JPH0916620A - Index retrieving system - Google Patents

Abstract

PROBLEM TO BE SOLVED: To easily and quickly detect a required description position including contents required to be known by retrieving an index data base file by using specified keyword and classification as retrieving keys and acquiring the required description position from the data file. SOLUTION: A data file 41 in a manual storing disk 4 is constituted of plural members as sectional data sets and stores one document module in each member. A corresponding description part stored in the data file 41 is previously registered in an index data base file 42. The required description part is acquired from the data file 41 by retrieving the file 42 by using a specified keyword and classification as retrieving keys through a keyboard 2. Consequently a required description part including contents required to be know can be easily and quickly detected.

Description

Detailed Description of the Invention

[0001]

BACKGROUND OF THE INVENTION 1. Field of the Invention The present invention relates to an index search system, and more particularly to an index search system that uses an index to quickly obtain a desired description part.

[0002]

2. Description of the Related Art Conventionally, at a computer center that provides online services to users, it is possible to search the computer system immediately from a terminal device so that the user can quickly find information on how to use the computer system. There are often online manuals available.
For example, in the VOS3 system provided by the applicant for large-scale general-purpose computers, an online manual
SPEN / TF (S-F1221-34) can be used. Most of the manuals related to the VOS3 system are converted into electronic files, and the prescribed online help provided by the user from a remote computer or workstation connected online via a terminal device or telephone line connected to the system. It is software that provides information about the system in response to a command. ASPEN / T
In the F (S-F1221-34) index file, multiple reference pointers are set for each index so that one keyword can be specified with the online help command to search many description locations at once. You can also

[0003]

In the search for the description part according to the above-mentioned conventional technique, the description content cannot be known unless the description part obtained by the search is actually referred to. Therefore, if a large number of description points are presented by the search based on the keyword specified by the user as an index, the contents of many description points must be referenced one by one until the desired description point is found. However, there is a problem that the desired description portion cannot always be obtained quickly. Also, in the worst case, even if all the presented description locations are referenced, the desired description location may not be obtained, and all the time spent searching and referring to the description location may be wasted. There was a problem.

Therefore, an object of the present invention is to solve the above-mentioned problems and to obtain a desired description part including a content to be known without successively referring to the contents of a large number of description parts presented by an index search. It is to provide an index search system capable of finding a simple and quick index.

[0005]

To achieve the above object, an index search system of the present invention comprises a data file in which data to be searched is described, a main index item for keyword search and a sub-file for classification search. An index database file in which the corresponding description part in the data file is registered in advance corresponding to each index item, and the index database file using the designated keyword and classification as the search key Is performed to obtain a desired description part from the data file.

Further, it is possible to additionally register an arbitrary sub-index item and a description portion corresponding to the sub-index item in the data file to the index database file, or to add the index database file. Is composed of a spreadsheet-type database file.

[0007]

The operation based on the above configuration will be described.

The index retrieval system of the present invention retrieves an index database file having two types of index items (main index item and sub index item) and obtains a desired description location from the corresponding data file. By doing so, without repeating the same search instruction operation many times,
Generally, one description part can be specified by performing the operation once or twice, so that it is not necessary to refer to the contents of many description parts presented by the index search one after another as in the past. , It is possible to easily and quickly find a desired descriptive part including a content to be known.

If the user additionally registers an arbitrary sub-index item and the corresponding description portion in the index database file, the operability of the system is further improved and the contents to be known are included. The index database file can be improved so that a desired description part can be found more easily and quickly. In addition to the above, if the index database file is a spreadsheet type, the index database file can be improved more easily.

[0010]

DETAILED DESCRIPTION OF THE PREFERRED EMBODIMENTS An embodiment of the index search system of the present invention will be described in detail below with reference to the drawings.

FIG. 1 is a diagram showing the overall configuration of an online manual search and display system which is an embodiment of the index search system of the present invention. In the figure, 1 is a display device for displaying a manual obtained by a search, 2 is a keyboard for designating keywords and the like, 3 is a main storage device, 4 is a manual storage disk, and 5 is a group of related programs. It is a program library to be used.

In FIG. 1, the manual reference processing program 31 is executed after being loaded from the program library 5 into the main storage device 3. The manual reference processing work area 32 is used when the manual reference processing program 31 is executed. The manual main body is stored in the manual storage disk 4, and is composed of a data file 41 that holds the contents of the manual itself and an index database file 42 that manages the index necessary for searching the manual.

FIG. 2 is a diagram showing an example of the data description format in the data file 41 in FIG. In the figure, the data file 41 is composed of a plurality of members as a partitioned data set, and each member stores one document module. The document module is obtained by dividing the manual into modules by the unit of the table of contents item, and the unique chapter and section number assigned to each point system with "@" is added to the data file 41 as the member name. It is stored (reference numerals 410 to 410 in FIG. 2).
415). The unit of reference from the table of contents or index is this document module or member (corresponding to the "description part" in the claims). In addition, in the data file 41,
A table of contents member that includes a reference pointer for calling the corresponding document module from each table of contents item is also stored.

FIG. 3 is a diagram showing an example of a data description format in the index database file 42 shown in FIG. In the figure, the index database file 42 is constructed as a spreadsheet type database,
The main index items for keyword search are placed row by row in the leftmost column of the spreadsheet in the reading order of each keyword (for example, A to A and A to Z), and the beginning of each main index item sequence. Put the first letter that indicates the reading of the word.
Further, on the right side of the column of the main index item, a sub-index item for classification search, which is a phrase indicating the reference purpose of the main index item, is placed in a column unit in the upper row of the spreadsheet. Then, a reference destination pointer for referring to a specific member or a document module is stored in each element (cell) in the sheet (reference numerals 421 to 424 in FIG. 3).

4 to 6 are flowcharts showing the flow of the manual reference process 31 in the online manual search and display system of FIG. 1, and FIG. 4 shows the overall flow of the manual reference process 31. In the manual reference processing 31 shown in FIG. 4, the manual information display routine 31 is executed after the manual search instruction routine 311 is executed.
Execute Step 2. Information is passed between these two routines via the interface area 32a.
5 shows the detailed flow of the manual search instruction routine 311, and FIG. 6 shows the detailed flow of the manual information display routine 312.

In the manual search instruction routine 311,
First, read the first letter of the keyword you are searching for (A ~
, Any of A to Z) is input by the user from the keyboard 2 (step 101). The manual search instruction routine 311 searches the index database file 42 based on the input one character, locates the head of the item block in the main index item column corresponding to the one character, and displays it on the display device 1. Further, one line including the heading indicating the reference destination by purpose in the index database file 42 and the reference destination by purpose of the main index item is displayed (step 10).
2).

Next, the user searches the display screen of the display device 1 to find the main index item to be referred to, and in the line corresponding to the corresponding main index item, finds the cell containing the reference destination pointer for reference. Move the cursor and press the send key to specify the corresponding cell number (step 10).
3). The manual search instruction routine 311 reads the reference destination pointer stored in the cell based on the designated cell number, and sets the reference destination pointer in the interface area 130 (step 104). After the above processing, the manual search instruction routine 311 returns control to the manual reference processing 31 which is the main routine.

In the subsequent manual information display routine 312, the reference pointer set in the interface area 130 as described above is read (step 20).
1) The document module of the member having the member name (for example, reference numeral 415a in FIG. 2) indicated by the reference pointer is read from the data file 41 and displayed on the display device 1 (step 202). The user can refer to the displayed document module of the manual to obtain necessary information about the use of the computer.

As described above, according to this embodiment, an index database file having two types of index items (a main index item and a sub index item) is searched, and a desired description location is found in the corresponding data file. By so doing, the same search instruction operation is not repeated many times, and only one or two operations are performed so that one description part can be identified, so In addition, it is possible to easily and quickly find a desired description part including the content to be known, without referring to the contents of many description parts presented by the index search one after another.

If the user additionally registers an arbitrary sub-index item and the corresponding description part in the index database file, the operability of the system is further improved and the contents to be known are included. The index database file can be improved so that a desired description part can be found more easily and quickly. In addition to the above, if the index database file is a spreadsheet type, the index database file can be improved more easily.

[0021]

As described above in detail, according to the index retrieval system of the present invention, an index database file having two types of index items (a main index item and a sub index item) is searched and dealt with. Since the desired description part is acquired from the data file, approximately one description part is specified only by performing the operation once or twice without repeating the same search instruction operation many times. Therefore, unlike the conventional case, without referring to the contents of a large number of description places presented by the index search one after another,
It is possible to easily and quickly find a desired descriptive part including the content to be known.

If the user additionally registers an arbitrary sub-index item and a corresponding description part in the index database file, the operability of the system is further improved and the contents to be known are included. The effect is that the index database file can be improved so that a desired description part can be found more simply and quickly. In addition to the above, if the index database file is a spreadsheet type, there is an effect that the index database file can be improved more easily.

[Brief description of the drawings]

FIG. 1 is a diagram showing an overall configuration of an online manual search / display system which is an embodiment of an index search system of the present invention.

FIG. 2 is a diagram showing an example of a data description format in a data file in FIG.

3 is a diagram showing an example of a data description format in an index database file in FIG.

4 is a flowchart (No. 1) showing a flow of manual reference processing in the online manual search and display system of FIG.

5 is a flowchart (part 2) showing the flow of manual reference processing in the online manual search and display system of FIG. 1. FIG.

6 is a flowchart (No. 3) showing the flow of manual reference processing in the online manual search display system of FIG.

[Explanation of symbols]

 1 display device 2 keyboard 3 main storage device 31 manual reference processing program 311 manual search instruction routine 312 manual information display routine 32 manual reference processing work area 4 manual storage disk 41 data file 42 index database file 5 program library

Claims (3)

[Claims] 1. A data file in which data to be searched is described, and a corresponding description location in the data file are set in advance corresponding to each of a main index item for keyword search and a sub index item for classification search. A registered index database file and a search for the index database file using a specified keyword and classification as a search key to obtain a desired description part from the data file. Characteristic index search system. 2. The arbitrary sub-index item and a description part corresponding to the sub-index item in the data file can be newly additionally registered in the index database file. Index search system. 3. The index search system according to claim 1, wherein the index database file is a spreadsheet-type database file.