WO2009144575A1

WO2009144575A1 - Apparatus and method for searching a data structure

Info

Publication number: WO2009144575A1
Application number: PCT/IB2009/005785
Authority: WO
Inventors: Jason Dobo
Original assignee: Nokia Inc
Current assignee: Nokia Inc
Priority date: 2008-05-30
Filing date: 2009-06-01
Publication date: 2009-12-03
Anticipated expiration: 2010-11-30
Also published as: GB2460461A; GB0809913D0

Abstract

A computing device which has stored thereon a contacts database which includes a mechanism for automatically generating an alias field when a user enters a new contact record. The mechanism enables a user to search for records using the alias field. The database also provides a mechanism for automatically generating a plurality of search strings based on characters entered by a user. In addition, the database provides a mechanism for searching fields in a database in accordance with a predefined search string. That search string includes at least one character from one field and at least two characters from another field.

Description

APPARATUS AND METHOD FOR SEARCHING A DATA STRUCTURE

Technical Field

Embodiments of the present invention relate to apparatus for searching for records stored in a database. Embodiments of the invention also relate to a method of operation of such apparatus.

Background to the Invention

Modern computing devices can include a contacts application which stores the names of contacts in a contacts database. The database may also hold other information relating to each contact, such as email addresses and telephone numbers. Contacts applications also enable a user to search through a contacts database in order to locate a particular contact's details.

Summary of the Invention

In a first example the present invention provides apparatus comprising: a storage medium having stored thereon a data structure, the data structure defining a record format in which each record includes at least two fields, each field for including information relating to the identity of an entity, said information being in the form of a string of characters and said data structure being arranged to store a plurality of records having said record format, and a data receiver, arranged to receive a string of characters input in to said apparatus; wherein said record format includes an alias field, and said data structure is arranged to automatically generate an alias, when a new record is received at the data receiver, and store the alias in said alias field; and said apparatus includes a search mechanism which is arranged to search said data structure for alias fields containing characters received at the data receiver.

In a second example the present invention provides a method of storing records in a data structure, wherein the data structure defines a record format in which each record includes at least two fields, each field for including information relating to the identity of an entity, said information being in the form of a string of characters and said data structure being arranged to store a plurality of records having said record format, and said record format further includes an alias field; the method comprising: storing name information, entered in to a computing device, in to said at least two fields; generating an alias; and storing said alias in said alias field. In a third example the present invention provides apparatus comprising: a storage medium having stored thereon a data structure, the data structure defining a record format in which each record includes at least two fields, each field for including information relating to the identity of an entity, said information being in the form of a string of characters and said data structure being arranged to store a plurality of records having said record format, and a data receiver, arranged to receive a string of characters input in to said apparatus; wherein said apparatus includes a search mechanism which is configured to cause the apparatus to search said data structure for records containing a first set of characters received at the data receiver; said search mechanism is further arranged to cause the apparatus to generate a plurality of predefined search strings, using the first set of characters received at the data receiver, each character in a given search string corresponding to a character position in one of said at least two fields, said characters of a given search string corresponding to character positions in at least two different fields, and said search mechanism is further configured to cause the apparatus to search for records in said data structure that have fields that include characters, in said corresponding character positions, that match the characters in said search strings.

In a fourth example the present invention provides a method of searching records in a data structure, wherein the data structure defines a record format in which each record includes at least two fields, each field for including information relating to the identity of an entity, said information being in the form of a string of characters and said data structure being arranged to store a plurality of records having said record format, the method comprising: generating a plurality of predefined search strings, using characters entered into a computing device, each character in a given search string corresponding to a character position in one of said at least two fields, said characters of a given search string corresponding to character positions in at least two different fields, and searching for records in said data structure that have fields that include characters, in said corresponding character positions, that match the characters in said search strings.

In a fifth example the present invention provides apparatus comprising: a storage medium having stored thereon a data structure, the data structure defining a record format in which each record includes at least two fields, each field for including information relating to the identity of an entity, said information being in the form of a string of characters and said data structure being arranged to store a plurality of records having said record format, and a data receiver, arranged to receive a string of characters input in to said apparatus; wherein said apparatus includes a search mechanism, and is arranged to search said data structure for records containing characters received at the data receiver; said search mechanism defines at least one predefined search string, each character position in said search string corresponding to a character position in one of said fields, the search string being at least three characters in length and including at least two positions corresponding to character positions in one field and another character position corresponding to a character position in another field; said apparatus is further arranged, in response to receiving at the data receiver a combination of characters having the same length as said search string, to search said fields of said records using said predefined combination of characters.

In a sixth example the present invention provides a method of searching records in a data structure, wherein the data structure defines a record format in which each record includes at least two fields, each field for including information relating to the identity of an entity, said information being in the form of a string of characters and said data structure being arranged to store a plurality of records having said record format; and said data structure defines at least one predefined search string, each character position in said search string corresponding to a character position in one of said fields, the search string being at least three characters in length and including at least two positions corresponding to character in one field and another character position corresponding to a character positions in another field; the method comprising: in response to entry of a combination of characters in to a computing device, the combination of characters having the same length as said predefined search string, searching said fields for records having said predefined combination of characters.

In further examples the invention may provide apparatus comprising: storage means having stored thereon a data structure, the data structure defining a record format in which each record includes at least two fields, each field for including information relating to the identity of an entity, said information being in the form of a string of characters and said data structure being arranged to store a plurality of records having said record format, and receiver means, arranged to receive a string of characters input in to said apparatus; wherein said record format includes an alias field, and said data structure is arranged to automatically generate an alias, when a new record is received at the receiver means, and store the alias in said alias field; and said apparatus includes search means which is arranged to search said data structure for alias fields containing characters received at the data receiver.

The storage means, receiver means and search means may be used in any example embodiments of the invention. The storage means may be any temporary or permanent form of data storage, such as NAND Flash or random access memory (RAM). The receiver means may constitute a software or hardware mechanism for receiving data from a part of the apparatus or from another apparatus. The receiver means may in some embodiments be provided as user operable data entry means, such as a keyboard or touch screen. The search means may be provided as software or hardware. It may include a processor, a search engine, and/or a series of computer programs.

In other embodiments there is provided apparatus comprising a processor and a memory, wherein the processor is configured to cause the apparatus to operate in accordance with the method of any example of the invention.

In some embodiments of the invention there may also be provided a user input means in addition to the data receiver or receiver means; the user input means could include a keyboard or a touch screen, or any other hardware and/or software feature through which a user may input data to the apparatus. There may also be provided in some embodiments display means for presenting search results to a user.

Other optional features of embodiments of the present invention are defined in the appended claims.

Brief Description of the Drawings

Embodiments of the invention will now be described in more detail, by way of example only, with reference to the accompanying drawings in which:

Figure 1 shows a mobile device in accordance with an embodiment of the invention;

Figure 2 is a schematic diagram showing the components of the mobile device of Figure 1 ;

Figure 3 shows a representation of the memory of the mobile device shown in Figure 1;

Figure 4 shows database components of the mobile device shown in Figure 1;

Figure 5 shows a representation of the database of the mobile device shown in Figure 1;

Figure 6 shows a contact record in accordance with an embodiment of the present invention;

Figure 7 is a flow chart showing an operation of a contact manager application in accordance with an embodiment of the present invention; Figure 8 is a flow chart showing a further operation of a contact manager application in accordance with an embodiment of the present invention;

Figure 9 is a representation of the search strings used in an embodiment of the present invention; and

Figure 10 is a further representation of the search strings used in an embodiment of the present invention.

Description of Embodiments

Contacts applications can allow users to search for contacts in a variety of ways. In one example, when a user opens the contacts application, he is presented with a list of all entries in the database. The user may then scroll through the list in order to find the contact they are looking for. This may be time consuming. Additionally, the user may enter one or more characters in order to jump to the entry, or entries, which includes the entered characters at the beginning of the contacts first name. For example, if the contacts database includes entries for, "Dave", "Debbie" and "Duncan" and the user enters, "de" the contact application would jump to "Debbie". However, if the contacts database is very large, and there are a large number of entries beginning "De", the user is still required to scroll through a large number of entries to find the contact they require.

An alternative manner in which a user might access a contacts database is through a messaging application such as an email client. When a user wishes to send an email, he can add email addresses in a "To" field. One prior art mechanism allows a user to enter one or more characters of the first or second name of a contact. The application then automatically inserts the email address for that user. For example, if the database includes a entry for "Robert Davies", and the user enters the characters "Dav", the email address for Robert Davies is inserted in the "To" field. However, this assumes that there are no other entries which have a first name or surname beginning "Dav". If there are a number of entries beginning "Dav", the user has to scroll through a list in order to find the correct contact.

In each of the above examples, the contacts application searches through the contact database and searches for fields which begin with a string of characters matching those entered by a user. Such a search mechanism will not allow a user to jump easily to the desired contact if the database is large and contains multiple entries having two or three identical first characters in the first name or surname.

Some contacts applications will also search though other fields in the database. If the records include contain an "email" field, the contact application could provide a character search through the email addresses. For example, the database may include a contact, "John Jones", who has the email address, "jjones@home.com". Ji the user enters "jjo", then this email address would be entered in the "to" field of the email client. In this case, the contacts application is conducting a character search for entries which have initial characters matching those of a particular field. However, although this type of search is more likely to find the entry a user is looking for, the application must be arranged to search through the email address field, the user must know this and the user must have First manually entered the email address in the email address field. Furthermore, the user must know the email address of the contact in order to take advantage of this feature.

Figure 1 shows a mobile device 100, which is an example of a device that may benefit from using embodiments of the invention. The mobile device 100 comprises an outer casing 101, which includes an earphone 102 and a microphone 103. The mobile device 100 also includes a keypad 104 and a display 105. The keypad 104 enables a user to enter information into the mobile device 100 and instruct the mobile device to perform the various functions which it provides. For example, a user may enter a telephone number, or select another mobile device from a list stored on the mobile device 100, as well as perform functions such as initiating a telephone call.

Figure 2 is a schematic diagram showing components of the mobile device 100. The device includes a system bus 106 to which the components are connected and which allows the components to communicate with each other. Here, the components are shown to communicate via a single system bus 106, however in practice the mobile device may include several buses to connect the various components. The components of the mobile device 100 include a processor unit 107, read only memory 108, random access memory 109, an earphone controller 110, a microphone controller 111, a display controller 112, a keyboard controller 113, a storage device controller 114 and a transceiver 115. Figure 2 shows a single processor unit 107, however in practice the device may include two or more processor units to control different components of the device. In particular, the device 100 may include a baseband processor unit to control a telephony stack, and an application processor to control an operating system and a user interface of the device. The transceiver 115 is also connected to an antenna 116. The mobile device 100 is arranged to communicate, using transceiver 115, with a base station of a mobile phone network (not shown). The storage device controller 114 is connected to a storage device 117 which may be an internal hard drive or a removable storage device such as a flash memory card.

Figure 3 is a representation of various memory components of the mobile device 100. As noted above, the device includes read only memory (ROM) 108, random access memory (RAM) 109, and storage device 117. The ROM 108 includes an operating system, a graphical user interface and other critical applications. The RAM 109 is a volatile memory which is empty when the mobile telephone is switched off. Applications are loaded into RAM 109, as required, when the mobile telephone is switched on. In this example embodiment the storage device 117, also known as user data memory, includes other applications, application files, user data and user settings.

The operating system of the device 100 provides a collection of applications and records which provide personal information management (PIM) services. One such service in accordance with this example embodiment is the provision of an application and database for managing the details of individuals and organisations known to the user. Such a service is more commonly known as an address book. Figure 4 shows some of the components of this service. In particular, the operating system includes a contact manager application 118 and a contacts database 119. As shown in Figure 5, the contacts database 119 is arranged to store a number of records 120. Each contact record 120a, 120b, 120c etc, stores information relating to a contact. For example, a basic contact record may contain a person's, first name, surname and email address. Each item of information is stored in a record field.

Records may be stored in the vCard format. The vCard format is a text based format which allows applications on different systems to recognise a vCard, regardless of the type of system it originated on. The following is an example of a simple vCard:

BEGIN:VCARD VERSIONS.1 N:Surname;First Name TEL;VOICE:0123456789

EMAEL;INTERNET:surnamefirstname@isp.com END:VCARD

In reality, vCards may be more complex than this and may include much more information about a contact. In this example embodiment the contact manager application 118 provides a search mechanism. When a user wishes to locate a contact in the database 119, the user is able to enter a search string in order to locate a particular contact record or group of contact records. For example, if the user enters a string of characters which are identical to a string of characters found at the beginning of a particular surname, every contact record which includes those characters at the beginning of the surname field will be displayed.

The interface through which the user may search the contacts database 119 may take various forms. In one example, the user may access the database 119 directly using the contacts manager application 118. In this case, the contacts manager application 118 may display a box into which the user can enter a search string. Alternatively, the search functionality may be provided through another application. For example, a user may enter a search string into a "To:" box in an email application. Such an email application would be arranged to access the contacts database 119 and search for relevant entries. Furthermore, the results of a search may be shown in various ways. For example, if several contact records match the search string which has been entered, a list may be displayed which can then be scrolled through by the user.

In an embodiment of the present invention, the contact manager application 118 is arranged to generate an alias when a user enters a new contact. In this embodiment the alias is stored in an alias field which forms part of the vCard record for that contact.

Figure 6 shows a contact record 12Ox, which includes an alias field according to an example embodiment of the invention. A vCard representation of contact record 12Ox is shown below. The vCard includes a user's first name, surname, telephone number and email address. This is the information is entered by the user. The following is a vCard representation for contact record 12Ox:

BEGIN:VCARD VERSIONS.1

N:Smith;John

TEL;VOICE:0123456789

EMAIL;INTERNET:smithjohn@isp.com

ALIAS :jsm END:VCARD When a user creates the contact record, the contact manager application 118 enters the alias in an alias field. This information is then stored in the database 119. In this embodiment, the alias cannot be entered manually and is not visible to a user.

The operation of creating a contact record in accordance with this embodiment is shown in Figure 7. The operation is initiated when a user enters new contact details to form a new contact record (200). Once the details have been entered, the user instructs the contacts manager application 118 to store the contact details as a new contact record (201). The contact manager application then generates an alias (202). In the present case, the contact manager application 118 creates an alias which is the first character of the first name and the first two characters of the surname, in that sequence. The contact manager application 118 then stores the alias in the alias field of the contact record (203). Finally, the contact manager application 118 stores the contact record in the database 119 (204).

The alias format may be predefined in the contact manager application 118. Alternatively, the alias format may set by a user.

The mechanism for searching for records, using the alias fields, will now be described with reference to Figure 8 in the context of an example embodiment. When a user wishes to search for a particular contact record, he enters a search string (300). In the present example, the user enters three characters, in a format dictated by the contact alias format. The contact manager application 118 then searches through the contact alias fields for any matches (301). The contact manager application achieves this by searching for a matching sequence of characters in the contact alias field. The contact manager application then displays any contact record entries which have alias fields matching the characters entered by the user (302).

An advantage of this example embodiment is that a user is able to quickly locate a given record using a known alias format. It is more likely that a record will include a unique alias, than the first three characters of a records being unique. Furthermore, by storing a specific alias field, the device is able to search using standard search string based searching. The device does not need to adapt the characters, entered by a user, prior to searching.

In a further example embodiment of the present invention, the contact manager application 118 provides a search mechanism that automatically generates a number of different search strings, based on characters entered by a user. The contact manager application 118 uses the search strings which it generates to search for fields which include characters corresponding to those character strings generated by the contact manager application 118. For example, a first search string may be the first letter of a first name and the first two letters of a surname. Therefore, if a user enters three characters, the contact manager application 118 will look for records which include the first character at the beginning of the first name field and the second two characters at the beginning of the surname field. A second search string may be the first two letters of a first name and the first letter of a surname. Therefore, if a user enters three characters, the contact manager application 118 will look for records which include the first two characters at the beginning of the first name field and the third character at the beginning of the surname field. Thus, when a user enters three characters for searching, the contact manager application 118 generates these two search strings and searches for records accordingly.

As noted above, one example of a search string is the first initial of the first name, followed by the first two initials of the second name. For example, a user if a user is looking for a contact record for "John Smith", they could enter the search string "jsm". Figure 9 illustrates how the contact manager application 118, in accordance with this embodiment, breaks the characters down into different search strings. In this example, the search mechanism is arranged to search through a first name field 400 and a surname field 401. The search mechanism generates the following combinations:

search combination 402, first name "j", surname "sm" search combination 403, first name "js", surname "m" search combination 404, first name "m", surname "js" search combination 405, first name "sm", surname "j"

Clearly in the present case, search combinations 403 and 404 are unlikely to reveal any results. Generally, no first names or surnames begin "js". Equally, not many first names begin, "sm" so search combination 405 is unlikely to reveal any results. Therefore, the search string entered by the user will reveal "John Smith", assuming that contact exists. It may also shown other similar names such as "James Smalls". However, importantly, the search will not reveal other records which include surnames beginning "sx", where is x is a letter other than "m". Where there are many records which include the initials "j" and "s", this search combination will drastically reduce the number of entries located.

This example mechanism can also provide a high degree of flexibility to the user. For example, if a user is trying to find the details of "John Smith", they may search using the search strings "jsm", "jos", "sjo" and "smj". All of these search strings would result in the record for John Smith being displayed, as well as any other records which include the same combination of characters.

Figure 10 shows how the contacts manager application 118, in accordance with this embodiment, would break down a search string if a user enters four characters. The contacts manager application 118 would search for records which include two characters from the first name field

400 and two characters from the surname field 401. In addition the contacts manager application

118 would look for entries with one character from the first name field 400 and three from the surname field 401. The contacts manager application 118 also generates the following combinations:

search combination 406, first name "j", surname "smi" search combination 407, first name "js", surname "mi" search combination 408, first name "jsm", surname "i" search combination 409, first name "smi", surname "j" search combination 410, first name "mi", surname "js" search combination 411, first name "i", surname "jsm"

The contacts manager application 118 is also arranged to search for records which include two characters in one field, and a single character in each of two other fields. For example, if the contact records include a middle name, this could be included in the search string.

In a further embodiment of the present invention, the contact manager application 118 provides a search mechanism which includes a predefined search string. For example, the contact record 120a includes first name and surname fields. The search string is predefined as being the first letter of the first name and the first two letters of the surname. As with the previous embodiment, the search string must include a character in at least two fields. Furthermore, it must include at least two characters in a given field. Where a database is large, such a string results in far fewer results than if only characters from one word are used (in which case every entry with a given name is revealed) or if only the fist letter of two fields are used (in which case all records with the same initials are revealed.

The contact manager application 118 is arranged to detect when a user enters three characters for searching. As well as searching for this sequence of characters at the beginning of each field, the contact manager application 118 searches fields for occurrences of the characters mentioned above. Using this mechanism, a user knows that a particular combination of characters will result in a particular search being carried out. This is more specific than the search carried out in connection with the above embodiment in which search strings are automatically generated. It will also generally produce fewer results. The predefined search format may be pre-set by the software provider. Alternatively, the user can set the format of the search string.

It will be noted that a common feature between some example embodiments is that a user may enter a special character combination that is not a sequential character combination taken from the beginning of a single field (other than the automatically generated alias field). In particular, the use of a character from the beginning of the first name field and two characters from the beginning of surname field is seen to have particular benefits in terms of obtaining a balance between the length of a search string and the number of results revealed.

The above identified embodiments may be used in combination with known searching mechanisms. For example, if a user enters "jsm" to search for John Smith, the search mechanism could also look for the character combination "jsm" at the beginning of individual fields. While in the present example, that string would be unlikely to reveal any results, as no first name or surname begins "rba", this will not always be the case.

Any embodiments of the invention may be implemented in software or in hardware or in a combination of both. The data structure of embodiments of the invention may take any form suitable for storing the data necessary of using the invention. For example it may be a database.

Various modifications, changes, and/or alterations may be made to the above described embodiments to provide further embodiments which use the underlying inventive concept, falling within the spirit and/or scope of the invention. Any such further embodiments are intended to be encompassed by the appended claims.

Claims

1. Apparatus comprising: a storage medium having stored thereon a data structure, the data structure defining a record format in which each record includes at least two fields, each field for including information relating to the identity of an entity, said information being in the form of a string of characters and said data structure being arranged to store a plurality of records having said record format, and a data receiver, arranged to receive a string of characters input in to said apparatus; wherein said record format includes an alias field, and said data structure is arranged to automatically generate an alias, when a new record is received at the data receiver, and store the alias in said alias field; and said apparatus includes a search mechanism which is arranged to search said data structure for alias fields containing characters received at the data receiver.

2, Apparatus according to claim 1, wherein said alias comprises three characters.

3. Apparatus according to claims 1 or 2, wherein said alias has an alias format being a combination of characters from at least two other fields.

4. Apparatus according to claim 3, wherein said alias format is the first character of one field and the first two characters of another field, in that sequence.

5. Apparatus according to claim 4, wherein said record format includes a first name field and a surname field and said alias format is the first character of a first name and the first two characters of a surname.

6. Apparatus according to any preceding claim, wherein said data structure is arranged to search predefined other fields for characters received at the data receiver.

7. Apparatus according to any preceding claim, further comprising a display device, arranged to display records which include alias fields containing characters entered by said user.

8. A method of storing records in a data structure, wherein the data structure defines a record format in which each record includes at least two fields, each field for including information relating to the identity of an entity, said information being in the form of a string of characters and said data structure being arranged to store a plurality of records having said record format, and said record format further includes an alias field; the method comprising: storing name information, entered in to a computing device, in to said at least two fields; generating an alias; and storing said alias in said alias field.

9. A method according to claim 8, further comprising: searching said data structure for alias fields containing characters entered into the computing device; and displaying any records, located by said searching step.

10. A method according to claims 8 or 9, wherein said alias comprises three characters.

11. A method according to claims 8, 9 or 10, wherein said alias has an alias format being a combination of characters from at least two other fields.

12. A method according to claim 11, wherein said alias format is the first character of one field and the first two characters of another field, in that sequence.

13. A method according to claim 12, wherein said record format includes a first name field and a surname field and said alias format is the first character of a first name and the first two characters of a surname.

14. A method according to any of claims 8 to 13, further comprising searching said data structure for predefined other fields which include characters entered into the computing device.

15. Apparatus comprising: a storage medium having stored thereon a data structure, the data structure defining a record format in which each record includes at least two fields, each field for including information relating to the identity of an entity, said information being in the form of a string of characters and said data structurebeing arranged to store a plurality of records having said record format, and a data receiver, arranged to receive a string of characters input in to said apparatus; wherein said apparatus includes a search mechanism which is configured to cause the apparatus to search said data structure for records containing a first set of characters received at the data receiver; said search mechanism is further arranged to cause the apparatus to generate a plurality of predefined search strings, using the first set of characters received at the data receiver, each character in a given search string corresponding to a character position in one of said at least two fields, said characters of a given search string corresponding to character positions in at least two different fields, and said search mechanism is further configured to cause the apparatus to search for records in said data structure that have fields that include characters, in said corresponding character positions, that match the characters in said search strings.

16. Apparatus according to claim 15, wherein one of said predefined search strings comprises three characters.

17. Apparatus according to claim 16, wherein at least one of said predefined search strings includes the first character of one field and the first two characters of another field, in that sequence.

18. Apparatus according to claim 17, wherein said record format includes a first name field and a surname field and said at least one of said predefined search strings includes the first character of a first name and the first two characters of a surname.

19. Apparatus according to any of claims 15 to 18, wherein said apparatus is configured to search predefined other fields for characters received at the data receiver.

20. Apparatus according to any of claims 15 to 19, further comprising a display device, arranged to display records which include alias fields containing characters received at the data receiver.

21. A method of searching records in a data structure, wherein the data structure defines a record format in which each record includes at least two fields, each field for including information relating to the identity of an entity, said information being in the form of a string of characters and said data structure being arranged to store a plurality of records having said record format, the method comprising: generating a plurality of predefined search strings, using characters entered into a computing device, each character in a given search string corresponding to a character position in one of said at least two fields, said characters of a given search string corresponding to character positions in at least two different fields, and searching for records in said data structure that have fields that include characters, in said corresponding character positions, that match the characters in said search strings.

22. A method according to claim 21, wherein one of said predefined search strings comprises three characters.

23. A method according to claim 22, wherein said one of said predefined search strings includes the first character of one field and the first two characters of another field, in that sequence.

24. A method according to claim 23, wherein said record format includes a first name field and a surname field and said one of said predefined search strings includes the first character of a first name and the first two characters of a surname.

25. A method according to any of claims 21 to 24 further comprising displaying the results of said search.

26. A method according to any of claims 21 to 54, further comprising searching predefined other fields for characters entered into the computing device.

27. Apparatus comprising: a storage medium having stored thereon a data structure, the data structure defining a record format in which each record includes at least two fields, each field for including information relating to the identity of an entity, said information being in the form of a string of characters and said data structure being arranged to store a plurality of records having said record format, and a data receiver, arranged to receive a string of characters input in to said apparatus; wherein said apparatus includes a search mechanism, and is arranged to search said data structure for records containing characters received at the data receiver; said search mechanism defines at least one predefined search string, each character position in said search string corresponding to a character position in one of said fields, the search string being at least three characters in length and including at least two positions corresponding to character positions in one field and another character position corresponding to a character position in another field; said apparatus is further arranged, in response to receiving at the data receiver a combination of characters having the same length as said search string, to search said fields of said records using said predefined combination of characters.

28. Apparatus according to claim 27, wherein said string includes three characters, the first character corresponding to a first character of a first field, the second character corresponding to a first character of a second field, and a third character corresponding to a second character of said second field.

29. A method of searching records in a data structure, wherein the data structure defines a record format in which each record includes at least two fields, each field for including information relating to the identity of an entity, said information being in the form of a string of characters and said data structure being arranged to store a plurality of records having said record format; and said data structure defines at least one predefined search string, each character position in said search string corresponding to a character position in one of said fields, the search string being at least three characters in length and including at least two positions corresponding to character in one field and another character position corresponding to a character positions in another field; the method comprising: in response to entry of a combination of characters in to a computing device, the combination of characters having the same length as said predefined search string, searching said fields for records having said predefined combination of characters.

30. A method according to claim 29, wherein said search string includes three characters, the first character corresponding to a first character of a first field, the second character corresponding to a first character of a second field, and a third character corresponding to a second character of said second field.

31. A computer program or suite of computer programs arranged such that when executed by a computer they cause the computer to operate in accordance with the method of any of claims 8 to 14, 18 to 21, 29 and 30.

32. A computer readable medium storing the computer program, or at least one of the suites of computer programs, according to claim 31.

33. An operating system for causing a computing device to operate in accordance with a method as claimed in any one of claims 8 to 14, 18 to 21, 29 and 30.

34. A computing device substantially as described hereinbefore and as shown in Figure 1 to 10.