The present invention combines a data processing structure with a graphical user
interface (GUI) to create an information analysis tool wherein multiple functions
are combined in a network to extract information from multiple data sources. The
functional network is created, and graphically represented to the user, by linking
individual operations together. The combination of individual operations is not
limited by the input or output characteristic of any single operation. The form
of the input to or output from a by individual operation, whether from a database
or from another operation, is the same. That is, both the input to and the output
from an analysis function is a list of document identifiers and corresponding document
characteristics. Because the form of the input and output from each operation is
the same, arbitrary combinations into of operations may be created. Moreover, functional
networks of individual operations can then be used for database retrieval as well
as to filter data streams. Furthermore, the user is able to create a visual representation
of the structure forming a functional network which may be dynamically updated
as new data is added or functions switched in or out. Because, inter alia, the
network structure dynamically responds to information as it is presented to the
network, the visual representation of the network conveniently provides the user
with information concerning the characteristics of the database or stream of data
that are substantially unavailable through conventional search, filtering, or clustering
techniques alone.
