Apparatus and Method for Displaying Records Responsive to a Database Query

Abstract

An apparatus and method for simultaneously displaying both record names and the associated files responsive to a user's search over a database. A user conducts a routine search query over a database or group of databases of records containing, for example, text documents, or alphabetical concordances thereof. The search engine returns a list of records responsive to the user's query. In contrast to the standard list of record identifiers, the apparatus displays both the identifiers and selected portions of those records or other useful information, as defined by the user, facilitating quick review. The user is able to sort the list of these responsive records in a variety of ways, either before the search, or within the list of results, to expedite review. The apparatus identifies records that have been reviewed previously by marking them as “viewed” links. Finally, when reviewing any responsive record in full, the complete list of records is displayed in a side panel, in a way that still allows resorting by the user. This side panel display may be re-sorted “on the fly.” It also allows the user to see the identifiers of records anywhere in the list, and to easily jump, such as with a single mouse click, to any record in the list.

1 . A method for displaying records responsive to a database query where the records are characterized by having identifiers and content elements, said method comprising the steps of: 
 performing said database query to select one or more records from a database or group of databases, wherein said one or more records selected by said performing of said database query comprise one or more responsive records;    displaying a list of identifiers for a plurality of said records which are responsive to said database query; and    displaying, simultaneously with said step of displaying a list of identifiers, content elements of at least one of said responsive records, wherein said list of identifiers and said selected elements are displayed simultaneously in separate respective areas of a display.    
   
   
       2 . The method of  claim 1 , wherein said content elements comprise at least a portion of one of said responsive records.  
   
   
       3 . The method of  claim 1 , wherein said identifiers comprise case citations.  
   
   
       4 . The method of  claim 1 , further comprising the step of identifying and marking records displayed in a prior search request.  
   
   
       5 . A method for displaying records responsive to a database query where the records are characterized by having identifiers and content elements, said method comprising the steps of: 
 performing said database query to select one or more records from a database or group of databases, wherein said one or more records selected by said performing of said database query comprise one or more responsive records;    displaying a list of identifiers for a plurality of said records which are responsive to said database query;    displaying, simultaneously with said step of displaying a list of identifiers, content elements of at least one of said responsive records; and    identifying and marking records in accordance with at least one of a user action in regard to a corresponding responsive record and a prior search request.    
   
   
       6 . The method of  claim 1 , further comprising the step of sorting said responsive records.  
   
   
       7 . The method of  claim 1 , wherein said responsive records include 
 a record name;    a record citation;    a record date; and    a record author.    
   
   
       8 . The method of  claim 6 , further comprising the step of computing relevance of said responsive records.  
   
   
       9 . The method of  claim 7 , further comprising the step of computing relevance of said records.  
   
   
       10 . The method of  claim 7 , wherein said list of responsive records is sorted according to at least one of said record name, said record citation, said record date and said record author.  
   
   
       11 .- 13 . (canceled)  
   
   
       14 . The method of  claim 9 , wherein said list of responsive records is sorted according to said relevance of said records.  
   
   
       15 . The method of  claim 6 , further comprising the step of resolving ties in a preceding sort.  
   
   
       16 . (canceled)  
   
   
       17 . The method of  claim 1 , wherein said responsive records are identified with at least one of text, icons, color or a browser viewed link designation.  
   
   
       18 .- 20 . (canceled)  
   
   
       21 . An apparatus for displaying records responsive to a database query where the records are characterized by having identifiers and content elements, said apparatus comprising: 
 means for displaying a list of identifiers for at least two of said records which are responsive to a database query    means for displaying content elements of at least one of said records simultaneously with display of said list of identifiers, wherein said list of identifiers and at least one of said content elements are displayed simultaneously in separate respective areas of a display.    
   
   
       22 . The apparatus of  claim 21 , wherein said content elements comprise at least a portion of one of said responsive records.  
   
   
       23 . The apparatus of  claim 21 , further comprising a means for identifying said records which are responsive to a database query.  
   
   
       24 . (canceled)  
   
   
       25 . An apparatus for displaying records responsive to a database query where the records are characterized by having identifiers and content elements, said apparatus comprising: 
 means for displaying a list of identifiers for at least two of said records which are responsive to a database query    means for displaying content elements of at least one of said records simultaneously with display of said list of identifiers, and    a means for marking records in accordance with at least one of a user action in regard to a corresponding responsive record and a prior database query.    
   
   
       26 . The apparatus of  claim 21 , further comprising means for sorting said records which are responsive to a database query.  
   
   
       27 . The apparatus of  claim 26 , wherein said means for sorting comprises an algorithm.  
   
   
       28 . The apparatus of  claim 27 , wherein said algorithm comprises: 
 means for computing the frequency of occurrence of a plurality of search terms; and    means for ordering said records which are responsive to a database query based on said frequency.    
   
   
       29 . The apparatus of  claim 28 , wherein said algorithm further comprises: 
 means for computing proximity of said search terms; and    means for ordering said records which are responsive to a database query based on said proximity.    
   
   
       30 . The apparatus of  claim 27 , wherein said algorithm comprises: 
 means for computing proximity of a plurality of search terms; and    means for ordering said records which are responsive to a database query based on said proximity.    
   
   
       31 . The apparatus of  claim 27 , wherein said algorithm comprises: 
 means for computing the number of times each of said records which are responsive to a database query is referenced by each other record of said records which are responsive to said database query; and    ordering said records which are responsive to said database query based on said number.    
   
   
       32 . The apparatus of  claim 31 , wherein said means for computing comprises a table containing the number of times each of said records which is responsive to said database query is referenced by each other record which is responsive to said database query.  
   
   
       33 . The apparatus of  claim 27 , wherein said algorithm comprises means for ordering said records which are responsive to a database query according to the number of times each of said records which is responsive to said database query has been selected by prior users.  
   
   
       34 . The apparatus of  claim 21 , further comprising means of computing the relevance of said records which are responsive to a database query.  
   
   
       35 . The apparatus of  claim 21 , wherein said records are sorted according to at least one of a record name, a record citation, a record date and a record author.  
   
   
       36 .- 38 . (canceled)  
   
   
       39 . The apparatus of  claim 21 , wherein said records are sorted according to a record rank, said record rank being determined by a previously-applied algorithm.  
   
   
       40 . The apparatus of  claim 21 , further comprising means for identifying records contained in said list of responsive records that were selected responsive to a prior search query.  
   
   
       41 . The apparatus as recited in  claim 40  wherein said identifying means comprises text.  
   
   
       42 .- 49 . (canceled)  
   
   
       50 . The method of  claim 1 , further comprising the step of replacing said displayed content element with a different content element.  
   
   
       51 . The apparatus of  claim 21 , further comprising a means of replacing said displayed content element with a different content element.  
   
   
       52 . The method of  claim 1 , wherein said content elements include at least a portion of a first paragraph and said displayed content element is at least a portion of said first paragraph.  
   
   
       53 . The apparatus of  claim 21 , wherein said content elements include at least a portion of a first paragraph and said displayed content element is at least a portion of said first paragraph.  
   
   
       54 . The method of  claim 1 , wherein said content elements include at least a portion of a paragraph and further comprising the steps of: 
 identifying a most relevant paragraph of said record; and    choosing said portion of said most relevant paragraph as said content element to display.    
   
   
       55 . The apparatus of  claim 21 , wherein said content elements include at least a portion of a paragraph and further comprising a means for: 
 identifying a most relevant paragraph of said record; and    choosing said portion of said most relevant paragraph as said content element to display.    
   
   
       56 . A method for displaying records responsive to a database query on a screen having at least two panels where the records are characterized by having identifiers and content elements, comprising the steps of: 
 displaying simultaneously in a first panel the identifier and at least one content element of at least one record; and    displaying in a second panel the identifier of each record of at least two different records.    
   
   
       57 . An apparatus for displaying records responsive to a database query on a screen having at least two panels where the records are characterized by having identifiers and content elements, comprising: 
 means for simultaneously displaying in a first panel the identifier and at least one content element of at least one record; and    means for displaying in a second panel the identifier of each record of at least two different records.    
   
   
       58 . The method of  claim 6  further comprising the step of re-sorting said records responsive to a database query.  
   
   
       59 . The apparatus of  claim 26 , further comprising the means for re-sorting said records responsive to a database query.  
   
   
       60 . The method of  claim 56  further comprising the step of sorting said records responsive to a database query.  
   
   
       61 . The apparatus of  claim 57  further comprising means for sorting said records responsive to a database query.  
   
   
       62 . The method of  claim 1  where said identifiers are identified using XML tags.  
   
   
       63 . The method of  claim 1  where said content elements are identified using XML tags.  
   
   
       64 . The apparatus of  claim 21  where said identifiers are identified using XML tags.  
   
   
       65 . The apparatus of  21  where said content elements are identified using XML tags.  
   
   
       66 . The method of  claim 1  wherein a prior search is conducted before the database query, further comprising the step of identifying responsive records that were printed in the prior search.  
   
   
       67 . The apparatus of  claim 21  wherein a prior search is conducted before the database query, further comprising means of identifying responsive records that were printed in the prior search.  
   
   
       68 . The apparatus of  claim 31 , wherein the apparatus further comprises: 
 means for computing a frequency of occurrence of a plurality of search terms and wherein the ordering of said records responsive to a database query is based on said number and said frequency.    
   
   
       69 . A method of selecting documents responsive to a database query comprising steps of: 
 identifying keywords in the database query;    computing a frequency of selection of documents by users that used a prior database query containing at least one of said keywords; and    choosing documents such that said frequency exceeds a threshold frequency.    
   
   
       70 . An apparatus for selecting documents responsive to a database query, said apparatus comprising: 
 means for identifying keywords in the database query;    means for computing a frequency of selection of documents by users that used a prior database query containing at least one of said keywords; and    means for choosing documents such that said frequency exceeds a threshold frequency.    
   
   
       71 . The apparatus of  claim 27  wherein said algorithm comprises: 
 means for identifying keywords in the database query;    means for computing the frequency that documents were selected by users that used a prior search query containing at least one of said keywords; and    means for ordering said records responsive to a database query based on said frequency.    
   
   
       72 . A method for analyzing a list of records which are responsive to a database query, said method comprising steps of: 
 choosing a means for sorting said records;    viewing said records; and    choosing a second means for sorting said records.    
   
   
       73 . A apparatus for analyzing a list of records which are responsive to a database query, said apparatus comprising: 
 means for choosing a means for sorting said records;    means for viewing said records; and    means for choosing a second means for sorting said records.    
   
   
       74 . The method of  claim 1 , further comprising the step of identifying records which are responsive to a prior database query.  
   
   
       75 . The apparatus of  claim 21 , further comprising 
 means for identifying records responsive to a prior database query.    
   
   
       76 . The method of  claim 60  further comprising the step of re-sorting said records responsive to a database query.  
   
   
       77 . The apparatus of  claim 61  further comprising means for re-sorting said records responsive to a database query.  
   
   
       78 . The apparatus of  claim 27 , wherein said algorithm comprises: 
 means for computing the percentage of records responsive to a database query which reference each other record of said records which are responsive to said database query; and    ordering said records which are responsive to said database query based on said percentage.    
   
   
       79 . The apparatus of  claim 78 , wherein said means for computing comprises a table containing the number of times each record which is responsive to said database query references each other record which is responsive to said database query.