Comparison of documents based on similarity measures

An apparatus for comparing a first document to one or more second documents, a given document comprising one or more elements and one or more values for each of the one or more elements, the apparatus comprising:

• at least one memory device;
• and
• at least one processing device coupled to the memory device and operative to:
• assign at least one weight to at least one of the one or more elements in the first document;
• generate a weighted template in accordance with the at least one assigned weight;
• compute one or more comparison scores for each of the one or more second documents, wherein the one or more comparison scores for a given second document are computed by comparing the one or more values for at least a given element in the first document to one or more values for each of one or more elements in the given second document in accordance with one or more comparison rules, wherein the one or more comparison rules determine at least one technique used for comparing the given element in the first document and a given element in the given second document based on whether the values of the elements being compared are textual or numeric values, wherein the at least one technique determined by the one or more comparison rules comprises using at least one or more language hierarchies to compare textual values;
• and generate one or more similarity scores for each of the one or more second documents in accordance with the generated weighted template and the one or more computed comparison scores.

A system for comparing a first document to one or more second documents, a given document comprising one or more elements and one or more values for each of the one or more elements, the system comprising at least one processing device coupled to at least one memory device and operative to implement:

• an input component for allowing a user to assign at least one weight to at least one of the one or more elements in the first document;
• a template generator for generating a weighted template in accordance with the at least one assigned weight;
• a scoring component for:
• (i) computing one or more comparison scores for each of the one or more second documents, wherein the one or more comparison scores for a given second document are computed by comparing the one or more values for at least a given element in the first document to one or more values for each of one or more elements in the given second document in accordance with one or more comparison rules, wherein the one or more comparison rules determine at least one technique used for comparing the given element in the first document and a given element in the given second document based on whether the values of the elements being compared are textual or numeric values, wherein the at least one technique determined by the one or more comparison rules comprises using at least one or more language hierarchies to compare textual values;
• and (ii) generating one or more similarity scores for each of the one or more second documents in accordance with the generated weighted template and the one or more computed comparison scores.

A computer-readable storage medium for comparing a first document to one or more second documents, a given document comprising one or more elements and one or more values for each of the one or more elements, the computer-readable storage medium comprising:

• a first program instruction to assign at least one weight to at least one of the one or more elements in the first document;
• a second program instruction to generate a weighted template in accordance with the at least one assigned weight;
• a third program instruction to compute one or more comparison scores by comparing each of the one or more elements in the first document to each of one or more elements in a given second document in accordance with one or more comparison rules, wherein the one or more comparison rules determine at least one technique used for comparing a given element in the first document and a given element in the given second document based on whether the values of the elements being compared are textual or numeric values, wherein the at least one technique determined by the one or more comparison rules comprises using at least one or more language hierarchies to compare textual values;
• a fourth program instruction to generate one or more similarity scores for each of the one or more second documents in accordance with the generated weighted template and the one or more computed comparison scores;
• wherein the first, second, third, and fourth program instructions are stored on the computer-readable storage medium.