...that several people are credited with the invention of the flush toilet? Most people have heard of Thomas Crapper (1837-1910), the sanitary engineer who invented the valve-and-siphon arrangement that made the modern toilet possible. Another claimant to "the throne" was British inventor Alexander Cumming who patented a toilet in 1775. Then there's a nameless Minoan (a native of ancient Crete) who lived 4,000 years ago who supposedly was ahead of his time and created the first flush toilet!
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| Number | Title | Issue Date |
| 7013306 | XML input definition table for transforming XML data to internal format An apparatus for and method of accommodating an XML document within a legacy data base management system. The XML document is defined by a Document Type Definition (DTD). The XML document is converted into a form suitable for use by the legacy data base management s... | 03/14/2006 |
| 6442567 | Method and apparatus for improved contact and activity management and planning Methods and apparatus for improved contact and activity management and planning where subject data, activity data and topic data are created and functionally linked through interfaces and processing modules to organize information in a useful way that per... | 08/27/2002 |
| 6421678 | Method and apparatus for group action processing between users of a collaboration system A natural language-based information organization and collaboration tool for a computer system is disclosed. The present invention includes an apparatus and method for processing text expressions in a computer system, the apparatus including; 1) an object... | 07/16/2002 |
| 6374257 | Method and system for removing ambiguities in a shared database command A method and apparatus for identifying one or more schemas from which a Structured Query Language (SQL) statement may have been executed is provided. According to the method, to identify schemas from which a database command may have been executed a set o... | 04/16/2002 |
| 6356918 | Method and system for managing registers in a data processing system supports out-of-order and speculative instruction execution A method and a system in a data processing system for managing registers in a register array wherein the data processing system has M architected registers and the register array has greater than M registers. A first physical register address is selected ... | 03/12/2002 |
| 6356913 | Generic (database-independent) and dynamically-modifiable schema A generic and dynamically-modifiable database schema has a tree structure that includes leaf nodes each defining a value of an attribute, branch container nodes each representing a different attribute and identifying those leaf nodes that define values of... | 03/12/2002 |
| 6347320 | Search parameters A method of searching for files located in a computer system, wherein each file has at least one of a plurality of fields, by creating a search query, selecting a subset of the fields for searching wherein the subset is selected independent of the search ... | 02/12/2002 |
| 6334131 | Method for cataloging, filtering, and relevance ranking frame-based hierarchical information structures A method for cataloging, filtering and ranking information, as for example, World Wide Web pages of the Internet. The method is preferably implemented in computer software and features steps for enabling a user to interactively create an information datab... | 12/25/2001 |
| 6311191 | Method and apparatus for improved contact and activity management and planning Methods and apparatus for improved contact and activity management and planning where subject data, activity data and topic data are created and functionally linked through interfaces and processing modules to organize information in a useful way that per... | 10/30/2001 |
| 6295532 | Apparatus and method for classifying information received by a communications system The present invention involves a system and method for classifying information received by a communications device. A first parameter having a first parameter range and a second parameter range, and a second parameter having a third parameter range and a ... | 09/25/2001 |
| 6289383 | System and method for managing data retrieval bandwidth A retrieval system and method which allows a computer system to adjust the data retrieval start times of the data retrieval requests from the different users in order to achieve overall system objectives. Each user is assigned a percentage availability wh... | 09/11/2001 |
| 6289357 | Method of automatically synchronizing mirrored database objects A method of automatically synchronizing a database with a backup database. The method automatically detects whether the backup database has fallen out of sync with the primary database which it mirrors. In response, a resynchronization process is automati... | 09/11/2001 |
| 6282541 | Efficient groupby aggregation in tournament tree sort A method, apparatus, and article of manufacture for a computer implemented groupby aggregation system. Groupby aggregation is performed when a statement is executed in a database stored on a data storage device, which is connected to a computer. Initially... | 08/28/2001 |
| 6278995 | Apparatus and method for providing a binary range tree search The present invention relates to a system and method for searching information. The method involves defining a first node having a first range, and a second node having a second range that is either less than or greater than the first range. Each of the f... | 08/21/2001 |
| 6279012 | Reducing the memory footprint of a session duration semispace A method and apparatus for performing copying garbage collection is provided. In a computer's memory, objects are stored in a permanent semispace. When a garbage collection event is detected, a garbage collection cycle is commenced. During the garbage col... | 08/21/2001 |
| 6272501 | Database system for management of arrays Database system comprising a storage means for storing encoded and compressed multidimensional array data; a storage interface; an application programming interface; and processing means for effecting a storage and query processing, and for providing proc... | 08/07/2001 |
| 6269360 | Optimization of ordered stores on a pipelined bus via self-initiated retry Where a plurality of ordered transactions are received for data transfers on a pipelined bus, each transaction in the series is initiated before all prospective retry responses to the preceding ordered transactions may be asserted. The address responses t... | 07/31/2001 |
| 6266672 | Persistence storage architecture A method and system that processes a storage mechanism-independent query is described. The method and system identifies at least one persistent storage mechanism, that is capable of providing data for satisfying the query from among at least two persisten... | 07/24/2001 |
| 6266660 | Secondary index search A secondary index search in a relational database system compares primary key selection criteria against a primary key value stored in a secondary index record that satisfies secondary key selection criteria instead of searching a primary index for a prim... | 07/24/2001 |
| 6263340 | User registration in file review systems A file review system includes a mechanism for the auto-registration of users. An author of a file in a file review system defines one or more user profiles. A new user of the system is provided with a user identification and password for a user profile. T... | 07/17/2001 |
| 6256645 | Storage manager which sets the size of an initial-free area assigned to a requesting application according to statistical data A storage manager located between a plurality of requesting applications and a memory shared between the applications, has: a receiving unit for receiving a present memory access request from a first of said plurality of requesting applications; an access... | 07/03/2001 |
| 6256622 | Logical division of files into multiple articles for search and retrieval A single file, such as an HTML document, is logically divided into multiple articles that can be individually recognized and ranked by search engines. The segmentation of a document into separate articles is based upon tokens that are used in document mar... | 07/03/2001 |
| 6256627 | System and method for maintaining a knowledge base and evidence set The present invention relates to a system and method for maintaining a knowledge base and an evidence set derived from the knowledge base. The knowledge base has a relationship, which exists between a first object and a second object. A request is specifi... | 07/03/2001 |
| 6253204 | Restoring broken links utilizing a spider process Information links, such as hypertext links, found in network based documents, such as those found on the World Wide Web, sometimes break, i.e. fail to result in retrieval the desired document. Techniques are described to record information about such brok... | 06/26/2001 |
| 6253194 | System and method for performing database queries using a stack machine A stack-language interface between a client application and its underlying database. To query the database, the client application passes a search expression to a database API. The search expression includes simple operands, which define values for indivi... | 06/26/2001 |
| 6253196 | Generalized model for the exploitation of database indexes A method, apparatus, and article of manufacture for computer-implemented exploitation of database indexes. A statement is executed in a database stored on a data storage device connected to a computer. The database contains data. A model based on pattern ... | 06/26/2001 |
| 6249792 | On-line dynamic file shrink facility An on-line dynamic shrink facility sets an allocation fence in a file and moves data from above the fence to below the fence. The fence is based on a target size for the file. When all the data above the fence is moved below the fence, the space above the... | 06/19/2001 |
| 6249790 | Relational database management system and method of operation A method of operating a database of records. The method includes providing an internet web site containing selected information, and providing a computer containing the database. Each record of the database is associated with each of a number of contacts.... | 06/19/2001 |
| 6249783 | Method and apparatus for efficiently executing built-in functions A method, apparatus and article of manufacture for computer implemented method of efficiently executing built-in functions is defined. Function modules are defined to process a single data type class and to process as many functions as possible before ret... | 06/19/2001 |
| 6247023 | Method for providing database recovery across multiple nodes A three-phase database crash recovery mechanism is detailed including a forward phase, a backward phase, and a third, so-called "sideward" phase for recovery of transactions which were interrupted at the time of the crash, using Global Transaction IDs to ... | 06/12/2001 |
| 6243704 | Business nonstandard character processing apparatus and system, and computer readable storage medium A business nonstandard character processing apparatus includes a plurality of work processing parts for carrying out processes using nonstandard character data registered in a system nonstandard character file, one or a plurality of nonstandard character ... | 06/05/2001 |
| 6243709 | Method and apparatus for loading stored procedures in a database corresponding to object-oriented data dependencies An improved object-database mapping tool is provided that stores a series of stored procedures associated with a database and an object-oriented application. The tool accesses stored procedures associated with classes corresponding to an object-oriented a... | 06/05/2001 |
| 6240406 | System and method for optimizing queries with aggregates and collection conversions Systems and methods for optimizing database queries involving aggregates identify instantiations of rules in an internal language representation of the original query, and then applies the rules to those instantiations to form an optimized query execution... | 05/29/2001 |
| 6240407 | Method and apparatus for creating an index in a database system A method, apparatus and article of manufacture for computer-implemented creation of an index in a database system is defined, wherein a structured document, interactively entered by an operator or already stored in the database system, is parsed into at l... | 05/29/2001 |
| 6240419 | Compression store addressing Variable-length data, comprising of compressed pages, is stored in a memory so that access to any sub-page or line within a page may be started given a single address corresponding to the location of a fixed-length block within the memory.... | 05/29/2001 |
| 6236994 | Method and apparatus for the integration of information and knowledge The present invention is a method and apparatus for first integrating the operation of various independent software applications directed to the management of information within an enterprise. The system architecture is, however, an expandable architectur... | 05/22/2001 |
| 6237004 | System and method for displaying data using graphical user interface control elements The present invention is a system, method, and computer readable medium for determining which graphic user interface (GUI) control element, including a graphic symbol and associated control code, to use to display particular data. The present invention us... | 05/22/2001 |
| 6230163 | Transient datastream-processing buffer memory organization with software management adapted for multilevel housekeeping A transient datastream-processing buffer memory organization with software management adapted for multilevel housekeeping. A datastream-processing system has a datastream input, storage for transiently storing the datastream, apparatus for accessing a buf... | 05/08/2001 |
| 6226632 | Structured-text cataloging method, structured-text searching method, and portable medium used in the methods A text cataloging method includes a step of cataloging already-analyzed-text data obtained from an analysis of a logical structure of a text to be cataloged in a text database, a step of creating a structure index by sequentially superposing logical struc... | 05/01/2001 |
| 6226651 | Database disaster remote site recovery An integrated DBMS solution to recover primary site database based upon the maintenance of a shadow copy of the primary site's database data and logs at a remote site. Both the primary site DBMS and the remote site DBMS may support write-ahead logging pro... | 05/01/2001 |