Patent ID: 7464096

Claim:
In a computer-assisted information analysis system employing operators including search terms and filters for analyzing information from a data source, a method comprising: generating a visual representation of a network of operators, the operators being user selectable and linked to form the network of operators, the network of operators being configured to analyze information from a selectable data source comprising at least one of a text file, an audio file, a video file, a graphic file, and a picture file, wherein each of the operators generates an output from a corresponding input received, and wherein each of the operators is directly linked to another one of the operators in the network of operators; compiling the network of operators into a single composite operator unit to compress the logical structure of the network of operators, wherein the operators are selectable from among operators that include logical combinations of search terms, filters, functions for recognizing audio or video structures, and functions for recognizing image or graphics structures; if the data source includes a database, applying the composite operator unit to the database, and if the data source includes a data stream, evaluating a data unit of the data stream with the composite operator unit; generating an output indicator corresponding to each of the operators on the visual representation of the network, wherein the output indicator visually represents a quantified output of a corresponding operator; and generating a further output corresponding to one or more of the output indicators, wherein the further output comprises at least one of a ranked list of document identifiers, an indication of term distribution, an indication of term frequency, a list of document identifiers ranked by score, or a list of document identifiers with selectable links to retrieve document text.