JP3425329B2 - Discrete expression dictionary device - Google Patents

Description

Detailed Description of the Invention

[0001]

BACKGROUND OF THE INVENTION 1. Field of the Invention The present invention is, for example, provided in a machine translation device, etc. The present invention relates to a discrete expression dictionary device having a function of registering, deleting, or retrieving a discrete expression that is an expression format that allows interruption of elements.

[0002]

2. Description of the Related Art Conventionally, as a technique in such a field,
For example, some documents were described in the following documents. Document 1; Japanese Patent Laid-Open No. 8-44740 Document 2: Japanese Patent Laid-Open No. 8-55123 It is necessary to register not only words but also many expressions consisting of a plurality of words in a dictionary used in a machine translation device or the like. It is desirable in terms of translation efficiency. Expressions consisting of a plurality of words include, for example, idiomatic expressions and idioms, but in addition, fixed words composed of words that do not change, for example, as seen in “Language pattern” described in Document 1 above. There is an expression form in which there are variable elements consisting of changeable words before and after the element. When such an expression format is generalized, [fixed part 1 variable part 1 fixed part 2 variable part 2 ... fixed part N variable part N fixed part N + 1] (However, the element of the fixed part may be empty. ) Can be expressed as. An expression format that allows interruption of variable elements between such fixed elements is called discrete expression.
Regarding idiom registration, a machine translation device having an idiom registration function is described in Document 2.
According to this device, not only a symbol for designating a part of speech etc. can be described in the expression of the variable element, but also the designated symbol can be defined by the user.

[0003]

However, although it is possible for the person in charge of developing the device to describe the discrete expression to be registered by using symbols, it is difficult for general users (users). In many cases, a wrong description is made that the device does not accept. That is, in the conventional device,
There is a problem that the general user does not consider the interface function and the support function for registering the discrete expression.

[0004]

In order to solve the above-mentioned problems, the present invention provides an expression form that allows interruption of a variable element composed of a variable word between fixed elements composed of an unchanged word. A discrete expression dictionary device provided with a discrete expression dictionary for storing a certain discrete expression is provided with the following means. The user can register, delete, or search for the discrete representation.
Input the data for
Input means for inputting an operation command corresponding to the capacity, and the input
An example table in which data of a correct format serving as a reference for determining the quality of the input data input by the means is stored in advance as reference data, and the reference data is input to input by the input means. Input checking means for checking whether or not the input data is input in a correct format, and when the format of the input data checked by the input checking means is correct, the input data is received and the discrete representation is obtained from the input data. Pattern generating means for generating a pattern and the pattern generating means for receiving the pattern from the pattern generating means and registering the pattern in the discrete expression dictionary, or deleting or retrieving the already registered pattern of the discrete expression. Along with, registration / deletion / search that generates a message corresponding to the registration, deletion, or search And stage, input by the input means
Table expansion means for expanding the reference data held in the example table into a message in the form of a sentence readable by the user based on the operation command, and the format of the input data checked by the input check means are Error message when it is incorrect, registration / deletion /
A display unit for displaying the message generated by the search unit and the message output from the table expansion unit is provided.

According to the present invention, since the discrete expression dictionary device is constructed as described above, the input data is taken in by the input means and is input in the correct format by the input check means based on the reference data in the example table. Is checked. When the format of the input data is correct, the input data is generated as a pattern of discrete expression by the pattern generation means. If the format of the input data is incorrect, an error message is displayed on the display means. Registration /
The deleting / searching means registers the pattern generated by the pattern generating means in the discrete expression dictionary, or deletes or searches the already registered pattern and generates a corresponding message. This message is displayed on the display means. The discrete expression dictionary holds, as a discrete expression, data corresponding to the registration output from the registration / deletion / search means. The table expansion means is input by the input means .
Based on the operation command, the reference data stored in the example table is developed into a message in the form of a sentence that can be read by the user and displayed on the display unit. Therefore, the above problem can be solved.

[0006]

1 is a block diagram showing the configuration of a discrete expression dictionary device showing an embodiment of the present invention. This discrete expression dictionary device has an input means 1 such as a keyboard for taking in input data Si input by a user, and an input check means 2 is connected to the input means 1. The input check unit 2 has a function of checking whether or not the output data S1 of the input unit 1 is correct by referring to the data S3 of the example table 3 that holds examples and explanations for prompting the user's input as data. is doing. A table expanding means 4 is connected to the input means 1, and a display means 5 such as a display is connected to the table expanding means 4. The table expansion means 4 has a function of receiving an operation command input by the input means 1 and acquiring the data S3 of the example table 3 and expanding the data S3 into a format suitable for display by the display means 5. The pattern generation means 6 and the display means 5 are connected to the input check means 2, and when the output data S1 is incorrect, an error message S2a is sent to the display means 5, and when the output data S1 is correct, the pattern is sent. The output data S2b is sent to the generation means 6. The pattern generation means 6 has a function of receiving the output data S2b and generating a pattern S6 of a discrete expression suitable for registration, deletion, and retrieval. The pattern generation means 6 is connected to the registration / deletion / search means 7, and the registration / deletion / search means 7 is connected to the discrete expression dictionary 8. The registration / deletion / retrieval means 7 has a function of receiving the pattern S6 and registering the pattern S6 in the discrete expression dictionary 8 or deleting or retrieving the pattern of the already registered discrete expression. The discrete expression dictionary 8 has a pattern S6.
Has the function of holding. Further, the registration / deletion / search means 7 is connected to the display means 5. Therefore, the display means 5 receives and displays the messages output from the input check means 2, the table expansion means 4, and the registration / deletion / search means 7, and gives an instruction to the user.

FIG. 2 is a diagram showing an example of the contents of the discrete expression dictionary 8 in FIG. The discrete expression dictionary 8 is composed of pattern numbers, discrete expression headings, and translations.
FIG. 3 is a diagram showing an example of reference data stored in the example table 3 in FIG. In the example table 3, the comma symbol "," in the line indicates a delimiter of the data field. The data consists of 3 lines and 1 set. The example table 3 holds all sets of patterns that can be registered, the first line of the data is a record regarding the original language pattern, and the second line is a record regarding the translation pattern. The fields of each record are arranged in the following order. Pattern number, distinction, variable part number, fixed part 1, variable variable part example 1, variable part class 1, fixed part 2, variable part example 2, variable part part 2, ... The contents of the data field are as follows (1) ~ (6).

(1) A pattern number pattern identifier, in which three records of an original language pattern, a translated word pattern, and an explanation are set for one pattern number. (2) Distinguishing Distinguish the contents by using the following symbols. S: Original language pattern T; Translated word pattern C; Description (3) The number of variable parts The discrete expression and the translated word are a variable part (that is, a part that the user can input) and fixed parts before and after the variable part. It is configured. The number of variable parts is stored in the example table 3. (4) Fixed part n The character string of the n-th fixed part is stored, and when the character string is omitted, the symbol "@" is stored. (5) Variable part usage example n Stores an example character string of the n-th variable usage. This string will be the default value on input. (6) Variable part of speech n Stores the type of part of speech of the n-th variable part. Examples of types of parts of speech are shown below. English; n (noun), v (verb), adj (adjective), a
Japanese such as dv (adverb); name (noun), verb (verb), form (adjective), adverb (adjective), etc. The third line of the data in FIG. 3 is a guidance record, and the field is They are arranged in order.

The contents of the pattern number, distinction, brief explanation, and detailed explanation data fields are as follows (i) to (iv). (I) The pattern numbers are the same as those in the first and second lines. (Ii) Discrimination The same as in the first and second lines. (Iii) In addition to the brief explanation pattern number (i), a brief explanation sentence for identifying the pattern is stored. (Iv) Detailed Description Stores explanatory text for explaining characteristics, usage, specific examples, etc. of the pattern. 4 is a flow chart for explaining the operation of the input means 1 in FIG. 1, FIG. 5 is a flow chart for explaining the operation of the table expanding means 4 in FIG. 1, and FIG. 6 is a guidance displayed on the display means 5. FIG. 7 is a diagram showing an example of a guidance screen, and FIG. 7 is a diagram showing another example of a guidance screen. 8 is a diagram showing an example of the registration screen displayed on the display means 5, FIG. 9 is a diagram showing an example of the deletion / search screen displayed on the display means 5, and FIG. 10 is an input check means in FIG. 6 is a flowchart for explaining the operation of No. 2.

Referring to these FIG. 4 to FIG.
The processing contents of the discrete expression dictionary device will be described. Figure 4
As shown in, when the input means 1 starts the processing, it waits for the input data Si input by the user, and if there is an input, in step ST1, the input data Si is input.
Determines whether the processing ends. If the input data Si means the end of processing, the processing is ended,
If the input does not mean the end of processing, step ST
Go to 2. In step ST2, it is determined whether or not the input data Si is a pattern number input, and if it is a pattern number input, the process proceeds to step ST3. In step ST3, the input pattern number is converted into the table expansion means 4
Send to and instruct to develop. After that, the process returns to the input waiting state, and if there is an input, the process is repeated from step ST1. When the input data Si is not the input of the pattern number in step ST2, step ST4
Go to. In step ST4, it is determined whether the input data Si requires any one of "registration", "deletion", and "search", and one of "registration", "deletion", and "search" is determined. If so, the process proceeds to step ST5. In step ST5, a flag indicating "registration", "deletion", or "search" is added to the data (that is, the data of the pattern number currently selected and displayed), and the table expansion means 4 is added. Then, an instruction is issued to expand the data of the pattern number according to the flag. Then, it returns to the input waiting state.

In step ST4, if the input data Si is not an input requesting any one of "registration", "deletion" and "search", the input data Si is "a word group forming a pattern". It is determined that there is, and the process proceeds to step ST6. In step ST6, first, it is determined from which of the "registration screen", "delete screen" and "search screen" this word group was input, and the information (judgment result) is obtained. At the same time, the information (determination result) is acquired by determining which pattern number is input from the selected state. In step ST7, the state information (judgment result) and the word group data are sent to the input check means 2 to instruct to check whether or not the word group data is input in the correct format. Then, it returns to the input waiting state. At this time, the display means 6 displays the data sent from the input check means 2. As shown in FIG. 5, when the processing is started, the table expanding means 4 acquires the data corresponding to the given pattern number from the example table 3 in step ST11. That is, the record having the pattern number in the first field is searched. The search result is a set of records with three rows as shown in FIG. In step ST12, it is determined whether the input data Si input from the input means 1 is a pattern number only or a flag such as "registration" is attached. If it is only a pattern number, step ST13
Go to. In step ST13, the guidance screen creation process is performed, and then the process ends. In the guidance screen creating process, the following processes (1) to (4) are performed.

(1) The pattern number and the brief description of the guidance record are extracted and used as pattern selection data. (2) Take out the detailed description of the guidance record,
Detailed description Use as window data. (3) The fixed part character string and the variable part example character string are extracted from the original word pattern and the translated word pattern record, and are concatenated to form the example window data. However, when the fixed part is the symbol "@", this data is excluded and the data is connected. Further, the variable part example character strings are connected by being enclosed by square brackets [] to indicate that the variable part example character strings can be rewritten by the user. (4) Image data in which each data is arranged at an appropriate position is created and sent to the display means 5. The user selects the pattern most similar to the pattern he / she wants to register, delete, or search by looking at the detailed explanation of the screen and the example shown in FIG. To start. Further, in FIG. 7, the guidance screen displayed on the display means 5 is such that the pattern selection portion can be input by operating the menu bar MB. In this way, the pattern can be selected only by a brief explanation. If a flag other than the pattern number is attached to the data in step ST12, the process proceeds to step ST14 and the flag is "registered".
It is determined whether or not the flag indicates. If the flag indicates "registration", the process proceeds to step ST15, the registration screen creation process is performed, and then the process ends.

In the registration screen creating process, the following processes (a) to (d) are performed. (A) The number of variable parts is extracted from the records of the original word pattern and the translated word pattern, and the size of the display window of the pattern is determined based on the number. For example, when the examples are arranged in the vertical direction and the number of variable parts is 3, a window size for a total of 7 lines of 3 lines of the variable parts and 4 lines of the fixed part is required. (B) The fixed part character string and the variable part example character string are taken out from the records of the original word pattern and the translated word pattern, and the pattern window data is created so as to be arranged in order.
At this time, the portion for displaying the variable part example is a box in which the user can delete the example and enter a desired character string instead. That is, the variable part example has a default input. (C) The part of speech of the variable part is extracted from the original language pattern and the translated word pattern record, and is added to the data for the pattern window so as to be displayed beside or below the variable part example. (D) Image data in which each data is arranged at an appropriate position is created and sent to the display means 5.

The user can activate the registration process by inputting a desired character string in the inputtable box (that is, the frame B in FIG. 8) of the variable part in the screen as shown in FIG. At this time, since the fixed part is displayed, it is possible to input once, read it down, and check whether it is an inappropriate phrase. Further, since the type of part of speech is displayed next to each box, an appropriate character string can be input by referring to them. By presenting such a box, it is possible to prevent an error that the prepared pattern does not match the number of input items. If the user freely describes without presenting the box, the number of variable part character strings required for a certain pattern may not be input, or conversely may be too large. If the flag is not a flag indicating "registration" in step ST14, the flag indicates deletion or search. Therefore, in step ST16, after the deletion / search screen creation process is performed, the process ends. . In the deletion / search screen creation process, the following processes (i) to (iv) are performed.

(I) As in the case of the registration screen, the number of variable parts is extracted from the original word pattern and the translated word pattern record, and the size of the pattern display window is determined based on the number. (Ii) The fixed part character strings are extracted from the records of the original word pattern and the translated word pattern, and the pattern window data is created so as to be arranged in order. At this time, the portion corresponding to the variable portion is a box in which the user can input a desired character string. An asterisk "*" is displayed as a default inside the box. This asterisk "*"
Matches all strings when searching. (Iii) As in the case of the registration screen, the variable part words are extracted from the original language pattern and the translated word pattern record and added to the pattern window data so as to be displayed beside or below the variable part example. (Iv) Image data in which each data is arranged at an appropriate position is created and sent to the display means 5. The user can input a desired character string in the inputtable box (that is, the frame B in FIG. 9) of the variable part on the screen as shown in FIG. 9 to activate the deletion / search process. If deletion and search are activated with the default symbol asterisk “*” entered in all boxes, all data of the pattern will be processed. At this time, since the fixed part is displayed, it is possible to input once, read it down, and check whether it is an inappropriate phrase.
Further, since the type of part of speech is displayed horizontally, it is possible to input an appropriate character string by referring to it.

As shown in FIG. 10, the input check means 2
When the process starts, in step ST21, the data of the pattern number included in the given state information is acquired from the example table 3. In step ST22, the input word group is blank (that is, blank,
Is there anything that was not entered in the variable part that requires input) or special symbols in the device (that is, symbols that have a special meaning in the device and cannot be used alone)? Determine whether or not. If there is a blank or special symbol, the process proceeds to step ST23, an error message S2a is sent to the display means 5, and the process ends. If there is no blank or special symbol in step ST22, the process proceeds to step ST24, and it is determined based on the state information whether or not the input word group is input from the screen indicating "registration". If the state is not "registered" but "deleted" or "searched", the process proceeds to step ST25, the state information and the word group data are sent to the pattern generation means 6, and the process ends. In step ST24, if the state is “registration”, the process proceeds to step ST26, and a search symbol is added to the input word group (for example, a symbol used for a regular expression for pattern matching in search, such as an asterisk “*”). It is determined whether or not is included. This is because the symbols used for such pattern matching may be used for deletion or search, but the registration must be a determinable word. If there is a search symbol, the process proceeds to step ST27, an error message is sent to the display means 5, and the process ends. If there is no search symbol, the process proceeds to step ST25, the status information and the word group data are sent to the pattern generating means 3, and the process is terminated.

Next, the pattern generating means 6 concatenates the word groups in order to generate the headings and translations of the discrete expressions stored in the dictionary as shown in FIG. For example, in FIG. 2, the word groups are connected by an underscore "-". After that, the pattern generation means 6 sends the pattern number as it is to the registration / deletion / search means 7, and the concatenated headings and translations are sent to the registration / deletion / search means 7.
The registration / deletion / search means 7 performs registration / deletion / search processing for the data given to the discrete expression dictionary 8. If the process is not normally completed because the user does not have permission to operate the discrete expression dictionary 8,
The registration / deletion / search means 7 sends an error message to the display means 5. As described above, the present embodiment has the following advantages (1) to (3). (1) By displaying the guidance screen in the form of a sentence on the display means 5, a pattern can be selected from a plurality of candidates, and an inputable portion is displayed in a box. The user can easily input. (2) Since the fixed parts are arranged in order, the input can be confirmed by reading it down, so that the input is easy and erroneous input can be prevented. (3) Since the input check means 2 is provided, even if a symbol or the like is mistakenly used, a warning can be displayed to prevent the incorrect input from being accepted.

The present invention is not limited to the above embodiment,
Various modifications are possible. The following are examples of such modifications. (A) In the embodiment, a bilingual dictionary device such as a headline and a translated word or an original language pattern and a translated word pattern has been described.
It may be a monolingual (for example, only original language pattern) dictionary device. (B) In the embodiment, in the registration screen of FIG. 8 and the deletion / search screen of FIG. 9, the fixed parts and the input boxes are arranged vertically, but this arrangement may be arranged horizontally. Also, it is easier for them to read down and check. However, since the number of variable parts is not constant, it may be difficult to see if it extends laterally in view of the layout on the screen. (C) The discrete expression dictionary device of the present invention can be applied to, for example, a dictionary search device as well as a machine translation device.

[0019]

As described in detail above, according to the present invention, there are the following effects (1) to (3). (1) By displaying reference data for supporting input of input data in the form of a sentence on the display means, a pattern can be selected from a plurality of candidates, and an inputable portion is displayed in a box. Since this is done, general users can easily perform input. (2) Since the data is arranged in order including the fixed elements, the input can be confirmed by reading it down. Therefore, the input is easy and the erroneous input can be prevented. (3) Since the input check means is provided, even if a symbol or the like is mistakenly used, a warning can be displayed so that an incorrect input cannot be accepted.

[Brief description of drawings]

FIG. 1 is a configuration block diagram of a discrete expression dictionary device showing an embodiment of the present invention.

FIG. 2 is a diagram showing a discrete expression dictionary 8 in FIG.

FIG. 3 is a diagram showing data of an example table 3 in FIG.

FIG. 4 is a flowchart of an input unit 1 in FIG.

5 is a flowchart of a table expanding means 4 in FIG.

FIG. 6 is a diagram showing a guidance screen.

FIG. 7 is a diagram showing another guidance screen.

FIG. 8 is a diagram showing a registration screen.

FIG. 9 is a diagram showing a deletion / search screen.

10 is a flowchart of the input check means 2 in FIG.

[Explanation of symbols]

1 Input means 2 Input check means 3 Illustrative table 4 table expansion means 5 Display means 6 pattern generation means 7 registration / deletion / search method 8 Discrete expression dictionary

─────────────────────────────────────────────────── ─── Continuation of the front page (56) References JP-A-64-23368 (JP, A) JP-A-8-194711 (JP, A) Shiori Hata, Atsushi Ikeno, Hisaaki Matsushita, Hideki Yamamoto, Japanese-English machinery A dictionary registration method for idiomatic expressions in translation, Proceedings of the 1994 National Conference of the Japanese Society for Artificial Intelligence (8th), Japan, June 20, 1994, p. 633-p. 636 (58) Fields surveyed (Int.Cl. ⁷ , DB name) G06F 17/21-17/28

Claims (5)

(57) [Claims] 1. A discrete expression dictionary device having a discrete expression dictionary that stores a discrete expression that is an expression format that allows interruption of a variable element composed of a variable word between fixed elements composed of an unchanged word. In order for the user to register, delete, or retrieve the discrete representation
Enter the data of the
An input means for inputting a corresponding operation command, an example table for pre-storing, as reference data, data in a correct format serving as a reference for determining the quality of the input data input by the input means, and the reference input check means for the input data inputted by said input means with reference to use data to check whether it is entered in the correct format, if the format of the input data checked by said input check means is correct, Pattern generation means for receiving the input data and generating a pattern of the discrete expression from the input data; and receiving the pattern from the pattern generation means and registering the pattern in the discrete expression dictionary, or already registered. While deleting or retrieving the pattern of the discrete representation that has been registered, the registration, deletion, or retrieval Registration / deletion / search means for generating a message corresponding to, based on the operation command input by the input means,
Table expansion means for expanding the reference data held in the example table into a message in the form of a sentence that can be read by the user, and an error when the format of the input data checked by the input check means is incorrect A discrete expression dictionary device comprising: a message, a message generated by the registration / deletion / search means, and a display means for displaying the message output from the table expansion means. 2. The example table includes a brief description field for the user to identify the pattern of the discrete representation.
The discrete expression dictionary device described. 3. The discrete expression dictionary device according to claim 1, wherein the example table includes a sample for supporting the input of the input data in an input box that the user can input. 4. The discrete expression dictionary according to claim 1, wherein the example table holds the number of the variable elements, and the table expansion means expands the number of the variable elements. apparatus. 5. The example table holds samples for supporting the input of the input data, and the table expanding means expands the samples and arranges them in order including the fixing elements. The discrete expression dictionary device according to claim 1, wherein: