Storage system for storing information, and search system for searching information
OwnerFrens Henri de Vriesinventor
Life of this patent
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Abstract
The invention describes a search system with a database which is classified into a plurality of levels. At each level, an overview of the classes which lie one level lower and can be accessed from the current class is projected onto a screen. The user can reach one of these classes which lie one level lower at any time by clicking on the correct location in the overview provided. The overviews are projected onto a stationary background, which is divided into boxes, so that the background remains the same when moving to a subsequent level. At all levels, the number of classes which can be reached therefrom is equal. If this number is equal to 20, the database can contain 160,000 subjects which can be accessed by means of only four mouse clicks.
Claims23
Storage system for storing subjects in a database which can be accessed by a computer, comprising records (60), each record (60) comprising:
- a text field (68);
- at least one target text field and/or a hyperlink field;
- and a classification index field (61) having a general index (N) for classifying the database into a plurality of levels.
Storage system according to any one of the preceding claims, in which each character of the general index (N) can reach a maximum value, the maximum values of the different characters being identical to one another and these maximum values preferably being equal to 20.
Storage system, for storing subjects in a database which is accessible to a computer, comprising a subject file with subject records (20), each subject record (20) comprising:
- a subject text field (28);
- at least one target text field (27) and/or a hyperlink field (29);
- and a plurality of classification index fields (21, 22, 23, 24) for classifying the database into a plurality of levels.
Computer program for using a computer provided with a screen (11) to search for information in a database which has been classified into a plurality of levels, which computer program allows a computer of this type to carry out the following operations:
- an image (10) with a predetermined number of boxes (12) is projected onto the screen (11);
- and
- at successive levels, a description of the classes of the next level which can be accessed from the relevant level is at each level projected into the boxes (12), it being possible for a user to indicate his selection by moving a cursor (13) to the appropriate box and inputting the choice into the computer by a mouse click, or by pressing one or more keys on a keyboard.
Search system, comprising:
- a database which can be accessed by a computer, comprising:
- main class records (50) with a main class index (NH);
- sub-class records (40) with a main class index (NH) and a sub-class index (NR);
- group records (30) with a main class index (NH), a subclass index (NR) and a group class index (NG);
- subject records (20) with a main class index (NH), a subclass index (NR), a group class index (NG) and a subject index (NS);
- the maximum values (MAX(NH), MAX(NR), MAX(NG), MAX(NS)) of the classification indices (NH, NR, NG, NS) being equal to one another, preferably being equal to 20;
- and the search system also comprising a user computer which is provided with a screen (11), a central computer which can be accessed by the said user computer via a network, such as the Internet, and a central memory which is associated with the said central computer and contains the said database;
- the said central computer being programmed to carry out the following operations:
- an image (10) comprising a predetermined number of boxes (12), which is equal to the said maximum values (MAX(NH), MAX(NR), MAX(NG), MAX(NS)), is projected onto the screen (11) of the said user computer;
- in a first search step, the text of text fields (58) of the main class records (50) is projected onto the screen (11) in the said boxes (12), the value of the main class index (NH) always corresponding to a serial number (i) of the box 12(i) into which the text of the corresponding text field (58) is projected;
- when the choice of a user is input, the value of the main class index (NH) is fixed at a value (G) which corresponds to the user's choice;
- in a second search step, the text of text fields (48) of those sub-class records (40) in which the value of the main class index (NH) is equal to the value (G) fixed in the previous step, the value of the sub-class index (NR) always corresponding to a serial number (i) of the field 12(i) into which the text of the corresponding text field (48) is projected, is projected into the said boxes (12) on the screen (11);
- when the choice of a user is input, the value of the subclass index (NR) is fixed at a value (K) which corresponds to the user's choice;
- in a third search step, the text of text fields (38) of those group records (30) in which the values of the main class index (NH) and the sub-class index (NR) are equal to the values (G, K) fixed during the previous steps, the value of the group index (NG) always corresponding to a serial number (i) of the field 12(i) into which the text of the corresponding text field (38) is projected, is projected into the said boxes (12) on the screen (11);
- when the choice of a user is input, the value of the group index (NG) is fixed at a value (H) which corresponds to the user's choice;
- in a fourth search step, the text of text fields (28) of those subject records (20) in which the values of the main class index (NH), the sub-class index (NR) and the group index (NG) are equal to the values (G, K, H) fixed during the previous steps, the value of the subject index (NS) always corresponding to a serial number (i) of the field 12(i) into which the text of the corresponding text field (28) is projected, is projected into the said boxes (12) on the screen (11);
- when the choice of a user is input, the value of the subject index (NS) is fixed at a value (A) which corresponds to the user's choice;
- and then the text of a target text field (27) of the subject record (20) in which the main class index (NH), the sub-class index (NR), the group index (NG) and the subject index (NS) are equal to the values (G, K, H, A) fixed during the previous steps is projected onto the screen (11), and/or a hyperlink of a hyperlink field (29) of the said subject record is projected onto the screen (11).
Dependencies are inferred from the claim text.