6. The system of claim 1 , wherein: the database comprises: a first table comprising rows each corresponding to an attribute of one or more items and each comprising an identifier uniquely identifying the attribute and a name for the attribute; a second table comprising rows each corresponding to an item and each comprising an identifier uniquely identifying the item, a name for the item, a description for the item; and a third table comprising rows each corresponding to an attribute value of an attribute of an item and each comprising the attribute value, the identifier for the attribute, and the identifier for the item; the user-specified alphanumeric string comprises at least some of an attribute name; and the software components are operable to: search the attribute names in the first table for alphanumeric strings matching the user-specified alphanumeric string to determine one or more attribute identifiers corresponding to the one or more matching alphanumeric strings; in response to determining the one or more attribute identifiers, search the third table for the one or more determined attribute identifiers to determine the one or more item identifiers for the corresponding attributes; and in response to determining the one or more item identifiers, search the second table for the one or more determined item identifiers to determine the item names and item descriptions for the matching items, the determined item names and item descriptions being provided for display.
7. The system of claim 6 , wherein the software components are further operable to, in response to determining the one or more attribute identifiers, search the third table for the one or more determined attribute identifiers to determine the attribute values for the corresponding attributes, the attribute names containing the matching alphanumeric strings and the determined attribute values being provided for display.