JP4479439B2 - Information processing apparatus, information processing method, and computer program - Google Patents

Description

  The present invention relates to an information processing apparatus, an information processing method, and a computer program. In more detail, data applicable as ranking information of a document (document) is acquired from an email sent and received by the client, and document information provided to the client according to the ranking information, for example, a search request from the client. The present invention relates to an information processing apparatus, an information processing method, and a computer program that can perform ranking setting processing of search result data generated in response to the user and provide it to a user.

  In a data search for extracting specific information from a large number of pieces of information such as document information, there is a type of executing a filtering process that reflects a user's interests and preferences to present a search result. Network communication such as the Internet or Intranet has become popular, and news distribution and mail distribution via such networks are actively performed. In such data distribution, data distribution according to the user's interest is performed. Filtering processing is performed to make it possible.

  The process of filtering data based on user recommendation information, interest information, and the like is called social filtering. By performing such data filtering, individual user adaptation information corresponding to each user can be provided to each user.

  A configuration in which a list in which data determined to be of high interest by a user is sequentially generated from a large number of data by applying such filtering processing in a data search system and provided to a user as a search result Is possible. That is, the profiling information of each user is stored on the system executing the search, and the stored profiling information is referred to, and the data is listed and presented in descending order of the interest level of each user. Patent Document 1 discloses a system in which users belonging to the same group recommend documents and users perform ranking of documents based on the recommendation information by inputting recommendation information to the search system. Yes.

However, in the above-described conventional technology, a processing load occurs in which the user has to notify the search system of recommendation information.
JP-A-11-282875

  The present invention has been made in view of the above-described problems, and in a configuration for extracting specific data that is judged to be of high interest to the user from a large amount of information, such as data search or a data filtering system, Performs data processing such as data sorting, making it possible to determine what kind of information a user is interested in without causing a load on the user, such as processing to notify recommended information from the user. It is an object of the present invention to provide an information processing apparatus, an information processing method, and a computer program that can preferentially present information of interest to the user to the user.

  Furthermore, more specifically, the present invention obtains data applicable as ranking information of a document (document) from a mail transmitted / received by the client, and provides document information to the client according to the ranking information, for example, the client It is an object to provide an information processing apparatus, an information processing method, and a computer program that can perform ranking setting processing of search result data generated in response to a search request from a user and provide the ranking to a user .

The first aspect of the present invention is:
An information processing device,
An index storage unit storing index data including document information to be provided to the client;
A search unit that executes a search process based on the storage information of the index storage unit;
A ranking information determination unit that acquires ranking information to be applied to ranking processing of the document information from mail data transferred via a network, and stores the information in the index storage unit as ranking information corresponding to each document; ,
A ranking processing unit that executes a provision data generation process to which the ranking information is applied to a first search result generated by the search of the search unit, and generates a second search result reflecting the ranking information;
There is an information processing apparatus characterized by having.

Furthermore, in one embodiment of the information processing apparatus of the present invention, the ranking information determination unit is configured to receive mail data transferred via a network,
(A) Document information described in the mail text,
(B) Mail destination information (To),
(C) Mail copy destination information (CC),
(D) Mail sender information (FROM),
(E) Mail transmission date / time information (DATE),
Among the above-mentioned information (a) to (e), at least (a) document information and the other (b) to (e) are configured to execute processing for acquiring acquirable data as ranking information. Features.

  Furthermore, in one embodiment of the information processing apparatus of the present invention, the ranking information determination unit sets a mailing list set as a set of a plurality of mail addresses in the mail address data acquired as ranking information as a mail address corresponding to each user. It is the structure which performs the process to convert.

  Furthermore, in an embodiment of the information processing apparatus of the present invention, the information processing apparatus further includes a user information storage unit that stores user information data in which mail address information and a user name are associated with each other, and the ranking information The determination unit is configured to perform processing for converting mail address data acquired as ranking information into a user name according to the user information, and generating ranking information.

  Furthermore, in one embodiment of the information processing apparatus of the present invention, when the ranking information determination unit acquires ranking information to be applied to ranking processing of the document information from mail data transferred via a network, the index The present invention is characterized in that an update process for adding acquired ranking information to index data already stored in the storage unit is executed.

  Furthermore, in one embodiment of the information processing apparatus of the present invention, the ranking processing unit sets a weight (W) or a coefficient (N) for the configuration data of the ranking information, and is generated by a search of the search unit. Whether or not a search execution user is included in the weight (W) and coefficient (N) and the configuration data of the ranking information based on the ranking information set corresponding to the document included in the first search result. The document-corresponding rank value [R] is calculated based on the variable having different values, and the document included in the first search result is sorted based on the calculated rank value [R]. It is the structure which performs and produces | generates the 2nd search result reflecting ranking information.

  Furthermore, in an embodiment of the information processing apparatus according to the present invention, the ranking processing unit includes each of mail destination information (To), mail copy destination information (CC), and mail sender information (FROM) constituting the ranking information. The weight (W) is determined, and the coefficient (N) having a different value is set for the data indicating the presence / absence of the document constituting the ranking information according to the presence / absence of the document.

  Furthermore, in an embodiment of the information processing apparatus of the present invention, the ranking processing unit is included in ranking information set corresponding to a document included in the first search result generated by the search of the search unit. A date representative value [T] calculation process for obtaining the latest data for the same document is performed on the date data as the mail transmission date and time information, and the first search result is based on the calculated date representative value [T]. The second search result reflecting the ranking information is generated by sorting the documents included in the document.

  Furthermore, in one embodiment of the information processing apparatus of the present invention, the ranking processing unit executes a sorting process that applies the ranking information to the first search result generated by the search of the search unit, The second search result reflecting the ranking information is generated.

Furthermore, the second aspect of the present invention provides
A computer program that executes data processing based on ranking information on a computer,
A ranking information determination step for obtaining ranking information to be applied to ranking processing of document information from mail data transferred via a network, and executing processing for storing in the index storage unit as ranking information corresponding to each document;
A search step for executing a search process based on the storage information of the index storage unit;
A ranking process step of executing a provision data generation process applying the ranking information to the first search result generated by the search in the search step, and generating a second search result reflecting the ranking information;
There is a computer program characterized by comprising:

Furthermore, in one embodiment of the computer program according to the present invention, the ranking information determining step is performed from mail data transferred via a network.
(A) Document information described in the mail text,
(B) Mail destination information (To),
(C) Mail copy destination information (CC),
(D) Mail sender information (FROM),
(E) Mail transmission date / time information (DATE),
Including at least (a) document information in the information of (a) to (e) and a process of acquiring data that can be acquired as ranking information in other (b) to (e). Features.

  Furthermore, in one embodiment of the computer program of the present invention, the ranking information determination step uses a mailing list set as a set of a plurality of mail addresses in the mail address data acquired as ranking information, as a mail address corresponding to each user. The method includes a step of executing a conversion process.

  Furthermore, in one embodiment of the computer program of the present invention, the ranking information determination step includes user information storing user information data in which mail address data acquired as ranking information is associated with mail address information and a user name. According to the user information acquired from a storage part, the step which converts into a user name and produces | generates ranking information is included, It is characterized by the above-mentioned.

  Furthermore, in one embodiment of the computer program of the present invention, when the ranking information determining step acquires ranking information to be applied to ranking processing of the document information from mail data transferred via a network, the index Update processing for adding acquired ranking information to index data already stored in the storage unit is performed.

  Furthermore, in an embodiment of the computer program of the present invention, the ranking processing step sets a weight (W) or a coefficient (N) for the configuration data of the ranking information, and is included in the first search result. Based on the ranking information set corresponding to the document to be stored, the weight (W) and the coefficient (N), and variables having different values depending on whether or not the search execution user is included in the configuration data of the ranking information, Based on the document, a document-corresponding rank value [R] is calculated, and based on the calculated rank value [R], the sorting process of the documents included in the first search result is executed, and the ranking information is reflected. The method includes generating a second search result.

  Furthermore, in an embodiment of the computer program of the present invention, the ranking processing step is performed for each of mail destination information (To), mail copy destination information (CC), and mail sender information (FROM) constituting the ranking information. , Determining a weight (W), and further setting a coefficient (N) having different values for data indicating the presence / absence of a document constituting the ranking information depending on the presence / absence of the document.

  Furthermore, in an embodiment of the computer program of the present invention, the ranking processing step includes date data as mail transmission date / time information included in ranking information set corresponding to a document included in the first search result. For the same document, a date representative value [T] calculation process for obtaining the latest data is executed, and based on the calculated date representative value [T], a document included in the first search result is sorted. Executing and generating a second search result reflecting the ranking information.

  Furthermore, in one embodiment of the computer program of the present invention, the ranking processing step executes a sorting process that applies the ranking information to the first search result generated by the search of the search unit, This is a step of generating a second search result reflecting the ranking information.

Furthermore, the third aspect of the present invention provides
An information processing method for executing data processing based on ranking information,
A process in the ranking information determination unit that acquires ranking information to be applied to document information ranking processing from mail data transferred via a network, and stores it in the index storage unit as ranking information corresponding to each document. Ranking information determination step to be executed;
A search step that is a process in the search unit, and executes a search process based on the storage information of the index storage unit;
A second search result reflecting the ranking information by executing the provision data generation process to which the ranking information is applied to the first search result generated by the search in the search step. A ranking processing step for generating
There is an information processing method characterized by comprising:

  Note that the computer program of the present invention is a recording medium provided in a computer-readable format for a computer system capable of executing various program codes, for example, a recording medium such as a CD, FD, or MO. A computer program that can be provided by a medium or a communication medium such as a network. By providing such a program in a computer-readable format, processing corresponding to the program is realized on the computer system.

  Other objects, features, and advantages of the present invention will become apparent from a more detailed description based on embodiments of the present invention described later and the accompanying drawings. In this specification, the system is a logical set configuration of a plurality of devices, and is not limited to one in which the devices of each configuration are in the same casing.

  According to the configuration of the present invention, data applicable as ranking information of a document (document) is acquired from a mail transmitted and received by a client on a daily basis, and the acquired data is stored in an index storage unit as a document information storage unit According to the ranking information, the document information provided to the client, for example, the search result data generated in response to the search request from the client, is configured to execute the ranking process and present it to the user. Thus, it is possible to provide information with an optimal ranking corresponding to the user without taking the trouble of recommending a document.

  Details of the information processing apparatus, information processing method, and computer program of the present invention will be described below with reference to the drawings.

  FIG. 1 is a diagram showing the overall configuration of an information search system to which the present invention can be applied. The information search system includes an information processing apparatus 110 as a search execution apparatus that executes search processing, a client 131-1 to n that requests the information processing apparatus 110 via the network 150 and receives search results. The information processing apparatus 110 includes a file server 121 that stores data files to be searched, and a mail server 122 that stores mail sent and received by clients.

  The client 131, the information processing apparatus 110 as a search execution apparatus, the file server 121, and the mail server 122 are connected via a network 150. The network is a communication network such as the Internet, an intranet, or a LAN.

  The file server 121 is a server that comprehensively manages, for example, various document management systems that store documents used in business. The document is information presented to the client, that is, a document that can be searched. The file server 121 manages a database that stores document entities to be searched by the client 131.

  The information processing apparatus 110 as a search execution apparatus does not store a document entity, and is applied to a bibliographic item such as a document ID (document ID), a summary, and a keyword that can be applied to a document search, and further to ranking processing. Various index information is stored in the index storage unit 113. Based on the index information stored in the index storage unit 113, the search unit 112 executes, for example, a search process according to a search request from a client, performs a ranking process, and determines document information that has been determined to be of high user interest (Information stored in the index storage unit 113) is listed and presented as a search result to the client.

  The information processing apparatus 110 as a search execution apparatus includes a ranking information determination unit 111, a search unit 112, an index storage unit 113, a data collection / registration processing unit 114, a user information storage unit 115, and a ranking processing unit 116.

  The data collection / registration processing unit 114 of the information processing apparatus 110 executes processing for acquiring index information corresponding to a document from the file server 121 and storing it in the index storage unit 113. For example, various index information such as a document ID (document ID), a summary, and a keyword that can be applied to a document search.

  The ranking information determination unit 111 acquires mail data transmitted / received in the client 131 from the mail server 122, and attribute information of the acquired mail data, that is, attribute information such as mail transmission / reception user information and mail transmission date information, Then, the storage location information of the document described in the mail text is extracted and stored in the index storage unit 113 as ranking information constituting the index information of the document.

  The search unit 112 executes a search process based on index information stored in the index storage unit 113 in response to a search request from a client, for example, a search expression based on a keyword, a data search request specifying a specific category, or the like. The search result is provided to the client 131. As described above, the document main body is stored in the file server 121, and various index information such as bibliographic information, keywords, and document IDs corresponding to the document is stored in the index storage unit 113.

  The ranking information determination unit 111 acquires mail data transmitted / received by the client 131 from the mail server 122, extracts mail attribute information, document storage location information described in the mail text, and indexes them. The information is stored in the index storage unit 113 as information. The ranking processing unit 116 applies the index information to the ranking of the document information list provided to the user as a search result, for example.

  The user information storage unit 115 stores user information such as a user name, a user email address, and a user affiliation. The ranking information determination unit 111 acquires mail data transmitted and received by the client 131 from the mail server 122, acquires user information from the user information storage unit 115 based on the mail address included in the mail, and obtains the acquired user information. By applying, ranking information as index information is generated and stored in the index storage unit 113.

  Based on the ranking information stored in the index storage unit 113, the ranking processing unit 116 executes ranking processing of a search result list as a search processing result executed by the search unit 112. Details of these processes will be described later. The ranking processing unit 116 applies index information stored in the index storage unit, specifically, ranking information, extracts documents with high value for the user, and generates a ranking list ranked in descending order of value. The search unit 112 provides this ranking list to the client 131 as a search result.

  For example, when a user executes a search, out of documents included as a search result, document related information such as document storage location information is described in an email addressed to the user (or a user address is described in CC). A search result list in which the priority of the list presentation order is increased for a document is generated and provided to the client. With this configuration, a document having high value for the user, for example, a document (document) that is requested to be referred to in business, is preferentially presented in the search result list. This process will be described in detail below.

  Details of processing executed by the information processing apparatus 110 as a search execution apparatus will be described with reference to FIG.

  FIG. 2 is a diagram for sequentially explaining the processing executed by the ranking information determination unit 111 and the ranking processing unit 116 of the information processing apparatus 110 for each processing function. As shown in FIG. 2, the ranking information determination unit 111 includes a mail acquisition unit 201, a ranking information extraction unit 202, a mailing list (ML) member extraction unit 203, a user information extraction unit 204, an updated document determination unit 205, a ranking information update unit. 206.

  Hereinafter, processes executed by each of these processing units will be sequentially described. The mail acquisition unit 201 acquires the mail 211 from the mail server 122. A mail 211 is a mail sent and received by the client 131 in FIG. A data configuration example of the mail 211 is shown in FIG.

FIG. 3 shows two mail configuration examples (a) and (b). Both are composed of an attribute data part 301 and a body data part 302,
In the attribute data part 301,
Transmission date / time information [DATE]
Sender information [FROM]
Theme [Subject]
Destination [To]
In addition, (b) includes
Copy destination [cc]
It is configured to include the data.

In the body data section 302,
Document information 311 to 313 as extraction target data of the ranking information extraction unit 202 (see FIG. 2) is included. The document information 311 to 313 includes various information related to the document such as document storage location information and document name information.

  The ranking information extraction unit 202 shown in FIG. 2 performs an extraction process of ranking information (1) 212 to be stored in the index storage unit 113 from the mail 211 acquired by the mail acquisition unit 201 from the mail server 122.

With reference to FIG. 4, the ranking information (1) 212 that the ranking information extraction unit 202 extracts from the mail 211 will be described. The ranking information extracted from the mail by the ranking information extraction unit 202 includes the following data as shown in FIG.
(1) Document information described in the mail text (1a) Document storage location information (path)
(1b) Document storage location information (document name)
(2) Mail destination information (To)
(3) Mail copy destination information (CC)
(4) Mail sender information (FROM)
(5) Mail transmission date / time information (DATE)
At least in (1) to (5) above, the document information of (1) is indispensable information, and only the mail including the document information is used as other bibliographic information. Acquire information that can be acquired. Mail data that does not include document information is not applied as ranking information, so there is no need to acquire information.

  Next, the mailing list (ML) extraction unit 203 shown in FIG. 2 executes an inquiry to the mail server 122 to obtain the ML member data 217 describing the mailing list (ML) and the corresponding data of the constituent members of the mailing list, Based on the acquired information, the ranking information (1) 212 generated by the ranking information extraction unit 202 is updated to generate ranking information (2) 213.

FIG. 5 shows a configuration example of the ML member data 217 acquired from the mail server 122 by the mailing list (ML) extraction unit 203 shown in FIG. As shown in FIG. 5, ML (mailing list) member data 217 is table data including a mailing list (ML) and corresponding data of members of the mailing list. In the example shown in the figure, for example,
ML: ProjectA ...
As a member
fuji.hanako@xyz ...
asama.taro@xyz ...
hakuba.ichiro@xyz ...
Including each member.

  The mailing list (ML) member extraction unit 203 shown in FIG. 2 acquires these pieces of information from the mail server 122, and updates the ranking information (1) 212 generated by the ranking information extraction unit 202 based on these pieces of information. Then, ranking information (2) 213 is generated.

  A data configuration example of the ranking information (2) 213 generated by the mailing list (ML) member extraction unit 203 is shown in FIG. The ranking information (2) shown in FIG. 6 is the update information of the ranking information (1) described above with reference to FIG. 4, and the data corresponding to the item of the mail destination information (To) is updated. .

That is, ML (mailing list) included in the data corresponding to the item of the mail destination information (To) shown in FIG. 4 is replaced with address data corresponding to the member based on the ML member data shown in FIG. . Specifically, for example, the mail destination information (To) item of the path \ PC1 \ data shown in FIG.
ML: ProjectA ...
Mailing list data is stored,
In the corresponding data storage unit of FIG. 6, the mailing list data of ML: ProjectA... Is based on the ML member data shown in FIG.
fuji.hanako@xyz ...
asama.taro@xyz ...
hakuba.ichiro@xyz ...
It has been replaced with the address data of each member.

  As described above, when the ranking information (1) 212 generated by the ranking information extraction unit 202 includes address information corresponding to the mailing list (ML), the mailing list (ML) member extraction unit 203 converts these ML data to each individual person. To change to the user address. In the above example, a processing example for only the destination (To) data has been shown. However, in the case where address data such as (CC) is described by ML data, Execute the expansion process.

  Next, the user information extraction unit 204 shown in FIG. 2 uses the email address included in the ranking information (2) (see FIG. 6) generated by the mailing list (ML) member extraction unit 203 as a key to the user information storage unit 115. Then, the user information 218 corresponding to the mail address is obtained, and the ranking information (3) 214 is generated by replacing the address data recorded in the ranking information (2) (see FIG. 6) with the user information.

  The user information extraction unit 204 shown in FIG. 2 acquires the ranking information (2) (see FIG. 6) generated by the mailing list (ML) member extraction unit 203 from the user information storage unit 115 using the mail address included as a key. An example of user information 218 is shown in FIG. 7, and an example of ranking information (3) 214 in which the address data recorded in ranking information (2) (see FIG. 6) is replaced with user information is shown in FIG.

  As shown in FIG. 7, the user information 218 acquired from the user information storage unit 115 is configured as data in which a user's email address is associated with a user name, user affiliation information, and the like. The user information extraction unit 204 illustrated in FIG. 2 acquires user information corresponding to the mail address included in the ranking information (2) (see FIG. 6) generated by the mailing list (ML) member extraction unit 203, and obtains the acquired information. Based on the ranking information (2) (see FIG. 6), the ranking information (3) shown in FIG. 8 is generated.

  The ranking information (3) shown in FIG. 8 has a data structure in which the address information of the ranking information (2) shown in FIG. 6 is changed to a user name. That is, the address information recorded in each column of the mail destination information (To), the mail copy destination information (CC), and the mail sender information (FROM) is replaced with the user name. Here, an example is shown in which only the user name is set as user information, but user information such as affiliation may be set.

  Next, the updated document determination unit 205 shown in FIG. 2 is included in the ranking information (3) 214 (see FIG. 8) based on the ranking information (3) 214 (see FIG. 8) generated by the user information extraction unit 204. Index information related to a document (document) corresponding to the document information to be acquired is acquired from the index storage unit 113 as an update list 215.

  The update document determination unit 205 updates the index information having document (document) information corresponding to the document (document) information set in the ranking information (3) 214 (see FIG. 8) generated by the user information extraction unit 204. Obtained from the index storage unit 113 as a list 215.

FIG. 9 shows an example of the update list 215 acquired from the index storage unit 113. The update list shown in FIG. 9 is based on the document (document) information recorded in the ranking information (3) shown in FIG. It is the result of having acquired. That is, the document (document) information recorded in the ranking information (3) shown in FIG.
Path: \\ PC1 \ data, document: doc. txt
Path: http: // ww ...., document: download. html
Path: \\ PCN \ data \ ProjectA ...
For these three documents, the index information already stored in the index storage unit 113 is acquired from the index storage unit 113 as the update target data of the ranking data, that is, the update list 215.

The data shown in FIG. 9 is index data already stored in the index storage unit 113 acquired from the index storage unit 113.
Path: \\ PC1 \ data, document: doc. txt
Path: http: // ww ...., document: download. html
Path: \\ PCN \ data \ ProjectA ...
Index data for the three documents.

As shown in FIG. 9, the index data stored in the index storage unit 113 includes document (document) information and ranking information. The document information stores a path name, a document name, and the like as document storage location data. The ranking information is information applicable to ranking processing described later,
(A) Mail destination information (To)
(B) Mail copy destination information (CC)
(C) Mail sender information (FROM)
(D) Mail transmission date / time information (DATE)
(E) Document name presence / absence data is stored.
Each of the data (a) to (e) is ranking data based on the mail acquired by the ranking information determination unit 111, and the mail destination information (To), mail copy destination information (CC), This is data in which mail sender information (FROM) and mail transmission date / time information (DATE) are recorded. The presence / absence of the document name is data indicating whether the document name is included in the email acquired by the ranking information determination unit 111 (True) or not (False).

  2 updates the update list 215 (see FIG. 9) acquired from the index storage unit 113 according to the ranking information (3) (see FIG. 8) generated by the user information extraction unit 204. The update index 216 is generated and stored in the index storage unit 113.

  An example of the update index 216 generated by the ranking information update unit 206 shown in FIG. 2 is shown in FIG. In FIG. 10, the data units 351 to 354 in the thick line frame of the ranking information part are data parts updated according to the ranking information (3) (see FIG. 8) generated by the user information extraction unit 204. These data are not included in the update list 215 (see FIG. 9).

  The update list 215 (see FIG. 9) includes only data other than the data portions 351 to 354 in the thick line frame shown in FIG. 10, and the ranking information update unit 206 newly creates the ranking information ( 3) The update index 216 is generated by adding the data (see FIG. 8), that is, the data units 351 to 354 in the thick line frame, and stored in the index storage unit 113.

  Next, processing of the ranking processing unit 116 will be described. As described above, the ranking processing unit 116 executes ranking processing of a search result list as a search processing result executed by the search unit 112 based on the ranking information stored in the index storage unit 113. That is, index information stored in the index storage unit 113, specifically, ranking information, is applied to extract documents with high value for the user and generate a ranking list ranked in descending order of value. The search unit 112 provides this ranking list to the client 131 as a search result.

  The ranking processing unit 116 first sets a weight and a coefficient for each ranking information in order to perform ranking of documents included in the search result of the search unit 112. This process will be described with reference to FIG.

The ranking information is data included in the index information stored in the index storage unit 113, and includes the following data items associated with the document information as described with reference to FIG. That is,
(A) Mail destination information (To)
(B) Mail copy destination information (CC)
(C) Mail sender information (FROM)
(D) Mail transmission date / time information (DATE)
(E) Document name presence / absence

The ranking processing unit 116 determines a weight (W) and a coefficient (N) for each of the ranking information. Various settings are possible for the manner of determining the weight (W) and the coefficient (N). In the example shown here, the date data as the email transmission date and time information is a data item to be applied to the sorting process,
(A) Mail destination information (To)
(B) Mail copy destination information (CC)
(C) Mail sender information (FROM)
Set the weight (W) to
(E) An example of processing in which a coefficient (N) is set in the document name presence / absence data will be described.

The ranking processing unit 116, as shown in FIG.
(A) The weight of the mail destination information (To) is W _TO ,
(B) The weight of the mail copy destination information (CC) is W _CC ,
(C) The weight of the mail sender information (FROM) is set to W _FROM ,
age,
(E) A coefficient is added to the document name data.
Coefficient for True: N = N _TRUE
Coefficient for False: N = N _FALSE
And

  The ranking processing unit 116 performs ranking processing on the search results executed by the search unit 112 based on these weights (W) and coefficients (N). The search result based on the search executed by the search unit 112 is set as a search result (1) 221 shown in FIG. 2, and the search result executed by the ranking process in the ranking processing unit 116 is set as a search result (2) 222.

  With reference to the flowchart of FIG. 12, a processing procedure for executing the ranking process in the ranking processing unit 116 and obtaining the search result (2) from the search result (1) based on the search performed by the search unit 112 will be described.

First, the ranking processing unit 116 inputs a search result (1) based on the search executed by the search unit 112, and in steps S101 to S105, for each document (document) included in the search result (1).
Rank value [R],
Date representative value [T],
Determine.

First, in step S101, a document (document) to be processed is selected from the search result (1), and in step S102, the rank value [r] for each ranking information (row (row)) included in the selected document (document). With the following formula:
r = (isTO × W _TO + isCC × W _CC + isFROM × W _FROM ) × N
According to the calculation.
In the above formula,
The isTO takes a value of [1] when the user name of the search executor exists in the data field of the mail destination information (To) in the ranking information, and [0] when it does not exist.
The isCC takes a value of [1] if the user name of the search executor exists in the data field of the mail copy destination information (CC) in the ranking information, and [0] otherwise.
The isFROM takes a value [1] when the user name of the search executor exists in the data field of the mail sender information (FROM) in the ranking information, and [0] when it does not exist.

  In accordance with the above formula, the rank value [r] for each ranking information (row (row)) included in the selected document (document) is calculated. In step S103, the rank value calculation processing for all ranking information for the selected document is completed. If the process is not completed, the process returns to step S102 to calculate the rank value of unprocessed ranking information for the selected document.

  When the rank value calculation processing of all ranking information for the selected document is completed, the process proceeds to step S104, and the rank value [r] for each ranking information (row (row)) is integrated: ΣR + to select the selected document (document ) For the rank value [R].

  The date representative value [T] is a value calculated in step S101. When a plurality of ranking information exists for one document to be processed, the date representative value [T] is the latest date. And

  As described above, the rank value [R] is calculated for each ranking information unit when a plurality of ranking information exists for one document to be processed, and the integrated value of all the calculated values is calculated for the document. The (document) ranking value [R] is used. The date representative value [T] is the date representative value [T] when there is a plurality of ranking information for one document to be processed.

In steps S101 to S105 shown in FIG. 12, for each document (document) included in the search result (1),
Rank value [R],
Date representative value [T],
In step S106, the list of documents (documents) included in the search result (1) is applied with the rank value [R] and the date representative value [T] for each document (document). The sort process is executed to generate a search result (2) 222 (see FIG. 2).

  A specific processing example will be described with reference to FIG. FIG. 13A shows the search result (1) of the search unit 112. For example, search result data extracted by the search unit 112 based on an index stored in the index storage unit 113 in accordance with a search condition based on, for example, a keyword indicated by the client. As described above, the index information is composed of document (document) information and ranking information. The ranking information is data acquired based on each email.

For example, the document corresponding to the search result ID [1], that is,
Path: \\ PC1 \ data, document name: doc. txt
Means that the document has three pieces of ranking information 421 to 423 acquired based on different mails.

Referring to FIG. 13, as a document (document) included in search result (1) of FIG. 13A, a document corresponding to search result ID [1], that is,
Path: \\ PC1 \ data, document name: doc. txt
An example of the calculation process of the rank value [R] and the date representative value [T] will be described.

Here, as shown in FIG.
User name: asama
Suppose that
Further, the weight [W] and the coefficient [T] described above are as shown in FIG.
(A) The weight of the mail destination information (To) is set to W _TO = 100
(B) The weight of the mail copy destination information (CC) is W _CC = 50
(C) The weight of the mail sender information (FROM) is set to W _FROM = 70
Is also set as
(E) The coefficient for the document name presence / absence data is
Coefficient for True: N _TRUE = 1,
Coefficient for False: N _FALSE = 0.5
Is set as.

At this time, the path shown in FIG. 13A: \\ PC1 \ data, document name: doc. txt
The rank value [R] and date representative value [T] for
It is calculated | required by the calculation formula shown in FIG.13 (b). That is,
R = (1 × 100 + 0 × 50 + 0 × 70) × 1
+ (1 × 100 + 0 × 50 + 0 × 70) × 1
+ (1 × 100 + 0 × 50 + 0 × 70) × 0.5
= 250
It becomes.

In the above formula,
(1 × 100 + 0 × 50 + 0 × 70) × 1
Is: path: \\ PC1 \ data, document name: doc. It is a calculation formula based on the ranking information data of the top row (row) 421 in the ranking information of txt,
The first [1 × 100] is based on the data of the mail destination information (To), that is, the data 401 of FIG.
Search user name: asama
[1] is set, and the weight of the mail destination information (To): W _TO = 100 is further multiplied.
The next [0 × 50] is based on the mail copy destination information (CC) data, that is, the data 402 in FIG.
Search user name: asama
Is not included, [0] is set, and the weight of mail copy destination information (CC): W _CC = 50 is further multiplied.
The next [0 × 70] is based on the mail sender information (FROM) data, that is, the data 403 in FIG.
Search user name: asama
Is not included, [0] is set, and the weight of mail sender information (FROM): W _FROM = 70 is further multiplied.
The last [× 1] is based on the data with the document name, that is, the data 404 in FIG. 13, and the information set in the data 404 indicates [True] with the document name. Coefficient for True as coefficient for presence / absence data: N _TRUE = 1,
Is multiplied.

The formula in the second row in the formula for calculating the rank value [R] shown in FIG.
(1 × 100 + 0 × 50 + 0 × 70) × 1
Is a path shown in FIG. 13: \\ PC1 \ data, document name: doc. It is a calculation formula corresponding to the ranking information of the middle row (row) 422 in the ranking information of txt,
The formula in the third row in the formula for calculating the rank value [R] shown in FIG.
(1 x 100 + 0 x 50 + 0 x 70) x 0.5
Is a path shown in FIG. 13: \\ PC1 \ data, document name: doc. This is a calculation formula corresponding to the ranking information of the lower row (row) 423 in the ranking information of txt.

Each row (line) 421 to 423 has a path: \\ PC1 \ data, a document name: doc. The ranking information acquired based on each individual mail as the ranking information of txt. As a result, path: \\ PC1 \ data, document name: doc. The rank value [R] corresponding to txt is calculated as an integrated value of the calculated rank values corresponding to these three ranking information. That is,
R = (1 × 100 + 0 × 50 + 0 × 70) × 1
+ (1 × 100 + 0 × 50 + 0 × 70) × 1
+ (1 × 100 + 0 × 50 + 0 × 70) × 0.5
= 250
It becomes.

On the other hand, path: \\ PC1 \ data, document name: doc. As described above, the date representative value [T] of txt is based on the rule that the latest date is the date representative value [T] when a plurality of ranking information exists for one document to be processed. Based on this, as shown in FIG.
T = max (2004/03/12, 2004/03/08, 2004/03/05)
= 2004/03/12
As required.

  As described above, in steps S101 and S102 in FIG. 12, the rank value [R] and the date representative value [T] are obtained for the document (document) included in the search result (1). The rank value [R] and the date representative value [T] are calculated for each document (document) included in the search result (1).

  The above-described processing is executed for each document (document) included in the search result (1), and the rank value [R] and the date representative value [T] are obtained for the document (document) included in the search result (1). After the determination, the process proceeds to step S106 in the flow of FIG.

  In step S106, the list of documents (documents) included in the search result (1) is sorted by applying the rank value [R] and the date representative value [T] for each document (document). The search result (2) 222 (see FIG. 2) is generated.

FIG. 14 shows an example of the list acquired as the sort result, that is, the search result (2). The search result (2) in FIG. 14 is data generated based on the search result (1) shown in FIG. 12A, and each document shown in the search result (1), that is,
(ID1) \\ PC1 \ data, doc. txt
(ID2) http: //www...download.htm
(ID3) \\ PCN \ data ... Info. doc
The search result (2) shown in FIG. 14 is the result of executing the sort process by applying the rank value [R] and the date representative value [T] to these three documents.

The rank value [R] and the date representative value [T] of each document are as shown in FIG.
Document with ID1: rank value R = 250, date representative value T = 2004/03/12
Document ID2: Rank value R = 100, date representative value T = 2004/03/12
Document with ID3: rank value R = 220, date representative value T = 2004/03/08
It is calculated as.

In this example, the sort process is performed using the rank value [R] as the first key and the date representative value [T] as the second key as described in step S106 of FIG. As a result, as shown in FIG.
(List 1) Document ID1: Rank value R = 250, Date representative value T = 2, 004/03/1
(List 2) Document ID3: Rank value R = 220, Date representative value T = 2004/03/08
(List 3) Document ID2: Rank value R = 100, date representative value T = 2004/03/12
As a result, the search result (2) is generated.

  Note that the setting of the sort key in the sort process described above is an example, and it is possible to perform sorting by applying other sort key settings.

  As described above, according to the configuration of the present invention, the ranking information of the document (document) is acquired from the mail transmitted and received by the client on a daily basis, and the document information provided to the client according to the acquired ranking information, for example, from the client It is possible to perform ranking processing on the search result data generated in response to the search request and present it to the user, and the optimum ranking corresponding to the user can be obtained without trouble of document recommendation processing by the user. The information provided can be provided.

  Finally, a hardware configuration example of the information processing apparatus 110 that performs the above-described processing will be described with reference to FIG.

  A CPU (Central Processing Unit) 501 is a process according to various computer programs describing an execution sequence of each process such as an OS (Operating System), search processing, ranking information determination processing, ranking processing, and the like described in the above-described embodiments. It is a control part which performs.

  A ROM (Read Only Memory) 502 stores programs used by the CPU 501, calculation parameters, and the like. A RAM (Random Access Memory) 503 stores programs used in the execution of the CPU 501, parameters that change as appropriate during the execution, and the like. These are connected to each other by a host bus 504 including a CPU bus.

  The host bus 504 is connected to an external bus 506 such as a PCI (Peripheral Component Interconnect / Interface) bus via a bridge 505.

  A keyboard 508 and a pointing device 509 are input devices operated by the user. The display 510 includes a liquid crystal display device, a CRT (Cathode Ray Tube), or the like, and displays various types of information as text and images.

  An HDD (Hard Disk Drive) 511 includes a hard disk, drives the hard disk, and records or reproduces a program executed by the CPU 501 and information. The hard disk stores various computer programs such as the role of the index storage unit 113 shown in FIG. 1 and various data processing programs.

  The drive 512 reads data or a program recorded on a removable recording medium 521 such as a magnetic disk, an optical disk, a magneto-optical disk, or a semiconductor memory, and the data or program is read out from the interface 507 and the external bus 506. , And supplied to the RAM 503 connected via the bridge 505 and the host bus 504.

  The connection port 514 is a port for connecting the external connection device 522 and has a connection unit such as USB or IEEE1394. The connection port 514 is connected to the CPU 501 and the like via the interface 507, the external bus 506, the bridge 505, the host bus 504, and the like. A communication unit 515 is connected to a network and executes transmission of data supplied from the CPU 501 or the HDD 511 and data reception.

  Note that the hardware configuration example of the information processing apparatus shown in FIG. 15 is an example of an apparatus configured by applying a PC, and the information processing apparatus of the present invention is not limited to the configuration shown in FIG. Any configuration can be used as long as the processing described in the above can be executed.

  The present invention has been described in detail above with reference to specific embodiments. However, it is obvious that those skilled in the art can make modifications and substitutions of the embodiments without departing from the gist of the present invention. In other words, the present invention has been disclosed in the form of exemplification, and should not be interpreted in a limited manner. In order to determine the gist of the present invention, the claims should be taken into consideration.

  The series of processes described in the specification can be executed by hardware, software, or a combined configuration of both. When executing processing by software, the program recording the processing sequence is installed in a memory in a computer incorporated in dedicated hardware and executed, or the program is executed on a general-purpose computer capable of executing various processing. It can be installed and run.

  For example, the program can be recorded in advance on a hard disk or ROM (Read Only Memory) as a recording medium. Alternatively, the program is temporarily or permanently stored on a removable recording medium such as a flexible disk, a CD-ROM (Compact Disc Read Only Memory), an MO (Magneto optical) disk, a DVD (Digital Versatile Disc), a magnetic disk, or a semiconductor memory. It can be stored (recorded). Such a removable recording medium can be provided as so-called package software.

  The program is installed on the computer from the removable recording medium as described above, or is wirelessly transferred from the download site to the computer, or is wired to the computer via a network such as a LAN (Local Area Network) or the Internet. The computer can receive the program transferred in this manner and install it on a recording medium such as a built-in hard disk.

  Note that the various processes described in the specification are not only executed in time series according to the description, but may be executed in parallel or individually according to the processing capability of the apparatus that executes the processes or as necessary. Further, in this specification, the system is a logical set configuration of a plurality of devices, and the devices of each configuration are not limited to being in the same casing.

  As described above, according to the configuration of the present invention, data applicable as ranking information of a document (document) is acquired from mail that is regularly transmitted and received by a client, and the acquired data is stored in a document information storage unit. The index information is stored in the index storage unit, and the ranking information is executed on the document information provided to the client according to the ranking information, for example, the search result data generated in response to the search request from the client, and presented to the user. It is possible to provide information with the most suitable ranking corresponding to the user without the trouble of recommending the document by the user, and efficiently provide search results such as a data list adapted to the user. Possible search system and information provision system can be constructed.

1 is a diagram illustrating an overall configuration of an information search system to which the present invention is applicable. It is a figure explaining the detail of the process which the information processing apparatus 110 as a search execution apparatus performs. It is a figure which shows the data structural example of the mail which a client transmits / receives via a network. It is a figure explaining the ranking information (1) which the ranking information extraction part 202 extracts from an email. It is a figure which shows the structural example of ML member data which the mailing list (ML) extraction part 203 acquires from the mail server 122. FIG. It is a figure explaining the example of a data structure of the ranking information (2) which the mailing list (ML) member extraction part 203 produces | generates. An example of user information that the user information extraction unit 204 acquires from the user information storage unit 115 using the mail address included in the ranking information (2) (FIG. 6) generated by the mailing list (ML) member extraction unit 203 as a key. It is a figure explaining. It is a figure which shows the example of ranking information (3) which replaced the address data recorded on ranking information (2) (FIG. 6) with user information. It is a figure which shows the example of the update list | wrist acquired from the index storage part. It is a figure which shows the example of the update index which the ranking information update part 206 produces | generates. It is a figure explaining the process which sets the weight and coefficient for every ranking information for performing the ranking in a ranking process part. It is a flowchart explaining the process sequence which performs the ranking process in the ranking process part 116, and acquires search result (2) from the search result (1) based on the search which the search part 112 performed. It is a figure explaining the example of calculation of rank value [R], and the calculation process of a date representative value. It is a figure which shows the example of data of search result (2) which is a list | wrist acquired as a sort result. FIG. 3 is a diagram for describing a hardware configuration example of an information processing apparatus that executes search processing, search result generation, and presentation processing.

Explanation of symbols

DESCRIPTION OF SYMBOLS 110 Information processing apparatus 111 Ranking information determination part 112 Search part 113 Index storage part 114 Data collection / registration processing part 115 User information storage part 116 Ranking processing part 121 File server 122 Mail server 131 Client 150 Network 150 Mail acquisition part 202 Ranking information extraction Section 203 Mailing list (ML) member extraction section 204 User information extraction section 205 Update document determination section 206 Ranking information update section 211 Mail 212 Ranking information (1)
213 Ranking information (2)
214 Ranking Information (3)
215 Update list 216 Update index 217 ML member data 218 User information 221 Search results (1)
222 results found (2)
DESCRIPTION OF SYMBOLS 301 Attribute data part 302 Body data part 311 to 313 Document information 351 to 354 Data part 401 to 404 Data 421 to 423 Ranking information 501 CPU (Central Processing Unit)
502 ROM (Read-Only-Memory)
503 RAM (Random Access Memory)
504 Host bus 505 Bridge 506 External bus 507 Interface 508 Keyboard 509 Pointing device 510 Display 511 HDD (Hard Disk Drive)
512 drive 514 connection port 515 communication unit 521 removable recording medium 522 external connection device

Claims (9)

The information processing apparatus der is,
And index storage unit for storing the index data including the document identification information for identifying the document,
A search unit that executes a search process based on the storage information of the index storage unit;
A ranking information determination unit that acquires ranking information to be applied to ranking processing of the document specific information from mail data transferred via a network, and stores the ranking information corresponding to each document in the index storage unit When,
A ranking processing unit that executes a provision data generation process to which the ranking information is applied to a first search result generated by the search of the search unit, and generates a second search result reflecting the ranking information;
I have a,
The ranking information determination unit, from each of mail data including document storage information of the mail data,
(A) Document storage location information described in the email body,
When,
(B) Mail destination information (To),
(C) Mail copy destination information (CC),
(D) Mail sender information (FROM),
And at least one of the attribute information of the mail data of
For each of the mail data, in the index data, (a) at least one of the attribute information of the mail data is associated with the document specifying information corresponding to the document storage location information described in the mail text. Store as ranking information,
The ranking processing unit is configured based on each ranking information set for each mail data corresponding to a document included in the first search result generated by the search of the search unit. The rank value [r] is calculated for the ranking information for each of the mail data from the variable that is different depending on whether or not the search execution user is included, and the rank value [r] for each ranking information is accumulated to obtain the document. The integrated rank value [R] is calculated, and based on the calculated integrated rank value [R], the document included in the first search result is sorted, and the second search that reflects the ranking information is performed. An information processing apparatus that generates a result . The ranking information determination unit
The information according to claim 1, wherein the mail address list acquired as ranking information is configured to execute a process of converting a mailing list set as a set of a plurality of mail addresses into mail addresses corresponding to each user. Processing equipment. The information processing apparatus further includes:
A user information storage unit storing user information data in which mail address information and a user name are associated;
The ranking information determination unit
The information processing apparatus according to claim 1, wherein mail address data acquired as ranking information is converted into a user name according to the user information, and processing for generating ranking information is executed. The ranking information determination unit
When the ranking information applied to the ranking processing of the document information is acquired from the mail data transferred via the network,
The information processing apparatus according to claim 1, wherein the information processing apparatus is configured to execute an update process for adding acquired ranking information to index data stored in the index storage unit. The ranking processing unit
Set weight (W) or coefficient (N) for the constituent data of the ranking information,
Based on the ranking information set corresponding to the document included in the first search result generated by the search of the search unit, the weight (W) and coefficient (N) and the constituent data of the ranking information based search run different values depending on whether the user is included and the said variables, calculates the document corresponding rank value [R], based on the rank value the calculated [R], search the first The information processing apparatus according to claim 1, wherein the information processing apparatus is configured to execute a sorting process of documents included in the result and generate a second search result reflecting the ranking information. Each of the ranking information includes (a) configuration data indicating whether the document storage location information described in the mail text includes specific document information or only a path name extracted from the corresponding mail data. ,
The ranking processing unit is configured to set a coefficient (N) with different values depending on whether or not document specific information is included based on the configuration data for the rank value calculated for each ranking information. The information processing apparatus according to claim 1. An information processing device,
An index storage unit storing index data including document specifying information for specifying a document;
A search unit that executes a search process based on the storage information of the index storage unit;
A ranking information determination unit that acquires ranking information to be applied to ranking processing of the document specific information from mail data transferred via a network, and stores the ranking information corresponding to each document in the index storage unit When,
A ranking processing unit that executes a provision data generation process to which the ranking information is applied to a first search result generated by the search of the search unit, and generates a second search result reflecting the ranking information;
Have
The ranking information determination unit, from each of mail data including document storage information of the mail data,
(A) Document storage location information described in the email body,
When,
(B) Mail transmission date / time information (DATE),
And extract
For each of the mail data, in the index data, (a) in association with document specifying information corresponding to the document storage location information described in the mail body, (b) the mail transmission date / time information (DATE) is ranked information. Store as
The ranking processing unit
The date for obtaining the latest data for the same document as the date data as the mail transmission date / time information included in the ranking information set corresponding to the document included in the first search result generated by the search by the search unit The representative value [T] calculation process is executed, and based on the calculated date representative value [T], the document included in the first search result is sorted, and the second search reflecting the ranking information is performed. information processing apparatus you characterized in that is configured to produce a result. Computer
An index storage unit storing index data including document specifying information for specifying a document;
A search unit that executes a search process based on the storage information of the index storage unit;
A ranking information determination unit that acquires ranking information to be applied to ranking processing of the document specific information from mail data transferred via a network, and stores the ranking information corresponding to each document in the index storage unit ,
A ranking processing unit that executes a provision data generation process that applies the ranking information to the first search result generated by the search of the search unit, and generates a second search result that reflects the ranking information;
Function as
The ranking information determination unit, from each of mail data including document storage information of the mail data,
(A) Document storage location information described in the email body,
When,
(B) Mail destination information (To),
(C) Mail copy destination information (CC),
(D) Mail sender information (FROM),
And at least one of the attribute information of the mail data of
For each of the mail data, in the index data, (a) at least one of the attribute information of the mail data is associated with the document specifying information corresponding to the document storage location information described in the mail text. Store as ranking information,
The ranking processing unit is configured based on each ranking information set for each mail data corresponding to a document included in the first search result generated by the search of the search unit. The rank value [r] is calculated for the ranking information for each of the mail data from the variable that is different depending on whether or not the search execution user is included, and the rank value [r] for each ranking information is accumulated to obtain the document. The integrated rank value [R] is calculated, and based on the calculated integrated rank value [R], the document included in the first search result is sorted, and the second search that reflects the ranking information is performed. A computer program characterized by generating a result . Computer
An index storage unit storing index data including document specifying information for specifying a document;
A search unit that executes a search process based on the storage information of the index storage unit;
A ranking information determination unit that acquires ranking information to be applied to ranking processing of the document specific information from mail data transferred via a network, and stores the ranking information corresponding to each document in the index storage unit ,
A ranking processing unit that executes a provision data generation process that applies the ranking information to the first search result generated by the search of the search unit, and generates a second search result that reflects the ranking information;
Function as
The ranking information determination unit, from each of mail data including document storage information of the mail data,
(A) Document storage location information described in the email body,
When,
(B) Mail transmission date / time information (DATE),
And extract
For each of the mail data, in the index data, (a) in association with document specifying information corresponding to the document storage location information described in the mail body, (b) the mail transmission date / time information (DATE) is ranked information. Store as
The ranking processing unit
The date for obtaining the latest data for the same document as the date data as the mail transmission date / time information included in the ranking information set corresponding to the document included in the first search result generated by the search by the search unit The representative value [T] calculation process is executed, and based on the calculated date representative value [T], the document included in the first search result is sorted, and the second search reflecting the ranking information is performed. A computer program characterized by being configured to generate a result.

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