JP2849263B2 - Keyword expansion search system - Google Patents

Description

DETAILED DESCRIPTION OF THE INVENTION

[0001]

The present invention relates to relates to a data retrieval system for retrieving data using the keyword, in particular, katakana, as kanji kana notation, keywords with a plurality of the notation for the same matter (e.g. "Whiskey" and "whiskey", "read" and "read"
Keywords with the same meaning and a plurality of different notations, such as those with different notations, are referred to as "keywords with ambiguity"). An effective keyword extension data retrieval system .

[0002]

2. Description of the Related Art In recent years, a data base system has been required to prevent omission of data retrieval. In a conventional search process, an input keyword is used as it is and compared with a keyword included in data in a file. However, since the notation (expression) of the keyword having the ambiguity as described above is not uniform depending on the input user, even if the data that the user wants to search exists in the data, the input keyword and the data are not displayed. If the key does not completely match the key, search cannot be performed, and search omission often occurs.

In order to solve such a problem, conventionally,
When a synonym dictionary is registered in a system and a search is performed by using a keyword, a search method is used in which a keyword of another expression is generated with reference to the synonym dictionary to perform a search. However, in order to search for data using the synonym dictionary, it is necessary to create a synonym dictionary, and maintenance of the dictionary requires a great deal of time.

In particular, when performing maintenance,
In order to not only maintain registered synonyms but also search for new words that are not registered in the synonym dictionary, it is necessary to constantly register new words in the synonym dictionary. Further, as another search method for searching using the keyword having the above-mentioned ambiguity, the keyword is normalized using a predetermined rule and stored in a file, and when searching, the keyword input by the user is described above. A method of normalizing based on rules and searching for data using the normalized keywords is known (Japanese Patent Laid-Open No.
-211023).

[0005] The retrieval system described in the above-mentioned publication is, for example, as "Katakana notation" of "Japan", "Nippon",
When two notations of "Nihon" are conceivable, register in the file using the unified notation of "Nihon", and when searching, the user inputs the keyword of either notation "Nihon" or "Nihon" Even in this case, the keyword input by the user is converted into “Nihon”, and a search is performed using the converted keyword “Nihon”.

However, in the above search method,
The key of the data registered in the file must be normalized, and when using an existing database, the key of the data in the file must be normalized. -The base cannot be used as it is. As described above, in the first conventional search method described above, no consideration is given to keywords having ambiguity, and search results when synonymous and different expressions are not guaranteed. However, there is a problem that the keyword to be input must be restricted.

In the second conventional search method described above, there is a problem that a great deal of time is required for dictionary maintenance. Further, the third conventional search method described above has a problem that an existing database cannot be used as it is.

[0008]

SUMMARY OF THE INVENTION The present invention has been made in order to improve the above-mentioned drawbacks of the prior art, and does not use a synonym dictionary and does not perform any processing on an existing database. A keyword expansion search system that can search for data using ambiguity keywords without adding or adding restrictions to the keywords
The purpose is to provide a system.

[0009]

FIG. 1 is a block diagram showing the principle of the present invention. The present invention solves the above-mentioned problem by using FIG.
As shown in FIG. 2, a database 1 storing keywords and data corresponding to the keywords, a terminal 2 for inputting the keywords, and decomposing the keywords into units of characters or character strings, and decomposing each character or character string A keyword conversion processing unit 3 that generates a plurality of keywords by applying a predetermined conversion rule to the unit of “”, and a data search that searches data from the data base 1 based on the keywords generated by the keyword expansion processing unit 3 Processing unit 4
And

[0010] Then, when inputting a keyword from the terminal 2, the keyword expansion processing section 3, a keyword sentence
Is decomposed into character or character string units, and each decomposed character is
Or rewritable strings and exceptions in units of strings
By applying a predetermined conversion rule consisting of rules
That is, a plurality of keywords having the same meaning as the input keyword and different in notation are generated, and data is retrieved from the database 1 based on the plurality of generated keywords. Further, a keyword expansion processing unit 3 that applies a katakana notation conversion rule to a katakana notation keyword and generates a plurality of katakana notation keywords can be provided.

Further, a keyword expansion processing unit 3 for generating a plurality of keywords in the kanji kana mixed notation by applying the kanji kana mixed notation conversion rule to the kanji kana mixed notation keywords can be provided.

[0012]

When a keyword is input from the terminal 2, the keyword expansion processing unit 3 generates a plurality of keywords having the same meaning and different notations from the input keyword. The search processing unit 4 searches data from the database 1 based on the keyword generated by the keyword expansion processing unit 3.

[0013] Keywords in units of characters or character strings
Decompose and write in units of each decomposed character or character string.
Predefined conversions consisting of replaceable strings and exception rules
By applying a rule, a plurality of keywords are generated, and data is retrieved from the database 1 using the generated plurality of keywords. A correct search process can be performed without adding.

[0014]

FIG. 2 is a diagram showing one embodiment of a system configuration in the keyword expansion search system of the present invention. In the figure, 11 is a terminal, 12 is a search processing unit, 12a is a keyword expansion processing unit, 12a-1 is a keyword inference / control engine, 12a-2 is a different notation generation rule storage file,
12b is a data search processing unit, 13 is a data base, 1
3a is an inverted file and 13b is a data section.

In FIG. 1, the search processing section 12 is provided with a keyword expansion processing section 12a and a data search processing section 12b. The keyword expansion processing unit 12a in the search processing unit 12
This is a means for generating a plurality of synonymous keywords. A rule for converting a keyword notation is stored in a different notation generation rule storage file 12a-2 in the keyword expansion processing unit 12a, and the keyword inference / control engine 12a-1 uses a different notation generation rule storage file 12a-2.
, The keyword input from the terminal 11 is extended to generate a plurality of keywords with different notations.

The data search processing section 12b in the search processing section 12 is means for searching the database 13 for necessary data based on the keyword generated by the keyword expansion processing section 12a. Database 13
Inverted file 13a, data part 13b
Are provided in the inverted file 13a, and the data portion 13 of the keyword and the data corresponding to the keyword is stored in the inverted file 13a.
The storage position in b is stored. The data section 13b stores data corresponding to the keyword (in FIG. 3, documents relating to the keyword).

FIGS. 3 and 4 are diagrams showing examples of conversion rules stored in the different notation generation rule storage file 12a-2. FIG. 3 is a diagram showing an example of a foreign language katakana notation conversion rule. When a keyword including katakana is input, as shown in FIG. 3, a katakana notation conversion rule (for example, "char" is changed to " Conversion rules, such as “Tur” and “Tur” can be converted to “Char”),
And, the exception rules (exception rules such as “chi” of “cha, chu,..., Cho” that does not become “ti”) are stored in the variant notation generation rule storage file 12a-2.

FIG. 4 is a diagram showing an example of a kanji kana mixed notation conversion rule and a new and old kanji notation conversion rule. As shown in the figure, when a keyword in kanji kana mixed notation is input, a conversion rule for kanji kana mixed notation (for example, a conversion rule such that “read” can be converted to “read”), and The exception rule (for example, an exception rule in which “ones place” cannot be converted to “first place”) is stored in the variant notation generation rule storage file 12a-2.

When a keyword in the old and new kanji notation is input, the conversion rule for the new and old kanji notation (a conversion rule such that “Sai” can be converted to “sai”) differs as shown in FIG. It is stored in the notation generation rule storage file 12a-2. Next, search processing in the system of FIG. 2 will be described. When a user inputs a keyword (for example, “whiskey”) for performing a search process from the terminal 11, the keyword is given to a keyword expansion processing unit 12 a of the search processing unit 12.

The keyword inference / control engine 12a-1 in the keyword expansion processing unit 12a converts a conversion rule stored in the variant notation generation rule storage file 12a-2 into a keyword (for example, "whiskey") input from the terminal 11. By applying the keyword, a keyword having the same meaning and different notation is generated, and the generated keywords are provided to the data search processing unit 12b.

For example, referring to the foreign katakana notation conversion rule of “whiskey” in FIG. 3, “whis” in “whiskey” can be converted to “whis”, and the long sound of the “key” at the end cannot be deleted. ,Also,
Since we know that the above conversion is not included in the exception rule,
About the keyword "whiskey", "whiskey"
Is generated.

The data search processor 12b refers to the data base 13 to search for data corresponding to a plurality of keywords provided by the keyword expansion processor 12a.
That is, with reference to the inverted file 13a of the data base 13, the data storage position of the data corresponding to the keyword (for example, the keyword of "whiskey" or "whiskey") in the data portion 13b is obtained, and the data portion 13b , The data corresponding to the keyword (in FIG. 3, the document 1 relating to “whiskey”, the document 1 relating to “whiskey”, and the document 2 relating to “whiskey”), and outputs the data to the terminal 11.

FIGS. 5 and 6 show flowcharts in the embodiment shown in FIG. 2. FIG. 5 is an overall flowchart of a search process in the embodiment. FIG.
9 is a flowchart of a “keyword expansion process” in step S2 of FIG. In FIG. 5, when a user inputs a keyword from the terminal 11 of FIG. 2 to perform a search process (step S1), the input keyword is sent to a keyword expansion processing unit 12a of the search processing unit 12, and the keyword expansion process is performed. (Step S2).

In the keyword expansion process of FIG. 6, first, in step T1, the keyword notation is stored in the output table, and in step T2, the search position of the keyword notation is set at the head. In step T3, it is determined whether or not the search of the keyword notation has been completed. If the search has not been completed, the process proceeds to step T4, and the search position of the rule is set to the head.

Next, in step T5, it is determined whether or not the rule search has been completed. If not, the process proceeds to step T6, where the conversion stored in the notation generation rule storage file 12a-2 is performed. With reference to the rule, it is determined whether or not the character string from the search position is applicable to the rule. If it is determined in step T5 that the search for the rule has been completed, the process proceeds to step T10,
The search position of the keyword notation is shifted backward by one character, and the process returns to step T3 to repeat the above processing.

If it is determined in step T6 that the rule is not applicable, the process proceeds to step T8, where the search position of the rule is changed to the next rule, and the process proceeds to step T5.
The process then proceeds to step T6, where it is determined again whether or not the character string from the search position is applicable to the rules. When the above processing is repeated and it is determined in step T6 that the character string from the search position is applicable to the rule, step T7
To determine whether or not there is an exception rule (that is, whether it is a rule adaptation candidate). If there is an exception rule, go to step T8 again and change the search position of the rule to the next rule. Is repeated.

In step T7, if there is no exception rule, the procedure goes to step T9, where all the notations in the output table are converted according to the applicable rule, and are additionally stored in the next output table by the number of output tables in order. I do.
For example, if the character string “AB” is given as a keyword, the character string “A” can be converted to “a”, and the character string “B” can be converted to “b”. Record "AB" in the table, and then apply the conversion rule for "A" to convert "AB" to "aB",
The converted keyword “aB” is recorded in the output table.

The output table at this time is as follows. "AB", "aB" Next, a conversion rule is applied to "B" to convert all the notations ("AB", "aB") in the output table, and the number of output tables (in this case, 2),
Store them in the output table in order.

That is, according to the conversion rule for “B”, “AB” is converted to “Ab”, and “aB” is converted to “a”.
b ”and additionally stored, the output table in this case is as follows. "AB", "aB", "Ab", "ab" Then, the process goes to step T10, shifts the search position of the keyword notation backward by one character, returns to step T3, and repeats the above processing.

If it is determined in step T3 that the search for the keyword notation has been completed, the keyword expansion process is completed. When the above-described keyword expansion processing is completed, the process proceeds to step S3 in FIG. 5, and the keyword expansion processing unit 12a sequentially sets the obtained keywords in the input area of the data search processing unit 12b.

Then, the process proceeds to step S4, where it is determined whether or not there is data to be set in the data search processing unit 12b. If there is data to be set in the data search processing unit 12b, the process proceeds to S5 to search for data. Is performed, and in step S6, the search result is output, and
3 and repeat the above process. If there is no data to be set in the data search processing unit 12b, the search processing ends.

In the above-described embodiment, the conversion rules of the foreign language katakana notation conversion rule, the kanji kana mixed notation conversion rule, and the new and old kanji notation conversion rules have been described. Or a combination of a plurality of rules. In addition, the conversion rules are not limited to the above-described embodiment, and may include notation at the end of a sentence (for example, “is” or “is”), notation in a foreign language, or the like.
Various conversion rules can be used.

[0033]

As is apparent from the above description,
According to the present invention, a keyword is simply expressed as a character or a character string.
Unit of each character or character string that has been decomposed into
A rewritable string and exception rules
By applying the conversion rule of, a plurality of keywords are generated and the search processing is performed based on the generated keywords. Therefore, even if the expression of the keyword is slightly different from person to person, without restricting the keyword Thus, correct search processing can be performed, and the user can perform search processing with ordinary expressions. Further, it becomes possible to perform a search using a keyword having ambiguity without performing maintenance of a synonym dictionary or changing an existing database at all.

Further, it is possible to perform a search using a keyword having an ambiguity without maintaining the synonym dictionary or changing the existing database at all.

[Brief description of the drawings]

FIG. 1 is a principle block diagram of the present invention.

FIG. 2 is a diagram illustrating a system configuration according to an embodiment of the present invention.

FIG. 3 is a diagram showing a foreign language katakana notation conversion rule.

FIG. 4 is a diagram showing a kanji / kana mixed notation conversion rule and a new / old kanji conversion rule.

FIG. 5 is a diagram illustrating a flowchart of a search process according to the embodiment of the present invention.

FIG. 6 is a flowchart showing a keyword expansion process according to the embodiment of the present invention.

[Explanation of symbols]

 1,13 database 2,11 terminal 3,12a keyword expansion processing unit 4,12b data search processing unit 12 search processing unit 12a-1 keyword inference / control engine 12a-2 different notation generation rule storage file 13a inverted file 13b Data section

Claims (3)

(57) [Claims] And 1. A keyword and data base that stores data corresponding to each keyword (1), and the terminal (2) for inputting a keyword, decomposing the keyword into units of a character or a string, decomposition
Rewritable sentence in each character or character string unit
Apply predefined conversion rules consisting of strings and exception rules
By doing so, a keyword expansion processing unit (3) for generating a plurality of keywords, and a data search processing unit (3) for searching data from the database (1) based on the keywords generated by the keyword expansion processing unit (3) When a keyword is input from the terminal (2), the keyword expansion processor (3) generates a plurality of keywords having the same meaning and different notation from the input keyword, and performs data search.
The search processing unit (4) is a keyword expansion search system characterized by searching data from the database (1) based on a plurality of generated keywords. 2. A keyword expansion search system according to claim 1, further comprising a keyword expansion processing section (3) for applying a katakana notation conversion rule to a katakana notation keyword and generating a plurality of katakana notation keywords. . 3. A keyword expansion processing unit that applies a kanji kana mixed notation conversion rule to a kanji kana mixed notation keyword to generate a plurality of kanji kana mixed notation keywords.
The keyword expansion search system according to claim 1, further comprising (3).