Abstract: The systems and methods of the invention can process a qualitative expression, typically a phrase, to generate a numerical value that represents the likelihood of an event as expressed by the given qualitative expression. The qualitative expressions typically are made up of a probability term and possibly a term of degree and one or more terms of negation. Thus, the systems described herein allow numerical information to be captured from qualitative expressions. This, allows further numeric processing and data refining, and facilitates the development of databases of information, such as databases of information about the significance of the existence of a symptom for the diagnosis of a particular disease.

Abstract: A method and apparatus for combining undo and redo contexts in a distributed access environment is described. A first user gains access to data items residing on a database and modifies the data items. The modifications are incorporated into a user activity log. A subsequent user also accesses and modifies the same data items, which modifications are merged into the activity log. The merged activity log forms one sequential well ordered set of actions, including the modification made by the first user and the subsequent user. The user activity logs may be created for individual data items, individual users or for all modifications made to separate data items. A system for combining undo and redo contexts in a distributed access environment is also described.

Abstract: A method and an apparatus for determining whether a transaction can use a version of a data item is provided. Transaction summary data is generated that is associated with one or more transactions that have updated a version of the data item. The transaction summary data specifies both a data buffer refresh time and a data buffer commit time. The data buffer refresh time is indicative of the latest time at which the version of data is guaranteed to be current. The data buffer commit time is indicative of the commit time of a most recently committed transaction from the one or more transactions that committed after updating the version of the data item. A determination is made, based upon the transaction summary data and a snapshot time used by the first transaction, whether the version of the data item is to be provided to the first transaction. The data buffer commit time is updated to reflect the commit time of other transactions that commit after updating the version of the data item.

Abstract: A system and method is disclosed for accessing properties used to customize network documents to a user. In one aspect of the system and method, an application developer may obtain user properties that are stored on multiple storage mechanisms by using a single logical name, which is a user-friendly name of a data structure on one of the storage mechanisms. The user-friendly name makes it faster and easier for an application developer to create applications. The user-friendly name also frees the application developer from having to determine the location of the storage mechanisms on the network.

Abstract: A method for matching documents based on spatial layout of regions based on a shape similarity model for detecting similarity between general 2D objects. The method uses the shape similarity model to determine if two documents are similar by logical region generation in which logical regions are automatically derived from information in the documents to be matched, region correspondence, in which a correspondence is established between the regions on the documents, pose computation in which the individual transforms relating corresponding regions are recovered, and pose verification in which the extent of spatial similarity is measured by projecting one document onto the other using the computed pose parameters.

Abstract: A data retrieval system stores a plurality of objects having a multi-level hierarchical relationship, each object having a respective parent and a set of children. The system stores one or more base tables, the or each base table comprising a respective set of attributes associated with a sub-set of objects in the system, and generates for the or each base table a respective complementary table, the or each complementary table comprising a set of attributes excluding the attributes of the associated base table. The system further includes an expression optimiser adapted to interpret a query comprising an expression including one or more operations, each operation having a respective operator and one or more associated operands. The optimser tracks a number of objects associated with the or each operation and any attributes associated with the operation; and re-formulates the expression accordingly.

Abstract: A Consistency Checker provides an improved method of analyzing a Japanese text document to identify inconsistently spelled words. The Consistency Checker utilizes a Reading Pair Database (RPD) and a Compressed Lexicon Database (CLD) to determine the reading units within a word, to calculate a Reading Pair Identification Number (RID) for each reading unit, to calculate a Sense Identification Number (SID) for each word, and to calculate a Spelling Variant Identification Number (SVID) for each word. Spelling variants are generated by combining variations of individual RIDs in the RID array. A Registry is updated to maintain statistics on all of the words within the document. An error field within the Registry indicates that the document contains more than one spelling variant of a particular word. The client program can access the Registry to alert a user to inconsistencies discovered in the document.

Abstract: An automated method and apparatus for identifying and copying lost files from a mass data storage device of a computer when file system information (as opposed to the actual data files) stored on the mass data storage device has been corrupted or destroyed. The mass data storage device is scanned on a sector-by-sector basis in order to attempt to identify sectors containing file system data structures and file attributes. Identification is made using data signature and/or pattern matching filters. The location of, and any valid information found in, such sectors is used then to derive information useful in locating files to be copied to another storage device. For example, in a FAT, NTFS or other cluster-oriented file system, if information on the number of sectors per cluster (SPB) is not available from a boot directory, it and a cluster base (the starting sector of cluster 0) are calculated using the physical location of the beginning sectors of the directories or folders.

Abstract: Image data and natural language data indicating a visual impression of an image prepared based on the image data are correlated to each other and stored in the correlated form in the image database, and when retrieving an image using the retrieving section, natural language data indicating a text for retrieval is inputted from a natural language input section, and image data relating to natural language data having a common visual impression is extracted from the image database by collating the inputted natural language data to natural language data on the image database.

Abstract: A method and apparatus to perform memory management in an object oriented programming environment. Specifically, a first object, an associated count object and a first reference pointer to the first object are created. The count object includes a reference counter that is incremented when the first reference pointer to the first object is copied. Alternatively, a first object and an associated pointer list are created. Each entry in the pointer list includes a pointer to a previous pointer list entry and a pointer to a next pointer list entry.

Abstract: Systems, methods and computer program products are provided for retrieving documents from multiple document servers into a single client session. Search criteria may be entered within one or more search fields displayed within a search template. Each search field is mapped to respective data fields within various document servers to be searched. When a query is entered by a user into a selected search template, records within document servers that contain data fields mapped to each search field are searched for data matching the entered search criteria. A list of documents having an associated record containing data matching the entered search criteria is displayed within the search template. Upon selection of a displayed record, a document associated with a selected record is displayed within a viewer within the client session.

Abstract: A method and system for reconciling in a scheduling database the execution of a high priority stream of transactions that is concurrent with a low priority stream of transactions comprise the steps of copying a portion of the database into a temporary storage, establishing the high priority stream in the database, establishing the low priority stream in the temporary storage, reconciling the low priority stream with the high priority stream, and establishing some or all of the low priority stream of transactions in the database such that the high priority stream has data priority over the low priority stream and the resulting database satisfies certain safety and liveness constraints.

Abstract: A computer management system for managing files and executing applications on multiple, remote networked computers from a single server. A hierarchical system is defined where each computer is a named node and computer nodes are organized into group nodes. Children nodes inherit the characteristics of their parent nodes. Actions or computer commands are assigned to nodes. The actions are made generic by use of variables whose values are set uniquely for each node. Thus a single action script or group of computer commands is applied to multiple computers having different characteristics. The user need only define a single generic script to affect changes and actions at multiple, different platform computers.

Abstract: A multimedia database system effectively retrieves the contents in an optional storage position of an optional medium among a large amount of video and audio media. When a user puts an annotation to a specific range of a medium, the system registers an annotation object comprising the object ID of the target medium, specific range, and annotation information in a table. Next, when an annotation is put to a specific range of a medium once, the system automatically produces annotation objects for all media in the citation relation to it. The system manages the link relation between the citation destination and the citation source by a management table which is newly installed. The system retrieves the table and displays an annotation list coincident with the retrieval condition.

Abstract: In a parallel database system having an execution device on a front end side and a plurality of execution devices on a database operation side (hereinafter referred to as the "divided data side"), the front end side analyzes a definition statement of a routine such as a function or a procedure inputted from a user to create routine execution process instructions for executing the routine. Simultaneously, the front end side determines whether or not a database operation statement is contained in the routine, and creates check information indicative of the determination result. The front end side analyzes a query statement inputted from the user to create a first query execution process instruction to be executed on the front end side and a second query execution process instruction to be executed on the divided data side.

Abstract: A method provides a more informative result to a user in connection with the search for documents in a database. In particular, the method provides augmented addresses, in the Internet environment augmented universal resource locators, which include an indication of a document attribute which may be of interest to the user. Such attributes may include an indication of the language of the document (e.g., English or Japanese) or the popularity of the document.

Abstract: WFMS execute a multitude of process models consisting of a network of potentially distributed activities. Within this structure is the implementation of events within WFMS like any other process activity. Thus events are implemented as event-activities, a special type of an activity within said WFMS. Such an event-activity can manage an event occurring internal or external to the WFMS.

Abstract: A method for discovering association rules in a database that employs item constraints for extracting desired data relationships from a data base, thereby reducing the execution time of the rule discovery process and increasing the quality of the information returned. Such constraints allow users to specify the subset of rules in which the users are interested. Given a set of transactions D and constraints represented by a boolean expression .beta., the invention integrates the constraints into a selected rule discovery method rather than implementing the constraints as a post-processing step. The invention quickly discovers association rules that satisfy .beta. and have support and confidence levels greater than or equal to user-specified minimum support and minimum confidence levels, and may be implemented even when a taxonomy is present.

Abstract: The present invention addresses the problem of implementing X.500 using an SQL product. The present application discloses an application of X.500 to a relational database, a database design and use of the database to perform X.500 services. Particularly, the disclosure relates to implementation using an RDBMS (Relational DataBase Management System). One invention disclosed resides around service modelling, the processing of arbitrary data using a fixed set of queries/services. Another invention resides in the implementation of a disk based model using relational queries to satisfy X.500 services and enables benefits of RDBMS to be exploited. Further, the invention provides an SQL based X.500 application that can perform at subsecond speed and is relatively unaffected by the size of database, DIT shape, type of data or complexity of service, including aliases.

Abstract: In a database management system (DBMS) or other data processing system or product that stores and processes information, a subset of the stored information is stored as annotated values. Each annotated value has a stored data value and an associated data reliability value, where the data reliability value is a member of a domain that includes at least three distinct data reliability values corresponding to at least three distinct data reliability classifications that can apply to the annotated values stored in the database. Typically, one of the data reliability classifications represents fully reliable data and at least two of the distinct data reliability classifications represent two distinct classifications of missing data or less than fully reliable data. A query executer or other data processing procedure executes queries requesting access to information stored in the database (or other data processing tasks).