Patent ID: 8527503

Claim:
A method of processing a search query to provide a search result, the method comprising: receiving at a computer device a search query in the form of a digital message, the query identifying a source node and a target node; and executing at the computer device an application for generating a search result, the application performing the following steps: accessing a data structure holding a plurality of landmark nodes, each landmark having stored therewith a shortest path tree in the form of a set of parent links wherein each parent link identifies an adjacent vertex node; for each landmark identifying the location of the source node and the target node in the shortest path trees to the landmark node; for each landmark node using the identified locations of the target node and source node to generate a measure of distance between the source node and the target node, wherein the measure of distance is generated by: identifying a common ancestor node in the shortest path trees from the source node and the target node to the landmark node; identifying all pairs of nodes in the paths between the source node and a second path between the common ancestor node and the target node; locating any of said pairs which are edges; identifying the edge of the shortest distance; and using the edge to determine measure of distance between the source node and the target node; determining the landmark with the shortest distance; and providing a search result related to the shortest path tree of that landmark.