JPH1196162A - Decentralized information retrieval system - Google Patents

Abstract

PROBLEM TO BE SOLVED: To make handleable decentralized information retrieval systems like one large information management system, by reporting information that can be provided by a decentralized information retrieval system and information that desires to be provided by a decentralized information retrieval system and managing the information in cooperation with other decentralized information retrieval systems. SOLUTION: A message process part 2 when receiving data, analyzes the message contents of the data and performs the process corresponding to the contents. Further, the message process part 2 generates a message for sending the result of retrieval out onto a network and a message for reporting information that can be (desires to be) provided. Those messages are sent out onto the network by a communication part 1. A message data base management part 3 registers and manages the messages in a message data base 4. An information data base management part 5 registers and manages information in an information data base 6.

Description

DETAILED DESCRIPTION OF THE INVENTION

[0001]

[0001] 1. Field of the Invention [0002] The present invention relates to a distributed information search system for information distributed on a network (for example, a network such as the Internet or a LAN).

[0002]

2. Description of the Related Art An information retrieval system for information distributed on a network is configured as follows, for example. The information search system manages the information provided by the information provider and, based on the request from the user, searches whether or not the information requested by the user exists in a database managed by the system, If there is requested information, the information is provided to the user, and if the requested information does not exist, the user is notified that there is no such information.

As described above, the conventional information search system manages information by accepting information registration / modification / deletion requests from information providers, receives information search requests from information searchers, and stores and manages information. It has only the function of notifying the search result for the information that exists.

[0004] Such conventional information retrieval systems include:
There are the following problems. First, despite the existence of a plurality of information search systems, there is no interface for distributing the retained information between the information search systems. (1) The information provider sends information to each information search system. Must be registered, modified, and deleted. (2) It is difficult to maintain information consistency among the information retrieval systems. (3) Since each information retrieval system independently manages information from an information provider, it is difficult to follow an increase in information amount or a change in information amount. (4) Further, since each information search system independently provides an information search service, access from information searchers is likely to concentrate. And so on.

[0005] In addition, considering another problem that an immediate response to information retrieval is not required, conventionally, an information retrieval request from an information retriever is immediate. Therefore, even if the information is registered in the information search system at a later date due to an increase in the amount of information or a change in the information, information matching the information search request cannot be retrieved, and the possibility of missing the requested information is high. large.

[0006]

As described above, conventionally,
Various problems have arisen because there is no information distribution means between the search systems and the information response to the information search request is immediate. The present invention has been made in order to solve the above problems, and aims at distributing information among a plurality of information search systems, and furthermore, for information which cannot immediately respond to an information search request. An object of the present invention is to provide an information retrieval system that reduces the number of missed information.

[0007]

According to the present invention, the following means have been taken in order to solve the above-mentioned problems. The distributed information search system according to the present invention is characterized by facilitating the distribution of information managed by each system connected via a network.

Specifically, (1) notification of information that can be provided other than the response of the search result to the information search request, (2) notification of information to be provided, and (3) transfer of the information search request and the response By adding this function, information distribution is facilitated.

[0009] Further, since the life of the information search request is intentionally given, if information matching the information search request occurs after receiving the information prosecution request from the information searcher. Will be able to answer the information searcher.

[0010]

Embodiments of the present invention will be described with reference to the drawings. FIG. 1 is a block diagram showing a schematic configuration of a distributed information search system according to the present invention. The system shown in FIG. 1 includes a communication unit 1, a message processing unit 2, a message database management unit 3, a message database 4, an information database management unit 5, an information database 6, and an input unit 7. . The present invention is characterized in that the conventional system further includes a message database management unit 3 and a message database 4.

The general functions of each are as follows.
The communication unit 1 exchanges data between the system and each system connected to the network. When the communication unit 1 receives data addressed to the present system, the message processing unit 2 analyzes the contents of the message of the data and performs processing according to the contents. Message processing unit 2
In the present system, a message for sending a search result to a network is created in the present system, and a message for notifying information which can be provided (want to receive), which is a feature of the present invention described later in detail, is created. This message is
The data is transmitted by the communication unit 1 onto the network. The message database management unit 3 registers and manages a message input from the outside in the message database 4.
The information database management unit 5 registers information in the information database 6 and manages the registered information. The input unit 7 receives an input from an operator.

The basic operation of the present system will be briefly described, and then the operation which is a feature of the present invention will be described. In the following description, it is assumed that there is information registration, correction, deletion, search, and the like for product information, for example, sake.

In a normal case, the communication unit 1 registers new merchandise information from an information provider that provides merchandise information or another distributed information search system, corrects information related to a change in merchandise information, Receives a message such as information deletion due to product abolition. The message processing unit 2 analyzes the message received by the communication unit 1 and sends the result to the information database management unit 5. The information database management unit 5 performs processing such as registration, correction, and deletion of product information in the information database based on the analysis result. When there is an information search request from a user or an information requester such as another distributed information search system, the following processing is performed. (A) The communication unit 1 receives an information search request for product information (for example, sake). (B) The message processing unit 2 analyzes the received message as a product information search message, and sends the analysis result to the information database management unit 5. (C) The information database management unit 5 searches the information database for the presence or absence of information on the sake of the product information requested to be searched. (D) The message processing unit 2 creates a message according to the result of the information search. (E) The communication unit 1 transmits the message.

The above processing is a conventional method. In the present invention, the following processing is further performed by providing the message database management unit 3 and the message database 4 in the conventional system. Is possible. Each process will be described with reference to a flowchart. (1) Notification of information that can be provided to another distributed information search system (FIG. 2) In the present invention, information that the distributed information search system has is notified to another distributed information search system to distribute information. I can plan. For example, regarding the sake of product information, other distributed information search systems have product information on Western liquor such as wine and brandy, but do not have product information on sake or shochu, and only the distributed information search system has that information. In the case where the information is provided by only the distributed information search system, the information that can be provided is notified to the other distributed information search systems, so that the information can be searched from the other distributed information search systems. become. Hereinafter, the procedure will be described. Information that can be provided by the operator from the input unit 7 (for example,
Is input (step S1).
Next, a notification message of information that can be provided by the message processing unit 2 is created (step A2). The communication unit 1 transmits this notification message to another distributed information search system (Step A3). By this processing, information of the present system can be searched even in another distributed information search system, so that information can be distributed. In the above-described embodiment, an example in which information that can be provided from the input unit 7 is input has been described. However, the information database management unit 5 transmits the above message to another terminal periodically or when the content of the information database 6 is changed. You may make it transmit to a distributed information search system. (2) Notification of information to be provided to other distributed information search systems (FIG. 3) The distributed information search system receives a search for liquor in product information, and the content is Western liquor. If the user does not have the information, the information can be obtained from another distributed information retrieval system having information on Western liquor, which leads to improvement of the service for the user and also as a provider of the information. (1) Since it is only necessary to register its own information in one distributed information search system, the labor of registering, correcting, or deleting information in each distributed information search system is released. Hereinafter, the procedure will be described.

[0015] Information to be provided from the input unit 7 is input (step B1). Next, a notification message of information desired to be provided by the message processing unit 2 is created (step B2). A notification message of information desired to be provided from the communication unit 1 is transmitted to another distributed information search system (step B3). By this processing, the existence of desired information possessed by another distributed information search system can be confirmed, which is useful for information distribution. In the above embodiment,
Although the example of inputting information to be provided from the input unit 7 has been described, when the information database management unit 5 does not find desired information in the information database 6 when an information search request is made, the information is provided. It can also be transmitted to another distributed information search system as information to be obtained. (3) Processing when a notification message of information that can be provided is received (FIG. 4) When a notification message of information that can be provided is received from another distributed information search system, as described in detail later, another distributed information search system Can be handled as if it were information managed by the distributed information search system. Hereinafter, the procedure will be described.
The communication unit 1 receives a message from the network (Step C1). Next, the message processing unit 2 analyzes the contents of the message (step C2), and if the message is a notification message of information that the message can provide (step C2).
3), the message manager 2 sends the message to the message database manager 3, and the message database manager 3 registers the message in the message database 4 (step C4). If the message is any other message, processing corresponding to the message (for example, registration, correction, deletion, search, etc.) is executed. (4) Processing when a notification message of information to be provided is received (FIG. 5) When a notification message of information to be provided is received from another distributed information search system, the system transmits the information message. In the case where the information is provided, by notifying that the information can be provided, it becomes possible to inquire the information from the other distributed information search system to the distributed information search system, so that the information can be distributed. Hereinafter, the procedure will be described. The communication unit 1 receives a message from the network (Step D1). Next, the message processing unit 2 analyzes the contents of the message (step D).
2) If the message is a notification message of information to be provided (step D3), the message management unit 2 sends the message to the message database management unit 3, and the message database management unit 3 sends the message to the message database. 4 (step D4). If the message is any other message, process according to the message (for example, registration, modification, deletion,
Search). (5) Processing when the registered information matches a notification message of information that can be provided (FIG. 6) Even when a search request for information not registered in the distributed information search system is received, another distributed information search is performed. If a notification that the information can be provided has been received from the system, this processing can also provide information that is not registered in the database of the distributed information search system.
The communication unit 1 receives the message (step E1). Next, the message processing unit 2 analyzes the contents of the message (step E2). If the message is an information retrieval message (step E3), the message database management unit 3 determines that the information retrieval content is the message database 4
(Step E4). In step E3, when the message is other than the search message, processing according to the message such as registration / modification is performed. continue,
If there is a matching message in the message database, a message for transferring the information retrieval message received by the message processing unit 2 is created (step E).
6). The communication unit 1 transmits the transfer message (Step E7). Then, the message database management unit registers the transferred information search message in the message database (step E8). In step E5,
If there is no matching message, the process ends. (6) Processing when the registered information matches the notification message of the information to be provided (FIG. 7) If another distributed information search system does not have the information related to the search request, as described above, It is necessary to register when the notification of the information to be provided is made to another distributed information search system. Further, even when such information is provided, the message may need to be modified. The procedure will be described below.

The communication section 1 receives the message (step F1). Next, the message processing unit 2 analyzes the contents of the message (step F2). If the message is a registration or correction message of information (step F3), the registration contents of the new information or A search is made to see if the corrected content matches the notification message of the information to be provided registered in the message database 4 (step F4). Step F3
, When the message is not a registration or correction message, processing according to the registration or correction message is performed. Subsequently, if a matching message exists in the message database (step F5), a message for transferring the registration or correction message of the information received by the message processing unit 2 is created (step F6). The communication unit 1 transmits the transfer message (Step F7). (7) Processing when a search result message for the transferred information search message is received (FIG. 8) When the shared information search system does not have search information, it is provided to another shared information search system. When the information to be received is notified, the search result can be obtained from the distributed management information having the information. The procedure will be described.

The communication section 1 receives the message (step G1). Next, the message processing unit 2 analyzes the contents of the message (step G2), and if the message is a message related to the search result (step G3), information corresponding to the search result message received from the message database management unit 3 A search message is searched from the message database 4 (step G4). And
The message processing unit 2 creates a message for transferring the search result message according to the search result of the message database management unit 3 (step G5), and the message is transmitted from the communication unit 1 (step G6).

Next, a case in which the information retrieval message has a long life rather than a transient message as in the related art will be described. With the life span of the information search message, when information that did not exist at the time of the information search request is obtained after a predetermined period of time, the search information is obtained. As a result, conventionally, an information search request was transient, and information that could not be searched at that time was processed as being unretrievable. Thereby, the probability of obtaining desired information can be increased. (1) Processing when an information search message with a lifetime is received (FIG. 9) The communication unit 1 receives a message (step H1). Next, the message processing unit 2 analyzes the contents of the message (step H2). If the message is an information search message having a lifetime (step H3), the message database management unit 3 receives the information search message having a lifetime. Is registered in the message database 4 (step H4). If the message is not a search message with a lifetime (step H3), the information database management unit searches the information database for information that matches the information search message (step H5). Then, a search result message is created by the message processing unit 2 (step H6), and the message is transmitted from the communication unit 1 (step H7). (2) Processing when Matching to Registered Information Search Message with Lifetime (FIG. 10) As described above, when the information search message is a message having a lifespan, the information search message is already registered. If so, the following processing is executed. The communication unit 1 receives the message (step I
1). Next, the message processing unit 2 analyzes the content of the message (step I2), and if the received message is a registration or correction message of information (step I3), the message database management unit 3 sends the registration content of new information or A search is performed to determine whether the corrected content matches the information search message with a long life registered in the message database (step I4). If there is a matching message (step I5), the message processing unit 2 matches the matched information search message. Is created (step I6). Then, a message is transmitted from the communication unit 1 (step I7).

As described above, by giving a life to an information search request, the probability of obtaining necessary information increases. The present invention is not limited to the above embodiments of the present invention, and it is needless to say that various modifications can be made without departing from the spirit of the present invention.

[0020]

According to the present invention, the following effects can be obtained. As described above, in the present invention, (a) by notifying information that can be provided from the distributed information search system or information that the distributed information search system wants to provide, Since information can be managed in cooperation with the distributed information search system, a plurality of distributed information search systems can be treated as if they were one large information management system. (B) Since the information retrieval request can be given a lifespan, if the acquired information is not real-time but is inevitably obtained, the information obtained within the lifespan can be obtained. Therefore, services related to information provision are improved. It has the advantage that.

[Brief description of the drawings]

FIG. 1 is a block diagram showing a schematic configuration of a distributed information search system according to the present invention.

FIG. 2 is a flowchart showing notification processing of information that can be provided to another distributed information search system.

FIG. 3 is a flowchart illustrating a process of notifying information to be provided to another distributed information search system.

FIG. 4 is a flowchart showing processing when a notification message of information that can be provided is received.

FIG. 5 is a flowchart showing processing when a notification message of information to be provided is received.

FIG. 6 is a flowchart showing processing in the case of matching a registered notification message of information that can be provided.

FIG. 7 is a flowchart showing processing in the case where a registered notification message of information to be provided matches.

FIG. 8 is a flowchart showing processing when a search result message for the transferred information search message is received.

FIG. 9 is a flowchart showing processing when an information search message with a long life is received.

FIG. 10 is a flowchart showing a process in the case where a registered information search message having a lifespan is matched.

[Explanation of symbols]

 DESCRIPTION OF SYMBOLS 1 ... Communication part, 2 ... Message processing part, 3 ... Message database management part, 4 ... Message database, 5 ... Information database management part, 6 ... Information database, 7 ... Input part 7.

Claims (2)

[Claims] 1. A system in which a plurality of distributed information search systems for performing an information search in response to an information search request are interconnected to a network, wherein at least one of the plurality of distributed information search systems includes a predetermined A transmission / reception unit that inputs a request, analyzes the contents of the request, and transmits a predetermined message to the network, and an information management unit that performs predetermined processing including registration, correction, deletion, or retrieval of information according to the predetermined request And a message management means for recording and managing messages transmitted / received from the transmission / reception means. 2. The distributed information search system according to claim 1, wherein when the receiving unit determines that the information search request has a lifetime, the search request management unit transmits the information search request for a predetermined period. A distributed information search system characterized by registering and searching for the information.