JPH07175825A - Document retrieving/displaying method - Google Patents

Abstract

PURPOSE:To quickly and easily retrieve end display the documents in a client- server type document retrieving system where the document data base and the user terminal are defined as a server and a client respectively. CONSTITUTION:A document retrieving/displaying device 101, a document display data base 103 and a document retrieving data base 108 are connected together via a communication circuit 102. The screen of the device 101 consists of a retrieving screen, a reservation retrieving screen, a field designating screen, an index display screen, 8 display contents designating screen, a layout display screen, an item display screen, etc. In such a constitution, a user is not required to be conscious of a specific device that stores the document to be retrieved. Then the user can retrieve his desired documents with the bibliographic items and the text contents mixed together and can see the retrieving results in various display forms such as an item display form, a layout display form, etc. Thus the relative information can be easily retrieved.

Description

Detailed Description of the Invention

[0001]

BACKGROUND OF THE INVENTION 1. Field of the Invention The present invention relates to a method for searching and displaying document data, and more particularly to a method for full-text searching and document browsing of structured documents in item units. Examples of the document include patent information, academic literature, news articles, and the like.

[0002]

2. Description of the Related Art Optical disks, especially CD-ROMs,
It is a read-only recording medium that can provide a large amount of information widely and inexpensively, and many CD-ROMs are currently supplied, and the number thereof tends to expand in the future. In using the CD-ROM, there are a method of using a dedicated CD-ROM search device and a method of connecting a CD-ROM device to a computer typified by a personal computer and using a search program for reading information from the CD-ROM. .

When using the information on the CD-ROM, the user first selects the CD-ROM storing the desired information from the CD-ROM storage location, and selects it from the CD-ROM search device or
Insert it in the CD-ROM drive. Next, select the CD-ROM search device or computer search program to start up, enter the search code to search for the target information, and display / print the target information on the output device. .

[0004]

However, there are the following problems in using the conventional CD-ROM. There is a problem that the access speed of a CD-ROM is slower than that of a magnetic disk. It is possible to use an autochanger equipped with hundreds of CD-ROMs, but there is a problem that the response time is reduced in the case of an online search that requires an instant search on the spot. There is a demand for a system that allows multiple users to share this large amount of information without being aware of the storage location.

In addition, a new CD-ROM that is continuously issued is a CD.
-When accumulating in the ROM library, whenever you insert it into the CD-ROM drive device, start the search process according to the specified procedure, and execute the program that creates the related database etc. However, there are problems that the maintenance work load on the operator is heavy and that human error is likely to occur.

[0006] Further, during maintenance accompanied by the acquisition of a new CD-ROM, there is no room to add to the CD-ROM drive device, or the disk for storing the result of updating the related database etc. becomes full. Problems such as not being able to accommodate all of them also occur.

[0007] In order to retrieve a necessary one from a large amount of documents, it is difficult to narrow it down sufficiently by a bibliographical retrieval, and the retrieval of the text is essential.

[0008] There is also a demand for a method capable of narrowing down the results retrieved by the system from the user's point of view by browsing from the terminal.

Therefore, an object of the present invention is to make searching and document browsing fast and easy in a client / server type document retrieval system in which a document database is a server and a user's terminal is a client.

[0010]

To achieve the above object, the present invention provides a document display database for storing information for displaying the contents of a document, which includes a CD-ROM drive device and a control device, and a search device. A document search database that stores information for searching the content of a document, and is connected to the document display database and the document search database via a communication line to input a search request and display a search result. Of the document search display device, the search device of the document search database searches for the search request input using the screen for inputting the condition for the document content search of the document search display device. Then, the search result is displayed on the screen displaying the list of the search results of the document search display device.

[0011]

In the document search and display method of the present invention, the document search is performed in the document search database, and the actual search result is viewed to retrieve the actual document contents from the document display database equipped with the CD-ROM drive device. Display it. Therefore, the user can enter the search request in a format in which the bibliographic items and the content of the text are mixed without being aware of the storage location and range of the document to be searched, and the list of search results and the document The contents of can be viewed simultaneously from the user's terminal.

[0012]

An embodiment of the present invention will be described below with reference to the drawings. In the example, SGML published on CD-ROM media
The present invention is not limited to the system for searching patent documents in the format (Standard Generalized Markup Language, ISO8879). An equivalent system is configured even for documents that have a mixed text / image structure, such as SGML, which has a logical document structure (in the patent example, each item such as a claim is marked). can do.

FIG. 1 is a block diagram of a system for realizing a document search / display system according to an embodiment of the present invention. This system includes a document search / display device 101, a document database 1 103, and a document database 2 108. 102 is a communication path such as a LAN, and 111 and 112 are printing devices. In the figure, the components 101, 103, and 108 are connected to the same communication path for simplification, but only these two components need to be connected to the same communication path. Also,
Each component may be composed of multiple devices.
That is, if the central server of the present system is the document database 1 (103) for document display, the document search display device 101 is once connected to the control device 104. The document database 2 (108) is a document search database that stores data for document search, and the control device 104 of the document database 1 (103) stores the document database 2 (108) in accordance with a search request from the user. The request may be reissued to the search device 109. The amount of data transferred from the control device 104 to the document search / display device 101 is larger than the amount of data transfer between the control device 104 and the search device 109 because it is necessary to display the content of the document. Therefore, it is necessary to speed up the communication path between the control device 104 and the document search display device 101. Further, since the search device 109 needs to search all the texts, the scale becomes large, and it is appropriate to meet the requests of the plurality of control devices 104. In this case, the search response time does not decrease even if the comparatively slow line is used. At this time, if the storage range of the document is divided and the document databases 1 and 2 are composed of a plurality of devices, the processing can be executed in parallel and the overall processing performance is improved.

Details of FIG. 1 will be described. Reference numeral 101 is a document search display device which is a terminal device of a user, 103 and 108 are document databases used by many users, and 103 which is a document database 1 is a control device 104 and a CD-ROM drive.
It consists of 105 and a storage device 106. Generally, a CD-ROM drive 10
The access speed of a device storing a large number of CD-ROM media such as 5 is lower than that of an external storage device such as a magnetic disk. The storage device 106 is used as a cache that speeds up access to the CD-ROM drive device. Or a new CD-R that is likely to be accessed frequently
The OM medium 107 is stored for a certain period. The new CD-ROM medium 107 is temporarily stored in the storage device 106 and is stored in the CD-ROM drive 105 after a certain period of time. This is because the newly arrived document is considered to have a higher access frequency. When a document is accessed after a certain period of time, the document is stored in the CD-ROM drive 105, but the accessed document is also stored in the storage device 106 and the same document is accessed again. Reduce waiting time. The controller 104 controls the access described above.

The document database 2 of 108 comprises a retrieval device 109 for retrieving the text portion of a document and a storage device 110. The document stored in the database is composed of a text portion and a figure or image portion. Furthermore, audio and video may be stored. Of these constituent parts, it is the text part that can be searched by comparing characters. In order to execute this search processing, the storage device is composed of data of only the text portion.

Next, details of the document search / display device 101 will be described. FIG. 2 shows the main menu 201 in the initial state when the document search / display program operating on the document search / display device 101 is executed. A search 202, a reservation / batch search 203, a field-specific search display 204, and an end 205 are selected according to the content of the work. The user inputs a search request in the search 202 to browse the corresponding document or issue a print request. In the reservation / batch 203, only the search request is registered and the corresponding document is not browsed. In case of reservation search,
Each time a new document arrives, this search system automatically executes the search items of the user registered in advance. Then, the search result is printed and distributed, or an outline of the search and the document itself of the search result are notified by e-mail. In the case of a batch, the user browses the document as in the 202 search.
However, the search process is not activated by the issuance of the search request, and is processed in a batch at the same time as other search requests. By field
204 can be browsed according to a classification like a paper medium. When the user search processing is completed, the connection with the document database is cut off at end 205, and this program ends.

By these selections, the display screen is changed to its own display screen. In order to display that other jobs cannot be selected again in the state after the transition, the other job menu is grayed out.

Next, the details when the search 202 is called from the main menu 201 will be described. FIG. 3 shows a search screen 301 for inputting a search request. On this screen, the menu is File 302, Edit 303, Option 304, Dictionary 3
05, there is help 306. File 302, search screen 301
Create a new state and save it, call an existing state, or save the current state. When creating a new window, the window is initialized to the default state. However, if the search expression input before the selection is not saved, the save confirmation screen (see FIG. 11) is displayed. Edit 303
Then, edit it by pasting the character string of another screen. In the option 304, designation of whether to execute expansion of synonyms (for example, words such as computers and computers that are different words but mean the same content),
Different expressions with different expressions (computer and computer, etc.) The type of character string that is the target of expansion, that is, whether it is katakana, uppercase or lowercase letters of the alphabet, full-width or half-width for the alphabet Specify whether or not to execute, or whether to execute full-width / half-width characters of all characters. The dictionary 305 refers to a dictionary prepared in advance and searches for an appropriate code. These synonym / different notation expansion designations are effective in all search processing. In the case of FIG. 3, the menu dictionary 305 and search execution 311
The scene is targeted. Here, as an example, the applicant's code can be searched from the company name (see FIG. 8), IPC
Shows the case of searching for a related technical name. The help 306 displays a document that describes detailed usage methods on the screen of FIG. Further, as shown in the figure, version information of this document search / display program and database is also displayed.

The type of document is selected by the publication type 307. Document types include open patent gazette, open utility model,
There are patent publications and the like. The publication range 308 displays the storage range of the document selected by the publication type 307. This display is the publication range
It is linked with the designation of 308. Search keyword specification area 309
Enter the search item (see FIG. 6), search keyword, and search method (see FIG. 7) using. One line is a related keyword, and a combination of a plurality of keywords can be specified as the search logical expression 310 in this search keyword specification area. The rightmost side of the search keyword designation area 309 is an area for displaying the number of hits (the number of target documents for the keyword). In addition, the number of lines displayed in the search keyword specification area is limited due to the restriction of the screen area (5 lines in FIG. 3).
Therefore, a scroll bar is provided on the right side of the area. The search formula of the result is logical sum +, logical product *, logical negation #
・ Describe using the calculation order specification (). Search formula 310
In the area on the right side of, the number of results of applying the logical expression to the search results of a plurality of keywords is displayed. The execution control 311 is capable of activating related processing with a button, and here, two types of activation processing, “batch registration” and “search execution” are illustrated. By pressing this button, the process is activated. While the process is being executed, the screen shown in FIG. 4 is displayed and input to the search screen 301 is prohibited. The search execution screen 401 has a display area for a message display label 402 and a progress graph 403. With these, the error of the search expression in the search process, the phase of the search process, and the like are displayed, and the extent to which the search process is progressing for all databases is displayed in a graph. The number of hits during the execution of the search is displayed in the item of the number of hits in the search keyword designation area 309 of the search screen 301 simultaneously with the search processing. The search in progress can be interrupted by the “stop” button 404.

Here, the search screen 301 will be returned to for explanation. The search history designation area 312 displays a history of searches executed after the transition to the search screen 308. The search ID is an identification number for executing the search and is a numerical value starting from 1. Up to 9
When it reaches 999, it returns to 1. The history base is a search identification number when narrowing down when searching. As the keyword, the search keyword specified in the search keyword specification area 309 is quoted. This citation is generally the first search keyword that appears in the search logical expression, but the most or less keywords may be quoted depending on the number of hits. Further, it may be arbitrarily changed by the user. The number of hits is the same as the value of the total number of hits in the area on the right side of the search logical expression 310. When the line portion of the past search result displayed in the search history designation area 312 is selected, a set of search keywords corresponding to the history is displayed again in the search keyword designation area 309.

The calculation between the histories is designated by the area 313.
As the history to be calculated, a plurality of histories are designated in advance in the search history designation area 312. Then, if the operation type is a logical product, "AND" is clicked, and if it is a logical sum, "OR" is clicked.

In the case of the search history of this screen example, the search ID is 00
When the first search is indicated by 01, there is no target for narrowing down, so 0000 is displayed as the history base. And
The number of search results for which the typical keyword is designated as "computer" is 13204. The next search has an ID of 0002. Since this has a history base of 0001, the above search results are further narrowed down by the keyword "small". Further, when the ID is 0003, it is narrowed down to 0000. ID is
0004 is the result of the inter-history operation, which is the result of the OR operation on the IDs 0002 and 0003.

The area 314 is composed of a "publication list" for designating a transition to the browsing of the document body of the search result and a "return" execution button for returning to the main menu 201 in the initial state.

Four typical screens for specifying the search conditions on the search screen 301 in more detail (FIGS. 5, 6, 7 and 8)
Will be explained. FIG. 5 is called from the publication type 307. The types of documents stored in the document database 1 and the document database 2 are displayed in the publication type list area 502,
Select the document to be searched from this list. Multiple document types may be selected. Whether or not to reflect the selection result is specified by the button in the area 503, and when it is reflected, "setting" is not specified, and when not reflected, "cancel" is specified. As a result, the screen 501 returns to the search screen 301.

FIG. 6 is a screen called by designating the area of the search item in the search keyword designation area 309. The structural unit of the document that can be designated as the search item is displayed in the search item list 602, and is selected from this list. Only one item can be specified. These items are stored in the document database 2 when the database for search is registered in advance.
Has been created in. Here, the items are "full text", "conventional technology", "industrial application field", "effect of invention", "summary", "applicant", "applicant identification number", and "invention title". , Etc. are displayed. In this way, it is possible to select the entire text of the body as a search item, or to select only the part as in the conventional technique. Further, not only the text but also bibliographic items such as the applicant can be selected. In this way, the user can execute logical operations in a mixed manner without being aware of whether the database is a full-text database or a bibliographic database. Whether or not to reflect the selection result is determined by the button in the area 603. When it is reflected, “Setting” is not reflected, and “Cancel” is not reflected.
Select. This causes the screen 601 to return to the search screen 301.

Some documents do not include the item displayed here. In order to deal with such a case, how to reflect in the search result is specified by a detailed setting item. For example, "a document that does not include an item is not added to the search result set", or "a document that does not include an item is added to the search result set", or "a document that does not include an item specifies a substitute item for the item". Etc. If the document to be searched does not have a substitute item, the first substitute item is further checked and the setting of that item is followed. If the first alternative does not exist, check the second alternative. Repeat this. Therefore, if you select "Full text" as the last alternative item for a certain item,
It is possible to prevent missing search.

FIG. 7 is a screen called by designating the left side of the search keyword designation area 309 having two search methods. List of search methods that can be specified 70
Displayed in 2, select from this list. Only one item can be selected. When “match” is selected, the search is performed using the keyword input as the search keyword in the search keyword designation area 309. When multiple keywords are entered, it is considered as a logical sum. If you select the next item, “Outside neighborhood (order), Nearby search farther than specified distance with keyword order specified”, the search keyword specification area 30
Only the two leftmost search keywords of 9 are valid, and the appearance places of the two keywords are limited to the vicinity of the condition. The distance is specified in the search keyword specification area 30
Enter the number of characters on the right side of the two areas of 9 search methods. From the list, select an appropriate search condition from the combination of the distance specification and the appearance order condition. Whether or not to reflect the selection result is selected by the button in the area 703. When the selection result is reflected, “setting” is not selected, and when not reflected, “cancel” is selected. As a result, the screen 701 becomes the search screen 301.
Return to.

FIG. 8 is a screen that is called when the dictionary 305 of menu items is specified on the search screen 301 shown in FIG. FIG. 8 shows a screen for searching the applicant ID. When a search character string is entered, a list of applicable applicants and IDs from the applicant database are displayed in the applicant ID list 802. This search result can be designated and used as a keyword in the search keyword designation area 309 by clicking the “copy name” or “copy ID” button in the area 803. When the applicant ID search is completed, the screen 801 returns to the search screen 301 by the “close” button in the area 803.
Further, when IPC is specified in the menu item dictionary 305 on the search screen 301, the relevant code can be searched from the database of the related patent classification code and its technical field description, and the reverse code can also be used to retrieve the detailed content of the technical field description. Can be searched like a dictionary.

FIG. 9 is a screen called when "Save (S) ..." is designated from the file 302 of the menu items in the search screen 301 shown in FIG. Items to be saved are items and keywords input in the search keyword designation area 309. Enter the directory and file name of the file to be saved and store it in the file specified by the OK button.

FIG. 10 is a screen called when "Open (O) ..." is specified from the file 302 of the menu items in the search screen 301 shown in FIG. Similar to the above, the directory or file name is designated and the stored content is input to the search keyword designation area 309 by the OK button.

FIG. 11 is displayed when the "return" button in the area 503 of FIG. 3 is selected and an item has been newly created or modified in the search keyword designation area 309 but has not been saved yet. When storing, the screen of FIG. 9 is displayed by selecting “Yes”. "No"
If is selected, the screen of FIG. 3 is terminated and the screen returns to the main menu screen of FIG. “Cancel” ends the confirmation screen 110 and returns to the search screen of FIG.

FIG. 12 shows a batch registration confirmation screen 1201 which is called by designating the area 311 “batch registration” on the search screen 301 shown in FIG. Yes to register
If you do not want to register, select "No". Then, the process proceeds to the message display screen shown in FIG.

FIG. 13 is a message display area 13 which is called from FIG. 12 and shows whether the batch registration has been completed normally.
Display on 02. In this example, since batch registration is limited to one per user, if batch registration already exists, registration will end abnormally, and a message to that effect is displayed and the batch registration shown in FIG. Proceed to the result deletion confirmation screen. When the processing is normally completed, a message to that effect is displayed, and the process returns to FIG.

FIG. 14 is called from FIG. 13 and asks if the existing registration should be deleted if it already exists. When deleting "Delete and execute registration"
If you do not want to delete, select "Cancel".

Next, details of the case where the reservation / batch search 203 is called from the main menu 201 will be described.

FIG. 15 shows a screen 1501 for displaying the status of reservation / batch search, editing the search formula, and browsing the search results. What is reserved search? SDI (Selective Dissemina
tion of Information, which is a processing form for executing a search for newly generated information based on pre-registered conditions. The user does not need to start the search once the conditions are registered, which is suitable for periodical investigation). This is also a form in which the search execution is started by the system. In this example, up to four reservation search statuses and one batch search status are displayed as the status list 1502. There is a comment, status, number of items, and search range for each item. The search range is usually limited to the latest one because the reserved search is SDI. This is set automatically by the system. When the system executes the next new arrival reservation search without the user seeing this result, there are a plurality of results for the reservation item. In this case as well, a mode for organizing the results for each search range, a mode for collectively accumulating, and a mode for re-editing reserved items for each search range are designated.

In the example of FIG. 15, the SDI search for the item of reservation 1 has been completed normally. The status of reservation 2 is in error due to a keyword specification error or a system error during search processing. It is possible to operate the area 1503 for any of the items. When "edit search formula" is specified, the process proceeds to the reservation search registration screen shown in FIG. When "List of publications" is selected, the process advances to the index display screen shown in FIG. When "Return" is selected, the screen returns to the main menu screen of FIG.

FIG. 16 shows a screen 16 for registering a reservation search.
01. File 1602 as a menu on this screen,
There are edits 1603, options 1604, dictionaries 1605, and help 1606. The operation contents are the same as those in FIG. 3, and can be considered as a screen limited to the function of inputting only the keyword of the reservation search. In this example, unnecessary screen components are removed for ease of use by the user. However, depending on the user, using the input screen of FIG. 3, the online usage pattern in which the results are displayed along with the input of search conditions, batch search in which the search execution is performed in the background, and search are performed regularly. A usage form such as a form in which the system is executed may be provided.

Next, details of the case where the field-specific search display 204 is called from the main menu 201 will be described.

FIG. 17 shows a screen 1701 for selecting a field. In the case of a conventional publication using a medium such as paper, the form of a separate volume is common from the viewpoint of the convenience of manufacturing the book or the necessity of the user. An identification number was assigned based on this volume and used to search for users. However, when stored electronically in the database, the limitation of separate volumes no longer exists, but a different identification number is required. For this purpose, the category screen adopts the same classification method as the separate volume. In this area designation screen,
Publication type 1702, department / division list 1704 and display date range 1705
It is possible to search from the combination of. A document type is selected according to the publication type 1702. This selection method is the same as the method described in FIG. When the type is selected, the range of documents stored in the database is displayed in area 1703. Based on these selections, the "list of publications" is designated to proceed to FIG. If there are too many documents selected, FIG.
Proceed to the number range warning screen shown in. Selecting "Return" returns to the screen in FIG.

FIG. 18 is called from FIG. 17, and warns when all cannot be displayed in the list display of FIG. If "continue" is selected, the warning is ignored and the process proceeds to FIG. When “Specify display range” is selected, FIG.
Return to. In this case, the display date range 1705 is corrected.

FIG. 19 is called from the “publication list” shown in FIG. 3, FIG. 15, FIG. This is an index display screen that consists of a document number, bibliographic items, and a summary.
On this screen, as a menu, File 1902, Edit 1903,
There is a window 1904. In the file 1902, an index list of documents displayed on the screen is saved as a search result. "Create new" stores the list in a file. With "Open", the document can be browsed by calling the index list from the already stored file. “Save” stores the search conditions and the like in the called file. In "print", the content of the document is printed according to the settings shown in FIG. "End" ends the index display screen and returns to the search screen of FIG. In edit 1903, a plurality of documents to be displayed, saved in files, and printed are selected from a list by clicking the mouse. Then, by selecting “Limit selection items”, only the selected documents are displayed in the index list. It is "Restore" to cancel the limited document selection state and display the original list. Here, it is possible to further select the selected document. "Releasing all limited operations" is to release all the conditions that are limited in stages.
Window 1904 is a menu for directly selecting a plurality of windows for browsing a document. This is useful, for example, when the required window is covered by other windows. In this case, the "Controller", "Item display", "Layout", and "Index" windows are simultaneously operated. The specified window is displayed in front of the screen, even if it is covered by other windows.
Area 1905 holds the number of databases (N
NNN) and the number of results (nnnn) are displayed. The area 1906 is a so-called “bite memo”, and corresponds to a part of the summary or outline of the document. Each time the document, which is the information index area, is clicked, the related information of the document is displayed. What kind of content is displayed and whether or not it is displayed is "Display of bite memo"
Specify with. The "Display" button advances to the screen for displaying the indexed document itself. Here, when the limited selection is made, the plurality of documents are browsed.

In this retrieval system, the document database is divided into 103 and 108 as shown in FIG. Even if the document exists in the search database, the database for displaying the document content may be stored in a low-speed medium. In order to convey such information to the user, the type of character (typeface, thickness, thinness, etc.) is changed and displayed in the index list. Further, if there is a document that has already been browsed by another user or a document related to the document, that information is also displayed.

FIG. 20 is called from FIG. 19 and displays a related message for warning when there are too many limited documents. Only “OK” can be selected.

FIG. 21 is a print setting screen 2101 called up by selecting “print” in the file menu 1902 of FIG.
Is. The area 2102 is for selecting the contents to be printed. When the index list is printed, "index" is selected, and when the text is printed, "document" is selected. Area 2103 specifies the print format. Select "All pages" for all pages, "Front page" for only the first page, and "Digest" for document abstracts. An area 2104 specifies a printer to print. At this time, the printer connected to the client terminal or the server-side printer is designated. When the “reduced printing” 2105 is checked, the printing resolution is changed, and a plurality of pages are laid out on the same paper and output. For example, the document page for four pages is reduced and printed on one sheet. It is also possible to specify which page is printed. For example, the first page is arranged at the upper left, the second page is arranged at the upper right, the page described in "Description of the Prior Art" is arranged at the lower left, and the page of the drawing is arranged at the lower right. As for the combination for specifying the page, a combination registered in advance can be selected or a user's own layout can be selected. These are set in the “printer setting” 2106. "Print" or "Cancel" specifies whether to print.

FIG. 22 shows a screen 2201 displaying a print in progress when "print" is designated in FIG. To cancel printing halfway, select "Cancel".

FIG. 23 shows a controller screen 2301 used to control the display window when viewing a document. To exit the controller, select from the file menu 2302. The window 2303 selects another related window. Also, specify the position and overlap of windows. Area 2304 specifies the associated window.
When "Layout" is selected, the screen shown in FIG. 24 is selected, when "Item display" is selected, the screen shown in FIG. 25 is selected, and when "Layout + Item display" is selected, the screen shown in FIG. 24 and the screen shown in FIG. 25 are simultaneously displayed. Is displayed. The layout is a display style as if printed on paper, and the item display is a display style only for designated items. This is convenient because it is suitable for screen display and unnecessary information for the user is not displayed. Further, since only the specified item information is displayed, there is an advantage that the transfer time is shortened even if the connection is made through a low speed communication line. Area 2305 is a list of document items. In this example, bibliographic items, abstracts, claims, detailed explanations, industrial fields of use, prior arts, effects of the invention, brief explanations of drawings, and amendments to procedures are displayed. These include items in which the logical unit of the document, which is a feature of the structured document, is explicitly described, and items in which the logical unit is additionally defined from the words appearing in the document are mixed. By selecting this one item, the page including the item can be displayed. Area 2306 jumps directly to the designated page. region
2307 selects the page designation method. The page movement is specified by "previous page" and "next page", and the document movement is specified by "previous document" and "next document". The target of document transition is the document limited in FIG. At this time, if "previous document" or "next document" is selected, the item designated by the item 2305 is displayed. If there is no such item, the alternative item is displayed as described in FIG. If the document does not have an item, the item is displayed in a faint display to inform the user of the information.

FIG. 24 is a layout display screen which operates in conjunction with the controller of FIG. File menu
2402 closes this window. The window menu 2403 is used to specify a related window. The document content of the print image is displayed in the layout area 2404. When the search result is being viewed, the search keyword portion is highlighted, for example.

FIG. 25 is an item display screen which operates in conjunction with the controller of FIG. File menu 2502 closes this window. Window menu 25
Specify the related window with 03. The document contents of the specified logical item are displayed in the layout area 2504. When the search result is being viewed, the search keyword portion is highlighted, for example. Although this display style is not the same as the paper layout, it is also possible to display the logical structure of a sentence. For example, in the case of an item in the scope of claims of a patent, it may be easier to read bullets or the like expressed in parallel rather than displaying them in a print image.

Next, the details of the processing performed between the document search / display device which is the client and the document database 1 and the document database 2 which are the servers will be described.

FIG. 26 shows details of the processing when a search request is made on the screen 301 for inputting the search request described with reference to FIG. 2601 shows an internal processing procedure of the document search display device 101 of FIG. Reference numeral 2602 indicates an internal processing procedure of the control device 104 of the document database 1 (102) in FIG. Reference numeral 2603 denotes an internal processing procedure of the search device 109 of the document database 2 (108) in FIG.
First, when the program is started up in the document search display device, the connection processing of the 2604 to the server is executed. next,
The control device 104 of 103 executes the connection confirmation 2611,
And 104 are connected. Next, in 2605, data input for the search screen 301 is performed. Here, the execution control of 2606 is sequentially confirmed, and when the search expression is input, it is again sent to 2605, and when the search execution is instructed, the search expression transmission processing 2608 is executed and the transition to the browsing of the document text is performed. When the “publication list” to be designated is designated, the processing proceeds to 2607. Note that the details after 2607 will be described with reference to FIG. 27. In the search formula transmission process 2608, the search formula input on the search screen 301 is transmitted to the control device 104. At 104, the retrieval formula is processed by the retrieval formula reception process 2612. Next, the document database 2 (108) is stored in advance as a device information table by the search device specifying process 2613.
The address on the communication path of the printer 2 (112) is stored, and the address 108 is searched from the device information table to specify the address. Next, search execution processing instruction 2614
Sends the search formula to the search device specified in 2613. When the configuration is changed by changing the communication address of the search device or adding the search device, the device can be identified by rewriting or adding the information in the device information table. The search formula transmitted in the search execution instruction 2614 is received by the search request reception processing 2617 of the search device 109 on the device 108 and the search is received. In the search execution processing 2618, information in the storage device 2 (110) in which the data of the text portion of the document is stored is searched by the search expression received in 2617. When the search is completed, the search result transmission processing 2619 transmits the search result to 104. This search result is a set of identifiers that identify the documents hit in the search. For example, a document number, a document name, a publication number, etc. At 104, the retrieval result is received by the retrieval result reception processing 2615, and immediately after the retrieval result transmission processing 2616 101
Send the search results to. In 101, reception processing of search results 260
The search result is received by 9 and the 2610 displays the number of search results and the like in the search history designation area 312. This allows
The user of the apparatus 101 can obtain a search result by inputting a search expression on the search screen 301 and issuing an execution instruction. In addition, the search result can store a plurality of search results as a search history. As described above, the search processing can be realized by the document search / display device, the document database 1, and the document database 2 sharing the processing.

FIG. 27 shows the details of the screen transition to the index display screen 1901 of FIG. 19 and the processing at 1901 after the “document list” is instructed after the search on the screen 301 of FIG. 2701 shows the internal processing procedure of the document search display device 101.
Reference numeral 702 denotes an internal processing procedure of the control device 104 of the document database 1 (102).

When "document list" is instructed on the screen 301, the processing advances to 2607 by the execution control confirmation processing of 2606, and search result transmission processing 2703 is executed. The 2703 transmits the search result corresponding to the search history selected in the search history designation area 312 of the screen 301 to the control device 104 of the document database 1 (102). In the control device 104, 2711 receives the search result, and then in 2712, the index information corresponding to each of the set of identifiers that is the search result is acquired from the storage device 1 (106). This index information is document title information such as a document identifier, a document name, an author, and a creation date. Next, the index information acquired in 2712 is transmitted to 101 by index information transmission processing 2713. 27 in 101
The index information is received by 04 and is displayed on the index display screen 1901 of FIG. 19 by the index display processing of 2705. As a result, the user can refer to the title information of the search result selected on the screen 301 on the index display screen 1901.

Next, details of the procedure for displaying information in the bite memo area 1906 when index information is selected on the index display screen 1901 will be described. When the user selects index information on the screen 1901, the bite memo information processing 2707 is executed by the document selection processing 2706. In 2707, the document identifier of the selected document and information indicating what content specified in the display of the bite memo 1907 is transmitted to the control device 104 of the document database 1. In 104,
2714 receives the bite memo information request, and executes document data reading processing 2715. 2715 searches the storage device 1 for a document corresponding to the received document identifier, and transmits the bite memo information acquired by the bite memo information transmission processing 2716 to 101. At 101, the bite memo information is received at 2708, and the content is displayed in the bite memo area 1906 by the processing of 2709. As a result, the user can browse the bite memo information corresponding to the selected index information. Here the user again
When another index information item is selected, the process from 2706 is repeated to display the bite memo information item corresponding to another index information item.

Next, details of the processing when the user selects the instruction to display the document contents will be described. 28 is the same as FIG.
2710 shows a processing procedure when a display instruction is selected. Reference numeral 2801 denotes a processing procedure when a display instruction is selected on the document search display device 101. 2801 is the internal processing procedure of the document search display device 101, and 2802 is the document database 1 (1
02) shows the internal processing procedure of the controller 104.

Display instruction processing when the display instruction is selected
2804, the document identifier corresponding to the index information selected at that time and the document part designation information necessary for displaying the document are stored in the control unit 104 of the document database 1 (102).
Send to. Here, the document portion designation information is information for designating the logical structure data in the text / image mixed document data such as the page number of the document, the logical unit name of the document, and the image number. Information necessary for displaying the document is shown in FIG.
No. 3 controller 2301 area 2304 is changed depending on the setting of the associated display window. Next, the device 104 receives the request and executes 2809 by the document data request reception process 2808. The reference numeral 2809 searches the storage device 1 (106) for a document corresponding to the received document identifier, and acquires from the storage device 1 the data of the portion corresponding to the document portion designation information. Then the device
In 101, the document data is received by the document data reception process 2805, and the document display process 2806 displays the document contents on the layout display screen 2406 and the item display screen 2501. This allows the user to select the logical unit of the selected document,
It is possible to perform an operation of designating a desired location such as a directly designated page, a previous page, a subsequent page, a previous document, a next document. When the user performs these operations, the document data request 2804 is executed again by the selection processing of the processing of 2807. This time,
The 2804 transmits the information necessary for displaying the document data designated by the controller 2301 as the document identifier and the document portion designation information necessary for displaying the document. In this way, only the data required for display on the device 101 is requested to the document database 1 (103) which is the server each time, and the document data is transferred from the server, so that the document can be browsed on the device 101. In addition, there is an advantage that the transfer time is shortened even if the communication circuit is connected by a low speed communication circuit.

[0057]

According to the present invention, it is possible to perform a full-text search on a large number of documents in any combination of bibliographic items and document configuration items, and to narrow down the relevant documents or by browsing the documents. Easy and quick search can be realized. Further, it is possible to conduct periodical surveys by a search form such as a reservation search or a batch search.

[Brief description of drawings]

FIG. 1 is a configuration diagram of a system for realizing a document search display according to an embodiment of the present invention.

FIG. 2 is an initial screen of a processing program on the document search display device.

FIG. 3 is a screen for selecting a document and setting a keyword for a search processing request.

FIG. 4 is a screen during the search process of FIG.

FIG. 5 is a list for selecting documents in FIG.

FIG. 6 is a screen for selecting a structured document item to be searched in FIG.

FIG. 7 is a screen for selecting a search condition in the search process in FIG.

FIG. 8 is a screen for selecting an applicant ID to be searched in FIG.

FIG. 9 is a screen for saving various search conditions in FIG. 3 in a file.

FIG. 10 is a screen for reading various search conditions in FIG. 3 from a file.

FIG. 11 is a screen for confirming whether to save the newly created search condition in a file when the search process of FIG. 3 is terminated.

FIG. 12 is a screen for confirming registration of batch search based on the search keyword created in FIG.

13 is a message display screen from the system for the registration of FIG.

14 is a response screen for the message of FIG.

FIG. 15 is a current status display screen transitioned from the reservation / batch request of FIG.

FIG. 16 is a screen for selecting a document and setting a keyword for a reservation search request.

FIG. 17 is a screen transitioned from the field-specific request of FIG.
It is a list display of selectable fields.

FIG. 18 is a warning screen when the range of the display request of FIG. 17 is large.

19 is a screen transitioned from FIG. 3 and FIG.
An index consisting of bibliographic items of the document and a part of the document are displayed.

FIG. 20 is a warning screen when the number of displayed items in FIG. 19 is large.

21 is a screen transitioned from the print request of FIG.
Specify the document to be printed and the print contents.

FIG. 22 is a screen during the printing process of FIG. 21.

FIG. 23 is a screen for selecting display contents and display items of a document.

FIG. 24 is a screen displaying a document controlled by FIG. 23.

FIG. 25 is a screen displaying the text of the document controlled by FIG. 23.

FIG. 26 shows details of processing for the search request in FIG.

27 shows details of the index display processing of FIG.

FIG. 28 shows details of processing corresponding to the display instruction of FIG. 27.

[Explanation of symbols]

101 ... Document search display device, 102 ... Communication path such as LAN, 103 ... Document database 1, 104 ... Control device, 105
… CD-ROM drive, 106… Storage device 1, 107… New CD-
ROM medium, 108 ... Document database 2, 109 ... Search device, 110 ... Storage device 2, 111 ... Printing device 1, 112 ... Printing device 2, 201 ... Main menu, 301 ... Search screen, 401
... Search execution screen, 501 ... Publication type selection screen, 601 ... Search item selection screen, 701 ... Search method selection screen, 801 ... Applicant ID selection screen, 901 ... Saved file name selection screen, 1001 ...
Read file name selection screen, 1101 ... Confirmation screen, 1201 ... Batch registration confirmation screen, 1301 ... Message display screen, 1401 ... Batch result deletion confirmation screen, 1501 ... Reservation / batch search status screen, 1601 ... Reservation search registration screen, 1701 ... Area designation screen, 18
01… Number range warning screen, 1901… Index display screen, 20
01 ... Index display number warning screen, 2101 ... Print setting screen, 2201 ... Printing in progress screen, 2301 ... Display content designation screen,
2401 ... Layout display screen, 2501 ... Item display screen, 2601
... Document search display processing, 2602 ... Document database control internal processing, 2603 ... Document database search internal processing, 2701 ... Document database search internal processing, 2702 ... Document database control internal processing, 2801 ... 2 Document database search internal processing, 2802 ... Document Database control internal processing.

Claims (23)

[Claims] 1. A CD-ROM drive device in which a plurality of CD-ROMs for storing document data can be loaded, and a CD-ROM in the CD-ROM drive device is selected to control reading of document data. A document display database including a control device, a document search database that stores document search data from the document display database, and a search device that searches for document search data, and the document display database It is connected to the database and the document search database via a communication line, and is provided with a document search display device for inputting a search request and displaying a search result. The condition for the document content search of the document search display device is set. In response to the search request input using the input screen, the search device of the document search database is searched to display a list of the search results of the document search display device. A method for searching and displaying documents, characterized by displaying search results on a screen. 2. The document search and display method according to claim 1, wherein the number of installed document search databases is smaller than that of the document display databases. 3. The document search and display method according to claim 1, wherein the storage range of the document to be searched is divided,
A method for searching and displaying a document, characterized in that a plurality of the document searching databases and the document searching database are installed. 4. The document retrieval and display method according to claim 1, wherein a plurality of printing devices are connected to the document retrieval display device and the communication line, and which printing device outputs the document. A method for searching and displaying a document, characterized by selecting from among. 5. The document search and display method according to claim 1, wherein the CD-R is stored in the document display database.
A method for searching and displaying a document, characterized in that a high-speed storage device is provided as a cache memory in order to speed up access to an OM drive device. 6. The document retrieval and display method according to claim 1, wherein at least one new CD-ROM is provided.
A document search and display method characterized in that the document search database is installed in a drive unit and a document search database is created in a batch. 7. The method for searching and displaying a document according to claim 5, wherein a new CD-ROM is stored in the high-speed storage device and erased from the high-speed storage device after a certain period of time has elapsed. How to search and display documents. 8. The document search and display method according to claim 7, wherein when a predetermined capacity is exceeded, the document is deleted from the high-speed storage device according to an access history. Method. 9. The document search and display method according to claim 1, wherein the data stored in the document search database includes different contents such as bibliographic items and text. A method for searching and displaying a document, characterized by inputting a search keyword for the above-mentioned bibliographic items and text. 10. The document search and display method according to claim 1, wherein the document search and display device restricts search keywords to partial constituent elements of the text stored in the document search database. A method for searching and displaying a document, characterized by inputting. 11. The document search and display method according to claim 10, wherein an alternative constituent element is defined for the partial constituent element of the main text when the element item does not exist. How to search and display. 12. The document search and display method according to claim 1, wherein the document search and display device displays a document list for each item that has been searched in advance, such as field classification. How to search and display documents. 13. The document search and display method according to claim 1, wherein the document search and display device displays a document list of items prepared in advance such as a template document. And display method. 14. The document search and display method according to claim 5, wherein the list of search results of the document search and display device is combined with the information stored in the high-speed storage. A method for searching and displaying a document, characterized by displaying as a document. 15. The document search and display method according to claim 1, wherein information related to the document of the item is also displayed on the list display of the search results of the document search and display device. How to search and display documents. 16. The document search and display method according to claim 1, wherein documents are selected recursively and repeatedly with respect to a list display of search results of the document search and display device. And display method. 17. The document search and display method according to claim 16, wherein the document search and display device saves, prints, or browses the selected document. Method. 18. The document search and display method according to claim 17, wherein when the document is saved, the format on the document search and display device is converted and saved. 19. The document search and display method according to claim 1, wherein when the document is browsed by the document search and display device, a screen for displaying the document content and a screen for controlling the display are separate windows. A method for searching and displaying a document, characterized by displaying and linking to a document. 20. The method for searching and displaying a document according to claim 19, wherein, when a predetermined item does not exist in the corresponding document on the screen for controlling the display, the display method of the item is changed. For searching and displaying documents characterized by. 21. The document search and display method according to claim 19, wherein an alternative constituent element is defined on the screen for controlling the display when a predefined item does not exist in the corresponding document. How to search and display the document that features. 22. The document search and display method according to claim 19, wherein the screen for displaying the document contents has a screen of a format different from the print format. Method. 23. The document retrieval and display method according to claim 22, wherein the document is displayed in a format different from the format of the stored document.