Abstract: A system provides a user interface through which users can flexibly tag individual items represented in an electronic catalog with user-defined tags, such as text strings, and obtain recommendations that are specific to particular tags. The tags and tag-item assignments created by each user are stored persistently in association with the user, and may be kept private to the user or exposed to others. Once a user has assigned a tag to a number of items, the user (or another user in some embodiments) can request and obtain recommendations that are specific to this tag. These recommendations may be generated in real time by a recommendation service that identifies items that are collectively similar or related to the items associated with the tag.

Abstract: An information processing device includes an obtaining unit to obtain two pieces of information that are targets for searching for connections; a connection searching unit to use an action model wherein the manner of obtaining, from input information, obtain related information that relates to the input information is modeled, and find connection information to connect the two pieces of information, thereby searching connections between the two pieces of information; and a search result output unit to output the search results of the connections between the two pieces of information.

Abstract: A system has a processor coupled to access a document database that indexes keywords and instances of entities having entity types in a plurality of documents. The processor is programmed to receive an input query including one or more keywords and one or more entity types, and search the database for documents having the keywords and entities with the entity types of the input query. The processor is programmed for aggregating a respective score for each of a plurality of entity tuples across the plurality of documents. The aggregated scores are normalized. Each respective normalized score provides a ranking of a respective entity tuple, relative to other entity tuples, as an answer to the input query. The processor has an interface to a storage or display device or network for outputting a list including a subset of the entity tuples having the highest normalized scores among the plurality of entity tuples.

Abstract: A system for provisioning content to at least one user is described. A content provisioning server is used. The content provisioning server includes a content provisioning application in communication with a user database. The content provisioning application is configured to access the user database to identify a user, determine rights of the user from the user database, and send a user interface to a client computing device that provides user interface items corresponding to the rights and associated links of the user.

Abstract: Techniques are described herein for automatically generating multiple interrelated database tables to store XML data, while ensuring that each such table has no more than the maximum DBMS-allowed number of columns. In response to the registration of an XML schema with a database server, the server determines whether any of the elements specified in the XML schema are complex elements that have more than a threshold number of descendant elements. If a complex element has more than the threshold number of descendant elements, then the server automatically generates one or more separate “out-of-line” database tables for storing at least some of those descendant elements, so that the table created to store the complex element will have no more than the permitted number of columns. Each of the out-of-line database tables is similarly generated so as to have no more than the permitted number of columns.

Abstract: Apparatuses and methods for system management in a heterogeneous environment are provided. For example, relational query from a software application requesting management information from a specified information source is received and translated to native protocol messages according to an access protocol associated with the information source. The native protocol messages are handled as a transaction with the information source and a result of the transaction is returned to the software application.

Abstract: In an embodiment of the invention, an apparatus uses a LUN (logical unit number) data type for storage allocation. The apparatus includes a storage appliance that specifies a LUN data type for a LUN. The storage appliance then allocates data blocks in the LUN based on the LUN data type. The storage appliance allocates data blocks in the LUN as contiguous data blocks or as non-contiguous data blocks, based on the LUN data type. The LUN data type may be, for example, database data type, user data type, or binary data type.

Abstract: A storage system executes a delta set asynchronous remote replication protocol, wherein writes to a local copy are aggregated into delta sets during successive delta cycles. The delta sets are sent to a remote storage system to be written to a remote copy. Independent of the delta cycles, the local storage system receives a signal representing an external event. In response to receiving the signal, all writes just prior to and in accordance with the external event are posted to the local copy, the current delta set is ended, and a marker delta set is inserted in the delta set stream. The delta sets received at the remote storage system are monitored for the marker delta set. When the marker delta set is received, it is indicated that the remote copy is consistent with the local copy just prior to the external event at the local storage system.

Abstract: A method and system that annotates a redo log to provide information concerning the execution of a procedure at a primary database. The annotations include entry and exit markers that indicate the beginning and the end of the execution along with any arguments passed to the procedure, and whether the execution of the procedure was successful. At the standby database, these markers are used to create a logical transaction associated with the procedure. The operations performed by the procedure are grouped into individual transactions, and these individual transactions are grouped as belonging to the logical transaction. If the execution of the procedure was successful at the primary database, then the individual transactions are discarded, and the logical transaction is applied by executing the procedure at the standby database. If the execution of the procedure failed at the primary database, then the individual transactions and the logical transaction are discarded.

Abstract: Techniques for implementing secure normal forms are provided. In one embodiment, in response to a request for data from a client, a database server is operable to enforce a column-level security policy that is defined for a particular column of some, but not necessarily all, rows of a table stored in a database. After retrieving a set of rows from the table and before returning a result set of rows to the client, the database server modifies the retrieved set of rows into the result set of rows by applying the security policy to each row of the retrieved set of rows, where applying the security policy to a row comprises: determining whether the security policy is satisfied for the particular column of that row; replacing, in the result set of rows, a data value in the particular column of that row with a security-NULL value when the security policy is not satisfied; and including the data value in the particular column of that row into the result set of rows when the security policy is satisfied.

Abstract: A system provides a list of search results, where one of the search results in the list of search results includes a snippet from a corresponding search result document. The system receives selection of the snippet and provides an expanded snippet based on the selection of the snippet. The expanded snippet includes the snippet and other text from a subset of the search result document.

Abstract: The present invention is a method and system that provides visual, production level, high-performance, integrated and automatic data integrity verification in a Web-based, e-business or other similar application, using a middleware application server. Asynchronous messaging is utilized to achieve real-time data verification. When data is read and updated by the application running in the application server, a message containing certain aspects of the data is published to a data auditor “queue” in the message server. Publishing the data is an asynchronous and high-performance operation and thus does not significantly slow down the operation being performed by the application server. The message is delivered to the message server and control immediately returns to the application to continue processing. Concurrently, the auditor checks the values resulting from the transaction and determines if the transactions have been recorded accurately.

Abstract: A computer-implemented matching service matches users to other users, and/or to user communities, based at least in part on a computer analysis of event data reflective of user behaviors. The event data may, for example, evidence user affinities for particular items represented in an electronic catalog, such as book titles, music titles, movie titles, and/or other types of items that tend to reflect the traits of users. Event data reflective of other types of user actions, such as item-detail-page viewing events, browse node visits, search query submissions, and/or web browsing patterns may additionally or alternatively be considered. By taking such event data into consideration, the matching service reduces the burden on users to explicitly supply personal profile information, and reduces poor results caused by exaggerations and other inaccuracies in such profile information.

Abstract: A method for reducing data loss and unavailability by integrating multiple levels of a storage hierarchy is provided. The method includes receiving a read request. In addition, the method includes recognizing a data failure in response to the read request. The method further includes locating an alternate source of the data to be read in response to recognizing the data failure. The alternate source includes data cached at devices in the storage hierarchy, data in a backup system, and cumulative changes to the data since the last backup. Moreover, the method includes responding to the read request with data from the alternate source.

Abstract: Query processing system and method by query transformation transform a user request query based on an original DB structure, destined to a DBMS of a DB with some columns encrypted, into a query based on an encrypted DB structure so that the DBMS processes the query. The query is processed irrespective of whether or not the query includes an encryption-related item, and query-processing performance is remarkably improved.

Abstract: A search query for a search engine may be improved by incorporating alternate terms into the search query that are semantically similar to terms of the search query, taking into account information derived from the search query. An initial set of alternate terms that may be semantically similar to the original terms in the search query is generated. The initial set of alternate terms may be compared to information derived from the original search query. One example of such information is a set of documents retrieved in response to a search performed using the initial search query. One or more of the alternate terms may be added to the original search query based on their relationship to the information derived from the original search query.

Abstract: Techniques for a data definition language (DDL) statement acquiring a lock on a table in wait mode in a deadlock free manner are provided. A DDL statement specifies metadata of a table that is to be modified, whereas a data manipulation language (DML) statement specifies a table to be modified. When a DDL statement is received, a proxy statement is initiated and executed instead of first acquiring an exclusive lock on metadata of a particular table. The proxy statement is similar to a DML statement in that the proxy statement acquires a lock on the particular table. After the proxy statement has been processed, an exclusive lock on the metadata is acquired.

Abstract: Processing arrangements and methods are provided for the automated decoding or translation of information in healthcare data records, which are coded in a non-standardized or varying formats. A data record which contains information, a portion which is recognized and another portion of which is new, is decoded or translated using a statistical mapping rule. The mapping rule assigns a most likely translation value to the information based on the recognized portion of the information. The statistical mapping rules are established by analysis of a set of previously decoded data records.

Abstract: A method and system for reducing storage requirements and speeding up storage operations by reducing the storage of redundant data includes receiving a request that identifies one or more data objects to which to apply a storage operation. For each data object, the storage system determines if the data object contains data that matches another data object to which the storage operation was previously applied. If the data objects do not match, then the storage system performs the storage operation in a usual manner. However, if the data objects do match, then the storage system may avoid performing the storage operation.

Abstract: A method and system are disclosed for modeling a relational database. The method comprises the steps of defining a set of data tables to accommodate any number of levels of a business hierarchy and using these tables as a generic data model to handle various levels of requirements of the business hierarchy. This set of tables include a first control table, a second table containing hierarchy nodes in a flattened format, a third table storing unique hierarchy node names, and a fourth table describing the hierarchy nodes in one or more languages. For example, this business hierarchy may be a commodity hierarchy, a geography hierarchy and a client organization hierarchy. Also, in the preferred embodiment, no new tables are needed when a new hierarchy is introduced, and the generic data model supports different numbers of reporting levels from one hierarchy to the next hierarchy.