Method for testing layered data for the existence of at least one value
US7912861B2 · kind B2 · utility
Assignee
Inventors
Key dates
| Filing date | May 31, 2005 |
| Grant date | Mar 22, 2011 |
| Priority date | — |
| Expiry date | Jan 21, 2028 |
Classification
- Technology area (CPC G)Physics
- CPC primaryG06F16/33
- WIPO fieldComputer technology
- WIPO sectorElectrical engineering
Abstract
One or more embodiments of the invention enable a user to search for at least one value in layers of audience specific data comprising language, regional, regulatory and/or cultural specific values per layer. The word “audience” for the purposes of this specification means a group of document consumers such as people or computers that are associated with a language, country, region, regulation or culture. A search utilizing at least one embodiment of the invention occurs with respect to data that makes use of rule-based inheritance. For a three level inheritance embodiment, there are 8 permutations involving a NULL value in at least one of the layers, instead of making the user calculate the proper mask, the Current Audience Layer mask can be logical ORed with the Primary Audience Layer Mask or the Secondary Audience Layer Mask in order to create the desired search combination. In addition, predefined audience layer operators may also be used comprising “has value”, “is missing value”, “inherits primary”, “inherits secondary”, “inherits any” and “does not inherit”. These predefined masks save the user from generating a bit mask for searching by hand.
Source: USPTO / EPO open patent data. Objective bibliographic and citation counts.