Similarity measure has been one of the critical issues for successful content-based retrieval. Simple quadratic forms of distance is inadequate as it does not necessary correspond to perceived similarity nor is it adaptive to different applications. This patent application describes a new sequential query processing algorith for evaluating content-based composite object queries. The composite objects consist of spatial and temporal arrangements of simple objects. The simple objects are defined in terms of spatial, temporal, feature and semantic attributes. The query method defines a process for executing a best-first search for the matches to the query, while providing a flexible framework for broadening the search space as required. The query method guarantees that there are no false dismissals of the candidate composite objects.