Patent Publication Number: US-2007118517-A1

Title: Information management method using key-coded words

Description:
FIELD OF THE INVENTION  
      This invention relates to information management to make the connection between depositor who stores information of at least one item thereof into data-storage and searcher who searches the item interesting.  
     BACKGROUND AND SUMMARY OF THE INVENTION  
      It has been taken substantial part of lifetime as a searcher to search for interesting items and depositors. Also, the depositor spends considerable time and money so as to be contacted by the searchers who are interested in the item.  
      It is relatively common in the computerized searching environment to use words of natural language, for the depositor to use text-words to store information of the associated item, and for the searcher to use keywords to retrieve the depositor of which the text-words are matched with the keywords of the searcher.  
      The text-word and keyword each are a literal value of which the meaning also implies at least one of subject-matters of the item and the associated depositor, such as item-title, item-function, item-category, item-locality, depositor-title, and others. In the case that the word can explicitly express the particular subject-matter implied with the word, the retrieving process can be much easier, faster, and more precise.  
      The conventional methods and the related art for the retrieval system are involved to search all the data or outlines of the data stored in the system, and the outlines are in the narrative or preformatted form. In many of those approaches to the data, the system is engaged to extract, convert, index, generate, parse, normalize, or parameterize the data stored in the system. The role of the system is to adapt the term representation rules which are so numerous and various with the symbolic meanings of the terms. Therefore it is difficult to have the consensus for the implied meanings between the text-words and the keywords unless the sophisticated and huge directory lists are provided to assist the searchers, resulting to the unexpected retrievals especially in real time with the full text query.  
      The prior attempts described in U.S. Pat. No. 6,687,711 issued Feb. 3, 2004 and U.S. Pub. 20050251534 dated Nov. 10, 2005, to Nunez, show methods engaged to parameterize the data value in a file by pairing the data value with the parameter name which is created by the system or by the creator of the system. Nunez&#39;s methods have the burden of the data conversion and the data size. Also the parameter names stored in the system are not cleared for the searchers to presume the specific parameter name for the particular keyword.  
      This invention is drafted by pre-analyzing the subject-matters of the item and the associated depositor, and by predefining a plurality of key-codes of which each stands for at least one of the pre-analyzed subject-matters. The text-word and keyword each are attached with the appropriate key-code to explicitly express the subject-matter implied with the word, so as to attain the consensus between the depositor and the searcher, not only for the single keyword query but also for the full text query.  
      The object of this invention is to make the retrieved result more precise in the logically and explicitly intended manner.  
      Another object is to make the data size smaller, to make the data storing process easier to handle, to make the retrieval process faster, and to display the retrieved result in less space on the screen of the monitor.  
      Another object is to eliminate the directory lists needed to assist the depositor and searcher.  
      Another object is to provide the guide to the possible text-words and keywords with respect to the pre-analyzed subject-matters, in the same manner with the depositor and searcher each other.  
      The effect of the above advantages is increased for the depositor and searcher who use the portable computer with small sized monitor such as cellular phone, wireless PDA, and wireless pocket PC. 
    
    
     BRIEF DESCRIPTION OF THE DRAWINGS  
       FIG. 1  is a diagram showing an overall exemplary system for this invention.  
       FIG. 2  is a diagram showing a portion of an optical interface for a depositor with a submit button and a text field showing key-coded text-words therein.  
       FIG. 2A  is a diagram showing the key-coded text-words in  FIG. 2  in detail.  
       FIG. 3  is a diagram showing a portion of an optical interface for a searcher with a search button and a text field showing key-coded keywords therein.  
       FIG. 4  is a diagram showing the structure for a supplier entity in data-storage.  
       FIG. 5  is a diagram showing the structure for a receiver entity in data-storage.  
       FIG. 6  is a diagram showing the structure modified from  FIG. 4 , which further includes an item entity.  
       FIG. 7  is a diagram showing the structure modified from  FIG. 6 , which further includes a coded-texts entity.  
    
    
     DETAILED DESCRIPTION  
       FIG. 1  shows an exemplary embodiment  10  for this invention comprises a plurality of client computers  11 , a server  12 , and internet-network connections  19  to the client computers and the server. The client computers  11  and the server  12 , each has typical components such as processor (e.g. CPU) (not shown), communication devise (e.g. network card, router, modem card) (not shown), operation program (e.g. Windows, Mac, Linux)  14 , and memory (e.g. hard disk, CD, tape) (not shown). The client computer  11  further includes input device (e.g. key-board, mouse) (not shown) and output devise (e.g. monitor, printer) (not shown).  
      The server  12  further includes application-program  16  and data-storage  18 . The data-storage  18  (e.g. data file, database file, database file with the nested database files) which contains the data in the various format (e.g. TXT, PDF, MDB, HTML) and in the various structure (e.g. spread-sheet, relational database model, network database model), is saved in the memory of the server  12 . The application program  16  has functionalities to manipulate, text-search, and retrieve the data stored in the data-storage  18 , using programming-languages (e.g. HTML, ASP, Cold-Fusion, JSP, SQL). The application program  16 , also has functionalities to provide optical interfaces  30  in  FIG. 2, 40  in  FIG. 3  to the client computers  11  so as to listen and respond back to the events (e.g. mouse-click, keyboard-typing) of clients  20 . The operation program  14  has functions to communicate with the client computers  11  and the application program  16 .  
      The client  20  is the one who use client computer  11  which is connected to the server  12 . The client  20  represents one of an individual, a group of individuals, a team, a company, a corporation, an organization, a web-site published, and other which can be identified as an entity with the unique name thereof.  
      The Client  20  is also entitled as a depositor  22  or a searcher  24 . The depositor  22  is allowed to store the information of at least one item thereof with one or more text-words  31 W in  FIG. 2A  into the data-storage  18 . The searcher  24  is the one who requests to search and retrieve the data stored in the data-storage  18 , using one or more keywords  41 W in  FIG. 3 .  
      The client  20  is also entitled as a supplier  22 S,  24 S or a receiver  22 R,  24 R. The supplier  22 S,  24 S is the one who has capability to assign, initiate, sell, perform, or otherwise supply at least one item. The receiver  22 R,  24 R is the one who is willing to be assigned, be initiated, buy, hire, or otherwise receive the item. The supplier  22 S who is also the depositor  22 , stores the information of the associated item into the data-storage  18  as a supplier entity  50 S in  FIG. 4 , expecting to be searched and get retrieved by the receiver  24 R who is also the searcher  24 . The receiver  22 R who is also the depositor  22 , stores the information of the associated item into the data-storage  18  as a receiver entity  50 R in  FIG. 5 , expecting to be searched and get retrieved by the supplier  24 S who is also the searcher  24 .  
       FIG. 2  shows a portion of an optical interface  30  which is provided by the server  12  to the depositor  22 , showing a text field  32  and a submit button  34 . The text field  32  allows the depositor  22  to input the text-words  31 W in  FIG. 2A . The submit button  34  allows the depositor to mouse-click to send the inputted text-words to the server  12 , so that the server can store the text-words into the data-storage  18 .  
       FIG. 3  shows a portion of another optical interface  40  which is provided by the server  12  to the searcher  24 , showing a text field  42  and a search button  44 . The text field  42  allows the searcher  24  to input the keywords  41 W, and the search button  44  allows the searcher to mouse-click to send the inputted keywords to the server  12 , so that the server  12  can search the text-words  31 W in the data-storage  18 , retrieve the items of which the text-words  31 W are matched with the keywords  41 W, and then return the retrieved result back to the searcher. The retrieved result includes the contact information of the associated depositors  22  so that the searcher  24  can select one or more depositors  22  to contact to.  
       FIG. 4  and  FIG. 5  show the exemplary data structures of the supplier entity  50 S and the receiver entity  50 R respectively, and both entities  50 S,  50 R are also entitled as the depositor entity  50 . The supplier entity  50 S and receiver entity  50 R each have the attributes of name  52 S,  52 R, address  53 S,  53 R, and phone-number  54 S,  54 R, which contain the contact information of the supplier  22 S and receiver  22 R respectively. The supplier entity  50 S and receiver entity  50 R each also have the attribute of item-description  56 S,  56 R which contains the detailed data of the associated item with the text-words  31 W provided by the supplier  22 S and receiver  22 R respectively. The supplier entity  50 S and the receiver entity  50 R each also have the supplier-ID  51 S and the receiver-ID  51 R respectively, which uniquely identify the supplier  22 S and receiver  22 R respectively.  
      Since nowadays the dominant type of database is the relational database model, this embodiment  10  shows a portion of the relational database structure for the illustration purpose, such that the supplier entity  50 S and receiver entity  50 R each are considered as a record-row of a “suppliers” table and “receivers” table respectively, and each attribute  51 S,  52 S,  53 S,  54 S,  56 S in  FIG. 4, 51R ,  52 R,  53 R,  54 R,  56 R in  FIG. 5  of the entities  50 S,  50 R is considered as a field-column of the corresponding table.  
      The item can be classified into one of a plurality of classes, such as material, product, money, business, real estate, work, knowledge, know-how, concept, technique, license, and other of which the items are interrelated with each other. One or more classes can be grouped together, and each group of the classes can be stored in the system memory separately from the other groups. Therefore, as the data volume grow, the data storing process can be easier to manage, and the data searching and retrieving process can be faster.  
      The text-word  31 W in  FIG. 2A  and keyword  41 W in  FIG. 4  each, referred as a word  31 W,  41 W, are a literal value of which the meaning also implies at least one of subject-matters of the item and the associated depositor  22 . The subject-matters can be analyzed into item-title, item-function, object of the item-function, item-category, item-locality, depositor-title, depositor-function, object of the depositor-function, object of the item-function, reference, certificate, experience, and other which is considered as the appropriate subject-matter with respect to the specific rules and characteristics commonly recognized by the community related to the item.  
      The words  31 W,  41 W can be considered as the tool to communicate with the depositor  22  and the searcher  24  each other. This invention provides the improved communication tool which is implemented with a plurality of predefined key-codes  31 K in  FIG. 2A, 41K  in  FIG. 3  of which each stands for at least one of the pre-analyzed subject-matters.  
      The word  31 W,  41 W is attached with at least one appropriate key-code  31 K,  41 K to explicitly express the subject-matter implied with the word, forming a key-coded word  31 ,  41 . The depositor  22  use the text-word  31 W attached with the key-code  31 K, referred as a key-coded text-word  31  in  FIG. 2A . And the searcher  24  use the keyword  41 W attached with the key-code  41 K, referred as a key-coded keyword  41  in  FIG. 3 . Since the depositor  22  and the searcher  24  use the same key-codes  31 K,  41 K, the key-coded text-word  31  and the key-coded keyword  41  can be recognized and utilized by the depositor and the searcher respectively in the same manner with each other so as to attain the consensus in communicating with each other.  
      Definitions for the specific key-codes  31 K,  41 K, are listed as following 1 to 10:  
      1. The text-word  31 W and keyword  41 W each, which define on at least one of the subject-matters of the depositor-title and depositor-function, are suffixed by a pair of the specific key-code  31 K,  41 K, for example, a pair of the “colon” key-code such as (::).  
      2. The text-word  31 W and keyword  41 W each, which define on the supplement to at least one of the subject-matters of the depositor-title and depositor-function, are suffixed by two specific key-codes  31 K,  41 K, for example, the “colon” key-code and the “hyphen” key-code such as (:-) or (-:).  
      3. The text-word  31 W and keyword  41 W each, which define on at least one of the subject-matters of the reference, certificate, experience, and superiority, which are supplementary to the subject-matters of the depositor-title and depositor-function, are suffixed by two specific key-codes  31 K,  41 K, for example, the “colon” key-code and the “asterisk” key-code such as (:*) or (*:).  
      4. The text-word  31 W and keyword  41 W each, which define on at least one of the subject-matters of the item-title, item-function, object of the depositor-function, and leaf-level of item-category, are suffixed by a pair of the specific key-code  31 K,  41 K, for example, a pair of the “semicolon” key-code such as (;;).  
      5. The text-word  31 W and keyword  41 W each, which define on the supplement to at least one of the subject-matters of the item-title, item-function, object of the depositor-function, and leaf-level of item-category, are suffixed by two specific key-codes  31 K,  41 K, for example, the “semicolon” key-code and the “hyphen” key-code such as (;-) or (-;).  
      6. The text-word  31 W and keyword  41 W each, which define on at least one of the subject-matters of the reference, certificate, experience, and superiority, which are supplementary to the subject-matters of the item-title, item-function, object of the depositor-function, and leaf-level of item-category, are suffixed by two specific key-codes  31 K,  41 K, for example, the “semicolon” key-code and the “asterisk” key-code such as (;*) or (*;).  
      7. The text-word  31 W and keyword  41 W each, which define on the subject-matter of the object of the item-function, are suffixed by a pair of the specific key-code  31 K,  41 K, for example, a pair of the “comma” key-code such as (,,).  
      8. The text-word  31 W and keyword  41 W each, which define on the supplement to the subject-matter of the object of the item-function, are suffixed by two specific key-codes  31 K,  41 K, for example, the “comma” key-code and the “hyphen” key-code such as (,-) or (-,).  
      9. The text-word  31 W and keyword  41 W each, which define on the subject-matter of the item-locality to express the geographic area to which the item and the associated depositor can support, are suffixed by a pair of the specific key-code  31 K,  41 K, for example, a pair of the “backward slash” key-code such as (\).  
      10. The text-word  31 W and keyword  41 W each, which define on the subject-matter of the super-level of item-category which is other than the leaf-level of item-category, are suffixed by a pair of the specific key-code  31 K,  41 K, for example, a pair of the “forward slash” key-code such as (//).  
      The above definitions 1 to 10 for the key-codes  31 K,  41 K, are provisional to illustrate this invention. And also any other key-codes can be assigned for the other specific subject-matters of the item, for example, a pair of the “dollar sign” key-code such as ($$) for the item-price, a pair of the “pound sign” key-code such as (##) for the item-size, and a pair of the “circumflex” key-code such as (ˆˆ) for the item-date.  
      Cases of the actual use of the key-coded text-words  31  and key-coded keywords  41  are listed as following A to D:  
      A. In the case that a handbag wholesaler wants to be contacted by the potential handbag retailers, the wholesaler is the supplier  22 S and also the depositor  22 , the retailers are the receivers  24 R and also the searchers  24 , and the handbag is the item.  
      More specifically as shown in  FIG. 2 ,  FIG. 2A  and  FIG. 3 , the word  31 W,  41 W, “wholesale” which defines on the depositor-function, is suffixed by a pair of the “colon” key-code  31 K,  41 K such as (::), as illustrated in the above definition 1. The words  31 W,  41 W, “handbag” and “wallet” each, which define on the item-title, leaf-level of item-category, and object of the depositor-function, are suffixed by a pair of the “semicolon” key-code  31 K,  41 K such as (;;), as illustrated in the above definition 4. The words  31 W,  41 W, “fashion”, “women”, and “accessory” each, which define on the super-level of the item-category, are suffixed by a pair of the “forward slash” key-code  31 K,  41 K such as (II), as illustrated in the above definition 10. The word  31 W,  41 W, “brand” which defines on the supplement to the item, is suffixed by the “hyphen” key-code  31 K,  41 K and the “semicolon” key-code such as (;-) or (-;), as illustrated in the above instruction 5.  
       FIG. 2A  shows an example of the actual use of the key-coded text-words  31  inputted into the text field  32  by the depositor  22  in the above case A, as following;  
      “wholesale::fashion//accessory//women//handbag;;wallet;;brand-;”.  
       FIG. 3  shows an example of the actual use of the key-coded keywords  41  inputted into the text field  42  by the searcher  24  in the above case A, is as following;  
      “wholesale::handbag;;brand-;”.  
      B. In the case that a bank, which has the specific loan programs, wants to be contacted by the potential borrowers, the bank is the supplier  22 S and also the depositor  22 , the borrowers are the receivers  24 R and also the searchers  24 , and the money with the specific loan program is the item.  
      An example of the actual use of the key-coded text-words  31  and key-coded keywords  41  in the above case B, is as following;  
      “direct-:lender::quick-;low-;fixed-;home-;equity-;loan;;”.  
      C. In the case that a roofing company wants to be contacted by the potential customers, the company is the supplier  22 S and also the depositor  22 , the customers are the receivers  24 R and also the searchers  24 , and the roofing work is the item.  
      An example of the actual use of the key-coded text-words  31  and key-coded keywords  41  in the above case C, is as following;  
      “licensed*:roofer::Houston\\roofing;;repair;;fix;;install;;leak-,old-,roof,,”.  
      D. In the case that a hirer, which has a job opened for the specific work, wants to be contacted by the potential workers, the hirer is the receiver  22 R and also the depositor  22 , the workers are the suppliers  24 S and also the searchers  24 , and the job for the specific work is the item.  
      An example of the actual use of the key-coded text-words  31  and key-coded keywords  41  in the above case D, is as following;  
      “employer::3-yrs*;asp-;oracle-;programer;;administrate;;website,,”.  
      As illustrated in the above definitions 1 to 10 and cases A to D, an advantage of this invention is that the order of the key-coded words  31 ,  41  is insensitive in understanding the context of the key-coded words, since the key-codes  31 K,  41 K of the key-coded words are self explanatory of the relationship with the other key-coded words.  
      Another advantage is that the space delimiter is not required to delimit the key-coded words  31 .  41  each other, since each key-coded word  31 ,  41  is ended by the suffixed key-code  31 K,  41 K which can function to delimit the following key-coded word.  
      Another advantage is that the key-codes  31 K,  41 K can be utilized as the guide to the possible text-words  31 W and keywords  41 W with respect to the pre-analyzed subject-matters, in the same manner with the depositors  22  and searchers  24  each other.  
      Another advantage is that the directory lists, such as the lists of item-title, depositor-title, hierarchical category, and geographic area, which may be needed to assist the depositors  22  and searchers  24 , can be eliminated, since the key-coded words  31 ,  41  are self explanatory of the subject-matters of those lists.  
      Another advantage is that the data with the key-coded words  31  are relatively small in size, so that the data storing process can be easier to manage, the data retrieving process can be faster, and the retrieved result can be displayed in less space on the screen of the monitor.  
      Another advantage is that the retrieved result can be more precise in the logically and explicitly intended manner, since the depositors  22  and searchers  24  use the same key-codes  31 K,  41 K to attain consensus with each other. This effect is increased when the searcher  24  uses two or more key-coded keywords  41  to set the condition for the retrieval, so called “full text query”.  
      The effect of the above advantages is increased for the depositor  22  and searcher  24  who use the portable computer with small sized monitor, such as the cellular phone, wireless PDA, and wireless pocket PC.  
      As shown in  FIG. 4  and  FIG. 5 , the supplier entity  50 S and receiver entity  50 R each also have a coded-texts attribute  58 S in  FIG. 4, 58R  in  FIG. 5  which contains one or more key-coded text-words  31  in  FIG. 2A  which are abstracted in the relatively small data size with sole purpose to be searched and get retrieved. Therefore the retrieving process can be faster, and the retrieval result can be more precise in the explicitly intended manner.  
       FIG. 6  shows the database structure modified from  FIG. 4 , which further includes an item entity  60 S for the item which is not interrelated with other items. The attributes of the item-description  56 S in  FIG. 4  and the coded-texts  58 S in  FIG. 4  are relocated to the associated item entity  60 S. The item entity  60 S also has an item-ID  61 S which uniquely identifies the particular item and a supplier-ID  51 S which is utilized to cross-reference to the same supplier-ID  51 S in the associated supplier entity  50 S. Therefore, when the supplier entity  50 S has two or more items which are not interrelated each other, the information of each item can be stored as the item entity  60 S separately from other item entities.  
       FIG. 7  shows the database structure modified from  FIG. 6 , which further includes a coded-texts entity  70 S. The coded-texts attribute  58 S in  FIG. 6  is relocated to the coded-texts entity  70 S. The coded-texts entity  70 S also has a item-ID  61 S which is utilized to cross-reference to the same item-ID  61 S in the associated item entity  60 S. Since the coded-texts attribute  58 S in the coded-texts entity  70 S is isolated from other entities  50 S,  60 S, the retrieving process can be faster, and the storing process can be easier to manage.  
      The data-storage  18  of this embodiment  10  is considered as the container for the data in one or more forms of electronic text string, text file, spread-sheet file, database file, image file, movie file, web-site file, and other which contains one or more text-words  31 W in  FIG. 2  searchable via the electronic text-search. However, the data-storage  18  can be in one or more forms of physical document, logo, sign, advertising material, and other which has one or more of text-words  31 W, and the searcher  24  can search the data-storage via the searchers physical eyes and cognition which can be used to search the physical text-words and to retrieve the depositor  22  interesting.  
      Since nowadays the internet is widely popularized, this embodiment  10  shows an example of the internet system. However the server  12  which is not connected to the internet can perform the same management of this invention, using the direct connections with the clients  20 , such as telephone, fax, mail, and e-mail. Another deviation of this embodiment  10  is the server  12  which stores the data of only one particular depositor  22  who has the full control of the server. Another deviation of this embodiment  10  is the system including a searcher  24  who has the full functionalities as the server  12  to receive the retrieval request from the other searchers and to search the other servers to collect data as needed, so called “search service” and “search engine”.  
      In compliance with the statute, this invention has been described in language more or less specific as to structural and methodical features. It is to be understood, however, that the invention is not limited to the specific features shown and described, since the means herein disclosed comprise preferred forms of putting the invention into effect. The invention is, therefore, claimed in any of its forms or modifications within the proper scope of the appended claims appropriately interpreted in accordance with the doctrine of equivalents.