Patent ID: 8185525

Claim:
A computer-implemented method of ordering query results, comprising: in response to a query issued by a requesting entity: a) receiving a list of data records ordered according to an initial order, the list of data records defining a result set for the query; b) before outputting the result set, identifying a subset of the data records in the list to satisfy a requested value range coverage, the requested value range coverage being defined by a predefined maximum number of data records of the list to be output, each of the data records including a corresponding data record attribute value within a predefined value range, wherein the corresponding data record attribute value is retrieved from a data source and is included in the each of the data records at a time of creation of the each of the data records in response to an execution of the issued query against the data source, the identifying the subset of the data records comprising: for data records including corresponding data record attribute values within the predefined value range, selecting the predefined maximum number of data records such that the data record attribute values of the selected data records define a requested value distribution, the requested value distribution being a mathematical function of the data record attribute value of the data record; c) sorting the received list of data records on the basis of the requested value range coverage; and d) outputting the sorted list of data records.