An index associated with a database is dynamically processed in an informationretrieval system to create a set of questions for usewhen processing a data inquiry from a user. The index, a structured guide usedwhen searching the database, has different informationdomains. After one of these domains is selected, a particular order of theindex categories within the selected domain is determined,typically by referring to the order lookup table within the index. A scriptcorresponds to the selected domain. Within the script, there arequestions corresponding to each index category within the selected domain.These questions are dynamically used to prompt the user. Onlythe questions corresponding to active index categories are arranged into theset of questions having a question set order corresponding to theparticular order of the index categories. In an iterative process, the firstquestion is identified and used to prompt the user to select a termfrom a scaled down vocabulary of terms (i.e., only those terms associated withthe first question and corresponding first index category).Upon selecting the term, a search of the database is performed by the searchengine module based upon the selected term. If there is toomuch information returned from the search, the next question is identified andthe iterative process is repeated.
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