Ordered index

摘要

Systems and methods for processing an index are described. A postings list of items containing a particular term are ordered in a desired retrieval order, e.g., most recent first. The ordered items are inserted into an inverted index in the desired retrieval order, resulting in an ordered inverted index from which items may be efficiently retrieved in the desired retrieval order. During retrieval, items may first be retrieved from a live index, and the retrieved items from the live and ordered indexes may be merged. The retrieved items may also be filtered in accordance with the items' file grouping parameters.

主权项

1. A machine implemented method for preparing an inverted index for storage on a storage medium, the method comprising:
scanning items containing terms for preparing an inverted index, each item having a time characteristic; inserting the items into the inverted index in a retrieval order based on the time characteristic of each item, wherein the items in the inverted index are ordered in the retrieval order; maintaining a live index separate from the inverted index, wherein the live index includes updates to the inverted index according to updates to the items; and in response to receiving a query from a requestor, retrieving items matching the query according to the retrieval order from the inverted index and the live index to the requestor via an output device.