JP2006048521A - Document retrieval device, its control method, and control program - Google Patents

Abstract

<P>PROBLEM TO BE SOLVED: To provide a document retrieval device excellent in user-friendliness, its control method, and a control program. <P>SOLUTION: The document retrieval device, which has a means for retrieving according to certain document retrieval requirements documents on a document database storing documents, sets folders hierarchically according to user definition and determines the documents to be positioned in the set folders, by searching the document database using a single or a plurality of document retrieval conditions. When the folder hierarchies set are displayed in a way that allows browsing, the name of each of the folders set is displayed as it is automatically set to represent each corresponding document retrieval condition. <P>COPYRIGHT: (C)2006,JPO&NCIPI

Description

  The present invention relates to a document search apparatus for searching for a document on a document database, a control method thereof, and a control program for executing the control method.

  2. Description of the Related Art Document management systems that employ a document management method in which folders are hierarchized on a document database and documents are registered in the folders are generally known. In such a document management system, in order to obtain a desired document from documents registered in a hierarchical folder, search is made with property information such as an index attached to the document, a document name, a creation date, and a size. The method of searching the contents described in the document by full-text search is adopted.

  However, even if a document is actually registered on each folder hierarchy, the hierarchical structure is often not preferred at the stage of operation. Therefore, when trying to reconstruct a folder hierarchy completely new, it is necessary to reconstruct the new folder hierarchy under the document database and manually move or copy all the document files. In the case of 10,000 documents, the work was almost impossible.

  As a technique for solving such a problem, a hierarchical structure of a folder is constructed by a user definition on a database different from a document database that collectively manages document entities (document bodies), and a document on the document database is created from this folder. There has been proposed a document management system in which an entity can be referred to (see Patent Document 1).

  Specifically, in this document management system, a document ID for identifying a document is assigned to each document entity in the document database, and the document entity is referred to by using the document ID from a folder in another database with a pointer. . One document can be referred to using a pointer from any of a plurality of positions on each folder hierarchy, and each folder can store a pointer to any of a plurality of documents. Documents in the document database are automatically classified on the folder hierarchy. In other words, when there is a request for automatic classification by specifying a folder to be automatically classified from the folder hierarchy from the user, the classification rules are sequentially applied to the documents corresponding to the folders to be classified, and the documents comply with the classification rules. A pointer to is created in the destination folder.

In such a document management system, the above-mentioned database having a folder hierarchy constructed by user definition is a virtual database in which documents registered therein are linked to documents on a document database that actually holds document entities. Since there is a typical database, a new folder hierarchy structure can be easily reconstructed. In addition, by holding any plurality of independent folder hierarchical structures in the virtual database, it is possible to cope with cases where a different folder hierarchical structure is required for each department or application.
JP 2000-89991 A

  However, in the document management system of the above-mentioned patent document 1, in the folder hierarchical structure created on the virtual database, folder names corresponding to the actual document contents are automatically set, and the folder hierarchical structure is made available to the operator. There were problems in terms of usability, such as inability to display easily.

  SUMMARY OF THE INVENTION In view of the above-described conventional problems, an object of the present invention is to provide a document search device that is easy to use for an operator, a control method thereof, and a control program.

  In order to achieve the above object, a document search apparatus according to the present invention includes a document database for storing documents, search means for searching for documents on the document database according to an arbitrary document search condition, and folders defined by user definition in a hierarchical manner. Folder setting means for setting the document, document placement means for determining documents to be placed in the set folders by searching the document database using one or a plurality of document search conditions, and the folder setting means Display means for displaying the folder hierarchy set in the above so as to be viewable, and automatically displaying the name of each folder set by the folder setting means so as to represent the corresponding document search condition used by the document placement means. It is characterized by setting to.

  A document search apparatus according to the present invention includes a document database for storing documents, a full-text search unit for searching a document on the document database according to an arbitrary keyword, a folder setting unit for hierarchically setting folders by user definition, Document placement means for determining a document to be placed in each set folder by performing a full text search on the document database using one or more keywords, and a folder hierarchy set by the folder setting means can be viewed Display means for displaying, and the document placement means uses a keyword based on the name of the folder set by the folder setting means, performs a full-text search by the keyword or a phrase based on the keyword, It is characterized in that a document to be placed in a folder is determined.

  The document search apparatus of the present invention includes a document database that stores documents, a full-text search unit that searches a document on the document database according to an arbitrary keyword, a folder setting unit that automatically sets folders hierarchically, and the setting The document placement means for determining the document to be placed in each folder by performing a full-text search on the document database using one or a plurality of keywords, and the folder hierarchy set by the folder setting means can be viewed. Display means for specifying the keyword based on the folder name set by the folder setting means, and performing a full-text search using the keyword or a phrase based on the keyword, It is characterized in that a document to be placed in is determined.

  A control method for a document search apparatus according to the present invention is a control method for a document search apparatus having means for searching a document on a document database storing documents according to an arbitrary document search condition, wherein folders are hierarchically defined by a user definition. A folder setting step for setting, a document placement step for determining documents to be placed in the set folders by searching the document database using one or a plurality of document search conditions, and the folder setting step. A display step for displaying the set folder hierarchy in a viewable manner, and automatically displaying the name of each folder set in the folder setting step so as to represent the corresponding document search condition used in the document placement step. And displaying in the display step.

  A control method for a document search apparatus according to the present invention is a control method for a document search apparatus having means for full-text search of documents on a document database storing documents according to an arbitrary keyword, wherein folders are hierarchically set by user definition Folder setting step, a document placement step for determining a document to be placed in each of the set folders by performing a full text search on the document database using one or more keywords, and a folder setting step. A display step of displaying the folder hierarchy in a viewable manner, wherein the document placement step uses a keyword based on the name of the folder set in the folder setting step, and depends on the keyword or a phrase based on the keyword A full-text search is performed to determine documents to be placed in each folder.

  A control method for a document search apparatus according to the present invention is a control method for a document search apparatus having means for searching a document in a document database for storing a document in accordance with an arbitrary keyword, and automatically sets a folder hierarchically. A setting step; a document placement step for determining a document to be placed in each of the set folders by performing a full-text search on the document database using one or a plurality of keywords; and a folder set in the folder setting step. A display step for displaying the hierarchy in a viewable manner, wherein the document placement step specifies a keyword based on the name of the folder set in the folder setting step, and the whole sentence by the keyword or a phrase based on the keyword A search is performed to determine a document to be placed in each folder.

  A control program of the present invention is a computer-readable control program for executing a control method of a document search apparatus having means for searching a document in a document database storing documents according to an arbitrary document search condition. A folder setting step for hierarchically setting folders by user definition, and a document for determining a document to be placed in each of the set folders by searching the document database using one or a plurality of document search conditions. An arrangement step and a display step for displaying the folder hierarchy set in the folder setting step so as to be viewable, and the names of the folders set in the folder setting step correspond to the respective ones used in the document arrangement step. The display step is automatically set to represent the document search condition. Characterized in that it displays.

  The control program of the present invention is a computer-readable control program for executing a control method of a document search apparatus having means for searching a document on a document database storing documents according to an arbitrary keyword. A folder setting step for hierarchically setting folders by user definition, and a document placement step for determining a document to be placed in each of the set folders by performing a full-text search on the document database using one or a plurality of keywords. And a display step for displaying the folder hierarchy set in the folder setting step in a viewable manner, wherein the document placement step uses a keyword based on the name of the folder set in the folder setting step, and By keyword or phrase based on the keyword Performing text search, and determines the document to be placed in each folder.

  The control program of the present invention is a computer-readable control program for executing a control method of a document search apparatus having means for searching a document on a document database storing documents according to an arbitrary keyword. A folder setting step for automatically setting folders hierarchically; a document placement step for determining a document to be placed in each of the set folders by performing a full-text search on the document database using one or more keywords, A display step for displaying the folder hierarchy set in the folder setting step so as to be viewable, wherein the document placement step specifies a keyword based on the name of the folder set in the folder setting step. Or perform full-text search by words based on the keyword Te, and determining the document to be placed in each folder.

  According to the present invention, the name of each folder can be automatically set to an easy-to-understand name corresponding to the contents of the actual document without setting by the operator. Accordingly, it is possible to easily find a target document from the displayed folder hierarchy without searching, and the usability is improved.

  Further, by determining a document to be placed in each folder using a keyword based on the name of the folder, the operator does not need to set a keyword or the like to determine a document to be placed in the folder. Usability improves.

  Embodiments of a document search apparatus, a control method therefor, and a control program according to the present invention will be described with reference to the drawings.

[First Embodiment]
[Overall configuration and operation]
<Hardware configuration>
FIG. 1 is a diagram showing a hardware configuration of a document search apparatus according to the first embodiment of the present invention.

  The document search apparatus includes a CPU 1, a CD-ROM drive device, a printer 3, a hard disk drive device (HDD) 4, a floppy (registered trademark) disk drive device (FDD) 5, a communication unit 6, a keyboard 7, a pointing device 8, and A display device 9 is provided, and these are connected via a bus 10.

  The CPU 1 performs various controls for executing the processing of this embodiment, and the CD-ROM drive device 2 is used for taking out data from the outside. The printer 3 prints an image or the like displayed on the display device 9, and the hard disk drive device 4 is mainly used as a main storage device. The hard disk drive device 4 stores a processing program executed in this embodiment, an application, and the like. A document database for storing types of document data is provided. The document data may be text data created by an application instead of image data. The floppy (registered trademark) disk drive device 5 is used for taking in data from outside and taking out data from outside.

  The communication unit 6 enables connection with a network or the like in order to exchange data with an external computer or a device on the network. The keyboard 7 accepts an interactive input from the operator, such as an instruction of processing executed in the present embodiment and an input of a character string such as a search condition. A pointing device 8 such as a mouse receives an interactive input from the operator together with the keyboard 7. The display device 9 includes a display card or monitor equipped with a memory for displaying document data, and displays a window for executing the processing of this embodiment and a processing result.

<Document display screen>
Next, a document (document) display screen will be described as a main window display screen displayed on the monitor of the display device 9 shown in FIG.

  FIG. 2 is a diagram showing a window display screen for displaying document data registered in the document database (hard disk device 4 in FIG. 1). In addition, this window display screen is displayed on the monitor of the display apparatus 9, for example.

  In this window display screen, display areas 17, 12, 18, a display area 13, a display area 14, and display areas 22, 23 are arranged in order from the top.

  The display area 17 displays the name of the currently activated application and the displayed document name, and the display area 12 is a window title display area for displaying the title of the window display screen. In the display area 18, a minimize button 18a for iconifying and displaying the window, a maximize button 18b for maximizing and displaying the window 200 on the entire monitor surface, and a button 18c for closing the display of the window 200 are displayed. The

  The display area 13 is a menu display area for displaying various processing functions, and the display area 14 is a tool button obtained by buttoning the same processing functions as the processing functions displayed in the menu display area 13. It is a display area for. By selecting an arbitrary button displayed in the menu display area 13 or the tool button display area 14 using the pointing device 8, the selected processing function can be executed.

  The display area 23 is a document display area for displaying document data as a search result. The display area 22 is an area for displaying a window background portion outside the frame of the document data displayed as a search result.

<Display screen of folder hierarchy>
As a main window display screen displayed on the monitor of the display device 9 shown in FIG. 1, a display screen that displays a hierarchical structure of folders in which document data in the document database is arranged will be described.

  FIG. 3 is a diagram showing a window display screen for displaying the folder hierarchical structure of the document database.

  In the window title 12 of this window display screen, the document management system name is displayed. A display area 215 displays the entire configuration of the document management system. For example, in the example of FIG. 3, a document management database DB1 and a document management database DB2 are displayed. When each database DB1, DB2 is clicked with the mouse 8, the folder immediately below is displayed, and if the following folders are clicked one after another, a lower folder hierarchy is displayed.

  Document information is displayed in the display area 222. In other words, the name of the document data included immediately below the folder selected last in the display area 215 and its general attributes are displayed. The general attribute is, for example, a document size or a creation date as shown in FIG. A user can perform document management corresponding to a folder hierarchy by designating a folder displayed in the display area 215 when a document is taken into a document database.

<Document search processing>
Next, document search processing executed on document data registered in the document database will be described with reference to FIGS. 4, 5, 6, and 7.

  FIG. 4 is a diagram showing a pull-down menu of the tool menu according to the first embodiment, and FIG. 5 is a diagram showing a dialog box for document search according to the first embodiment. FIG. 6 is a view showing a display example of a hit list window according to the present embodiment, and FIG. 7 is a view showing a folder hierarchical structure displayed at the time of folder designation search.

  When performing a document search, the “tool” menu in the menu display area 13 is selected on the window display screen shown in FIG. Then, a pull-down menu as shown in FIG. 4 is displayed. The pull-down menu includes a “document search” menu for searching for documents from attribute information (properties) belonging to document data. When this “document search” menu is selected, a dialog box for document search as shown in FIG. 5 is displayed.

  An operator who performs document search sets an index, which will be described in detail later, in the input box 31 so as to meet the conditions of the document to be searched. If the arrow button is clicked with the mouse 8, the already registered index is displayed in the input box 31 and can be selected with the mouse 8.

  In the input box 33, the type or value of the index is entered. In the logical expression box 32, it is possible to select a match (=) or a magnitude (>, <) as a document search condition. Needless to say, if there is only a match, the operator cannot set the logical expression box 32. Finally, when the add button 34 is pressed, the conditions are displayed on the list display section 36.

  In order to delete the condition displayed in the list display section 36, the condition to be deleted is selected and the delete button 35 is pressed. The condition displayed in the list display unit 36 is a document search condition. When there are a plurality of conditions, the search is performed by AND logic. Of course, it may be designed as OR logic, or complicated logic may be set. When the search is executed, the search button 41 is clicked. To cancel the search dialog itself and stop the search, a cancel button 42 may be clicked.

  When the search button 41 is clicked and there is a hit document, a hit list window as shown in FIG. 6 is displayed, and the hit number indicating the number of documents successfully searched is displayed in the display box 45. The hit document list display unit 46 displays the size, number of pages, creation date, update date, and the like of the document data that has been successfully searched. The open button 47 is used to display the document data focused on the hit document list display unit 46 in the document display area 23 of FIG. The close button 48 is a button to be pressed when closing this hit list window.

  In the dialog box of FIG. 5, other search conditions can be set. One of them is a refined search. When this setting button 39 is checked and enabled, a search is performed only from all hit documents displayed in the hit document list display section 46 of FIG. Therefore, the same result as that obtained by the AND logic of the entire previous search condition and the current search condition can be obtained.

  If the folder designation setting button 38 is checked and validated, a search is performed only from the designated folder and all folders below it. If the parent folder of the document to be searched is known, if this selection is made, the extra documents will not be hit and the number of hit documents will be reduced, so that the hit document can be easily confirmed.

  Folder designation is performed by selecting the reference button 40. When the reference button 40 is clicked with the mouse 8, a dialog is displayed, for example, a portion a in FIG. 7 is displayed. DB1 and DB2 in the figure are document databases in which documents are stored. For example, when the document database DB2 is clicked, the subordinate folders are displayed, and the parts a and b in FIG. 7 are displayed. Repeat the same operation to specify the folder for the document you want to search.

  If there is no particular need to set the search location condition, the “whole database” setting button 37 in FIG. 5 may be selected.

[Description Characteristic of First Embodiment]
The above is the overall configuration and operation of the present embodiment. Details of functions and the like characteristic to the first embodiment will be described below.

<Index settings>
Processing for setting an index for each document data registered in the document database will be described with reference to FIGS. FIG. 8 is a diagram illustrating document data properties according to the present embodiment, and FIGS. 9A and 9B are diagrams illustrating index examples according to the present embodiment.

  When a document is selected using the mouse 8 in the document information display area 222, an edit menu is further selected, and "property" is selected from the submenu, a property dialog as shown in FIG. 8, for example, is displayed. In this property dialog, general attributes and index attributes of the document are displayed. General attributes include document name, size, creation date, update date, access date, creator, and the like. In this embodiment, an index is roughly divided into two types of attributes, which are a system index and a user index. The user index that cannot be displayed is displayed when the “2” or “3” sheet in the dialog is selected, and the currently displayed “1” sheet is hidden.

  In this embodiment, there are two types of system indexes, and a plurality of values are set in advance for each of the system indexes (1) and (2) as shown in FIG. The operator can directly enter values in the input boxes 81 and 82 of the system indexes (1) and (2) in the dialog shown in FIG. 8, or select a value from a list displayed by clicking the arrow. The list is shown in FIG.

  As for the user index, as shown in FIG. 9B, the user can freely give an index name such as “sales number”, “sales amount”, “monthly sales amount”, “monthly sales amount”, and the like. When giving this index name, a character string, a number, a date, etc. can be used.

  The example of FIG. 9B shows that values such as “Kyushu” and “Shikoku” have already been set for the user index “number of units sold”. In addition, values such as “January” and “February” are set in “Monthly sales amount”. Although these values may be set intentionally, in this embodiment, when a user index value is set for a document, the value is newly added to the list shown in FIG. 9B. Added to.

  The operator can directly enter a new value in the user index input boxes 83 and 84 in the dialog shown in FIG. 8, or select an existing value that has already been used from the list displayed by clicking the arrow. You can also. In the example of FIG. 8, “(user index 1)” is described, but in actuality, a user index name such as “number of units sold” is directly displayed.

<Create folder hierarchy>
Next, processing for constructing a new folder hierarchy by user definition will be described with reference to FIGS. FIG. 10 is a diagram showing a display screen when a new folder hierarchy according to the first embodiment is constructed, and this display screen is displayed in the display area 215 of FIG. FIG. 11 is a diagram showing a “file” menu arranged in the menu display area 13 of FIG.

  The operator first selects the “document management system” displayed in the display area 215 with the mouse 8, displays the “file” menu in the menu display area 13, and displays an item “new user definition DB”. When is selected, a folder indicating a database is displayed below the “document management system”. In the area A of FIG. 10, the folder indicating the database is changed to the name “user-defined DB (1)” by the operator using the keyboard.

  After selecting “New User Definition DB (1)” using the mouse 8 and selecting an item “New Folder” in the “File” menu of the menu display area 13, a lower layer of “New User Definition DB (1)”. (Folder name: new folder (1)) is created (area B in FIG. 10).

  Further, when “new folder (1)” is selected and an item “new folder” is selected in the “file” menu of the menu display area 13, a folder (folder name: new folder) is displayed below “new folder (1)”. (11)) is created (region C in FIG. 10).

  FIG. 10 shows that folders such as “new folder (12)”, “new folder (13)”, “new folder (2)”, “new folder (3)” are created in the same manner. Folder hierarchy structure. The names of the new folders created here are all pseudonyms, and are automatically changed to names defined by the user in the folder document condition setting process described later.

<Settings for correspondence with document database>
Next, a setting process for associating the folder hierarchy created as described above with a desired document database will be described with reference to FIG.

  FIG. 12 is a diagram showing a dialog box for associating the created folder hierarchy with a desired document database.

  When a folder such as “new user definition DB (1)” created in the “new user definition DB” menu is selected and “actual DB correspondence” is selected from the items of the “file” menu in FIG. A dialog box will appear.

  The operator can input the name of an existing document database in the character edit box 71 in this dialog box. All the documents included in the document database with the name entered here are targets to be included in each folder in the folder hierarchy of “new user definition DB (1)”.

  An existing document database is a database configured by directly reading a document into a folder. On the other hand, the database created with the menu of “New User Defined DB” is a virtual database, and the documents contained therein are links to existing document databases, which are different from existing document databases. This is for managing documents in a folder format. Of course, it goes without saying that a document may be copied and held as actual data instead of a link.

<Setting of document condition in folder>
Before determining the documents to be placed in each folder of the created folder hierarchy, the conditions for the documents to be placed in each folder (document conditions in the folder) are set. This setting process will be described with reference to FIGS. FIG. 13 is a diagram showing a dialog box for setting the document condition in the folder. FIG. 14 is a diagram showing a display screen of a folder hierarchy in which user-defined folder names are set, and this display screen is displayed in the display area 215 of FIG.

  The operator performs the following settings for each of the created folders. First, a folder is selected on the display area 215 of FIG. 3, and “document attribute setting” is selected from the menu item of the file menu shown in FIG. Then, a dialog box as shown in FIG. 13 is displayed. Conditions are set in this dialog box in the same manner as document search, and the set conditions become the conditions of the documents placed in the folder.

  In the dialog box of FIG. 13, the input boxes 131, 132, and 133 have the same functions as the input boxes of 31, 32, and 33 in FIG.

  For example, the folder named “New Folder (1)” shown in FIG. 10 is selected, “System Index 1” is set in the index input box 131, and “=” is set in the logical expression input box 132. When “camera product” is set in the value input box 133, the folder name is automatically changed from “new folder (1)” to “system index 1 (camera product)”. Similarly, when “Sales Unit” is set in the index input box 131 and “Kyushu” is set in the value input box 133 as the user index, the folder name is automatically linked to “New Folder (11 ) "To" Sales volume (Kyushu) ".

  By such automatic naming of folders, as shown in FIG. 14, user-defined names such as “system index 1 (printer product)”, “sales volume (Shikoku)”, “sales amount (Kyushu)”, etc. A folder is created. In the present embodiment, the folder name is displayed with the index name at the beginning of the folder name and the value enclosed in parentheses, but another display form may be adopted.

<Folder document confirmation process>
Next, a process for determining a document to be placed in each created folder (in-folder document determination process) will be described.

  FIG. 15 is a flowchart showing the in-folder document determination process according to the first embodiment. This in-folder document determination process can be set by an operator instructing it from a menu or automatically at night.

  First, in step S141, a folder in which no document is arranged is selected. In step S142, the “document condition in folder” of this folder is read out, and document search is executed in step S143. In step S144, the document arranged in the folder is determined from the hit document. In step S145, a check is made to see if there are any folders in which no document is placed. If there are folders, the process returns to step S141.

  For example, first, in the folder having the name “system index 1 (camera product)”, a document search is actually performed under the document conditions in the folder of this folder, and the hit document is determined as a document to be placed in this folder.

  Next, in the folder named “Sales Unit (Kyushu)”, a document search is actually performed under the document conditions in the folder of this folder, and the hit document is placed in this folder. The search at this time is a narrow-down search from documents placed in the upper folder “system index 1 (camera product)”. The refinement search is the same as the refinement search function or folder designation search described with reference to FIG.

  Similarly, the documents to be placed in the “sales volume (Shikoku)” and “sales volume (Kyushu)” folders are also determined.

  Further, when a document is arranged in a lower folder, the document arranged in the upper folder may be moved to the lower folder and not left in the upper folder. When left, the management method is such that the same document exists in a plurality of folders, and when not left, the management method is such that the same document exists only in one folder.

  When the document search is repeated for all folders in the same manner, the “user-defined DB1” (represented by the document database (existing database) set in the corresponding database in FIG. 12) is reassigned to the folder hierarchy set by the operator ( Virtual database) can be created.

  The operator can browse a document by selecting a database that is easier to use of the virtual database and the existing database. In addition, if a document is searched in the virtual database by the folder-specified document search in FIG. 5, the search can be further narrowed down from the folder in which the previously narrowed document exists, which is very effective.

  As described above, according to the present embodiment, the folder placement condition (the document condition in the folder) becomes the folder name as it is, and the system index and the user index which are the conditions use names defined by the user. Each folder name automatically becomes an easy-to-understand name even if the user does not set it one by one. Therefore, the target document can be easily found from the displayed folder hierarchy without searching.

  In addition, since documents arranged in a folder of the virtual database gather similar documents in terms of content, if a document is further searched by specifying a folder, a narrowed search can be performed with a small number of searches.

<Modification of the first embodiment>
The first embodiment described above can be variously modified in a form in line with the spirit of the present invention.

  (1) FIGS. 16A, 16B, and 16C are diagrams showing examples of dialog boxes for setting document attributes other than indexes as in-folder document conditions.

  As shown in FIG. 16A, general attributes other than the index such as “creation date”, “update date”, or “access date” may be set as the “document condition in folder”. The date may be specified as a range as shown in the figure, or may be a specific date.

  Further, as shown in FIGS. 16B and 16C, as the “document condition in folder”, the user name that created the document and the group name to which the created user belongs may be set. In the example of FIG. 16B, after a user name is input, a plurality of user lists can be set with an add button, and one user list can be selected and deleted with a delete button. Similarly, in the example of FIG. 16C, the group name of the user who created the document can be set in the group list. A document created by a user in the user list or a user belonging to a group in the group list is placed in the folder.

  Further, a single “folder document condition” setting screen may be created by combining the condition setting screens of FIGS. 16A, 16B, and 16C with the condition setting screen of FIG.

  (2) As a condition for determining a document corresponding to a folder, a document condition to be arranged may be determined by searching the document condition of a folder in a hierarchy lower than that folder by OR logic. Then, the upper folder contains the lower folder. In that case, if the document to be arranged from the lower folder is determined by document search, the document to be arranged in the upper folder only needs to add a document hit by the document condition of the upper folder to the set of documents in the lower folder. .

  (3) A new document may be managed by taking a new file into a folder on the created user-defined virtual database like a normal existing database. In that case, the existing database may be created in the same folder hierarchy as the virtual database, and the documents managed by the virtual database and the existing database may be simultaneously arranged and displayed in the same folder.

  (4) Needless to say, when creating a virtual database, a plurality of target existing databases may be set in the character edit box 71 of the dialog box of FIG. In this case, in order to determine the document placed in each folder, it can be easily analogized that the document search should be performed on a plurality of existing databases. Furthermore, a folder on the existing database may be designated in the character editing box 71, and only documents in folders below the designated folder may be arranged in the virtual database.

[Second Embodiment]
In the first embodiment, the document to be placed in each folder is determined based on one or more document search conditions. However, in the second embodiment, the document to be placed in each folder is single. Or, it is determined by a plurality of keywords. That is, the documents arranged in each folder are determined by performing a full text search using a keyword associated with each folder or a keyword related word.

[Overall configuration and operation]
The hardware configuration of the document search apparatus according to the present embodiment is the same as that shown in FIG. 1, and the main window display screen is also the same as that shown in FIGS. However, the hard disk drive 4 is provided with a document database for storing a plurality of types of document data and a full-text search database corresponding to the document database, in addition to storing processing programs and applications executed in the present embodiment. This full-text search database is composed of search tables provided in a one-to-one correspondence with the document database.

  FIG. 17 is a diagram illustrating an example of a search table.

  The search table is registered by disassembling the text. For example, as shown in FIG. 17, the ID of a document including the character “abc” is registered. Therefore, in the search, an actual keyword is decomposed, a common document ID is identified from the document IDs in the table corresponding to the decomposed keyword, and the keyword before decomposition is finally determined from the contents of the narrowed down document. Confirm that the document really exists and determine the hit document.

<Full text search database registration process>
Next, document registration processing for the full-text search database will be described with reference to FIG.

  FIG. 18 is a flowchart showing the registration process of the full text search database.

  First, in step S12, in order to register a document in the full-text search database, the above-described search table is designated. In the next step 13, the ID of the document data to be processed and the text in the document data are associated with each other and registered in the designated search table.

  In subsequent step 14, it is determined whether or not all the registration processing of the document data to be processed has been completed. If all the registration processing has been completed (yes in step 14), the processing is terminated and the registration processing is completed. If not completed (no in step 14), the process returns to step S12 to repeat the registration process.

  The registration process is similarly performed when the document data is changed. In this case, the registration process is performed after deleting the ID of the document data before the change from the search table.

<Full text search processing>
Next, the full text search process executed for the document data registered by the registration process described with reference to FIG. 18 will be described with reference to FIGS. 19, 20, and 21. FIG.

  FIG. 19 is a diagram illustrating an example of a pull-down menu according to the present embodiment, and FIG. 20 is a diagram illustrating a dialog box for performing a full text search according to the present embodiment. FIG. 21 is a diagram showing a hit list window according to the present embodiment.

  When the full text search is performed, the “tool” menu in the menu display area 13 shown in FIG. 2 is selected. Accordingly, a pull-down menu as shown in FIG. 19 is displayed, and when a “full text search” menu is selected from the pull-down menu, a dialog box as shown in FIG. 20 is displayed.

  When the operator who executes the search inputs a character string in the edit box 231 of FIG. 20 and presses the add button 233, the input character string is added to the keyword list 232 as a keyword. The delete button 234 can delete a selected keyword by selecting and pressing one of the keyword lists 232.

  Reference numerals 235 and 236 denote check buttons for designating AND and OR logic. When searching for document data including all keywords in the keyword list 232, the AND check button 235 is checked, and any one of a plurality of keywords is selected. When searching for document data including one or more, an OR check button 236 is checked.

  The cancel button 238 is enabled when one or more keywords are listed in the keyword list 232, and when the search button 237 is pressed, a search using the keywords in the keyword list 232 as a search condition is executed.

  If there is a document hit when the search button 237 is pressed, a hit list window shown in FIG. 21 is displayed. As shown in FIG. 21, the number of hits indicating the number of documents successfully searched is displayed in the display box 45.

  In FIG. 21, reference numeral 46 denotes a hit document list display portion, which displays the size, the number of pages, the creation date, the update date, etc. of the document data that has been successfully searched. The close button 48 is a button to be pressed when closing the hit list window. The search button 49 has the same function as the “full text search” menu in the “tool” menu in the menu display area 13. The open button 47 is used to display the document image data focused on the hit document list display unit 46 in the document display area 23 of FIG. The text display unit 50 is simple, but the open button 47 faithfully reproduces the font size, type, layout, etc. in the document.

  The text display unit 50 extracts and displays the text portion in the document image data focused on by the hit document list display unit 46 so that the keyword used for the search is indicated by a hatched frame 53. Highlighted. By pressing the next hit button 51 or the previous hit button 52, the cursor is placed on the hatched frame 53, the position of the cursor moves to the hatched frame 53 existing in front and back, and the display area of the text portion is scrolled.

  The document data may be text data created by an application instead of image data. In the case of image data, a text portion obtained by OCR (character recognition) from document image data is displayed.

[Characteristics of the Second Embodiment]
The above is the overall configuration and operation of the present embodiment. Details of functions and the like that are characteristic of the second embodiment will be described below.

<Create folder hierarchy>
Next, processing for constructing a new folder hierarchy by user definition will be described with reference to FIG.

  FIG. 22 is a diagram showing a display screen when a new folder hierarchy according to the second embodiment is constructed, and this display screen is displayed in the display area 215 of FIG.

  First, in the state where only area A or areas A and B in FIG. 22 are being displayed, “document management system” in FIG. 22 is selected with mouse 8, and “file” menu is selected from menu display area 13. Display the item and select the item "new user definition DB". Then, a folder indicating the database is displayed in the lower layer of the “document management system”. The area C in FIG. 22 shows a place where the operator has changed the folder name of the folder indicating the database to the name “user public DB” from the keyboard.

  After selecting the “User Public DB” folder with the mouse 8 and selecting the item “New Folder” in the “File” menu from the menu display area 13, a folder is similarly created under the “User Public DB”. . In the area D of FIG. 22, this operation is repeated twice, and the folder names of the respective folders are changed to the names “product information” and “complaint correspondence”. The folder name before the change is “new folder (1)” or the like.

  Further, FIG. 22 shows that the “claim” folder is selected, the item “new folder” is selected in the “file” menu from the menu display area 13, and the folder name of the created folder is changed to “printer”. E area.

  An area F in FIG. 22 shows that the folder name of the folder generated by selecting the “Printer” folder and selecting the “New Folder” menu is changed to “Paper Feed”. Similarly, folders such as “paper discharge”, “ink”, “scanner”, “optical system”, “read head”, “digital camera” are created, and a user-defined folder hierarchy as shown in FIG. 22 is created. Built.

<Settings for correspondence with document database>
Next, the setting for associating the folder hierarchy created by the user definition with the desired document database as described above is performed as in the first embodiment. That is, select a folder such as “User Public DB” created in the “New User Definition DB” menu, select “Real DB Correspondence” from the “File” menu, and display a dialog box as shown in FIG. To do. All the documents included in the document database with the name put in the input box 71 among them become the objects to be included in each folder in the folder hierarchy of “User Public DB”.

<Folder document placement method>
A method of actually arranging documents in each created folder will be described.

  Assume that the document database designated in the dialog box shown in FIG. 12 is “in-house data DB”. First, a full-text search is performed by OR logic using “product information” or a related word as a keyword, and hit documents are arranged in the “product information” folder. Next, a full-text search is performed by OR logic using "claim correspondence" or a related word as a keyword, and hit documents are arranged in the "claim correspondence" folder.

  Further, a full-text search is performed by OR logic using “printer” or a related word as a keyword, and the hit document is placed in the “printer” folder. However, the full-text search only targets documents in the upper folder of the “printer” folder. Therefore, the same search as the narrow search 40 or folder designation search 41 of FIG. 20 is performed.

  When placing a document in the “printer” folder, the document placed in the upper folder may be moved to the lower folder so that it does not remain in the upper folder.

  Thereafter, when full-text search is repeated for all folders in the same manner, a “user public DB” in which the document “in-house data DB” is reassigned to the folder hierarchy set by the operator can be created. Further, if a document is searched by a folder-defined full-text search in FIG. 20 in a user-defined folder hierarchy database, a search further narrowed down from a folder in which a pre-selected document exists can be performed.

  As described above, in the second embodiment, a full-text search can be performed using a folder name or a word / phrase related to the folder name as a keyword to determine a document to be placed in the folder. It is not necessary to set a keyword to be used for confirming the document, and the usability is improved.

<Modification of Second Embodiment>
The second embodiment described above can be variously modified in a form in line with the spirit of the present invention.

  (1) In the configuration of the present embodiment, a general full-text search can be performed. Therefore, a history of keywords used by the operator of the existing database is stored, and important keywords are searched from the used keywords and history. The folder structure of the virtual database may be automatically determined using the determined folder name.

  In addition, when the search table of the full-text search database is managed in units of keywords and documents containing them, important keywords are extracted from the contents and automatically used as folder names in the virtual database folder structure. You can decide. An important keyword is a keyword or the like that can be used to select documents in the document database by using the keyword, and does not simply mean that there are many documents including the keyword.

  Furthermore, the above two types of keyword lists may be created, and folder names may be selected from the lists.

  (2) Documents to be placed in each folder may be subjected to a full-text search from the entire actual document database associated with the document instead of a full-text search result from a document placed in the upper folder. In addition, the keyword for confirming the document to be placed in the folder is confirmed by performing a full-text search using OR logic for the names of all the hierarchical folders below that folder and all the related words, and this confirmed keyword is used. The document to be arranged may be determined. Then, even a document that does not include the upper folder name is placed in the upper folder, and document omission can be prevented. In that case, if the document to be arranged from the lower folder is confirmed by full text search, the document in the upper folder can be simply added to the set of documents in the lower folder by OR search with the name of the upper folder or related words. That's it.

  (3) When managing a new document by newly importing a file into a folder on the created user-defined virtual database, the text contained in the document is extracted when the document data is read into the virtual database, You may make it determine automatically the folder which belongs from the keyword linked | related with each folder hierarchy.

  The present invention is not limited to the apparatus of the above-described embodiment, and may be applied to a system composed of a plurality of devices or an apparatus composed of one device. A storage medium storing software program codes for realizing the functions of the above-described embodiments is supplied to a system or apparatus, and a computer (or CPU or MPU) of the system or apparatus reads and executes the program codes stored in the storage medium. Needless to say, it will be completed by doing.

  In this case, the program code itself read from the storage medium realizes the functions of the above-described embodiments, and the storage medium storing the program code constitutes the present invention. Examples of the storage medium for supplying the program code include a floppy (registered trademark) disk, a hard disk, an optical disk, a magneto-optical disk, a CD-ROM, a CD-R, a magnetic tape, a nonvolatile memory card, and a nonvolatile memory. Can be used. In addition, by executing the program code read by the computer, not only the functions of the above-described embodiments are realized, but also the OS running on the computer based on the instruction of the program code performs the actual processing. It goes without saying that a case where the functions of the above-described embodiment are realized by performing part or all of the processing, is also included.

  Furthermore, after the program code read from the storage medium is written to the memory provided in the function expansion board inserted in the computer or the function expansion unit connected to the computer, the program code is expanded based on the instruction of the next program code. It goes without saying that the functions of the embodiment described above are realized by performing some or all of the actual processing by the CPU or the like provided on the expansion board or expansion unit.

It is a figure which shows the hardware constitutions of the document search apparatus concerning 1st Embodiment. It is a figure which shows the window display screen for displaying the document data registered into the document database. It is a figure which shows the window display screen for displaying the folder hierarchical structure of a document database. It is a figure which shows the pull-down menu of the tool menu which concerns on 1st Embodiment. It is a figure which shows the dialog box for a document search which concerns on 1st Embodiment. It is a figure which shows the example of a display of the hit list window which concerns on 1st Embodiment. It is a figure which shows the folder hierarchy structure displayed at the time of folder designation | designated search. It is a figure which shows the property of the document data which concerns on 1st Embodiment. It is a figure which shows the example of an index which concerns on 1st Embodiment. It is a figure which shows the display screen at the time of construction of the new folder hierarchy based on 1st Embodiment. It is a figure which shows a "file" menu. It is a figure which shows the dialog box for a corresponding | compatible setting with a document database. It is a figure which shows the dialog box for the setting of the document conditions in a folder. It is a figure which shows the display screen of the folder hierarchy in which the user-defined folder name was set. It is a flowchart which shows the document confirmation process in the folder which concerns on 1st Embodiment. It is a figure which shows the example of the dialog box for setting document attributes other than an index as a document condition in a folder. It is a figure which shows an example of the table for a search. It is a flowchart which shows the registration process of a full text search database. It is a figure which shows an example of the pull-down menu which concerns on 2nd Embodiment. It is a figure which shows the dialog box for performing the full text search which concerns on 2nd Embodiment. It is a figure which shows the hit list window of 2nd Embodiment. It is a figure which shows the display screen at the time of construction of the new folder hierarchy based on 2nd Embodiment.

Explanation of symbols

1 CPU
2 CD-ROM drive 3 Printer 4 HDD
5 FDD
6 Communication unit 7 Keyboard 8 Mouse 9 Display device

Claims (15)

A document database for storing documents; search means for searching for documents in the document database according to an arbitrary document search condition; folder setting means for hierarchically setting folders according to user definitions; and each set folder. Document placement means for determining documents to be searched by searching the document database using one or a plurality of document search conditions, and display means for displaying the folder hierarchy set by the folder setting means in a viewable manner Prepared,
A document search apparatus characterized in that the name of each folder set by the folder setting means is automatically set so as to indicate the corresponding document search conditions used by the document placement means. The document placement means includes:
2. The document search apparatus according to claim 1, wherein documents placed in a folder lower than the predetermined folder are determined based on a document search condition corresponding to a folder higher than the predetermined folder.   The document search apparatus according to claim 1, wherein the document search condition is a condition related to an index attached to a document.   4. The document search condition according to claim 1, wherein the document search condition is a condition relating to a document attribute including a document creator, a group to which the document creator belongs, a document creation date, a document update date, and a document access date. Document retrieval device described in 1. A document database for storing documents, a full-text search means for searching the documents on the document database according to an arbitrary keyword, a folder setting means for setting folders hierarchically according to user definitions, and a folder arranged in each of the set folders A document placement unit that determines a document to be searched by performing a full-text search on the document database using one or a plurality of keywords, and a display unit that displays the folder hierarchy set by the folder setting unit in a viewable manner. ,
The document placement means includes:
A document that uses a keyword based on a folder name set by the folder setting means, performs a full-text search using the keyword or a phrase based on the keyword, and determines a document to be placed in each folder. Search device. Document database for storing documents, full-text search means for full-text search of documents on the document database according to an arbitrary keyword, folder setting means for automatically setting folders hierarchically, and documents to be placed in the set folders A document placement means for determining by performing a full text search on the document database using a single or a plurality of keywords, respectively, and a display means for displaying the folder hierarchy set by the folder setting means so as to be viewable,
The document placement means includes:
A keyword based on a folder name set by the folder setting unit is designated, and a full text search is performed by using the keyword or a phrase based on the keyword to determine a document to be placed in each folder. Document retrieval device.   The folder setting means selects a first keyword from a keyword history used in the full-text search means, and automatically sets the name of each folder based on the first keyword. The document search apparatus according to claim 6. The full-text search means has a full-text search table corresponding to the document database;
7. The document search apparatus according to claim 6, wherein the folder setting unit automatically determines the name of each folder based on the second keyword extracted from the full-text search table. Comprising list data of the first keyword and / or the second keyword,
9. The document search apparatus according to claim 7, wherein a keyword used by the document arrangement unit is determined from the list data. A method for controlling a document search apparatus having means for searching for a document on a document database storing documents according to an arbitrary document search condition,
Folder setting step for hierarchically setting folders by user definition, and document placement for determining documents to be placed in each set folder by searching the document database using one or a plurality of document search conditions. And a display step for displaying the folder hierarchy set in the folder setting step in a viewable manner,
A document search characterized in that the name of each folder set in the folder setting step is automatically set to represent the corresponding document search conditions used in the document arrangement step and displayed in the display step. Device control method. A method for controlling a document search apparatus having means for full-text search of documents on a document database storing documents according to an arbitrary keyword,
A folder setting step for hierarchically setting folders according to user definition, and a document placement step for determining a document to be placed in each of the set folders by performing a full text search on the document database using one or a plurality of keywords. And a display step for displaying the folder hierarchy set in the folder setting step in a viewable manner,
The document placement step includes:
A document that uses a keyword based on a folder name set in the folder setting step, performs a full text search using the keyword or a phrase based on the keyword, and determines a document to be placed in each folder. Control method of search device. A method for controlling a document search apparatus having means for full-text search of documents on a document database storing documents according to an arbitrary keyword,
A folder setting step for automatically setting folders hierarchically, a document placement step for determining a document to be placed in each of the set folders by performing a full text search on the document database using one or more keywords, A display step for displaying the folder hierarchy set in the folder setting step so as to be viewable,
The document placement step includes:
A keyword based on a folder name set in the folder setting step is designated, and a full-text search is performed using the keyword or a phrase based on the keyword to determine a document to be placed in each folder. A method for controlling a document retrieval apparatus. A computer-readable control program for executing a method for controlling a document search apparatus having means for searching a document on a document database storing documents according to an arbitrary document search condition,
A folder setting step for hierarchically setting folders according to user definition, and document placement for determining documents to be placed in the set folders by searching the document database using one or more document search conditions. And a display step for displaying the folder hierarchy set in the folder setting step so as to allow browsing,
A control program for automatically setting the name of each folder set in the folder setting step so as to represent each corresponding document search condition used in the document placement step, and displaying it in the display step . A computer-readable control program for executing a control method of a document search apparatus having means for full-text search of documents on a document database storing documents according to an arbitrary keyword,
A folder setting step for hierarchically setting folders by user definition, and a document placement step for determining a document to be placed in each of the set folders by performing a full-text search on the document database using one or a plurality of keywords. And a display step for displaying the folder hierarchy set in the folder setting step so as to be viewable,
The document placement step includes:
Control using a keyword based on the folder name set in the folder setting step and performing a full text search using the keyword or a phrase based on the keyword to determine a document to be placed in each folder program. A computer-readable control program for executing a control method of a document search apparatus having means for full-text search of documents on a document database storing documents according to an arbitrary keyword,
A folder setting step for automatically setting folders hierarchically; a document placement step for determining a document to be placed in each of the set folders by performing a full-text search on the document database using one or more keywords, A display step of displaying the folder hierarchy set in the folder setting step so as to be browseable,
The document placement step includes:
A keyword based on a folder name set in the folder setting step is designated, and a full-text search is performed using the keyword or a phrase based on the keyword to determine a document to be placed in each folder. Control program.

Images