Patent ID: 6950817

Claim:
A method for preconditioning one or more first data tables of a decision application server in a search system, the first tables intended to be processed by a search engine responding to queries for selecting records from the first data tables, the method comprising the steps of: analyzing predicates contained in fields of records intended to fill the first data tables, the predicates containing words and the analyzing comprising the step of analyzing the predicates in the records according to authorized relations and constraints on the predicates, the constraints on the predicates including an ordinal relationship among the words; creating a nomenclature of the predicates based on, and subsequent to, the analysis of the field of records; numerically encoding the predicates in accordance with the nomenclature created, the encoding maintaining the ordinal relationship among the words in order to preserve the ordinal relationship; and presenting the encoded predicates in the form of numeric values in one or more second data tables of numeric values.