Systems and Method for Searching an Index

Abstract

Representative embodiments form an information set from a current set of index information available by operations of the pre-search and runtime search components of the search engine. A search request that contains search terms and/or other search criteria (e.g., date or file type) is entered by a user through an input interface. The search terms and the information set are worked through the search engine modules to provide results sought by the user. The results are provided to the user via an output interface. Embodiments involve converting a search request into a format of an index of documents, and then comparing the converted search request and the index for matches.

What is claimed is: 
     
         1 . A computer program product having a non-transitory computer-readable medium having computer program logic recorded thereon for restoring a document from its indexed state to its original state, including its original form and with its original formatting, including natural language information, wherein the document comprises a plurality of term units, wherein each term unit is discrete language information portion, the computer program product comprising:
 code for receiving a portion of an index corresponding to the document, wherein the index comprises a plurality of posits, and wherein each posit defines a location in the document for each term unit, wherein the index is a Windex comprising a plurality of Windex entries, wherein each Windex entry relates an encoding value for each term unit, and wherein the index comprises a plurality of Block Index entries, wherein each Block Index entry relates an encoding value and its associated Posit value;   code for forming an ordered Posit list from the portion, wherein the ordered posit list arranges each posit in numerical order;   code for forming an ordered Block Index from the portion, wherein each Block Index entry is arranged in accordance with the ordered Posit list;   code for generating a reformed document using the ordered Block Index and the Windex; and   code for returning the reformed document to a user.   
     
     
         2 . The computer program product of  claim 1 , wherein the computer program product resides on a device selected from at least one of: a computer, a laptop computer, a personal computer, a personal data assistant, a camera, a phone, a cell phone, a mobile phone, a computer server, a media server, a music player, a game box, a smart phone, a data storage device, a measuring device, a handheld scanner, a scanning device, a barcode reader, a POS device, a digital assistant, a desk phone, an IP phone, a solid-state memory device, a tablet, or a memory card. 
     
     
         3 . The computer program product of  claim 1 , wherein each term unit is one of a word, number, letter, symbol, a punctuation mark, and a text format. 
     
     
         4 . The computer program product of  claim 1 , wherein the term units comprise content term units and functional term units. 
     
     
         5 . The computer program product of  claim 4 , wherein numerical encoding for content term units has a different range than numerical encoding for functional term units. 
     
     
         6 . The computer program product of  claim 4 , wherein content term units comprise a plurality of different grammatical types. 
     
     
         7 . The computer program product of  claim 6 , wherein numerical encoding for content term units has a different range for each type. 
     
     
         8 . The computer program product of  claim 1 , wherein the document comprises information comprising at least one of: text, sound, speech, multimedia, or motion pictures. 
     
     
         9 . The computer program product of  claim 8 , wherein numerical encoding for each type has a different range than for other types. 
     
     
         10 . The computer program product of  claim 1 , wherein the index comprises a plurality of indexes, and the code for forming an ordered Posit list and the code for forming an ordered Block Index is operative for each index. 
     
     
         11 . The computer program product of  claim 1 , wherein the document comprises a plurality of documents; and the code for reforming and the code for returning is operative for each document of the plurality of documents. 
     
     
         12 . A computer program product having a non-transitory computer-readable medium having computer program logic recorded thereon, for restoring a document from its indexed state to its original state, including its original form and with its original formatting, including natural language information, wherein the document comprises a plurality of term units, wherein each term unit is discrete language information portion, wherein at least one term unit is a graphic, the computer program product comprising:
 code for receiving a portion of an index corresponding to the document, wherein the index comprises a plurality of posits, and wherein each posit defines a location in the document for each term unit, wherein the index is a Windex comprising a plurality of Windex entries, wherein each Windex entry relates an encoding value for each term unit and at least one entry for the graphic, and wherein the index comprises a plurality of Block Index entries, wherein each Block Index entry relates an encoding value and its associated Posit value;   code for forming an ordered Posit list from the portion, wherein the ordered posit list ranks each posit in numerical order;   code for forming an ordered Block Index from the portion, wherein each Block Index entry is arranged in accordance with the ordered Posit list;   code for generating a reformed document, including the graphic, using the ordered Block Index and the Windex; and   code for returning the reformed document to a user.   
     
     
         13 . The computer program product of  claim 12 , wherein the computer program product resides on a device selected from at least one of: a computer, a laptop computer, a personal computer, a personal data assistant, a camera, a phone, a cell phone, a mobile phone, a computer server, a media server, a music player, a game box, a smart phone, a data storage device, a measuring device, a handheld scanner, a scanning device, a barcode reader, a POS device, a digital assistant, a desk phone, an IP phone, a solid-state memory device, a tablet, or a memory card. 
     
     
         14 . The computer program product of  claim 12 , wherein each non-graphic term unit is one of a word, number, letter, symbol, a punctuation mark, and a text format. 
     
     
         15 . The computer program product of  claim 12 , wherein the term units comprise content term units and functional term units. 
     
     
         16 . The computer program product of  claim 15 , wherein numerical encoding for content term units has a different range than numerical encoding for functional term units. 
     
     
         17 . The computer program product of  claim 15 , wherein content term units comprise a plurality of different grammatical types. 
     
     
         18 . The computer program product of  claim 17 , wherein numerical encoding for content term units has a different range for each type.