JP3111081B2 - Data retrieval device - Google Patents

Description

DETAILED DESCRIPTION OF THE INVENTION

[0001]

BACKGROUND OF THE INVENTION 1. Field of the Invention The present invention relates to a system for retrieving target data such as a document name using a computer, and more particularly to an improved technique for a data retrieval apparatus using a hierarchically structured data model.

[0002]

2. Description of the Related Art When searching for data such as books, documents, and personal names, a data search device using a computer is used. In a conventional data search device, a data model is used in a data search process. Based on this data model, a database and program information are stored in the computer.

FIG. 6 shows an example of a data model having a hierarchical structure. In the data model having a hierarchical structure, an information node A is used as a starting node (root of a tree), and a plurality of information nodes are connected to each other via links to form a tree structure. In order to search for target data using this data model, a method is used in which each route is sequentially traced to the lower layer starting from the root of the tree. That is, starting from the information node A, A → C → E → G → I or A → C
The search for the target actual data is performed by sequentially following the route to lower information nodes such as → E → H → J. In this tree-structured data model, there is only one path to any real data.

In order to actually perform a search by a conventional data search apparatus using the above-described hierarchical data model, a CRT
An information node of a certain hierarchy is displayed on the screen of a display means such as a display, and the selection operation is performed by an input means such as a keyboard while watching the display, and the information nodes of the lower hierarchy are sequentially searched to perform the desired operation. Ask for data.

[0005]

In the above-mentioned conventional data search apparatus, by sequentially following information nodes,
Since the data search is being performed, it is not possible to know whether or not actual data exists at the lowermost information node (terminal node) before the search operation reaches the lowermost information node. As a result, when actual data does not exist below the end node, there is a problem that the search processing up to that point is completely wasted.

SUMMARY OF THE INVENTION It is therefore an object of the present invention to provide a data search apparatus capable of eliminating the waste of the search processing and improving the efficiency and speed of the search processing.

[0007]

FIG. 1 is a diagram illustrating the principle of the present invention. The data search device 1 includes a display unit 2 for displaying information nodes, an input unit 3 for performing a selection operation based on the displayed information nodes, and a data model in which a plurality of information nodes form a hierarchical structure. And a search control means 4 for performing a search process of the target data based on the selection operation using the selection operation. The search control means 4 further includes a search control means 4 for at least one of the target information nodes to be displayed in the search process. The information node having no actual data at the end of the route to be connected is determined, and the display of the information node on the display means 2 is prohibited .
And a display prohibition unit 5 for displaying all information nodes on the display unit 2 .

[0008]

According to the present invention, the display prohibiting means 5 discriminates, from at least one target information node to be displayed in the retrieval process, an information node having no actual data at the end of the path connected to the lower layer. Then, displaying the information node on the display unit 2 is prohibited.

Therefore, since the information node is not used for the selection operation, that is, the search processing, useless search processing based on the information node is not performed.

[0010]

Next, an embodiment of the present invention will be described with reference to FIGS. FIG. 2 shows a configuration diagram of the data search device of the present invention. The data search device 10 includes an input device 11 such as a keyboard for selecting an information node used for search, a data file device 13 such as a magnetic disk device and an optical disk device for storing a database to be searched, and an information node device during a search process. A display device 16 such as a CRT display that displays search information such as a CRT display, an output device 17 such as a laser printer that outputs a search result as a hard copy or the like, a control unit 20 that controls the entire data search device,
It is provided with.

The control unit 20 has a ROM 12 storing a program for a search process of actual data and a program for a display prohibition process, and a database stored in a data file device 13 based on selection information given from the input device 11. A CPU 14 for searching for actual data according to a program stored in the ROM 12
A RAM 15 for temporarily storing search information and the like, and an interface unit 18 for performing an interface operation between the input unit 11, the data file unit 13, the display unit 16, the output unit 17, and the control unit 20 are provided. ing. Note that the CPU 14, the ROM 12, and the R
The AMs are connected via a system bus, and the CPU 14 and the interface unit 18 are connected via an I / O bus.

The search processing program and the CPU 14 function as search control means according to the present invention, and the display prohibition processing program and the CPU 14 function as display prohibition means according to the present invention. Hereinafter, the operations of the search control unit and the display prohibition unit according to the present invention will be described in detail with reference to the operation flowchart of FIG. 3 and the data model of FIG.

First, the CPU 14 sets the hierarchy number i = 1, reads an information node (top menu) corresponding to the hierarchy number i = 1 of the data model from the data file device 13, and displays the result on the display device 16 ( Step S
1). At the same time, it waits until the user selects one of the information nodes with the input device 11. continue,
When the user selects any information node using the input device 11 (step S2), it is determined whether the selected information node is a terminal node having no child node (step S3).

If the selected information node is a terminal node, it is checked whether or not there is actual data (step S9). If there is actual data, the CPU 14 displays the actual data on the display device 16 (step S10). ) Together with an instruction from the input device 11 as necessary,
7, the actual data and other information are output as a hard copy.

If the selected information node is not the terminal node, the CPU 14 determines whether or not the layer number i is equal to or larger than a predetermined layer number k (step S4), that is, the layer of the layer number i is determined. It is determined whether or not the layer is lower than the layer of the layer number k. In the case of an information node belonging to a hierarchy higher than this hierarchy, the hierarchy number k does not have actual data at the end of the path where each of the target information nodes of the hierarchy number i to be displayed is connected to the lower hierarchy side. This is for displaying the target information node uniformly on the display device 16 irrespective of whether it is an information node or not. As a result, the determination process is omitted in a hierarchy higher than the hierarchy of the hierarchy number k, so that a higher-speed search process can be performed.

If the layer number i is smaller than the layer number k, the CPU 16 is located at a higher level than the layer corresponding to the layer number k, so that the CPU 16 is one level lower than the layer of the selected information node. The information node of the hierarchy corresponding to the hierarchy number i + 1 is read, and the result is displayed on the display device 16 (step S5). Subsequently, the CPU 14 sets the layer number i = i + 1 (step S6), and shifts the processing to step S2.

When the layer number i is equal to or larger than the layer number k,
The information node of the hierarchy corresponding to the hierarchy number i + 1 which is lower by one than the hierarchy of the selected information node is stored in the RAM 15.
And determines whether or not the target information node of the hierarchical number i + 1 to be displayed is an information node having no actual data at the end of the path connected to the lower layer side,
An information node having actual data at the end of a path connected to a lower layer is evaluated as a valid information node (step S
7). As a method for this determination, when displaying the target information nodes, the determination may be made by following all the paths connected to the lower layer of each target information node, or all or some of the information nodes in the database may be determined in advance. It is determined whether or not the information node has no real data at the end of the path connected to the lower layer of the information node, and the result is stored in the RAM 15 or the data file device 13 as storage means as determination information, Based on the determination information stored at the time of the search, it may be determined whether or not the information node does not have actual data at the end of the path connected to the lower layer of the information node. According to the latter, it is possible to further speed up the search processing.

Next, the CPU 14 reads out only the above-mentioned valid information nodes from the data file 13 and
(Step S8), and the process proceeds to step S6. Thereby, the CPU 14 sets the hierarchy number i = i + 1 (step S6), and shifts the processing to step S2. Hereinafter, the same processing is repeated to obtain actual data. As described above, the information nodes belonging to the layer with the layer number k or higher are:
Nodes other than valid nodes are not displayed as a selection menu. That is, since an information node having no actual data below the terminal node is not displayed as a selection menu, a useless search process that does not reach the actual data is not performed, and the search process can be performed more efficiently. .

FIG. 5 shows a specific data model.
FIG. 5 shows an example of a data model in the case of constructing a book search system based on the Japanese decimal classification method. The information node "Early Modern History" is not displayed as the selection menu immediately after.

As described above, since the information nodes that do not reach the actual data regardless of the route are not displayed as the selection menu, the classification system itself is not optimized according to the state of the actual data. A comfortable user interface can be provided. In the above embodiment, the layer number k for displaying all the information nodes is fixed. However, it is possible to change the layer number to an arbitrary layer number by inputting the layer number k from the input device. is there. Further, it is also possible not to set such a hierarchy number k, and to configure so that an information node which does not reach actual data even when following any route from the top menu stage is not displayed as a selection menu.

[0021]

According to the data search device of the present invention, the display prohibiting means has the actual data at the end of the path connected to the lower layer among at least one target information node to be displayed in the search process. Determine which information nodes do not
Since the display of the information node on the display means is prohibited, there is no need to perform a useless search process that does not reach the actual data, and the efficiency and speed of the search process can be increased.

[Brief description of the drawings]

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

FIG. 2 is a configuration diagram of an embodiment of the present invention.

FIG. 3 is an operation flowchart of a search process.

FIG. 4 is an explanatory diagram of a data model.

FIG. 5 is an explanatory diagram of a more specific data model.

FIG. 6 is an explanatory diagram of a data model of a conventional data search device.

[Explanation of symbols]

 DESCRIPTION OF SYMBOLS 1 ... Data search device 2 ... Display means 3 ... Input means 4 ... Search control means 5 ... Display inhibition means 10 ... Data search device 11 ... Input device 12 ... ROM 13 ... Data file device 14 ... CPU 15 ... RAM 16 ... Display device 17 output device 18 interface unit

──────────────────────────────────────────────────の Continued on the front page (58) Field surveyed (Int.Cl. ⁷ , DB name) G06F 17/30 JICST file (JOIS)

Claims (3)

(57) [Claims] A display unit for displaying information nodes; an input unit for performing a selection operation based on the displayed information nodes; and a data model in which a plurality of information nodes form a hierarchical structure. A search control unit for performing a search process of target data based on the selection operation, wherein the search control unit is located at a lower layer side of at least one target information node to be displayed in a search process. An information node having no actual data at the end of the route to be connected is determined, and the information node is prohibited from being displayed on the display means.
A data search device comprising a display prohibition unit for displaying a node on the display unit . 2. The data search device according to claim 1, wherein the display prohibition unit is configured to detect the target information node of the n-th hierarchy.
When displaying, in the lower (n + 1) th hierarchy
A data search device , wherein the determination is performed on an information node . 3. The data search device according to claim 1 , further comprising a display layer changing means for changing the number of said predetermined layers.
Data retrieval apparatus, characterized in that was e.