HTTP Header Metadata Extraction for Non-Markup Documents
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Solution Overview
Problem
Search engines struggle to provide high-quality search results for documents not in mark-up language format, as these documents lack metadata, which is typically embedded in META tags, leading to poorer search outcomes.
Innovation Solution
A method and system that extract metadata from documents not in mark-up language format, convert it into name-value pairs, and embed these in an HTTP header, allowing search engines to interpret and index the metadata as if it were in a mark-up language format, thereby enhancing search engine functionality without requiring changes to existing indexing processes.
Engineering Contradictions & Design Principles
Engineering Contradiction Analysis
1Measurement precision
If search engines use META tags to identify and use metadata for creating search indexes, then search result quality is improved for mark-up language documents, but metadata is not available for documents not in mark-up language format
Solution Approach 1:
The patent introduces an intermediary component that acts as a bridge between non-markup language documents and the search engine's metadata processing system. This intermediary extracts metadata from documents regardless of their format and transforms it into a standardized structure that the search engine can process, thereby enabling metadata availability for all document types without requiring changes to the core search engine architecture.
Solution Approach 2:
The patent changes the parameter representation of metadata by converting it from format-specific structures (or unavailable) into a universal name-value pair format. This parameter transformation allows metadata from any document type to be processed uniformly by the search engine, resolving the contradiction between maintaining specialized processing for markup languages and achieving universal metadata accessibility.
2Measurement precision
If search engines are designed to process only mark-up language documents with META tags, then indexing accuracy is improved, but the system complexity increases to handle multiple document formats
Solution Approach 1:
The patent extracts the metadata processing functionality from the core search engine and places it in a separate preprocessing component. This extraction allows the main search engine to continue using its optimized META tag processing pipeline while the external component handles the complexity of extracting and standardizing metadata from various document formats, thereby maintaining indexing accuracy without increasing core system complexity.
3Reliability
If metadata is manually supplied by document authors using META tags, then metadata quality is improved, but this approach is not feasible for documents not in mark-up language format
Solution Approach 1:
The patent implements a self-service mechanism where metadata is automatically extracted from documents by the preprocessing component without requiring manual intervention from document authors. The system reads document properties, content, and structural elements to automatically generate metadata in name-value pairs, making metadata creation feasible for all document formats while maintaining quality through systematic extraction rules.
Data Source
AI summary
A method for providing metadata to a search engine for a document that is not in a mark-up language receives a request for contents of the document and locates metadata associated with the document. The method further creates name-value pairs for the metadata and provides to the search engine server a response comprising the name-value pair in an HTTP (or HTTPS) header and the contents of the document. In other implementations, a method includes sending a request for contents of the document and receiving a response to the request comprising an HTTP header with metadata about the document in a name-value pair and the document's content. The method also includes extracting the name-value pair from the HTTP header, creating a mark-up language tag for the name-value pair, and providing the make-up language tag and the contents of the document in a mark-up language format to a search index creation component.