JP2001306602A - Method and server for providing information and recording medium - Google Patents

Abstract

PROBLEM TO BE SOLVED: To provide a method and a server for providing information which enable retrieval based upon a keyword of another language by using a key word of one language when information provided on a network is retrieved. SOLUTION: The 1st language keyword which is inputted at a client terminal 3 is received through the network 2 (step 9) and the 2nd language keyword corresponding to the received 1st language keyword is obtained (step 10) by referring to a dictionary database 173 in which the keyword of the 1st language and the key word of the 2nd language are related to each other and stored; and the client terminal 3 is requested to retrieve information from a specific retrieval server 4 according to the obtained keyword of the 2nd language (steps 12 and 13).

Description

DETAILED DESCRIPTION OF THE INVENTION

[0001]

BACKGROUND OF THE INVENTION 1. Field of the Invention The present invention relates to an information providing server connected to a network typified by the Internet, and is used particularly when searching for information on a network based on a keyword input at a client terminal. It relates to an information providing server. The present invention also relates to an information providing method using such an information providing server and a computer-readable recording medium for implementing the information providing method.

[0002]

2. Description of the Related Art In recent years, the Internet has rapidly spread, and a vast amount of information is provided across national borders. A user of the Internet needs to find appropriate information from such a huge number of information. However, a search server called a search engine can easily find a desired Web site.

[0003] Such a search server generally has a Web site database in which keywords included in information provided at each Web site on the Internet are extracted and aggregated. When an Internet user inputs a desired keyword via a browser or the like and transmits the keyword to a search server,
The Web site database is searched based on the input keyword, and the search result is provided to the user. The user can access a Web site providing desired information based on the search result.

[0004]

However, when the above-described search by the search server is performed based on a foreign language keyword, the user himself translates the keyword into the foreign language, and makes a request based on the translated keyword. Must be performed on the search server. Such work is
In particular, it becomes very complicated for users who are not good at foreign languages.

SUMMARY OF THE INVENTION The present invention has been made in view of the above-mentioned problems of the prior art. When searching for information provided on a network, a search based on a keyword in one language based on a keyword in another language is performed. An object of the present invention is to provide an information providing method and an information providing server which enable the following. It is another object of the present invention to provide a computer-readable recording medium for implementing such an information providing method.

[0006]

In order to solve such a problem in the prior art, according to the present invention, a first language keyword input at a client terminal is received via a network. Then, referring to the dictionary database storing the keywords of the first language and the keywords of the second language corresponding to the keywords, the second database corresponding to the received keyword of the first language is referred to.
Get the language keyword and send it to the client terminal,
It is characterized in that a predetermined search server is requested to perform an information search based on the acquired second language keyword.

Thus, the user only needs to input the keyword in the first language, and the second keyword corresponding to the keyword is input.
Searches can be easily performed based on language keywords. Therefore, there is no need for the user to translate the first language keyword into the second language keyword.

According to a second aspect of the present invention, when there are a plurality of keywords in the second language acquired from the dictionary database, the client terminal determines which keyword should be used to make the information search request. It is characterized by making it select. This makes it possible to select an appropriate keyword in the second language even when there are a plurality of keywords in the second language with respect to the keyword in the first language.

Further, the present invention according to claim 3 is characterized in that the client terminal selects a search server requesting the information search. Thereby, the range of selection of the search server by the user is expanded.

[0010] The present invention according to claim 4 is characterized in that the second language is composed of a plurality of languages.

[0011] The invention according to claims 5 to 8 is an information providing server corresponding to the information providing method according to any one of claims 1 to 4, respectively. An input keyword receiving unit for receiving a first language keyword input at a client terminal via a network, a first language keyword and a second language keyword corresponding to the keyword. A corresponding keyword acquiring unit for acquiring a keyword in the second language corresponding to the keyword in the first language received by the keyword receiving unit by referring to the dictionary database; A network address creating unit for creating a network address obtained by adding a second language keyword acquired by the corresponding keyword acquiring unit to a network address corresponding to the server; and a network address created by the network address creating unit to the client terminal. Send and on The client terminal, the acquired by the corresponding keyword acquisition section 2
A client control unit for requesting the search server to perform an information search based on a keyword of a language.

According to a sixth aspect of the present invention, when there are a plurality of keywords in the second language acquired from the dictionary database, the client terminal determines which keyword should be used to make the information search request. A code generating unit for generating a code for selection and transmitting the code to the client terminal; and a selected keyword receiving unit for receiving a keyword of the second language selected at the client terminal via a network, The network address creation unit adds the second language keyword received by the selected keyword reception unit.

[0013] Further, according to the present invention, a code generation unit for generating a code for allowing a client terminal to select a search server for making the information search request, and transmitting the code to the client terminal, A search server receiving unit that receives a search server selected by the client terminal via a network, wherein the network address creation unit stores a second network address corresponding to the search server received by the search server reception unit, It is characterized by adding a language keyword.

The present invention according to claim 8 is characterized in that the second language is composed of a plurality of languages.

[0015] The invention according to claims 9 to 12 is a computer-readable recording medium corresponding to the information providing server according to claims 5 to 8, respectively. According to a ninth aspect of the present invention, a step of receiving a first language keyword input at a client terminal via a network, associating the first language keyword with a second language keyword corresponding to the keyword. Acquiring a second language keyword corresponding to the received first language keyword with reference to the stored dictionary database, and storing the acquired second language keyword in a network address corresponding to a predetermined search server. Creating a network address to which a keyword has been added; transmitting the created network address to the client terminal; and performing an information search on the search server based on the acquired second language keyword to the client terminal. A program that causes a computer to perform the steps A computer-readable recording medium recording the ram.

According to a tenth aspect of the present invention, when there are a plurality of keywords in the second language acquired from the dictionary database, the client terminal determines which keyword should be used for the information search request. Generating a code for selection, transmitting the code to the client terminal, and receiving a keyword of the second language selected at the client terminal via a network, generating the network address And adding the received keyword in the second language.

Further, according to the present invention, there is provided the client terminal, wherein a code for causing the client terminal to select a search server requesting the information search is transmitted, and the code is transmitted to the client terminal. Receiving the search server selected by the terminal via a network, and, in the step of creating the network address, adding a keyword in a second language to the network address corresponding to the received search server. It is characterized by.

Further, the invention according to claim 12 is characterized in that the second language is composed of a plurality of languages.

[0019]

DESCRIPTION OF THE PREFERRED EMBODIMENTS An embodiment of an information providing system using an information providing server according to the present invention will be described below in detail with reference to the drawings. In the present embodiment, an information providing server using the Internet will be described. However, the present invention can be applied to not only the Internet but also various types of networks.

FIG. 1 is a diagram showing an outline of a network configuration of an information providing system according to the present embodiment. As shown in FIG. 1, an information providing server 1 according to the present invention is connected to the Internet 2 via a communication device 11 such as a router,
A client terminal 3 used by a person who receives information (hereinafter, referred to as a user) can connect to the Internet 2 via a communication device 31 such as a modem, a TA, or a router. Similarly, a search server 4 that can search for a Web site on the Internet 2 is connected to the Internet 2 via a communication device 41 such as a router.

The information providing server 1 and the search server 4 are We
It has a function as a server b, and the user can receive information by accessing the information providing server 1 or the Web site of the search server 4 using the client terminal 3. Communication between the client terminal 3 and the information providing server 1 and communication between the client terminal 3 and the search server 4 are generally performed by the HTTP protocol. However, the present invention is not limited to this, and other protocols may be used. it can.

FIG. 2 is a diagram showing an embodiment of a hardware configuration of the information providing server 1 according to FIG. 1, and FIG. 3 is a diagram showing a functional configuration of the information providing server 1 according to FIG. The information providing server 1 includes a general network server computer, a personal computer, and the like, and as shown in FIG. 2, a central processing unit (CPU) 1
2, an input device 13 such as a keyboard and a mouse, a display device 14 such as a display, a ROM 15 as a storage device,
AM16, hard disk 17, communication interface 1
8 is provided. The connection to the Internet 2 and the transmission and reception of data to and from the client terminal 3 are performed by the communication interface 18. Since the information providing server 1 according to the present invention only needs to have a function of connecting to the Internet 2 and communicating with the client terminal 3, for example, the input device 13 and the display device 14 are not essential elements.

A storage device such as the hard disk 17 of the information providing server 1 stores a computer program code for giving instructions to the CPU 12 and the like in cooperation with an OS (Operating System) and performing predetermined processing. This computer program is executed by being loaded into the RAM 16, and performs processing in cooperation with the CPU 12. The computer program includes a program for functioning as a Web server, whereby the information providing server 1 functions as a Web server.
The computer program includes a program 17 started in response to a request from the client terminal 3.
1. For example, a CGI (Common Gateway Interface) program is included, and when this program 171 is executed, the argument acquisition unit 50, the corresponding keyword acquisition unit 51, the search server acquisition unit 52, and the HTML generation shown in FIG. A unit 53 and a URL creation unit 54 (these functions will be described later) are realized.

Further, as shown in FIG. 2, the hard disk 17 of the information providing server 1 has an HTML (Hyper Text Markup) describing information to be provided to the client terminal 3.
Language) file 172 is stored, and these HTML files 172 are returned to the client terminal 3 in response to a request from the client terminal 3.

Further, the hard disk 17 of the information providing server 1 stores a dictionary database 173 and a search server list 174. Dictionary database 173
Is a word in which a word in one language is stored in association with a word in another language corresponding to this word. An example of the structure of the dictionary database 173 is shown in FIG.
Shown in FIG. 4 shows an example of a so-called Japanese-English dictionary.
A Japanese word is stored in association with a corresponding English word. The structure of the dictionary database 173 is not limited to the illustrated one, and various types of dictionary databases that have been widely used in the past can be used. The search server list 174 stores information about the search server 4, for example, a list of the name of the search server 4 and a network address (that is, a URL: Uniform Resource Locator). The client terminal 3 can make a search request to the search servers 4 listed in 174.

On the other hand, the client terminal 3 used by the user is constituted by a general personal computer, a portable terminal, or the like. Like the above-mentioned information providing server 1, a central processing unit (CPU), an input The apparatus includes a device, a display device, a storage device, and a communication interface (all not shown). Also, similar to the information providing server 1,
The storage device of the client terminal 3 stores computer program codes for giving instructions to the CPU and the like and performing predetermined processing. The computer program includes a program for browsing a Web site (for example, a browser or the like), and a user accesses the Web site via the program such as the browser and obtains information on the Web site. Can be provided.

Further, the search server 4 includes the information providing server 1
As well as a general network server computer,
A central processing unit (CPU), input devices such as a keyboard and a mouse, display devices such as a display, and R as a storage device.
It has an OM, a RAM, a hard disk, and a communication interface (all not shown). This search server 4
Like the information providing server 1, the storage device stores codes of computer programs for giving instructions to a CPU or the like and performing predetermined processing.

The storage device of the search server 4 stores a Web site database 42 in which keywords included in information provided at each Web site on the Internet 2 are extracted and integrated. Here, the computer programs stored in the storage device of the search server 4 include programs for functioning as a Web server and the Web site database 42.
Is included, and when a user accesses the search server 4 by specifying a search keyword, the program is executed. Then, a search based on the search keyword requested from the client terminal 3 is performed, and information on a Web site including the search keyword is stored in the client terminal 3.
Will be replied to.

A procedure for searching a Web site using the information providing server 1 according to the present invention will be described below. 5 and 6 are flowcharts showing this procedure. In the present embodiment, when a Japanese-English dictionary as shown in FIG. 4 is used as the dictionary database 173 of the information providing server 1, that is, the first language is Japanese and the second language is Japanese.
The case where the language is English will be described as an example, but the present invention can be applied to any language by changing the contents of the dictionary database 173 to another language.

First, the user operates the client terminal 3 to access a Web site of the information providing server 1 via, for example, a Web browser (step 1). Access to the Web site of the information providing server 1 is performed by designating a specific network address (URL) associated with the information providing server 1, and the browser of the client terminal 3 transmits the HTML corresponding to the URL.
A request to acquire the file 172 is transmitted to the information providing server 1 (step 2). The information providing server 1 that has received this acquisition request uses the function of the Web server to execute the UR.
The HTML file 172 corresponding to L is returned to the client terminal 3 (step 3).

The browser of the client terminal 3 receives the HTML file 172 returned from the information providing server 1 (step 4), and the browser window on the display displays information according to the HTML file (step 4). 5). In the present embodiment, We shown in FIG.
The page b1 is displayed. As shown in FIG.
The eb page P1 includes a field F11 for inputting a search keyword, a button B11 for transmitting the keyword input in the field F11 to the information providing server 1, and a button B12 for clearing the keyword input in the field F11. In.

The user inputs a desired search keyword into the above field using an input device such as a keyboard of the client terminal 3 (step 6). In FIG.
The case where "clock" is input as a search keyword is shown. Here, the button B11 of the Web page P1 includes
The program of the information providing server 1, that is, the above-described CGI
The URL corresponding to the program 171 is associated, and when the user clicks the button B11, the URL
A request to activate the CGI program 171 corresponding to L is transmitted to the information providing server 1 (step 7). In addition,
The search keyword input in the field F11 is transmitted to the information providing server 1 as an argument together with the start request of the CGI program 171.

The information providing server 1 receives the request, and upon receiving the request, activates a CGI program 171 for performing the following processing (steps 9 to 13) (step 8). First, the search keyword “clock” (in Japanese) transmitted from the client terminal 3 as an argument is acquired by the argument acquisition unit 50 of the information providing server 1 (step 9). In the RAM 16. As described above, the argument obtaining unit 50 of the information providing server 1
Functions as an input keyword receiving unit that receives the Japanese search keyword input in.

Next, the corresponding keyword acquiring unit 51 of the information providing server 1 transmits the dictionary database 17 shown in FIG.
3, the English word corresponding to the search keyword "clock" stored in the RAM (that is, the English search keyword)
(Step 10). In the example above,
"Clock" and "watch" as English words corresponding to "clock"
Is obtained. The list of English search keywords acquired in this manner is stored in the RAM 16 of the information providing server 1. In addition, with reference to the dictionary database 173,
As a method for searching for and acquiring a related word from one word, various methods conventionally used can be used, and thus the description thereof is omitted here.

Then, the search server acquisition unit 52 of the information providing server 1 retrieves the search server list 1 stored in the storage device.
With reference to 74, information on the search server 4 to be used, in particular, a list of the search server 4 and its URL are acquired (step 11). The list of the name and URL of the search server 4 is stored in the RAM 16 of the information providing server 1. In addition,
In the present embodiment, the search server list 174 includes
The information of the search server corresponding to English which is the second language is stored.

Next, the HTML generation unit 53 of the information providing server 1 uses the Japanese search keywords (“clock”) and the English search keywords (“clock”, “w”) held in the RAM.
atch ”), based on a list of names of the search servers 4 and the like,
An ML code is generated (step 12), and the HTML code is returned to the client terminal 3 (step 13).

The browser of the client terminal 3 receives the HTML code returned from the information providing server 1 (step 14), and the browser window on the display displays information according to the HTML code (step 15). ). In the present embodiment, a Web page P2 shown in FIG. 8 is displayed. As shown in FIG. 8, this Web page P2 includes, in addition to the Japanese search keywords, a list C21 of the above-described English search keywords and a list C22 of the names of the search servers 4, and these search keywords List C21 and list C22 of names of search servers 4
Are displayed to be selectable.

The user can select an English search keyword to be searched as a search keyword from the search keyword list C21 on the Web page P2. Further, a server requesting a search based on such a search keyword can be selected from a list C22 of names of the search servers 4. That is, the user inputs the most appropriate search keyword from the list C21 of English search keywords displayed on the Web page P2 and the search server 4 to be searched from the list C22 of the search servers 4 by using an input device such as a mouse. (Step 1)
6). As described above, when performing a search based on an English word keyword, the user only has to select the English search keyword, and the user himself does not need to translate the Japanese search keyword into the English keyword.

Here, the button B21 of the Web page P2
Is associated with a URL corresponding to the CGI program 171 of the information providing server 1, and when the user selects the search keyword and the search server 4 and clicks the button B21, the CGI program 171 corresponding to the URL is displayed. Is transmitted to the information providing server 1 (step 17). Note that this CGI program 17
Along with the start request, the search keyword selected in C21 and the search server 4 selected in C22 are transmitted to the information providing server 1 as arguments.

The information providing server 1 receives the request, and upon receiving the request, activates a CGI program 171 for performing the following processing (steps 19 to 21) (step 18). First, the search keyword and the search server 4 transmitted as arguments from the client terminal 3 are obtained by the argument obtaining unit 50 of the information providing server 1 (step 19). The acquired search keyword and search server 4 are held in the RAM of the information providing server 1. As described above, the argument obtaining unit 50 of the information providing server 1 functions as a selected keyword receiving unit that receives the search keyword selected in the client terminal 3 and a search server receiving unit that receives the selected search server.

Next, the URL creating unit 5 of the information providing server 1
4 creates a URL for requesting the search server 4 selected on the web page P2 to perform a search based on the search keyword selected on the web page P2 (step 20). That is, generally, a search request to the search server 4 is made by requesting the search server 4 for a URL in which a formatted search keyword is added as an argument to the URL of the search server 4. Therefore, the URL creating unit 54 of the information providing server 1 corrects the search keyword acquired by the argument acquiring unit 50 into a predetermined format, and converts the corrected keyword into the URL of the search server 4 acquired by the argument acquiring unit 50. To the argument
A URL that can request a search to the search server 4 is created.

Then, the HTML generation unit 53 of the information providing server 1 generates an HTML code including the URL generated by the URL generation unit 54, and the generated HTML code is transmitted to the client terminal 3 (step). 21). The HTML code is generated so that the client terminal 3 makes a request to the search server 4 based on the URL created by the URL creating unit 54. For example, as an HTML code, the META tag “HTTP-EQUIV = R
A request can be made to the search server 4 using “fresh” or “Location”. Thus, the HTML generation unit 53 of the information providing server 1
Functions as a client control unit that requests the search server 4 to perform an information search based on an English search keyword.

The browser of the client terminal 3 receives the HTML code returned from the information providing server 1 (step 22). Then, the operation of the HTML code, that is, “HTTP-EQUIV = Refresh” or “Locati
On ”, the URL creating unit 5 of the information providing server 1
A request is made to the search server 4 based on the URL created by the search server 4 (step 23). In other words, a search request is made to the search server 4 selected on the Web page P2 based on the English search keyword selected on the Web page P2 described above. Upon receiving such a request, the search server 4 searches for information based on the search keyword, and returns the search result to the client terminal 3. Then, the search result is displayed in the browser window of the client terminal 3, and the user can perform a search based on the search keyword selected on the Web page P2.

Although one embodiment of the present invention has been described above, the present invention is not limited to the above-described embodiment, and may be embodied in various forms within the scope of the technical idea. In the present embodiment, the second language is English only. However, it is also possible to simultaneously search a plurality of languages by using a multilingual dictionary as a dictionary database. In the present embodiment,
Although the processing is performed using the CGI program of the information providing server, the present invention is not limited to this, and various programs can be used. For example, Java Script or ActiveX (Micr
A technique such as osoft's trademark) may be used. Further, in the present embodiment, the information providing server 1
Although the server is described as being a server, the server is not limited to this, and any server that can communicate with the client terminal 3 may be used. In addition, each We shown
The contents and configuration of the b pages P1 and P2 are also examples, and are not limited to those described above.

[0045]

As described above, according to the present invention, a keyword in a first language input at a client terminal is received via a network, and a keyword in a first language and a keyword in a second language corresponding to the keyword are received. A keyword in a second language corresponding to the received keyword in the first language is acquired with reference to the dictionary database stored in association with the keyword, and a predetermined search is performed in the client terminal based on the acquired keyword in the second language. By requesting the server to perform an information search, the user can easily perform a search based on a keyword in the second language corresponding to the keyword only by inputting the keyword in the first language. Therefore, there is no need for the user to translate the first language keyword into the second language keyword.

[Brief description of the drawings]

FIG. 1 is a diagram schematically illustrating a network configuration of an information providing system according to an embodiment of the present invention.

FIG. 2 is a diagram showing one embodiment of a hardware configuration of an information providing server according to FIG. 1;

FIG. 3 is a diagram showing a functional configuration of an information providing server according to FIG. 1;

FIG. 4 is a diagram illustrating an example of the structure of a dictionary database according to an embodiment of the present invention.

FIG. 5 is a flowchart illustrating a Web site search procedure according to an embodiment of the present invention.

FIG. 6 is a flowchart illustrating a Web site search procedure according to an embodiment of the present invention.

FIG. 7 is a diagram illustrating an example of a Web page displayed in a browser window or the like of a client terminal according to an embodiment of the present invention.

FIG. 8 is a diagram illustrating an example of a Web page displayed in a browser window or the like of a client terminal according to an embodiment of the present invention.

[Explanation of symbols]

Reference Signs List 1 information providing server 11 communication device 12 CPU 13 input device 14 display device 15 ROM 16 RAM 17 hard disk 171 CGI program 172 HTML file 173 dictionary database 174 search server list 18 communication interface 2 Internet 3 client terminal 31 communication device 4 search server 41 Communication device 42 Web site database 50 Argument acquisition unit (input keyword reception unit, selected keyword reception unit, search server reception unit) 51 Corresponding keyword acquisition unit 52 search server acquisition unit 53 HTML generation unit (client control unit) 54 URL creation unit

Claims (12)

[Claims] 1. A first language keyword input at a client terminal is received via a network, and a dictionary database storing a first language keyword and a second language keyword corresponding to the keyword is stored. Then, a keyword in a second language corresponding to the received keyword in the first language is obtained, and a request for an information search to a predetermined search server is made to the client terminal based on the obtained keyword in the second language. An information providing method, characterized in that: 2. The method according to claim 1, wherein when there are a plurality of keywords in the second language acquired from the dictionary database, the client terminal is caused to select which keyword is used to make the information search request.
Information provision method described in. 3. The information providing method according to claim 1, wherein the client terminal selects a search server requesting the information search. 4. The information providing method according to claim 1, wherein the second language is composed of a plurality of languages. 5. An input keyword receiving unit that receives a first language keyword input at a client terminal via a network, and stores a first language keyword and a second language keyword corresponding to the keyword in association with each other. A second dictionary corresponding to the keyword in the first language received by the keyword receiving unit with reference to the dictionary database
A corresponding keyword acquiring unit for acquiring a language keyword, and a network address corresponding to a predetermined search server,
A network address creation unit for creating a network address to which the keyword of the second language acquired by the corresponding keyword acquisition unit is added; and a network address created by the network address creation unit transmitted to the client terminal; An information providing server comprising: a client control unit that requests the search server to perform an information search based on a keyword in a second language acquired by the corresponding keyword acquisition unit. 6. When there are a plurality of keywords of the second language acquired from the dictionary database, a code is created for allowing the client terminal to select which keyword is used to make the information search request, and A code generating unit for transmitting a code to the client terminal; and a selected keyword receiving unit for receiving a keyword of the second language selected in the client terminal via a network, wherein the network address generating unit receives the selected keyword. 6. The information providing server according to claim 5, wherein the keyword of the second language received by the unit is added. 7. A code generation unit that generates a code for causing a client terminal to select a search server that makes a request for the information search, and transmits a code to the client terminal; and a search server selected by the client terminal. A search server receiving unit for receiving via a network, wherein the network address creation unit adds a keyword in a second language to a network address corresponding to the search server received by the search server reception unit. The information providing server according to claim 5, wherein 8. The information providing server according to claim 5, wherein the second language is composed of a plurality of languages. 9. A step of receiving a keyword in a first language input at a client terminal via a network, a dictionary database storing a keyword in a first language and a keyword in a second language corresponding to the keyword in association with each other. Acquiring a keyword in a second language corresponding to the received keyword in the first language with reference to a network address corresponding to a predetermined search server;
Creating a network address to which the acquired keyword of the second language is added; transmitting the created network address to the client terminal; and performing a search on the client terminal based on the acquired keyword of the second language. A computer-readable recording medium that records a program that causes a computer to execute a step of requesting a server to search for information. 10. When there are a plurality of keywords of the second language acquired from the dictionary database, a code is created for causing the client terminal to select which keyword is used to make the information search request,
Transmitting the code to the client terminal; and receiving a keyword of the second language selected at the client terminal via a network, wherein, in the step of creating the network address, The computer-readable recording medium according to claim 8, wherein a language keyword is added. 11. A step of creating a code for causing a client terminal to select a search server that makes a request for the information search, and returning the code to the client terminal. 9. The method according to claim 8, further comprising the step of: receiving, via a network, generating the network address, wherein a keyword in a second language is added to the network address corresponding to the received search server. Computer readable recording medium. 12. The computer-readable recording medium according to claim 9, wherein the second language is composed of a plurality of languages.