System and method for text disambiguation and context designation in incremental search

摘要

Methods and systems for text disambiguation and context designation in incremental search are provided. A method for selecting items in response to ambiguous keystrokes entered by a user and unambiguous metadata associated with a previously selected search result includes receiving ambiguous keystrokes, selecting and presenting a first subset of items and metadata associated with the items presented based on the ambiguous keystrokes. The method also includes receiving a selection of one of the items from the user, and, in response to a locking operation received from the user, locking in fixed relation at least one of the ambiguous keystrokes to at least one metadata term associated with the selected item. The method further includes, subsequent to receiving the locking operation, selecting and presenting a second subset of items based at least in part on the locked metadata term, and presenting the second subset of items.

主权项

1. A user-interface method for selecting a subset of items from a collection of items in response to search criteria including keystrokes entered by a user from a keypad and including metadata associated with a previously selected search result, the method comprising:
a. receiving a sequence of keystrokes entered by a user searching for desired items, each keystroke of the sequence associated with an alphabetical or numerical symbol, wherein the symbols associated with each keystroke of the sequence of keystrokes represent at least a portion of a sequence of symbols representing the desired items; b. in response to receiving the keystrokes, performing a first search operation on the collection of items based on the sequence of keystrokes to retrieve a first subset of items from the collection of items and corresponding metadata associated with the first subset of items, wherein the metadata associated with each item of the first subset of items matches the symbols in association with each keystroke of the sequence of keystrokes; c. presenting on a display device the first subset of items; d. receiving a selection of one of the items of the first subset of items from the user; e. in response to a locking operation received from the user, performing a second search operation on the collection of items based on at least a portion of the metadata associated with the selected item to retrieve a second subset of items from the collection of items, wherein at least a portion of the metadata associated with each item of the second subset of items matches the portion of the metadata associated with the selected item; and f. presenting on the display device the second subset of items.