Method and apparatus for improved internet searching
AssigneeThe United States of America as represented by the Secretary of the Air Force
InventorsJohn J. Salerno, David R. Couzelis, Douglas M. Boulware, Carmen M. Malagisi, John E. Myers
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Abstract
Method and apparatus for improved Internet searching. A user defines their search objective using topic trees. The user is provided a set of tools that allow for the creation and modification of these topic trees and storage for later use. From the topic tree, a user can select a single item, a collection of items or the entire topic tree to collect upon. Results from the selected search engines are returned, stored and displayed.
Claims18
A software program comprising instructions, stored on a computer-readable media, wherein said instructions, when executed by a computer, perform the necessary steps for improved Internet meta-searching employing the execution of a plurality of search queries by a plurality of search engines, comprising:
- determining whether the internet is available;
- IF the internet is available, THEN,
- proceeding to said step of opening a topic tree;
- OTHERWISE,
- determining if an offline mode has been chosen;
- IF an offline mode has been chosen, THEN,
- displaying an indication that online mode is disabled;
- proceeding to said step of opening a topic tree;
- OTHERWISE,
- exiting the program;
- opening a topic tree or creating a new one if none exists;
- a first step of selecting either a topic or a folder of topics from which to search, from said topic tree;
- a second step of selecting a search topic;
- converting said selected search topic into a query string of requests ANDed together;
- storing said query strings into a queue;
- sending said queue to selected virtual meta-search engines;
- translating said queries to a format specific to that of said selected meta-search engines;
- executing a meta-search by said plurality of search engines;
- querying each of “n” said plurality of meta-search engines;
- determining whether said query has returned zero results;
- IF query returns zero results, THEN,
- removing child queries;
- OTHERWISE,
- parsing and storing said results in a database;
- determining whether there are more queries;
- IF there are more queries, THEN;
- returning to said step of querying each of “n” said plurality of search engines;
- OTHERWISE,
- waiting for each of “n” said plurality of search engines to complete their searching;
- retrieving stored results;
- and
- combining and ranking said results;
- presenting a summary page;
- retrieving individual documents;
- and
- printing said documents.
A computer apparatus comprising a computer and a software program, said software program further comprising instructions stored on a computer-readable media, wherein said instructions, when executed by said computer, provide means for improved Internet meta-searching employing a plurality of search engines executing a plurality of search queries, wherein said means comprise:
- means for determining whether the internet is available;
- IF the internet is available, THEN,
- means for proceeding to said step of opening a topic tree;
- OTHERWISE,
- means for determining if an offline mode has been chosen;
- IF an offline mode has been chosen, THEN,
- means for displaying an indication that online mode is disabled;
- means for proceeding to said step of opening a topic tree.
- OTHERWISE,
- means for exiting the program;
- means for opening a topic tree or creating a new one if none exists;
- a first means for selecting either a topic or a folder of topics from which to search, from said topic tree;
- a second means for selecting a search topic;
- means for converting said selected search topic into a query string of requests ANDed together;
- means for storing said query strings into a queue;
- means for sending said queue to selected virtual search engines;
- means for translating said queries to a format specific to that of said selected search engines;
- means for executing a meta-search by said plurality of meta-search engines;
- means for querying each of “n” said search engines;
- means for determining whether said query has returned zero results;
- IF query returns zero results, THEN,
- means for removing child queries;
- OTHERWISE,
- means for parsing and storing said results in a database;
- means for determining whether there are more queries;
- IF there are more queries, THEN;
- means for returning to said step of opening each of “n” said search engines;
- OTHERWISE,
- means for waiting for each of “n” search engines to complete their searching;
- means for retrieving stored results;
- and
- means for combining and ranking said results
- means for presenting a summary page;
- means for retrieving individual documents;
- and
- means for printing said documents.
Dependencies are inferred from the claim text.