Patents by Inventor W. Brent Bradshaw

W. Brent Bradshaw has filed for patents to protect the following inventions. This listing includes patent applications that are pending as well as patents that have already been granted by the United States Patent and Trademark Office (USPTO).

  • Patent number: 6167393
    Abstract: A method and apparatus disclosed may be implemented in a digital computer to query a set of arbitrarily structured records. Arbitrarily structured records are structured differently from each other. A query engine, query structure, operators of conventional and non-conventional types may be used in formulating a query. The apparatus may evaluate records having missing fields, repeating fields, or an UNKNOWN value arising from a missing field, division by zero, modulo by zero, or the like. New aggregator (e.g. universal quantifier and existential quantifier) and selector operators (e.g., first, last, nth) may distill multiple values to return a single value. To evaluate a query, the search engine may implement filtered indices, alternate-key indices, compound alternate-key indices, hybrid queries having both full-text and non-full text operands, and joinder of records.
    Type: Grant
    Filed: November 15, 1996
    Date of Patent: December 26, 2000
    Assignee: Novell, Inc.
    Inventors: James R. Davis, III, Daniel S. Sanders, Scott W. Pathakis, W. Brent Bradshaw, Brian L. Jensen, Andrew A. Hodgkinson
  • Patent number: 5884304
    Abstract: A method and apparatus disclosed may be implemented in a digital computer to query a set of arbitrarily structured records. Arbitrarily structured records are structured differently from each other. A query engine, query structure, operators of conventional and non-conventional types may be used in formulating a query. The apparatus may evaluate records having missing fields, repeating fields, or an UNKNOWN value arising from a missing field, division by zero, modulo by zero, or the like. New aggregator (e.g. universal quantifier and existential quantifier) and selector operators (e.g., first, last, nth) may distill multiple values to return a single value. To evaluate a query, the search engine may implement filtered indices, alternate-key indices, compound alternate-key indices, hybrid queries having both full-text and non-full text operands, and joinder of records.
    Type: Grant
    Filed: November 15, 1996
    Date of Patent: March 16, 1999
    Assignee: Novell, Inc.
    Inventors: James R. Davis, III, Daniel S. Sanders, Scott W. Pathakis, W. Brent Bradshaw, Brian L. Jensen, Andrew A. Hodgkinson
  • Patent number: 5873079
    Abstract: A method and apparatus disclosed may be implemented in a digital computer to query a set of arbitrarily structured records. Arbitrarily structured records are structured differently from each other. A query engine, query structure, operators of conventional and non-conventional types may be used in formulating a query. The apparatus may evaluate records having missing fields, repeating fields, or an UNKNOWN value arising from a missing field, division by zero, modulo by zero, or the like. New aggregator (e.g. universal quantifier and existential quantifier) and selector operators (e.g., first, last, nth) may distill multiple values to return a single value. To evaluate a query, the search engine may implement filtered indices, alternate-key indices, compound alternate-key indices, hybrid queries having both full-text and non-full text operands, and joinder of records.
    Type: Grant
    Filed: November 15, 1996
    Date of Patent: February 16, 1999
    Assignee: Novell, Inc.
    Inventors: James R. Davis, III, Daniel S. Sanders, Scott W. Pathakis, W. Brent Bradshaw, Brian L. Jensen, Andrew A. Hodgkinson
  • Patent number: 5870739
    Abstract: A method and apparatus disclosed may be implemented in a digital computer to query a set of arbitrarily structured records. Arbitrarily structured records are structured differently from each other. A query engine, query structure, operators of conventional and non-conventional types may be used in formulating a query. The apparatus may evaluate records having missing fields, repeating fields, or an UNKNOWN value arising from a missing field, division by zero, modulo by zero, or the like. New aggregator (e.g. universal quantifier and existential quantifier) and selector operators (e.g., first, last, nth) may distill multiple values to return a single value. To evaluate a query, the search engine may implement filtered indices, alternate-key indices, compound alternate-key indices, hybrid queries having both full-text and non-full text operands, and joinder of records.
    Type: Grant
    Filed: November 15, 1996
    Date of Patent: February 9, 1999
    Assignee: Novell, Inc.
    Inventors: James R. Davis, III, Daniel S. Sanders, Scott W. Pathakis, W. Brent Bradshaw, Brian L. Jensen, Andrew A. Hodgkinson