JP2007065990A - Information retrieval device - Google Patents

Abstract

<P>PROBLEM TO BE SOLVED: To enable to acquire information simply using an information retrieval device. <P>SOLUTION: When a user finds a word or a character string when the user browses a sentence etc., the user selects the word (or the character string) and performs prescribed operation. While an window generation management part 53 generates a window corresponding to the operation, a URL generation part 54 generates a URL. The generated URL is a URL by which information of the character string selected by the user in a dictionary which a prescribed server manages can be acquired. An information acquisition part 57 accesses to the prescribed server based on the generated URL and acquires information. A display control part 58 controls display so that the acquired information is displayed in the generated window. This invention can be applied to computers for retrieving information. <P>COPYRIGHT: (C)2007,JPO&INPIT

Description

  The present invention relates to an information search apparatus, and more particularly to an information search apparatus suitable for application to a search for words and the like.

In recent years, the Internet, personal computers, and the like have become widespread and information is being handled digitally. Conventionally, dictionaries and the like that were paper media have also been digitized, and when a user desires to examine information about a word, such as the meaning or usage example of an unknown word, the user accesses a predetermined server via the Internet, You can search. In addition, the user can activate a digitized dictionary installed in the personal computer and perform a search using the activated dictionary. (For example, see Non-Patent Document 1)
Fujitsu Limited, [Online], [Search August 1, 2005], Internet <URL: http://software.fujitsu.com/jp/atlas/index.html>

  For example, when a user checks a word on the Internet or the like, the user accesses a predetermined server, inputs a word to be checked in a predetermined column of a page provided by the accessed server, and executes a search. By operating the buttons, desired information (in this case, the meaning of the word, information related to the translation, etc.) has been acquired. When the acquired information is not desired information for the user (when the acquired information is not sufficient), the user accesses another server and does not repeat the same process. I didn't.

  This means that the same operation must be repeated until the user can obtain the desired information, which is inconvenient because the user cannot easily obtain the desired information.

  The present invention has been made in view of such a situation, and enables information desired by a user to be acquired by a simpler operation.

  An information search apparatus according to an aspect of the present invention includes: a determination unit that determines whether a character string is selected and an instruction to acquire information about the character string is given; and acquisition of information about a predetermined character string by the determination unit. Is generated, an address generation unit that generates a plurality of addresses for accessing a plurality of management destinations of the information, and the plurality of addresses generated based on the plurality of addresses generated by the address generation unit An acquisition unit that accesses a management destination and acquires a plurality of information, and a display control unit that controls display so that the plurality of information acquired by the acquisition unit are displayed in a plurality of windows, respectively.

  In one aspect of the present invention, information related to a character string that is a search target is acquired from a plurality of access destinations and displayed in a plurality of windows.

  According to one aspect of the present invention, information can be searched.

  In addition, according to one aspect of the present invention, information can be searched more easily. At the time of the search, the search destination can be changed easily. In addition, since the search destination can be changed easily, different information can be easily acquired from different search destinations for one piece of information.

  Embodiments of the present invention will be described below. Correspondences between the configuration requirements of the present invention and the embodiments described in the detailed description of the present invention are exemplified as follows. This description is to confirm that the embodiments supporting the present invention are described in the detailed description of the invention. Accordingly, although there are embodiments that are described in the detailed description of the invention but are not described here as embodiments corresponding to the constituent elements of the present invention, It does not mean that the embodiment does not correspond to the configuration requirements. Conversely, even if an embodiment is described here as corresponding to a configuration requirement, that means that the embodiment does not correspond to a configuration requirement other than the configuration requirement. It's not something to do.

  The information search apparatus according to one aspect of the present invention includes a determination unit (for example, the determination unit 52 in FIG. 3) that determines whether a character string is selected and an instruction to acquire information about the character string is given, and the determination unit. When it is determined that acquisition of information related to a predetermined character string is instructed, address generation means for generating a plurality of addresses for accessing a plurality of management destinations of the information (for example, the URL generation unit 54 in FIG. 3) ), An acquisition unit (for example, the information acquisition unit 57 in FIG. 3) that accesses the plurality of management destinations and acquires a plurality of information based on the plurality of addresses generated by the address generation unit, and the acquisition Display control means (for example, the display control unit 58 in FIG. 3) for controlling the display so that the plurality of pieces of information acquired by the means are respectively displayed in a plurality of windows.

  Embodiments of the present invention will be described below with reference to the drawings.

[System configuration example including information retrieval device]
FIG. 1 is a diagram showing a configuration of an embodiment of a system including an information search apparatus to which the present invention is applied. The system shown in FIG. 1 includes a network 1 composed of the Internet, a LAN (Local Area Network), etc., an information search device 2 that is a user terminal, a server 3-1 that provides information to the user, and a server 3. -2.

  In the system shown in FIG. 1, when a user inputs information (here, a word (character string)) that the user wants to search in the information search device 2, the information is sent to the server 3-1 or the server 3 through the network 1. It is transferred to 3-2. Here, the server 3-1 and the server 3-2 have a database related to words, search the database, read out data related to the transferred information, and send it to the information search device 2 via the network 1. Send to. The databases respectively managed by the server 3-1 and the server 3-2 are not classified into databases or dictionaries generally called dictionaries, but have various data called so-called search engines. Database. In the following description, the case where the database is a dictionary will be described as an example.

  In the following description, when there is no need to distinguish between the server 3-1 and the server 3-2, they are simply referred to as the server 3. Here, it is assumed that the server 3-1 and the server 3-2 are servers that have different databases and provide different information. For example, even if the server 3-1 and the server 3-2 both hold a database of English-Japanese dictionaries, the explanation will be made on the assumption that the English-Japanese dictionaries held are different English-Japanese dictionaries. Further, only the server 3-1 and the server 3-2 are shown here (in FIG. 1), but it is of course possible that two or more servers are connected to the network 1.

[Configuration example of information retrieval device]
FIG. 2 is a diagram illustrating a configuration example of the information search apparatus 2. For example, a personal computer can be used as the information search apparatus 2. A CPU (Central Processing Unit) 21 executes various processes according to a program stored in a ROM (Read Only Memory) 22 or a storage unit 28. A RAM (Random Access Memory) 23 appropriately stores programs executed by the CPU 21 and data. The CPU 21, ROM 22, and RAM 23 are connected to each other by a bus 24.

  An input / output interface 25 is also connected to the CPU 21 via the bus 24. The input / output interface 25 is connected to an input unit 26 including a keyboard, a mouse, and a microphone, and an output unit 27 including a display and a speaker. The CPU 21 executes various processes in response to commands input from the input unit 26. Then, the CPU 21 outputs the processing result to the output unit 27.

  The storage unit 28 connected to the input / output interface 25 is composed of, for example, a hard disk, and stores programs executed by the CPU 21 and various data. The communication unit 29 communicates with an external device (for example, the server 3) via the network 1.

  A program may be acquired via the communication unit 29 and stored in the storage unit 28.

  The drive 30 connected to the input / output interface 25 drives a removable medium 31 such as a magnetic disk, an optical disk, a magneto-optical disk, or a semiconductor memory, and drives the program or data recorded therein. Get etc. The acquired program and data are transferred to and stored in the storage unit 28 as necessary.

  FIG. 3 is a block diagram illustrating functions of the information search apparatus 2. The function of the information search device 2 is a function realized by the CPU 21 (FIG. 2) executing processing based on the program developed in the RAM 22 and controlling each part in the information search device 2.

  The input processing unit 51 is a function that inputs an instruction from the user and executes processing corresponding to the input. For example, an instruction from a user input from a keyboard and mouse (both not shown) constituting the input unit 26 (FIG. 2) is processed. The determination unit 52 has a function of determining whether or not the instruction from the user processed by the input processing unit 51 is to select a character string and instruct search of the character string.

  When it is determined that the search is instructed by the determination unit 52, an instruction is issued to the window generation management unit 53 and the URL (Uniform Resource Locator) generation unit 54. The window generation management unit 53 performs window management such as generating a window for displaying the searched information and determining whether a window that has already been generated and displayed is locked (described later). It is a function to do. For example, the window indicates a predetermined display area in a display (not shown) constituting the output unit 27 (FIG. 2), and is an area in which information is displayed in the display area.

  The URL generation unit 54 is a function for generating a URL (address) for accessing the server 3 (a dictionary managed by the server 3). When generating the URL, the URL generation unit 54 refers to the URL stored in the URL storage unit 55 and generates a target URL. The URL storage unit 55 has a function of holding the URL of the server 3 (a pattern for generating a URL for accessing predetermined data (such as a word to be searched) managed by the server 3).

  The URL storage unit 55 stores the URL set by the URL setting unit 56. The URL setting unit 56 is a function for setting a URL to be stored in the URL storage unit 55. When a URL registration is instructed by a user instruction from the input processing unit 51, the URL setting unit 56 analyzes the URL and sets a URL pattern for accessing a word or the like to be searched as a URL storage unit. 55 is stored. In the URL storage unit 55, the URL of the server 3 that is the connection destination may be registered in advance.

  The URL generated by the URL generation unit 54 is supplied to the information acquisition unit 57. The information acquisition unit 57 has a function of accessing the server 3 based on the URL supplied from the URL generation unit 54 and acquiring information from the access destination server 3. The information acquisition unit 57 supplies the acquired information to the display control unit 58.

  A window (managed window) generated by the window generation management unit 53 is also supplied to the display control unit 58. The display control unit 58 is a function that controls the display so that the information acquired by the information acquisition unit 57 is displayed in the window.

[Operation of information retrieval device]
Next, an operation related to information search executed in the information search apparatus 2 having the function shown in FIG. 3 will be described with reference to the flowchart of FIG. As a premise that the flowchart shown in FIG. 4 is executed, a window (information displayed in the window) as shown in FIG. 5 is displayed on the display constituting the output unit 27 (FIG. 2). Assuming that.

  First, the screen example shown in FIG. 5 will be described. A parent window 101 is displayed on the display 81. The parent window 101 is assumed to be a window displayed by processing by software called a browser or the like that is activated when browsing information on the Internet. Here, the description is continued assuming that the parent window 101 is a window displayed by processing by the browser, but may be a window displayed by processing of dedicated software for information retrieval.

  The parent window 101 shown in FIG. 5 shows a state where English is displayed. When the user reads an English sentence displayed in the parent window 101 and there is a word whose meaning is unknown, the user selects the word and performs a predetermined operation (that is, performs an information search operation). Corresponding to the information search operation, the information search apparatus 2 acquires information about the word from the server 3 and executes processing so that information (meaning, etc.) of the selected word is displayed in another window. The

  Here, the description is continued on the assumption that the meaning of the word is displayed as the word information, but it is displayed not only by the meaning but also by the connection destination server 3 (a dictionary managed by the connection destination server 3). Information is different. For example, when one word is the name of a person, different information such as information on a company to which the person belongs, information on a company related to the company, information on the family of the person, and the like are stored in a plurality of servers 3. Is obtained by being accessed and displayed in a plurality of windows.

  That is, in this embodiment, when a search is instructed for one word, a plurality of different servers 3 are accessed, information is acquired from each of the connection destination servers 3, and the acquired plurality of information is Appears in a different window.

  Such processing will be described with reference to the flowchart of FIG. In step S11, it is determined whether or not an information search operation has been performed. This determination is performed by the determination unit 52 determining an instruction from the user whose input has been processed by the input processing unit 51. As described above, when the user browses the information displayed in the parent window 101 (in this case, English) and there is an unknown word (word for which information such as meaning is to be acquired), the user selects the word. The selected operation is performed and a predetermined operation is performed. Such a series of operations is referred to herein as an information search operation.

  First, as an information search operation, the user selects a word for which information is to be acquired from English text displayed in the parent window 101. As shown in FIG. 5, the selected word is displayed in reverse video so that it can be distinguished from other words. Here, the selected word is described as a search target character string 111. When the user selects the search target character string 111, for example, the user single-clicks a mouse (not shown) constituting the input unit 26. Here, the description will be continued assuming that a single click of the mouse is an operation for executing acquisition of information related to the search target character string 111. Single click (or simply referred to as “click”) means that when the search handling character string 111 is selected, the mouse is pressed so that a predetermined character string is highlighted. Means that the mouse button is moved and the mouse button is released. Furthermore, although the description will be continued here assuming that a single click is an information search operation, the information search operation may be another operation such as a double click.

  Further, when a single click is made after a character string is selected, the description will be continued assuming that the character string is the search target character string 111. However, when a character string is not selected, a predetermined character is selected. When a single click is performed on the character string, the character string including the character may be used as the search target character string 111. In this case, for example, the character type of the character that is located when the single click is performed is determined, and the character string followed by the same character type is set as the search target character string 111, so that the search target character string 111 is set. Is done. Examples of the same character type include katakana, kanji, and alphabet. In the case of English words, a character string between spaces can be used as the search target character string 111.

  The determination unit 52 determines whether the search target character string 111 is selected and whether a single mouse click is performed. In step S11, when the determination unit 52 determines that an information search operation has been performed, the process proceeds to step S12. In step S12, it is determined whether there are any child windows that are not locked. The child window is information related to the search target character string 111 selected in the parent window 101 (information related to the meaning of a word composed of the search target character string 111). The window is different from the parent window 101 for displaying the acquired information. For example, as shown in FIG. 6, the child window 121 is displayed on the display 81 together with the parent window 101.

  When the determination unit 52 determines that there is a child window (the child window is open), it is further determined whether or not the child window is locked. The state in which the child window is locked means that the information displayed in the child window is set to be maintained without being updated.

  When the child window is locked, the information related to the search target character string 111 selected by the user is displayed in the newly opened child window, or the information in the already opened child window is updated. Is displayed. The unlocked child window is configured such that information on the search target character string 111 selected by the user is displayed instead of the already displayed information.

  Whether to lock the child window can be set by the user. Here, the child window and the lock will be described with reference to FIG. FIG. 7 is a diagram showing a detailed configuration of the child window 121. At the top of the child window 121, a dictionary selection list display unit 141 is provided. The dictionary selection list display unit 141 is configured in a pull-down menu format, and the pull-down menu is displayed by operating a button provided on the right side of the dictionary selection list display unit 141 in the drawing. Yes. In this pull-down menu, the name (dictionary name) of the server 3 corresponding to the URL stored in the URL storage unit 55 (FIG. 3) is displayed.

  For example, when a pull-down menu is displayed, a child window 121 as shown in FIG. 8 is displayed. That is, in the pull-down menu shown in FIG. 8, five dictionary names “Dictionary A”, “Dictionary B”, “Dictionary C”, “Dictionary D”, and “Dictionary E” are displayed. At that time, the selected dictionary name (the dictionary name from which the information displayed in the child window 121 is acquired) is marked to distinguish it from other dictionary names (in FIG. 8). Is displayed with a check mark (in the dictionary A). The dictionary name where the cursor is located is displayed so as to be distinguished from other dictionary names (in FIG. 8, since the cursor is located at the dictionary name B, the characters “dictionary name B” are displayed. Is highlighted).

  “Dictionary name A” to “Dictionary name E” displayed in the pull-down menu of the dictionary list display unit 141 are different dictionaries (dictionary names). Although details will be described later, when the information of the search target character string 111 displayed in the child window 121 is insufficient, the user selects a dictionary currently selected from the dictionary name displayed in the dictionary list display unit 141. By selecting a different dictionary, information on the same search target character string 111 can be acquired with the dictionary at the selection destination.

  Returning to the description of the configuration of the child window 121 shown in FIG. 7, a lock button 142 is provided on the right side of the dictionary list display unit 141 in the drawing. As described above, the lock button 142 is operated when the information displayed in the child window 121 is to be maintained as it is displayed (when it is not desired to update the information). In addition, when many child windows 121 are opened and information of all the opened child windows 121 is updated, a burden is required when acquiring the information (because traffic increases), The child window 121 of the dictionary that does not need to be updated at that time is locked by operating the lock button 142 so that the information is not updated.

  For example, when reading an English sentence, a child window 121 opened for examining the meaning of an English word, and a Japanese word displayed as the meaning of the English word displayed in the child window 121 are examined. An example is shown in which an opened child window 121 '(denoted with a dash (') to indicate that it is a different window) is displayed. When reading English sentences like this, it is possible to search for English words frequently but not Japanese, so it corresponds to a Japanese dictionary. The child window 121 ′ is locked so that it is not subject to information update when English words are searched. By doing so, it is not necessary to execute the process of accessing the server 3 in order to update the information of the child window 121 ′, so that traffic can be reduced.

  A search target character string input field 143 for inputting the search target character string 111 is provided below the dictionary list display unit 142. Below the search target character string input field 143, an information display unit 144 for displaying information on the search target character string 111 is provided.

  When the server 3 providing the information displayed in the child window 121 is directly accessed (the child window 121 is not displayed by performing an information search operation in the parent window 101, but is displayed in the parent window 101). Field for inputting a character string to be searched in the page (dictionary) displayed at that time (when accessing the server 3 by the same operation as when accessing the server 3 providing the information) Is the search target character string input field 143.

  That is, when the user directly accesses the server 3 that manages the dictionary displayed in the child window 121 shown in FIG. 7, the user himself / herself enters the search target character string input field 143 into the character string (search to be searched). By inputting the target character string 111) (in the case of FIG. 7, a character string "experience"), the information of the search target character string 111 can be acquired. On the other hand, when the child window 121 as shown in FIG. 7 is displayed when the user executes the information search operation in the parent window 101, the search target character string input field 143 already has the search target character. The column 111 is input, and the information related to the search target character string 111 is presented to the user side in a state where the information display unit 144 displays the information.

  That is, the user can acquire information on the search target character string 111 simply by selecting the search target character string 111 from the parent window 101 and performing an information search operation (in this case, a single click of the mouse). This means that it is not necessary to input an operation for accessing the server 3 or a character string to be searched, so that information can be easily acquired without bothering the user.

  The process for realizing this will be described with reference to the flowchart of FIG.

  If it is determined in step S12 that the child window 121 has already been displayed on the display 81 and all of the displayed child windows 121 are locked, the process proceeds to step S13. In step S13, the window generation management unit 53 (FIG. 3) generates a new window. In this case, the generated window is a child window 121. When the process proceeds from step S12 to step S13, the child window 121 is already displayed on the display 81, but all the displayed windows 121 are locked. Since it cannot be used as a window for displaying newly acquired information, a child window 121 is newly generated.

  Thus, when the child window 121 is newly generated, the process proceeds to step S14. The processing in step S14 also comes when it is determined in step S12 that there is an unlocked child window 121. That is, the process to step S14 comes when a child window for displaying newly acquired information is being displayed.

  In step S14, the dictionary set in the unlocked child window 121 is determined. As described above, the child window 121 is a window for displaying information that can be acquired from the server 3 having a predetermined dictionary. Therefore, in step S14, the dictionary set in the unlocked child window 121 (the server 3 that manages the dictionary) is determined.

  In step S14, the dictionary set in the child window 121 is determined, and in step S15, the URL generation unit 54 generates a URL. In step S <b> 15, the URL generation unit 54 reads the URL of the server 3 that manages the dictionary set at that time from the URL storage unit 55, and the read URL is further stored in the information of the search target character string 111. By converting to a URL that can be acquired, a URL to be a connection destination is generated. In other words, the URL generation unit 54 incorporates the search target character string 111 into the URL read from the URL storage unit 55 (URL pattern for accessing predetermined information), thereby creating a new URL (connection destination). Is generated).

  When the URL is generated in this way, the generated URL is supplied to the information acquisition unit 57. In step S16, the information acquisition unit 57 accesses the server 3 based on the supplied URL. On the server 3 side, the requested information (information related to the search target character string 111) is read out from the accessing information acquisition unit 57 and transmitted to the information search device 2 (the information acquisition unit 57). . In this way, the information acquisition unit 57 acquires the information transmitted from the server 3 side. The acquired information is supplied to the display control unit 58.

  In step S <b> 17, the display control unit 58 supplies the information from the information acquisition unit 57 in the window 121 supplied from the window generation management unit 53 or in the child window 121 that has already been displayed and is an object of information update. The display on the display 91 is controlled so that the displayed information is displayed. That is, for example, the display is controlled so as to shift from the display state shown in FIG. 5 to the display state shown in FIG.

  In step S18, it is determined whether or not the information in all the unlocked child windows 121 has been updated. When a plurality of unlocked child windows 121 are opened, it is necessary to update the information for each of the opened child windows 121. Therefore, such a determination is made in step S18. . If it is determined in step S18 that the information of all the unlocked child windows has not been updated, the process returns to step S14 to update the information in the child window 121 whose information has not been updated. The process is repeated.

  On the other hand, if it is determined in step S18 that the information in all the unlocked child windows has been updated, the processing for the search target character string 111 that is the search target is terminated.

  In this way, the user can obtain desired information without performing an operation such as inputting an address or inputting a character string. Moreover, since the information displayed in the plurality of child windows 121 can be updated at a time, the user can acquire a plurality of information at a time.

  In the above-described embodiment, the case where the child window 121 is opened from the parent window 101 has been described as an example. However, similar processing (based on the flowchart illustrated in FIG. 4) is also applied to the child window 121. If the process is executed, it is possible to display a new child window having the child window 121 as a parent window or to update information.

  That is, when there is an unknown word in the information displayed in the child window 121, the user selects the word (character string) and performs a single click of the mouse (that is, performs an information search operation). . Corresponding to the information search operation, processing based on the flowchart of FIG. As a result, the child window 161 for the child window 121 is opened, and information is displayed in the newly opened child window 161 (or new information is displayed in the opened child window). .

  In this way, when viewed from the parent window 101, information can be searched one after another by opening the grandchild window. FIG. 9 is a diagram illustrating a state in which the grandchild window 161 is displayed. In the display example shown in FIG. 9, since the user did not understand the meaning of the character string “learn” among the character strings displayed in the child window 121, the user did not understand the character string “learn”. In response to a single click with the mouse, a grandchild window 161 is newly displayed, and the meaning of “learn” is displayed in the grandchild window 161. Thus, the user can acquire information one after another.

  That is, the user can acquire desired information by simple operations one after another. A child window for the grandchild window 161 may be further opened. In other words, without limiting the number of open windows, the user may be able to search for information one after another, or when a predetermined number of windows are opened, no more windows can be opened. There may be restrictions.

  Since child window 121 and grandchild window 161 are handled in the same manner, for example, as shown in FIG. 9, when child window 121 and grandchild window 161 are displayed, information search operation is performed in parent window 101. Is performed, the information displayed in each of the child window 121 and the grandchild window 161 is updated.

  Next, as shown in FIG. 8, the flowchart of FIG. 10 shows the operation of the information search device 2 when a dictionary other than the dictionary set at that time is selected from the dictionary selection list display unit 141. The description will be given with reference.

  In step S <b> 31, the determination unit 52 determines whether the instruction from the user processed by the input processing unit 51 indicates whether a dictionary is selected from the dictionary selection list 141. When the user does not have enough information about the search target character string 111 in the dictionary set at that time or desires to search in another dictionary, the user displays the pull-down menu of the dictionary selection list 141. Then, a desired dictionary (dictionary name) is selected from the dictionary list displayed in the pull-down menu.

  For example, referring to FIG. 8, when “Dictionary A” is set, a pull-down menu as shown in FIG. 8 is displayed, and when “Dictionary B” is selected from the list, in step S31, It is determined that a dictionary has been selected.

  In step S32, the selected dictionary is determined. The processing in steps S32 to S35 is basically the same as the processing in steps S14 to S17 in the flowchart of FIG. 4, and thus detailed description thereof is omitted.

  However, in this case, the URL generated in step S33 is the search target character string 111 input in the search target character string input field 143 of the child window 121 in which the pull-down menu is displayed. 111 is a URL for accessing information 111.

  By generating the URL in this way, the same search target character string 111 can be searched one after another in different dictionaries. For example, when the user cannot acquire sufficient information in the dictionary A, the user searches the same character string (word) one after another in a dictionary different from the dictionary A such as the dictionary B or the dictionary C. Therefore, sufficient information can be acquired.

  In addition, since the dictionary can be easily changed in this way, for example, when a user is reading an English sentence, it is also easy to check a French dictionary by switching an unknown word to a French dictionary. It can be carried out.

  In the above-described embodiment, it has been described that a character string is selected and a mouse is single-clicked as an information search operation. However, a button is provided in the parent window 101 or the child window 121, and the button is operated. Information retrieval may be executed.

  For example, as shown in FIG. 11, a dictionary button 202 is provided below the window 201 (assuming that it is a window corresponding to the parent window 101 or the child window 121) (wherever it is). This dictionary button 202 is used in place of a single mouse click. That is, when there is an unknown word in the character string displayed in the window 201, the user selects the character string of the word and operates the dictionary button 202. When the dictionary button 202 is operated, the process of the flowchart shown in FIG. 4 is executed on the information search apparatus 2 side, and information is provided to the user.

  Thus, even when buttons such as the dictionary button 202 are provided, the user can easily obtain desired information.

  In the above-described embodiment, the server 3 is accessed and information is acquired from the server 3. However, the dictionary or file managed in the information search apparatus 2 is accessed, and the dictionary or file is accessed. Information may be acquired from a file. In this case, for example, the URL generated in step S15 in the flowchart of FIG. 4 is a dictionary or a path (address) to a predetermined file stored in the storage unit 28 (FIG. 2). Then, it is possible to acquire information from a dictionary or file in the information search device 2.

  Further, as described above, when an information search operation is performed in the parent window 101, a plurality of child windows 121 are opened, and the dictionary of the opened child windows 121 is set to be different from each other. It is possible to acquire a plurality of pieces of information from a plurality of dictionaries at a time only by performing a single information search operation, thereby improving usability.

  In the above-described embodiment, the meaning of the word is searched for, but the present invention is not limited to the word search. In the above-described embodiment, it is described that the server 3 manages the dictionary, but information other than the dictionary may be used.

[About recording media]
The series of processes described above can be executed by hardware or can be executed by software. When a series of processing is executed by software, a program constituting the software may execute various functions by installing a computer incorporated in dedicated hardware or various programs. For example, it is installed from a program storage medium in a general-purpose personal computer or the like.

  As shown in FIG. 2, a program storage medium for storing a program that is installed in a computer and can be executed by the computer is a magnetic disk (including a flexible disk), an optical disk (CD-ROM (Compact Disc-Read Only). Memory), DVD (including Digital Versatile Disc), magneto-optical disk (including MD (Mini-Disc)), or removable media 31 that is a package medium made of semiconductor memory, or the program is temporary or permanent The ROM 22 is stored in the hard disk, the hard disk constituting the storage unit 28, and the like. The program is stored in the program storage medium using a wired or wireless communication medium such as a local area network, the Internet, or digital satellite broadcasting via a communication unit 29 that is an interface such as a router or a modem as necessary. Done.

  In the present specification, the step of describing the program stored in the program storage medium is not limited to the processing performed in time series according to the described order, but is not necessarily performed in time series. Or the process performed separately is also included.

  Further, in this specification, the system represents the entire apparatus constituted by a plurality of apparatuses.

  The embodiment of the present invention is not limited to the above-described embodiment, and various modifications can be made without departing from the gist of the present invention.

It is a figure which shows the structure of one Embodiment of the system of this invention. It is a figure which shows the structural example of an information search device. It is a figure which shows the function of an information search device. It is a flowchart explaining operation | movement of an information search device. It is a figure which shows the example of a screen. It is a figure which shows the example of a screen. It is a figure which shows the example of a screen. It is a figure which shows the example of a screen. It is a figure which shows the example of a screen. It is a flowchart explaining other operation | movement of an information search device. It is a figure which shows the example of a screen.

Explanation of symbols

  1 Network, 2 Information Retrieval Device, 3-1, 3-2 Server, 21 CPU, 22 ROM, 23 RAM, 24 Bus, 25 Input / Output Interface, 26 Input Unit, 27 Output Unit, 28 Storage Unit, 29 Communication Unit, 30 drives, 31 removable media, 81 display, 101 parent window, 111 search target character string, 121 child window

Claims (1)

A determination means for determining whether or not a character string is selected and acquisition of information related to the character string is instructed;
An address generating unit configured to generate a plurality of addresses for accessing a plurality of management destinations of the information when the determination unit determines that acquisition of information about a predetermined character string is instructed;
Based on the plurality of addresses generated by the address generation unit, an access unit that accesses the plurality of management destinations and acquires a plurality of information;
An information search apparatus comprising: display control means for controlling display so that the plurality of pieces of information acquired by the acquisition means are respectively displayed in a plurality of windows.

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