JPH03294964A - Document retrieving method - Google Patents

Abstract

PURPOSE:To efficiently execute the reduction of a document desired by a user by executing a retrieval operation, whenever a retrieval keyword is inputted, and displaying keyword information contained in a candidate document obtained from a result of this retrieval to a user. CONSTITUTION:A keyboard 1, a mouse 2, a keyword input part 3, a file 4, a retrieving part 5, and a display part 6 are provided. In such a state, whenever a retrieval keyword is inputted, the retrieval operation is executed, and keyword information contained in a candidate document obtained from a result of this retrieval is displayed to a user. In such a way, a retrieval conditional expression by plural retrieval keywords is constructed interactively and appropriately, and the reduction of a document desired by a user is executed efficiently.

Description

DETAILED DESCRIPTION OF THE INVENTION Field of the Invention The present invention relates to a document search device that searches for a desired document from a large amount of documents by inputting search conditions including a plurality of keywords.

BACKGROUND OF THE INVENTION Conventionally, document search devices have various search methods, one of which is to search for related keywords using a keyword connection table that describes related information between each keyword, and search all registered documents from these keywords. The applicant has proposed, for example, a patent application that calculates the document accuracy (evaluation value with a larger value for documents closer to the user's search request), sorts the documents in descending order of document accuracy, and outputs them as search results. No. 63-8291 “Document search device”
It has been proposed by et al. With such a document search device, even if the user does not remember exact keywords, by performing a vague search using a keyword connection table, it is possible to obtain a suitable amount of search results.

Problems to be Solved by the Invention In such a search device, a plurality of keywords are combined with logical operators such as AND, OR, or NOT as a search condition expression for a user to search for an appropriate document. Keyword expressions can be used. However, even if a keyword seems appropriate to a user, that keyword is not always registered, and it is not so easy for a user to think of a truly appropriate keyword formula. There is a lot of waste and time required to search for the desired document.

Means for Solving the Problem A document search device that allows a user to input search conditions including a search keyword, and uses a search unit to search for a desired document that satisfies the search conditions from among a plurality of documents stored in a file. In this system, a search operation is performed each time a search keyword is input, and keyword information included in candidate documents obtained from the search results is displayed to the user.

Effects When entering multiple search keywords to narrow down the search conditions, keyword information in candidate documents associated with the search results will be displayed each time the user enters a search keyword. , the user can know the appropriate search keyword to input next.

Therefore, search condition expressions based on a plurality of search keywords can be appropriately constructed interactively, and documents desired by the user can be efficiently narrowed down.

Example An embodiment of the present invention will be described based on the drawings.

First, a keyword input section 3 to which an input device such as a keyboard 1 and a pointing device such as a mouse 2 are connected is provided. This keyword input section 3 contains a search condition expression including the input search keyword.
Search to search for a desired document from a large number of documents in file 4 using a keyword connection table (not shown) and an inverted file (a collection of pointers from keywords to documents, not particularly shown) Section 5 is connected. In addition, document information searched by the search unit 5,
A display section 6 for displaying input information from the keyword input section 3 is provided.

This embodiment with such a configuration has the following functions.

The user inputs the first search keyword through the keyword input section 3. The search unit 5 uses these keywords and the keyword connection table to create a search keyword list, and searches for documents using this list. The display unit 6 displays the search results as follows: ■ - ■ ■ List of candidate documents sorted in descending order of document certainty ■ Summary of each candidate document ■ Keywords included in each candidate document ■ Keywords included in the search result documents Selectively display the statistical information of the keywords that appear in one of the information formats.

The user inputs the next search keyword while referring to the displayed content. Here, ■■ above is a display function that is also provided in conventional search systems, but ■■ is a new display function based on the tree proposal. ■ is displayed in association with ■, and keywords included in the document are displayed together with the candidate document name. If there is a suitable keyword for the next search among the displayed keywords, enter it using the keyboard 1 or the like, or use the mouse 2 to input the keyword displayed on the display section 6.
Click to select and enter. At this time,
Using logical operators such as AND, OR, NOT, etc., describe the relationship with the initial search keyword and construct a keyword expression.

On the other hand, ■ displays the keywords that appear in the search result documents in order of frequency of appearance, and if there is a suitable keyword for the next search, enter it using keyboard 1 or mouse 2 as in the case above. do it.

This will be explained using a specific example. For example, when a user searches for documents related to UNIX, the first search keyword is ○S.
Suppose you input ++. In this case, there should be documents related to O8 other than UNIX, such as MS-DO3, at the top of the search results, and this can be easily known from the information displayed in ■. Therefore, the user searches for "AND NOT MS-DO3" as the next search keyword.
” (This is done by using the mouse 2 to type “AND” and “NOT” on the display screen of the display unit 6.
(You may also select and input by clicking ``O3AND NOT MS-DO3++'').
This means that you have entered the keyword expression.

The next search target can be selected from two options: ``documents from previous search results'' and ``all documents,'' and if the user determines that the former is sufficient, the user can search at high speed. Also,
Using the display information in ■, if unnecessary keywords appear frequently, exclude them with llN0T''',
If the required keyword appears less frequently, it can also be specified explicitly.

As described above, according to this embodiment, the search process is displayed interactively each time the user inputs a keyword formula little by little, so it is easy to construct an appropriate keyword formula, even from a large number of registered documents. Users can efficiently narrow down the documents they desire.

Effects of the Invention In the present invention, as described above, a search operation is performed each time a search keyword is input, and keyword information included in candidate documents obtained from the search results is displayed to the user. When attempting to enter multiple search keywords that form search conditions in order to narrow down the search documents, the user can know the appropriate search keyword to enter next from the displayed information, so that multiple search keywords can be used. It is possible to interactively and appropriately construct search condition expressions based on the above, and it is possible to efficiently narrow down documents desired by the user.

[Brief explanation of drawings]

The drawing is a block diagram showing one embodiment of the present invention. 4...File, 5...Search section

Claims (1)

[Claims] In a document retrieval device in which a user inputs a search condition including a search keyword, and a search unit searches for a desired document that satisfies the search condition from among a plurality of documents stored in a file, the search keyword is input. A document retrieval method characterized in that a retrieval operation is performed for each retrieval operation, and keyword information included in candidate documents obtained from the retrieval results is displayed to a user.