JPH11110406A - Information processor and method therefor, and recording medium - Google Patents

Abstract

PROBLEM TO BE SOLVED: To make easily performalble the retrieval of plural data bases. SOLUTION: At the time of receiving a keyword from a user terminal 1, a unified retrieval server 10 converts the keyword into each request data for allowing retrieval servers 5-7 to retrieve data bases 5DB-7DB based on data base information related with each data base 5DB-7DB, and transmits in to each retrieval server 5-7. Then, the unified retrieval server 10 receives each retrieved result of the data bases 5DB-7DB transmitted from the retrieval servers 5-7 corresponding to the request data, and transmits it to user terminal 1.

Description

DETAILED DESCRIPTION OF THE INVENTION

[0001]

BACKGROUND OF THE INVENTION 1. Field of the Invention The present invention relates to an information processing apparatus, an information processing method, and a recording medium, and more particularly to an information processing apparatus, an information processing method, and an information processing method for easily searching for desired information. It relates to a recording medium.

[0002]

2. Description of the Related Art Recently, a WWW (World Wide Web) system has been constructed on the Internet which is rapidly developing. In the WWW system, HTTP (Hyper Text T
ransfer protocol).
Data of a screen (homepage) described in TML (Hyper Text Markup Language) is transferred, so that various kinds of information can be provided easily.

As an application (WWW browser) on the user side of the WWW system, for example, Netscape
Netscape Navigator (trademark) of NCSA, Mosaic (trademark) of NCSA, Internet Explorer (trademark) of Microsoft Corporation, and the information provider side application (WWW server) such as Netscape Commerce Server (trademark) Are known respectively. Each user has a WW
The user can access the WWW server using the W browser and receive information and services. Also, each information provider (information provider) can provide information and services to a WWW browser using a WWW server.

[0004] That is, the WWW server stores (manages) a text file described in HTML.
The text file corresponding to the request from the browser is transmitted to the WWW browser. WWW browser, WWW
Receive the text file sent from the server,
The content is interpreted and displayed on the screen as a homepage. In addition, image and audio data can be associated with the HTML text file. In this case, the text is displayed and the image (inline image) associated with the text file is displayed. Or voice is output. The image file includes, for example, GIF, JPEG (still image),
As a file of a format called an MPEG (moving image) format and a file of an audio, for example, a file of a format called a WAV or AU format is known, respectively.

In a WWW system, a URL (Unif
Orm Resource Locator) is used to specify a file on the Internet (an HTML file constituting a homepage, an image, a sound file, etc.). The URL includes a scheme name, a domain name (host name), and a file name, and a transfer protocol name, a WWW server, and a file name are specified by each. That is, for example, UR
When L is http://www.sony.co.jp/sonydrive/index.html, the scheme name, domain name, and file name are http, www.sony.co.jp, / sonydrive / index. html
It is. Note that the actual access to the server is performed by an IP address, and the IP address is recognized from the domain name. That is, there is a DNS (Domain Name System) server as a server that acquires an IP address from a domain name, and the WWW browser makes an inquiry to the server and recognizes the IP address.

When a URL is designated in a WWW browser, the URL is transmitted to a WWW server which manages a corresponding homepage and received. And W
In the WW server, the home page corresponding to the received URL is transmitted to the WWW browser that transmitted the URL.

As described above, a home page established on the Internet can be accessed by specifying a URL. However, when a user attempts to access a home page on which desired information is posted, You may not know the URL. Therefore, there is a WWW server called a search engine (hereinafter, appropriately referred to as a search server) that provides a search service.

[0008] The search server provides information on the homepage (summary of the information described on the homepage and its U
RL, etc.), a database is searched in response to a request from the user, and a homepage reflecting the search result, ie, information corresponding to the request from the user in this case. The homepage on which the URL of the homepage on which the is posted is described is constructed and transmitted to the user (WWW browser). Specifically, the search server manages a homepage for search (hereinafter, appropriately referred to as a search page),
A user who intends to use the search service first receives the search page by specifying the URL. The search page usually has a column for inputting a keyword for searching for information, and the user inputs a keyword for desired information there and transmits the keyword to the search server. Upon receiving the keyword from the user, the search server searches the database for the URL of the homepage corresponding to the keyword, constructs a homepage that reflects the URL, and transmits the homepage.

[0009] A home page specified by a URL can be said to be static information uniquely specified by the URL, but a home page provided by a search server and reflecting search results can be obtained from a database. It can be said to be so-called dynamic information generated based on the searched information.

[0010] By the way, on the Internet, besides the search server that provides the URL as described above, for example,
There is a WWW server that provides a search service based on a database in which information owned by itself is registered. That is, for example, in a bookstore having a book database,
In some cases, the information of the database is provided by a WWW server (such a WWW server is also referred to as a search server as appropriate hereinafter).

[0011] Even in such a search server, a home page (search page) for search is managed.
Users who want to use the book database,
First, the search page is received by specifying the URL. Then, the keyword of the desired book is input in the column for inputting the keyword of the search page, and transmitted to the search server. Upon receiving the keyword from the user, the search server searches the database of the book for information on the book corresponding to the keyword, constructs a homepage reflecting the search result, and transmits the home page to the user.

[0012]

Conventionally, however, a database storing information on a homepage as described above (hereinafter referred to as a homepage database as appropriate) and a database storing information on books (hereinafter referred to as a homepage database). , A book database) cannot be searched at once, which is inconvenient.

That is, for example, when it is desired to obtain information about a book with such a title using “I am a cat” as a keyword, in a homepage database,
If the URL of the homepage on which the information about the book "I am a cat" is registered is registered, by accessing a search server having the homepage database, eventually, "I am a cat" You can get a home page with information about books.

However, if the URL of the home page in which information about the book "I am a cat" is not registered in the home page database, even if the search server having the home page database is accessed, The desired information cannot be obtained.

Further, information about a book "I am a cat" may be registered in the book database even if it is not registered in the homepage database. Even in this case, desired information cannot be obtained by accessing a search server having a homepage database.

That is, in this case, in order to obtain desired information, it is necessary to access a search server having a book database in which information on a book “I am a cat” is registered.

[0017] Therefore, the user can enter the URL of the search page managed by the search server having the homepage database.
In addition to the above, it is necessary to know the URL of the search page managed by the search server having the book database, and it is necessary to be skillful in using the search page provided by each search server.

On the other hand, even if the databases included in different search servers are of the same type, that is, if the data registration format (access format) and the access method in each database are the same, each database is different. It is relatively easy to share the database with different search servers and to solve the above-mentioned problems. However, when the databases of different search servers have different data registration formats, different access methods, and the like, that is, different types of databases, it is difficult to share the above-described databases. .

The present invention has been made in view of such a situation, and is intended to make it possible to easily search for desired information.

[0020]

According to a first aspect of the present invention, there is provided an information processing apparatus, comprising: a database information storage unit for storing database information relating to each of databases provided by a plurality of servers; Request conversion means for converting the request into a search request which is a request for causing the server to search its own database; and transmitting the search request to the server based on the database information and responding to the search request. A server communication means for receiving a search result of the database transmitted from the server; and a terminal communication means for transmitting the search result received by the server communication means to the terminal.

According to a fifth aspect of the present invention, in the information processing method, a search request is a request for causing a server to search a database of a plurality of servers based on database information on the databases of the plurality of servers. And transmits a search request to the server based on the database information, receives a database search result transmitted from the server in response to the search request, and transmits the search result to the terminal. It is characterized by the following.

According to a ninth aspect of the present invention, a request from a terminal is converted into a search request which is a request for causing a server to search a database included therein, based on database information relating to each database included in a plurality of servers. Converting, transmitting a search request to the server based on the database information, receiving a database search result transmitted from the server in response to the search request, and transmitting the search result to the terminal. Is recorded on the computer for causing a computer to execute the program.

[0023] In the information processing apparatus according to the first aspect, the database information storage means stores database information relating to each of the databases of the plurality of servers, and the request conversion means transmits a request from the terminal based on the database information. Is converted into a search request for requesting the server to search its own database. The server communication means transmits a search request to the server based on the database information and receives a database search result transmitted from the server in response to the search request. The search result received by the means is transmitted to the terminal.

According to the information processing method of the present invention, the request from the terminal is a request for causing the server to search the database of the plurality of servers based on the database information on each of the databases of the plurality of servers. Converts the request into a request, sends a search request to the server based on the database information, receives a database search result sent from the server in response to the search request, and sends the search result to the terminal. It has been made to be.

According to a ninth aspect of the present invention, in the recording medium, a search request is a request for causing a server to search a database of a plurality of servers based on database information on each of the databases. And transmits a search request to the server based on the database information, receives a database search result transmitted from the server in response to the search request, and transmits the search result to the terminal. A program for causing a computer to perform the processing is recorded.

[0026]

DESCRIPTION OF THE PREFERRED EMBODIMENTS Embodiments of the present invention will be described below, but before that, the correspondence between each means of the invention described in the claims and the following embodiments will be clarified. For this reason, the features of the present invention are described as follows by adding the corresponding embodiment (however, an example) in parentheses after each means.

That is, the information processing apparatus according to claim 1 is
An information processing apparatus connected to a network to which a plurality of servers having databases are connected and performing a process of searching for information requested from a predetermined terminal, wherein the databases of the plurality of servers are of different types. In some cases, a request from a terminal is made based on database information storage means (for example, database information storage unit 45 shown in FIG. 4) which stores database information on each of the databases of a plurality of servers. Request conversion means (for example, processing step S6 of the program shown in FIG. 5) for converting the search request into a search request for causing the server to search a database of the server; As well as from the server in response to the search request. A server communication unit (for example, the control unit 41 and the communication unit 42 shown in FIG. 4) for receiving a search result of the received database, and a terminal communication unit for transmitting the search result received by the server communication unit to the terminal (for example, , Processing step S10 of the program shown in FIG. 6, etc.)
And characterized in that:

According to a second aspect of the present invention, when the server communication means transmits the search request to two or more servers and receives the search results of the respective databases from the two or more servers, It is characterized by further comprising a deletion means (for example, processing step S9 of the program shown in FIG. 6) for deleting the overlapping part of the two or more search results.

According to a third aspect of the present invention, there is provided an information processing apparatus which determines a server to which a search request is to be transmitted based on a request from a terminal (for example, processing step S5 of a program shown in FIG. 6) ), Wherein the request conversion means converts the request from the terminal into a search request for the server to be transmitted.

According to the information processing apparatus of the present invention, the request from the terminal includes a keyword used by the server for searching the database, and a keyword conversion means for converting the keyword into a synonym (for example, as shown in FIG. 4). The control section 41 and the synonym dictionary 46) are further provided.

Of course, this description does not mean that each means is limited to those described above.

FIG. 1 shows an information retrieval system to which the present invention is applied (a system refers to a system in which a plurality of devices are logically assembled, and it does not matter whether the devices of each configuration are in the same housing or not. 1) shows the configuration of an embodiment.

The user has a user terminal 1 such as a personal computer, for example, a PSTN (Public Switch).
tched Telephone Network) or ISDN (Integrated Se
rvice Digital Network) or an SP (Service Provider) server 3 of a service provider (connection company) via a dedicated line (not shown). The user terminals of other users are also connected to the SP server 3 in the same manner.

The SP server 3 is connected to (constitutes) the Internet 4, and the Internet 4 further includes a search server 5 to WWW server, which are provided by a search service provider that provides a search service. 7,
IP (Information Provider) which is a WWW server owned by an information provider (information provider)
The servers 8 and 9 and a unified search server (information processing device) which is a WWW server of a unified search service provider that provides a unified search service described later are also connected. In the Internet 4, TCP / IP (Tran
Computers (servers) communicate with each other in accordance with a protocol called Smission Control Protocol / Internet Protocol.

Here, in the present embodiment, only three search servers 5 to 7 are shown as search servers, but the number of search servers is not limited to this. The same applies to the IP servers 8, 9 and the unified search server 10.

As described above, the WWW system is constructed on the Internet 4. Therefore, each user can use the WWW browser, which is an application of the user terminal 1, to use the search servers 5 to 7, which are WWW servers. And access to the IP servers 8 and 9 and the unified search server 10 to receive information (homepage) and services. The search service provider, the information provider, and the unified search service provider can use the WW
Information and services can be provided to a WWW browser (user terminal 1) using W servers (search servers 5 to 7, IP servers 8, 9 and unified search server 10).

Although the user can directly connect to the Internet 4, usually, the user contracts with a service provider and accesses the SP server 3 via the public network 2 as shown in FIG. By doing so, it is connected to the Internet 4 (becomes the Internet 4).

The search servers 5 to 7 have databases 5DB, 6DB, and 7DB which can be accessed respectively, and provide search services. That is, the search server 5 manages a homepage (search page) for search. When a URL of the search page is received from a user (WWW browser) who wants to use the search service, the search page is changed to the user. Send to When a keyword is input to the search page and transmitted from the WWW browser, the search server 5 searches the database 5DB for information corresponding to the keyword, and configures a homepage reflecting the search result. And send it to the user. Search server 6 or 7 also has its own database 6DB or 7D
A similar search service is provided with B as a search target.

In this case, the databases 5DB to 7DB are of different types. That is, the data formats and access methods in the databases 5DB to 7DB are different. Further, different data is managed in each of the databases 5DB to 7DB. That is, for example, information on the URL of the homepage managed by the IP servers 8 and 9 is registered in the database 5DB. Further, for example, general information on books is registered in the database 6DB. Further, for example, in the database 7DB, among the information on the book, particularly, detailed information on the author is registered.

The IP servers 8 and 9 are connected to a homepage (HT
ML files and accompanying image and sound files) are managed, and among the homepages possessed by them, those requested by the user are provided.

The integrated search server 10 uses a search service provided by the search servers 5 to 7 to provide a user with a so-called unified search service.

In the information retrieval system configured as described above, when the user operates the user terminal 1 to access the SP server 3 via the public network 2, the user terminal 1 and the SP server 3 A communication link is established between them.

The user inputs the URL of the search page managed by the unified search server 10 into the user terminal 1 (WWW).
By inputting by operating the browser, this UR
L is transmitted to the unified search server 10 via the public network 2, the SP server 3, and the Internet 4. When receiving the URL of the search page managed by the user from the user, the unified search server 10 transmits the search page to the SP server 3 via the Internet 4. Upon receiving the search page from the unified search server 10, the SP server 3 transfers the search page to the user terminal 1 via the public network 2,
As a result, on the user terminal 1 (WWW browser), a home page corresponding to the input URL, that is, a search page managed by the integrated search server 10 is displayed.

The search page has a column for inputting a keyword. When a user inputs a keyword into the search page and the keyword is transmitted from the user terminal 1, the unified search server 10 receives the keyword. Search server 5
To 7 and, among other search servers (not shown) on the Internet 4, determine one or more suitable servers for searching for information corresponding to the keyword from the user (in this manner). The determined search server is hereinafter referred to as a determination server as appropriate). Further, the unified search server 10 converts the keyword from the user to one or more decision servers into a format suitable for requesting a search of the database of each, and transmits the Internet 4 to the corresponding decision server. To send through.

That is, when the user directly accesses the determination server and inputs a keyword to a search page managed by the user, the keyword is input to the user terminal 1 (WW).
The keyword is transmitted from the unified search server 10 to the determination server in the same manner as when the keyword is transmitted from the W browser to the determination server. Therefore, in this case, in the decision server, the information corresponding to the keyword from the unified search server 10 is searched from a database to which it can be accessed (database of the decision server), and the homepage reflecting the search result is unified search. Server 10
Via the Internet 4.

The unified search server 10 processes the search results on the home page as necessary, constructs a home page on which the search results are displayed, and transmits the home page to the user terminal 1.

Therefore, in the unified search server 10, for example, when the search servers 5 to 7 are the decision servers, the unified search server 10 displays the search results of the databases 5DB to 7DB to the user. Homepage is sent.

As a result, the user can use the search servers 5 to 7
Even if you do not directly access each, unified search server 1
By simply accessing 0, it is possible to obtain the same search result as when directly accessing each of the search servers 5 to 7. That is, if the user knows the URL of the search page managed by the unified search server 10 and how to use it,
URLs of search pages managed by search servers 5 to 7,
Even without knowing how to use it, the search results of the databases 5DB to 7DB can be obtained. Therefore, desired information can be easily obtained.

Here, as described above, the unified search server 1
0 provides a user with a so-called unified interface when searching a plurality of databases of a plurality of search servers on the Internet 4.
Therefore, the search service provided by the unified search server 10 is particularly called a unified search service.

Next, FIG. 2 shows an example of a hardware configuration of the user terminal 1 of FIG.

A ROM (Read Only Memry) 21 stores a system program and has a CPU (Central Procedure).
The essor unit (22) includes a system program stored in the ROM 21 and a random access memory (RAM).
y) Various processes are executed in accordance with a program (application program (for example, WWW browser) or the like) developed in 23. RAM2
Reference numeral 3 is for appropriately storing programs, data, and the like necessary for the CPU 22 to execute various processes. The input unit 24 includes an input device such as a keyboard, a mouse, and a microphone (microphone) for inputting various commands and other necessary information. The communication I / F 25 includes, for example, a modem or an NCU (Network Control Unit), and performs control necessary for communication with the SP server 3 via the public network 2. The output unit 26
For example, it is composed of a display, a printer, a speaker, and other output devices for displaying, printing, and outputting sound such as characters and images.

The external storage device 27 is composed of, for example, a hard disk device or a magneto-optical disk device, in which necessary data and programs are stored (recorded). In addition, the external storage device 27 stores data necessary for the operation of the user terminal 1 and the like.

The above-described ROM 21 to external storage device 27 are interconnected via a bus.

FIG. 3 shows the unified search server 10 of FIG.
2 shows an example of the hardware configuration.

The unified search server 10 uses the RO in FIG.
It is composed of a ROM 31 to an external storage device 37 which are configured similarly to the M21 to the external storage device 27, respectively. However, the unified search server 10 is faster than the user terminal 1 and has a larger capacity. The external storage device (recording medium) 37 stores application programs, data, and the like required for the unified search server 10 to provide the unified search service, for performing the processing described below.

Next, FIG. 4 shows the unified search server 10 of FIG.
2 shows an example of a functional configuration.

The control section 41 controls the communication section 42 and the homepage generation section 44, and further performs various processes in accordance with the data received by the communication section 42 via the Internet 4. The communication unit 42 receives data transmitted via the Internet 4 and performs communication control for transmitting predetermined data via the Internet 4 under the control of the control unit 41. ing. The homepage storage unit 43 stores search pages and other homepage data (HTML files, GIF, JPE, etc.) provided by the unified search server 10.
G, MPEG format image files, WAV, AU format audio data, applets written in Java (trademark) language, and the like. Homepage generator 44
In accordance with the control of the control unit 41, for example, a home page (hereinafter, appropriately referred to as a search result page) displaying information search results is generated. The database information storage unit 45 includes databases 5DB to 7
The database stores database information on a database on the Internet 4 (not shown), for example, in a format as shown in FIG.

Here, for example, the database information includes the following. That is, for example, as the database information of the database 5DB that the search server 5 has, the type of information registered in the database 5DB (for example, information stored in the database 5DB is related to a book, U
RL), database 5D
The type of information (for example, a person's name or a book title) given as a keyword when searching for B, the format (input information type, format) when giving the information,
The type of information of the search result that the search server 5 searches and outputs to the database 5DB (for example, when the title of a book is given as a keyword, the author and publisher of the book are output as the search result), An output format (output information type and format) of the search result, a communication protocol (input / output protocol) when transmitting a keyword to the search server 5 or receiving a search result from the search server 5, and an address (IP) of the search server 5 Information necessary for using the search service of the search server 5, such as an address) or a URL of a search page (database URL) provided by the search server 5, is stored. Similar database information is stored for other databases.

Next, the operation of the unified search server 10 of FIG. 4 will be described.

When the user operates the user terminal 1 and requests the unified search server 10 to search for information (requests to provide a unified search service), that is, the unified search server 10 manages the information from a WWW browser. Search page URL
Is transmitted to the communication unit 42 of the unified search server 10 via the public network 2, the SP server 3, and the Internet 4.
Is received, the control unit 41 performs a process (search request receiving process) according to the flowchart of FIG.

That is, first, in step S1, the control unit 41 prompts the user terminal 1 (WWW browser) for the type of information to be searched (for example, whether the information to be searched is information on a book, The communication unit 42 transmits a homepage (hereinafter, appropriately referred to as an information type selection page) for selecting a type such as information about entertainers.

That is, the homepage storage section 43 stores an information type selection page, and the control section 41 reads out the information type selection page from the homepage storage section 43 and causes the communication section 42 to transmit it.

The information type selection page is transmitted to the user terminal 1 via the Internet 4, the SP server 3, and the public network 2.
, Where it is received and displayed. The user inputs the type of information to be searched (information type) on the information type selection page, and transmits the information to the unified search server 10.

After transmitting the information type selection page, the control unit 41 determines in step S2 whether or not the information type has been transmitted from the user. If it is determined that the information type has not been transmitted, the control unit 41 proceeds to step S2. Return. If it is determined in step S2 that the information type has been transmitted, that is, if the information type transmitted from the user terminal 1 is received by the communication unit 42, the process proceeds to step S3, and the control unit 41 , For the user terminal 1,
The communication unit 42 transmits a search page corresponding to the information type.

That is, the homepage storage unit 43 also stores, for example, a search page for each information type, and the control unit 41 transmits a search corresponding to the information type transmitted from the user terminal 1 from the homepage storage unit 43. The page is read and transmitted to the communication unit 42.

This search page is transmitted to the user terminal 1 in the same manner as the above-mentioned information type selection page. Thereby, in the user terminal 1 (WWW browser), for example,
A search page as shown in FIG. 7 is displayed. Here, FIG. 7 shows a search page when a book is selected as the information type, for example.

The search page includes a keyword input field 51 for inputting a keyword, and a search using the keyword input to the keyword input field 51 is started (the keyword input to the keyword input field 51). And a search button 52 that is operated (when transmitting to the unified search server 10).

The user inputs a character string serving as a keyword in the keyword input field 51, moves the cursor 53 to the position of the search button 52, and clicks (the search button 52).
To operate). As a result, the character string (keyword) input to the keyword input field 51 is transmitted from the user terminal 1 to the unified search server 10.

After transmitting the search page, the control unit 41 determines in step S4 whether or not a keyword has been transmitted from the user. If it is determined that the keyword has not been transmitted, the process returns to step S4. If it is determined in step S4 that the keyword has been transmitted, that is, if the keyword transmitted from the user terminal 1 has been received by the communication unit 42, the process proceeds to step S5, and the control unit 41 The database to be searched is determined based on the information type transmitted from the terminal 1.

That is, the control unit 41 determines whether the database information stored in the database information storage unit 45 is
Refer to the type of information registered in each database,
A search for an information type that matches the information type transmitted from the user terminal 1 is performed. Then, the matching database is
Determined as the search target database (search target database).

Then, in step S6, the control unit 41 converts the keyword from the user terminal 1 into data in a format suitable for requesting a search from the search target database (hereinafter referred to as request data as appropriate). Then, the data is transmitted to a search server that can access the search target database (a search server having the search target database).

That is, the control unit 41 refers to the database information and converts the keyword from the user terminal 1 into the same format as the keyword given when the search server having the search target database is searched for the search target database. By converting the format,
Construct request data (search request). Further, the control unit 4
1 refers to the database information and controls the communication unit 42 so that a search server having a search target database is searched for the search target database by using the same protocol as when transmitting a keyword. , Request data to be transmitted.

Thus, when the user directly accesses the search server having the search target database and inputs a keyword to the search page managed by the user, the keyword is retrieved from the user terminal 1 (WWW browser) from the user terminal 1 (WWW browser). The keyword (request data) is transmitted from the unified search server 10 to the search server via the Internet 4 in the same manner as when transmitted to the server.

Therefore, in this case, in the search server having the search target database, information corresponding to the keyword from the unified search server 10 is searched from the search target database, and a home page reflecting the search result is formed. The information is transmitted to the search server 10 via the Internet 4.

After transmitting the request data in step S6, the control section 41 proceeds to step S7, in which it is determined whether or not a search result for the request data has been transmitted from a search server having a search target database, and transmitted. If it is determined that there is not, the process returns to step S7.
If it is determined in step S7 that search results have been transmitted, the process proceeds to step S8, and it is determined whether search results in all search target databases have been received.

That is, the control unit 41 basically determines all databases matching the information type transmitted from the user terminal 1 as the search target databases in the above-described step S5. Therefore, a plurality of databases may be used as search target databases. In this case, in step S6, request data corresponding to each of the plurality of search target databases is formed and transmitted. For this reason, in step S8, it is determined whether or not the search results in all the databases set as the search target databases have been received. here,
When all databases matching the information type from the user terminal 1 are used as search target databases, the number may be enormous. Thus, the number of databases to be searched can be limited to a predetermined number or less.

If it is determined in step S8 that the search results in all the search target databases have not been received, the process returns to step S7, and until it is determined in step S8 that the search results in all the search target databases have been received. , The processing of steps S7 and S8 is repeated. If it is determined in step S8 that the search results in all the search target databases have been received, that is, if the communication unit 42 has received the search results in all the search target databases, the process proceeds to step S9, and the control proceeds to step S9. In the section 41, a totaling process of the search results is performed.

That is, when search results in a plurality of databases are received, the contents may be duplicated. Therefore, in step S9, the contents of the plurality of search results are totaled, so to speak, so that the overlapping part is deleted.

As described above, as the database information, what kind of content is obtained as a search result of each database is also stored. Based on this, the control unit 41 determines a plurality of search results. The corresponding contents (items) (for example, book authors and publishers) are compared with each other to determine whether they are duplicated.

Further, the search result may include, for example, a book summary, and the data amount may be large. Further, the search result may include information unnecessary for the user, such as a code specific to the database in which the search result was stored. In step S9, in such a case, an editing process for omitting a part of the summary or deleting unnecessary information is performed as necessary.

After the processing in step S9, step S10
Then, a home page (search result page) displaying the search result is generated, transmitted to the user terminal 1, and the search result request receiving process ends.

That is, the control unit 41 supplies the search result after the tallying process in step S9 to the homepage generation unit 44, and configures a search result page in an easy-to-view form reflecting the search result. Then, the control unit 41 controls the communication unit 42 to transmit the search result page to the user terminal 1.

Thus, a search result page as shown in FIG. 8, for example, is displayed on the user terminal 1 (WWW browser). In FIG. 8, the information type is “book”.
This shows a search result page when the title of the book "Ganbare Shin-chan" is input as a keyword.
In this embodiment, the author, the ISBN code, and the publisher,
It is displayed as a search result.

By the way, for example, when a search result as shown in FIG. 8 is obtained by using the title of a book as a keyword, it is sometimes desired to further search for information relating to the search result. That is, for example, there is a case where it is desired to obtain information about the author “Taro Yamada” in the search result of FIG. However, in such a case, it is troublesome to return to the search page shown in FIG. 7 again and enter the author “Taro Yamada” as a keyword in the keyword input field 51.

Therefore, after obtaining the search result page, the unified search server 10 does not return to the search page shown in FIG. 7 again when searching for information related to the search result displayed there. Even that search has been made possible.

That is, in step S10 of FIG. 6, for example, the unified search server 10 can configure a search result page as shown in FIG. 9 and transmit it to the user terminal 1. On this search results page,
The display part of the author "Taro Yamada" is a button.
In the embodiment shown in FIG. 9, an underline is attached to the display portion of the author "Taro Yamada" so that it can be seen that the display portion is a button.

When the cursor 53 is moved on this button and clicked, the author “Taro Yamada” is transmitted to the unified search server 10 as a keyword in the WWW browser. Since the search result page in FIG. 9 is configured by the unified search server 10, the keyword "Taro Yamada" is
The unified search server 10 can recognize that the book is the author, and the unified search server 10 that receives the keyword “Taro Yamada” sets the book author as the information type and sets “Taro Yamada” as the keyword. As a result, the processing of steps S5 to S10 in FIG. 6 is performed. As a result, in the unified search server 10, for example, as shown in FIG. 10, a search result page in which search results with the author “Taro Yamada” as a keyword is displayed, and the user terminal 1
(WWW browser).

Therefore, the user can easily search for information on the contents of the search result.

In the embodiment of FIG. 10, the date of birth, the real name, and the work (book) are displayed as a search result using the author “Taro Yamada” as a keyword. Also, the books "Ganbare Shin-chan", "Old man", and "Mystery of glass" are underlined, and these display parts are buttons. Therefore, by clicking any one of the works with the cursor 53, the corresponding work can be further searched. That is, in this case, it is possible to search for information in a so-called potato vine type.

Next, for example, there is a case where the user wants to know information about the author of a certain book, but does not know the name of the author itself and only knows the title of the book. In such a case, for example, in the search page shown in FIG. 7, the title of a known book is input as a keyword, and FIG.
May be obtained by clicking the displayed part of the author in the search result, and inputting the author as a keyword to obtain the search result as shown in FIG. In this case, the user inputs the keyword twice, and furthermore, the search result page is transmitted twice from the unified search server 10 to the user terminal 1, so that the search that the user originally wants to obtain is It takes time to get the result. In addition, since the user wants to obtain information on the author of a certain book, first, the user is sent from the unified search server 10,
A search result (for example, FIG. 9) using a book as a keyword is unnecessary for the user.

Therefore, in the search page shown in FIG. 7, two or more keywords can be inputted at a time. That is, for example, when the title of a book "Ganbare Shin-chan" is known, and information about the author is desired, for example, as shown in FIG. ", And two keywords can be input with an arrow (→) therebetween (separated by an arrow). Here, when a plurality of keywords are input across the arrow as described above, the leftmost one of the plurality of keywords (the first one from the left)
Is called a first word, and a keyword following the arrow after that is called an additional word.

When a keyword such as “Ganbare Shin-chan → Author” is transmitted from the user terminal 1, the unified search server 10 first searches using the first word “Ganbare Shin-chan” as a keyword. When the search result for the first word is obtained (in this case, the search result shown in FIG. 8 or 9 is obtained), the unified search server 10 corresponds to the additional word “author” in the search result. A search is performed using the part as a keyword. That is, for example, if the search result shown in FIG. 8 or FIG. 9 is obtained as a result of performing a search using the first word “Ganbare Shin-chan” as a keyword, the search is performed using “Taro Yamada” as a keyword. Will be Then, the search result is transmitted to the user terminal 1. Therefore, in this case, in the user terminal 1, FIG.
And the search results in the middle, as shown in FIG. 9, are not displayed.
The so-called final search result shown in FIG. 10 is displayed. Therefore, the user can quickly obtain desired information.

Next, referring to the flowchart of FIG. 12, two or more keywords as described above
A description will be given of a search request receiving process that can cope with a case where a search request has been transmitted from the Internet.

In steps S21 to S24, the same processes as those in steps S1 to S4 in FIG. 6 are performed. Then, the process proceeds to step S25, where the first word is extracted from the character string transmitted as a keyword from the user terminal 1. That is, the control unit 41 scans the character string transmitted from the user terminal 1 from the leftmost to the right, and detects an arrow (→) or the end of the character string. Then, the control unit 41 extracts (detects) the interval as a first word.

Thereafter, the process sequentially proceeds to steps S26 to S30, and the same processing as in steps S5 to S9 in FIG. 6 is performed using the first word extracted in step S25 as a keyword, and a corresponding search result is obtained. After that, the process proceeds to step S31. In step S31,
It is determined whether the keyword from the user terminal 1 has an additional word. That is, the control unit 41 determines whether or not there is an arrow after the first word, and if there is, the process proceeds from step S31 to S32. In step S32, the control unit 41 moves the user terminal 1 rightward after the arrow.
The character string from is scanned, and an arrow (→) or the end of the character string is detected, and the space between them is extracted (detected) as an additional word. Then, the process returns to step S26, and the processing after step S26 is performed again using the additional word extracted in step S32 in the previous search result as a new keyword. After this,
In step S31, the control unit 41 determines whether the previous step S31
By determining whether there is an arrow after the additional word extracted in 32, it is determined whether there is any additional word.

If it is determined in step S31 that there is no additional word, the process proceeds to step S33,
As in the case of step S10 in FIG. 6, a search result page is displayed in which search results obtained for the last additional word (first word when the keyword is composed of only the first word) are displayed, The search request is transmitted to the user terminal 1 and the search request receiving process ends.

Here, a search performed by inputting a plurality of keywords at once as described above is called a multi-stage search.

As described above, in the unified search server 10, a plurality of databases may be used as search target databases.
It belongs to different search service providers and is not always updated at the same time. Further, there may be a case where there is an error in the registered contents of the database. For this reason, when a plurality of databases are set as search target databases, the contents of the same item in the search results for each search target database may not match. That is, for example, as a search result for a publisher of a book, different publishers may be obtained between a certain database and another database.

In such a case, in the unified search server 10, for example, as shown in FIG. 13, a search result page reflecting both search results is configured. Here, FIG. 13 shows that as a publisher of the book “Ganbare Shin-chan”, there were two types of search results, “large and small publishing” and “large and small publishing”. Further, in FIG. 13, a search service provider owning a database in which search results "large and small publishing" or "large and small publishing" are obtained ("A library" for "large and small publishing", " About "B Publisher")
Is also displayed.

If the contents of the items of the search results for a plurality of databases do not match, a search result page displaying all the inconsistent items is constructed, and for example, one or more of them are selected. It is also possible to configure a search result page in which only the content of the selected item is displayed together with other items.

That is, for example, the reliability indicating the reliability of the information registered in the database is determined, and this is stored in the database information storage unit 45 together with the database information. Then, only the search result of the database having the highest reliability can be displayed on the search result page. Further, for example, search results that do not match can also be displayed side by side in descending order of reliability. In this case, the reliability can be determined based on, for example, the size of the database and its owner (corporate or individual).

First, all of the plurality of unmatched search results are displayed, one of them is selected by the user, and the selected search results are displayed in the unified search server 10.
In the case where a plurality of search results that do not match are obtained thereafter, only those that match the search result selected by the user can be displayed on the search result page.

Furthermore, an evaluation function for evaluating a search result that does not match may be defined, and one may be selected from a plurality of search results that do not match based on the evaluation function. good. As the evaluation function, for example,
The product of the above-described database reliability and the frequency of use of the database can be adopted. The evaluation function may be set by the unified search service provider of the unified search server 10 or may be set by the user.

Next, the inconsistency of the search results (contents of items in) in a plurality of databases as described above may occur during the above-described multi-stage search. In this case, at the stage where the search results do not match, as described above, the unified search server 10 may select one of them and continue the search, but the selection is made by the user. It is also possible to do so.

That is, in the multi-stage search, when the contents of a certain item in a plurality of search results obtained in the middle of the search do not match, for example, as shown in FIG. A home page for selecting one (hereinafter, a selection page is appropriately formed and the user terminal 1
Can be sent to

Here, in FIG. 14, in the search result in the middle of performing the multi-stage search using “Ganbare Shin-chan → author” as a keyword, that is, in the search result for the book “Ganbare Shin-chan”, A library is used as the author. "Taro Yamada" from the database owned by
It shows that "Kimura Shoichi" was obtained from the database owned by the bookstore. Then, below the author “Taro Yamada” or “Shoichi Kimura” on the selection page, a selection button 61 or 62 operated to select each is displayed.

When the user moves the cursor 53 onto the selection button 61 or 62 and clicks on it, the unified search server 10 selects the author corresponding to the clicked selection button and uses it as a keyword. The multi-stage search is restarted. Here, FIG. 15 shows a search result obtained by operating the select button 61 in FIG. 14 to select the author “Taro Yamada” and using that as a keyword to search for author information. Indicates a page. In FIG. 15, the date of birth is displayed as information on the author “Taro Yamada”. Further, FIG.
5 shows that the date of birth was obtained from the database owned by C publisher.

When different search results are obtained from a plurality of databases in the last stage (search) of the multistage search, one of them is selected in the unified search server 10 as described above. It is also possible to do so.

Further, for example, when a plurality of search results are obtained in the middle of a multi-stage search, one of the search results can be selected by an evaluation function set by the user. In this case, the evaluation function may be set by the user before performing the multi-stage search, or may be urged by the user when the search results do not match.

Further, in a multi-stage search, when a plurality of search results obtained in the middle of the search do not match, as described above, one of the different search results is not selected. For, it is also possible to continue the search.

FIG. 16 shows a search result in the middle of performing a multi-stage search using “Ganbare Shin-chan → Author” as a keyword, ie, the book “Ganbare Shin-chan”.
As a result, "Taro Yamada" is obtained from the database owned by Library A and "Shoichi Kimura" is obtained from the database owned by Bookstore B, and the authors "Taro Yamada" or " A search result page obtained when a search is performed for each of "Shoichi Kimura" is shown. In this case, the date of birth as information on each of the authors “Taro Yamada” or “Shoichi Kimura” is displayed. FIG. 16 shows that both the birth dates of the authors “Taro Yamada” and “Shoichi Kimura” were obtained from a database owned by C publisher.

As described above, in the unified search server 10, the keyword from the user terminal 1 is converted into the request data for causing the search server to search a database that can be accessed, and the converted data is transmitted to the search server. At the same time, in response to the request data, a search result of the database transmitted from the search server is received and transmitted to the user terminal 1, so that the user can obtain a URL for using many databases. Even without knowing, it is possible to easily obtain desired information. In this case, since it is not necessary to access many databases by itself, information can be obtained quickly.

Further, since the user only needs to access the unified search server 10, it is possible to search for information using a certain user interface.

On the other hand, the unified search server 10 can provide a search service even if it does not have its own database.

As described above, the case where the present invention is applied to an information retrieval system using the Internet has been described. However, the present invention is also applicable to a system using a network other than the Internet.

In the present embodiment, a description has been given by taking as an example a search for information on a book and its author. However, the present invention is not limited to this. Applicable to search. That is, in the present invention, the information to be searched is not particularly limited.

Further, in the present embodiment, the search is performed using the keyword provided by the user as it is.
It is also possible to convert to a synonym and use it as a new keyword. That is, for example, in the case of performing a multi-stage search, if a keyword representing a comprehensive, so-called attribute, such as “author”, is used as a keyword, the search result indicates that the author of the book has the attribute “author”. , Searches for authors may not be performed. Therefore, a synonym dictionary 46 is provided in the unified search server 10 as shown by a dotted line in FIG. 4, and the control unit 41 refers to the synonym dictionary 46, converts a keyword from the user into a synonym, and newly converts the keyword. By performing a search as a keyword, it is possible to prevent the above-described inconvenience from occurring.

Since the unified search server 10 uses another search server to provide the search results, the search results provided to the user include the search results obtained by any of the search servers. It is preferable to clearly indicate whether the object is the one.

[0119]

According to the information processing apparatus according to the first aspect, the information processing method according to the fifth aspect, and the recording medium according to the ninth aspect, the information processing apparatus is based on the database information relating to each of the databases of the plurality of servers. The request from the terminal is converted into a search request, which is a request for causing the server to search its own database,
A search request is transmitted to the server based on the database information, and a database search result transmitted from the server is received in response to the search request. Then, the search result is transmitted to the terminal. Therefore, the user (user) can easily search for information.

[Brief description of the drawings]

FIG. 1 is a diagram illustrating a configuration example of an embodiment of an information search system to which the present invention has been applied.

FIG. 2 is a block diagram illustrating a hardware configuration example of a user terminal 1 of FIG.

FIG. 3 is a block diagram illustrating an example of a hardware configuration of a unified search server 10 of FIG.

FIG. 4 is a block diagram showing a functional configuration example of a unified search server 10 of FIG.

FIG. 5 is a diagram showing database information.

FIG. 6 is a flowchart illustrating a search request receiving process performed by a control unit 41 of FIG. 4;

FIG. 7 is a diagram showing a search page.

FIG. 8 is a diagram showing a search result page.

FIG. 9 is a diagram showing a search result page.

FIG. 10 is a diagram showing a search result page.

FIG. 11 is a diagram illustrating an example of input to a search page.

FIG. 12 is a flowchart illustrating a search request receiving process performed by a control unit 41 of FIG. 4;

FIG. 13 is a diagram showing a search result page.

FIG. 14 is a diagram showing a selection page.

FIG. 15 is a diagram showing a search result page.

FIG. 16 is a diagram showing a search result page.

[Explanation of symbols]

1 user terminal, 2 public network, 3 SP server,
4 Internet, 5-7 search server, 5DB
To 7 DB database, 8, 9 IP server,
10 unified search server, 21 ROM, 22 CP
U, 23 RAM, 24 communication I / F, 25 input unit, 26 output unit, 27 external storage device, 31
ROM, 32 CPU, 33 RAM, 34 communication I / F, 35 input unit, 36 output unit, 37
External storage device, 41 control unit, 42 communication unit, 4
3 homepage storage section, 44 homepage generation section, 45 database information storage section, 46 synonym dictionary, 51 keyword input field, 52 search button, 53 cursor, 61, 62 selection button

Claims (9)

[Claims] 1. An information processing apparatus connected to a network to which a plurality of servers having databases are connected and performing a process of searching for information requested from a predetermined terminal, wherein the databases of the plurality of servers are In the case of different types, a database information storage unit that stores database information about each of the databases of the plurality of servers; and a request from the terminal is sent to the server based on the database information. Request conversion means for converting the database into a search request that is a request for searching the database, and transmitting the search request to the server based on the database information, and responding to the search request, Server communication to receive database search results sent from Information processing apparatus for a stage, the said search result server communication means receives, characterized in that it comprises a terminal communication means for transmitting to said terminal. 2. When the server communication unit transmits the search request to two or more servers, and receives search results of a database of each of the two or more servers, the server communication unit transmits the search request to the two or more servers. The information processing apparatus according to claim 1, further comprising a deletion unit that deletes an overlapping part. A determining unit that determines a server to which the search request is to be transmitted, based on the request from the terminal, wherein the request converting unit converts the request from the terminal into the transmission target. The information processing apparatus according to claim 1, wherein the information is converted into a search request to the determined server. 4. The method according to claim 1, wherein the request from the terminal includes a keyword used by the server for searching a database, and further comprising keyword conversion means for converting the keyword into a synonym. Information processing device. 5. An information processing method for an information processing apparatus connected to a network to which a plurality of servers having a database are connected and searching for information requested from a predetermined terminal, comprising: Are different types, based on database information on each of the databases of the plurality of servers, a search request which is a request for causing the server to search the database of the terminal based on the request from the terminal. Based on the database information, the search request is transmitted to the server, and in response to the search request, a database search result transmitted from the server is received, and the search result is And transmitting the information to the terminal. 6. The terminal receiving the search result,
Further, when there is a request for information related to the search result, the request from the terminal is converted into the search request, and the search request is transmitted to the server, and the database transmitted from the server is transmitted to the server. The information processing method according to claim 5, wherein a search result is received, and the search result is transmitted to the terminal. 7. The request from the terminal includes first and second keywords used by the server for searching a database, transmitting the search request for the first keyword to the server, Receiving a search result of the database transmitted from the server, transmitting the search request for information on the second keyword in the search result to the server, and searching the database for the search result transmitted from the server; The information processing method according to claim 5, wherein the information is received. 8. When the search request for the first keyword is transmitted to two or more servers, and when the search results of the respective databases are received from the two or more servers, the two or more searches are performed. When the results are different, transmitting the search request for the information on the second keyword in the different search results to the server, and receiving the database search results transmitted from the server. The information processing method according to claim 7. 9. A program for retrieving information requested from a predetermined terminal using a plurality of servers having a database, on a recording medium storing a program to be executed by a computer, In the case where the databases of the plurality of servers are of different types, based on database information on each of the databases of the plurality of servers, a request from the terminal is transmitted to the server to search the database of the server. And transmits the search request to the server based on the database information, and receives a database search result transmitted from the server in response to the search request. And transmitting the search result to the terminal. Recording medium on which the program is characterized in that it has been properly recorded.