JP2009163772A - Retrieval system and computer program - Google Patents

Abstract

<P>PROBLEM TO BE SOLVED: To provide retrieval technology capable of performing high-speed retrieval even when integrated retrieval is performed over various document filings. <P>SOLUTION: When a retrieval request is issued from a retrieval user terminal 15, a retrieval part 10 provides a user ID etc. of a retrieval user to an access controller 11. The access controller 11 refers to a user authority storage part 12 and returns access authority of the retrieval user. The access controller 11, for example, refers to a table, which specifies relations between access rights and their corresponding indexes, and then returns an identifier (or identifiers) for an index 14, which is referable with the access authority of the retrieval user, to the retrieval part 10. The retrieval part 10 refers to the index 14, which is approved based on the identifier of the referable index 14, and extracts a hit record, then returns it to the retrieval user terminal 15. <P>COPYRIGHT: (C)2009,JPO&INPIT

Description

  The present invention relates to a search system and a computer program.

  Conventionally, a logically unique index is constructed across multiple document filings that are managed and disclosed independently in a distributed environment, and a single search operation is performed on the index to multiple document filings. A plurality of existing database attributes and the positions of documents indicated by URLs are managed in a centralized manner, and a database is constructed. Such a search is called an integrated search.

  When an index for integrated search is constructed, documents are collected from a plurality of document filings by a collection operation performed independently of the search operation. In the collection operation, from a document filing to be collected, a user or application having a predetermined access right specifies or retrieves a document by specifying or searching for a document name using a predetermined network protocol. The acquired document is analyzed, attributes and keywords necessary for index construction are created, and the index is constructed.

  In addition, in patent documents related to the present invention, it is necessary to analyze sentence data stored respectively in a plurality of databases, extract necessary items, index the extraction results, and access a plurality of databases with a single index. Obtaining predetermined information from each of a plurality of files stored in the storage device (Patent Document 1) or (Patent Document 1), obtaining authority information, and constructing an index using the predetermined information and authority information There is a disclosure (Patent Document 2) that discloses that a search is performed only within a range according to the authority of a user.

JP 2000-163445 A JP 2001-344245 A

  An object of the present invention is to provide a search technique capable of performing a high-speed search even when performing an integrated search over various document filings.

In the basic configuration of the present invention, in a search device that performs a search using a plurality of indexes, the hit records including the scores obtained from each index are sorted for each index based on the scores, and the sorted scores are obtained. The hit records that are included are concatenated according to a predetermined rule, the hit records including the concatenated scores are sorted again based on the scores, and the predetermined number at the top of the hit records after the re-sorting is output as a search result. .

  In this configuration, since the score is calculated and sorted for each index, distributed processing can be performed for a plurality of indexes, responsiveness can be improved, and scalability can be ensured. In addition, when concatenating hit records sorted by index, if an upper limit for processing hit records for each index is determined, there is no need to send unnecessary hit records to the hit record concatenation unit. Can be reduced.

  The present invention can be realized not only as an apparatus or a system but also as a method. Of course, a part of the invention can be configured as software. Of course, software products used to cause a computer to execute such software are also included in the technical scope of the present invention.

  The above described aspects of the invention and other aspects of the invention are set forth in the appended claims and are described in detail below with reference to examples.

According to this invention, even when a plurality of indexes, compared with the case not having this constitution, allows the high-speed retrieval.

It is a block diagram which shows typically the search device of Example 1 of this invention. It is a block diagram which shows typically the index construction | assembly apparatus of the above-mentioned Example 1. FIG. It is a figure explaining the structural example which applied the above-mentioned Example 1 to the intranet environment. It is a block diagram which shows typically the search device of Example 2 of this invention. It is explanatory drawing of the B + tree structure for demonstrating the hit record calculation process of each index in the hit record number production | generation part according to index of the said Example 2. FIG. It is a figure explaining the management node of the B + tree structure of FIG. It is a figure explaining the intermediate node of the B + tree structure of FIG. It is a figure explaining the leaf node of the B + tree structure of FIG. It is a figure explaining the search of the B + tree structure of FIG. It is a figure explaining the number management information contained in the B + tree structure of FIG. 6 is a flowchart illustrating processing for calculating an index hit record using the B + tree structure of FIG. 5. 12 is a flowchart illustrating a rank calculation routine in FIG. 11. It is a figure explaining the structure of Example 3 of this invention. It is a flowchart explaining operation | movement of the said Example 3. FIG. It is a figure explaining the format of the record in the said Example 3. FIG. It is a figure explaining the example of the score calculation of the above-mentioned Example.

  Examples of the present invention will be described below.

[Example 1]
The first embodiment uses a plurality of indexes to control the search according to access authority.

  FIG. 1 schematically illustrates a search device according to the first embodiment. In FIG. 1, the search device includes a search unit 10, an access control unit 11, a user authority storage unit 12, and an index storage device 13. ing. The index storage device 13 stores a plurality of indexes (A to N are attached for convenience) 14. The plurality of indexes 14 are given different levels of access authority. Of course, the same access authority may be given to a plurality of indexes 14 and managed as a group with the same access authority. Instead of storing all the indexes 14 in one index storage device 13, a plurality of index storage devices 13 may be provided and stored in a distributed manner. A search request is sent from the search user terminal 15 to the search device of this embodiment, and the search result is returned to the search user terminal 15.

  The index 14 of the index storage device 13 is constructed and managed by an index construction device (FIG. 2) described later.

  In this embodiment, when a search request is made from the search user terminal 15, the search unit 10 supplies the user ID and the like of the search user to the access control unit 11, and the access control unit 11 refers to the user authority storage unit 12. To return the access authority of the search user. For example, the access control unit 11 looks up a table that defines the relationship between the access authority and the corresponding index, and searches for the identifier (which may be plural) of the index 14 that can be referred to by the access authority of the search user. Return to part 10. The search unit 10 refers to the permitted index 14 based on the identifier of the index 14 that can be referred to, extracts the hit record, and returns it to the search user terminal 15. The hit records may be organized based on the ranking score, and only a predetermined display number of records may be returned to the search user terminal 15.

  In this example, the records hit with reference to the index 14 are all accessible, and there is no need to individually verify the user access authority for the hit records.

  Note that the search unit 10 makes a reference request to the index 14 or all indexes 14 designated by the search user, and the access control unit 11 refers to the access authority of the user in the user authority storage unit 12 to determine whether or not to refer. You may make it do.

  Next, the index construction apparatus of this embodiment will be described.

  FIG. 2 schematically shows an index construction apparatus according to this embodiment. In this figure, the index construction apparatus includes a process activation unit 20, an index record management unit 21, an access control unit 23, and a process authority storage unit 24. It is configured to include. The process activation unit 20 has access authority set in advance. The process activation unit 20 activates the index record management process 22 of the index record management unit 21 and assigns the process of the process activation unit 20. The user or administrator may activate the index record management process 22 of the index record management unit 21 and grant the access authority. The activated index record management process 22 accesses the document filing system 103 (see FIG. 3) that holds the document, and generates an index record by referring to a document that is allowed with its own access authority. Access to the document of the document filing system 103 is controlled by the access control unit 23 and the process authority storage unit 24. In this way, the index record management process 22 generates an index record of a document in the security domain corresponding to (or equivalent to) its access authority, and constructs the index 14 of the corresponding access authority in the index storage device 13. Modify (insert / delete). The process of building / modifying the index 14 is also controlled by the access control unit 23 and the process authority storage unit 24.

  In this way, the index 14 is constructed and managed for each access authority.

  FIG. 3 shows a configuration example in which the search device and the index construction device of the first embodiment are realized in an intranet environment. In FIG. 3, a search system 100, a plurality of index construction systems 102, a plurality of document filing systems 103, a directory server 104, a web server 105, an application server 106, a client terminal 120, and the like are arranged on the LAN 108. A client terminal 120 is connected to the LAN 108 via a router 107 and a network 121.

  The search system 100 includes an index holding unit 101 and can refer to a plurality of indexes (index 14 in FIG. 1).

  The search system 100 and the index construction system 102 are installed using the storage media 109 and 110 or the network 121, respectively.

  The document filing system 103 may be given a single access right as a whole (for example, 103A), or an access right may be given to each document or directory of the document filing system 103 individually. The document filing system 103A and the index construction system 102A have the same access authority, for example, and form the corresponding security domain 200. The other filing system 103 includes documents having various access authorities, and the index construction system 102 corresponding to the access authority can generate an index record.

  The index construction system 102 accesses the document of each document filing system 103 with the corresponding access authority, and the document filing system 103 authenticates the authority using the directory server 104 and determines whether access is permitted. The index construction system 102 generates an index record by referring to the corresponding access authority document, constructs the corresponding index 14 of the index holding unit 101, or inserts the record into the corresponding index. Also, processing such as deletion of index records is performed as necessary.

  In this way, the index 14 is constructed for each access authority in the index holding unit 101 and managed thereafter.

  The search user uses the client terminal 120 to make a search request to the search system 100 via the web server 105 and the application server 106 (or using a CGI program or the like). The search system 100 uses the directory server 104 to check the access authority of the search user, and refers to the corresponding index 14 accordingly and returns only the hit records allowed for the search user to the client terminal 120 as a list. The search user can retrieve a document selected from the list from the predetermined document filing system 103.

  In addition, the index holding unit 101 may be distributed and arranged in the index construction system 102 site, and the search system 100 may refer to this. Further, the search system 100 and the index holding unit 101 may be distributed in the index construction system 102 site. In this case, the search request of the client terminal 120 is dispatched to a plurality of distributed search systems 100 as a proxy.

[Example 2]
Next, a second embodiment of the present invention will be described. In this embodiment, even when a plurality of indexes are used, hit records having a small ranking score are not included in the display list.

  FIG. 4 schematically shows the search device of this embodiment. In this figure, the search unit 10 includes an index-specific hit record number generation unit 30, an index selection unit 31, a hit record merging unit 32, and a temporary hit record. The storage unit 33 and the display record output unit 34 are included.

  The search user terminal 15 sends a search request to the search unit 10. The search request can include the number of display records together with the search key. The index-specific hit record number generating unit 30 calculates the number of hit records for each index 14 with respect to the search key. This will be described later. The index selection unit 31 determines the number of hit records to be extracted from the index storage device 13 based on the designated display record number or the default display record number. This is called a threshold value. The threshold value is N times the number of display records (N is determined so as to obtain a sufficiently accurate result). The index selection unit 31 selects an index so that a threshold hit record can be obtained with the smallest number of indexes. Although various modes are possible, for example, an index is selected in descending order of the number of hit records, and when the threshold is reached, only that index is selected. If the number of hit records does not reach the threshold, the index with the largest number of hit records is selected next, and the number of hit records is accumulated in the total number of current hit records. The same process is repeated until the cumulative value reaches the threshold value, and one or more indexes to be used are determined.

  When there are a plurality of indexes to be used, the hit records are merged by the hit record merging unit 32 and stored in the hit record temporary storage unit 33. When one index is used, the hit record is stored in the hit record temporary storage unit 33 as it is.

  The hit records in the hit record temporary storage unit 33 are sorted based on the ranking score included therein, and sent to the display record output unit 34 in the sort order. The output display record list of the display record output unit 34 is returned to the search user terminal 15.

  Thus, the number of hit record merging processes can be reduced.

  Next, a hit record number calculation process performed by the index-specific hit record number generation unit 30 will be described. Of course, a table may be created by previously obtaining the number of hit records for each key, and such a table may be drawn.

  The index 14 of the index storage device 13 has a B + tree structure described by a management node, an intermediate node, and a leaf node, for example, as shown in FIG. As shown in FIG. 6, the management node manages a plurality of B + trees. Each B + tree defines the number of bytes such as key and value according to the schema. The search key is distributed to the corresponding B + tree by the management node. As shown in FIG. 7, the intermediate node defines a key for controlling branching and a lower node (subtree) for branching. Further, as a configuration unique to this embodiment, the number of records belonging to the leaf nodes of the subtree for each lower node is held as the number management information. The leaf node includes a plurality of pairs of keys and values (for example, document IDs) as shown in FIG. The leaf node also includes a key-value pair for the key that controls branching in the intermediate node. In addition, a pointer to the next leaf node is included, and so-called horizontal search can be performed.

  In the search, as shown in FIG. 9, a B + tree is determined by the management node, a vertical search is performed along the intermediate node from the root node, and a horizontal search is performed after making contact with the leaf node.

Here, the number management information of the intermediate node will be described with reference to FIG. In FIG. 10, the intermediate node is a key “LEFT”, K (0) ₁ , K (0) ₂ , K (0) ₃ , taking the first-stage intermediate node (the node next to the management node) as an example. Branches to a lower node (subtree) by. No record is stored immediately below the key “LEFT”. “K (0)” indicates a key in the first row. Similarly, the key of the n-th intermediate node is represented by “K (n−1)”. The number of records R (0) ₁ stored in the leaf node of the lower node (subtree) where the key in the range from “LEFT” to K (0) 1 branches is stored in the number management information of the lower node 0. The number of records r (0) ₁ stored in the leaf nodes of the lower nodes (subtrees) where the keys in the range from K (0) ₁ to K (0) ₂ branch is obtained, and the number of the previous lower node By adding the number of records (in this case R0), R (0) ₁ = R (0) ₁ + r (0) ₁ is obtained and stored in the number management information of the lower node 1. The record r (0) _N stored in the leaf node of the lower node N where the key in the range from the key K (0) _N to the key K (0) _{N + 1} branches is obtained, and the immediately preceding lower node N−1 is obtained. The number management information R (0) _N = R (0) _N−1 + r (0) _N of the lower node N is obtained by adding the number management information (R (0) _N−1 ). Similarly, the number management information is acquired and managed up to the last lower node.

When searching using the start key and the end key, it is possible to obtain the rank at the time of reaching the leaf node using the number management information of the intermediate node. That is, in the intermediate nodes that are sequentially traced, the lower intermediate node to be traced next is determined. At this time, the number management information of the intermediate node on the left side is obtained. The same operation is repeated for the next intermediate node, and this operation is repeated until the leaf node is reached. For example, if the keys K (0) _A , K (1) _B , K (2) _C ,..., K (N−1) _D from the first stage to the Nth stage are traced, Key of node 0 (subordinate node or subtree; the same applies hereinafter) K (0) _A-1 number management information R (0) _A-1 , intermediate node 1 key K (1) _B-1 number management information R (1) _B-1 , intermediate node 2 key K (2) _C-1 number management information R (2) _C-1 ,... Intermediate node (N-1) key K (N-1) _{D -1} number management information R (N-1) _D-1 can be accumulated and the rank of the record can be obtained when the leaf node is reached.

  First, the intermediate node is traced based on the start key, the corresponding number management information is accumulated, the order of the records when reaching the leaf node is obtained, and the leaf node is horizontally searched. When the record containing the start key is reached, the number of records in the horizontal search up to that record is obtained, and this is added to the order of the records when the leaf node is reached (including the start key) If there is no record, the rank (Nstart) of the record that is included in the search range and includes the key closest to the start key is obtained.

  Next, the intermediate node is traced based on the end key, the corresponding number management information is accumulated, the rank of the record when the leaf node is reached is obtained, and the leaf node is horizontally searched. When the record that includes the end key is reached, the number of records at the time of horizontal search until that record is obtained, and this is added to the order of the records when the leaf node is reached, and the record that includes the end key (including the start key) If there is no record, the rank (Nend) of the record including the key closest to the start key included in the search range is obtained.

  The index-specific hit record number generation unit 30 calculates the total number of records having keys included in the search range based on Nstart and Nend. When there is a record including the end key, the total number of records is Nend-Nstart + 1, and when there is no record including the end key, the total number of records is Nend-Nstart.

  FIG. 11 shows the hit record number calculation processing for each index in the hit record number generation unit 30 by index. In FIG. 11, the total number of records (documents) in the search range in the range search is calculated using the word and the document ID. The processing for calculating the total number is as follows. When the searcher inputs a word, the document ID range is automatically changed from 0x3000 (hexadecimal notation) to 0x3fff.

[Step S10]: A search range is received.
[Step S11]: A B + tree is determined.
[Step S12]: The start key is used as a search key.
[Step S13]: Select a key corresponding to the search key [Step S14]: Implement a rank calculation routine. See FIG.
[Step S15]: The rank obtained by the rank calculation routine is set as Nstart.
[Step S16]: The end key is used as a search key.
[Step S17]: A rank calculation routine is executed.
[Step S18]: The rank obtained by the rank calculation routine is defined as Nend.
[Step S19]: Is there a record corresponding to the end key? If there is, the process proceeds to step S20, and if not, the process proceeds to step S21.
[Step S20]: The number of cases in the search range is calculated by Nend−Nstart + 1.
[Step S21]: The number of cases in the search range is calculated by Nend-Nstart.

  The rank calculation routine is as follows.

[Step S40]: The order is reset to zero.
[Step S41]: The number management information of the key to the left of the key corresponding to the search key in the intermediate node is accumulated in order.
[Step S42]: The search key proceeds to a node below the corresponding key.
[Step S43]: It is determined whether the node is an intermediate node or a leaf node. If it is an intermediate node, the process returns to step S41. If it is a leaf node, the process proceeds to step S44.
[Step S44]: The horizontal search is performed from the record when the leaf node is reached to the record of the key corresponding to the search key.
[Step S45]: The number of records traced in the horizontal search is accumulated in the above-described order.

  This is the end of the description of the second embodiment.

[Example 3]
Next, Embodiment 3 of the present invention will be described. In this embodiment, a search system is constructed by connecting, via a network, a search apparatus body that performs a search process using an index and a search management apparatus that links search results of the search apparatus body.

  FIG. 13 shows the entire search system according to the third embodiment. In FIG. 13, portions corresponding to those in FIG. In FIG. 13, the search system 100 includes a search management server 300 and a plurality of search servers 301. Each search server 301 has a corresponding index holding unit 302, and performs a search using, for example, B + tree information (similar to the first and second embodiments) stored in the index holding unit 302. The search management server 300 receives a search request from the client 120, performs access control, etc., and dispatches the search request to the search server 301 permitted for the search request. The search management server 300 receives the search result from the search server 301 that dispatched the search request, extracts hit records by the output upper limit value (for example, the one specified by the user or the default value on the system), and the client terminal 120 as the search result. Return to.

  FIG. 14 shows processing in the search system 100 according to the third embodiment, and details thereof are as follows. These processes are executed by the search management server 300 and the search server 301. For example, the programs stored in the recording media 303 and 304 can be installed in the search management server 300 and the search server 301.

[Step S50]: Each search server 301 performs a search using the index stored in the index holding unit 302. Each search server 301 takes out a record with an upper limit of the number of records, for example, 10 times the output limit value (upper limit of the number of records output to the user) (when the upper limit value is exceeded, the search is terminated). This record includes, for example, a key and a value as shown in FIG. 15, and the key includes a word key (document attribute such as a keyword) and a document ID. Value is occurrence data for calculating a search score of each record, and includes, for example, update time, appearance frequency, and appearance distribution data. Calculate the score from the occurrence data and sort the hit records based on this score.

[Step S51]: The search management server 300 receives the sorted hit records from the search server 301. The record you receive contains the score directly, and no occurrence data is basically needed.
[Step S52]: Concatenate the hit records from the search server 301 in descending order of the number of sorted hit records.
[Step S53]: It is determined whether or not the total number of linked hit records has reached a cumulative upper limit, for example, 10 times the output upper limit. If the cumulative upper limit value is not reached, the process returns to step S52 and is repeated. If reached, the process proceeds to step S54.
[Step S54]: Sort linked hit records again by score.
[Step D55]: Hit records are output from the top by the output upper limit value.

The score of each record is calculated as follows, for example.
[Equation 1]
{A1 × (appearance density) + A2 × (update date−reference date)} × (value determined by appearance distribution information. For example, a value of 1 to 2)
A1 and A2 are coefficients.

  The appearance density is a ratio in which a keyword is included in a document, and is obtained by, for example, constant × number of appearances / document size. The higher the appearance density, the higher the score.

  The update date is the date when the document was updated. As a general rule, the reference date is obtained by adding “2048” (about 4 years) to the search date. “Date” is an integer value of 0 to 32767, for example, and covers approximately from January 1, 1970 to January 19, 2038. One day corresponds to 1.3. Usually, the renewal date is several months to several years ago. If the renewal date is used as it is, a period in which it is not used for about 30 years will be created, so the dynamic range will be reduced. Therefore, the reference date is four years before the search execution date (about 2048) (update date−reference date = update date−search execution date + 2048). The newer the update date, the higher the score.

  Appearance distribution information indicates how word keys are distributed in a sentence column in a document. If a word key appears at the position of the sentence, the sentence column is represented by 32 bits. Stand up. In this example, “1” is set at the bit position indicated by the remainder of the number of the sentence in which the word key appears. When a plurality of word keys are used, AND of 32-bit appearance distribution information is performed to indicate whether or not the plurality of word keys co-occur in the same sentence. It is more accurate if each value of 32 bits of the AND result is evaluated, but it is divided into 4 fragments every 8 bits, and if there is “1” in one fragment, it is incremented by 25%. If all of the four fragments have “1”, it is doubled, and if all of the fragments do not have “1”, it remains at 1.

  Further, the lower-order bits of the document size are concatenated with the score so that the scores do not have the same value.

  FIG. 16 shows an example of score calculation. In this example, an OR search of “copy” and “Fuji Xerox Co., Ltd.” (“Fuji Xerox” is a trademark) is performed, and documents A, B, and C are hit. The search date is “August 1, 2002”.

  The score of document A is as follows. That is, the sum of the actual appearance densities is “0x09 + 0x13 = 0x1C” (0x represents hexadecimal) and is “0x1CB8” together with the document size. The total contribution of the update date is “0x3CB8”, the appearance distribution is 1.75 times, and “0x6A47 = 27207” is the score.

  The score of document B is as follows. Similarly, “0x1F40” is obtained from the appearance density and the document size. Since it is not obtained from the occurrence from “Fuji Xerox Co., Ltd.”, the default value “0x1800” is used, and “0x3740” is added together, doubled by the appearance distribution, and “0x6E80 = 28288” is the score.

  The score of document C is as follows. The sum of the actual appearance densities is “0x1D + 0x00 = 0x1D”, which is “0x1D80” together with the document size. The contribution of the update date is “0x17E3” together. The score is doubled by the appearance distribution, and “0x2FC6 = 1230” is the score.

  As a result, the documents B, A, and C are sorted in this order.

  This is the end of the description of the third embodiment. According to this embodiment, since score calculation and sorting are executed in a distributed manner, the responsiveness can be increased and the scalability is also achieved. Further, since the hit record exceeding the predetermined upper limit value is not sent to the search management server, the communication cost is reduced.

  In FIG. 13, the search management server and the search server are configured separately and connected via a network (LAN or WAN). However, as shown in FIG. 3, the functions of the search management server and search server are integrated. Even in this case, it is possible to sort by score for each index, concatenate them, and then sort again by score to obtain a search result.

  The present invention is not limited to the above-described embodiments, and various modifications can be made without departing from the spirit of the invention. For example, the search apparatus according to the second embodiment can be applied to the intranet environment shown in FIG. 4 and can be constructed by installing a similar system in a computer system using a recording medium or the like.

DESCRIPTION OF SYMBOLS 10 Search part 11 Access control part 12 User authority memory | storage part 13 Index storage device 14 Index 15 Search user terminal 20 Process start part 21 Index record management part 22 Index record management process 23 Access control part 24 Process authority storage part 30 Hit record according to index Number generation unit 31 Index selection unit 32 Hit record merging unit 33 Hit record temporary storage unit 34 Display record output unit 100 Search system 101 Index holding unit 102 Index construction system 103 Document filing system 104 Directory server 105 Web server 106 Application server 107 Router 108 LAN
109, 110 Storage medium 120 Client terminal 121 Network 200 Security domain 300 Search management server 301 Search server 302 Index holding unit

Claims (4)

Index storage means for storing a plurality of different search indexes,
A plurality of search means for searching for the corresponding search index corresponding to each different search index, sorting hit records including the search score up to a predetermined number of records, and sorting the search scores according to the search score and outputting the results as search results; ,
Connecting means for connecting the plurality of search results output by the plurality of search means in the descending order of the number of hit records included in the search results until the total number of hit records reaches a predetermined cumulative upper limit; ,
Sort means for sorting the hit records included in the search results connected by the connecting means by the search score;
Output means for outputting hit records sorted by the sorting means from the upper limit only by a predetermined output upper limit value;
A search system comprising: A plurality of search devices, and a search management device that communicates with the plurality of search devices,
Each of the above search devices
An index storage unit for storing a search index;
Search means corresponding to the search index and searching for the corresponding search index;
The search index stored in the index storage unit is different for each search device,
The search management device is
A receiving means for receiving the search request;
The search request received by the receiving means is transferred to the plurality of search devices, and each search device has a hit record corresponding to the search request as a search score included in the hit record up to a predetermined number of records. Transfer means for sorting and outputting as search results;
Connecting means for connecting the plurality of search results output by the plurality of search devices until the total number of hit records reaches a predetermined cumulative upper limit in descending order of the number of hit records included in the search results;
Sort means for sorting the hit records included in the search results connected by the connecting means by the search score;
Output means for outputting hit records sorted by the sorting means from the top only by the output upper limit value;
A search system comprising: A receiving means for receiving the search request;
The search request is forwarded to a plurality of search devices each having a different search index stored in the index storage unit, comprising an index unit for storing the search index and search means for searching the search index corresponding to the search index. Transfer means for causing each search device to sort and output hit records corresponding to the search request according to a search score included in the hit records up to a predetermined number of records;
Connecting means for connecting the plurality of search results output by the plurality of search devices until the total number of hit records reaches a predetermined cumulative upper limit value in descending order of the number of hit records included in the search results;
Sorting means for sorting hit records linked by the linking means by the search score;
Output means for outputting the hit records sorted by the sorting means from the top by the output upper limit value;
A search management apparatus comprising: Computer
A receiving means for receiving the search request;
The search request is forwarded to a plurality of search devices each having a different search index stored in the index storage unit, comprising an index unit for storing the search index and search means for searching the search index corresponding to the search index. Transfer means for causing each search device to sort and output hit records corresponding to the search request by a search score included in the hit records up to a predetermined number of records;
A connecting means for connecting the plurality of search results output by the plurality of search devices until the total hit record number reaches a predetermined cumulative upper limit value in descending order of the number of hit records included in the search result;
Sorting means for sorting hit records linked by the linking means by the search score;
A computer program that functions as output means for outputting hit records sorted by the sorting means from the upper level by an output upper limit value.

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