JP5719813B2 - Information processing apparatus and control method thereof - Google Patents

Description

  The present invention relates to an information processing apparatus and a control method thereof, and particularly relates to improvement in operability of information retrieval.

  In the technical field of application software (browser) for browsing an electronic document (hypertext) having a mechanism capable of having a reference link to another electronic document in the document, “bookmark” and “ Means of simple access to an arbitrary electronic document are provided under a name such as “favorite”. Further, not only browsers but also simple access means that collect links to several hypertexts are well known.

  An example of the simple access means that collects the links described above is, for example, Patent Document 1. Patent Document 1 describes that a bookmark is displayed as a reduced image of a page corresponding to the bookmark. It also describes that each bookmark is automatically circulated and a reduced image or the like is updated.

International Publication No. 99-17229

  2. Description of the Related Art Conventionally, a so-called search engine has been known as a website for efficiently obtaining a large amount of information on the WWW (World Wide Web). The user searches with such a search engine, and considers which site to view according to the purpose from the search result page. However, while this conventional method can search across various web pages, it tends to narrow down the purpose from search results in which many pages other than the target are mixed.

  As another search method, there is a method of visiting a website according to the purpose and performing a search while switching the visited website. For example, if the purpose is shopping, a site A, a site B, and a site C that are suitable for that purpose are visited, a search is performed for each, and knowledge, prices, and services regarding products are examined while switching search results. If the object of investigation is the purpose, another site D or site E is visited, and a search is performed for each.

  However, while this conventional method can search only on the target website, it requires an operation of walking around a similar site. Moreover, the method of browsing search results varies from website to website.

  As described above, there are two methods for obtaining information desired to be obtained from information existing on the WWW: a method of performing a cross-sectional search and a method of searching a website of a similar category and searching for each. . And as mentioned above, these have advantages and disadvantages.

  Accordingly, an object of the present invention is to perform the above-described cross search and a search for searching a plurality of sites of similar categories in the same operation.

In order to achieve the above object, the present invention provides site information storage means for storing website information , keyword input means for allowing a user to input a keyword, and clickable corresponding to each website stored in the site information storage means. Display means for performing processing for displaying an area, and the display means is a searchable site on a clickable area corresponding to a searchable website when a keyword is input by the keyword input means. An information processing apparatus is provided that performs a process of displaying a mark that clearly indicates the fact .
Further, site information storage means for storing website information, keyword input means for allowing the user to input keywords, site selection means for allowing the user to select one or more websites, and keywords input by the keyword input means When a plurality of websites are selected by the site selection unit in a state of being acquired, search URLs respectively corresponding to the plurality of selected websites are acquired from the site information storage unit and selected. A display site URL generating unit that generates a search result URL using a keyword input for each of a plurality of websites; and a display unit that performs a process of displaying a page corresponding to the generated search result URL. The website information includes the URL of the representative page, and the display site URL generating means When one or a plurality of websites are selected by the site selection means in a state where no keyword is input by the keyword input means, each of the selected one or more websites is selected from the site information storage means. A corresponding representative page URL is generated, and the display means performs processing to display a page corresponding to the generated representative page URL.

In order to achieve the above object, the present invention provides a control method for an information processing apparatus including site information storage means for storing website information, the keyword input process for allowing a user to input a keyword, and the site information And a display process for displaying a clickable area corresponding to each website stored in the storage means. In the display process, when a keyword is input by the keyword input process, a searchable website is displayed. Provided is a control method for an information processing apparatus, characterized in that a process for displaying a mark clearly indicating a searchable site on a corresponding clickable area is performed.
A method of controlling an information processing apparatus including site information storage means for storing website information, the keyword input process for allowing a user to input a keyword, and the site selection process for allowing a user to select one or more websites. When a plurality of websites are selected by the site selection process in a state where a keyword is input by the keyword input process, each of the websites corresponding to the plurality of websites selected from the site information storage unit A process for acquiring a search URL and generating a search result URL using a keyword input for each of a plurality of selected websites, and a process for displaying a page corresponding to the generated search result URL only contains a display processing to perform, the, the information of the web site, URL of the representative page contains In the display site URL generation process, when one or a plurality of websites are selected by the site selection process in a state where no keyword is input by the keyword input process, the selection is made from the site information storage unit. An information processing apparatus that generates a URL of a representative page corresponding to each of the one or a plurality of websites that is displayed, and displays the page corresponding to the URL of the generated representative page in the display process A control method is provided.

  According to the present invention, it is possible to perform a cross-sectional search and a search for searching a plurality of sites of similar categories in the same operation.

It is a block diagram which shows an example of the hardware constitutions of the information processing apparatus 1 which concerns on embodiment of this invention. It is a block diagram which shows the function structure of the information processing apparatus 1 of FIG. It is a flowchart figure which shows the flow of the information processing which concerns on this embodiment. It is a figure which shows an example of the user interface provided by this embodiment. It is a figure which shows an example of the state by which the character string was input into the character string input field 202 of FIG. FIG. 6 is a diagram illustrating an example of a state where a plurality of websites are selected from the state of FIG. 5.

  FIG. 1 shows an example of a hardware configuration of an information processing apparatus 1 according to an embodiment of the present invention. As the information processing apparatus 1, typically, a personal computer (including a so-called notebook type as well as a so-called slate type and a pad type), a high-function mobile phone called a smartphone, and the like are preferable examples. There are, but are not limited to those listed here.

  As illustrated in FIG. 1, the information processing apparatus 1 includes a processing unit 100, a text input unit 101, a pointing device 102, a storage unit 103, a display unit 104, and a network interface 105 as hardware.

  The processing unit 100 includes, for example, a central processing unit and a primary storage device. The text input unit 101 is composed of a keyboard device. Alternatively, for example, a software keyboard displayed on the touch panel may be used. The pointing device 102 includes a mouse device and a touch pad.

  The storage unit 103 is a secondary storage device. The display unit 104 is a screen device such as a liquid crystal display device. You may comprise by the display function of a touchscreen. The network interface 105 is an interface between the information processing apparatus 1 and an external network. The information processing apparatus 1 communicates with an external host such as a web server via a network.

  The information processing apparatus 1 is installed with a software program for performing predetermined information processing using the hardware described with reference to FIG. There is an operating system as basic software. In addition, there is a browser as a software program for visualizing hypertext, multimedia files, and the like transmitted from a web server.

  The bookmark program according to the present embodiment is installed as another application program that uses the browser. Alternatively, it may be installed as a browser plug-in or the like. The specific mounting method is not limited.

  As a method of providing the bookmark program, there are various methods such as a method of preinstalling in the information processing apparatus 1, a method of storing and distributing in an information storage medium such as a compact disc, and a method of downloading and distributing via a network. This method can be used.

  Each function according to the present embodiment as shown in FIG. 2 is provided by the cooperation of the bookmark program and the hardware. FIG. 2 is a block diagram illustrating a functional configuration of the information processing apparatus 1.

  Referring to FIG. 2, the information processing apparatus 1 includes a keyword input unit 111, a site selection unit 112, a display site URL generation unit 113, a site information storage unit 114, and a site display unit 115.

  The keyword input unit 111 and the site selection unit 112 can be regarded as part of a user interface (hereinafter simply referred to as “UI”) provided by the bookmark program. Details of the UI will be described later.

  The display site URL generation unit 113 includes a keyword input by the keyword input unit 111, site selection information input by the site selection unit 112 (information on which website has been selected by the user), site information storage unit Based on the site information stored in 114, a URL (Uniform Resource Locator) of the display site is generated.

  The site information storage unit 114 is configured by using a storage area of the storage unit 103, and stores information on URLs for searching each website and search methods for each website.

  The site display means 115 is a means for displaying a search result page based on the generated URL of the display site. This can be done with the browser's drawing engine.

  A detailed description will be given below of how the above-described components cooperate to realize predetermined information processing. FIG. 3 shows the flow of information processing according to the present embodiment. An example of a UI provided by the bookmark program is shown in FIG.

  When the bookmark program is called and executed in the information processing apparatus 1, a UI as shown in FIG. 4 is displayed on the display unit 104. The entire UI 200 includes a title logo 201 of the UI, a character string input field 202, a search execution button 203, a site list 205 including a plurality of clickable areas 204, and the like.

  The character string input field 202 allows the user of this UI to input a character string that the user wants to search, and the character string input here can be used as a keyword for the bookmark program by pressing the search execution button 203. Can be entered as Therefore, the character string input field 202 and the search execution button 203 are an example of the keyword input unit 111.

  The search execution button 203 is associated with an operation for executing a search for an input character string by the default search engine of the bookmark program.

  The entire UI 200 includes a site list 205. The site list 205 includes a plurality of clickable areas 204, and each of the clickable areas 204 corresponds to one website. On the clickable area 204, thumbnail images of the corresponding websites are displayed.

  When nothing is entered in the character string input field 202, the user selects one clickable area 204 and clicks a thumbnail image using the pointing device 102, a corresponding website is opened. Therefore, the site list 205 is a visual bookmark.

  The clickable area 204 may be, for example, right-clicked on the pointing device 102, left-clicked while pressing a predetermined key of the text input unit 101, or left-clicked after clicking a predetermined icon in the entire UI 200. Multiple operations can be selected by performing some kind of operation.

  Thus, one or a plurality of websites can be selected by clicking a thumbnail image of the website. The site list 205 including the clickable area 204 is an example of the site selection unit 112.

  As shown in FIG. 4, the sizes of the clickable areas 204 need not all be the same. Moreover, you may divide into several groups for every kind of corresponding website. Although FIG. 4 illustrates site 1 to site 9, for example, it may be designed so that more clickable areas 204 are displayed on the UI by flicking the site list 205 to the left.

  At the time when the flow shown in FIG. 3 is started, the UI screen of FIG. 4 as described above is displayed on the display unit 104. From the state of FIG. 4, the information processing apparatus 1 waits for some input by the user (S101).

  The input in S101 is either an input that the clickable area 204 is clicked or a character input to the character string input field 202.

  In the former case, that is, when one or a plurality of clickable areas 204 in which thumbnail images of the website are displayed is clicked, the site selection unit 112 displays information indicating which website has been selected as a display site URL. The information is input to the generation unit 113, and the display site URL generation unit 113 generates the URL of the display site. The site display unit 115 downloads information necessary for display from the URL received from the display site URL generation unit 113 and performs display processing (S102 / click, S103).

  On the other hand, in the latter case, that is, when a character is input to the character string input field 202 (S102 / character string), as shown in FIG. 5, a process of clearly indicating a searchable site is performed (S104). .

  Referring to FIG. 5, an example of a state in which a character string is input to the character string input field 202 is shown in the UI of FIG. When a character string is input to the character string input field 202, the site selection unit 112 searches the searchable site 204 in the clickable area 204 corresponding to the site (searchable site) corresponding to the site where the character string can be searched. A mark 206 indicating that is displayed.

  The site information storage unit 114 stores whether each website can be searched. The site selection unit 112 determines whether or not the mark 206 is displayed based on the search availability information stored in the site information storage unit 114. In the example shown in FIG. 5, since the sites 4 and 7 cannot search the input character string, the mark 206 is not displayed.

  Next, the information processing apparatus 1 or the entire UI 200 receives a user's selection operation (S105). The selection operation is performed by an operation such as clicking a desired clickable area 204 using the pointing device 102.

  In the present embodiment, the processing and UI behavior differ depending on whether one or more websites are selected. First, a case where one website is selected will be described.

  When one web site is selected by the user, the display site URL generating unit 113 confirms that the execution of the search is instructed by the user (S106 / Yes). Preferably, one of the clickable areas 204 has a predetermined operation such as a left click performed using the pointing device 102, and is regarded as an instruction to execute a search for an input character string for one website. .

  Next, a case where a plurality of items are selected will be described. When a plurality of websites are selected by the user, the information processing apparatus 1 displays a search execution button 207 for executing a search collectively as shown in FIG.

  FIG. 6 shows an example of a state where a plurality of websites are selected from the state of FIG. When a plurality of websites are selected by the user, the information processing apparatus 1 displays a bar 208 as shown in FIG. 6, for example, and causes a search execution button 207 to appear on the bar 208.

  As the user's selection operation for selecting a plurality of websites, for example, an operation in which a predetermined operation such as right-clicking any one of the clickable areas 204 is performed using the pointing device 102 is preferable. The selected website is clearly shown with a selection mark 209 in the upper right corner of the clickable area 204, as shown in FIG.

  When the site selection unit 112 detects that the search execution button 207 has been pressed, the site selection unit 112 regards the search execution when multiple selections are made (S106 / Yes in FIG. 3). The site selection unit 112 inputs information about the selected website corresponding to the clickable area 204 with the selection mark 209 to the display site URL generation unit 113. At the same time, the keyword input unit 111 regards the character string input in the character string input field 202 as a keyword and inputs it to the display site URL generation unit 113.

  The display site URL generation unit 113 includes a keyword input by the keyword input unit 111, site selection information input by the site selection unit 112 (information on which website has been selected by the user), site information storage unit Based on the site information stored in 114, a URL (Uniform Resource Locator) of the display site is generated (S107).

For example, the search result when the keyword is “patent” in Google (registered trademark) of the search site is the following URL.
https://www.google.com/search?q=patent
That is, the display site URL generation unit 113 specifies the search URL corresponding to the website selected by the user using the selection unit 112 from the site information storage unit 114 and is stored in the site information storage unit 114. The URL for obtaining the search result is generated by combining the URL for use with the keyword input by the user using the keyword input unit 111.

  Next, the site display unit 115 accesses the URL received from the display site URL generation unit 113, downloads information necessary for site display, and performs display processing (S108).

  The processing content of S108 is the same as that of S103, and the site display unit 115 only opens the URL received from the display site URL generation unit 113. There is no need to divide the processing depending on whether the URL is a search result or not.

  Further, regarding the URL generated by the display site URL generating means 113, if no keyword is input (S102 / click), a URL that is not for search may be used. In the site information storage unit 114, for each website, a URL that is not used for searching when the clickable area 204 is simply clicked, and a URL that is used for assembling URL generation when a keyword is input. Are linked. The URL not for search is a representative page of the website such as a top page of the website, for example.

  For websites that do not have a search URL, the mark 206 is not displayed as in Site 4 and Site 7 in FIG.

  According to the present embodiment described above, the cross-sectional search described in the problem and the search for searching a plurality of sites of similar categories in the site can be performed by the same operation. Further, according to the present embodiment, in the case of site search of similar categories, collective search at a plurality of sites using the same keyword is realized. Moreover, according to this embodiment, the operativity at the time of searching a website improves.

DESCRIPTION OF SYMBOLS 1 Information processing apparatus 100 Processing part 101 Text input part 102 Pointing device 103 Storage part 104 Display part 105 Network interface 111 Keyword input means 112 Site selection means 113 Display site URL generation means 114 Site information storage means 115 Site display means 200 UI whole 201 Title logo 202 Character string input field 203 Search execution button 204 Clickable area 205 Site list 206 Mark 207 Search execution button 208 Bar 209 Selection mark

Claims (6)

Site information storage means for storing website information;
Keyword input means for allowing the user to input keywords;
Display means for performing a process of displaying a clickable area corresponding to each website stored in the site information storage means ;
Equipped with a,
When the keyword is input by the keyword input unit, the display unit performs a process of displaying a mark that clearly indicates a searchable site on a clickable area corresponding to a searchable website.
An information processing apparatus characterized by that.   A site selection means for allowing the user to select one or more websites;
  The display means is a search execution button for causing the selected websites to execute a search collectively when a plurality of websites are selected by the site selection means while the mark is displayed. Display
  The information processing apparatus according to claim 1. Site information storage means for storing website information;
Keyword input means for allowing the user to input keywords;
Site selection means for allowing the user to select one or more websites;
When a plurality of websites are selected by the site selection means in a state where a keyword is input by the keyword input means, the search information respectively corresponding to the plurality of selected websites from the site information storage means Display site URL generation means for acquiring a URL and generating a search result URL using a keyword input for each of the selected plurality of websites;
Display means for performing processing for displaying a page corresponding to the generated search result URL;
With
The website information includes the URL of the representative page,
The display site URL generation means is selected from the site information storage means when one or more websites are selected by the site selection means in a state where no keyword is input by the keyword input means. Generating URLs for representative pages corresponding to one or more websites,
The display means, information processing apparatus you and performs a process of displaying the page corresponding to the URL of the generated representative page. The site information storage means stores a default search engine and a search URL corresponding to the default search engine,
The display site URL generation means, when a keyword is input by the keyword input means, when there is no selection by the site selection means and execution of search is instructed, and the default search 4. The information processing apparatus according to claim 3 , wherein a search result URL is generated based on a search URL corresponding to an engine.   A method for controlling an information processing apparatus comprising site information storage means for storing website information,
  Keyword input processing that allows the user to enter keywords,
  A display process for performing a process of displaying a clickable area corresponding to each website stored in the site information storage means;
  Including
  In the display process, when a keyword is input by the keyword input process, a mark that clearly indicates that the site is a searchable site is displayed on the clickable area corresponding to the searchable website.
  A method for controlling an information processing apparatus. A method for controlling an information processing apparatus comprising site information storage means for storing website information,
Keyword input processing that allows the user to enter keywords,
A site selection process that allows the user to select one or more websites;
When a plurality of websites are selected by the site selection process in a state where keywords are input by the keyword input process, the search information respectively corresponding to the selected websites from the site information storage means A display site URL generation process for acquiring a URL and generating a search result URL using a keyword input for each of a plurality of selected websites;
A display process for performing a process of displaying a page corresponding to the generated search result URL;
Only including,
The website information includes the URL of the representative page,
In the display site URL generation process, when one or a plurality of websites are selected by the site selection process in a state where no keyword is input by the keyword input process, it is selected from the site information storage unit. Generating URLs for representative pages corresponding to one or more websites,
In the display process, a process for displaying a page corresponding to the generated URL of the representative page is performed .

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