Patent ID: 7107226

Claim:
A searchable database system for generating a product comparison grid for a selected target search item, comprising: a database embodied in a computer readable medium, the database including a multiplicity of target search items, the target search items having assigned attributes and at least one related value for each attribute; a computer with a display device operatively connected to the database for displaying selections by user wherein the database provides to the display device only one attribute level at a time with its related values and the selection of a value for the displayed attribute determines the next displayed attribute level and wherein the comparison grid is generated only after a series of steps including: the user selects a target search item and the database provides for display of a single first level attribute and at least one value related to the attribute; the user selects a value for the first level attribute, and the value chosen determines the next level attribute displayed to the user, the next level attribute having at least one related value; the attribute display and value selection process is repeated until a value is selected for each sequentially displayed attribute to generate an attribute-chain which includes the selected value for each attribute assigned to the selected target search item in the database; and the completion of the attribute-value chain prompts the construction and display of the comparison grid for products having the selected values, wherein the database system provides at least one product in the comparison grid of products specifying the target search item and precluding an indeterminate search result, and wherein the comparison grid of products is formed only after a value has been specified for each of the attributes displayed.