Abstract: A method of answering a query includes deconstructing documents into path segments. Identical path segments from different documents are arranged contiguously to form a set of partitions, where each partition has identical path segments. The structure of a query is then analyzed to find a match with a document. Based upon the analysis, a sub-set of partitions is selected for searching. Content from the query is compared to content within the sub-set of partitions to identify matched content. The matched content has associated structural attributes. The matched content structural attributes are compared to the structure of the query to identify an answer to the query.