Craig A Thompson

US Patent:

7027975, Apr 11, 2006

Filed:

Aug 8, 2000

Appl. No.:

09/634108

Inventors:

Paul N. Pazandak - Bloomington MN, US
Craig Thompson - Plano TX, US

Assignee:

Object Services and Consulting, Inc. - West Grove PA

International Classification:

G10F 17/27

US Classification:

704 9

Abstract:

A method for a guided natural language interface includes inputting to a thin client a query, communicating to an interface intermediary, communicating to an interface descriptor data source, generating an interface descriptor, communicating the interface descriptor to the interface intermediary, communicating the interface descriptor to a parser farm, requesting an appropriate parser corresponding to the interface descriptor, assigning an appropriate parser, parsing, communicating a translation from the step of parsing, to the interface intermediary, and communicating the translation to the thin client. The thin client can be geographically remote from any or all of the steps other than the step of inputting, such that the method is performed over a disparate enterprise, such as a network, for example, the Internet.

US Patent:

46881956, Aug 18, 1987

Filed:

Jan 28, 1983

Appl. No.:

6/461881

Inventors:

Craig W. Thompson - Plano TX
Kenneth M. Ross - Bedford TX

Assignee:

Texas Instruments Incorporated - Dallas TX

International Classification:

G06F 100

US Classification:

364300

Abstract:

A system for interactively generating a natural-language input interface, without any computer-skill programming work being required. The natural-language menu interface thus generated provides a menu-selection technique whereby a totally unskilled computer user, who need not even be able to type, can access a relational or hierarchical database, without any possibility of error. That is, the user addresses commands to the database system simply by selecting words from an appropriate menu of words which could legally follow in commands, so that the user inputs commands which are phrased entirely in English, and these commands cannot be misunderstood by the database system. The present invention provides an automatic interactive system whereby such an interface is constructed. The database is itself loaded in, and the interactive interface-construction system then addresses a series of queries to the user's technical expert, in response to which the user must classify, which tables in the database are to be used, which attributes of particular tables in the database are key attributes, and, in particular, what the various connections between tables in the database are and what natural-language connecting phrases will describe those relations.

US Patent:

57520348, May 12, 1998

Filed:

Sep 13, 1994

Appl. No.:

8/304980

Inventors:

Aditya Srivastava - Dallas TX
Jose A. Blakeley - Plano TX
Stephen J. Ford - Plano TX
Moira Mallison - Dallas TX
Craig W. Thompson - Plano TX
David L. Wells - Dallas TX

Assignee:

Texas Instruments Incorporated - Dallas TX

International Classification:

G06F 1900

US Classification:

395704

Abstract:

The present invention provides an in-line wrapper sentry for a programming language to detect events and to transparently extend the behavior of the events.

US Patent:

58623868, Jan 19, 1999

Filed:

May 14, 1993

Appl. No.:

8/062492

Inventors:

Vappala John Joseph - Plano TX
Mark Benjamin Shadowens - Irving TX
Craig Warren Thompson - Plano TX
John Chung-Lin Chen - Plano TX

Assignee:

Texas Instruments Incorporated - Dallas TX

International Classification:

G06F 100

US Classification:

395712

Abstract:

A system and method for managing change in software systems and applications manages change for both transient and persistent objects in a domain independent, non-intrusive, object-oriented fashion. The system and method are designed and implemented as a combination of two abstract machines consisting of a set of inter-face functions visible to the application, and an internal or private state which is hidden from such application. Applications use the interface functions to obtain the services of this change management system and method. Since the internal state of such system and method is outside the application, change management is provided as a service without the need for altering or adding onto application data structures and interfaces.

US Patent:

58260773, Oct 20, 1998

Filed:

Apr 17, 1997

Appl. No.:

8/837396

Inventors:

Jose Alfredo Blakeley - Plano TX
Craig W. Thompson - Plano TX

Assignee:

Texas Instruments Incorporated - Dallas TX

International Classification:

G06F 1730

US Classification:

395604

Abstract:

An object-oriented query language apparatus and method provides data abstraction, seamlessness with respect to the host programming language, set support orthogonal to persistence and strong typing. Such apparatus for processing queries includes a preprocessor to parse, optimize, and translate object query language statements into efficient host language statements, connected to a compiler that compiles such host language statements into executable code. Therefore, by inputting a program containing statements using a host language's type system as well as employing the host language's expressions, object composition, and inheritance in the formulation of queries, and by combining the Select-From-Where style of Standard Query Language as a basic structure for query statements with the set-valued function of the host language as targets for those queries, an associative query capability is added to a host programming language, thereby improving its versatility and functionality.

US Patent:

57614938, Jun 2, 1998

Filed:

Apr 30, 1990

Appl. No.:

7/516369

Inventors:

Jose Alfredo Blakeley - Plano TX
Craig W. Thompson - Plano TX

Assignee:

Texas Instruments Incorporated - Dallas TX

International Classification:

G06F 1730

US Classification:

395604

Abstract:

An object-oriented query language apparatus and method provides data abstraction, seamlessness with respect to the host programming language, set support orthogonal to persistence and strong typing. Such apparatus for processing queries includes a preprocessor to parse, optimize, and translate object query language statements into efficient host language statements, connected to a compiler that compiles such host language statements into executable code. Therefore, by inputting a program containing statements using a host language's type system as well as employing the host language's expressions, object composition, and inheritance in the formulation of queries, and by combining the Select-From-Where style of Standard Query Language as a basic structure for query statements with the set-valued function of the host language as targets for those queries, an associative query capability is added to a host programming language, thereby improving its versatility and functionality.

US Patent:

57872805, Jul 28, 1998

Filed:

Jun 7, 1995

Appl. No.:

8/487353

Inventors:

Vappala John Joseph - Plano TX
Mark Benjamin Shadowens - Irving TX
Craig Warren Thompson - Plano TX
John Chung-Lin Chen - Plano TX

Assignee:

Texas Instruments Incorporated - Dallas TX

International Classification:

G06F 1730

US Classification:

395619

Abstract:

A system (20) and method for managing change in software systems and applications manages change for both transient and persistent objects in a domain independent, non-intrusive, object-oriented fashion. The system (20) and method are designed and implemented as a combination of two abstract machines (22,24) consisting of a set of interface functions (25,26) visible to the application, and an internal or private state (27,28) which is hidden from such application. Applications use the interface functions (25,26) to obtain the services of this change management system (20) and method. Since the internal state of such system (20) and method is outside the application, change management is provided as a service without the need for altering or adding onto application data structures and interfaces.

US Patent:

52972798, Mar 22, 1994

Filed:

May 30, 1990

Appl. No.:

7/531493

Inventors:

Thomas J. Bannon - Dallas TX
Stephen J. Ford - Plano TX
Vappala J. Joseph - Plano TX
Edward R. Perez - Dallas TX
Robert W. Peterson - Plano TX
Diana M. Sparacin - Plano TX
Satish M. Thatte - Richardson TX
Craig W. Thompson - Plano TX
Chung C. Wang - Dallas TX
David L. Wells - Dallas TX

Assignee:

Texas Instruments Incorporated - Dallas TX

International Classification:

G06F 300
G06F 1540

US Classification:

395600

Abstract:

A system and method for database management for providing support for long-term storage and retrieval of objects created by application programs written at least in part in object-oriented programming languages consists of a plurality of software modules. These modules provide data definition language translation, object management, object translation, and persistent object storage service. Such system implements an object fault capability to reduce the number of interactions between the application, the database management system, and the database.