Patent ID: 7051019

Claim:
A method for searching a database to obtain an object that is related to an indicated object in a document, comprising: automatically creating a query directly from the indicated object, the query having a data structure that is recognizable by a local search engine and a remote search engine, wherein the query is created by: enabling a sentence comprising a plurality of words to be input into the document, repositioning a cursor nearest to any one of the words in the sentence other than a last word input into the document, wherein the cursor is capable of being repositioned nearest to any one of the words after the sentence is entered into the document, and after repositioning the cursor, automatically selecting the nearest word to the cursor in the sentence as the indicated object without having a user to make a selection for the query in a separate document; if the remote search engine is accessible, providing the query over a network to the remote search engine to search a remote database for at least one object that is related to the indicated object, and if the remote search engine is inaccessible, providing the query to the local search engine to search a local database for at least one object that is related to the indicated object; returning a result from the query, the result indicating when at least one object is related to the indicated object; and producing a display of one of the related objects, so that at least one of the related objects may be associated with the indicated object.