Method and apparatus for information surveying

Abstract

An information resource manager initilizes a set of one or more predicates, where each predicate represents at least one of a property, attribute, trait, characteristic, function, relation, relationship, measurement, constraint, semantic property, action, coding sequence, objective, goal, and criteria. One or more facts are identified that satisfy each of the predicates, where at least one entity of the facts satisfies all predicates in the set of predicates. The one or more facts are grouped by a point of evidence to generate one or more groups of facts. The one or more groups of facts are sorted based on a number of predicates that have been satisfied. One or more duplicate groups of facts are rejected from the one or more groups of facts. One of group containment and group domination of the one or more groups of facts is designated as a partial order of the predicate lattice.

1 . A computer-implemented method to form a predicate lattice, the method comprising:
 initializing, by an information resource manager executed in a memory by a processor of a data processing system, a set of one or more predicates, wherein each predicate represents at least one of a property, attribute, trait, characteristic, function, relation, relationship, measurement, constraint, semantic property, action, coding sequence, objective, goal, and criteria;   identifying, by the information resource manager, one or more facts that satisfy each of the one or more predicates in the set, wherein each predicate in the set of predicates is satisfied by at least one of the one or more facts;   grouping the one or more facts by a point of evidence to generate one or more groups of facts;   sorting the one or more groups of facts based on a number of predicates that have been satisfied;   rejecting one or more duplicate groups of facts from the one or more groups of facts; and   designating one of group containment and group domination of the one or more groups of facts as a partial order of the predicate lattice.   
     
     
         2 . The method of  claim 1 , further comprising rejecting one of contained groups and dominated groups from the one or more groups of facts to form a maximal satisfiable element of the predicate lattice. 
     
     
         3 . The method of  claim 1 , further comprising:
 identifying one or more negative facts for unsatisfiability of each predicate;   grouping the one or more negative facts by the point of evidence to generate one or more groups of negative facts;   sorting, in ascending order, the one or more groups of negative facts based on a number of negative facts in a respective group;   rejecting one or more groups of negative facts that contain an identical subset of the set of predicates;   rejecting one or more groups of negative facts for which another group is a subset from the one or more groups of negative facts; and   rejecting one or more groups of negative facts that are subsets of maximal satisfiable predicate lattice elements.   
     
     
         4 . The method of  claim 1 , further comprising performing at least one operation on a fact structure selected from a group of operations consisting of generating, storing, applying, and maintaining a fact structure. 
     
     
         5 . The method of  claim 4 , wherein the fact structure includes at least one of a fact table and a fact index. 
     
     
         6 . The method of  claim 1 , further comprising performing at least one operation on a bitmap index selected from a group of operations consisting of generating, storing, applying, and maintaining a bitmap index. 
     
     
         7 . The method of  claim 1 , further comprising associating a predicate lattice element with an informational entity of an information resource. 
     
     
         8 . The method of  claim 7 , further comprising:
 putting predicates which are atoms of a predicate lattice into a strict order; and   associating a predicate lattice element with a predicate in the strict order, wherein the associated predicate lattice element contains the predicate.   
     
     
         9 . The method of  claim 7 , further comprising augmenting an index by associating a predicate lattice element with an index entry, wherein the predicate lattice element contains the index entry. 
     
     
         10 . The method of  claim 7 , further comprising augmenting a conceptual structure by associating a predicate lattice element with a component of the conceptual structure, wherein the predicate lattice element contains the component of the conceptual structure. 
     
     
         11 . The method of  claim 7 , further comprising augmenting a category system by associating a predicate lattice element with a category of the category system, wherein the predicate lattice element contains the category of the category system. 
     
     
         12 . The method of  claim 7 , further comprising augmenting a database system by associating a predicate lattice element with an attribute of the database system, wherein the predicate lattice element contains the attribute of the database system. 
     
     
         13 . The method of  claim 7 , further comprising augmenting an XML structure, and its functional equivalents, by associating a predicate lattice element with at least one of an XML element and an XML attribute of the XML structure, wherein the predicate lattice element contains at least one of the XML element and the XML attribute. 
     
     
         14 . A data processing system, comprising:
 a processor;   a memory coupled to the processor; and   an information resource manager executed in the memory by the processor, the information resource manager configured to perform operations, the operations including
 initializing a set of one or more predicates, wherein each predicate represents at least one of a property, attribute, trait, characteristic, function, relation, relationship, measurement, constraint, semantic property, action, coding sequence, objective, goal, and criteria, 
 identifying one or more facts that satisfy each of the one or more predicates in the set, wherein each predicate in the set of predicates is satisfied by at least one of the one or more facts; 
 grouping the one or more facts by a point of evidence to generate one or more groups of facts, 
 sorting the one or more groups of facts based on a number of predicates that have been satisfied, 
 rejecting one or more duplicate groups of facts from the one or more groups of facts, and 
 designating one of group containment and group domination of the one or more groups of facts as a partial order of the predicate lattice. 
   
     
     
         15 . The system of  claim 14 , wherein the information resource manager is configured to reject one of contained groups and dominated groups from the one or more groups of facts to form a maximal satisfiable element of the predicate lattice. 
     
     
         16 . The system of  claim 14 , wherein the information resource manager is configured to:
 identify one or more negative facts for unsatisfiability of each predicate,   group the one or more negative facts by the point of evidence to generate one or more groups of negative facts,   sort, in ascending order, the one or more groups of negative facts based on a number of negative facts in a respective group,   reject one or more groups of negative facts that contain an identical subset of the set of predicates,   reject one or more groups of negative facts for which another group is a subset from the one or more groups of negative facts, and   reject one or more groups of negative facts that are subsets of maximal satisfiable predicate lattice elements.   
     
     
         17 . A non-transitory computer-readable medium having instructions stored therein, which when executed by a computer, cause the computer to perform a method of forming a predicate lattice, the method comprising:
 initializing, by an information resource manager executed in a memory by a processor of a data processing system, a set of one or more predicates, wherein each predicate represents at least one of a property, attribute, trait, characteristic, function, relation, relationship, measurement, constraint, semantic property, action, coding sequence, objective, goal, and criteria;   identifying by the information resource manager, one or more facts that satisfy each of the one or more predicates in the set, wherein each predicate in the set of predicates is satisfied by at least one of the one or more facts;   grouping the one or more facts by a point of evidence to generate one or more groups of facts;   sorting the one or more groups of facts based on a number of predicates that have been satisfied;   rejecting one or more duplicate groups of facts from the one or more groups of facts; and   designating one of group containment and group domination of the one or more groups of facts as a partial order of the predicate lattice.   
     
     
         18 . The non-transitory computer-readable medium of  claim 17 , wherein the method further comprises rejecting one of contained groups and dominated groups from the one or more groups of facts to form a maximal satisfiable element of the predicate lattice. 
     
     
         19 . The non-transitory computer-readable medium of  claim 17 , wherein the method further comprises:
 identifying one or more negative facts for unsatisfiability of each predicate;   grouping the one or more negative facts by the point of evidence to generate one or more groups of negative facts;   sorting, in ascending order, the one or more groups of negative facts based on a number of negative facts in a respective group;   rejecting one or more groups of negative facts that contain an identical subset of the set of predicates;   rejecting one or more groups of negative facts for which another group is a subset from the one or more groups of negative facts; and   rejecting one or more groups of negative facts that are subsets of maximal satisfiable predicate lattice elements.   
     
     
         20 . The non-transitory computer-readable medium of  claim 17 , wherein the method further comprises performing at least one operation on a fact structure selected from a group of operations consisting of generating, storing, applying, and maintaining a fact structure.