JPH09120402A - Method and device for information retrieval - Google Patents

Abstract

PROBLEM TO BE SOLVED: To retrieve information in a short time according to a retrieval expression corresponding to conditions that are easy for a user to intuitively grasp. SOLUTION: By the information retrieval means for retrieving a record registered in a data base corresponding to at least one key word, it is decided whether or not each record registered in the data base corresponds to at least a specific number of key words in a key word group according to a specific logical operator, the specific key word group consisting of plural key words, and a specific number which is larger than 1. When an affirmative decision is made, the logical operation result corresponding to the specific logical operator as to the corresponding recorder is made true and when an inaffirmative decision is made, the logical arithmetic result corresponding to the specific logical operator as to the specific logical record is made false; when decisions on all the records are made, records whose logical operation results are true are extracted from the data base and outputted as retrieval results.

Description

Detailed Description of the Invention

[0001]

BACKGROUND OF THE INVENTION 1. Field of the Invention The present invention relates to an information search method and an information search apparatus for searching a database for information registered in correspondence with a keyword. For example,
In a document filing system or the like, each document information is registered corresponding to a plurality of keywords representing the contents, and the user can search for the required document information by specifying the keyword. ing. In recent years, enormous technical documents and materials have been registered in the document filing system, and the database of document information has been developed. Along with this, various users have come to use the document filing system, and an information retrieval device capable of intuitively retrieving necessary document information is required.

[0002]

2. Description of the Related Art FIG. 9 shows a configuration example of a document filing system to which a conventional information retrieval apparatus is applied. In FIG. 9, the search control unit 410 uses the database management unit 42 based on an instruction input by the user via the keyboard 401.
The search operation by 0 is controlled, and the document information database 43
The corresponding document information is searched from 0, output through the display processing unit 402 and the display device 403, and provided to the user.

Here, as described above, each record is
It is registered corresponding to a plurality of keywords, and each keyword corresponds to a huge number of records.
Therefore, by using a search expression that combines a plurality of keywords and some logical operators, the relationship between the sets of records corresponding to each keyword is expressed, and by performing search processing based on this search expression, the required document Information is being narrowed down. At this time, it is general to use a Boolean operator such as a logical sum operator or a logical product operator as the logical operator.

The correspondence between keywords and records is shown in a keyword / record correspondence table 421 provided by the database management unit 420 shown in FIG. 9, and this keyword / record correspondence table 421 is shown in FIG.
As shown in 0, information indicating whether or not each record includes each keyword (in FIG. 10, a symbol ◯).
And the symbol x) are stored.

The search control unit 410 shown in FIG.
The interpretation processing unit 411 interprets the input search expression,
Based on this interpretation result, the extraction processing unit 412 and the logical operation unit 413 operate to narrow down the records. Further, the result of this narrowing down is provided to the processing of the database management unit 420 via the search request unit 422.

Here, the extraction processing unit 412 refers to the keyword / record correspondence table 421 according to the instruction from the interpretation processing unit 411, and depending on the presence / absence of the keyword specified in the search expression, records related to the corresponding record. Each set of information may be extracted. Also, the logical operation unit 413
May receive the set of these record information, perform an operation corresponding to the logical operation represented by the search expression, and send the operation result to the search request unit 414.

As described above, in the document filing system to which the conventional information retrieval apparatus is applied, a set of records satisfying the retrieval formula input by the user is required.

[0008]

As described above, in the conventional information retrieval apparatus, a Boolean operator is adopted as an operator forming a retrieval expression because it is easy to develop into a logical operation. There is.

However, since the Boolean operator is only for accurately expressing the relationship between sets, it is difficult to intuitively express an ambiguous condition when a person searches for document information. For example, when it is desired to search for document information including three of a plurality of keywords (a, b, c, d, e), this condition is set as a Boolean operator (logical product operator AND and logical sum operator OR). If it is attempted to represent by using, the search formula becomes very complicated as shown in FIG.

As described above, in order to use the conventional information retrieval apparatus, it is necessary for the user to be familiar with the structure of the database and the retrieval method including the Boolean operation, which imposes a great burden on the user. It was For this reason, it is very difficult for a user who has little knowledge or experience to retrieve the necessary document information, and many users effectively use the information resources in a database such as a document filing system. I couldn't. .

Further, in the conventional information retrieval apparatus, the retrieval process is performed by sequentially retrieving the retrieval formulas. Therefore, when a complicated retrieval formula as shown in FIG. It will be long. It is an object of the present invention to provide an information search method and an information search device that can search information according to a search formula corresponding to a condition that a user can intuitively understand and can reduce the search time. And

[0012]

FIG. 1 is a diagram showing the principle of the invention of claim 1. In FIG. The invention of claim 1 is an information retrieval method for retrieving a record registered in a database corresponding to at least one keyword, a designated keyword group including a predetermined logical operator and a plurality of keywords, and a natural number greater than 1. In response to the input of the search expression including the specified number of, it is determined whether or not each record registered in the database corresponds to at least the specified number of keywords in the keyword group. , The logical operation result corresponding to the predetermined logical operator for the corresponding record is set to true, and in the case of a negative determination, the logical operation result corresponding to the predetermined logical operator for the corresponding record is set to false, and all the records are set. When the judgment about is completed, the record for which the truth is obtained as the logical operation result is extracted from the database, and the search result Characterized by and output.

The invention according to claim 1 is a search method using a search expression including a novel logical operator whose logical operation result is true, for a record containing a specified number or more of keywords included in a keyword group. By using this new logical operator, it becomes possible to easily create a search formula that shows conditions that are intuitively easy to grasp. FIG. 2 is a block diagram showing the principle of the information retrieval device according to claim 2 or 3.

According to a second aspect of the present invention, in an information retrieval apparatus for retrieving a record registered in the database 101 corresponding to at least one keyword, a specified keyword group consisting of a predetermined logical operator and a plurality of keywords According to the input of a search expression including a specified number which is a large natural number, a logic that makes a logical operation result corresponding to a predetermined logical operator true for a record corresponding to at least the specified number of keywords in the keyword group. Computing means 111
And extraction means 112 for extracting from the database 101 the record for which the truth is obtained as the result of the logic operation by the logic operation means 111.

According to a second aspect of the present invention, the extraction means 112 operates according to the calculation result by the logical operation means 111 corresponding to the above-mentioned new logical operator, so that a search indicating a condition that can be intuitively grasped is obtained. Records satisfying the conditions can be extracted from the database 101 according to the input of the formula. According to a third aspect of the invention, in the information retrieving apparatus according to the second aspect, the logical operation means 111 is based on a retrieval formula expressed by using a Boolean operator, and the database 10
It is composed only of a Boolean operation means 113 for performing a logical operation for each record registered in 1, and a Boolean operator for realizing a function corresponding to the search expression in response to the input of the search expression including a predetermined logical operator. It is characterized in that it is provided with a conversion means 114 which is converted into a search expression and provided to the processing of the Boolean operation means 113.

According to the third aspect of the invention, the conversion means 114 converts the above-mentioned search expression using the logical operator into a search expression using the Boolean operator, so that it is provided in the conventional information search apparatus. The function of the logical operation means 111 can be realized by using the Boolean operation means 113. FIG.
FIG. 7 is a block diagram of the principle of the information retrieval device according to claims 4 to 6.

According to a fourth aspect of the invention, in the information retrieving apparatus according to the second aspect, the logical operation means 111 stores correspondence information indicating correspondence between each record registered in the database 101 and a keyword. Storage means 121
And a matching means 122 for matching the keyword corresponding to each record with a designated keyword group based on the correspondence information and counting the number of matching keywords, respectively, and the number of matching keywords obtained for each record and designating The logical operation result is determined according to the comparison result with the number, and the extraction means 1
It is characterized in that it is provided with a calculation result determining means 123 to be used for the processing of 12.

According to a fourth aspect of the present invention, the collation means 122 collates the correspondence information storage means 121 with the designated keyword group, and based on the collation result, the operation result determination means 12
3 operates, the function of the logical operation unit 111 can be realized, true can be output as the operation result for the record satisfying the condition, and the result can be provided to the process of the extraction unit 112.

According to a fifth aspect of the invention, in the information retrieving apparatus according to the fourth aspect, the collating means 122 designates as a target record a selecting means 131 for sequentially selecting keywords included in a designated keyword group as target keywords. The correspondence information storage unit 121 is referred to for all the selected records, and the detection unit 132 that detects the candidate record including the keyword of interest and each candidate record detected by the detection unit 132 are included up to that point. Aggregation means 1 that aggregates the number of noted keywords as a determination condition
And a calculation result determining means 123.
Determines the candidate record that satisfies the minimum condition according to the comparison result of the judgment condition and the specified number for each candidate record, outputs true as the logical operation result for the corresponding candidate record, and extracts it. The determination unit 134 provided for the processing of the unit 112 and the candidate record determined by the determination unit 134 are deleted from the target record, and the detection unit 1
It is characterized in that it is provided with a deleting means 135 designated to 32.

According to the fifth aspect of the present invention, the detection unit 132 refers to the correspondence information storage unit 121 for the target keyword selected by the selection unit 131, detects a candidate record from the target record, and detects the candidate record. The determination means 1 is operated by the operation of the counting means 133 according to the input.
According to 34, it is possible to determine whether or not each candidate record satisfies the condition indicated by the search formula at the stage when the processing for each target keyword is completed.

Therefore, the deleting means 135 operates according to the discrimination result by the discriminating means 134, thereby removing the candidate records which have already satisfied the conditions from the target records to reduce the number of target records and to shorten the search time. be able to. According to a sixth aspect of the present invention, in the information search device according to the fifth aspect, the selecting unit 131 is a database
1, the frequency information storage means 136 for storing frequency information indicating the frequency of appearance of each keyword, and the frequency information storage means 136 in response to the input of the designated keyword group are selected, and the attention keyword is selected in the order of appearance frequency of each keyword. And a sequence determining means for determining the sequence to be performed.

According to the invention of claim 6, the frequency information storage means 13
Based on the frequency information stored in 6, the order determining means 13
By operating 7 and 7, the matching order can be determined in consideration of the appearance frequency of the keyword in the database 101, so that more candidate records can be removed from the target record at an early stage, and the search time can be reduced. It can be further shortened.

[0023]

Embodiments of the present invention will be described below in detail with reference to the drawings. FIG. 4 is a configuration diagram of a document filing system to which the information search device of the present invention is applied. In FIG. 4, the information search device 210 is shown in FIG.
A discrimination processing unit 211 and a selection calculation processing unit 212 are added to the information retrieval device shown in FIG. 3, the discrimination processing unit 211 discriminates a logical operator included in the inputted search formula, and according to the discrimination result, Either the selection calculation processing unit 212 or the conventional search control unit 410 operates.

The logical operation result obtained by the selection operation processing unit 212 is the same as the record information set obtained by the logical operation processing unit 413 provided in the search control unit 410 described above, and the search requesting unit It is sent to 422 and is used for the processing of the database management unit 420. In FIG. 4, the discrimination processing unit 211 discriminates the new logical operator described in claim 1 in response to the input of a predetermined character string, and inputs the search expression formed by using this logical operator as input characters. It is configured to be extracted from the column and used for the processing of the selection calculation processing unit 212.

Here, in the search expression, for example, the new logical operator described above is represented by the character string "OF" as in the following expression (1), and this logical operator (hereinafter referred to as OF operator) is used. The number of matching keywords required is indicated by an integer n immediately before the ()), and the designated keyword group {k1, ... Kn} is indicated by a character string following the OF operator.

N OF {k1, ... Kn} (1) In this case, the discrimination processing unit 211, in response to the detection of the character string “OF”, the number n of matches immediately before that and the designated keyword group. A search expression including {k1, ... Kn} is extracted and subjected to the processing of the selection calculation processing unit 212, while a character string indicating a normal Boolean operator is sent to the interpretation processing unit 411, and It may be subjected to the same interpretation processing.

Further, the selection calculation processing section 212 shown in FIG.
In the above, the record detection unit 213 has the operation control unit 214
In response to the instruction from, the keyword / record (K / R) correspondence table 421 corresponding to the correspondence information storage unit 121 is referred to, a record including the designated keyword is detected,
The record registration unit 215 is configured to request registration of record information regarding a corresponding record and keyword information regarding a matched keyword.

The record registration unit 215 refers to the record list 216 in response to the input of record information, and determines whether or not the corresponding record information is already registered in the record list 216 as a new record. It is configured to perform the process of registering to or the process of updating the existing record information. Further, in FIG. 4, the condition determination unit 217 refers to the above-mentioned record list 216 in response to an instruction from the arithmetic control unit 214,
Based on the registered record information, records satisfying the conditions are extracted, and the extraction result is sent to the search request unit 422.

FIG. 5 is a flow chart showing the information retrieval operation. First, the discrimination processing unit 211 discriminates the logical operator indicated by the input character string (step 301), and when the OF operator is not included (negative determination in step 302).
In the same manner as the conventional method, the search control unit 410 performs a Boolean operation process on each record according to the search formula (step 303), and the search request unit 422 and the database management unit 420 obtain a true logical operation result. The obtained record is extracted from the document information database 430 corresponding to the database 101 (step 30).
4).

On the other hand, when the OF operator is included (affirmative determination in step 302), first, the arithmetic control unit 214
Thus, the keywords included in the designated keyword group are sequentially selected as the attention keywords (step 30).
5) It suffices to instruct the record detection unit 213 to detect the record including the target keyword. In response to this, the record detection unit 213 operates, the records including the target keyword are detected based on the keyword / record correspondence table 421 (step 306), and the information regarding these records is provided to the processing of the record registration unit 215. To be done.

Here, for each detected record, the record detection unit 213 sends to the record registration unit 215, together with the record information indicating the address of the record and the like, as keyword information indicating the matching keyword of the above-mentioned keyword. do it. In response to the input of the record information and the keyword information described above, the record registration unit 215 sequentially collates each record information with the contents of the record list 216 (step 307),
It is determined whether or not the corresponding record information has been registered (step 308).

If the record information corresponding to the record list 216 does not exist, a negative determination is made in step 308, and the record registration unit 215 determines the number of keywords that match this record information and the matched keyword as information about the new candidate record. The condition information including the initial value “1” of is registered in the record list 216 (step 309), and then the process may proceed to step 311.

On the other hand, in the case of affirmative determination at step 308, the record registration unit 215 adds the keyword of interest as the condition information corresponding to the corresponding record information, and increments the number of matching keywords, thereby making the record list. The contents of 216 are updated (step 310), and then the process may proceed to step 311. In this step 311, the record registration unit 215
It is determined whether or not the registration processing or the update processing has been performed for all the received record information, and in the case of a negative determination, the process returns to step 307 described above and the processing for the new record information may be performed.

On the other hand, in the case of affirmative determination in step 311, the arithmetic control unit 214 determines that the processing for the noted keyword has been completed, and the designated keyword has not been designated as the focused keyword. It is determined whether or not there is any (step 312), and in the case of a negative determination, the process returns to step 305 described above, and the process from step 306 to step 312 may be repeated using the next keyword as the keyword of interest.

In this way, according to the instruction from the arithmetic control unit 214, the record detecting unit 213 and the registration processing unit 21.
5 is operated so that the collating means 1 described in claim 4 is executed.
It is possible to realize a function equivalent to that of No. 22 and to use the contents of the record list 216 as the collation result for the processing of the condition determination unit 217. When the above process is repeated for all specified keywords by repeating the above process (affirmative determination in step 312), the condition determining unit 217 described in claim 4 according to the instruction from the arithmetic control unit 214. The record list 21 operates as the calculation result determining unit 123.
The number of matching keywords registered as condition information in 6 is
It suffices to output true as the operation result for the record having the number of matches n or more designated by the search formula (step 31).
3).

As described above, the functions of the logical operation means 111 described in claim 2 are realized by the operation of the respective parts of the selection operation processing part 212, and the operation is performed using the logical operator described in claim 1. For records that satisfy the specified conditions,
Truth can be given as the operation result.

Further, according to the calculation result obtained in step 313, in step 304, the search request unit 422.
By operating the database management unit 420, the function of the extraction unit 112 described in claim 2 is realized, and the corresponding record can be extracted from the document information database 430. As a result, regardless of the knowledge and experience of the user, it is possible to search information using a search formula that is intuitively easy to grasp, so that the information stored in the database can be released to various users, Information sharing can be promoted.

Further, the function of the selection calculation processing section 212 can be realized by utilizing the function of the search control section 410 which has been conventionally provided. FIG. 6 shows a block diagram of a document filing system to which the information retrieval apparatus of claim 3 is applied. In this case, instead of the selection calculation processing section 212 shown in FIG. 6, a search expression conversion section 221 is provided and the information search device 21 is provided.
0, and the search expression conversion unit 221 uses the discrimination processing unit 2
The search expression received from 11 may be converted into a search expression using a Boolean operator and provided for the processing of the search control unit 410.

That is, in FIG. 6, the discrimination processing unit 2
11 and the search expression conversion unit 221 realize the function of the conversion unit 114 described in claim 3, and the search control unit 4
The configuration of 10 realizes the function of the Boolean operation unit 113. In the search formula conversion unit 221 shown in FIG. 6, the combination creation unit 222 specifies a specified keyword group {k1, ... km} according to the input of the search formula in the format shown in the above formula (1). All combinations for selecting arbitrary n keywords from are created, and the subexpression creating unit 223
Is configured to combine the keyword sets obtained by the combination creation unit 222 with a logical product operator to create a subexpression.

Here, by the combination creating section 222,
The number mCn of combinations of keywords for selecting arbitrary n keywords from m keywords is obtained, and the sub-expression creating unit 223 creates sub-expressions for each combination. These subexpressions indicate a condition that the corresponding n keywords are included. Therefore, if the subexpressions described above are combined by the logical sum operator by the combination processing unit 224, a search using the OF operator is performed. A search expression (see FIG. 11) indicating a condition equivalent to the expression can be created using only the Boolean operator.

In this case, the conventional search control unit 410
Can be used as is, for example, by changing the software on the terminal device side that the user directly operates, the determination processing unit 211 and the search formula conversion unit 2 can be changed.
21 is realized on the terminal device side, the database management unit 4
It is not necessary to change the software and hardware on the server side provided with 20, and the existing resources can be effectively used.

However, the retrieval formula obtained by the above-mentioned conversion processing is extremely complicated as shown in FIG. 11, and therefore, compared with the case where the selection calculation processing section 212 shown in FIG. 4 is applied. , The time required for the search process becomes very long. By the way, the selection calculation processing unit 212 described above
If the inventions of claims 5 and 6 are applied to the information search apparatus to which is applied, the time required for the search processing can be shortened.

FIG. 7 shows a block diagram of a document filing system to which the information retrieval apparatus of claims 5 and 6 is applied. In FIG. 7, the selection calculation processing unit 230 is replaced with the calculation control unit 214 shown in FIG.
1, the keyword list 232 and the operation control unit 233 are provided, and the designated keyword group is input to the operation control unit 233 via the rearrangement processing unit 231 and the keyword list 232, and is used for the processing of the record detection unit 213. There is.

In the selection calculation processing section 230, the frequency information holding section 234 is the frequency information storage means 13 of claim 6.
6, the appearance frequency calculated in advance for each keyword based on the information stored in the keyword / record correspondence table 421 is held, and is used for the processing of the sorting processing unit 231 described above. ing. Also,
The selection calculation processing unit 230 shown in FIG. 7 includes a condition judgment unit 235 in place of the condition judgment unit 217 shown in FIG. 4, and performs a judgment process described later according to an instruction from the calculation control unit 233 to make this judgment. The operation of the target operation unit 236 is controlled according to the result, and the contents of the determined record list 237 are operated.

In this case, the information relating to the record detected by the record detecting unit 213 is the collation processing unit 23.
It is sent to the registration processing unit 215 via 8 to be used for registration of candidate records and update processing of information. FIG. 8 is a flowchart showing the information search operation. In this case, instead of step 305 shown in FIG. 5, the rearrangement processing unit 231 rearranges the specified keywords in the order of appearance frequency based on the frequency information holding unit 234, and the keyword list 2
The process of storing in 32 (step 321) is performed, and is provided to the process of the record detection unit 213 via the calculation control unit 233.

In this way, the rearrangement processing section 231 rearranges the designated keywords in accordance with the frequency information stored in the frequency information holding section 234, and sequentially the keyword list 232.
The function of the order determining unit 137 is realized by storing the order in the record list in the. In addition, the calculation control unit 233 sequentially designates the target keyword to the record detection unit 213 in accordance with the keyword list 232, and as a whole, The function of the selection means 131 described in claim 5 is realized.

Next, in step 322, the record detection unit 213 detects a record containing the keyword of interest as a candidate record in the same manner as in step 306 (step 322), and then in step 323, by the collation processing unit 238. , Each of the candidate records obtained in step 322 and the determined record list 237
Is checked against the contents of.

Here, in the case where the processing is advanced by paying attention to the keywords as described above, before the processing for all the keywords is completed, a part of the candidate records is already in the search formula. It is possible that it becomes clear that the specified number of keywords are supported. In this way, for the candidate records that have already satisfied the necessary conditions, the record detection unit 2 for the subsequent keywords
It is not necessary to update the contents of the record list 216 based on the processing result of 13.

Therefore, the candidate record satisfying the condition is detected and is set as the completed record, and the completed record list 23
7, the collation processing unit 238 eliminates the process of counting the number of keywords corresponding to these candidate records if the already-existing records are excluded from the candidate records according to the collation result in step 323 described above. can do.

At this time, when the collation processing unit 238 obtains a collation result indicating that the candidate record does not match any of the determined records (negative determination in step 324).
Proceeds to step 325, and the above-mentioned steps 307-
Similar to step 310, the registration processing unit 215 performs registration processing or condition information update processing for each candidate record, so that the aggregation means 1 described in claim 5 is executed.
It is sufficient to realize the function of 33 and perform the aggregation process for each candidate record.

After the completion of this step 325 and in the case of the affirmative judgment of the above-mentioned step 324, it is judged whether or not the processing for all the candidate records has been completed (step 326), and in the case of a negative judgment, the step 323. Then, the process for the next candidate record is performed. on the other hand,
In the case of a positive determination in step 326, the registration processing unit 21
In response to the notification from 5, the arithmetic control unit 233 causes the number j of processed keywords to be the matching number n of the designated keywords.
It is determined whether or not the above is true (step 327).
It suffices to indicate the determination process for the content of.

In response to this, the condition judging unit 235 first judges a candidate record satisfying the condition based on the condition information of each candidate record stored in the record list 216, similarly to the above-mentioned step 313. , True may be output as the calculation result for the corresponding record (step 325). Next, the condition determination unit 235 sends a candidate record satisfying the condition to the target operation unit 236, and in response to this, the target operation unit 236 stores the received candidate record as a completed record in the completed record list 237 ( Step 329), the matching processing unit 238 described above.
It may be used for the treatment.

As described above, the determination processing unit 235 and the target operation unit 236 operate according to the instruction from the arithmetic control unit 233, and based on the determined record list 237,
The collation processing unit 238 can implement functions equivalent to those of the deleting unit 135 and the detecting unit 132 described in claim 5 by selecting candidate records. As a result, it is possible to exclude the already-established records, which have already become clear to satisfy the conditions, from the processing targets of the registration processing unit 215, and to omit the aggregation process for these already-established records.

After the above step 329 and in the case of a negative determination in step 324, step 31
Go to 2. In this case, candidate records satisfying the minimum condition are sequentially determined as the already-decided records, and the already-executed records can be omitted from the processing for other keywords, so that the entire search is performed. The time required for processing can be shortened.

Particularly, as described above, when the invention of claim 6 is applied and the keywords are rearranged in the order of appearance frequency and provided for the processing of the record detection unit 213, compared with the case where the keyword of interest is randomly determined. Therefore, it is possible to expect that a large number of candidate records that meet the minimum condition will appear at an early stage, and these candidate records can be excluded from the processing targets of the registration processing unit 215 as already-established records. Therefore, as the processing progresses, the registration processing unit 21
The number of candidate records required for the aggregation process by 5 decreased,
Since the time required for the aggregation processing can be reduced, a higher processing time reduction effect can be expected.

[0056]

As described above, according to the present invention, by introducing a new logical operator, information can be obtained by using a search formula that can be intuitively grasped regardless of the knowledge and experience of the user. Since it is possible to search for, it is possible to realize an information search method and an information search device that are easy for various users to use.

As a result, the number of users of the document filing system and the like can be expanded, information can be made into a database, and information can be shared. Claim 3
By applying the invention described above, the hardware and software of the conventional information retrieval apparatus can be used as they are to realize the information retrieval apparatus using the above-described new logical operator.

On the other hand, as described in claim 4, when the new logical operator is provided with the dedicated logical operation means, the time required for the search processing can be shortened. By applying the invention of No. 6, it is possible to achieve higher speed.

[Brief description of the drawings]

FIG. 1 is a diagram showing the principle of the invention of claim 1;

FIG. 2 is a block diagram of the principle of the information search device according to claims 2 and 3;

FIG. 3 is a block diagram showing the principle of the information search device according to claims 4 to 6;

FIG. 4 is a configuration diagram of a document filing system to which the information search device of the present invention is applied.

FIG. 5 is a flowchart showing an information search operation.

FIG. 6 is a configuration diagram of a document filing system to which the information search device of claim 3 is applied.

FIG. 7 is a configuration diagram of a document filing system to which the information search device according to claims 5 and 6 is applied.

FIG. 8 is a flowchart showing an information search operation.

FIG. 9 is a diagram showing a configuration example of a conventional information search device.

FIG. 10 is a diagram showing a configuration example of a keyword / record correspondence table.

FIG. 11 is a diagram showing an example of a search expression.

[Description of Reference Signs] 101 database 111 logical operation means 112 extraction means 113 Boolean operation means 114 conversion means 121 correspondence information storage means 122 collation means 123 operation result determination means 131 selection means 132 detection means 133 aggregation means 134 discrimination means 135 deletion means 136 Appearance frequency calculation means 137 Order determination means 210 Information retrieval device 211 Discrimination processing unit 212, 230 Selection calculation processing unit 213 Record detection unit 214, 233 Calculation control unit 215 Registration processing unit 216 Record list 217, 234 Determination processing unit 221 Search formula conversion Part 222 Combination creation part 223 Partial expression creation part 224 Combination processing part 231 Sorting processing part 232 Keyword list 235 Target list 236 Target operation part 401 Keyboard 402 Display processing part 403 Data Spray 410 search control unit 411 interpreting processing unit 412 extracting unit 413 logic operation unit 420 database management unit 421 keyword record (K / R) correspondence table 422 search request unit 430 the document information database

Claims (6)

[Claims] 1. An information retrieval method for retrieving records registered in a database corresponding to at least one keyword, a designated keyword group comprising a predetermined logical operator and a plurality of keywords, and a natural number greater than 1. According to the input of the search expression including the designated number, for each record registered in the database, it is determined whether or not the record corresponds to at least the designated number of keywords in the keyword group. , The logical operation result corresponding to the predetermined logical operator for the corresponding record is true, and in the case of a negative determination, the logical operation result corresponding to the predetermined logical operator for the corresponding record is false, all When the judgment about the record of is completed, the record for which the truth is obtained as the logical operation result is obtained from the database. An information retrieval method characterized by extracting and outputting as a retrieval result. 2. An information retrieval device for retrieving records registered in a database corresponding to at least one keyword, a designated keyword group including a predetermined logical operator and a plurality of keywords, and a designated number which is a natural number larger than 1. In response to the input of the search expression including and, for records corresponding to at least the specified number of keywords in the keyword group,
A logical operation unit that makes a logical operation result corresponding to the predetermined logical operator true; and an extraction unit that extracts a record for which a logical operation result by the logical operation unit is true from the database. Characteristic information retrieval device. 3. The information search device according to claim 2, wherein the logical operation means performs a logical operation for each record registered in the database based on a search expression expressed using a Boolean operator. In response to the input of the arithmetic operation means and the search expression including a predetermined logical operator, it is converted into a search expression consisting of only Boolean operators that realize the function equivalent to the search expression, and the processing of the Boolean operation means is performed. An information retrieving apparatus, characterized in that the information retrieving means is provided with a conversion means to be provided. 4. The information retrieval device according to claim 2, wherein the logical operation means stores correspondence information indicating correspondence between each record registered in the database and a keyword, and the correspondence information. Matching means for matching the keyword corresponding to each record with a specified keyword group based on the above, and counting the number of matching keywords, respectively, and the comparison result between the number of matching keywords obtained for each record and the specified number. An information retrieval device, comprising: an operation result determining means for determining a logical operation result according to the above and providing the processing of the extracting means. 5. The information retrieving apparatus according to claim 4, wherein the collating unit selects the keywords included in the designated keyword group as the keyword of interest in sequence, and all the records designated as the target records. With reference to the correspondence information storage unit, a detection unit that detects a candidate record that includes the target keyword, and for each candidate record that is detected by the detection unit, determine the number of target keywords that have been included so far The calculation result determining means determines a candidate record satisfying the minimum condition according to the comparison result between the determination condition and the specified number for each candidate record. Then, a determination unit that outputs true as a logical operation result for the corresponding candidate record and that is used in the process of the extraction unit, Serial candidate records determined by the determining means to remove from the target record, the information retrieval apparatus which is a configuration that includes a deletion means for specifying to said detecting means. 6. The information retrieval device according to claim 5, wherein the selection means stores frequency information indicating frequency of appearance of each keyword in the database, and the selected keyword group in response to input of the designated keyword group. An information retrieving apparatus, comprising: an order determining unit that refers to the frequency information storage unit and determines the order of selecting a keyword of interest in the order of appearance frequency of each keyword.