Abstract:
A system and method for applying intensional category representations to provide dynamic categorization of information items in a data storage and retrieval system is disclosed. The disclosed system may apply pattern recognition techniques during information storage and retrieval to provide dynamic categorization of information items. Information items are categorized as they are observed. Information items may each be associated with one or more categories. An information item may become a member of a category either initially, when it is created, or subsequently by dynamic acquisition of certain properties. Category membership may be further be acquired or lost when property values are changed, and/or as a result of changes to properties or property values of referenced or referring information items. The disclosed information storage and retrieval system operates to categorize objects as they evolve over time. Properties may be added to information items, thus changing the structure of the information item, with the result that new functionality is dynamically associated with the information items.

Description:
FIELD OF THE INVENTION  
       [0001]     The present invention relates generally to the field of information storage and retrieval, and more specifically to an information storage and retrieval system having intensional category representations to provide dynamic categorization of information items.  
       BACKGROUND OF THE INVENTION  
       [0002]     Many types of software systems have been developed for storing and retrieving data. Relational databases are one type of solution that performs well in the specialized use areas they are designed for. However, relational databases are not applicable to all problems. It is generally understood that the performance of relational databases suffers when they are used to provide run-time flexibility in the information categories (i.e. tables) being stored.  
         [0003]     In the area of non-relational systems, some systems are referred to as “semi-structured”, in that they involve the storage and retrieval of “semi-structured” information, such as XML (extensible Markup Language) documents. For example, non-relational systems may be more suitable than relational systems for the storage, management, retrieval, and exchange of personal information, and/or information relating to information workers.  
         [0004]     Moreover, areas that have traditionally been approached using non-relational systems may not actually be cleanly reducible to a set of documents. Accordingly, existing “semi-structured” approaches may be inadequate for a category of data storage and retrieval applications. This category includes the storage and retrieval of personal information, and is characterized by high variability of the structure of the stored information. For example, a user of a personal information database may wish to store information regarding multiple personal contacts. However, when various communication modes are considered, the contact information stored for each contact is highly variable from contact to contact, and potentially also over time. Moreover, the functional context for each contact is also highly variable, since each piece of stored contact information for a given contact may or may not be relevant to a specific communication application. While existing systems using an XML-based approach have fared better than relational databases with regard to this problem, the information being represented is really not hierarchical, and imposing a hierarchy is the defining feature of the XML approach.  
         [0005]     Additionally, if it is desirable to share parts of documents in a document based system, there arises the problem of maintaining different document versions, and the resulting dependencies become too complex for a system in which the documents are totally independent. File systems also suffer from the same problem, since they are based on an independent container model.  
         [0006]     For the above reasons and others, it would be desirable to have a new system for information storage and retrieval that is applicable to problems not amenable to solution using relational databases, or using existing non-relational systems, such as existing semi-structured document-based systems, and necessarily having highly variable information structure. The new system should be applicable to storage, management, retrieval and exchange of various specific kinds of information, including personal information and/or information relating to information workers.  
       SUMMARY OF THE INVENTION  
       [0007]     To address the above described and other shortcomings of previous systems, a system and method for applying intensional category representations to provide dynamic categorization of information items in a data storage and retrieval system is disclosed. The dynamic categorization of information items provided by the disclosed system is performed automatically, independently with respect to information item creation or modification, and responsive to dynamic category creation or modification. Information items may be categorized as they are observed by the disclosed system, either in response to receipt of a query, or independent of query receipt. The disclosed system may apply pattern recognition or other appropriate techniques to information items during information storage and retrieval to provide dynamic categorization of the information items.  
         [0008]     Each information item in the disclosed system may be categorized such that it is associated with one or more categories. An information item may become a member of one or more categories as a result of its initial properties at its creation, though the categorization itself may be delayed to a point in time subsequent to creation of the information item. The categorization of an information item may further reflect properties acquired subsequent to its creation. The disclosed information storage and retrieval system classifies information items as they evolve over time, as categories are also dynamically added and/or modified over time. As a result of the disclosed categorization that detects the addition or removal of properties in the information items over time, functionality associated with those properties can be dynamically applied to the information items. Moreover, since the categories may also be added and/or modified over time, the disclosed system can dynamically vary the functionality associated with certain properties and applied to the information items.  
         [0009]     The disclosed system advantageously provides a model for data storage and retrieval which is at least as flexible as previous XML document-based, semi-structured information representation approaches, and provides sufficiently high performance in terms of data and knowledge retrieval time to meet various specific application requirements. 
     
    
     BRIEF DESCRIPTION OF THE DRAWINGS  
       [0010]     In order to facilitate a fuller understanding of the present invention, reference is now made to the appended drawings. These drawings should not be construed as limiting the present invention, but are intended to be exemplary only.  
         [0011]      FIG. 1  is a block diagram illustrating components of an embodiment of the disclosed intensional categorization system for information management; and  
         [0012]      FIG. 2  is a flow chart illustrating operation of an embodiment of the disclosed intensional categorization system for information management. 
     
    
     DETAILED DESCRIPTION OF EXEMPLARY EMBODIMENTS  
       [0013]     As shown in  FIG. 1 , components in an illustrative embodiment of the disclosed system in a data storage and retrieval kernel  5  include an information item and category creation and modification interface  7 , an information retrieval interface  9 , a number of Information Items  10 , and a number of Categories  12 . The Information Items  10  and Categories  12  are stored separately, in that they are logically independent, and the Categories  12  maintain no references (e.g. pointers) to or identifications (e.g. names) of the items they include. Advantageously, the structures of the information items within the Information Items  10  may be highly variable. First, different ones of the Information Items  10  may include different numbers of properties having associated values. Thus the Information Items  10  may each have different numbers of properties. Additionally, the number of properties for a given one of the Information Items  10  may change over time. For purposes of illustration, the Information Item  14  is shown including Properties  16 , each having a corresponding one of the Values  18 . Values of the properties for the Information Items  10  may also change dynamically.  
         [0014]     The Information Items  10  may include any specific types of information. In one embodiment, the Information Items  10  include personal information maintained by individuals themselves during and/or for their general, daily, and/or professional activities, and the properties of each of the Information Items  10  may accordingly include corresponding personal information properties. Such personal information properties may, for example, include various types of contact information, such as postal addresses, electronic mail addresses, telephone numbers, persons&#39; names, and any other type of contact information. Personal information properties may further include information regarding personal activities, to do lists, schedule information including appointment dates and times, and any other type of personal information. The preceding examples of personal information properties are given only for purposes of explanation, and the disclosed system is not so limited. Accordingly, the disclosed system may be implemented in embodiments using any other specific type of personal information, or any other non-personal information.  
         [0015]     Each of the categories  12  includes or is associated with a predicate, which may be embodied as a software routine or software routine with a Boolean result. The predicate for a category provides a test for an information item to which the predicate is applied. If an information item passes the test defined by the predicate of a category, then the information item is considered to be contained within the category, and an association may be formed between the information item and the category. The disclosed system uses “intensional” category assignment, in that each category includes a predicate which, applied to an information item, logically returns true or false with respect to whether the information item belongs in that category. This approach is distinct from previous “extensional” approaches, which rely on information item identities and categories that include the information item lists. In traditional relational databases, only extensional categorization has been supported, represented by the table membership of the records in the database. Such existing systems have not supported testing of the contents of a record to determine which table it belongs to.  
         [0016]     General definitions for “intensional definition” may be found in various sources. In the area of logic, an intensional definition gives the meaning of a term by giving all the properties required for something to fall under that definition—the necessary and sufficient conditions for belonging to a set being defined. One example of an intensional definition of “bachelor” is “unmarried man.” This is because being an unmarried man is an essential property of something referred to as a bachelor. Being an unmarried man is a necessary condition of being a bachelor—one cannot be a bachelor without being an unmarried man. Being an unmarried man is also a sufficient condition of being a bachelor—any unmarried man is a bachelor. The intensional definition approach is opposite to the extensional definition approach, which defines by listing everything falling under a definition. Accordingly, an extensional definition of “bachelor” would be a listing of all the unmarried men in the world. In this regard, intensional definitions are best used when something has a clearly-defined set of properties, and work well for sets that are too large to list in an extensional definition. Moreover, it is impossible to give an extensional definition for an infinite set, but an intensional one can often be stated concisely. For example, while the infinite number of even numbers makes them impossible to list, they can be defined intensionally by saying that even numbers are integer multiples of two.  
         [0017]     The predicates used in the assignment process provided by the disclosed system advantageously provide intensional definitions for corresponding ones of the categories  12 . Accordingly, each predicate of the disclosed system tests the properties of an information item to determine if that information item belongs to the category defined by the predicate. The intensional definition of categories in the disclosed system enables categorization of information items at run time, and accordingly allows information items to dynamically change their categorical membership. The disclosed system enables checking information items at any time to determine whether they have changed category membership. Each category must accordingly at least include a category name and a predicate which can be applied to an information item to determine if the information item belongs to the category.  
         [0018]     In the embodiment of  FIG. 1 , each of the categories  12  has a corresponding predicate. Thus category  21  corresponds to Predicate A  22 , category  23  corresponds to Predicate B  24 , category  25  corresponds to Predicate C  26 , and category  27  corresponds to Predicate D  28 . While for purposes of concise illustration, only four example categories are shown in the categories  12  of  FIG. 1 , the disclosed system is not so limited, and may be embodied using any specific number of categories.  
         [0019]     The predicates for the categories  12  may each be satisfied by a different set of the information items  10 . If one of the information items  10  satisfies any one of the predicates for the categories  12 , it may be considered as belonging to the corresponding category for any processing or handling that might be associated with that corresponding category at any point during the processing of that information item. Additionally, if one of the information items  10  satisfies a predicate for one of the categories  12 , then that information item can be included when all the members of the category are enumerated or otherwise processed at any point.  
         [0020]     The information item and category creation and modification interface  7  permits information items  10  to be created and/or modified dynamically, and independently permits categories  12  to be created dynamically. The interface  7  may be embodied to allow information item creation and/or modification operations to be performed directly or indirectly by a user, for example in an embodiment where the disclosed system stores personal information for that user. Such user controlled actions may, for example, be provided by through graphical user interface (GUI) or the like associated with or provided by the interface  7 . The interface  7  may also or alternatively allow information item creation and/or modification by software programs and/or processes external to the data storage and retrieval kernel  5 . Such actions may, for example, be provided through an application programming interface (API) or the like associated with or provided by the interface  7 .  
         [0021]     In a preferred embodiment, item modifications are provided in two different ways, depending on how categories are configured. Synchronous categories require that item modification operations are reflected immediately in the results of any subsequent information retrieval operations. In this way, a category can be configured such that when an item modification affecting the membership of that category returns a completion status, all subsequent queries will return results that completely reflect that modification. Asynchronous categories do not require immediate consistency with the modifications in subsequent information retrieval operations.  
         [0022]     The information retrieval interface  9  permits retrieval of information items  10  dynamically and independently from the categorization of the information items  10  based on the categories  12 . The interface  9  may be embodied to allow information item retrieval to be performed directly or indirectly by a user, for example in an embodiment where the disclosed system stores personal information for that user. Such user controlled actions may, for example, be provided by through graphical user interface (GUI) or the like associated with or provided by the interface  9 . Information item retrieval through the interface  9  is accomplished in a preferred embodiment based on input information retrieval queries including one or more category names associated with corresponding ones of the categories  12 . The information items returned in response to such queries reflect the categorization of information items  10  based on the ones of categories  10  indicated by the category names contained in such queries. The interface  9  may be embodied such that any specific query language, including by not limited to SQL (Structured Query Language) or the like, may be used to indicate the information items to be retrieved. The interface  9  may also or alternatively allow information item retrieval by software programs and/or processes external to the data storage and retrieval kernel  5 . Such actions may, for example, be provided through an application programming interface (API) or the like associated with or provided by the interface  7 .  
         [0023]     Automatically pre-computed category membership data structures  29  may be used to support the information item retrieval interface  9  in order to provide better response times for queries, including those queries that may use category definitions as part of the query. The data structures  29  may be created or modified automatically, synchronously or asynchronously, in response to the items or categories being created or modified via the information and category creation and modification interface  7 .  
         [0024]     Any application may operate using or based on the dynamic categorizations provided by the disclosed system. For example, in one embodiment, a search application or tool may operate to perform searches and apply rankings of the search results based on categorizations of information items provided by the disclosed system. In such an embodiment the search tool might respond to a search query by searching only for information items belonging to some combination of categories  12 .  
         [0025]     Any specific intensional definition can be used in the predicates for the categories of the disclosed system. For example, a predicate may test an information item for the existence in an information item of all properties in a set of one or more properties. Or, a predicate may test an information item for the presence of at least one property within a set of properties. Another type of predicate may test the cardinality of certain properties. Such a predicate may test whether an information has a specific property, and whether the information item has some predetermined number of values for that property. If the information item does not have the predetermined number of values for the property, then such a predicate is not satisfied.  
         [0026]     The disclosed system may further include value-based predicates, which test for certain property values. Value-based predicates may test any specific property for any specific value. For example, these predicates may test whether a Boolean property has a true or a false value, whether a zip code property has a certain zip code value, whether a price property has a value between a minimum and a maximum price, whether a date property is between a starting date and an ending date, etc.  
         [0027]     Another type of predicate that may be used in an embodiment of the disclosed system tests one or more referential properties of an information item. These predicates test whether a value of a property is a reference (e.g. pointer) to another information item belonging to a specified category or set of categories.  
         [0028]     The above described predicate examples are given for purposes of explanation only, and those skilled in the art will recognize that the disclosed system is not limited to those specific types of predicates, and that other types of predicates may readily be used in the alternative or additionally.  
         [0029]     The intensional category definitions of the disclosed system may associate various combinations of information items into categories. For example, with reference to  FIG. 1 , Category  21  has Predicate A  22 , which may be satisfied by Information Item  1   14  and Information Item  2   15 . Category  23  has Predicate B  24 , which may be satisfied by Information Item  1   14 , Information Item  4   17 , and Information Item  5   18 . Category  25  is shown having Predicate  26 , which may be satisfied by none of the Information Items  10 , and Category  27  has Predicate  28 , which may be satisfied by all of the Information Items  10 . Over time, the specific ones of Information Items  10  that satisfy specific ones of the predicates for the Categories  12  may change as the properties of the Information Items  10  change.  
         [0030]     The previous examples are given for purposes of explanation only, in order to illustrate the categorization process of the disclosed system. Accordingly, predicates within an embodiment of the disclosed system may operate to categorize information items across specific categories in various specific combinations.  
         [0031]     As shown in  FIG. 2 , information items may pass through a series of steps or actions  30 ,  31 ,  32 ,  34 ,  36 , and/or  38 . At step  30 , the information items are either created, or subsequently modified. Information items may, for example, be created by being manually inserted by a user through a user interface, or by being automatically inserted as a result of information received over network. At step  31 , categories are either created, or subsequently modified. Categories may, for example, be created or modified as a result of installation of an application program, activities performed during execution of an application program, user activities, and/or other events. By providing for on-going introduction of new and modification of existing categories, the disclosed system allows for dynamic participation of newly created, modified, or previously existing information items in one or more new or modified categories. A categorization step  32  then applies the predicate or predicates associated with one or more categories to the information items, in order to assign each information item to one or more categories. Step  32  may, for example, be performed at the same time as creation/modification, or at any subsequent point in time. The categorization of an information item may reflect the run time addition of or modification to one or more properties of the information item (in step  30  for example), and/or the run time addition of or modification to one or more categories (in step  31  for example), independent of the categorization step  32 . Advantageously, the categorization step  32  may be performed automatically, independent and asynchronous with respect to the creation and/or modification of the information items, and/or with respect to the creation and/or modification of categories, allowing significant performance optimizations.  
         [0032]     The assignment of items to one or more categories may be embodied in various ways. For example, a number of automatically pre-computed category membership data structures may be created or modified at step  32 . These data structures may be used subsequently for efficiently identifying items to be retrieved that satisfy queries expressed at least in part using the category definitions.  
         [0033]     At step  34 , the automatically computed data structures from step  32  may be used to support user operations or information rendering, such as category specific processing of user queries or requests, and/or category specific presentation of information items to the user based on category. For example, a user can request a retrieval and display of all information items relating to one or more categories that was applied at step  32 . Additionally, the categorization at step  32  may enable a user to conveniently request and obtain a display of all information items related to a category for a specific work project, one or more application programs, or any other relevant category.  
         [0034]     The categories associated with the information items at step  32  may also or alternatively be used to facilitate application of certain functionality to the information items at step  36 , independent from and transparent to the user. In one example, where a category is used to identify those information items associated with an electronic mail (“email”) application, the presence of an indication of a destination email address property within the information item may satisfy the associated predicate. Satisfaction of such a predicate may be based on a pattern matching function that tests the information item for the existence of any specific property denoting a destination email address. If such a property exists on the information item, the category forms an association between the information item and the email application, or provides an indication that the information item is associated with the email application. Accordingly, based on the categorization provided at step  32 , possibly in response to detection of a destination email address property or the like as a property in an information item, functionality provided at step  36  may responsively present a SEND button display object to the user within a graphical user interface while the user is viewing that information item. Or, in the case where the SEND button display object had previously been grayed out, the disclosed system may operate to un-gray the button in response to the categorization at step  32  when the user is viewing such an information item. Thus an information item initially created as a text processing document, which has subsequently had attached to it a destination email address property or the like, may be automatically categorized as an email document, and based on that categorization can be subsequently treated by other applications as an email message. Those skilled in the art will recognize that various other specific function may be provided at step  36  in response to the specific categorization performed at step  32  for an information item.  
         [0035]     Properties or values of the information items, such as the above described destination email address property, may be added to, modified, or removed from information items during information modification at step  30 , and/or in response to various user actions performed at step  38 . Thus the disclosed system provides an application independent information item categorization step at step  32 . The item categorization at step  32  operates using intensional category predicates independent from any subsequent use of the categories associated with the information items, and also independent from the step of modifying the information items. As an information item is recognized as a member of a new category, the overall system gains any resulting advantages that come with being able to treat the item as a member of the new category. Such benefits of newly determined category membership may make the information item more useful, or more easily accessible for certain purposes. Certain categories might be more significant for certain applications, and may result in a reduction in the amount of work in terms of how the information item is retrieved.  
         [0036]     The disclosed system provides significant advantages over traditional systems, in which categories are established at information item creation time, and maintained throughout the information item&#39;s lifetime. It allows improved flexibility in the structure in which items are represented during their lifetimes, as they acquire new properties or change existing ones without needing to be recreated.  
         [0037]      FIGS. 1-2  are block diagram and flowchart illustrations of methods, apparatus(s) and computer program products according to an embodiment of the invention. It will be understood that each block of  FIGS. 1-2 , and combinations of these blocks, can be implemented by computer program instructions. These computer program instructions may be loaded onto a computer or other programmable data processing apparatus to produce a machine, such that the instructions which execute on the computer or other programmable data processing apparatus create means for implementing the functions specified in the block or blocks. These computer program instructions may also be stored in a computer-readable memory that can direct a computer or other programmable data processing apparatus to function in a particular manner, such that the instructions stored in the computer-readable memory produce an article of manufacture including instruction means which implement the function specified in the block or blocks. The computer program instructions may also be loaded onto a computer or other programmable data processing apparatus to cause a series of operational steps to be performed on the computer or other programmable apparatus to produce a computer implemented process such that the instructions which execute on the computer or other programmable apparatus provide steps for implementing the functions specified in the block or blocks.  
         [0038]     Those skilled in the art should readily appreciate that programs defining the functions of the present invention can be delivered to a computer in many forms; including, but not limited to: (a) information permanently stored on non-writable storage media (e.g. read only memory devices within a computer such as ROM or CD-ROM disks readable by a computer I/O attachment); (b) information alterably stored on writable storage media (e.g. floppy disks and hard drives); or (c) information conveyed to a computer through communication media for example using wireless, baseband signaling or broadband signaling techniques, including carrier wave signaling techniques, such as over computer or telephone networks via a modem.  
         [0039]     While the invention is described through the above exemplary embodiments, it will be understood by those of ordinary skill in the art that modification to and variation of the illustrated embodiments may be made without departing from the inventive concepts herein disclosed. Moreover, while the preferred embodiments are described in connection with various illustrative program command structures, one skilled in the art will recognize that they may be embodied using a variety of specific command structures. Accordingly, the invention should not be viewed as limited except by the scope and spirit of the appended claims.