Method and Apparatus for Rapid Tagging of Elements in a Facet Tree

Abstract

A tagging application (TA) is disclosed that comprises a web interface program (WIP) and a tagging program (TP). The WIP presents the facet tree by displaying elements of the facet tree selected by the user along with a known activation method for the user to select a facet element and to assign a value to the selected facet or facet element. The user may proceed to manually tag each facet and facet element by selecting a value representing the facet element to be tagged. The user may also eliminate manual selection of many of the facets and facet elements by choosing a tagging scenario and then applying the tagging scenario. Once the user has selected a tagging scenario, and has indicated that it is to be applied to the facet element, the TP takes the selected value and applies the selected tagging scenario to populate the tagging for the user in accordance with the tagging scenario. Once the tagging has been populated, the tagging program returns the tagged facet tree to the user at the user interface. Explanatory notes may be provided to the user along with the tagged tree.

1 . An apparatus comprising:
 a computer having a first storage electronically connected to a second storage;   a tagging program in the first storage; and   a facet tree database, a rule database, and an authorized end-user tagging scenario database in the second storage;   wherein responsive to a first end-user selection of an element of a facet tree and a second end-user selection of an authorized end-user tagging scenario from the authorized end-user tagging scenario database, the tagging program populates causes a processor of the computer to populate a plurality of tags in the facet tree in accordance with a selected facet and in accordance with the authorized end-user tagging scenario, and to return a tagged facet tree to an end-user authorized to access only an authorized portion of the facet tree.   
   
   
       2 . The apparatus of  claim 1 , wherein the authorized end-user tagging scenario comprises: starting with a leaf node and populating selections upward to a root. 
   
   
       3 . The apparatus of  claim 1 , wherein the authorized end-user tagging scenario comprises: starting a root node and populating downward to all child nodes. 
   
   
       4 . The apparatus of  claim 1 , wherein the authorized end-user tagging scenario comprises: populating upward along all elements of a given path. 
   
   
       5 . The apparatus of  claim 1 , wherein the authorized end-user tagging scenario comprises: populating downward along all elements of a given path. 
   
   
       6 . The apparatus of  claim 1 , wherein the authorized end-user tagging scenario comprises: selecting all peer elements of a given node. 
   
   
       7 . The apparatus of  claim 1 , wherein the authorized end-user tagging scenario comprises: starting with a given, non-leaf node and populating upward along a path. 
   
   
       8 . The apparatus of  claim 1 , wherein the authorized end-user tagging scenario comprises: starting with a given, non-leaf node and populating downward along a path. 
   
   
       9 - 16 . (canceled) 
   
   
       17 . A computer program product comprising:
 a computer readable medium;   a web interface program stored in the computer readable medium; and   a tagging program stored in the computer readable medium;   wherein the web interface program and the tagging program contain a plurality of instructions adapted to cause a processor of a computer to perform steps comprising:   accessing a facet tree database, a rule database, and a scenario database; responsive to a user selection of an element of a facet tree from the facet tree database, and a scenario from the scenario database, applying tags to the facet tree in accordance with the scenario and the element; and   responsive to the scenario being an authorized user tagging scenario, allowing the user access to access only an authorized portion of the facet tree.   
   
   
       18 . The computer program product of  claim 17 , wherein the plurality of instructions are further adapted to cause the processor to perform at least one of the following steps:
 starting with a leaf node and populating selections upward to a root;   starting a root node and populating downward to all child nodes;   populating upward along all elements of a given path; populating downward along all elements of a given path;   selecting all peer elements of a given node;   starting with a given, non-leaf node and populating upward along a path; and   starting with a given, non-leaf node and populating downward along a path.