BACKGROUND

Many activities that consumers and companies engage in require search and retrieval processes. Typically, companies maintain data assets in tables or databases, which provide the backbone for internal company operations and user-facing network services. In fact, users no longer have to remember names of people, products, or services because users can find what they are looking for through search interfaces that are pervasively available from web-based browsers or mobile application interfaces (accessible from any user-operated device (e.g., phone, watch, laptop, desktop, voice-based home appliances, etc.)).

Yet, maintaining these tables, databases, and indices are costly, time consuming, and error prone. Furthermore, response times for search engines are heavily dependent upon the underlying structure of the primary data being searched and any metadata produced or maintained with the primary data.

Some companies are heavily dependent on voluminous amounts of primary data maintained in large tables or data stores. The ability to organize and search this data quickly is of utmost importance. A single piece of primary data updated incorrectly can have catastrophic consequences to user and to internal operations that rely on the accuracy of the primary data. Internal applications may also require search and retrieval from the primary data for purposes of providing some other mission-critical calculations.

Most companies embed format or interface-specific logic into their internal applications for any needed search and retrieval against their tables. This unduly complicates the internal applications and makes them dependent on the format and structures of their tables, such that any changes to the tables has a cascading effect on the internal applications.

