JP2013134755A - Information retrieval system and information retrieval method - Google Patents

Abstract

PROBLEM TO BE SOLVED: To provide an information retrieval system capable of quickly and efficiently retrieving desired information without giving an unpleasant feeling to a user.SOLUTION: The information retrieval system includes a processing unit, a storage unit, a display unit and an input unit. The storage unit holds data of a retrieval object and a question generation rule including information for associating a plurality of questions displayed on the display unit with a plurality of answer candidates for each of the questions. The processing unit selects a first question and the plurality of answer candidates corresponding to it among the plurality of questions on the basis of the question generation rule. The display unit displays the first question and the plurality of answer candidates corresponding to it. The processing unit retrieves the data of the retrieval object by using a combination of an answer selected this time and an answer selected before this time as a retrieval key when one of the plurality of answer candidates is selected as an answer through the input unit, and the display unit displays a result of the retrieval.

Description

  The present invention relates to an information search system and an information search method for searching or narrowing down information desired by a user from a large amount of information.

  In a conventional information search system, a user arbitrarily inputs a search condition or selects a condition from predetermined items to search for information that meets the condition.

  However, when a user arbitrarily inputs a search condition, it is often difficult to determine what should be input as a search condition to appropriately narrow down the search result, while adding or deleting a search condition. The search was conducted, and trial and error were repeated until the search results were appropriately narrowed down. In addition, when selecting conditions from predetermined items, the selection conditions are often uniform and general, and it is not possible to select items that are specific to the desired search target. It was difficult to narrow down the search target.

  In view of these, for example, Patent Document 1 discloses an information processing apparatus and an information processing method that present a question and answer candidates for the question to the user, and search or narrow down information based on the answer from the user. Yes.

JP 2011-76360 A

  As described above, according to technologies such as Patent Document 1, a question and answer candidates for the question are presented to the user, and information is searched or narrowed down based on the answer from the user. It is possible to efficiently search or narrow down information that the user is interested in.

  However, in the technique such as Patent Document 1, since the order of questions is controlled according to the user's answer history, there is a problem that the processing amount of the information search system is large and the cost is high. Further, in the technique such as Patent Document 1, although the question order can be controlled based on the dialogue scenario, there is a problem that it is difficult to create the dialogue scenario. Further, in the technique such as Patent Document 1, although the question order can be controlled by the dialogue scenario as described above, it is difficult to define the parent-child relationship or importance between the questions resulting from the answers to the questions. It has been difficult to construct a system that narrows down information based on effective questions and answers considering the parent-child relationship or importance between questions. Furthermore, in the technology such as Patent Document 1, the search target information is not configured according to the question presented to the user and the answer obtained for the question. When searching for information, it takes a lot of time. Furthermore, in the technique such as Patent Document 1, a question to the user and answer candidates for the question are presented. As a result of the user answering based on the presented question and answer candidate, information search or narrowing results are obtained. There is a problem that the user gets uncomfortable when the search or narrowing result becomes 0 without considering the case of 0.

  An object of the present invention is to solve these problems, present a question and answer candidates for the question to the user, and search and narrow down information based on the answer from the user as much as possible. An object of the present invention is to provide an information search system that can reduce the cost by suppressing the amount of processing and can search information that the user is interested in from a large amount of information as efficiently as possible. In particular, it is a problem to be able to control the order of questions according to the importance of the questions and the parent-child relationship with the simplest possible configuration. Furthermore, the information to be searched is configured according to the question presented to the user and the answer obtained for the question, so that information can be searched at high speed based on the answer result from the user to the question. It is a problem to provide an information retrieval system that can be performed. Furthermore, when presenting a question to the user and the answer candidate for that question, the result of the user's answer based on the presented question and answer candidate will not result in zero information search or refinement results Therefore, it is a problem to provide an information search system in which the user does not get uncomfortable.

  The present invention includes a processing device, a storage device connected to the processing device, a display device that outputs information processed by the processing device, and an input device that inputs information processed by the processing device. An information search system comprising: the storage device stores search target data, and includes a question generation including information associating a plurality of questions displayed on the display device with a plurality of answer candidates for each question Holding a rule, the processing device selects a first question and the plurality of answer candidates corresponding to the first question among the plurality of questions based on the question generation rule, and the display device selects the first question The question and the plurality of answer candidates corresponding to the question are displayed, and when the processing apparatus selects one of the plurality of answer candidates as an answer via the input device, Answers, searches the data of the search target combinations as a search key with the selected answer to the current previously, the display device, and displaying the results of the search.

  According to the present invention, it is possible to search for information desired by a user at high speed and efficiently while suppressing cost, and to provide an information search system with less user dissatisfaction.

It is a figure which shows an example of the system configuration | structure of the information search system which concerns on the 1st Embodiment of this invention. It is a figure which shows an example of the hardware constitutions of the server which concerns on the 1st Embodiment of this invention. It is a figure which shows an example of the hardware constitutions of the portable terminal which concerns on the 1st Embodiment of this invention. It is a figure which shows an example of the functional block of the server which concerns on the 1st Embodiment of this invention. It is a figure which shows an example of the functional block of the portable terminal which concerns on the 1st Embodiment of this invention. It is a figure explaining an example of the data and data structure of search object DB of the 1st Embodiment of this invention. It is a figure explaining an example of the data and data structure of the search data generation rule which concern on the 1st Embodiment of this invention. It is a figure explaining an example of the data and data structure of search DB which concern on the 1st Embodiment of this invention. It is a figure explaining an example of the data and data structure of the question production | generation rule which concern on the 1st Embodiment of this invention. It is a figure explaining an example of the data and data structure of the parent-child relationship rule between questions which concern on the 1st Embodiment of this invention. It is a figure explaining an example of the data and data structure of question DB which concern on the 1st Embodiment of this invention. It is an operation | movement flowchart explaining an example of the database update process operation | movement in the server which concerns on the 1st Embodiment of this invention. It is an operation | movement flowchart explaining an example of operation | movement of a server and a portable terminal at the time of searching the information which a user desires in the 1st Embodiment of this invention. It is an operation | movement flowchart explaining the processing content of the request / response process part in the server which concerns on the 1st Embodiment of this invention. It is an operation | movement flowchart explaining the processing content of the question and answer production | generation part in the server which concerns on the 1st Embodiment of this invention. It is a figure which shows the example of a screen displayed on the display screen of a display apparatus via the display part in the portable terminal which concerns on the 1st Embodiment of this invention. It is a figure explaining an example of the functional block of the server which concerns on the 2nd Embodiment of this invention. It is a figure explaining an example of the data and data structure of the narrowing-down number map which concern on the 2nd Embodiment of this invention.

<First Embodiment>
DESCRIPTION OF EXEMPLARY EMBODIMENTS Hereinafter, a first embodiment of the invention will be described with reference to the drawings.

  In the present embodiment, components having substantially the same function and configuration are denoted by the same reference numerals, and redundant description is omitted.

  First, an example of the system configuration of the information search system according to the present embodiment will be described.

  FIG. 1 is a diagram showing an example of a system configuration of an information search system according to the first embodiment of the present invention.

  The information search system of the present invention can be realized by a server and a single unit such as a television, a PC, a recorder, a mobile phone, or a mobile terminal, or a combination of these. FIG. Indicates. In this embodiment, for convenience, the information search system of the present invention will be described with an example in which a server and a mobile terminal are configured.

  As shown in FIG. 1, the information search system according to the embodiment of the present invention includes a server 101, a network 102, a base station 103, and a mobile terminal 104.

  The server 101 can be an information processing apparatus such as a known computer system having a network communication function, processes a request from the mobile terminal 104, and sends a response to the mobile terminal 104.

  The portable terminal 104 can be a known device such as a PDA (Personal Digital Assistance) or a cellular phone having a network communication function. The mobile terminal 104 is connected to the server 101 through the base station 103 and the network 102 by the user's operation, and the user sends a request to the server and receives a response from the server 101 in order to receive a desired service. The terminal device provides information to the user.

  The network 102 is, for example, a mobile phone network, an intranet network such as a LAN (Local Area Network) or a WAN (Wide Area Network), or an Internet network. Request and response data can be sent and received between them.

  The base station 103 is, for example, a terminal device of a mobile phone network or an access point such as a wireless LAN, and transmits and receives request and response data between the server 101 and the mobile terminal 104 in cooperation with the network 102 as described above. Is possible.

  In the present embodiment, in this system configuration, in particular, the server 101 transmits to the mobile terminal 104 a question for the user that is necessary for information search and an answer candidate for the question, and the mobile terminal 104 sends the answer from the user to the server 101. Further, the server 101 performs information search and narrowing processing based on the response from the user transmitted from the mobile terminal 104, transmits the search and narrowing result to the mobile terminal 104, and the mobile terminal 104 receives information from the server 101. Displays the search and narrowing results of the transmitted information.

  Next, an example of the hardware configuration of the server 101 and the mobile terminal 104 according to the first embodiment of the present invention will be described.

  First, an example of the hardware configuration of the server 101 according to the present embodiment will be described.

  FIG. 2 is a diagram illustrating an example of a hardware configuration of the server 101 according to the first embodiment of the present invention.

  As already described above, the server 101 according to the present embodiment can be an information processing apparatus such as a known computer system having a network communication function. However, as shown in FIG. 2, at least the communication apparatus 201 and the central processing unit 202 are used. And a storage device 203 and a secondary storage device 204. Each device is connected by a bus 205, and data can be transmitted and received between the devices.

  The communication device 201 can be a network card unit such as a LAN card, for example, and enables the server 101 to be connected to the network 102.

  The central processing unit 202 is mainly composed of a microprocessor, executes a program stored in the storage device 203 or the secondary storage device 204, and controls processing in the server 101.

  The storage device 203 is realized by, for example, a random access memory (RAM), and stores data to be processed by the server 101 such as a program executed by the central processing unit 202 and data received from the portable terminal 104.

  The secondary storage device 204 may be, for example, a hard disk device or a nonvolatile memory, and stores information to be searched, a database including the information to be searched, or various data and databases constructed by the information search system described later. To do.

  Next, an example of a hardware configuration of the mobile terminal 104 according to the present embodiment will be described.

  FIG. 3 is a diagram illustrating an example of a hardware configuration of the mobile terminal 104 according to the first embodiment of the present invention.

  As described above, the mobile terminal 104 according to the present embodiment can be a known device such as a PDA or a mobile phone having a network communication function. However, as shown in FIG. 3, at least the communication device 301 and the central processing unit 302, an input device 303, a storage device 304, and a display device 305. Each device is connected by a bus 306, and data can be transmitted and received between the devices.

  The communication device 301 is realized by, for example, a mobile phone network connection module and its driver in a known mobile phone, or a wireless LAN connection module and its driver, and enables the mobile terminal 104 to be connected to the network 102.

  The central processing unit 302 is configured mainly with a microprocessor, executes a program stored in the storage device 304, and controls processing in the portable terminal 104.

  The input device 303 includes a touch panel in a known PDA or the like, a driver thereof, and the like, and allows a user to input an operation instruction to the mobile terminal 104. In this embodiment, in particular, the input device 303 allows the user to input an information search start instruction or to input an answer to a question answer candidate presented from the server 101.

  The storage device 304 is realized by, for example, a random access memory (RAM), and stores data to be processed by the mobile terminal 104 such as a program executed by the central processing unit 302 and data received from the server 101.

  The display device 305 is configured by, for example, a liquid crystal panel and a driver thereof in a known PDA or the like, and displays information in the mobile terminal 104. In particular, the display device 305 of the present embodiment displays a question received from the server 101, its answer candidate, and information search results, as will be described later.

  Next, an example of functional blocks of the server 101 and the mobile terminal 104 according to the first embodiment of the present invention will be described.

  First, an example of functional blocks of the server 101 according to the present embodiment will be described.

  FIG. 4 is a diagram illustrating an example of functional blocks of the server 101 according to the first embodiment of the present invention. In this embodiment, all of these functional blocks are described as software programs executed by the central processing unit 202, but some or all of these functional blocks are realized as hardware. Also good. In that case, one or more processing devices for realizing these functional blocks may be added to the server 101 and connected to the storage device 304 or the like, or the central processing unit 202 may be connected to such one or more processing. It may be replaced by a device. Originally, in addition to these functional blocks, there are an OS (Operating System) and a control program (not shown) that perform activation and operation management of each functional block. In this embodiment, the linkage operation of these functional blocks will be described as appropriate. However, it is obvious that the OS and the control program perform the activation of the functional blocks necessary for the linkage operation described here and the operation management. Explanation and description of these OS and control program are omitted.

  As shown in FIG. 4, the server 101 according to the embodiment of the present invention includes a DB update unit 401, a search target DB construction unit 402, a search target DB 403, a question generation rule 404, and an inter-question Parent-child relationship rule 405, question DB generation unit 406, question DB 407, search data generation rule 408, search DB generation unit 409, search DB 410, request / response transmission / reception unit 411, request / response processing unit 412 , A question / answer generation unit 413, a search unit 414, and a search target data acquisition unit 415.

  When the search target information is created, updated, or added by a user or an administrator, the DB update unit 401 uses a search target DB construction unit 402, a question DB generation unit 406, and a search DB generation unit 409, which will be described later. A search target DB 403, a question DB 407, and a search DB 410 to be described later are created, updated, or added, respectively.

  The search target DB construction unit 402 is activated by an instruction from the DB update unit 401, and creates, updates, or adds a search target DB 403, which will be described later, based on the search target information created, updated, or added.

  The search target DB 403 is a database generated based on search target information, and corresponds to search target data described in claims. Details of the search target DB 403 will be described later.

  The question generation rule 404 includes a question sentence actually presented to the user, and is a rule for generating a question to the user and its answer candidate. In order to generate a question DB 407 described later, a question DB generation described later is generated. Referenced by section 406. Details of the question generation rule 404 will be described later.

  The inter-question parent-child relationship rule 405 is a rule that defines a parent-child relationship between questions when generating a question and an answer candidate for the question, and will be described later together with the question generation rule 404 in order to generate a question DB 407 described later. Referenced by the question DB generation unit 406. In the present embodiment, the question / answer generation unit 413 generates the question DB 407 so that the questions can be presented to the user in the question order in consideration of the parent-child relationship between questions based on the parent-child relationship rule 405 between the questions. can do. The inter-question parent-child relationship rule 405 will be described later.

  The question DB generation unit 406 is started by an instruction from the DB update unit 401, and creates, updates, or updates a question DB 407, which will be described later, based on the question generation rule 404 and the inter-question parent-child relationship rule 405 created, updated, or added. to add.

  The question DB 407 is a database in which questions to the user and answer candidates for the user are stored in association with each other. The question DB 407 is referred to by a question / answer generating unit 413 corresponding to a question / answer data generating unit to be described later. A question and a candidate answer are selected. Details of the question DB 407 will be described later.

  The search data generation rule 408 corresponds to a search data generation rule described in claims, is referred to by a search DB generation unit 409 described later, and can generate a search DB 410 described later based on information to be searched. Details of the search data generation rule 408 will be described later.

  The search DB generation unit 409 is activated by an instruction from the DB update unit 401, and creates, updates, and updates a search DB 410 to be described later based on the search target information created, updated, or added, and the search data generation rule 408. Or add.

  The search DB 410 is a database generated based on the search data generation rule 408 and search target information, and is a database searched by the search unit 414 described later. As will be described later, the search unit 414 can search for information desired by the user at high speed by making the search DB 410 have a search data structure corresponding to the answer generated by the question DB generation unit 406.

  The question DB, the search DB, and the search target DB are configured in the secondary storage device 204, and are configured to be temporarily stored in the storage device 203 and used when necessary.

  The request / response transmission / reception unit 411 transmits / receives request data from the mobile terminal 104 and response data to the mobile terminal via the communication device 201. In particular, the server 101 transmits, to the portable terminal 104, a question about the user necessary for information search and a candidate answer to the question by the request / response transmission / reception unit 411, and receives a reply from the user acquired by the portable terminal 104. To do.

  The request / response processing unit 412 processes data transmitted / received by the request / response transmission / reception unit 411, that is, data transmitted / received between the server 101 and the portable terminal 104. Specifically, the request / response processing unit 412 acquires the response from the user acquired by the mobile terminal 104 via the request / response transmission / reception unit 411, and the search unit 414 searches the information in the search DB 410. Then, using this search result information as a key, a search target data acquisition unit 415 described later acquires corresponding information from the search target DB 403. As a result, information desired by the user is searched from the actual search target information, and the request / response processing unit 412 transmits the search result to the portable terminal 104 via the request / response transmission / reception unit 411.

  Further, the request / response processing unit 412 transmits a question to the user necessary for information search generated by a question / answer generation unit 413 (to be described later) and answer candidates for the question to the portable terminal 104 via the request / response transmission / reception unit 411. To do.

  The question / answer generation unit 413 generates questions for the user and answer candidates from the user. At this time, although the details will be described later, the question / answer generation unit 413 selects one question and a candidate answer from the question DB 407 based on the priority of the question and the parent-child relationship between the questions. Generate questions and answer candidates from users.

  Although the details will be described later, the search unit 414 searches the information in the search DB 410 based on the responses from the users acquired by the request / response transmission / reception unit 411 and the request / response processing unit 412.

  The search target data acquisition unit 415 obtains corresponding information from the search target DB 403 by using the search result of information in the search DB 410 by the search unit 414 as a key, thereby obtaining user's desired information from the actual search target information. Search for. At this time, the search target data acquisition unit 415 may acquire position information or time information from the mobile terminal 104, and may filter information acquired from the search target DB 403 based on these.

  Next, an example of functional blocks of the mobile terminal 104 according to the present embodiment will be described.

  FIG. 5 is a diagram illustrating an example of functional blocks of the mobile terminal 104 according to the first embodiment of the present invention. In this embodiment, all of these functional blocks are described as software programs executed by the central processing unit 302, but some or all of these functional blocks are realized as hardware. Also good. Originally, in addition to these functional blocks, there are an OS (Operating System) and a control program (not shown) that perform activation and operation management of each functional block. In this embodiment, the linkage operation of these functional blocks will be described as appropriate. However, it is obvious that the OS and the control program perform the activation of the functional blocks and the operation management necessary for the linkage operation described here. Explanation and description of these OS and control program are omitted.

  As illustrated in FIG. 5, the mobile terminal 104 according to the embodiment of the present invention includes an input unit 501, a request / response transmission / reception unit 502, a request / response processing unit 503, and a display unit 504.

  The input unit 501 inputs a search execution instruction from the user and an answer from the user to the question. This can be realized by acquiring information obtained by operating the input device 303 by the user with respect to information displayed on the display device 305 by the display unit 504 described later.

  The request / response transmission / reception unit 502 receives, via the communication device 301, a question to the user from the server 101, an answer candidate, and a search result of information to be searched. Further, the search execution instruction from the user acquired by the input unit 501 or the answer from the user to the question is transmitted to the server 101 via the communication device 301.

  The request / response processing unit 503 receives the question and search result illustrated in FIG. 16 based on the query to the user from the server 101, the answer candidate, and the search result information received by the request / response transmitting / receiving unit 502. Generate the output screen. Details of this output screen will be described later.

  The display unit 504 displays the question and search result output screen generated by the request / response processing unit 503 on the display device 305.

  Next, data and a data structure used in the information search system according to the present embodiment will be described.

  First, the data and data structure of the search target DB 403 generated by the search target DB construction unit 402 and referenced by the search target data acquisition unit 415 will be described.

  FIG. 6 is a diagram for explaining an example of data and a data structure of the search target DB 403 according to the first embodiment of the present invention. In particular, FIG. 6 is an example when the information to be searched is restaurant information.

  As illustrated in FIG. 6, the search target DB 403 includes an ID 601, a store name 602, a position 603, and a description 604. These individual pieces of information are created by the user or administrator and input from the DB update unit 401.

  The ID 601 is an identifier for uniquely identifying a restaurant, and is an ID unique to each restaurant included in the search target DB 403.

  The store name 602 is the name of the restaurant and the name of the store.

  A position 603 is a restaurant location and a store address.

  The description 604 is a description of the restaurant, such as the type of the restaurant, the fee (necessary budget), the number of parking spaces, the sales feature or catchphrase such as the appeal point, and the like.

  Each of the records 611 to 613 includes information regarding individual restaurants. That is, the records 611 to 613 are records in the search target DB 403, and 601 to 604 are fields.

  In the present embodiment, when restaurant information is input from a user or an administrator and notified to the search target DB construction unit 402 by the DB update unit 401, the search target DB construction unit 402 displays the corresponding records and fields. And the search target DB 403 is constructed by creating, adding, or updating data of each record and field.

  In addition, in FIG. 6, search object DB403 including the information regarding a restaurant as mentioned above is illustrated, and the following description of this embodiment is also performed along this example. This is an example in which, for example, it is assumed that a user who is going to eat now uses this information search system to find a restaurant. However, the present invention can also be applied to information about objects other than restaurants, for example, arbitrary stores, facilities, events, and the like.

  Next, the data and data structure of the search data generation rule 408 that is referred to by the search DB generation unit 409 and generates the search DB 410 will be described.

  FIG. 7 is a diagram for explaining an example of the data and data structure of the search data generation rule 408 according to the first embodiment of the present invention. In particular, FIG. 7 is an example when the information to be searched is restaurant information. .

  As shown in FIG. 7, the search data generation rule 408 includes a group name 701, an attribute 702, and a definition 703. These individual pieces of information are defined by the user or administrator.

  The group name 701 is a group name used when grouping the information to be searched. For example, when the information to be searched is information about a restaurant, “meat general” or “fish whole” As a rough budget for a restaurant, “budget high”, “budget” or “budget low” may be described as a group name. These can be arbitrarily described by the user or administrator who creates the search data generation rule 408.

  The attribute 702 is an attribute to which the group of the group name 701 belongs. For example, when the group name is “general meat” or “general fish”, “dishes type” is described as the attribute 702, and the group name is In the case of “high budget”, “medium budget”, “low budget”, etc., “budget” or the like may be described as an attribute. Also for these, arbitrary attributes may be described based on the group name described in the group name 701 by the user or the administrator.

  The definition 703 is a definition for the information to be searched, that is, in the case of this example, information about the restaurant belongs to the group described in the group name 701, and is described in the description of the restaurant (that is, described in the description 604 in FIG. 6). This is a definition for judging a group from a description).

  For example, in the case of the record 711, by describing “Yakiniku | Tonkatsu |...” As the definition 703, when the keyword “Yakiniku” or the keyword “Tonkatsu” is included in the description of the restaurant, the restaurant Is defined as belonging to the group name information “General meat”. In addition, the record 712 defines that when a restaurant description includes a keyword “sushi” or a keyword “sashimi”, information about the restaurant belongs to the group name information “fish in general”. Yes.

  Similarly, in records 714, 715, and 716, a budget is written in the description of the restaurant, and if this budget is 5000 yen or more, the budget that was written in the “budget high” group is 3000 yen. If it is less than 5000 yen, it is defined that the information regarding the restaurant belongs to the “budget” group, and if it is less than 3000, it belongs to the “budget low” group.

  In this example, in the definition 703, the keyword is analyzed from the description of the restaurant and collated with the keyword described in the definition 703 so that it can be determined whether or not the information to be searched belongs to the group. For example, when the information to be searched already has an attribute or identifier such as a dish type or a budget, the definition 703 may be used to determine the group by referring to these.

  Next, the data and data structure of the search DB 410 generated by the search DB generation unit 409 and referenced by the search unit 414 will be described.

  FIG. 8 is a diagram for explaining an example of data and a data structure of the search DB 410 according to the first embodiment of the present invention, and in particular, an example of the search DB 410 based on the search data generation rule 408 of FIG.

  As shown in FIG. 8, the search DB 410 includes an ID 801 and attributes 802 to 806.

  The ID 801 is an identifier for uniquely identifying a restaurant, and is an ID that matches each restaurant-specific ID described in the ID 601 in the search target DB 403 of FIG. 6 for each restaurant.

  Attributes 802 to 806 list each attribute described as the definition 703 of the search data generation rule 408, and store the group name of the search data generation rule 408 as each attribute value.

  The search DB 410 is created by the search DB generation unit 409 with reference to the search data generation rule 408 for the search target information input via the DB update unit 401. That is, the search DB generation unit 409 first lists all the attributes described in the attribute 702 of the search data generation rule 408 as the attributes 802 to 806 of the search DB 410. Next, the search DB generation unit 409 adds the same ID as the ID 601 assigned in the search target DB 403 to the records 811 to 813 for the information on each restaurant input by the DB update unit 401. When the definition 703 in the search data generation rule 408 is included in the description of each restaurant identified by the ID (that is, the description described in the description 604 in FIG. 6), the search DB generation unit 409 Describes the group name corresponding to the definition 703 in the field indicating the corresponding attribute. In this way, the search DB 410 is generated.

  Thereby, for example, when the information of the record 611 in FIG. 6 is input, the record 811 in FIG. 8 is generated. Specifically, in the case of the record 611 in FIG. 6, the ID “1” is stored in the ID 801, and the description “Charcoal grilled yakiniku restaurant. Budget 6000 yen...” In the search data generation rule 408 in FIG. Since the keywords defined in the definition 703 of the records 711, 714, and 717 (that is, “Yakiniku” and “Budget 6000 yen”) are included, the attributes “Cooking type”, “Budget”, which are attributes of these records, In the “meat” field (fields 802, 803, and 804 in FIG. 8), “meat general”, “budget high”, and “barbecue” that are the group names 701 of the records 711, 714, and 717, respectively, are stored. As a result, the record 811 is completed. The search DB generation unit 409 completes the search DB 410 by performing this for all restaurants.

  Note that the search DB 410 shown in FIG. 8 is created to facilitate the search of the search target DB 403. Specifically, the search DB 410 is created by classifying information included in the search target DB 403 so as to correspond to answer candidates based on the search data generation rule 408. As will be described later, a search is performed on the search DB 410 using the answer selected by the user as a key. Data in the search target DB 403 corresponding to the search result obtained as a result is used as a final search result. To be acquired. For example, when the record 811 is acquired by searching the search DB 410, information of the record 611 corresponding to the record 811 is acquired as a search result (see steps 1402, 1403, etc. in FIG. 14A).

  Next, the data and data structure of the question generation rule 404 that is referred to by the question DB generation unit 406 and generates the question DB 407 will be described.

  FIG. 9 is a diagram for explaining an example of the data and data structure of the question generation rule 404 according to the first embodiment of the present invention. In particular, FIG. 9 is an example when the information to be searched is restaurant information.

  As shown in FIG. 9, the question generation rule 404 includes a question name 901, a priority 902, a question sentence 903, and answer candidates 904, and records 911 to 915 define the contents of questions to the user. Yes. These pieces of information are defined by the user or the administrator.

  The question name 901 is a name for uniquely identifying a question to the user, and is also used as an identifier for individually identifying each question defined in the question generation rule 404 and each question in a question DB 407 described later. Further, the question name 901 is made to correspond to the attribute 702 in the search data generation rule 408, and is matched with this description. As a result, as described later, the search unit 414 searches the search DB 410 based on the answer to the question from the user, so that information suitable for the user's answer can be searched at high speed.

  The priority 902 is a value indicating the priority or importance of the question for the user defined by the question generation rule 404. For example, the smaller the numerical value, the higher the priority or importance. In this embodiment, as will be described later, the question / answer generation unit 413 generates a question for the user according to the priority described in the priority 902.

  Note that the value of the priority 902 is set in advance by, for example, an administrator of the information search system. The administrator or the like can set the priority 902 so that the priority of questions that should be presented at an early stage (for example, important questions that influence the direction of the subsequent questions) becomes high. . The same priority may be set for a plurality of questions. If an appropriate priority is set, by generating a question for the user according to the priority, information desired by the user can be accurately narrowed down, thereby improving user convenience. A specific question generation / presentation procedure based on the priority will be described later (see FIG. 14B).

  The question sentence 903 is a question sentence presented to the user. As will be described later, in this embodiment, the information search system is configured so that the sentence described in the question sentence 903 is presented to the user.

  The answer candidate 904 is an answer candidate presented to the user at the same time with respect to the question presented to the user. As will be described later, in this embodiment, when the sentence described in the question sentence 903 is presented to the user, the answer candidate described in the answer candidate 904 or a part thereof is simultaneously presented to the user. Configure. Here, in this embodiment, “,” in the answer candidate 904 is a delimiter when there are a plurality of answer candidates, and the answer candidate character string that is presented to the user after “;” is “;”. The previous is the group name of the search DB 410 to search in response to the answer. Therefore, for example, in the question of the record 911 in FIG. 9, the answer candidate 904 is described as “all meat; meat, all fish; fish,...”. It is assumed that answer candidate character strings such as “meat” and “fish” are presented to the user in response to the question sentence 903 “Do?”. For example, when the user answers “meat” (that is, when meat is selected), the “meat general” that is the group name of the answer and the “cooking type” described in the question name 901 are displayed. The search unit 414 can search from the search DB 410 as a key. That is, the search unit 414 searches for a record (record 811 in FIG. 8) in which the “cooking type” field (field 802 in FIG. 8) of the search DB 410 is “general meat”, based on the user's answer. Search for information. The search operation in the search unit 414 will be described later.

  Next, the data and data structure of the inter-question parent-child relationship rule 405 that the question DB generation unit 406 refers to in order to generate the question DB 407 will be described.

  FIG. 10 is a diagram for explaining an example of data and a data structure of the inter-question parent-child relationship rule 405 according to the first embodiment of the present invention. In particular, FIG. 10 is an example when the information to be searched is restaurant information. is there.

  As shown in FIG. 10, the inter-question parent-child relationship rule 405 includes a parent question name 1001, a parent question answer 1002, and a child question name 1003. These pieces of information are defined by a user or an administrator.

  A parent question name 1001 is a parent question name when defining a parent-child relationship between questions, and is matched with a question name 901 of a question defined as a parent question in the question generation rule 404.

  The parent question answer 1002 is an answer from the user when the question of the parent question name 1001 is made to the user, and is matched with the answer candidate 904 in the question generation rule 404.

  The child question name 1003 is the question name of the child question to be asked next when the question of the parent question name 1001 is made to the user and the answer of the parent question answer 1002 is made by the user. When the user asks the question “cooking type” and the answer from the user is “meat”, the question “meat cooking” is made next.

  The parent-child relationship shown in FIG. 10 is set in advance by an administrator or the like as with the priority 902. It is desirable that the parent-child relationship is set so that a question that further subdivides the category indicated by the answer to the parent question becomes a child question. For example, as shown in the record 1011, the child question “meat dishes” when the answer to the parent question name “cooking type” is “meat” (that is, all meat dishes) is meat such as “Yakiniku” or “Tonkatsu”. Corresponds to answer candidates that further subdivide the cooking category. By presenting questions in the order according to the parent-child relationship set in this way, the flow of questions becomes natural, and desired information can be narrowed down without causing the user to feel stress. A specific question generation / presentation procedure based on the parent-child relationship will be described later (see FIG. 14B).

  In accordance with the inter-question parent-child relationship rule 405 and the question generation rule 404 described above, the question DB generation unit 406 generates a question DB 407 to be described later. As will be described later, the question DB 407 allows the question / answer generation unit 413 to present questions to the user in the order along the parent-child relationship between the questions.

  Next, the data and data structure of the question DB 407 generated by the question DB generation unit 406 and referred to by the question / answer generation unit 413 will be described.

  FIG. 11 is a diagram for explaining an example of data and a data structure of the question DB 407 according to the first embodiment of the present invention. In particular, FIG. 11 is an example when information to be searched is restaurant information.

  As shown in FIG. 11, the question DB 407 includes a question name 1101, a parent question name 1102, a priority level 1103, a question sentence 1104, a number of answers 1105, an answer candidate, and an answer candidate selected by the user. Child question names 1106 to 1109 are included. These are generated by the question DB generation unit 406 with reference to the question generation rule 404 and the inter-question parent-child relationship rule 405.

  The question name 1101 is the question name 901 in the question generation rule 404, and is generated with reference to the question name 901 in the question generation rule 404 when the question DB generation unit 406 creates this question DB 407.

  The parent question name 1102 is a parent question name when there is a parent question for the question of the question name 1101. When creating the question DB 407, the question DB generation unit 406 searches for the question name 1101 from the child question name 1003 of the inter-question parent-child relationship rule 405, and when this is found, the inter-question parent-child relationship rule By storing the parent question name 1001 in 405, the parent question name 1102 is generated. If the question name 1101 is not found in the child question name 1003 of the inter-question parent-child relationship rule 405, it may be left blank.

  The priority 1103 is the priority 902 in the question generation rule 404, and the question DB generation unit 406 stores the priority 902 of the question name 901 corresponding to the question name 1101 when the question DB 407 is created. Generate.

  The question sentence 1104 is a question sentence 903 in the question generation rule 404, and the question DB generation unit 406 stores the question sentence 903 of the question name 901 corresponding to the question name 1101 when creating the question DB 407. Generate.

  The number of answers 1105 is the number of answer candidates presented to the user. When the question DB generating unit 406 creates the question DB 407, the number of answer candidates in the answer candidates 904 corresponding to the question name 1101 is counted, Generate by storing numbers. In particular, in the present embodiment, as shown in FIG. 9, the answer candidate 904 uses “,” as a delimiter for each answer candidate, so the question DB generation unit 406 sets the character string of the answer candidate 904 to “,”. It can be generated by storing the number of divisions divided by.

  The answer candidate and the child question name (fields 1106 to 1109 in FIG. 11) are each arranged as a set of one answer candidate presented to the user and a child question when the answer candidate is selected for 1105 answers. It becomes the composition. When creating this question DB 407, the question DB generating unit 406 stores each answer candidate divided by the delimiter “,” in the answer candidate 904 corresponding to the question name 1101 in the present answer candidate 1106 and the answer. The candidate is searched from the parent question answer 1002 of the inter-question parent-child relationship rule 405, and when this is found, the child question name 1003 in the inter-question parent-child relationship rule 405 is stored in the child question name 1107, etc. A question name (fields 1106 to 1109) is generated. If no child question is found for the answer candidate, the child question name field corresponding to the answer candidate may be left blank.

  As will be described later, this question DB 407 allows the question / answer generation unit 413 to generate questions and answer candidates for the user, as well as to control the order of the questions.

  Next, the operation of the information search system according to the embodiment of the present invention will be described.

  In the information search system according to the present embodiment, when search target information is created, added, or updated, or rules such as a search data generation rule 408, a question generation rule 404, and an inter-question parent-child relationship rule 405 are generated. When added or updated, the server 101 updates the search target DB 403, the question DB 407, and the search DB 410. Further, the server 101 and the portable terminal 104 work together to search for information desired by the user.

  First, the database update processing operation in the server 101 will be described.

  FIG. 12 is an operation flowchart for explaining an example of the database update processing operation in the server 101 according to the first embodiment of the present invention.

  As shown in FIG. 12A, the server 101 periodically determines whether there is DB update target data by a timer (not shown) or the like (step 1201). The update unit 401 is activated to update the DB (step 1202). If there is no DB update target data, the DB update operation is not performed. The server 101 has DB update target data when any of the search target information, the search data generation rule 408, the question generation rule 404, or the inter-question parent-child relationship rule 405 is created, added, or updated. If none of these are created, added, or updated, it is determined that there is no DB update target data.

  DB update is performed as shown in FIG. 12B by activating the DB update unit 401. Further, the DB update process does not necessarily have to be performed by periodically determining whether there is DB update target data. For example, when any of the information to be searched, the search data generation rule 408, the question generation rule 404, or the inter-question parent-child relationship rule 405 is created, added, or updated by the administrator or the user, the server 101 is DB The update unit 401 may be activated to perform this DB update process.

  In the present embodiment, when the DB update unit 401 is activated, the following processing is executed as shown in FIG.

  First, the server 101 determines whether or not the search target information has been created, added, or updated (step 1203). If the search target information has been created, added, or updated, the search target DB is constructed. The unit 402 is activated to generate the search target DB 403 (step 1204). The search target DB construction unit 402 stores these in a predetermined field based on information corresponding to the ID 601, store name 602, location 603, and description 604 of each restaurant input by the user or administrator from the DB update unit 401. By doing so, the search target DB 403 is constructed. Note that when creating the search target DB 403, for example, if the search target information is added or updated, the search target DB 403 may be added or updated only with respect to the added or updated information. Is newly created, the search target DB 403 may be generated for all the search target information.

  Next, the DB update unit 401 determines whether the search target information or the search data generation rule 408 has been created, added, or updated (step 1205), and any of these is created, added, or updated. If the search DB is generated, the search DB generation unit 409 is activated to generate the search DB 410 (step 1206).

  The search DB generation unit 409 generates the search DB 410 from the DB update unit 401 based on the information on each restaurant and the search data generation rule 408 input by the user or administrator. Specifically, the search DB generation unit 409 first lists all the attributes described in the attribute 702 of the search data generation rule 408 as the attributes 802 to 806 of the search DB 410, and then the DB update unit 401 The same ID as the ID 601 assigned in the search target DB 403 is attached to the input information of each restaurant as the ID 801 of the records 811 to 813, and description of each restaurant identified by the ID (that is, described in the description 604 in FIG. 6). If the definition 703 in the search data generation rule 408 is included in the description text), the group name corresponding to the definition 703 is written in the field indicating the corresponding attribute, so that the search DB 410 Is generated.

  For example, when the information of the record 611 in FIG. 6 is input, the record 811 in FIG. 8 is generated. Specifically, in the case of the record 611 in FIG. 6, the search DB generation unit 409 stores ID “1” in ID 801. Since the description sentence “Yakiniku restaurant grilled over charcoal. Budget 6000 yen ...” includes the keywords defined in the definition 703 of the records 711, 714, and 717 in the search data generation rule 408 of FIG. The section 409 includes groups of records 711, 714, and 717 in the fields of “cooking type”, “budget”, and “meat cooking” (fields 802, 803, and 804 in FIG. 8 respectively) that are attributes of these records. The names “701”, “all meat”, “high budget”, and “grilled meat” are stored. Thereby, the record 811 is completed.

  The search DB generation unit 409 completes the search DB 410 by performing the above processing for all restaurants. When creating the search DB 410, for example, when information to be searched is added or updated, the search DB 410 may be added or updated only for the added or updated information. When newly created or when a search data generation rule is created, added, or updated, the search DB 410 may be generated for all information to be searched.

Subsequently, the DB update unit 401 determines whether either the question generation rule 404 or the inter-question parent-child relationship rule 405 has been created, added, or updated (step 1207), and any of these is created. When added or updated, the question DB generating unit 406 is activated to generate the question DB 407 (step 1208). The question DB generation unit 406 generates the question DB 407 as follows.
(1) The question name 901 in the question generation rule 404 is stored in the question name 1101.
(2) The question name 1101 is searched from the child question name 1003 of the inter-question parent-child relationship rule 405, and when this is found, the parent question name 1001 in the inter-question parent-child relationship rule 405 is changed to the parent question name 1102. If it is stored and not found, the parent question name 1102 is left blank.
(3) The priority 902 of the question name 901 corresponding to the question name 1101 is stored in the priority 1103.
(4) The question sentence 903 of the question name 901 corresponding to the question name 1101 is stored in the question sentence 1104.
(5) Count the number of answer candidates in the answer candidates 904 corresponding to the question name 1101 and store the number in the number of answers 1105. In the case of the present embodiment, this can be realized by storing the number of divisions obtained by dividing the character string of the answer candidate 904 by “,” in the number of answers 1105.
(6) The character string of each answer candidate in the answer candidate 904 corresponding to the question name 1101 is stored in the answer candidate, and the answer candidate is searched from the parent question answer 1002 of the inter-question parent-child relationship rule 405, and when this is found The child question name 1003 in the inter-question parent-child relationship rule 405 is stored in the child question name. In this embodiment, each answer candidate divided by the delimiter “,” is stored in answer candidate 1, answer candidate 2, etc., and the corresponding child question names are child question name 1 and child question name. Stores in 2 etc. If no child question is found for the answer candidate, it is left blank.

  The question DB generation unit 406 performs the above processing on all question names 901 in the question generation rule 404, so that the question DB 407 can be generated.

  Next, operations of the server 101 and the portable terminal 104 when the server 101 and the portable terminal 104 search for information desired by the user in conjunction with each other will be described.

  FIG. 13 is an operation flowchart for explaining an example of operations of the server 101 and the mobile terminal 104 when searching for information desired by the user in the first embodiment of the present invention. In this information search system, the search target information is searched and narrowed down by repeating the presentation of questions and answer candidates to the user and the input of answers from the user by the operation shown in FIG.

  As shown in FIG. 13, in the information search system according to the present embodiment, first, the mobile terminal 104 inputs a question presented to the user and an answer from the user with respect to the answer candidate. This is because the user selects the answer candidates displayed on the display unit 504 and the display device 305 of the portable terminal via the input device 303 and the input unit 501, and the input device 303 and the input unit 501 select the selected answer. This can be realized by acquiring candidates as answers. However, in the initial search, there are no questions and answer candidates presented to the user, and a search request from the user is input (step 1301). Details of the display screen at this time will be described later.

  Next, the request / response processing unit 503 of the mobile terminal 104 generates a search request for the server 101 by setting the question presented to the user and the answer input by the user, and sends the generated request to the request / response transmission / reception unit. It transmits to the server 101 via 502 and the communication apparatus 301 (step 1302). The request / response processing unit 503 of the mobile terminal 104 generates an empty request as in (Expression 1) in the first search, and in the second and subsequent searches as in (Expression 2) Generate a request that connects a set of answers.

Request = “” (Formula 1)
Request = "second question name" + "second answer" +
“3rd question name” + “3rd answer” +
... (Formula 2)
For example, if the second question name is “cooking type” and the answer is “meat”, the request / response processing unit 503 requests “request =“ cooking type ”+“ meat in general; meat ””. When the third question name is “meat dish” and the answer is “grilled meat”, the request / response processing unit 503 reads “request =“ type of dish ”+“ whole meat; meat ”+ A request “Meat dish” + “Yakiniku; Yakiniku” is generated.

  Next, the server 101 receives a request from the portable terminal 104 via the communication device 201 and the request / response transmission / reception unit 411 (step 1303). The request / response processing unit 412 of the server 101 processes the received request, and based on the search result for the information to be searched based on the answer from the user, the next question for the user, and the answer candidate. A response is generated (step 1304). Although details of the processing contents of the request / response processing unit 412 will be described later, the response generated by the request / response processing unit 412 is, for example, as shown in (Expression 3).

Response = “Next question name” +
“Next question” +
“Next answer candidate” +
“Search results based on this answer” (Formula 3)
Here, “next question name” is, for example, “budget”, and “next question sentence is“ what is the budget? ” 11 is a question sentence 1104 corresponding to the question name 1101 of the question DB 407 in FIG. 11. Also, “next answer candidate” is the answer candidates 1 to n corresponding to the question name 1101 of the question DB 407 in FIG. , ", For example," Budget high; considerable, medium budget; normal ". In addition, “search result based on current answer” is obtained by connecting search result information as a character string. For example, in the case of information about a restaurant, “<search result 1>“ restaurant information ”<search result 2> It is a character string obtained by tagging and connecting each restaurant information of each search result as “restaurant information <search result 3>...

  Subsequently, the server 101 transmits the response generated by the request / response processing unit 412 to the portable terminal 1306 via the request / response transmission / reception unit 411 and the communication device 201 (step 1305), and the processing by the server 101 is terminated. To do.

  On the other hand, the portable terminal 104 receives the response transmitted from the server 101 via the communication device 301 and the request / response transmission / reception unit 502 (step 1306). The request / response processing unit 503 displays “search result based on current answer”, “next question sentence”, and “next answer candidate” included in the response on the display unit 504 and the display device 305 of the portable terminal 104 ( Step 1307). When “next answer candidate” is displayed, it is preferable that the delimiter “,” is detected to be divided into individual answer candidates, and only the answer candidate character string after “;” is displayed. An example of the display screen will be described later (see FIG. 15).

  Subsequently, based on the screens displayed on the display unit 504 and the display device 305, the mobile terminal 104 determines whether or not there is an instruction to end the search from the user via the input device 303 and the input unit 501 (step 1308) When there is a search end instruction from the user, the processing in the portable terminal 104 is ended.

  On the other hand, if the result of the determination in step 1308 is that there is no search end instruction from the user, the portable terminal 104 returns to step 1301 and returns the “next question sentence” and “next” displayed in step 1307 earlier. An answer from the user to “answer candidate” is input, and the above steps 1301 to 1308 are executed.

  In this manner, the information search system repeats steps 1301 to 1308 until there is a search end instruction from the user in step 1307, thereby presenting a question to the user, and information to be searched based on the answer to the presented question. Can be searched and narrowed down.

  Next, details of processing contents of the request / response processing unit 412 in the server 101 according to the first embodiment of the present invention will be described.

  FIG. 14A is an operation flowchart for explaining the processing contents of the request / response processing unit 412 in the server 101 according to the first embodiment of the present invention.

  As shown in FIG. 14A, the request / response processing unit 412 in the server 101 indicates that the request received from the mobile terminal 104 via the communication device 201 and the request / response transmission / reception unit 411 is an empty request, that is, (Expression 1). It is determined whether or not “request =“ ”” (step 1401). If it is determined that the received request is an empty request, the request / response processing unit 412 proceeds to the processing of step 1404 without performing the search execution of step 1402 and the acquisition of search target data of step 1403 in the subsequent stage.

  On the other hand, as a result of the determination in step 1401, the request received from the mobile terminal 104 is not an empty request, that is, for example, “request =“ dishes type ”+“ whole meat; meat ”+“ If it is determined that there is a character string after the request =, such as “meat dish” + “yaki meat; yakiniku”, the response from the user in the received request is “all meat; meat” and “yaki meat; yakiniku” etc. Based on the character string before “;”, that is, the group name corresponding to the answer, the search unit 414 searches the search DB 410 (step 1402). Specifically, for example, when the request is “request =“ type of cooking ”+“ all meat; meat ”+“ meat cooking ”+“ grilled meat; yakiniku ””, the search unit 414 performs “SELECT * FROM table WHERE”. The search DB 410 is searched with SQL statements such as “cooking type = all meat AND meat cooking = yaki”. Thus, for example, in the case of the search DB 410 in FIG. 8, it is possible to easily search the record 811 and the like.

  Next, the request / response processing unit 412 in the server 101 searches the search target DB 403 using the search target data acquisition unit 415 based on the search result of the search DB 410 by the search unit 414, and acquires all information on the search result. (Step 1403). This is realized by acquiring data of each field of a record having the same ID as the search result ID 801 of the search DB 410 by the search unit 414.

  For example, when the record 811 is searched as a search result in the above example, a record having the same ID “1” as the ID “1” of the record 811 is acquired from the search target DB 403, and the character string of each field of the record Is a search result that presents to the user a character string tagged with a field name.

  Note that in the information search system according to the present embodiment, it is not always necessary to perform the processing of step 1403. Characters obtained by tagging a character string of each field with a field name based on the search result of the search DB 410 acquired in step 1402 A column may be acquired as a search result presented to the user, or a character string “search result is XX” may be acquired based on the number of search results as a search result presented to the user. In this case, not all information to be searched is presented to the user, but when the user instructs to present all information, the request / response processing unit 412 performs processing corresponding to the above step 1403, and all information Should be presented. As a result, it is possible to reduce the processing time for each search and display of search results out of the total processing time required for performing search and narrowing down.

  Next, in step 1404, the request / response processing unit 412 in the server 101 uses the question / answer generation unit 413 to generate questions and answer candidates to be presented to the user. This is basically realized by selecting a record of a question not yet presented to the user from the question DB 407. This process will be described with reference to FIG. 14B.

  FIG. 14B is an operation flowchart for explaining processing contents of the question / answer generation unit 413 in the server 101 according to the first embodiment of the present invention.

  The question / answer generation unit 413 preferentially selects a high priority record based on the priority 1103 in the question DB 407 (step 1411). For example, there are records A, B, and C with a priority “1”, records D, E, and F with a priority “2”, and records G, H, and I with a priority “3”, which are still users. If the question is not selected as a question, the question / answer generation unit 413 first selects an arbitrary record from the records A, B, and C.

  Then, for example, when the record A is selected, when the question to be presented to the user next is selected, the question / answer generation unit 413 has not yet been selected from among the records having the priority “1”. Then, an arbitrary record is selected from among the records with the next highest priority “2”. That is, in the previous example, the question / answer generation unit 413 selects an arbitrary record from the records B, C, D, E, and F.

  For example, when the record E is selected here, when the question to be presented to the user is further selected, the question / answer generation unit 413 selects the records with the priority levels “1” and “2” and the next Arbitrary records are selected from among the records with the higher priority “3” that have not yet been selected.

  The selection of an arbitrary record in the above procedure may be executed using, for example, a pseudo random value generated by the server 101 so that the probability that each record is selected is approximately equal.

  According to the above procedure, when selecting the first question, selectable questions do not include low priority questions, and as the number of repeated questions increases, a lower priority question can be selected. Become. However, even if the number of questions is repeated, questions with high priority can still be selected, and which one of them is selected is randomly selected. In this way, although the questions are generally asked in the order according to the priority, since the randomness is added to the selection of the questions, the user is always asked in the same order from the questions with the highest priority. It is possible to prevent the user from getting bored with the use.

  The question selection method (first selection method) based on the priority as described above is an example, and the question / answer generation unit 413 may select a question by any other method. For example, the question / answer generation unit 413 may select the questions in descending order of priority, and when there are a plurality of questions with the same priority, select the questions in a random order. In this case, when the questions with the priority “1” are sequentially selected at random and all the questions with the priority “1” are selected, the questions with the priority “2” are sequentially selected at random. Lower priority questions are sequentially selected in the same procedure. By this method (second selection method), the order of the questions is changed while following the priority, so that the user can be prevented from getting bored.

  When each question selection method is adopted, the ease of use that the user feels depends on the number of questions that can be selected, the number of answer candidates that can be selected for each question, and the number of priority classes set ( For example, whether a priority from “1” to “3” is set, or a priority from “1” to “10” is set, etc.), and the number of questions for which each priority is set (For example, whether the number of questions given priority “1” is 3 or 20 or the like), and the ease of setting priority due to the type of information to be searched. Dependent. Therefore, the question / answer generation unit 413 may automatically determine a question selection method according to these parameters.

  Specifically, for example, when the number of questions for which each priority is set is small, if the second selection method is adopted, the variation in the order of the questions is limited, and the user may get bored. Therefore, in this case, it is desirable to increase variations in the order of questions by adopting the first selection method. On the other hand, when there are a large number of questions with each priority set, the second selection method should be used to present the questions in an order that is faithful to the priorities while ensuring sufficient variation. The information can be narrowed down accurately. For this reason, the question / answer generation unit 413 may determine a question selection method based on, for example, whether or not the number of questions for which each priority is set exceeds a predetermined threshold.

  It should be noted that a record whose priority in the question DB 407 is blank may be treated as having the lowest priority. However, if the child question name 1107 is described for the answer to the previous question, the question The answer generation unit 413 selects the record of the question name 1101 described in the child question name 1107 or 1109 or the like in preference to the record selection by the priority. That is, for example, when the question of the record 1111 is selected and presented to the user at a certain point in time, and the answer from the user is “fish”, the child question name corresponding to the answer candidate “all fish; fish” Since “fish dish” is described as 1107, the question / answer generation unit 413 does not select a record based on priority, and a record whose question name 1101 is “fish dish” is selected as the next question record. 1113 is selected. Then, the question / answer generation unit 413 acquires the question name and the question sentence in the selected record.

  After all, the question / answer generation unit 413 selects a question according to the parent-child relationship of the question when it is set, and if the priority is set when the parent-child relationship of the question is not set, A question is selected according to the above. If neither parent-child relationship nor priority is set, an arbitrary question is selected (for example, randomly).

  Next, the question / answer generation unit 413 validates answer candidates whose search results for each answer candidate (1106, 1108, etc.) for the selected record are not zero as answer candidates. For example, the question / answer generation unit 413 adds to the previous answers from the user in the same manner as in step 1402 above, and each answer candidate (1106 or 1108, etc.) in the selected record is selected from the user. Assuming that the search DB 410 is searched by the search unit 414 by the same operation as that of Step 1402, the number of results is acquired (Step 1412). Next, the question / answer generation unit 413 determines whether one or more search results have been acquired (step 1413). The question / answer generation unit 413 validates answer candidates for which the number of search results is not zero (step 1414). When the number of search results for all the answer candidates in the selected record becomes 0, the question / answer generation unit 413 invalidates the record of the question itself (step 1415), and again in step 1411. Select a record for another question.

  For example, when the record 1112 (that is, “meat dish”) is selected in step 1411, the answer candidates that should be presented are “Yakiniku”, “Tonkatsu”, and the like. However, if the search in step 1412 is performed for the record 1112 and it is determined in step 1413 that the number of search results is 0, any answer candidate such as “Yakiniku” or “Tonkatsu” is selected. The search result for that is 0. That is, the user selects any one of the presented answer candidates “Yakiniku” or “Tonkatsu” in response to the question “What kind of meat should I have?” (Question sentence 1114 of record 1112). Cannot get search results. A user who is presented with such a question is forced to waste time and labor and feels uncomfortable. In order to prevent this, the question / answer generation unit 413 invalidates the question so as not to present to the user the question that has been found that the search result cannot be obtained by the search in step 1412 (step 1415), and another question (for example, The record 1113 “fish dish” or the like is selected (step 1411).

  On the other hand, even if it is determined in step 1413 in the above example that the number of search results is 1 or more, if the search result for any of the answer candidates is 0, for example, the answer candidate “Yakiniku” If is selected, one or more search results can be obtained, but if “Tonkatsu” is selected, no search results may be obtained. Thus, a user who selects an answer candidate for which a search result cannot be obtained is wasted time and labor, and is uncomfortable. In order to prevent this, the question / answer generation unit 413 validates answer candidates from which one or more search results can be obtained so as not to present to the user answer candidates whose search results are found not to be obtained by the search in step 1412. (Step 1414). In step 1405 to be described later, the request / response processing unit 412 generates a response that does not include an answer candidate that has not been validated (ie, invalid). As a result, the answer candidates that have not been validated are not displayed in step 1307 of FIG. 13 and are therefore not selected by the user.

  Refer to FIG. 14A again. When the question / answer generation processing (step 1404) is completed, the request / response processing unit 412 in the server 101 generates a response (step 1405), and the processing in the request / response processing unit 412 is completed. For example, the request / response processing unit 412 connects the information on the search result obtained in step 1403 with the tag as described above for each restaurant with respect to the response format shown in (Expression 3). “Search result by answer”, “question name” obtained in step 1404 as “next question name”, question sentence as “next question sentence”, and valid answer candidate as “next answer candidate” Generate a response with. As described above, when a plurality of valid answer candidates (for example, answer candidates 1 to n) are set as “next answer candidates”, a character string in which each answer candidate is connected with “,” is generated. Good.

  Next, an example of a display screen presented to the user in the information search system according to the present embodiment will be described.

  FIG. 15 is a diagram illustrating a screen example displayed on the display screen of the display device 305 via the display unit 504 in the mobile terminal 104 according to the first embodiment of the present invention.

  FIG. 15A is an example of an initial search screen of the mobile terminal 104 according to the present embodiment, and the display screen 1501 is displayed by the display device 305. As shown in FIG. 15A, a search start button 1502 is displayed on the initial screen, and when the user presses the main search start button 1502, the mobile terminal 104 determines that a search request is input from the user. can do.

  FIG. 15B is an example of a screen that presents questions, answer candidates, and previous narrowing results in search and narrowing. A display screen 1501 is displayed by the display device 305. In the question sentence presentation area 1503 shown in FIG. 15B, the character string included in the “next question sentence” in the response (formula 3) from the server 101 is displayed.

  Buttons 1504 and 1505 are answer candidates. For example, the mobile terminal 104 obtains one or more answer candidates by dividing the character string included in “next answer candidate” by “,” in the response (formula 3) from the server 101 and acquires them. The answer candidate character strings after “;” corresponding to the stored answer candidates are acquired, and these are displayed as buttons 1504 and 1505. The user can input an answer to the question by pressing a button 1504 or 1505 on which a desired answer candidate is displayed.

  In the example of FIG. 15B, a button 1504 corresponding to the answer candidate “Yakiniku”, a button 1505 corresponding to the answer candidate “Tonkatsu”, and the like are displayed. However, for example, when the answer candidate “Tonkatsu” is not validated in Step 1414 of FIG. 14B (that is, the number of search results when “Tonkatsu” is selected is 0), the button 1505 is not displayed.

  At this time, the mobile terminal 104 generates the “○ th answer” in the request based on the answer candidate stored previously, in response to the inputted answer. In other words, the format of “Oth response” in the request is converted to the format of “group name: answer candidate character string”, and a request is generated for the server (see step 1302).

  A search result display area 1506 is an area for displaying a result of searching information to be searched based on a result of an answer to a previous question. Here, the character string included in the “search result based on the current answer” in the response (formula 3) from the server 101 is displayed for each tag. Thereby, for example, even when the search target is information about a restaurant and the search result includes information about a plurality of restaurants, the information about the individual restaurants can be displayed in an easy-to-read manner by making a line break.

  In FIG. 15B, when the user presses the search end button 1507, the mobile terminal 104 can determine that a search end request has been input from the user.

  By the first embodiment of the present invention described above, the information that can effectively present the question and the answer candidate for the question to the user and can search or narrow the information at high speed based on the answer from the user A search system can be provided. In particular, when presenting a question to a user and answer candidates for that question, the result of the user's answer based on the presented question and answer candidates will not result in zero search results or refinement results. By doing so, it is possible to provide an information search system in which the user does not get uncomfortable.

The first embodiment of the present invention exemplifies a system for searching for information about restaurants, but as already described, the system for searching for other information, for example, any kind of store, facility, event, etc. The present invention can be applied. Furthermore, the present invention is not limited to an information search system in which the server 101 and the mobile terminal 104 are connected via the network 102 as shown in FIG. 1, but also an information search in an arbitrary form such as a stand-alone device or a computer. Can be applied to the system. For example, the present invention may be applied to search for video files in a home video recording apparatus. Such an information search system includes an input device and a display device corresponding to the input device 303 and the display device 305 in addition to the hardware shown in FIG. In this case, transmission / reception of the search request and search response shown in FIG. 13 is not necessary, and all processing is performed inside the stand-alone information search system. As described above, the present invention can be applied to an arbitrary device such as a server, a television, a PC, a recorder, a mobile phone or a mobile terminal for storing and retrieving information, and an arbitrary combination thereof. The same applies to a second embodiment of the present invention described later.
<Second Embodiment>
In the first embodiment, the question / answer generation unit 413 generates a question for the user and an answer candidate for the question every time a question for the user and the answer candidate for the question are generated in order to determine whether the answer candidate for the question presented to the user is valid. Assuming that each answer candidate (1106, 1108, etc.) in the record selected in the question DB 407 is selected by the user, the number of results obtained by searching the search DB 410 using the search unit 414 is acquired, and the search result is 0. The answer candidates that did not become valid were determined to be valid (steps 1412 to 1415 in FIG. 14B).

  In this case, every time there is an answer from the user, the search unit 414 needs to search the search DB 410 based on these answer candidates for all answer candidates for the next question. This is possible because the configuration of the search DB or the like in this embodiment can perform a search at high speed. However, if the amount of information to be searched still increases, answer candidates can be found in real time. It may be difficult to determine whether it is valid.

  Therefore, in the second embodiment, a narrowed-down number map generation unit, which will be described later, generates a narrowed-down number map in advance, and the question / answer generating unit 413 refers to this narrowed-down number map, thereby responding to questions presented to the user at high speed. An example of an information search system that can determine whether or not an answer candidate is valid.

  The second embodiment can be realized by slightly changing the operation of the functional blocks of the server 101 and the related units with respect to the first embodiment. Hereinafter, the changed part will be described, and the description of the part that is not changed will be omitted because it is the same as that of the first embodiment.

  FIG. 16 is a diagram illustrating an example of functional blocks of the server 101 according to the second embodiment of the present invention.

  As illustrated in FIG. 16, the functional block of the server 101 according to the present embodiment has a configuration in which a narrowed number map generation unit 1601 and a narrowed number map 1602 are added to the functional block of the server 101 according to the first embodiment. is there.

  The narrowed-down number map generation unit 1601 generates a narrowed-down number map 1602 by acquiring the number of search results for the combination of groups defined in the search data generation rule 408 in advance using the search unit 414.

  The narrowed-down number map 1602 is a map that indicates the number of search results of the search DB 410 that has been performed by the search unit 414 for the combination of groups defined in the search data generation rule 408.

  FIG. 17 is a diagram illustrating an example of data and a data structure of the narrowed-down number map 1602 according to the second embodiment of the present invention.

  As shown in FIG. 17, the narrowed-down number map 1602 according to the second embodiment of the present invention includes a combination number 1701, group names 1702 to 1706, and a number 1707.

  The number of combinations 1701 is the number of group names in the search.

  Group names 1702 to 1706 are group names defined in the search data generation rule 408.

  The number 1707 is the number of search results obtained by the search unit 414 searching the search DB 410 for the group combination.

  As shown in records 1711 to 1720, the narrowing-down number map generation unit 1601 describes “◯” as the group name to be combined, and describes the number of group names to be combined as the number of combinations 1701. Further, the number of search results obtained by the search unit 414 searching the search DB 410 for this combination is described in the number of cases 1707.

  For example, in the case of the record 1712, since the combination of two groups, that is, “group name 1” and “group name 2” is selected, the number of combinations 1701 is “2”, and the value “ “800000” is the number of results obtained by searching the SQL statement “SELECT * FROM table WHERE group name 1 attribute = group name 1 AND group name 2 attribute = group name 2”. The attribute of the group name can be acquired from the attribute 702 in the search data generation rule 408.

  The narrowed-down number map generation unit 1601 does not need to create the narrowed-down number map 1602 by combining all the groups defined in the search data generation rule 408, and the combination of two or more group names having the same attribute. Does not need to generate a record of the narrowed-down number map 1602. This is because, in a series of narrowing down, for example, “budget high”, “medium budget”, and “budget low” attributes “budget” are not selected simultaneously by the user.

  In the present embodiment, compared with the first embodiment, the operation of the DB update unit 401 and the operation of the question / answer generation unit 413 are changed as follows. That is, the DB update unit 401 determines whether or not the search target information or the search data generation rule 408 has been created, added, or updated in FIG. 12 (Step 1205). Alternatively, when updated, after the search DB generation unit 409 generates the search DB 410 (step 1206), the narrowed-down number map generation unit 1601 is activated to add processing for generating the narrowed-down number map 1602. Note that this processing is desirably executed to generate a new narrowed-down number map 1602 every time the search target information or the search data generation rule 408 is created, added, or updated.

  Further, the question / answer generation unit 413 validates the answer candidates whose search results for each answer candidate (fields 1106 and 1108 in FIG. 11, etc.) for the selected record are not 0 as the answer candidates (FIG. 14A). Step 1404) is modified as follows. That is, the question / answer generation unit 413 narrows down the number map of the combinations of the group names of the previous answers from the user and the group names of the answer candidates (1106, 1108, etc. in FIG. 11) in the selected record. With reference to the number of cases 1602 (number of cases 1707 in FIG. 17), it is determined that the answer candidate whose number is not 0 is valid. That is, the question / answer generation unit 413 of this embodiment can omit the search by referring to the narrowed-down number map 1602 in step 1412 of FIG. 14B.

  In this case, the number of responses from the user + 1 so far is used as the number of combinations, and only the records in which the number of combinations matches the number of combinations 1701 in the narrowed-down number map 1602 are matched to match the combination in the narrowed-down number map 1602 Find the record you want. For example, when a question has already been presented twice and the user has answered each of them, and then wants to select a question to be presented to the user, the question / answer generation unit 413 has a combination number 1701 of “3”. Refer only to records that are. This makes it possible to acquire the desired number of cases (number of cases 1707 in FIG. 17) at high speed.

  As described above, in the information search system according to the second embodiment of the present invention, every time there is an answer from the user in order to determine whether or not the answer candidate for the question presented to the user is valid, The search unit 414 does not need to search the search DB 410 for all answer candidates for the question. Therefore, it is possible to determine whether the answer candidate is valid at high speed.

  The present invention can be applied to a server for storing and retrieving information, a television, a PC, a recorder, a mobile phone, a mobile terminal, and the like, and combinations thereof.

DESCRIPTION OF SYMBOLS 101 Server 102 Network 103 Base station 104 Portable terminal 201 Server communication apparatus 202 Server central processing unit 203 Server storage unit 204 Server secondary storage unit 205 Server bus 301 Portable terminal communication unit 302 Central processing unit of portable terminal 303 Mobile Terminal Input Device 304 Mobile Terminal Storage Device 305 Mobile Terminal Display Device 306 Mobile Terminal Bus 401 DB Update Unit 402 Search Target DB Construction Unit 403 Search Target DB
404 Question generation rule 405 Inter-question parent-child relationship rule 406 Question DB generation unit 407 Question DB
408 Search data generation rule 409 Search DB generation unit 410 Search DB
411 Server request / response transmission / reception unit 412 Server request / response processing unit 413 Question / answer generation unit 414 Search unit 415 Search target data acquisition unit 501 Input unit 502 Mobile terminal request / response transmission / reception unit 503 Mobile terminal request / response Processing unit 504 Display unit 1601 Narrowed number map generation unit 1602 Narrowed number map

Claims (20)

An information retrieval system comprising: a processing device; a storage device connected to the processing device; a display device that outputs information processed by the processing device; and an input device that inputs information processed by the processing device. Because
The storage device
Holds the data to be searched,
Holding a question generation rule including information associating a plurality of questions displayed on the display device and a plurality of answer candidates for each of the questions;
The processing device selects a first question and the plurality of answer candidates corresponding to the first question among the plurality of questions based on the question generation rule,
The display device displays the first question and the plurality of answer candidates corresponding to the first question,
When one of the plurality of answer candidates is selected as an answer via the input device, the processing device uses the combination of the answer selected this time and the answer selected before this time as a search key. Search the search target data,
The information search system, wherein the display device displays a result of the search. The processor is
After selecting the first question and the plurality of answer candidates corresponding to the first question, the combination of each of the plurality of answer candidates selected this time and the answer selected before the previous time is used as a search key. Search for data
If any combination is used as a search key and no search results are obtained, and if another combination is used as a search key and one or more search results are obtained, the search results are obtained. Enable the selected answer candidate included this time,
The information search system according to claim 1, wherein the display device displays an activated one of the first question and the plurality of answer candidates corresponding to the first question. The processing device invalidates the selected first question when no search result is obtained using any combination as a search key, and responds to a question other than the invalidated first question and the corresponding question. Selecting the plurality of answer candidates as the new first question and the plurality of answer candidates corresponding thereto;
The information search system according to claim 2, wherein the display device displays the first question that has not been invalidated and the validated one of the plurality of answer candidates corresponding to the first question. . The processor is
Search the data to be searched using each combination of the plurality of answer candidates as a search key, and hold the number of search results obtained thereby as a refined number map in the storage device,
After selecting the first question and the plurality of answer candidates corresponding to the first question, the combination of each of the plurality of answer candidates selected this time and the answer selected before the previous time is used as a search key. It is determined whether or not a search result can be obtained when searching for data based on the narrowed-down number map,
If it is determined that a search result cannot be obtained when any combination is used as a search key and one or more search results can be obtained when another combination is used as a search key, the search result can be obtained. Enabled the selected answer candidate included in the selected combination,
The information search system according to claim 1, wherein the display device displays an activated one of the first question and the plurality of answer candidates corresponding to the first question. If it is determined that no search result can be obtained using any combination as a search key, the processing device invalidates the selected first question, questions other than the invalidated first question, and Selecting the plurality of answer candidates corresponding thereto as the new first question and the plurality of answer candidates corresponding thereto;
5. The information search system according to claim 4, wherein the display device displays the first question that has not been invalidated and the validated one of the plurality of answer candidates corresponding to the first question. . In the case where the first answer candidate and the first answer candidate are selected from the plurality of questions, the first answer candidate among the plurality of answer candidates corresponding to the first question, and the first answer candidate Further holds a parent-child relationship rule that associates the second question to be displayed next with
When the first answer candidate is selected as an answer among the plurality of answer candidates corresponding to the first question, the processing device selects the second question and the plurality of answer candidates corresponding to the second question. Selected,
The information search system according to claim 1, wherein the display device displays the search result, the selected second question, and the plurality of answer candidates corresponding to the selected second question. The question generation rule further includes information indicating the priority of each question,
The processing device selects the first question and the plurality of answer candidates corresponding to the first question, and then selects a second question and the plurality of answer candidates corresponding to the second question among the plurality of questions based on the priority. Selected,
The information search system according to claim 1, wherein the display device displays the search result, the selected second question, and the plurality of answer candidates corresponding to the selected second question. The processor is
Of the plurality of questions, a first priority is given and one that has not been selected is selected as the second question,
If there is no question that has been given the first priority and has not yet been selected, a priority one level lower than the first priority is given among the plurality of questions, and yet The information retrieval system according to claim 7, wherein an unselected item is selected as the second question.   When the processing device selects, as the first question, a question given the first priority among the plurality of questions, the first priority or the first of the plurality of questions is selected. The information search according to claim 7, wherein any one of the second priorities that is one step lower than the priorities is given and an unselected one is selected as the second priorities. system. The storage device further holds a search data generation rule including a definition for classifying information included in the search target data so as to correspond to each answer candidate,
The processor is
A result of classifying the search target data based on the search data generation rule is held in the storage device as search data,
When one of the plurality of answer candidates is selected as an answer via the input device, the search data is searched using a combination of the answer selected this time and the answer selected before this time as a key. The information search system according to claim 1, wherein the search target data corresponding to the searched search data is acquired as a search result. An information retrieval system comprising: a processing device; a storage device connected to the processing device; a display device that outputs information processed by the processing device; and an input device that inputs information processed by the processing device. Is an information retrieval method executed by
The storage device
Holds the data to be searched,
Holding a question generation rule including information associating a plurality of questions displayed on the display device and a plurality of answer candidates for each of the questions;
The information search method includes:
A first procedure in which the processing device selects, based on the question generation rule, a first question and the plurality of answer candidates corresponding to the first question;
A second procedure in which the display device displays the first question and the plurality of answer candidates corresponding to the first question;
When one of the plurality of answer candidates is selected as an answer via the input device, the processing device uses the combination of the answer selected this time and the answer selected before this time as a search key. A third procedure for searching for data to be searched;
The information search method characterized by including the 4th procedure in which the said display apparatus displays the result of the said search. The first procedure includes:
The processing device searches for the search target data using a combination of each of the plurality of answer candidates selected this time and the answer selected previously before as a search key;
When a search result cannot be obtained when any combination is used as a search key, and when one or more search results are obtained when another combination is used as a search key, the processing device displays the search result. Enabling the currently selected answer candidate included in the obtained combination,
12. The information according to claim 11, wherein the second procedure includes a procedure in which the display device displays an activated one of the first question and the plurality of answer candidates corresponding to the first question. retrieval method. The first procedure includes:
If the search result is not obtained using any combination as a search key, the processing device invalidates the selected first question;
The processing device selects a question other than the invalidated first question and the plurality of answer candidates corresponding thereto as the new first question and the plurality of answer candidates corresponding thereto, Including
The second procedure includes a procedure in which the display device displays the first question that has not been invalidated and the activated one of the plurality of answer candidates corresponding thereto. The information search method according to claim 12. In the information search method, the processing device searches the data to be searched using each of all combinations of the plurality of answer candidates as a search key, and narrows down the number of search results obtained thereby, as the number map. And further comprising a sixth procedure held in the storage device,
The first procedure includes:
Whether the processing device can obtain a search result when searching the data to be searched using a combination of each of the plurality of answer candidates selected this time and the answer selected before the previous time as a search key A procedure for determining based on the narrowed-down number map,
When it is determined that a search result cannot be obtained when any combination is used as a search key, and one or more search results can be obtained when another combination is used as a search key, the processing device includes: A step of validating the currently selected answer candidate included in the combination obtained from the search results, wherein the second procedure is such that the display device includes the first question and the plurality of answer candidates corresponding thereto. The information search method according to claim 11, further comprising displaying a validated one of the two. The first procedure includes:
If it is determined that no search result can be obtained using any combination as a search key, the processing device invalidates the selected first question;
The processing device selects a question other than the invalidated first question and the plurality of answer candidates corresponding thereto as the new first question and the plurality of answer candidates corresponding thereto, Including
The second procedure includes a procedure in which the display device displays the first question that has not been invalidated and the activated one of the plurality of answer candidates corresponding thereto. The information search method according to claim 14. In the case where the first answer candidate and the first answer candidate are selected from the plurality of questions, the first answer candidate among the plurality of answer candidates corresponding to the first question, and the first answer candidate Further holds a parent-child relationship rule that associates the second question to be displayed next with
The information search method includes:
When the first answer candidate is selected as an answer among the plurality of answer candidates corresponding to the first question, the processing device selects the second question and the plurality of answer candidates corresponding to the second question. The steps to choose,
The said display apparatus further includes the procedure which displays the result of the said search, and the said selected 2nd question and these several answer candidates corresponding to it. Information retrieval method. The question generation rule further includes information indicating the priority of each question,
The information search method includes:
After the first question and the plurality of answer candidates corresponding to the first question are selected, the processing device selects a second question among the plurality of questions and the plurality of answer candidates corresponding to the second question based on the priority. A fifth step of selecting
12. The information according to claim 11, wherein the display device includes a procedure for displaying a result of the search and the selected second question and the plurality of answer candidates corresponding to the selected second question. retrieval method. The fifth procedure includes
A procedure in which the processing device selects, as the second question, one of the plurality of questions that is given a first priority and has not yet been selected;
When there is no question that has been given the first priority and has not yet been selected, the processing device gives a priority one step lower than the first priority among the plurality of questions. The information retrieval method according to claim 17, further comprising: selecting a second question that has been selected and not yet selected.   In the fifth procedure, when one of the plurality of questions to which a first priority is given is selected as the first question, the processing device selects the first of the plurality of questions. Or a second priority that is one step lower than the first priority, and a step of selecting an unselected one as the second priority. The information search method according to claim 17. The storage device further holds a search data generation rule including a definition for classifying information included in the search target data so as to correspond to each answer candidate,
The information search method further includes a procedure in which the processing device holds a result of classifying the search target data based on the search data generation rule in the storage device as search data,
In the third procedure, when one of the plurality of answer candidates is selected as an answer via the input device, the processing device determines that the answer selected this time and the answer selected before this time The information search method according to claim 11, further comprising a step of searching the search data using a combination as a key and acquiring the search target data corresponding to the searched search data as a search result. .

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