Patent ID: 7536717

Claim:
A method for creating a plurality of arrays from a numbered list data set, the method comprising: installing a program on a computer; wherein the program performs steps comprising: obtaining a numbered list data set comprising a plurality of numbered lists, each of the plurality of numbered lists comprising a plurality of numbers separated by a decimal; assigning an ID to the numbered list; creating the plurality of arrays; performing a Boolean OR operation on the ID and an array value; determining whether a number of the plurality of numbers is a wildcard; responsive to a first determination that the number is the wildcard, translating the ID for the numbered list containing the number into the binary ID; responsive to the first determination that the number is the wildcard, translating a plurality of the array values for the array associated with the number into a plurality of the binary array values; responsive to a second determination that the number is not the wildcard, translating the ID for the numbered list containing the number into a binary ID; and responsive to the second determination that the number is not the wildcard, translating the array value with an index equal to the number for the array associated with the number into a binary array value; wherein the computer can determine whether an incoming numbered list is present in the numbered list data set by analyzing the arrays; wherein the computer is a firewall; wherein the IDs are sequentially increasing powers of two; wherein the quantity of arrays equals the quantity of numbers in the numbered lists; and wherein the arrays are MAXV fields long, MAXV being the maximum value of any number in the numbered lists or the incoming numbered list.