Abstract: A system enables a user to query for key words and phrases a text document, such as a presentation slide file, and an associated audio stream, such as can be derived from an audio-video recording that is made of a presenter contemporaneously with the showing of the slides to an audience. A graphical user interface is presented in which query results for both the text document and the audio stream are displayed in a time-aligned format, to enable a user to easily and conveniently browse the text document and accompanying time-aligned audio stream based on the key words/phrases.

Abstract: A method and apparatus for indexing and searching content in a hardcopy document utilizes a searching assistant computing device (402) with an index table (420) stored in memory (412). The index table (420) is created in memory by scanning a 2-D barcode from a hardcopy document or alternatively by downloading indexing information from a web page via the Internet (430). A search engine (410) in the searching assistant (402) searches the index table (420) to locate a data element found in the content of the hardcopy document. The indexing information corresponding to the data element is displayed to a user as part of the search results to indicate the location of the data element in the hardcopy document.

Abstract: A graphical user interface to desktop documents presents a visual display of visual summaries extracted from still image files, video image files, presentation slide documents, and word processing documents that include figures therein, in a computer file system, in response to a computer user requesting a directory listing. The user can select a visual summaries to cause the computer to search for files/documents containing similar images. The visual summaries can be presented in a hierarchy, with the top level of the hierarchy containing one visual summary per file/document, the next level containing visual summaries of all images in each file/document, and the lowest level containing visual summaries of each individual component, if any, in each image in a document. Further, for an alpha-numeric document having no images, the corresponding visual summary can be a visual representation of the appearance of a portion of the document, such as a portion of the first page of the document.

Abstract: Search of video images in a database is enhanced by specification of at least one object and a background in stored frames and in queries of the database. Video information is stored in the database by means of representative frames that include at least one object and a background. A query of the database is executed by determining whether a representative frame in the database having at least one object and a background is similar to a search image having at least one object and a background.

Abstract: This invention is directed to relational extenders for a computer-based relational database. Each relational extender includes at least one column, in a first, business, table containing a user defined application database, dedicated to object handles for defining the complex data type of an object; a second, attribute, table containing at least one column defining a unique characteristic associated with the one object and one column dedicated to containing the object handle; and a third, metadata, table containing at least one column defining a common characteristic associated with all objects defined within the business table and one column dedicated to containing the object handle and at least one column dedicated to containing a reference to object data associated with the object.

Abstract: This invention is directed to relational extenders for a computer-based relational database. Each relational extender includes at least one column, in a first, business table containing a user defined application database, dedicated to object handles for defining the complex data type of an object; a second, attribute, table containing at least one column defining a unique characteristic associated with the one object and one column dedicated to containing the object handle; and a third, metadata, table containing at least one column defining a common characteristic associated with all objects defined within the business table and one column dedicated to containing the object handles and at least one column dedicated to containing a reference to object data associated with the object.

Abstract: This invention is directed to relational extenders for a computer-based relational database. Each relational extender includes at least one column, in a first, business, table containing a user defined application database, dedicated to object handles for defining the complex data type of an object; a second, attribute, table containing at least one column defining a unique characteristic associated with the one object and one column dedicated to containing the object handle; and a third, metadata, table containing at least one column defining a common characteristic associated with all objects defined within the business table and one column dedicated to containing the object handle and at least one column dedicated to containing a reference to object data associated with the object.

Abstract: Images in an image database are searched in response to queries which include the visual characteristics of the images such as colors, textures, shapes, and sizes, as well as by textual tags appended to the images. Queries are constructed in an image query construction area in response to values of representations of the visual characteristics and to locations of the representations in the image query construction area.