JPH11175547A - Information processor and method therefor and storage medium for storing information processing program - Google Patents

Abstract

PROBLEM TO BE SOLVED: To estimate retrieval information to be added to an object from al ready set retrieval information based on similarity between mutual retrieval information. SOLUTION: This is an information processing method for adding retrieval information to an object. Each object is stored with retrieval information indicating the attribute, and similarity indicating the degree of similarity between each retrieval information is stored as a retrieval information data base for each mutually related retrieval information. Then, one or more retrieval information is estimated from the retrieval information database based on the retrieval information inputted related with the object and the similarity, and the estimated retrieval information is added to the corresponding object, and registered.

Description

DETAILED DESCRIPTION OF THE INVENTION

[0001]

[0001] The present invention relates to an information processing apparatus.

[0002]

2. Description of the Related Art In recent years, the field of information processing has been remarkably developed. In particular, as the performance of personal computers and the like has improved, objects such as images and documents have been fetched from an input device, stored, managed, and searched as necessary. Image database devices and electronic filing devices that print on output devices have become widespread not only in the business field / specific applications but also to general users. Images and documents processed by such devices are often created as files and registered and managed in a database. So, to manage these objects efficiently,
For example, search information (hereinafter referred to as object characteristics and contents)
It is known to add specific information to be referred to as a search key). In a database in which a search key is added to each object, the object is searched and extracted based on the search key.

[0003] By the way, as the additional information for the object increases, various searches can be performed and the search efficiency of the object improves, but on the other hand, various search information must be input / set to the object. . In particular, when the number of registered objects is large, it is necessary for the user to input the search key by using, for example, a keyboard in consideration of the attribute of each object. You. For this reason, it has been desired to simplify the operation of adding a search key.

[0004] In connection with the simplification of the search key adding operation, conventionally, for example, Japanese Patent Application Laid-Open No. H5-257979 discloses a technique in which keywords as search keys are grouped into mutually related keywords, and a designated keyword is designated. An information processing apparatus that extracts and displays keywords in the same group as new setting candidates is known.

[0005]

However, in this conventional device, keywords belonging to the same group as the designated keyword are extracted, so that at least keywords related to the contents of the designated keyword are automatically obtained. Although there is an advantage in that point, in some cases, any related keywords are extracted, so that the number of extracted keywords becomes very large, and the burden on the user in the search key adding work cannot be sufficiently reduced. There is. In addition, as described above, the more additional information as search information for an object, the more precise the search can be made, but the number of similar keywords increases. Therefore, when performing a certain search, many search conditions are set. May be required. Setting such search conditions is a very troublesome task to perform manually.

The present invention further simplifies the work of adding a search key to an object, and selects and displays a specific search key as a candidate from the set search keys based on the similarity between the search keys. It is an object of the present invention to provide an information processing apparatus and an information processing method capable of performing the same, and a recording medium recording a program for causing a computer to execute the function.

[0007]

Therefore, the invention according to claim 1 of the present invention is an information processing apparatus capable of adding search information to an object, wherein each object is stored together with search information representing its attribute. Object database, a search information database storing, for each of the mutually related search information, a similarity indicating the degree of similarity of each search information, and a search condition for inputting the search information and the similarity for the object Input means, search information extraction means for extracting one or more search information from the search information database based on the search information and similarity input by the search condition input means, and extraction by the search information extraction means Search information registering means for adding the registered search information to the corresponding object and registering the same. It is obtained by the features.

According to a second aspect of the present invention, there is provided an information processing apparatus for searching for an object based on search information added to the object. A search information database to be stored, search condition specifying means for specifying search conditions including search information and a relationship between the search information, and a plurality of search conditions specified by the search condition specifying means. And estimating means for estimating another search information.

Further, according to a third aspect of the present invention, there is provided a setting means for setting the search information estimated by the estimating means as a search condition, and an object based on the search condition set by the setting means. And a search means for searching for.

Still further, according to a fourth aspect of the present invention, there is provided a registration means for registering the search information estimated by the estimation means as additional information of the object.

According to a fifth aspect of the present invention, there is provided an information processing method capable of adding search information to an object, wherein each object is stored together with search information representing its attribute, while being related to each other. For each search information,
A similarity indicating the degree of similarity between the respective search information is stored, and one or more search information is extracted from the stored search information based on the search information and the similarity input for the object, and the extracted search information is extracted. The search information is added to the corresponding object and registered.

Further, an invention according to claim 6 of the present invention is an information processing apparatus for searching for an object based on search information added to an object, wherein a plurality of search information and a relationship between the search information are determined. It is stored in advance as a search information database, a search condition including search information and a relation between each search information is specified, and another search information is estimated from the search information database based on the plurality of specified search conditions. It is a characteristic.

[0013] Still further, according to a seventh aspect of the present invention, there is provided a recording medium storing an information processing program capable of adding search information to an object by a computer, wherein each object represents an attribute of the object. On the other hand, for each of the mutually related search information, the similarity indicating the degree of similarity of each search information is stored, and based on the search information and the similarity input for the object, 1 One or more pieces of search information are extracted, and the extracted search information is added to the corresponding object and registered.

Still further, according to an eighth aspect of the present invention, there is provided a recording medium recording an information processing program for searching for an object based on search information added to the object by a computer, comprising: In addition, the relationship between each search information is stored in advance as a search information database, a search condition including the search information and the relationship between each search information is specified, and based on the plurality of specified search conditions, from the search information database, It is characterized by estimating another search information. Note that the “object” represents electronic information, such as text or image data, or a folder in which the electronic information is the main information to be stored and managed by the information processing apparatus.

[0015]

Embodiments of the present invention will be described below in detail with reference to the accompanying drawings. The information processing apparatus according to the present embodiment includes an image data, which is one of the objects, and one of attribute information for the image data.
One of the additional information is managed. That is, the information processing apparatus constitutes a database management system for image data (hereinafter, referred to as “image database”), adds search information as additional information to the image data, and uses the search information to store the image data. Search can be performed. Note that the search information used in the image database includes keywords, colors, figures, and the like representing the features of the image. In this embodiment, the keywords are used.

FIG. 1 is a configuration diagram of an information processing apparatus (hereinafter, referred to as a “system”) according to the present embodiment. The system includes a central processing unit (hereinafter referred to as a “CPU”).
And a control device 1 (computer) that controls the entire system. The control device 1 includes:
A display 2 for displaying images or characters, a display for operations, etc., a keyboard 3 and a mouse 4 for performing various inputs and instructions, and a floppy disk 5a as a medium for storing / saving data. Disk drive 5b for writing and reading data, a hard disk device 6 for storing and storing a large amount of image data to which attribute information is added, a printer 7 for printing characters and image data, and capturing image data , A CD-ROM device 9b for reading data stored in a CD-ROM 9a, a speaker 10 for audio output, and a microphone 11 for audio input.

FIG. 2 is a block diagram of the present system centering on the control device 1. The control device 1 is mainly configured with a CPU 201 such as an Intel product number i80486DX. The ROM 203 stores a search program according to the present invention via a data bus 220 connected to the CPU 201, and stores various data. RAM 20
4, a display control circuit 205 for displaying images or characters on the display 2, a keyboard control circuit 206 for controlling input from the keyboard 3, a mouse control circuit 207 for controlling input from the mouse 4, and a floppy disk drive 5b. , A hard disk control circuit 209 for controlling the hard disk device 6, a printer control circuit 210 for controlling output to the printer 7, a scanner control circuit 211 for controlling the scanner 8, and a CD-ROM device 9b. CD-ROM device control circuit 212 for controlling, speaker 10
A speaker control unit 213 that controls audio output to the
A microphone control circuit 214 for controlling the microphone 11 is connected to each. The CPU 201 is connected to a clock 202 for generating a reference clock required for operating the present system, and further connected to an expansion slot 215 for connecting various expansion boards via a data bus 220. . Note that a SCSI board may be connected to the expansion slot 215, and the floppy disk drive 5b, the hard disk device 6, the scanner 8, the CD-ROM device 9b, and the like may be connected via the SCSI board.

In this system, the floppy disk 5a and the hard disk device 6 are used as media for storing data, but other recording media such as a magneto-optical disk may be used. Although the scanner 8 and the CD-ROM device 9b are used as input devices for image data, other input devices such as a still video camera and a digital camera may be used. Although the printer 7 is used as the output device, another output device such as a digital copying machine may be used.

In the present system, the search program according to the present invention is recorded in the ROM 203. However, part or all of this program is stored in a data recording medium such as the floppy disk 5a or the hard disk device 6, and the program and data are stored in the data recording medium as needed.
M204 may be read out and executed. Also,
In the present system, the image data input from the external input device to the hard disk device 6 and stored is managed. However, the image data stored in the CD-ROM 9b may be directly managed. . In this case, the index data indicating the image data stored in the CD-ROM 9b and the search information added to the index data are stored in the hard disk device 6 (the set of the index data and the search information is referred to as “record "). When searching for image data, a record is first extracted as a search result based on the set search information, and then desired image data is read from the CD-ROM 9b based on the index data of the extracted record. Good.

FIG. 3 shows an example of a setting screen displayed on the display 2 as the program is executed in the present system. The screen 21 is an initial menu screen displayed when the system is started. By selecting each of the selection items 23 to 27 on the initial menu screen with input means such as a mouse, a setting screen corresponding to the processing is displayed. On these setting screens, the user performs setting of an operation mode, registration of data or input of setting values necessary for registration of a keyword, and the like.

In addition, the present system has an image database that includes image data and its content information and other attribute information in order to manage the image data. This image database is recorded on an information recording medium such as the hard disk device 6 and has a registration number “index”,
"Data name" indicating the content of the image data, "Data path" indicating the location on the information recording medium where the image data is recorded, "File name" of the image data, "Keyword" used at the time of search, and others And various attribute information related to the image data. In the present embodiment, the “keyword” includes all pieces of attribute information related to image data used at the time of search.

Hereinafter, control processing of the present system will be described. FIG. 4 is a flowchart of a main routine of a control process executed by the CPU 201 based on a program stored in the ROM 203. When the power supply of the system is turned on and the present information processing program is started, first, initialization processing such as initialization of flags and the like necessary in each processing and display of an initialization screen (see FIG. 3) on the display 2 are performed. (Step S1, hereinafter, “Step” is omitted). Next, it is determined whether any process is selected on the initial menu screen 21 (S2). Here, when the “data registration” 23 is selected, a data registration process is performed to capture an image from an image input device such as the scanner 8 and add predetermined information to register it in the database (S).
3). When the "data search" 24 is selected, a search process for searching desired image data from the database is executed (S4). Further, when "keyword registration" 25 is selected, a keyword registration process for registering a keyword to be added to the image data in the database is executed (S5). Further, when the “estimate mode setting” 26 is selected, a process of setting a mode (similarity designation mode or candidate number designation mode) used when estimating a keyword to be added is performed (S6). The “estimation mode setting” 26 will be described later in detail. Further, when "other menu" is selected, a predetermined process other than the above process is executed (S7). If no menu is selected in S2, the process immediately proceeds to another process (S8). After the other processes are completed in S8, the process returns to S2, and thereafter, the same processes are repeatedly performed. The data search processing (S4), the keyword registration processing (S5), the processing when another menu is selected (S7), and the other processing (S8)
Since it is basically the same as the conventional search system and is not directly related to the present application, the description is omitted here.

FIG. 5 shows the data registration process (S in FIG. 4).
It is a flowchart of 3). Here, image data newly input from an image input device such as the scanner 8 or image data read from the CD-ROM 9a by the CD-ROM drive 9b and additional information such as keywords corresponding thereto are stored as database files. A process for writing to the hard disk device 6 is performed. When entering the data registration process, the CPU 201 first determines whether the image data to be processed is newly input or
It is determined whether the data already exists in the database (S21). This determination is made based on an input made by the user on the data registration screen via the mouse 4 or the keyboard 3. If the result of the determination is that image data is to be newly input, image data capture processing for capturing new image data from an image input device such as the scanner 8 is executed (S22). This image data capture processing (S22)
Will be described later in detail. On the other hand, if the image data is existing data, desired data is selected from existing image data recorded on a recording medium such as the CD-ROM 9a (S23). The capture or selection of the image data is performed by the user on the data registration screen 29 via the mouse 4, the keyboard 3, and the like.

In S24, it is determined whether or not the additional information is manually input. As a result of the determination, when other additional information is to be manually input, the user inputs the additional information via the mouse 4 or the keyboard 3 (S25), and the process proceeds to S26. Details of the additional information input process in S25 will be described later. If the additional information is not manually input in S24, the process skips to S26. In S26, the image data to which the additional information such as the keyword is added, or the image data to which the additional information is not added is registered in the hard disk device 6 or the like as a database file.

By the way, in the present embodiment, with respect to the search keys registered together with the image data as a file of the database, for each search key that is similar to each other, the similarity indicating the degree to which these search keys are related to each other is different. A technology that is stored in a search database and searches for data in relation to the similarity (hereinafter referred to as “similarity search”) is used. This “similarity search” is described in, for example, JP-A-5-89176 and JP-A-5-28237.
No. 5, JP-A-6-195388 or Japanese Patent Application No. 7-13239 is known. The similarity is represented by, for example, a numerical value from 0 to 1, where 1 represents the same, and the smaller the value is, the lower the similarity becomes, and 0 represents no similarity. In the present embodiment, as the “similarity search”, a “similarity designation search” in which a search key having a similarity or higher is estimated according to the similarity designated by the user and displayed in a list on the display 2, or A “candidate number specifying search” for estimating a search key in accordance with the number of specified search key candidates and displaying the list in descending order of similarity is used. In the above estimation mode setting processing (see FIG. 6), “similarity specification Either "search" or "candidate number designated search" is selected. still,
In this similarity search, it is necessary for the user to select in advance one or more keys to be estimated, together with the similarity or the number of search key candidates as search conditions.

FIG. 6 shows the estimation mode setting process.
This will be described with reference to FIG. First, in S31, a mode used when estimating a search key to be added to target image data is set. That is, the mode to be used is “similarity designation mode” for specifying and searching for a similarity value, or “similarity specification mode” for specifying the number of search key candidates to be obtained as a result of search. One of the candidate number specification modes. " In this S31, further, “AND mode” for searching for all of one or more keys that are the source of the estimation selected by the user, or one or more sources of the estimation selected by the user Is set to one of the "OR modes" for searching for any one of the following keys. When the mode to be used is set to the similarity designation AND mode, through S32,
If the similarity degree designation OR mode is set, S3
After step 3, the process proceeds to step S36, where the similarity is designated, and the process returns. On the other hand, the above mode is changed to the candidate number designation AN
When the mode is set to the D mode, the process goes through S34, and when the mode is set to the candidate number designation OR mode, the process goes to S37 via S35, and after the number of candidates is specified, the process returns. Note that the above settings are made based on an input made on the mode setting screen (not shown) by the user via the mouse 4 or the keyboard 3.

FIG. 7 is a flowchart of the above-described image data fetching process (S22 in FIG. 5). In this image data capturing process, first, image data is captured from an image input device such as the scanner 8 or an information recording medium storing image data such as the hard disk device 6 (S41). Next, the storage location of the captured image data is set (S42), and after the image data name is input in S43, the process returns.

FIG. 8 shows the additional information input process (FIG. 5).
It is a flowchart of S25). In this additional information input processing, first, an additional information input menu is displayed on the screen, and the CPU 201 determines which processing has been selected by the user (S51). That is, it is determined whether the process of manually adding the search key as additional information (S52) or the process of adding information other than the search key as additional information (S53) is selected. If none of the processes is selected, the process proceeds to S54. When the addition of a keyword is selected, a keyword addition process is performed (S52). The details of the keyword adding process will be described later with reference to FIG. If other information addition processing is selected, information addition processing other than the search key is performed (S53). The other information addition processing is basically the same as the conventional processing or the keyword addition processing of S52, and thus the details thereof are omitted.
After the above-described additional processing is completed, it is determined whether or not the input of the additional information is to be terminated (S54), and the same operation is repeated until the user terminates the additional processing.

Next, the keyword adding process in S52 of FIG. 8 will be described with reference to FIG. In this keyword adding process, first, in S61, a list of search keys registered in the present system is displayed (hereinafter, this list display is referred to as a registered key list). Subsequently, the user selects a desired search key from the list displayed on the screen (S62). The selection method includes a method in which the user clicks a search key with the mouse 4 and a method in which the keyboard 3
A method of moving the cursor to the position of the search key with, and highlighting or highlighting the search key can be considered.
The search key selected by the user is set in the additional information of the image data in S63. Thereafter, it is determined whether or not to terminate the search key adding process based on an input on the screen by the user (S64). If the process is to be terminated, the process proceeds to S65. If not terminated, the process returns to S62, and this operation is repeated until the user terminates this processing.

In S65, it is determined whether or not keys to be added candidates are estimated and added. If YES, the process proceeds to S66.
Then, in the case of NO, return. In S66, 1
Select one or more keys to be estimated ("sporty", see FIG. 12). Thereafter, as will be described in detail later, a key as a candidate for addition (including a search key and other additional information) is estimated (S67). Subsequently, a desired search key is selected from the estimated key list (S6).
8) Add the selected keyword to the image data (S
69). At the end of this keyword addition processing, it is determined in S70 whether or not to end the selection from the estimated key list, and if so, the process returns. If not, the process returns to S66. In step S66, the search key selected in step S62 may be used as the key to be used for estimation.

FIGS. 10 and 11 are flowcharts showing the details of the process of estimating a key to be an additional candidate (S67 in FIG. 9). First, it is determined whether the mode for estimating a search key to be added to image data set on the initial setting screen (see FIG. 3) is the similarity designation mode or the candidate number designation mode. (S71). If the similarity designation mode has been set, the process proceeds to S72. On the other hand, when the candidate number designation mode is set, the process proceeds to S77. When the process proceeds to the similarity designation routine, first, in S72, it is determined whether or not a plurality of keys to be estimated are selected. When a plurality is selected, the process proceeds to S73, and it is determined whether the mode is set to the AND mode or the OR mode. If it is determined in step S73 that the AND mode has been set (ie, the similarity designation AND mode), the process advances to step S74 to refer to FIG. 6 for all of the plurality of selected keys that are sources of estimation. Then, as described above, a list of search keys having a degree of similarity higher than the designated degree of similarity is displayed. If it is determined in S73 that the mode is set to the OR mode (that is, the similarity designation OR mode), the process proceeds to S75, in which one of the plurality of selected estimation keys is determined. List search keys with a specified similarity or higher. On the other hand, when it is determined in S72 that only a single search key is selected, the search key corresponding to the similarity higher than the specified similarity is determined for the key that is the source of the estimation. Are displayed in a list (S76).

On the other hand, when the routine proceeds to the candidate number designation routine in S71, it is first determined in S77 whether or not a plurality of keys to be estimated are selected. If a plurality has been selected, the process proceeds to S78, and it is determined whether the mode is set to the AND mode or the OR mode. In this S78, when it is determined that the AND mode is set (that is, the candidate number designation AND mode), the process proceeds to S79, and all of the plurality of selected keys that are the sources of estimation are selected in descending order of similarity. The search keys are displayed in a list in order of the specified number of candidates. Also, S7
In step S8, if it is determined that the mode is set to the OR mode (that is, the number-of-candidates specification OR mode), the process advances to step S80 to specify one of the plurality of selected keys that are the sources of estimation. A list of search keys having a similarity or higher is displayed. On the other hand, if it is determined in S77 that only a single search key has been selected, the number of candidates designated in descending order of similarity for the key that is the source of the estimation is determined. Just list the search keys.

In order to more clearly understand the above-described process of estimating a key to be an additional candidate, when "sporty" is selected as a key to be an estimation source, the above-described estimation mode setting process (see FIG. 6) The processing performed based on the “similarity designation mode” or the “candidate number designation mode” set in the above will be described. As shown in the table of FIG. 12, in the information processing apparatus according to the present embodiment, the similarity indicating the degree of similarity to another search key is stored for the key “sporty” as the source of the estimation. In this table, search keys (0.9) are sequentially sorted in descending order of similarity (that is, similar to “sporty”).
5: "Light", 0.90: "Youthful", 0.8
0: "Casual style", 0.70: "Practical", 0.
60: “fresh” and 0.50: “cheerful”).

For example, if the "similarity designation mode" is set in the estimation mode setting process and the designated similarity is 0.7, then in the estimation process of the key as an additional candidate, the value of 0. Search keys with a similarity of 7 or more (ie, "light", "youthful",
“Casual style” and “practical”) are extracted as additional candidates and are listed on the display 2. FIG. 13 shows search keys listed from the table based on the key “sporty” as the source of estimation and the specified similarity “0.7”. The user selects one or more desired search keys (for example, two “light” and “casual”) from the displayed list, and searches for image data targeting them. Can be additionally set as a key.

On the other hand, when the "candidate number designation mode" is set in the estimation mode setting process and the number of designated candidates is three, in the estimation process of the key as an additional candidate, the similarity is determined from the table. Are retrieved as additional candidates (i.e., "light", "youthful" and "casual style").
Listed above. FIG. 14 shows the search keys listed from the table based on the key “sporty” as the source of the estimation and the designated number of candidates “3”. The user selects one or more desired search keys (for example, two “light” and “casual”) from the displayed list, and searches for image data targeting them. Can be additionally set as a key. As described above, when adding a search key to target image data, the user can easily and efficiently obtain a search key suitable for the content of the image data.

The present invention is not limited to the illustrated embodiment, and it goes without saying that various improvements or design changes can be made without departing from the scope of the invention. For example, the apparatus according to the present embodiment is configured to temporarily display the estimated search key in a list and allow the user to select from the list. However, the present invention is not limited thereto. May be automatically added and registered to the object for all the objects. Further, in the present embodiment, the case where the estimated search key is added to the object has been described, but the present invention can also be applied to the case where search conditions are set. That is, at the time of setting the search conditions, one or more search keys are set together with the similarity or the number of search key candidates, and other search keys are estimated based on the search conditions according to the flow shown in FIGS. I do. Then, the estimated search key can be added as a new search condition. The estimation of the search key as such a search condition can be repeatedly executed as necessary. Furthermore, in the present embodiment, a keyword is mainly used as a search key. However, the present invention is not limited to this. For example, the present invention provides various types of keys such as key images and sounds that simply represent an image of an object. The search key is also applicable. Furthermore, although an image has been described as an example of an object, a similar effect can be obtained for an object such as a document or sound.

[0037]

As is clear from the above description, according to the present invention, when adding search information to an object,
Based on the set search conditions (ie, similarity or the number of candidates based on the similarity) in relation to the search information input by the user (ie, the search information that is the source of the estimation), the search information that satisfies the search conditions is limited. User,
By selecting the desired search information, search information suitable for the contents of the target object can be obtained easily and efficiently. Further, according to the present invention, as the search condition, for example, together with the similarity or the number of search key candidates,
One or more search keys can be set, other search keys can be estimated based on those search conditions, and the estimated search keys can be added as new search conditions. As a result, when a search condition needs to be set to perform a certain search, a new search key as a search condition can be easily obtained.

[Brief description of the drawings]

FIG. 1 is an explanatory diagram illustrating a configuration of an information processing apparatus according to an embodiment;

FIG. 2 is a block diagram mainly showing a control device in the information processing apparatus.

FIG. 3 is a diagram showing a setting screen displayed on a display.

FIG. 4 is a flowchart of a main routine of control processing in the control device.

FIG. 5 is a flowchart of a data registration process.

FIG. 6 is a flowchart of an estimation mode setting process.

FIG. 7 is a flowchart of a process of capturing image data.

FIG. 8 is a flowchart of additional information input processing.

FIG. 9 is a flowchart of a keyword adding process.

FIG. 10 is a flowchart of a process of estimating a key serving as an additional candidate when the degree of similarity is designated.

FIG. 11 is a flowchart of a process of estimating a key to be an additional candidate when specifying the number of candidates.

FIG. 12 is a table storing a similarity indicating a degree of similarity of a key serving as an estimation source to another search key.

FIG. 13 shows search keys listed from the table based on a key serving as an estimation source and a designated similarity.

FIG. 14 shows search keys listed from the table based on a key serving as an estimation source and a designated number of candidates.

[Explanation of symbols]

 DESCRIPTION OF SYMBOLS 1 ... Control device 3 ... Keyboard 5a ... Floppy disk 5b ... Floppy disk device 6 ... Hard disk device 8 ... Scanner 9a ... CD-ROM 9b ... CD-ROM device 201 ... CPU 203 ... ROM 204 ... RAM

Claims (8)

[Claims] 1. An information processing apparatus capable of adding search information to an object, comprising: an object database for storing each object together with search information representing its attribute; A search information database storing similarity indicating a degree of similarity, search condition input means for inputting search information and similarity of an object, and search information and similarity input by the search condition input means. Search information extracting means for extracting one or more pieces of search information from the search information database, and search information registration means for adding and registering the search information extracted by the search information extracting means to an object corresponding thereto. An information processing apparatus comprising: 2. An information processing apparatus for searching for an object based on search information added to an object, comprising: a search information database storing a plurality of pieces of search information and a relationship between the pieces of search information; Search condition designating means for designating search conditions including a relationship between them; and estimating means for estimating another search information from the search information database based on the plurality of search conditions designated by the search condition designating means. An information processing apparatus, characterized in that: 3. A method according to claim 1, further comprising: setting means for setting the search information estimated by the estimating means as a search condition; and search means for searching for an object based on the search condition set by the setting means. 3. The information processing apparatus according to claim 2, wherein: 4. The information processing apparatus according to claim 2, further comprising a registration unit that registers the search information estimated by the estimation unit as additional information of an object. 5. An information processing method capable of adding search information to an object, wherein each object is stored together with search information representing its attribute, and the degree of similarity of each search information for each mutually related search information. And extracting one or more pieces of search information from the stored search information based on the search information and the degree of similarity input for the object, and extracting the extracted search information with the corresponding object. An information processing method characterized in that the information is registered in addition to the information. 6. An information processing apparatus for searching for an object based on search information added to an object, wherein a plurality of pieces of search information and a relationship between the pieces of search information are stored in advance as a search information database. An information processing method comprising: specifying search conditions including a relationship between information; and estimating another search information from the search information database based on the plurality of specified search conditions. 7. A recording medium storing an information processing program capable of adding search information to an object by a computer, wherein each object is stored together with search information representing its attribute, And a similarity indicating a degree of similarity between the pieces of search information, and extracting one or more pieces of search information from the stored search information based on the search information and the degree of similarity input for the object. A recording medium on which an information processing program is recorded, wherein the searched information is added to an object corresponding thereto and registered. 8. A recording medium storing an information processing program for searching for an object based on search information added to an object by a computer, wherein a plurality of pieces of search information and a relationship between the pieces of search information are previously determined. The method is characterized in that the search information is stored as a database, a search condition including search information and a relationship between the search information is specified, and another search information is estimated from the search information database based on the plurality of specified search conditions. A recording medium that records an information processing program.