Abstract: Computer-based method and system for providing guidance to a purchaser for selecting an appliance that generally requires venting are provided. The guidance includes recommendations regarding a venting arrangement for the appliance. The method allows providing a database for storing appliance-related information that includes a respective identifier for each appliance. The appliance-related information further includes venting requirements data for each appliance. A vent wizard is configured to provide a set of prompts over a communications network to elicit information from the purchaser regarding a respective appliance of interest to the purchaser, and vent parameters for the venting arrangement for the appliance. The database is accessed in view of the information supplied by the purchaser.

Abstract: A method and system for shipping items. A server is configured to send out requests for quotes to a number of regional shipping companies using a network. The server receives responses from the network and selects a route based on the responses. The route may include shipping the item to one or more intermediate destinations before the item arrives at the final destination. The server may create a data file reflecting the selected route. The items are packed in one or more containers, wherein each container has a memory device. At least part of the data file is then stored into the memory device. The memory device may be accessed as needed during shipping to determine where the item is going and when the item needs to arrive. Additional information may also be stored in the memory device, and the device may be updated at intermediate destinations. Each container may take a different routing, and the server may actively search for better routings as the item proceeds along the selected route.

Abstract: Editing contents for the editing-object document selected from the plural documents that are inputted from the terminal devices connected to the network and that can be owned jointly via the network and corresponding message sentences for the editing contents are received, and a new renewed document is prepared by renewing the editing-object document on the basis of the editing contents, while extracting the renewed contents of the editing-object document by comparing the editing-object documents before and after the renewal with each other, storing at least the renewed contents as the history concerning the renewal of the editing-object document after preparing the contents correspondence with the message sentences, and displaying the renewed contents with the message sentences at a request by the user on the terminal device that sent the request.

Abstract: Systems and methods for word sense disambiguation, including discerning one or more senses or occurrences, distinguishing between senses or occurrences, and determining a meaning for a sense or occurrence of a subject term. In a collection of documents containing terms and a reference collection containing at least one meaning associated with a term, the method includes forming a vector space representation of terms and documents. In some embodiments, the vector space is a latent semantic index vector space. In some embodiments, occurrences are clustered to discern or distinguish a sense of a term. In preferred embodiments, meaning of a sense or occurrence is assigned based on either correlation with an external reference source, or proximity to a reference source that has been indexed into the space.

Abstract: A system for incrementally maintaining non-distributive aggregate functions in a relational database includes a data storage device in which a relational database is stored. A processor communicates with the data storage device and includes a database maintenance module. The database maintenance module includes a program for incrementally maintaining non-distributive aggregate functions in a relational database. The method embodied in the program includes determining whether all functions in a relational database query are distributive. Based on this determination, a basic propagate phase graph is selectively altered to yield a new propagate phase graph. Changes to an automatic summary table are then applied thereto based on the new propagate phase graph.

Abstract: A data file management system for web browsers includes a program configured to search data files upon an activation of an event.

Abstract: A system and method for representing, storing and retrieving real-world knowledge on a computer or network of computers is disclosed. Knowledge is broken down into permanent atomic “facts” which can be stored in a standard relational database and processed very efficiently. It also provides for the efficient querying of a knowledge base, efficient inference of new knowledge and translation into and out of natural language. Queries can also be processed with full natural language explanations of where the answers came from. The method can also be used in a distributed fashion enabling the system to be a large network of computers and the technology can be integrated into a web browser adding to the browser's functionality.

Abstract: Techniques for responding to a request for data from a server operated by an entity or enterprise on a network include generating and storing a first concept in association with a first relationship of a first relationship type, which relates concepts in a first category, and a second relationship of a second relationship type, which relates concepts in a second category; and responding to the request based on the first concept and the second relationship. The request is based on an enterprise-specific vocabulary of names and relationships among the names. The names are of solutions, technologies, products, services and activities, or any other information associated with the entity. The first concept is one of a plurality of atomic concepts among names in the enterprise-specific vocabulary. The first concept is associated with a first category of a plurality of categories that encompass the enterprise-specific vocabulary.

Abstract: A package management information recording section 131 creates and records on a recording medium 120 package management information for managing packages recorded on the recording medium 120. A content file recording section 132 records on the recording medium 120 content files of content file groups included in packages, and also creates and records on the recording medium 120 content file group management information for managing these content file groups. A content/metadata correspondence information recording section 133 creates and records on the recording medium 120 information on correspondence between content files and metadata files within a package or correspondence between a package itself and metadata files. By this means, the correspondence between content files and metadata files can always be maintained correctly when they are recorded separately.

Abstract: Provided is a method, system, and program for accessing data in a distributed database environment. A client program receives multiple requests for data from a database object satisfying specified search predicates from an application program. Each request includes a request for at least one row from the table. The client program transfers a database command and a rowset parameter indicating a maximum number of rows to return to a server program over a network if the requested row is not maintained by the client program. A data block is generated with the server program including rows from the database object satisfying the search predicates in response to the database command. The rows included in the data block do not exceed the rowset parameter. The server program transfers the data block to the client program. In turn, the client program returns at least one requested row from the received data block in response to one request for the at least one row of data from the application program.

Abstract: In a cluster of computing nodes having shared access to one or more volumes of data storage using a parallel file system, a method for managing the data storage includes initiating a session of a data management application on a first one of the nodes, while running a user application on a second one of the nodes. A request is submitted to the parallel file system by the user application on the second node to perform a file operation on a file in one of the volumes of data storage. A data management event message is sent from the second node to the first node responsive to the request, for processing by the data management application on the first node.

Abstract: The described subject matter provides for managing and streaming media content. A server/client component accesses a first playlist that is in a native data format. A translator component translates the first playlist into a canonical data format, forming a second playlist in the canonical format. The content referenced by the second playlist is streamed.

Abstract: A proxy engine (108), in communication with a web crawler (100), extends the performance of the web crawler (100) by modifying hyperlink requests and creating synthetic hyperlink requests from data received from a web site (104). The proxy engine (108) converts hyperlinks to a method used by a target web site. The proxy engine receives data from a web site (104) located across a network (102), and then determines whether additional data from the web site (104) is extractable. In response to determining that additional data from the web site (104) is extractable, the proxy engine (108) creates at least one synthetic hyperlink for extracting the data from the web site (104). The proxy engine (108) then combines the at least one synthetic hyperlink with the data received from the website (104) to create combined data and then sends the combined data to the crawler (100).

Abstract: A system and method for performing an indirect directory search is implemented. In the indirect search, entry attributes that reference other objects may selectively be searched. An attribute syntax for a distinguished name (DN) which is a reference is defined. If an attribute value belonging to an attribute corresponding to the reference syntax is in an entry found by the search, the value points to another entry in the directory. The attributes (members) of the entry pointed to are selectively retrieved, depending on parameters in the search request.

Abstract: A system and method is provided to facilitate communications between object systems. A caller is provided having optimized in-lined functionality when initiating a remote function call between managed and unmanaged object systems, for example. The in-lined functionality includes utilizing direct calls and returns within a calling function. In this manner, pushing additional arguments onto an execution stack because of an external stub reference is mitigated. In addition, one or more code loops can be analyzed to enable stack markers to be “hoisted” and thus pushed a single time instead of each time the calling function executes. Other aspects of the optimized caller provide garbage collection and thread management, security attribute checking on outgoing calls, calling convention considerations, wherein arguments and return values are organized according to the convention utilized by the remote object system, and in-lined marshalling to provide enhanced performance over external stub code references.

Abstract: Systems, clients, servers, methods, and computer-readable media of varying scope are described that maintain versions of data related to projects. Included in the system is a visual interface, a source repository and a project database. The source repository maintains versions of source code associated with a software development project. The project database maintains project data associated with the project. The project database maintains versions of the project data. The visual interface provides a mechanism for reading and updating the project data. As project data is updated a method is invoked in which a current version of the data is located. The current version is determined by examining which data structure has an end-time value that is blank or null. The current version's end-time is set to the current time (i.e. the time of the update), thereby turning the current version into a previous version of the project data. A new data structure is created that contains the updated value.

Abstract: A method of learning user query concept for searching visual images encoded in computer readable storage media comprising: providing a multiplicity of sample images encoded in a computer readable medium; providing a multiplicity of sample expressions that correspond to sample images and in which terms of the sample expressions represent features of corresponding sample images; defining a user query concept sample space bounded by a boundary k-CNF expression and by a boundary k-DNF expression refining the user query concept sample space by, soliciting user feedback as to which of the multiple presented sample images are close to the user's query concept; removing from the boundary k-CNF expression disjunctive terms based upon the solicited user feedback; and removing from the boundary k-DNF expression respective conjunctive terms based upon the solicited user feedback.

Abstract: A method for recovering data in a storage device is provided in which information related to a first data structure is defined with a plurality of copies of a second data structure and the information related to the first data structure is rebuilt using the plurality of copies of the second data structure upon corruption thereof.

Abstract: A method and computer program product for locating data in a system including a plurality of archive units, and answering a query directed to an archive unit. Locating includes broadcasting a query to all the archive units; identifying a set of the archive units that could contain a result for the query; receiving at least one query reply from the archive units; and validating the query reply when the archive unit that sent the query reply is in the set. Answering includes receiving the query; responding to the query when the archive unit could contain a result for the query; and discarding the query without responding when the archive unit could not contain a result for the query.

Abstract: A method and system for automatically detecting deviations in a data table comprising a multitude of records and a multitude of columns. A column of the data table is selected as a classification column and a classification tree is calculated with respect to the classification column. Each edge of the classification tree is associated with a predicate. The leaf nodes of the classification tree are associated with a leaf record set comprising the subset of records for which the class predicate comprising all predicates along a path from a root node of the classification tree to the leaf nodes evaluates to TRUE. Leaf nodes are associated with a leaf label representing an expected value in the classification column for the corresponding leaf record sets. From the leaf record sets all records deviating with respect to the corresponding classification column from the leaf label are determined as deviation sets.