Patent ID: 7062483

Claim:
A computer-implemented method for retrieving information associated with a set of materials, the method comprising: storing in a data structure a plurality of attribute-value pairs associated with the materials, wherein each of a plurality of values has an association with one of a plurality of attributes characterizing the materials; computing dynamically at run time a plurality of navigation states using the data structure, each navigation state corresponding to a particular set of attribute-value pairs and to a particular subset of the materials, the plurality of navigation states including a first navigation state and a second navigation state; accepting a free-text query directed at the materials and received from a search interface including a free-text search tool for accepting free-text queries; retrieving, in response to the free-text query, information derived from one of the first navigation state and the second navigation state; outputting the retrieved information; and wherein: the first navigation state corresponds to a first expression that includes a multi-term interpretation of the free-text query, the first expression including a conjunction of a first attribute-value pair having a first attribute and a second attribute-value pair having a second attribute; the particular subset of the materials corresponding to the first navigation state includes a first collection of the materials, wherein each of the materials in the first collection of the materials is described by the first attribute-value pair and is described by the second attribute-value pair; the second navigation state corresponds to a second expression that includes the first attribute-value pair and a third attribute-value pair, the second navigation state being different from the first navigation state; the particular subset of the materials corresponding to the second navigation state includes a second collection of the materials, wherein each of the materials in the second collection of the materials is described by the first attribute-value pair; the first attribute characterizes a first subset of the materials and the first attribute-value pair does not describe all the materials in the first subset of the materials; the second attribute characterizes a second subset of the materials and the second attribute-value pair does not describe all the materials in the second subset of the materials; and the first attribute-value pair and the second attribute-value pair are mutually incomparable.