Abstract: The present invention relates to a system and a method of optimizing the selection of shops to repair railcars. More specifically, the present invention relates to a system and a method whereby a customer needing to have a railcar repaired may enter information into an input. Further, the input may be processed via a processor and a database may be utilized to determine the optimal shop that can be used to repair the railcar. Moreover, the present invention may allow the shops to be notified that a railcar is being sent to the shops. Further the present invention may determine whether the shops may handle the repair of the railcar. The system and the method may be utilized to reduce the repair cycle time for a railcar so that a railcar may be repaired quickly, inexpensively, and efficiently.

Abstract: Methods and systems for providing random access to structured media content are described. The described methods and systems implement one or more of an importance evaluator module, a priority evaluator module, and a preemptive loader module. The importance evaluator assigns importance values to different portions of a structured media content file. The importance values are used to determine whether to remove individual portions of the structured media content file from a client cache file to make room for other more important file portions. The priority evaluator assigns priority values to different portions of a structured media content file. The priority values are used to determine an order in which the portions are to be provided from a server to a client. The preemptive loader preemptively facilitates provision of one or more portions of a structured media content file to a client, without the client specifically requesting so.

Abstract: A digital document discussion apparatus includes a user profile information database storing user profile information on a user, a responsible organization profile information database storing responsible organization profile information, and a control section providing a template to a discussion requester by a frame with a work process, the user profile information and the responsible organization profile information corresponding to a digitized discussion document used as keys, allowing the discussion document to be created based on this template, and requesting the discussion participant to discuss the created discussion document.

Abstract: A method and apparatus for providing geographically authenticated electronic documents is disclosed. Authentication for attributes for an electronic document stored on a computer network are defined, the attributes comprise at least one attribute describing a geographic location associated with the electronic document. Authenticated attributes (e.g., geographic location) of electronic documents (e.g., Web pages) allow for more accurate geographic searching and filtering. An authenticated digital certificate is created and associated with an electronic document. The authenticated digital certificate can be stored within the electronic document, such as can be done with HTML tags on a Web page. The digital certificate can also be stored as a separate file associated with the electronic document, as a separate signed digital certificate and as a database record.

Abstract: The routing of prioritized documents such as email messages is disclosed. In one embodiment, a computer-implemented method first receives a text. The method assigns a priority to the document, based on a text classifier such as a Bayesian classifier or a support-vector machine classifier. The method then routes the text based on a routing criteria. In one embodiment the routing is directed by a measure of priority that reflects the expected cost of delayed review of the document.

Abstract: Described herein are methods for creating categorized documents, categorizing documents in a distributed database and categorizing Resulting Pages. Also described herein is an apparatus for searching a distributed database. The method for creating categorized documents generally comprises: initially assuming all documents are of type 1; filtering out all type 2 documents and placing them in a first category; filtering out all type 3 documents and placing them in a second category; and defining all remaining documents as type 4 documents and placing all type 4 documents in a third category. The apparatus for searching a distributed database generally comprises at least one memory device; a computing apparatus; an indexer; a transactional score generator; and a category assignor; a search server; and a user interface in communication with the search server.

Abstract: The user describes in advance conflict process rules, which indicate descriptions for avoiding conflicts that occur between setup data, in a conflict process rule description file (301). An inference engine (302) refers to this conflict process rule description file (301) and generates complementary rules indicating complementary conflict avoidance descriptions. The complementary rules are implemented by generating inverse logic rules of given descriptions for a function, which are described to allow inference by analogy.

Abstract: A system for distributing flies and transmitting/receiving the distributed files includes a file distribution/transmission/reception module depending upon an application program executable in a client computer and is performed in a background process of an application program execution module. The file distribution/transmission/reception module receives the files designated by a host computer from a network and then stores the received files, while the application program is executed. The file distribution/transmission/reception module transmits corresponding files to another client computer if the corresponding files exist, in response to another client computer's request for transmission of files designated on the host computer.

Abstract: A system for generating and retrieving relevant electronic information required by a user initiating an electronic search on the system. The system comprise a user-interactive search engine and a knowledge database, which stores knowledge information that is formatted. Additionally, the system includes a plurality of functional software modules that enables a user to complete an interactive search and find a solution to a task based on entered context information and keywords. A list of keywords are displayed to the user and the user selects those keywords that are relevant to the solution desired. The search engine looks for the articles containing the identified keywords. If no article is found with the search terms, the search is expanded to the Internet. The user may then modify the information returned from the Internet, format the information and save the information as a new recipe.

Abstract: An apparatus includes a computer system which maintains a list of informational products, and accepts input from a user in a user context familiar to the user. The computer system maintains expert information developed by at least one expert, which provides correlation between the user context and informational products in the list. The computer system selects a subset of the products as a function of the user input and the expert information.

Abstract: A method of transforming and canonicalizing semantically structured data includes obtaining data from a network of computers, applying text patterns to the obtained data and placing the data in a first data file, providing a second data file containing the obtained data in a uniform format, and generating interface specific sentences from the data in the second data file.

Abstract: A system and method can store and retrieve advance directives with a database that is coupled to a communications system. The database is arranged to register and store information about a service provider in anticipation of future creation of advance directives that will come into at least the temporary possession of the service provider. The database is arranged to store information supplied by the service provider and about a person and the person's advance directive. The communications system is operable in response to a request by the service provider to automatically transmit information about one or more advance directives that were stored in the database by the service provider.

Abstract: A system and method for efficiently synchronizing multiple databases stored on multiple computing devices. The method and system provides a duplicated database configuration where a database can either be stored only on a plurality of client computers, or on at least a client computer and a server computer. This duplicated database configuration allows users to access a database from a plurality of client computers that are communicatively connected to a server computer.

Abstract: Methods and systems consistent with the present invention track assets by collecting information from assets. Information for tracking assets is collected based on a query. The person creating the query specifies a lifetime, a scope, and one or more parameters for collecting the information. The lifetime indicates a period of time for maintaining the results of the query in storage. When the lifetime expires, the results of the query are removed from the storage. When a query is created, a server updates a query index and creates temporary storage space for the query's results. Periodically, the client polls the server and accesses the query index to determine whether any queries are pending for that client. The client collects the information from the appropriate assets and provides the results to the server. The server then stores the results in the temporary storage space.

Abstract: The execution of a calibration process according to a characteristic of an image formation unit is properly controlled. To do so, it is provided an image processing method of executing the calibration process of newly creating a database file according to the characteristic of the image formation unit on the basis of an original database file according to the kind of the image formation unit, and of storing the created database file in correspondence with the characteristic of the image formation unit, wherein version information of the original database file is compared with version information of the created database file, and the execution of the calibration process is controlled based on the compared result.

Abstract: A texture-based image database browsing and sorting method computes the number of edge pixels of objects in static images, measures textures of the static images by numerating the number of edge pixels thereof and measures a texture of a query image by numerating the number of edge pixels of an object in the query image. Then, the method sorts the measured textures according to a sorting order and searches a texture close to the texture of the query image among the sorted textures.

Abstract: A partition-based high dimensional similarity join method allowing similarity to be efficiently measured by beforehand dynamically selecting space partitioning dimensions and the number of the partitioning dimensions using a dimension selection algorithm. A method of efficiently performing similarity join for high dimensional data during a relatively short period of time without requiring massive storage space. The method includes according to the present invention comprises the steps of partitioning a high dimensional data space and performing joins between predetermined data sets. Dimensions for use in partitioning the high dimensional data space and the number of partitioning dimensions are determined in advance before the space partitioning, and the joins are performed only when respective cells of the data sets are overlapping with each other or are neighboring each other.

Abstract: Collaborative data cleansing involves using two or more computer systems for merging two data objects by copying one or more attribute values associated with one a source object to a target data object and reassigning any instances that refer to the source object to the target object. The computer systems involved in the collaborative data cleansing exchange messages concerning the local status of the data cleansing cases.

Abstract: The status of a plurality of service orders is summarized. A first data set that includes a plurality of records corresponding to service orders, such as requests for initiation of telephone or other communications services, is imported into a database application. At least one query or test may be executed on the first data set to generate a second data set that includes at least part of the first data set and one or more labels that have been appended to at least some of the plurality of records in the first data set. This second data may be imported into a spreadsheet application so that the spreadsheet application can automatically generate a summary of at least some of the data contained in the second data set.

Abstract: An interface program stored on a computer-readable medium for causing a computer system with a display device to perform the functions of: accepting search criteria from a user including a free text entry query and a domain identifier identifying a domain; in response to accepting the search criteria, retrieving a plurality of record identifiers each of which identifies a corresponding record which: (1) has associated therewith a location identifier that locates it at a specific location within the domain identified by the domain identifier; and (2) contains information that is responsive to the free text entry query; displaying a representation of the domain on the display device; and displaying on the display device a plurality of icons as representations of the records identified by the plurality of record identifiers, wherein for each of the record identifiers, a corresponding one of the plurality of icons is displayed within the representation of the domain that is being displayed on the display device,