JP2003316708A - Retrieved condition specifying system in user retrieval, user retrieval method, user retrieval program, and recording medium for the program - Google Patents

Abstract

<P>PROBLEM TO BE SOLVED: To make receiving of an unnecessarily retrieved enormous amount of messages preventable by allowing the retrieved side to specify retrieval condition beforehand in a communication system, such as IM (instant messenger). <P>SOLUTION: A person to be retrieved inputs a retrieval condition for specifying a condition of a retrieving person by a retrieving person condition specifying means 11 and a system specifying means 12, a retrieval condition for specifying a condition that the retrieving person selects and inputs by a retrieving person input condition specifying means 13, and a retrieval condition for specifying beforehand a retrieved category by a retrieval condition specifying means 14 for each category. These retrieval conditions are registered in a server 3. The server 3 searches the retrieval conditions registered beforehand by a condition verification means 34 upon a retrieval request from the retrieving person, and determines whether the retrieved person is to be included in the retrieval result. <P>COPYRIGHT: (C)2004,JPO

Description

Detailed Description of the Invention

[0001]

BACKGROUND OF THE INVENTION 1. Field of the Invention The present invention relates to a message exchange type communication system such as IM (Instant Message) and the like. The present invention relates to a person search method, a user search program, and a recording medium of the program.

[0002]

2. Description of the Related Art In recent years, IM (Instant Message)
There is a user search system that searches for unknown users (users) on the network, such as a bulletin board and a bulletin board, and asks them to communicate with them. This user search system inputs a person's condition (sex, age, hobbies, etc.), searches a server for a user who satisfies the condition, and displays it on the user's terminal.

[0003]

The biggest problem in the user search system as described above is that an efficient system is constructed for the searching side. The point is that we have not built a system.

For example, in a user search system,
It is considered that "sex = female" is often used as a keyword. In such a case, it is assumed that women will be searched very often, and as a result, messages will be sent from a very large number of users one after another. When this happens, women are more likely to stop joining the search system. That is,
If a search system is not built from the position of the person being searched (searchee), the search system itself may not work well.

The present invention solves the above-mentioned problems, and in a system for searching for other users, by enabling the searchee to specify the searcher's condition or the search condition, The purpose is to provide a system that prevents searchers from being searched by users other than their desired users and conditions.

[0006]

In order to solve the above-mentioned problems, this system is characterized by including the following means. (1) The searched side has means for specifying the conditions of the partner to be searched in advance. (2) The searched side has means for specifying the conditions to be selected / input by the person who searches in advance. (3) The side to be searched specifies the genre to be searched in advance, analyzes the conditions and keywords input by the person who is searched, determines which genre the search belongs to, and the search is performed based on the genre. Have a means to decide whether or not. (4) By combining the above (1) to (3), for example, each condition designation is made into a list, and a means for setting a conditional operation (sum, difference, common) between the lists is provided.

That is, according to the present invention, the user himself / herself can specify the conditions of the person searching for the user. As a result, it is possible to freely set conditions such as wanting to be searched only by users who are close to the area or age, and refusing to be searched by men.

[0008] Next, the user himself / herself can specify the conditions to be selected / input by the person who searches for the user. For example, even if the same search is performed, the response to the other person may change depending on whether the other person is searching for sex such as female or searching for friends who can share the same hobbies and worries. Should come. Therefore, we have made it possible to specify that users who do not want to be searched for women, but who are looking for friends who can share the same hobbies and worries may be searched.

[0009] The last searched side can be made mandatory, disallowed, and unquestioned by specifying the genre. For this, the system judges what kind of genre the search belongs to by analyzing the conditions and keywords input by the searching side. For example, when performing a search for baseball, it should belong to the sports genre. The searched side can specify the genre presented by the system in advance, and can reduce unnecessary, unnecessary, and unnecessary searches.

Furthermore, a complicated condition can be set by combining a plurality of the above three elements, or by listing each condition specification and specifying a conditional operation (sum / difference / common) between the lists. It is also possible. By using the conditional operation, for example, you do not want to be searched even if you specify the search condition of the person you want to search or specify the search condition of that person, or you do not want to search among the users who input the search condition to select or input. You can easily specify the person.

By using the present invention, it becomes possible for a user to specify in advance the conditions under which other users will search, and it is possible to search unnecessarily and receive a large amount of unnecessary messages. You can prevent it in advance.

[0012]

BEST MODE FOR CARRYING OUT THE INVENTION Embodiments of the present invention will be described in detail below with reference to the drawings.

FIG. 1 is an explanatory diagram of a search system according to a first embodiment of the present invention, in which a person to be searched can specify conditions of a search partner. In the figure, 1 is a user terminal of the person to be searched, which is the searched side, and 2 is a user terminal on the searching side. Also, 3 is a server equipped with a search engine that provides this service.

The search target person of the utilization terminal 1 can input the conditions of the other party as shown in the figure. For example, in the example of FIG. 1, "sex = no matter, region = Kanto only, age = 20s, hobby =
It doesn't matter. " For the search partner having this condition, "whether to search only from that partner" or "is to search from other than that partner" is specified by the method as shown in the figure. The search target person registers the search target condition specified above from the user terminal 1 in the server 3 as shown in the figure.

When a search is actually performed from the user terminal 2 of the searcher as shown in the figure, the server 3 determines if the search target person matches the search condition of the user who uses the search system. The user's profile and the specified conditions of the search target person are collated as shown in the figure to determine whether or not the search target person may be searched.

In the example of FIG. 1, the searcher profile is
"Gender = Male, Region = Kanagawa, Age = 25, Hobby =
"Karaoke". Therefore, all the conditions of sex, area, age, and hobby specified by the search target person are satisfied. Method specification is "only for users who meet the above conditions"
Therefore, the searched condition is satisfied, and the information of the searched person is notified from the server 3 to the user terminal 2 of the searcher as the search result.

When the search system is a peer-to-peer type, the processing is not performed by the server 3 but is realized by collating the clients. That is, in response to a search request from the user terminal 2 of the searcher, the user terminal 1 on the searched side
By matching the search conditions similar to those of the server 3 described above, it is determined whether or not the search may be performed.

FIG. 2 is an explanatory diagram of a search system according to the second embodiment of the present invention, in which a person to be searched can specify the contents of a search condition input by a search partner.

In the present embodiment, the person to be searched for on the user terminal 1 can specify the contents of the search condition input by the other party as shown in the figure. In this example, “sex = necessary (required), region = anything (anything), age = non-permitted, hobby =
It does not matter (no matter). This means that the other party must specify the gender, and when he / she specifies the age, he / she is not allowed to be searched. The person to be searched must specify the conditions specified above on the server 3 as shown in the figure.
Register with.

As shown in the figure, the search condition is input from the user terminal 2 using the search system, and the server 3
When a search request is issued to the server 3, the server 3 searches for a search target person who matches the search condition of the searcher. As a result, when the search target person of the use terminal 1 is applicable, the input condition of the searcher and the condition specification of the search target person are collated as shown in the figure to determine whether or not the search target person may be searched. .

In the example of FIG. 2, the search condition entered by the searcher is “sex = female, region = anything, age = 20s,
Hobbies = Karaoke ". On the other hand, the search target person condition specified by the search target person of the use terminal 1 is “sex = necessary, area = irrelevant, age = unauthorized, hobby = irrelevant”, and regarding the sex, area, and hobby Satisfies the condition. However, while the age is not allowed, in the search condition input,
Since the age is specified, the search target person condition is not satisfied, and the search target person of the user terminal 1 is excluded from the search results.

When the search system is a peer-to-peer type, it is realized by collating the clients without performing the process in the server 3. That is, in response to a search request from the user terminal 2 of the searcher, the user terminal 1 on the searched side
By matching the search conditions similar to those of the server 3 described above, it is determined whether or not the search may be performed.

FIG. 3 is an explanatory view of a search system according to a third embodiment of the present invention, in which a search target person can specify a search genre.

The search target person of the use terminal 1 can specify the contents of the search condition for each genre as shown in the figure.
In this example, "sport = necessary, play = no matter, politics =
“No permission, gourmet = no matter”. The person to be searched registers the conditions specified above in the server 3 as shown in the figure.

As shown in the figure, the search condition is input from the user terminal 2 using the search system, and the server 3
When a search request is issued to, the content of the search condition is analyzed as shown in the figure and the genre to which it belongs is determined. That is, the server 3 (or terminal)
Word keywords in the search conditions are compared with words in each genre dictionary (not shown) to determine which genre they belong to. The genre dictionary stores in advance information indicating which genre each phrase belongs to. For example, since the hobby is karaoke here, it is determined that the hobby belongs to the play genre. Here, the genre is not limited to one, and may be classified into a plurality of genres based on search contents such as sports and play.

When the person to be searched corresponds to the search condition of the user who uses the search system, the server 3 collates the genre as shown in the figure and determines whether or not the person to be searched may be searched. . In the example of FIG. 3, the search condition input by the searcher is “gender = female, region = anything, age = 20.
Ages, hobbies = karaoke, ... ". On the other hand, the search target condition specified by the search target of the user terminal 1 is “sport = necessary, play = anything, politics = not allowed, gourmet =”
It doesn't matter, "and meets the requirements of play, politics, and gourmet food. However, while it is necessary to enter the search conditions for sports, there is no search condition specified for the genre of sports, so this search condition does not correspond to the search target condition, and the search target of the user terminal 1 Will be excluded from the search results.

When the search system is a peer-to-peer type, the server 3 does not perform the process, but the search is realized by matching the clients. That is, in response to a search request from the user terminal 2 of the searcher, the user terminal 1 on the searched side
By matching the search conditions similar to those of the server 3 described above, it is determined whether or not the search may be performed.

The present system can also be implemented by combining the search functions of the above first to third embodiments. Further, in the above embodiment, the search target person conditions specified by the search target person are made into a list, and conditional operations such as logical product (AND condition), logical sum (OR condition), and negation (NOT condition) are performed between the lists. It is also possible to specify and specify complicated conditions.

FIG. 4 shows an example of specifying a conditional operation. In the example of FIG. 4, the conditional operation of “(A or B) and C ...” Is designated for the individually entered search conditions such as the conditions A, B, C ,. In this case, in order for the user of the usage terminal 1 to be searched, it is necessary to satisfy the condition A or B and the condition C.

FIG. 5 shows a first configuration example of this system. The system shown in FIG. 5 is a message exchange system such as IM (Instant Message), and is a system in which the server 3 provides a communication function including a search function between the user terminals 1 and 2. The use terminals 1 and 2 have the same function, but here, the use terminal 1
Will be described as the terminal of the person to be searched and the terminal 2 used will be described as the terminal of the person to be searched. Communication means 1 for use terminals 1 and 2
0 and 20 are programs for exchanging messages such as instant messages (IM).

When the user of the user terminal 1 is searched, the other party condition designating means 11 of the user terminal 1 sends the designation information such as the condition (gender, age, etc.) of the person who searched for and the word / phrase keyword. This is means for inputting in advance from the user who is the person to be searched.

The method specifying means 12 is the partner condition specifying means 1
For the person who is the person who is the searchee, the specified information "whether to search only the person who meets the condition" and "whether to search other party than the person who meets the condition" for the person who specified the condition 1 It is a means to input from the person.

When the user of the user terminal 1 is searched, the partner input condition designating means 13 searches the user according to the condition item or the phrase keyword selected / input by the partner as the search condition. This is a means for inputting in advance, designated information, which indicates that is required, disallowed, or unquestioned, from the user who is the search target.

The search condition designating means 14 for each genre preliminarily receives designation information which is indispensable, non-permitted or unquestioned to be searched for each genre in advance when the user of the user terminal 1 is searched. This is a means for inputting from a user who is a searcher.

The search condition registration means 15 is a partner condition designating means 11, a method designating means 12, and a partner input condition designating means 1.
This is a means for transmitting the registered search conditions input by the search condition designating means 14 for each genre to the server 3 and registering them.

In the user terminal 2 on the searcher side, the searcher profile storage means 21 is a means for storing attribute information such as sex and age of the user of the user terminal 2. Also,
The search condition input means 22 is means for inputting the conditions of the communication partner. The search request unit 23 is a unit that specifies the searcher profile information and the input search conditions and sends a search request to the server 3.

The search result receiving means 24 is means for receiving a list of corresponding users (searched persons), which is the search result, from the server 3 in response to the search request and displaying the list on the display of the user terminal 2. . The user of the use terminal 2 can exchange messages with the user selected from the displayed user list by the communication means 20.

The search condition receiving means 31 of the server 3 is
It is a means for receiving the search condition transmitted from the utilization terminal 1 and storing it in the database of the search condition management means 32 together with the information of the search target person. The search request receiving unit 33 is a unit that receives a search request from the usage terminal 2. The condition matching unit 34 searches the user information database (not shown) for users who meet the search condition specified by the search request, and also checks whether there is a searched condition managed by the searched condition management unit 32. If the searched user has registered the searched condition, it is a means for checking whether the searcher's profile or search condition matches the searched condition.

If the search condition for each genre is designated as the searched condition, the condition matching means 34 analyzes the search contents of the search condition, and the correspondence information of the genres such as sports, play, and politics and the words belonging to them. The genre dictionary (not shown) in which is stored is referred to, and the search conditions are classified into genres that match the words in the search content. At this time, when the words in the search contents belong to a plurality of genres, they are classified into a combination of a plurality of genres. Condition matching means 3
In step 4, the condition matching with the search condition is performed according to the classified genre.

The search result notifying means 35 is means for returning a list of search target persons who match the search condition and the search target condition as a search result to the user terminal 2 of the search request source.

FIG. 6 is a flow chart regarding the registration processing of the search condition in the user terminal 1. If there is a partner condition designation input as shown in FIG. 1 by selecting a menu or the like (step S1), the process proceeds to step S2. If not, the process proceeds to step S7. In step S2, the input partner condition is stored in the working memory.

Next, "searching only from the other party of the corresponding condition" or "searching from other than the other party of the corresponding condition"
It is determined whether or not there is a method specification input (step S
3) If there is a method designation input, the inputted method information is stored in the working memory (step S4). The default value of the method specification is "Search only from the partner of the applicable conditions".

Then, it is judged whether or not there is a partner input condition designation input as shown in FIG. 2 (step S5),
If there is, the entered partner input condition is stored in the working memory (step S6).

Further, it is determined whether or not there is a search condition designation input for each genre as shown in FIG. 3 (step S
7) If there is, the input search condition for each genre is stored in the work memory (step S8).

With respect to the conditions stored as a list in the working memory, it is judged whether or not there is a conditional operation designation input as described in FIG. 4 (step S9), and if there is, an operation related to the combination of input conditions. The information is stored in the working memory (step S10).

Thereafter, it is judged whether or not the input of the condition is completed (step S11), and if the input is continued,
Returning to step S1, the condition input processing is repeated in the same manner.

If there is an instruction to end the input, the user is asked whether or not to register the searched condition stored in the working memory in the server 3 (step S12). If there is an instruction to register, the search condition is transmitted to the server 3 and registered (step S13). If there is no instruction to register, the process ends.

FIG. 7 is a flowchart of the server 3. It is determined whether or not there is a search condition registration request from the user terminal (step S20). If a search request registration request is issued from the user terminal, the qualification of the user is checked as necessary, and the search condition is registered in the database of the search condition management means 32 (step S2).
1).

Further, it is judged whether or not a search request is received from the utilization terminal (step S22). If there is no search request, the process proceeds to step S30.

When a search request is received from the user terminal,
A search target person who meets the search condition of the search request is searched from the user information database (step S23). Next, it is checked whether or not the retrieved person to be retrieved has registered the retrieval condition (step S24). If there is no search condition, the process proceeds to step S27. Search condition management means 32
If the search condition is registered in, the search condition is collated with the searcher's profile or search request (step S
25), if the search condition is satisfied, step S2
Proceed to 7. If the search condition is not satisfied, step S27 is skipped and the search target person is not included in the search result.

In step S27, the search target person information is stored as a search result. Then, it is determined whether or not the search is completed (step S28). If not, the process returns to step S23 and the search for the next search target person is similarly continued.

When the search is completed, the search result is notified to the user terminal as the search request source (step S29). The above steps S20 to S29 are repeated until the communication communication service is completed (step S30).

FIG. 8 is a flow chart regarding the processing of the search request in the user terminal 2. If there is a request from the user to search for a communication partner by selecting a menu or the like (step S40), the processes from step S41 are executed. In step S41, search conditions are first input. When the search condition is input, the input search condition and the searcher profile are transmitted to the server 3 to make a search request (step S42). When the server 3 manages the searcher profile information in advance, the user terminal 2 does not have to transmit the searcher profile.

When the search result is received from the server 3 (step S43), it is checked whether or not there is a search target person who satisfies the search condition in the search result list (step S43).
44). If there is no applicable search target person, change the search conditions and issue a search request again, or terminate the processing.

If there is a person to be searched, a communication partner is selected from the list (step S
45), the communication means 20 starts communication processing (message exchange processing) with the communication partner of the selected search target person (step S46).

FIG. 9 shows a second configuration example of this system. The system shown in FIG. 6 is an example when the user search system is a peer-to-peer type. In this system,
The search condition and the search condition are collated by communication between the use terminals 1 and 2. For this reason, the user terminal 1 on the side of the person to be searched has a search condition management means 16 in addition to the partner condition designating means 11, the method designating means 12, the partner input condition designating means 13, the search condition designating means 14 for each genre. , Search request receiving means 17, condition matching means 18, search result notifying means 1
Have 9 and.

That is, the utilization terminal 1 manages the retrieval conditions by the retrieval condition management means 16 in its own terminal, instead of registering the retrieval conditions input by the user in the server 3. The processes performed by the search request receiving means 17, the condition matching means 18, and the search result notifying means 19 are the search request receiving means 33 and the condition matching means 34 of the server 3 shown in FIG. 5, respectively.
The processing is the same as the processing performed by the search result notifying unit 35.
However, the search result notifying means 35 does not transmit the list of the search target persons, but transmits the communication availability information.

The processing performed by the user terminals 1 and 2 shown in FIG. 9 is almost the same as the processing described with reference to FIGS. 6 to 8 and can be easily analogized. Therefore, detailed description will be omitted.

Each of the above means can be realized by a computer and a software program, and the program is stored in an appropriate recording medium such as a computer-readable portable medium memory, a semiconductor memory, a hard disk, The computer can execute by reading from there. Further, the program can be downloaded from another computer via a communication line, and can be installed and executed.

[0060]

As described above, according to the present invention,
It becomes possible for the user to specify in advance the conditions under which another user will search. As a result, it is possible to prevent unnecessary searches, and to prevent reception of a large amount of unnecessary messages caused by unnecessary searches in advance.

[Brief description of drawings]

FIG. 1 is an explanatory diagram of a search system according to a first embodiment of the present invention, in which a search target person can specify conditions of a search partner.

FIG. 2 is an explanatory diagram of a search system according to a second embodiment of the present invention in which a person to be searched can specify contents of search conditions input by a search partner.

FIG. 3 is an explanatory diagram of a search system according to a third embodiment of the present invention in which a search target person can specify a genre to be searched.

FIG. 4 is a diagram showing an example of designation of conditional operation.

FIG. 5 is a diagram showing a first configuration example of the present system.

FIG. 6 is a processing flowchart of a user terminal (search target person).

FIG. 7 is a processing flowchart of a server.

FIG. 8 is a processing flowchart of a user terminal (searcher).

FIG. 9 is a diagram showing a second configuration example of the present system.

[Explanation of symbols]

1 use terminal (searchee) 10 Communication means 11 Opponent condition specification means 12 Method designation means 13 Opponent input condition specification means 14 Search conditions specifying means for each genre 15 Search condition registration means 2 terminals (searchers) 20 Communication means 21 Searcher Profile Storage Means 22 Search condition input means 23 Search Request Means 24 Search result receiving means

Claims (10)

[Claims] 1. When a user is searched in a system in which a user terminal of a communication system for allowing users to communicate with each other performs a conditional search for other users and displays a list of applicable users. , Corresponds to the partner condition designating means for inputting from the person to be searched, the information designating the condition of the searched party or the word or keyword of the search condition and the partner of the condition specified by the partner condition designating means. A method specifying means for inputting from the person to be searched for information specifying whether to search only from the other party of the condition or not from the other party of the corresponding condition, A search condition specifying system for user search, characterized in that conditions can be specified. 2. A system in which a user terminal of a communication system for allowing users to communicate with each other performs a condition search for other users and displays a list of applicable users, when the users are searched. , Item of condition selected / input by the other party as search condition,
It is provided with a partner input condition specifying means for inputting from the search target person information specifying whether the user is required to be searched, not allowed, or not requested according to the word or keyword, A system for designating a search condition in a user search, characterized in that a side to be searched can specify conditions to be selected / input by a person who searches beforehand. 3. When a user is searched in a system in which a user terminal of a communication system for allowing users to communicate with each other performs a conditional search for other users and displays a list of the corresponding users. , The search side is equipped with a search condition designating means for each genre to input information designating whether search is required for each genre, whether it is prohibited or not , A search condition specifying system for user search, characterized in that a genre determined by analyzing the contents of a search condition input by a person to be searched can be specified in advance. 4. The partner condition designation according to claim 1, wherein a user terminal of a communication system for communication between users searches other users by condition and displays a list of corresponding users. Means and method designating means, partner input condition designating means according to claim 2, and search condition designating means for each genre according to claim 3 in combination with at least a plurality of designating means. A search condition specifying system for user search, characterized in that conditions can be specified. 5. A user search method in a system in which a user terminal of a communication system for allowing users to communicate with each other performs a conditional search for other users and displays a list of applicable users. In the case of a search, the process of inputting the conditions of the person who searched for or the partner condition information that specifies the word or keyword of the search condition from the search target person, and the partner of the condition specified by the search target person, In response to the process of inputting method information from the search target person that specifies whether to search only from the other party of the corresponding condition or from the other party of the corresponding condition and the search request of the user, And a process of determining whether or not to include the search target person in the search result based on the partner condition information and the method information input from the searcher. User search method. 6. A user search method in a system, wherein a user terminal of a communication system for allowing users to communicate with each other performs a conditional search for other users and displays a list of the corresponding users. When searching, the other party is selected as a search condition.
Depending on the entered condition item, phrase or keyword,
For the process of inputting partner input condition information that specifies whether the user is required to be searched, prohibited, or unquestioned from the searched person, and the search request of the user, And a process of determining whether or not to include the search target person in the search result based on the other party input condition information input from the search target person. 7. A user search method in a system in which a user terminal of a communication system for allowing users to communicate with each other performs a conditional search for other users and displays a list of the corresponding users. In the case of a search, a process of inputting search condition information for each genre, which specifies whether search is required for each genre, whether it is prohibited or not, The process of analyzing the contents of the search condition input by the person and determining one or more genres of the search request, and the search condition information for each genre and the genre of the search request are collated, and the search result is searched. And a process for determining whether or not to include a user. 8. A user search method in a system in which a user terminal of a communication system for allowing users to communicate with each other performs a conditional search for other users and displays a list of corresponding users.
A user search method, characterized in that a user search is performed by combining at least one of the user search method according to claim 6, the user search method according to claim 6, and the user search method according to claim 7. 9. Any one of claims 5 to 8
A user search program for causing a computer to execute the user search method described in the section. 10. A recording medium for a user search program, characterized in that a program for causing a computer to execute the user search method according to claim 5 is recorded.