type property of the entry matches the document type property of the search request, then performing the following step ee): ee) if the date field of the entry is more recent than the date modified property of the search request, then storing the index data corresponding to the entry in a corresponding search result; arranging the entries in the corresponding search result according to the sorting criteria property of the search request.

Claim 50

A method of conducting a search in a computer system comprising a service broker, a repository, and a knowledge server, wherein the knowledge server comprises a computer memory encoded with at least one information source, a crawl server configured to manage at least one crawler, and a search server, wherein the repository comprises a computer memory encoded with a plurality of objects including structured data objects, unstructured data objects, and at least one channel, wherein said at least one channel comprises at least one query term, a corresponding set of search properties, and a list identifying at least one information source to be searched, and wherein the corresponding set of search properties includes a relevancy property, a document type property, a date modified property, and a sorting criteria property, the method comprising: associating said at least one crawler with a set of structured and unstructured data; assigning a set of crawler properties to said at least one crawler, wherein the set of crawler properties includes a name of a corresponding crawler, a list of URLs to be processed by the corresponding crawler, and a set of limits defining a number of links to follow beyond a starting URL; for each URL listed in the crawler properties, executing said at least one crawler to perform the following: i) retrieving a data object corresponding to the URL; ii) generating index data corresponding to the retrieved data object, the index data including a name of the retrieved data object, a document type corresponding to the retrieved data object, a date field corresponding to the last date on which the retrieved data object was modified, and a set of keywords associated with retrieved data object; iii) storing the index data in a corresponding information source in the computer memory of the knowledge server; iv) determining a number of links which have been followed since retrieving the data object corresponding to the listed URL; v) if the number of links which have been followed is less than the number of links defined in the set of limits in the crawler properties, then performing steps a) through b); a) processing the retrieved data object to generate a list of hyperlinks that appear in the retrieved data object; b) for each hyperlink in the retrieved data object, performing the following steps aa) through dd): aa) retrieving a data object corresponding to the hyperlink; bb) generating index data corresponding to the retrieved data object, the index data including a name of the retrieved data object, a document type corresponding to the retrieved data object, a date field corresponding to the last date on which the retrieved data object was modified, and a set of keywords associated with retrieved data object; cc) storing the generated index data in a corresponding information source in the computer memory of the knowledge server; dd) recursively performing steps iv) through v) for the retrieved data object corresponding to the hyperlink; retrieving said at least one channel from the computer memory of the repository; for each entry in each of the information sources listed in the channel, executing the search server to perform the following steps: vi) comparing the entry in the information source with said at least one query term so as to generate a relevancy score; vii) if the generated relevancy score is greater than the relevancy property of the channel, then performing the following step c): c) if the document type property of the entry matches the document type property of the channel, then performing the following step ee): ee) if the date field of the entry is more recent than the date modified property of the channel, then storing the index data corresponding to the entry in a corresponding search result; arranging the entries in the corresponding search result according to the sorting criteria property of the channel.

Claim 51

A method of conducting a search in a computer system comprising a service broker, a repository, and a knowledge server, wherein the knowledge server comprises a computer memory encoded with at least one information source, a crawl server configured to manage at least one crawler, and a search server, wherein the repository comprises a computer memory encoded with a plurality of objects including structured data objects, unstructured data objects, and at least one channel, wherein said at least one channel comprises at least one query term, a corresponding set of search properties, and a list identifying at least one information source to be searched, and wherein the corresponding set of search properties includes a relevancy property, a document type property, a date modified property, and a sorting criteria property, the method comprising: associating said at least one crawler with a set of structured and unstructured data; assigning a set of crawler properties to said at least one crawler, wherein the set of crawler properties includes a name of a corresponding crawler, a list of URLs to be processed by the corresponding crawler, and a set of limits defining a number of links to follow beyond a starting URL; for each URL listed in the crawler properties, executing said at least one crawler to perform the following: i) retrieving a data object corresponding to the URL; ii) generating index data corresponding to the retrieved data object, the index data including a name of the retrieved data object, a document type corresponding to the retrieved data object, a date field corresponding to the last date on which the retrieved data object was modified, and a set of keywords associated with retrieved data object; iii) storing the index data in a corresponding information source in the computer memory of the knowledge server; iv) determining a number of links which have been followed since retrieving the data object corresponding to the listed URL; v) if the number of links which have been followed is less than the number of links defined in the set of limits in the crawler properties, then performing steps a) through b); a) processing the retrieved data object to generate a list of hyperlinks that appear in the retrieved data object; b) for each hyperlink in the retrieved data object, performing the following steps aa) through dd): aa) retrieving a data object corresponding to the hyperlink; bb) generating index data corresponding to the retrieved data object, the index data including a name of the retrieved data object, a document type corresponding to the retrieved data object, a date field corresponding to the last date on which the retrieved data object was modified, and a set of keywords associated with retrieved data object; cc) storing the generated index data in a corresponding information source in the computer memory of the knowledge server; dd) recursively performing steps iv) through v) for the retrieved data object corresponding to the hyperlink; retrieving said at least one channel from the computer memory of the repository; for each entry in each of the information sources listed in the channel, executing the search server to perform the following steps: vi) comparing the entry in the information source with said at least one query term so as to generate a relevancy score; vii) if the generated relevancy score is greater than the relevancy property of the channel, then performing the following step c): c) if the document type property of the entry matches the document type property of the channel, then performing the following step ee): ee) if the date field of the entry is more recent than the date modified property of the channel, then storing the index data corresponding to the entry in a corresponding search result; arranging the entries in the corresponding search result according to the sorting criteria property of the channel.