Patent ID: 7739258

Claim:
A computer-implemented method for crawling through web-based forms, the method comprising: identifying, by a computer system, web-based forms to be searched, wherein the identified web-based forms comprise input fields, which are used to generate a corresponding database query to a content database; creating entries in a local form database for the identified web-based forms, wherein the created entries are used to generate subsequent searches in the content database; storing metadata about the identified web-based forms in the local form database, wherein the stored metadata are used to predict and map information associated with the identified web-based forms; receiving a user query, from a user; predicting a search class based on a probability that the predicted search class generates a structured query which corresponds to the received user query; selecting, by the computer system, at least one web-based form from the local form database based on the generated structured query, the predicted search class, and the stored metadata; presenting the user with at least one query-through link to the at least one selected web-base form; selecting a query-through link from the at least one presented query-through link; automatically submitting, by the computer system, a corresponding query to the content database through the selected web-based form corresponding to the selected query-through link.