METHOD AND APPARATUS FOR INCORPORATING WEIGHTS INTO DATA COMBINATIONAL RULES

A data processing system provides the correct weighted combinational function for any unweighted combinational rules applied to a database. The system receives weights to be applied to data attributes, checks for ordering conditions and if necessary re-orders the weights, and produces the correct, unique combinational function that incorporates the user weights into the base combinational rules that otherwise would be applied to retrieve desired data from the database. Thus, the invention provides unprecedented flexibility in determining the proper computation of combined scoring functions.