JP2011070265A - Device and method for retrieving information - Google Patents

Abstract

<P>PROBLEM TO BE SOLVED: To easily set even complicated retrieval conditions without any error. <P>SOLUTION: The information processing apparatus can optionally array and display selected icons 25 in an array area 23. Conditions are made to correspond to the respective icons 25. One or more icons 25 are arrayed in a lateral direction to form an icon array. Conditions of the respective icons 25 in the same icon array are ORed to generate intermediate retrieval conditions. Icon arrays are arranged one over another in a longitudinal direction to AND intermediate retrieval conditions of the icon arrays. <P>COPYRIGHT: (C)2011,JPO&INPIT

Description

  The present invention relates to an information processing apparatus and an information processing method for performing a search.

  In recent years, computers and networks have become widespread, and a large amount of information can be used. A search is usually performed to extract desired information from a large amount of information, and information that matches the search condition input by the user is extracted.

  In the search, one or a plurality of keywords are used and the search is performed under the search condition that the keyword is included, that is, the search is performed according to the search condition that satisfies each condition by including the keyword as an individual condition. There is something. Such a search method can be easily searched, but it is a simple search that extracts a keyword. Therefore, a part of required information cannot be extracted, or conversely, a lot of unnecessary information is included. There are disadvantages such as. Therefore, a search with higher accuracy is performed by using a search expression using various symbols such as a logical operator and parentheses as a search condition.

  On the other hand, an area is displayed as in a Venn diagram, and an icon of information that satisfies a condition such as a keyword is displayed in the area, and the overlapping area satisfies the conditions of each overlapping area at the same time. Information retrieval apparatuses that display information icons are also known (see, for example, Patent Documents 1 and 2). Such an information search apparatus has an advantage that it is easy to set the search condition and intuitively understand the search condition because the search condition and the search result matching the search condition are visualized.

JP-A-9-6791 JP-A-11-154153

  By the way, in order to perform a search with higher accuracy as described above, it is necessary to combine a large number of conditions. However, in the method using a search expression, it is simply described with keywords, logical operators, parentheses, etc. Creating it requires a certain amount of knowledge of logical operations, and it has not always been possible to create the desired search conditions. In addition, it is difficult to know at a glance what kind of search condition the search formula is, and it is easy to make mistakes in the search formula itself. For these reasons, it is often the case that the creation of a search expression is wasted, and the search process itself based on the search expression is wasted.

  Further, in the methods such as Patent Documents 1 and 2, as the conditions to be set increase, the area corresponding to the conditions increases and the positional relationship of each area becomes complicated. There was a problem that it became difficult.

  The present invention has been made in consideration of the above circumstances, and an object of the present invention is to provide an information processing apparatus and an information processing method that can be easily set without fail even under complicated search conditions.

  In order to achieve the above object, in the information processing apparatus according to claim 1 of the present invention, display means for displaying on the screen an icon associated with each condition for search, and an arbitrary icon Information that satisfies two or more conditions simultaneously by operating means for arranging two or more icons on the display screen by adjoining another icon in one of the first direction and the second direction different from each other One of the AND operation for extracting the information and the OR operation for extracting information that satisfies any one of the plurality of conditions is the first operation, and the other is the second operation having a lower priority than the first operation. A plurality of search objects can be obtained by setting a first calculation between the icons arranged in the icon, and setting a second calculation between the icons arranged in the second direction between the icons arranged in the second direction. From information It is intended and a retrieval condition generating means for generating a search condition for extracting the constant information.

  In the information processing apparatus according to claim 2, the display unit divides and displays an area in which icons on the display screen should be arranged into a first array area and a second array area, and the search condition generation unit includes: A first calculation is set between the icons arranged in the first direction on the first arrangement area, and a second calculation is performed between the icons arranged in the second direction between the icons arranged in the second direction. By setting, the first search condition is generated, the second search condition is generated based on the condition of each icon on the second array region, the first search condition is satisfied, and the second The fact that the search condition is not satisfied is used as a search condition for extracting specific information.

  The information processing apparatus according to claim 3, further comprising a grouping unit that groups a plurality of icons arranged in the second direction, wherein the search condition generation unit sets between the conditions of the grouped icons. The search condition is generated by making the priority of the two operations higher than the first operation.

  In the information processing apparatus according to the fourth aspect, the grouping means surrounds a plurality of icons to be grouped with a frame.

  The information processing apparatus according to claim 5 includes warning means for giving a warning when the icons arranged by the operating means are in a positional relationship for setting inappropriate conditions with other icons. is there.

  The information processing apparatus according to claim 6, wherein the icons arranged by the operating means have an inappropriate positional relationship when an AND operation is set between conditions conflicting with other icons. The display control means for preventing the arrangement of icons at the position is provided.

  In the information processing apparatus according to claim 7, the search execution means for searching for specific information that matches the search condition generated by the search condition generation means from the search target information and displaying the search result, and the arrangement of the icons are changed. Each time a search condition generation unit generates a search condition, the search execution unit performs a search to update a search result display.

  In the information processing apparatus according to the eighth aspect, the display means displays icons that are arranged by being moved by the operation means in accordance with the conditions created in advance based on each search target information.

  In the information processing apparatus according to the ninth aspect, the first direction and the second direction are orthogonal to each other.

  In the information processing apparatus according to claim 10, the search condition generation means uses the first operation as an OR operation and the second operation as an AND operation.

  12. The information processing method according to claim 11, wherein two or more other icons are adjacent to any icon on the display screen in any one of a first direction and a second direction different from each other. One of an arrangement step for arranging the icons on the display screen, an AND operation for extracting information that simultaneously satisfies a plurality of conditions, and an OR operation for extracting information that satisfies any of the plurality of conditions is a first operation. The other operation is a second operation having a lower priority than the first operation. Between icons arranged in the first direction, the first operation is set between the conditions of the icons, and between icons arranged in the second direction. A search condition generation step for generating a search condition for extracting specific information from a plurality of search target information by setting a second operation between the conditions of the icons.

  13. The information processing method according to claim 12, wherein the arrangement step includes a first arrangement step of arranging icons in the first arrangement area, and a second arrangement of icons in a second arrangement area different from the first arrangement area. The search condition generation step sets a first calculation between the icons arranged in the first direction on the first arrangement area, and arranges them in the second direction. A first search condition is generated by setting a second operation between the icon conditions between the icons, and a second search condition is generated based on the condition of each icon on the second array area. Thus, the fact that the first search condition is satisfied and the second search condition is not satisfied is generated as a search condition for extracting specific information.

  The information processing method according to claim 13, further comprising a grouping step of grouping a plurality of icons arranged in the second direction, wherein the search condition generation step is performed between the conditions of the grouped icons. The search condition is generated by setting the priority of the second calculation to be set higher than that of the first calculation.

  In the information processing method according to claim 14, the grouping step is performed by surrounding a plurality of icons to be grouped with a frame.

  In the information processing method according to the fifteenth aspect of the invention, a warning is issued when the icons arranged in the arrangement step are in a positional relationship for setting inappropriate conditions with other icons.

  17. The information processing method according to claim 16, wherein the arrangement of the icons at the position is prevented when the icons arranged in the arrangement step are in a relationship of setting an AND operation between conditions conflicting with other icons. The display is controlled in such a manner.

  18. The information processing method according to claim 17, further comprising a search execution step of searching for specific information that matches the search condition generated in the search condition generation step from the search target information and displaying the search result, wherein the search condition generation step However, every time the arrangement of icons is changed, a search condition is generated, and the search execution step executes a search and updates the display of the search result every time the search condition changes.

  In the information processing method according to claim 18, an icon corresponding to a condition created in advance based on each search target information is displayed.

  In the information processing method according to claim 19, the first direction and the second direction are orthogonal to each other.

  In the information processing method according to claim 20, in the search condition generation step, the first operation is an OR operation and the second operation is an AND operation.

  According to the present invention, the search condition is set by the arrangement on the screen of each icon associated with the condition, so that the search condition can be visually recognized, and a complicated search condition can be easily set. Can be searched. In addition, when an icon is arranged in a positional relationship in which an AND operation is set for the conflicting conditions, the display is controlled so as to prevent the icon from being arranged at the position, so that an incorrect search condition is set. Setting can be prevented beforehand.

It is a block diagram which shows the structure of the information search device which implemented this invention. It is explanatory drawing which shows a search screen. It is a flowchart which shows the production | generation procedure of search conditions. It is a flowchart which shows the outline of a process from the setting of search conditions to the display of a search result. It is explanatory drawing explaining prevention of the movement of the icon to the position used as the contradictory arrangement | sequence. It is explanatory drawing which shows the example which groups a some icon. It is a flowchart which shows the production | generation procedure of the search condition in the example which performs grouping. It is a flowchart which shows the production | generation procedure of the search condition in the example which sets an OR operation after setting an AND operation. It is explanatory drawing explaining the example used as the arrangement | sequence which does not contribute to search conditions.

  FIG. 1 shows the configuration of a search device as an information processing device embodying the present invention. The search device 10 uses a graphical user interface (GUI) to set search conditions necessary for searching for target information by arranging icons associated with individual conditions on the screen. The search is performed under the search condition. In this example, a case will be described in which a large number of person images obtained by photographing a person are used as search target information as information to be searched.

  The search device 10 is configured by a computer including, for example, a CPU, a memory, a hard disk, a monitor, a keyboard, and a mouse. By installing and executing an information retrieval program on this computer, the computer functions as a monitor 12, an operation unit 13, a target information storage unit 14, a retrieval unit 15, a control unit 16, and a condition memory 17 as the retrieval device 10. It is.

  The monitor 12 serves as display means, and displays a search screen for setting search conditions and displaying search results. The user can know the search result by setting the search condition while viewing the display on the monitor 12 and viewing it. The operation unit 13 includes a keyboard, a mouse, and the like. By operating the operation unit 13, it is possible to select icons, move or delete icons displayed on the search screen, and the like.

  The target information storage unit 14 stores a large number of person images serving as search target information. The person image is obtained by taking a photograph taken with a digital camera or the like, and various additional information is given to each person image. Additional information includes, for example, age information indicating the age of the person being photographed, birthplace information indicating the birthplace, height information indicating height, sex information indicating sex, and attribute information. The attribute information is information indicating whether the person being photographed is an elementary school student, a junior high school student, a high school student, a college student, a member of society, or the like.

  The search unit 15 searches and specifies a person image (specific information) that matches the search condition from all person images stored in the target information storage unit 14, and outputs the person image to the control unit 16. When searching, the search unit 15 refers to the additional information of each person image and determines whether or not the search condition is met. If a data table in which a person image is associated with various additional information attached thereto is prepared and the additional information on the data table is referred to, the additional information can be referred to the person image itself. You can search faster than searching.

  The control unit 16 generates a search condition corresponding to the icon arrangement every time the icon arrangement is changed including the arrangement of a new icon by the operation of the operation unit 13, and sends the search condition to the search unit 15. send. As an operation set between the conditions when generating the search condition, an AND operation for extracting a person image that simultaneously satisfies a plurality of conditions, and an OR operation for extracting a person image that satisfies any of the plurality of conditions, And NOT operation for excluding human images that meet the conditions.

  Further, the control unit 16 displays a search screen on the monitor 12 under the control of the control unit 16 so that the icon is moved or deleted in accordance with the operation of the operation unit 13. Further, the control unit 16 performs a warning process when the icon arrangement is changed by the operation of the operation unit 13 and the icon arrangement is inappropriate. In this example, an inappropriate arrangement is a case in which the AND relation is set between the conflicting conditions of the arranged icons.

  In the warning process, when the change of the arrangement of the icons 25 is the movement of the icons in the arrangement area 23 or the addition of the icons to the arrangement area 23, the moved icon is returned to the original position or added. Delete the icon and display its appearance. In this way, display control is performed to prevent the arrangement of icons that set inappropriate conditions, so that inappropriate search conditions are not set, the user is warned that they are inappropriate, and visual Can be recognized.

  If the arrangement becomes inconsistent due to the deletion of the already arranged icons 25, a warning display to that effect is displayed and warning processing for warning the operator is performed. Note that a warning may be displayed when an icon is moved or added.

  The contradictory conditions are conditions that are in a relationship that does not satisfy the other condition when one condition is satisfied. For example, in the age information, a person of “10's” is not a person of “20s”, and conversely, a person of “20s” is not a person of “10s”, and there is no person image that satisfies both of them. Therefore, in the age information, “10's” and “20's” have a contradictory condition. In addition, “high school student” and “university student” in the attribute information are in a relationship of conflicting conditions, but “university student” and “working person” may be “college student” but “working person”. These are not in conflicting conditions. Even in this case, when only one of the information is given as the attribute information, there is a contradictory condition.

  A condition to be displayed as an icon on the search screen is written in the condition memory 17. Conditions to be displayed as icons are determined in advance based on the additional information, and are classified and stored in categories of age information, birthplace information, height information, gender information, and attribute information. In the condition memory 17, combinations of conflicting conditions are written. The control unit 16 refers to the combination of the condition memories 17 and determines whether or not a relationship for setting an AND operation between conflicting conditions is established.

  FIG. 2 shows a display example of the search screen 21. The search screen 21 includes a selection area 22, an arrangement area 23, and a result area 24, and the display is controlled by the control unit 16. The search screen 21 displays a pointer P that is linked to the operation of the mouse of the operation unit 13. By clicking the pointer P in accordance with various buttons and icons 25, an instruction corresponding to the button can be given or the icon 25 can be selected. Further, the icon 25 can be moved to a desired position by a known drag and drop using the pointer P.

  The selection area 22 is used when setting search conditions, and icons 25 associated with the conditions are classified into categories and displayed in various ways. For example, an icon 25 classified as age information and displayed as “under 10” is associated with a condition that age information is “under 10 years”, and an icon 25 displayed as “teen” has age information “ It is associated with the condition of “10 years old and under 20 years old”. Further, the icons 25 classified as gender information and displayed as “female” and “male” are associated with the condition that the gender information is “female” or the gender information is “male”, and the “unknown” icon. No. 25 is associated with the condition “sex information is not set”.

  In this example, the icon 25 associated with a condition prepared in advance is displayed, but the icon 25 associated with an arbitrary condition set by the operator may be displayed and used for a search. Good.

  In the selection area 22, an all delete button 26a, a delete button 26b, and an end button 26c are displayed. By clicking on the delete all button 26a, all the icons 25 displayed in the arrangement area 23 can be erased. Further, by selecting the icon 25 displayed in the array area 23 and then clicking the delete button 26b, the selected icon 25 can be erased from the array area 23. The search by the search device 10 can be ended by clicking the end button 26c.

  The arrangement area 23 is an area where icons 25 are arranged in order to set a desired search condition. In the arrangement area 23, the icons 25 displayed in the selection area 22 can be arranged and displayed at a desired position by drag and drop.

  The arrangement area 23 displays a vertical axis 28 and a horizontal axis 29 that are orthogonal to each other, and the arrangement area 23 is divided by the vertical axis 28. The arrangement area 23 has a first arrangement area 23 a on the right side of the vertical axis 28 and a second arrangement area 23 b on the left side. The control unit 16 generates a search condition by applying an OR operation, an AND operation, and a NOT operation to the conditions of the icons 25 arranged in the first array region 23a and the second array region 23b.

  As shown in the procedure in FIG. 3, in both the first array region 23a and the second array region 23b, an icon row is formed by arranging the icons 25 in the horizontal direction (horizontal axis direction). For each icon 25 in the same icon row, the control unit 16 sets an OR operation between the conditions of each icon 25, and the intermediate state which is a condition indicated by the icon row is an OR operation set between the conditions. Search conditions. In addition, regarding the icon 25 in which the icon 25 is not arranged adjacently in the horizontal direction, the condition of the icon 25 is set as an intermediate search condition in relation to the vertical direction.

  One icon 25 or an icon string composed of two or more icons 25 can be arranged so as to be stacked in the vertical direction (vertical direction), and the control unit 16 can arrange such icons 25 and icons arranged in the vertical direction. For columns, an AND operation is set between each of the intermediate search conditions. Accordingly, the OR operation is set as the first operation, the AND operation is set as the second operation having a lower priority than the OR operation, and the OR operation is set between the conditions of the icons 25 between the icons arranged in the horizontal direction. A search condition in which the second calculation is set between the conditions of the icons 25 is generated between the icons 25 arranged in the direction.

  A first search condition is generated by setting an AND operation between the intermediate search conditions in the first array region 23a, and a second operation is performed by setting an AND operation between the intermediate search conditions in the second array region 23b. Generate search conditions. The second array area 23b is an area for setting the condition of the person image to be excluded from the search target, and the control unit 16 finally sets “satisfy the first search condition and does not satisfy the second search condition”. As a simple search condition.

  In this example, an AND operation and an OR operation are set between the conditions of the icons 25 arranged in the second arrangement area 23b according to the arrangement of the icons 25, similarly to the first arrangement area 23a. However, only one of the operations may be set regardless of the arrangement. Further, for example, only the condition of the icon 25 arranged adjacent to the icon 25 arranged in the first arrangement area 23a and the icon 25 arranged adjacent to the second arrangement area 23b and the icon 25 arranged in the adjacent direction is applied. The calculation may be set as follows.

  The result area 24 is an area for displaying search results of search conditions generated according to the arrangement of the icons 25 in the arrangement area 23. In the result area 24, the number of all person images to be searched and the number of person images that match the search condition are displayed as text 24a, and thumbnail images 31 of the individual images that meet the search condition are displayed. To do. The display of the result area 24 is performed every time the arrangement of the icons 25 is changed, that is, every time the icons 25 are added, deleted, or changed in position on the arrangement area 23. It is updated according to the generated search condition. For example, when the thumbnail image 31 is double-clicked, the person image that is the source of the thumbnail image 31 is displayed in an enlarged manner.

  Next, the operation of the above configuration will be described. When searching for a person image, the operation unit 13 is operated, and the icon 25 corresponding to the condition included in the search condition to be set is dragged and dropped from the selection area 22 to the arrangement area 23. Similarly, the icons 25 are dragged and dropped as necessary to arrange them in the arrangement area 23.

  In order to search for a human image satisfying any one of a plurality of conditions, icons 25 corresponding to the conditions are dragged and dropped onto the first array area 23a and arranged in the horizontal direction to form an icon string. . Further, in order to search for a person image that satisfies a plurality of conditions at the same time, icon rows (including one icon) are arranged in the vertical direction. Then, the icons 25 are arranged in this way so that a search condition for extracting a desired person image can be obtained. On the other hand, when it is not desired to extract a person image that matches a specific condition, the icon 25 corresponding to the condition is similarly arranged in the second array area 23b.

  When an operation for changing the arrangement of the icons 25 is performed by adding the icons 25 or moving or deleting the icons 25 that are already arranged while creating the search condition in this way, FIG. As shown in FIG. 4, it is checked whether or not an array for setting an AND operation between conflicting conditions is obtained.

  For example, in the case of an array in which an AND operation is set between conflicting conditions, it is subsequently checked whether or not this is due to movement of the icon 25 or an additional operation. When the icon 25 is moved or added, the icon 25 moved by the operation is returned to the original position, or the added icon 25 is deleted, and the state is displayed on the search screen. Is displayed. As a result, the operator is notified that the arrangement of the icons 25 is inappropriate, and the arrangement of the icons 25 is not inappropriate.

  FIG. 5 shows that the “Hokkaido” icon 25 is arranged in the first arrangement area 23a in a state where the icons 25 of “Kanto” and “Kansai” which are the conditions of the birthplace information are arranged in the horizontal direction. Shows the case. In this case, if you try to change the arrangement so that the icon row of “Kanto” and “Kansai” and the icon of “Hokkaido” 25 are arranged vertically, AND between “Kanto and Kansai” and “Hokkaido” The calculation is set in an array, but these conditions are contradictory, so the “Hokkaido” icon 25 cannot be arranged in such a position. However, “OR” is set between the condition “Kanto or Kansai” and the condition “Hokkaido”, so that the same icon row as the icons 25 of “Kanto” and “Kansai” is formed at a position “ Arrangement of the “Hokkaido” icon 25 is allowed.

  It should be noted that it may be controlled to automatically arrange icons 25 that are added or moved so as not to be an inappropriate array, in this example, an array in which an AND operation is set between conflicting conditions. When there are a plurality of positions where AND operation is not set between conflicting conditions, the position determined to be the most appropriate among them or the position closest to the position where the icon 25 is dropped should be arranged. Also good.

  On the other hand, when the operation for deleting the icon 25 results in a relationship for setting an AND operation between conflicting conditions, a warning display to that effect is displayed. Then, processing such as displaying the deleted icon 25 again is not performed, and the process proceeds to processing for generating a search condition.

  A search condition is generated when the arrangement of the icons 25 is changed without the relationship of setting an AND operation between conflicting conditions, or when the icons 25 are deleted and the arrangement of the icons 25 is changed. Then, a search is performed using the search condition, each person image that matches the search condition is read from the target information storage unit 14, and a thumbnail image 31 of each read person image is displayed in the result area 24. Is done.

  Similarly, each time the arrangement of the icons 25 is changed, a search condition is generated, and a search using the search condition is performed. A thumbnail image 31 corresponding to the search result is displayed in the search result area 24. Therefore, the operator can adjust the arrangement of the icons 25 while referring to the search result area 24 displayed in the search result area 24.

  For example, when the icons 25 are arranged in the arrangement area 23 as shown in FIG. 2, the icons 25 of “10's” and “20's” are arranged in the lowermost icon row of the first arrangement area 23a. Therefore, an intermediate search condition that the age information is “10 to less than 20 years or 20 to less than 30 years” is generated. In addition, in the icon row above that, the icons 25 are arranged with the birthplace information corresponding to “Hokkaido”, “Tohoku”, and “Kanto”. Is generated as an intermediate search condition. Further, for the icon 25 thereabove, the condition that the gender information is “female” is set as an intermediate search condition, and the intermediate search condition that the height information is “less than 130 cm or 180 cm or more” is generated from the uppermost icon row. A first search condition is generated by setting an AND operation between these intermediate search conditions.

  In the second array area 23b, an icon row in which icons of “university student” and “high school student” are arranged in the horizontal direction is created, and an icon 25 of “Kanto” is arranged on the icon row. A second search condition is generated by setting an AND operation between the intermediate search condition whose attribute information is “university or high school student” and the intermediate search condition whose birthplace information is “Kanto”.

  A search condition for performing a search is generated from the first search condition and the second search condition. Therefore, in the example of FIG. 2, “age information is“ 10 to less than 20 years old, or 20 to less than 30 years ”, birthplace information is“ Hokkaido, Tohoku, Kanto ”and gender information is“ female ” Satisfy the condition (first condition) of height information “less than 130 cm or 180 cm or more”, and the condition (second condition) of “attribute information is“ college student or high school student ”and birthplace information is“ Kanto ”” A search condition that does not satisfy is generated.

  Then, the search by the search unit 15 is performed using the generated search condition, each person image that matches the search condition is read from the target information storage unit 14, and the thumbnail image 31 of each read medical image is read. Is displayed in the result area 24. If the user wishes to view and browse the thumbnail image 31, the user can double-click it to enlarge and display the person image that is the source of the thumbnail image 31.

  In the example shown in FIG. 6, a plurality of icons arranged in the vertical direction are grouped, an AND operation is set between the conditions of each icon in the same group, and the AND operation in the group is prioritized over the OR operation. Is designed to be high.

  In this example, among the icons 25 arranged in the first arrangement area 23 a, the surrounding icons 25 are grouped by surrounding the arbitrary icons 25 arranged in the vertical direction with a rectangle 37. This grouping is equivalent to setting parentheses “()” in the arithmetic expression, and is performed by operating the operation unit 13. The grouping is an instruction for preferentially setting an AND operation between the conditions of the icons 25 in the same group. As shown in FIG. For each group, an AND operation is set between the conditions of each icon 25 in the same group, and each group is treated as one icon corresponding to a condition created by setting the AND operation.

  Thereby, more complicated search conditions can be set. For example, from the arrangement of the icons 25 as shown in FIG. 6, a search condition of [(Kanto and teens) or (Kansai and 20s) or “Hokkaido”] and “female” is generated.

  In this example, since the priority of the OR operation is set higher than that of the AND operation between the icon conditions, the grouping in which the AND operation is given priority over the OR operation is set. As in an example to be described later, when performing an AND operation in preference to an OR operation in normal times, the OR operation is performed in priority to the AND operation by grouping icons arranged in the direction in which the OR operation is set. What should I do?

  In the example shown in FIG. 8, the vertical AND operation is prioritized over the OR operation when the search condition is obtained. In this example, for each icon row in which icons are arranged in the vertical direction, an intermediate search condition is obtained for each icon row by setting an AND operation between the conditions of each icon in the icon row. OR operation is set for.

  In each of the above embodiments, the vertical direction is the direction for setting the AND operation, and the horizontal direction is the direction for the OR operation. However, the horizontal direction is the direction for setting the AND operation, and the vertical direction is the direction for the OR operation. It is good. Further, the direction in which the AND operation and the OR operation are set is not limited to the two orthogonal directions as in the above embodiments, and may be, for example, the circumferential direction and the radial direction.

  In each of the above embodiments, the positional relationship for setting an AND operation between conflicting conditions is an inappropriate array, but the inappropriate array is not limited to this. For example, it may be determined whether or not there is a person image that satisfies the search condition based on the changed icon arrangement, and if there is no such person image, it may be determined that the arrangement is inappropriate. Whether there is a person image that satisfies the search condition may be determined based on information that has been examined in advance, or may be determined by performing a search when changing the arrangement.

  Further, an inappropriate sequence may be a sequence that does not contribute to the search condition (meaningless). As an array that does not contribute to the search condition, for example, as shown in FIG. 9, an icon of “30s” is added to the array that is “10s or 20s” and “female”, There is an addition of an icon for “30s” when “10s or 20s” and “female or 30s” are selected.

  In this case, the search condition is equal to the search condition of [“10s or 20s” and “female”] or [“10s or 20s” and “30s”], and no search result is obtained. is not. However, [“10's or 20's” and “30's”] is an AND operation set between conflicting conditions, there is no corresponding search result, and there is no contribution to the search condition. Absent. Therefore, the warning process may be performed on the assumption that the addition of an icon that does not contribute to the search condition is an inappropriate arrangement.

  In the above embodiment, the human image is taken as an example of the search target information. However, the search target information may be any information. In addition, information on tags given as additional information is defined for medical images standardized by DICOM (Digital Imaging and Communication in Medicine), and the present invention is advantageously used for searching such medical images. be able to. Various conditions such as the size of the file and the matching of the data format can be used as individual conditions.

DESCRIPTION OF SYMBOLS 10 Information search device 13 Operation part 14 Target information storage part 15 Search part 17 Condition memory 21 Search screen 23 Array area 24 Result area 25 Icon S Keyword area | region

Claims (20)

Display means for displaying on the screen an icon associated with each condition when searching;
Operation means for arranging two or more icons on a display screen by adjoining another icon in any one of a first direction and a second direction different from each other with respect to an arbitrary icon;
One of an AND operation that extracts information that simultaneously satisfies a plurality of conditions and an OR operation that extracts information that satisfies any of the plurality of conditions is a first operation, and the other is a second lower priority than the first operation. As an operation, between icons arranged in the first direction, a first operation is set between the conditions of the icons, and between icons arranged in the second direction, a second operation is set between the conditions of the icons. Thus, an information processing apparatus comprising: search condition generation means for generating a search condition for extracting specific information from a plurality of search target information. The display means divides and displays an area in which icons on the display screen should be arranged into a first arrangement area and a second arrangement area,
The search condition generation means sets a first calculation between the icons arranged in the first direction on the first array area, and between the icons arranged in the second direction between the icons arranged in the second direction. A first search condition is generated by setting a second operation between the conditions, and a second search condition is generated based on the condition of each icon on the second array area, and the first search is performed. The information processing apparatus according to claim 1, wherein the search condition for extracting specific information is that the condition is satisfied and the second search condition is not satisfied. A grouping means for grouping a plurality of icons arranged in the second direction;
The search condition generation unit generates a search condition by setting a priority of a second calculation set for the condition of each grouped icon higher than that of the first calculation. 2. The information processing apparatus according to 2.   The information processing apparatus according to claim 3, wherein the grouping unit surrounds a plurality of icons to be grouped with a frame.   5. The apparatus according to claim 1, further comprising a warning unit that issues a warning when the icons arranged by the operation unit have a positional relationship that sets an inappropriate condition with another icon. The information processing apparatus according to any one of claims.   When the icons arranged by the operation means are in an inappropriate positional relationship when an AND operation is set between conditions conflicting with other icons, the arrangement of icons at the position is 5. The information processing apparatus according to claim 1, further comprising display control means for blocking. Search execution means for searching for specific information that matches the search conditions generated by the search condition generation means from search target information and displaying the search results;
5. A search control unit for generating a search condition by the search condition generation unit and updating a display of a search result by performing a search by the search execution unit each time an icon arrangement is changed. The information processing apparatus according to any one of 1 to 6.   8. The display device according to claim 1, wherein the display unit displays icons arranged in accordance with conditions created in advance based on each piece of search target information and moved and arranged by the operation unit. The information processing apparatus described.   The information processing apparatus according to claim 1, wherein the first direction and the second direction are orthogonal to each other.   10. The information processing apparatus according to claim 1, wherein the search condition generation unit uses the first operation as an OR operation and the second operation as an AND operation. 11. An arrangement in which two or more icons are arranged on the display screen by adjoining other icons in any one of the first direction and the second direction different from each other on an arbitrary icon on the display screen Steps,
One of an AND operation that extracts information that simultaneously satisfies a plurality of conditions and an OR operation that extracts information that satisfies any of the plurality of conditions is a first operation, and the other is a second lower priority than the first operation. As an operation, between icons arranged in the first direction, a first operation is set between the conditions of the icons, and between icons arranged in the second direction, a second operation is set between the conditions of the icons. A search condition generation step for generating a search condition for extracting specific information from a plurality of search target information. The arrangement step includes a first arrangement step of arranging icons in a first arrangement area, and a second arrangement step of arranging icons in a second arrangement area different from the first arrangement area,
The search condition generation step sets a first calculation between icons arranged in the first direction on the first array area, and between the icons arranged in the second direction. A first search condition is generated by setting a second operation between the conditions, and a second search condition is generated based on the condition of each icon on the second array area, and the first search is performed. 12. The information processing method according to claim 11, wherein a search condition for extracting specific information that satisfies the condition and does not satisfy the second search condition is generated. A grouping step for grouping a plurality of icons arranged in the second direction;
The search condition generation step generates a search condition by setting a priority of a second calculation set for the conditions of each grouped icon higher than that of the first calculation. 12. The information processing method according to 12.   14. The information processing method according to claim 13, wherein the grouping step is performed by surrounding a plurality of icons to be grouped with a frame.   15. The warning is performed according to any one of claims 11 to 14, wherein when the icons arranged in the arrangement step are in a positional relationship for setting inappropriate conditions with other icons, a warning is given. The information processing method described.   When the icons arranged in the arrangement step are in a relationship of setting an AND operation between conditions conflicting with other icons, the display is controlled so as to prevent the icons from being arranged at the position. The information processing method according to claim 11, wherein the information processing method is one of the following. A search execution step of searching for specific information that matches the search condition generated in the search condition generation step from search target information and displaying a search result;
The search condition generation step generates a search condition every time the arrangement of icons is changed,
The information processing method according to any one of claims 11 to 16, wherein the search execution step updates the display of the search result by executing the search every time the search condition changes.   The information processing method according to any one of claims 11 to 17, wherein an icon corresponding to a condition created in advance based on each search target information is displayed.   The information processing method according to any one of claims 11 to 18, wherein the first direction and the second direction are directions orthogonal to each other.   The information processing method according to any one of claims 11 to 19, wherein the search condition generation step uses the first operation as an OR operation and the second operation as an AND operation.

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