JPH11265378A - Automatic information retrieving device and document preparation support system - Google Patents

Abstract

PROBLEM TO BE SOLVED: To make it possible to save cost and time to be required for document preparation and to improve the efficiency of document preparing operation. SOLUTION: A keyword/attribute information acquiring module 11 is provided with an automatic keyword extraction function eliminating the necessity of directly inputting a keyword extraction command and an automatic converging function for automatically converging a retrieving condition by attribute information. A profile setting/display application 13 refers to past retrieval history stored in a profile/history data base(DB) 15 and writes new retrieval history in the DB 15. A management module 17 processes a keyword or attribute information outputted from the module 11 by using the set information of a user profile or the like or state information such as a user's working state. A retrieval execution module 19 executes retrieval by using various timing as triggers. A result processing module 21 merges or filters data retrieval results obtained by the module 19 and provides the processed result to a display/notification control module 23.

Description

DETAILED DESCRIPTION OF THE INVENTION

[0001]

[0001] 1. Field of the Invention [0002] The present invention relates to an automatic information retrieval apparatus for automatically retrieving information necessary for producing various documents, and a document production support system having the automatic information retrieval apparatus.

[0002]

2. Description of the Related Art Documents required for office work include, for example, minutes, proposals, patent application documents, decision documents, and approval documents, to which a certain format or format is specified. There are documents that are created.

Conventionally, when a search service for searching for reference materials, similar documents, and the like is used in the creation of each of the above documents, the types of search services that exist, identification of effective search services, and effective keywords for searching are described. The user is required to have a consciousness and knowledge about the act of searching, such as identifying the user and sufficiently grasping various functions of the search service to be used. Furthermore,
The user is also required to activate a search service, devise keywords and attribute information necessary for the search, execute a search through an interface dedicated to the search service, and extract useful information from a large number of obtained search results. .

[0004]

By the way, the above-mentioned use of the retrieval service is only related to information retrieval and is not directly linked to the act of creating a document, and is therefore clearly distinguished from the act of creating a document. Something to be done. In other words, to use the search service, the user is required to have the above consciousness, knowledge, labor, time required to use the search service, and the like, which are unrelated to the document creation act.

However, the user can grasp the type of search service, identify an effective search service, identify a keyword effective for a search from a large number of keywords presented by the search service, and select a search condition. In addition, a great deal of labor, time, and cost are required to sufficiently grasp various functions of the search service to be used. Similarly, the user activates a search service, devises keyword and attribute information necessary for the search, executes a search through a dedicated interface for the search service, and extracts useful information from a large number of obtained search results. Even when performing extraction or the like, a great deal of labor, time and cost are required.

For this reason, it takes not only a great deal of time and cost to finally obtain useful information for document creation, but also a problem that useful information may be overlooked in some cases. There is a problem that a troublesome search operation may be terminated in the middle.

SUMMARY OF THE INVENTION Accordingly, an object of the present invention is to reduce the cost and time required for document creation, thereby improving the efficiency of document creation work.

[0008]

According to a first aspect of the present invention, there is provided an automatic information retrieval apparatus for extracting information representing a characteristic of a document from various types of information input for creating a document. Means for performing predetermined processing on the obtained characteristic information and using the obtained information to select information applicable to the document from a plurality of pieces of information as search targets necessary for document creation.

According to this configuration, a predetermined process is performed on the characteristic information of the document extracted from the various information input for creating the document, and the information obtained thereby is used to select from a plurality of information. Since the information applicable to the document is selected, the cost and time required for creating the document can be saved.

[0010] In a preferred embodiment according to the first aspect of the present invention, the characteristic information is a keyword constituting the document or attribute information relating to the document. The attribute information includes information such as the file format, template format, document creation date, document name, creator name, affiliation, and free text of the document currently being created by the user. The information applicable to the above-mentioned documents is
A plurality of databases are set for each field or content.

In the present embodiment, the extracting means extracts a keyword constituting a document by using a standard input / output or a communication application when a predetermined event such as a character string conversion and a line feed input occurs, so as to generate a document. The keyword is used to search for information. The extraction unit also causes the attribute information to be reflected in a search for information necessary for document creation, and stores the degree of reflection in the storage unit as a user profile. On the other hand, the selection unit performs processing for searching the extracted feature information for information applicable to the document, using the past search history, the past search conditions, and the user profile stored in advance. . The selection means is
Further, by performing the above-described processing, the timing of search execution, the ranking of search targets, the content and ranking of attribute information used for narrowing down search targets, the display method of search results, and the display range thereof are determined.

In this embodiment, based on the output from the selection means, a plurality of information are accessed, and a means for searching for information applicable to a document, and merging and filtering are performed using the user profile in the search result obtained by the search means. And a means for notifying the user of the search result subjected to merging and filtering by the processing means in a manner that does not hinder the user's document creation.

The extracting means, the selecting means, the searching means, the processing means, and the notifying means are provided independently of or in conjunction with an application for creating a document.
Alternatively, it is started in a state incorporated in the application.

A document creation support system according to a second aspect of the present invention includes a plurality of databases for holding information necessary for creating various documents for each field or content, and a plurality of databases provided for each database. Search means, and an automatic information search apparatus for giving an instruction to each database search means to search for information held in each database. Means for extracting information representing the characteristics of the document from the information, performing predetermined processing on the extracted characteristic information, and using the obtained information, a plurality of information as search targets required for document creation Means for selecting information applicable to the document from among them.

[0015] A program recording medium according to a third aspect of the present invention is a program recording medium which is selected from various information input for document creation.
A means for extracting information representing the characteristics of a document, applying predetermined processing to the extracted characteristic information, and applying the obtained information to a document from a plurality of pieces of information as search targets necessary for document creation. A computer program for causing a computer to operate as each of the above means in the automatic information search device having means for selecting information that can be read.

[0016]

Embodiments of the present invention will be described below in detail with reference to the drawings.

FIG. 1 is a block diagram showing the overall configuration of a document creation support system to which an automatic information search device according to one embodiment of the present invention is applied.

The above system comprises an automatic information search device 1;
A plurality of search engines 51 to 5n connected to the automatic information search apparatus 1 through the network 3;
-5n provided in correspondence with デ ー タ ベ ー ス 5n, respectively. Multiple search engines 51
5n and a plurality of DBs 71-7n are installed to provide an information search service to the user through the network 3 and the automatic information search device 1.

In the present embodiment, a so-called distributed search method is employed, so that data (information) that can be considered optimal for each predetermined field, category, or content can be appropriately selected as a search target. Search engines 51 to 5n and databases (DB) 71 to 7n are provided for each field and each content.

The automatic information retrieval apparatus 1 is an information processing apparatus represented by, for example, a word processor (word processor) or a personal computer (personal computer). The automatic information search device 1 includes a document creation application (document creation AP) 9
And a keyword and attribute information acquisition module (acquisition module) 11, a profile setting and display application (setting & display AP) 13, and a profile and history database (profile & history DB) 15. The automatic information search device 1 further includes a profile and history management module (management module) 17, a search execution module 19, a result processing module 21, a display and notification control module (control module) 23, a common control module 25, , A communication control module 27.

In the automatic information retrieval apparatus 1, the document creation A
P9 functions as an input / output interface between the user and each module (11, 17, 23, 25, etc.) inside the automatic information search device 1, and is activated by the user for document creation.

Under the control of the common control module 25, the acquisition module 11 has an automatic keyword extraction function that does not require the user to directly input a command for keyword extraction, and an automatic narrowing-down function of search conditions based on various attribute information. The operation is started when the user inputs a start command after the start of the document creation AP 9.

The above-mentioned automatic keyword extraction function means that when an event such as character string conversion or line feed input occurs from a character string input on the document creation AP 9, the user can input a document using standard input / output or a communication application. This is a function to automatically extract keywords entered during creation and use them as keywords for search. The extracted keywords are sent from the acquisition module 11 to the management module 17
Given to.

The above-mentioned automatic narrowing-down function is a function of automatically extracting various attribute information as data necessary for information retrieval, as in the case of the above-mentioned keyword extraction, automatically retaining the information, temporarily reflecting the information in the retrieval. . Here, as the attribute information, for example, the file type, template type, creation date, title (document name at the start of creation), creator name, affiliation, free text, etc. of the document (document) currently being created by the user Various information. In this automatic narrowing down function, the management module 1 uses the degree of reflection of the various attribute information in the information search as a user profile.
7 and beforehand via setting & display AP13 (before search operation)
Or profile & history DB1 after the fact (after the search operation)
It is possible to set to 5. In the automatic narrowing-down function, real-time information such as the user's document creation status (input interval and the like) is also taken in.

The setting & display AP 13 is an AP for referring to a past search history stored in the profile & history DB 15 and writing a new search history into the profile & history DB 15. Setting & Display AP13
The DB 15 accesses the DB 15 as needed under the management of the management module 17 and retrieves search results executed in the past from the DB 15 and search conditions at the time of execution of the search (past search conditions stored to enable reuse). The search conditions include search expressions), and data such as documents created by the search. The setting & display AP 13 gives the data read from the DB 15 to the management module 17. The setting & display AP 13 writes the new search history given from the result processing module 21 through the management module 17 to the profile & history DB 15.

The management module 17 functions to optimize the search function based on the search history or the user profile read from the DB 15.
For example, processing for search is performed using setting information such as a user profile and status information such as a user's work status. That is, under the control of the common control module 25, the management module 17 uses the past search formula, search result history, user profile, and the like to execute the search, rank the search targets, and narrow down the search targets. The content and ranking of various attribute information used for search, display method of search results,
The display range of the search result is determined. Management module 17
Is the search execution timing information,
The search execution module 19 and the common control module 25 are notified of the search target ranking information and the contents and ranks of various attribute information used to narrow down the search targets, respectively. The management module 17 also notifies the result processing module 21 and the common control module 25 of the display method information and the display range information of the search result, respectively.

Under the control of the common control module 25, the search execution module 19 performs, for example, when a continuous line feed is performed by the document AP9, when a phrase is converted, when a file is saved, or when a certain time has elapsed since the module 19 was started. The search is executed with various timings as triggers. That is, the search execution module 19 accesses each of the plurality of search engines 51 to 5n connected to the network 3 through the common control module 25 and the communication control module 27 based on the above information from the management module 17. Then, the data stored in the corresponding DBs 71 to 7n are searched through the respective search engines 51 to 5n.

The result processing module 21 performs processing such as merging and filtering of the result of the data search by the search execution module 19 under the control of the common control module 25, and processes the processed result in the control module 23.
To give. That is, the result processing module 21
Inputs data transmitted from each of the search engines 51 to 5n through the network 3, the communication control module 27 and the common control module 25 by the above access by the module 19, and performs merging and filtering on these data by a user profile. .

The control module 23 notifies the field of the search result processed by the result processing module 21, the number of search results, the processing status of the search result in the module 21, and the like by icons or the like. That is, even when all the search results are not prepared, the control module 23 displays the ranking of the plurality of search results, the number of search results (indicating the merging or filtering state of the search results), and the display of each field at any time. , Through the document creation AP 9. Similarly, the control module 23 executes the display of only the search results satisfying the set search conditions and the display in which the difference or overlap with the past search results is distinguished through the document creation AP 9. The control module 23 displays the above-described search result or notifies the user of the above-described search result so as not to hinder the user's thinking during document creation, for example, when a predetermined time comes from a certain time, when a display request is made from the user, Document creation AP9
This is performed when the character string input to the file reaches a predetermined number of lines or when the file is saved.

The common control module 25 includes an acquisition module 11, a management module 17, and a search execution module 1.
9. The result processing module 21, the control module 23, and the communication control module 27 are placed under their control, and the operations of these modules are adjusted.

Under the control of the common control module 25, the communication control module 27 transmits a search execution request from the search execution module 19 to each of the search engines 51 to 5n via the network 3, and transmits data from the search engines 51 to 5n. The result of the search is transmitted to the result processing module 21.

FIG. 2 is a flowchart showing the processing operation of the document creation support system of FIG.

In FIG. 2, the user first activates the document creation AP 9 which is an office document creation AP (step S51), and then issues a command to activate the automatic information retrieval device 1 to the keyboard (not shown) of the device 1. ), Etc. (step S52), the process proceeds to step S53. When the various attribute information of the document being created is given from the acquisition module 11 through the management module 17, the setting & display AP 13 writes the attribute information as a user profile in the profile & history DB 15 (step S5).
3) The format, category, and document name of the document are set (step S54).

Next, when a character and a character string are input to the document creation AP 9 (step S55) and an event such as character string conversion or line feed input occurs, the acquisition module 11 makes full use of an automatic keyword extraction function and an automatic narrowing function. Then, it is checked whether or not the keyword and various kinds of attribute information should be extracted from the characters and character strings (step S56). As a result of this check, if it is determined that the keyword or attribute information to be given to the management module 17 is not to be extracted from the characters and character strings, the process proceeds to step S55 until new characters and character strings are input to the document creation AP9. stand by.

On the other hand, as a result of the above check, if it is determined that extraction is to be performed, the acquisition module 11 extracts keywords and various attribute information from the characters and character strings, and gives them to the management module 17. The management module 17 creates a search formula to be used in the current information search using the given information and the past search formula, search result history, user profile, and the like (step S57). give. The search execution module 19 accesses each of the search engines 51 to 5n using the above search formula and determines whether or not to execute a search (step S58). If it is determined that the search is not performed, the process waits until a new character or character string is input in step S55, as in the case where the keyword or attribute information is not extracted in step S56.

In step S58, search execution module 1
9 determines that the search is to be performed, and the search engine 51
Search engines 51 to 5n by accessing to 5n
When the search result is transmitted from the side, the result processing module 21 receives the search result (step S59). Then, merging and filtering based on the user profile are performed on these search results (step S6).
0). Next, when the search result thus processed is provided to the control module 23, the control module 23 checks whether or not to display it as an icon or the like (or notify by voice or the like) (Step S).
61). As a result of this check, if it is determined that the new search result should not be displayed (or notified), the process waits in step S60 until merging or filtering is performed on the new search result.

On the other hand, as a result of the check, if it is determined that display (or notification) is to be performed, the control module 23 displays (or notifies) the processed search result (step S62). Next, the management module 17 uses the processed search result as a new search history, and sets the profile & history D through the setting & display AP 13.
Writing to B15 (step S63). Then, when a command to stop the automatic information search device 1 is given by the user (step S64), a series of processing operations is terminated, and if no stop command is given, a new character and a new character are set in step S55. The process waits until a character string is input to the document creation AP 9.

If the instruction to start the automatic information retrieval apparatus 1 is not given in step S52, the above-described processing operation is not performed.

Conventionally, many employees have been involved in creating documents necessary for office work, in addition to direct staff, but existing documents have not been sufficiently shared. However, it has been necessary to re-create a similar document separately or take time to search for a similar document. Also, regardless of whether inside or outside the company, information gathering services that monitor new product information and social affairs information added to the network every day and are useful for business are frequently performed by individuals or a plurality of personnel. However, there are few useful search means for such information collection work. Thus, the automatic information search device 1 having the above-described configuration has been proposed.

As described above, according to one embodiment of the present invention, the user can select the most suitable search service (search engines 51 to 5n,
And DBs 71 to 7n) need not be actively searched. Also,
It is not necessary to devise an optimal search keyword or search condition to obtain the necessary information, and further, it is not necessary to input the search keyword or search condition on a screen unique to the search service one by one. Therefore, the time and cost required for the search can be saved.

Further, the automatic information retrieval apparatus 1 having the above configuration automatically accesses the plurality of search engines 51 to 5n and the plurality of DBs 71 to 7n provided for each field and for each content, and is considered to be optimal. Not only can the data (information) to be obtained be appropriately selected as a search target, but also the timing of search execution can be optimized, so that more useful information can be acquired in a relatively short time. it can.

Also, by displaying the results of processing such as merging and ranking of a plurality of search results, and calculating the difference between past search results, only information more useful for document creation can be displayed by the user. Can be presented.

The display timing of the search result processed by the search execution module 21 can be optimized, and the number of search results, the field of the search result, the search status, and the like can be changed by the icon or the voice. Thus, an effective result display can be performed without hindering the user from creating a document.

Also, by using a user profile that reflects past search results and the user's intention and orientation for information search and result display, information desired by the user can be obtained. In other words, the user does not need to have special knowledge such as special knowledge about the search or a difference in use method for each search service.

In addition, there is no need to have extra consciousness unrelated to the execution of the document creation work, such as devising a keyword necessary for performing a search or examining the search results, as in the usual case. The information and the document required by the user can be obtained only by creating the document.

Further, since the original document creation work is not hindered by the search operation from input to output, the enormous cost and time required for document creation can be saved, and the work efficiency can be reduced. Improvement can be achieved.

Further, since access to the existing search service is also increased, it is possible to effectively use the search service and improve the utilization rate.

The contents described above relate to one embodiment of the present invention, and do not mean that the present invention is limited to only the contents described above.

[0049]

As described above, according to the present invention,
The cost and time required for document creation can be saved, and thereby the efficiency of document creation work can be improved.

[Brief description of the drawings]

FIG. 1 is a block diagram showing the overall configuration of a document creation support system to which an automatic information search device according to an embodiment of the present invention is applied.

FIG. 2 is a flowchart showing a processing operation of the document creation support system of FIG. 1;

[Explanation of symbols]

DESCRIPTION OF SYMBOLS 1 Automatic information retrieval apparatus 3 Network 51-5n Search engine 71-7n Database (DB) 9 Document creation application (document creation AP) 11 Keyword and attribute information acquisition module (acquisition module) 13 Profile setting and display application (setting & display AP) 15) Profile and history database (profile & history DB) 17 Profile and history management module (management module) 19 Search execution module 21 Result processing module 23 Display and notification control module (control module) 25 Common control module 27 Communication control module

Claims (16)

[Claims] 1. means for extracting information representing the characteristics of a document from among various information input for document creation; and performing predetermined processing on the extracted characteristic information to obtain information obtained thereby. Means for selecting information applicable to the document from among a plurality of pieces of information as search targets necessary for document creation, using the automatic information search apparatus. 2. The automatic information search device according to claim 1, wherein the feature information is a keyword constituting the document. 3. The automatic information search device according to claim 1, wherein the characteristic information is attribute information on the document. 4. The automatic information retrieval apparatus according to claim 3, wherein the attribute information is a file format, a template format, a document creation date, a document name, a creator name, an affiliation, and a free format of a document currently being created by a user. An automatic information retrieval device comprising information such as a sentence. 5. The automatic information search device according to claim 1, wherein information applicable to the document is set in a plurality of databases for each field or for each content. 6. The automatic information search apparatus according to claim 2, wherein the extracting unit extracts a keyword constituting the document by using a standard input / output or a communication application when a predetermined event occurs, and performs the process for creating the document. An automatic information retrieval apparatus characterized in that it is used as a keyword for retrieving necessary information. 7. The automatic information search device according to claim 6, wherein the predetermined event includes character string conversion and line feed input. 8. The automatic information search apparatus according to claim 3, wherein the extraction unit reflects the attribute information in a search for information necessary for document creation, and stores the degree of reflection as a user profile. An automatic information retrieval apparatus characterized in that the information is stored in a storage device. 9. The automatic information search apparatus according to claim 1, wherein said selection means includes a search history stored in advance,
An automatic information search apparatus, characterized in that processing for searching for information applicable to the document is performed on the extracted feature information using past search conditions and a user profile. 10. The automatic information search device according to claim 9, wherein the selecting means performs the processing to perform a search execution timing, a search target ranking, and a content of the attribute information used for narrowing down the search target. An automatic information search apparatus characterized by determining a ranking, a display method of a search result, and a display range thereof. 11. The automatic information search device according to claim 1, further comprising: a unit that accesses the plurality of information based on an output from the selection unit and searches for information applicable to the document. Automatic information retrieval device. 12. The automatic information search apparatus according to claim 11, further comprising processing means for performing merging and filtering on a result searched by said search means using a user profile. 13. The automatic information retrieval apparatus according to claim 12, further comprising means for notifying the user of the search result subjected to the merging and filtering by the processing means in a manner that does not hinder the user's document creation. An automatic information retrieval device, comprising: 14. The automatic information search device according to claim 1, wherein the extraction unit, the selection unit, the search unit, the processing unit, and the notification unit are independent of an application for creating a document or linked to the application. Or an automatic information retrieval apparatus which is started up in a state where it is incorporated in the application. 15. A plurality of databases each holding information necessary for creating various documents for each field or content, a plurality of database search means provided for each database, and a plurality of database search means. An automatic information search device for giving a command to search for information held in each database, the automatic information search device, from among various information input for document creation, Means for extracting information representing a feature; performing predetermined processing on the extracted feature information; applying the obtained information to the document from a plurality of pieces of information as search targets necessary for document creation using the information obtained by the processing; Means for selecting possible information; and a document creation support system comprising: 16. A means for extracting information representing the characteristics of the document from various information input for document creation, and performing predetermined processing on the extracted characteristic information, thereby obtaining information obtained by the processing. Means for selecting information applicable to the document from among a plurality of pieces of information as search targets required for document creation, and a computer program for causing a computer to operate as each of the means in the automatic information search apparatus comprising: A computer-readable program medium carrying the program.