KR20080077736A - Method and system for searching using search option layer - Google Patents

Abstract

A method and a system for performing search with a search option layer are provided to enable a user to search desired additional information quickly/easily in a document, and enable the user to perform search with a desired keyword by displaying recommended keywords and search categories, and making the user select the recommended keyword and search category. A user terminal(300) includes a browser(310) and a search supporting module(320), which is an execution code downloaded/installed by a web server(100) or a file server. The search supporting module monitors an event occurring in the user terminal, and displays a search option layer including a recommended keyword list and a search category list to the user terminal. The web server includes a word analyzer and a keyword recommender. The word analyzer extracts preliminary recommended keywords by receiving and analyzing a target word group from the search supporting module. The keyword recommender extracts the recommended keyword by searching the preliminary recommended keyword from a database(500) and transmits the recommended keyword to the user terminal. A search server(400) searches the keyword in the category by receiving the selected keyword and search category from the user terminal.

Description

Search method and system using search option layer {METHOD AND SYSTEM FOR SEARCHING USING SEARCH OPTION LAYER}

1 is a block diagram illustrating a search system and a user terminal connected thereto according to an embodiment of the present invention.

2 is a flowchart illustrating a search method according to an embodiment of the present invention.

3 and 4 are diagrams showing a search option layer by a search method according to an embodiment of the present invention.

<Description of Drawing>

100: web server, 200: network,

300: user terminal, 310: browser,

320: search assistance module, 400: search server,

500: database

The present invention relates to a search method and system, and more particularly, to a search method and system using a search option layer.

With the rapid spread of high speed internet in recent years, it has become an indispensable necessity in modern life. Most users who use the Internet access the Internet through a browser and search for information through an Internet portal site. When the user enters a search word in the search box of the Internet portal, the Internet portal extracts various information corresponding to the search word from the database and provides the search result to the user. The extracted information is divided into categories such as dictionaries, knowledge information (eg, Naver's knowledge iN), blogs, cafes, specialty materials, sites, books, news, web pages, videos, and the like, and is displayed and delivered to the user. When the user selects any of the displayed information, the Internet portal extracts the document from the database and displays it to the user.

However, when a user reads a document displayed like this, there are many times when the user wants additional information about a specific word in the document. To do this, a user searches directly by entering a corresponding word through a search box in a document, or opens a new searchable browser and enters the word in the search box to search.

In addition, a user may visit a site that does not provide a search service, view a document provided by the site, and may desire an information about a specific word in the document. In this case, open a new browser and access the Internet portal that provides the search and enter the word in the search box to perform the search.

This is cumbersome for the user because the user has to go through several steps to obtain additional information. Some Internet portals provide search links for words that meet certain conditions within the document, but the amount of information is limited. Also, providing too many search links can be visually inconvenient for viewing the document. Therefore, there is a need for a method for quickly searching for desired information regardless of whether the user is viewing any Internet document.

Accordingly, an aspect of the present invention is to provide a search method and system that can quickly and easily search for additional information to be searched in a document.

Another object of the present invention is to provide a search method and system for displaying a recommended search word and a search category and allowing a user to easily search for a desired search word by selecting a desired search word and a category.

According to an aspect of the present invention, a search method according to an aspect of the present invention includes displaying a search option layer in which a search category is listed when a predetermined event occurs in any word of a document, and a user may select one of the search categories. Providing a search result in the selected search category as one of the selections.

The predetermined event may be a mouse pointer indicating the word for more than a reference time.

The search category listed in the search category list may be set by the user.

The search option layer includes a list of recommended search terms including a list of recommended search terms, and the providing of a search result may include providing a search result for the selected recommended search word as the user selects any one of the recommended search terms. It may include.

The providing of the search result may include performing a search in the selected search category for the search word based on the word.

The method may further include extracting a recommended search word based on the word.

The extracting step may include extracting a preliminary recommendation search word from a target word group including the word and the surrounding word of the word, and extracting a preliminary recommendation search word in a list of recommended search terms as the recommendation search word among the preliminary search terms. It may include.

When the predetermined event occurs, a part corresponding to the search word based on the word may be displayed differently from the surrounding part.

A computer readable medium according to another aspect of the present invention records a program for causing a computer to execute any of the above methods.

A search system according to another aspect of the present invention includes a first server that provides a search result in the selected search category as the user selects any one of the search categories using a search option layer displayed on the user terminal. The search category is listed in the search option layer when a predetermined event occurs for any word in the document.

The predetermined event may be a mouse pointer indicating the word for more than a reference time.

The search category listed in the search category list may be set by the user.

The search option layer may include a list of recommended search terms including a list of recommended search terms, and the first server may provide a search result for the selected recommended search word as the user selects any one of the recommended search terms.

The apparatus may further include a second server extracting the recommended search word based on the word.

The second server extracts a preliminary recommendation search word in a list of recommended search terms from the word analysis unit and the preliminary search term from the target word group including the word and the surrounding word of the word as the recommendation search word. It may include a search word extractor.

When the predetermined event occurs, a part corresponding to the search word based on the word may be displayed differently from the surrounding part.

The apparatus may further include a search server configured to perform a search in the selected search category with respect to the search word based on the word.

DETAILED DESCRIPTION Embodiments of the present invention will be described in detail with reference to the accompanying drawings so that those skilled in the art may easily implement the present invention.

First, a search system according to an exemplary embodiment of the present invention will be described in detail with reference to FIG. 1.

1 is a block diagram illustrating a search system and a user terminal connected thereto according to an embodiment of the present invention.

As shown in FIG. 1, a search system according to an embodiment of the present invention includes a web server 100, a search server 400, and a database 500 connected to them 100, 400. It is connected to the user terminal 300 through the 200.

The user terminal 300 includes a browser 310 and a search assistance module 320, and accesses the web server 100 and the search server 400 through the communication network 200 to exchange information. The user terminal 300 is provided with memory means such as a laptop computer, a workstation, a palmtop computer, a personal digital assistant (PDA), a web pad, a mobile communication terminal, as well as a desktop computer, and includes a microprocessor. It can be made of a terminal equipped with a computing power.

The browser 310 is an application program for opening and viewing a web page. The browser 310 accesses the web server 100 and receives web page information therefrom and displays the web page on the user terminal 300. An example of the browser 310 may include, but is not limited to, Microsoft's Internet Explorer.

The search assistance module 320 is executable code that can be generated in various programming languages, and may be, for example, script executable code, but is not limited thereto. The search assistance module 320 may be downloaded from the web server 100, a file server (not shown), or a download server (not shown) and installed in the user terminal 300, and may be installed in the browser 310 of the user terminal. Can be interpreted and executed, or can be executed like a RAM resident program.

The search assistance module 320 monitors whether a predetermined event occurs in the user terminal 300. For example, the search assistance module 320 monitors the user's mouse pointer to determine whether the mouse pointer is pointing at any word for more than a reference time, to monitor whether the user double-clicks on any word, or to the user. After clicking on a word, you can monitor whether the mouse pointer is over the word for a predetermined time. The predetermined event may be variously set in addition to this example. Here, a word is a unit of spacing of a sentence, and a word is a combination of a word having a practical meaning (word, stem of a verb) and a word having a grammatical meaning (search, ending of a word). Becomes

In addition, the search assistance module 320 may determine a target word group including a word pointed by a mouse pointer (hereinafter, a word pointed by a mouse pointer refers to a target word) and a surrounding word of the target word. Extract it and send it to the web server 100. In this case, the surrounding word may include at least one word located before and after the target word.

In addition, the search assistance module 320 receives a recommendation query from the web server 100 and transmits a search option layer to the user terminal 300 including a search term list in which a search term is listed and a search category list in which search categories are listed. Display. The search option layer is a kind of dialog box, and a user may select a desired search word and a search category from the recommended search word list and the search category list, respectively. The search assistant module 320 stores options that can be set by the user, such as the search category displayed in the search category list, the number of recommended search terms displayed in the recommended search query list, and whether the search option layer is used or not, and searches based on the option. Optional layers can be displayed.

The communication network 200 may include a telephone network as well as a data communication network including a local area network (LAN), a metropolitan area network (MAN), a wide area network (WAN), the Internet, and the like. It can be used, and it does not matter wired and wireless, and it does not matter which communication method is used.

The web server 100 provides a website such as a search, a game, a community, and the like, and when the user terminal 300 accesses it, transmits the webpage information to the user terminal 300 through the communication network 200. The web server 100 may include a word analyzer (not shown) and a search term recommender (not shown). The word analysis unit receives the target word group from the search assistance module 320, and analyzes the extracted word group to extract a preliminary recommendation keyword. The search term recommendation unit searches for the preliminary recommendation term in the database 500, extracts the recommendation term, and transmits the term to the user terminal 300.

The search server 400 receives a search word and a search category selected by the user from the user terminal 300 and searches for the search term in the corresponding search category. The search result is transmitted to the user terminal 300.

The database 500 stores a list of recommended search terms and a list of search indexes. The list of recommended search terms includes various search words that can be recommended to a user and may be predetermined by a search service provider. The search index list may include an index of various information collected on the web by a search robot (not shown) or the like. The search term recommender of the web server 100 queries the database 500 to determine whether the preliminary search term is included in the list of recommended search terms in the database 500, and the search server 400 searches the search index list of the database 500. Performs a search for the search term selected by the user. The database 500 may be implemented by being divided into a database storing a list of recommended search terms and a database storing a search index list.

Next, a search method according to an embodiment of the present invention will be described in detail with reference to FIGS. 2 to 4.

2 is a flowchart illustrating a search method according to an embodiment of the present invention, and FIGS. 3 and 4 are diagrams showing a search option layer by the search method according to an embodiment of the present invention.

First, when the user terminal 300 accesses the web server 100 to perform a search method according to an embodiment of the present invention, the web server 100 installs the search assistance module 320 in the user terminal 300. When the search assistance module 320 is installed in the user terminal 300, the web server 100 stores information indicating that the search assistance module 320 is installed in the user terminal 300 in the corresponding user terminal 300. Then, there is no need to re-install the search assistance module 320 in the corresponding user terminal 300 except for the update of the search assistance module 320 at the next connection.

The user displays the desired document on the user terminal 300 (S600). The document may be a web document or a general document as long as it is a document displayed on the user terminal 300. That is, as an example, the document includes a document provided by an external web site as well as a document provided by the web server 100 or the search server 400. Thus, it includes not only the documents displayed through the search, but also any documents displayed while the user surfs the web. The content can be anything, such as news articles, blog posts, cafe posts, or knowledge searches. In addition, the document displayed on the user terminal 300 includes a document provided by a word processor, a utility program, an application program, and the like. Therefore, it includes documents created by the user or other users, and documents created by the user, and the contents may be any content.

The search assistance module 320 determines whether a predetermined event has occurred. That is, as described above, for example, the search assistance module 320 monitors the mouse operation of the user in the document displayed on the user terminal 300 and determines whether a mouseover has occurred (S610). Herein, when the user manipulates the mouse and the mouse pointer points to a certain word for more than a reference time, the mouse is defined as having occurred. The reference time may be, for example, 2 seconds, but is not limited thereto, and the reference time may be added or subtracted as necessary.

If it is determined in step S610 that a predetermined event has occurred, that is, for example, it is determined that a mouseover has occurred, the search assistance module 320 extracts the target word group and transmits it to the search system (S615). The number of surrounding words included in the target word group may be determined as an appropriate number. For example, the number of surrounding words may be determined by referring to the maximum number of words of the recommended search word in the list of recommended search words in the database 500. If no mouseover occurs, the search assistance module 320 continuously determines whether the mouseover occurs.

The word analyzing unit of the web server 100 analyzes the target word group from the search assistance module 320 and extracts a preliminary recommendation search word therefrom (S620). The target word and surrounding words before and after the target word may be combined to form a preliminary recommendation keyword. In addition, preliminary suggestions may be used in the target word, such as a search, a term except a ending of a word, a stem of a word, a basic form of a word, and a combination of these words and surrounding words to become a preliminary recommendation word. Preliminary suggestions may be extracted in consideration of punctuation marks, such as periods, commas, quotes, and enclosed words, included in the target word group. The word group between quotes and enclosed quotes is likely to be a meaningful search term. Also, since sentences or words are divided by periods or commas, preliminary recommendation search terms may be extracted in consideration of this. However, in addition to this method, a preliminary recommendation search word may be extracted in various ways.

The word analysis unit sends the preliminary recommendation search word extracted from the target word group to the search word recommendation unit, and the search word recommendation unit inquires the database 500 whether the preliminary recommendation search word is included in the list of recommended search words (S625). The preliminary recommended search word is selected from the list of recommended search terms as a recommended search term and transmitted to the search assistance module 320 (S630).

The search assistance module 320 displays the search option layer on the user terminal 300 based on the recommended search word from the web server 100 (S640). As described above, the search option layer may include a list of recommended search terms and a list of search categories.

However, displaying the list of recommended search terms in the search option layer may be optional. For example, it may be determined whether to display a list of recommended search terms based on the number of recommended search terms.

If there is only one recommended search word, the list of recommended search words may not be displayed. In this case, the recommended search word is most likely to be the target word itself or a basic form of the word or phrase of the target word. In this case, the search assistance module 320 may indicate that the corresponding word is a recommended search word by processing a portion corresponding to the recommended search word in the document as a block inverted to black or blue color. Of course, instead of treating the block as underlined or bold, the word may be displayed differently from the surrounding words in various ways to indicate that the word is a recommended search word. However, if the recommended search term differs from the target word, even if there is only one recommended search word, the recommended search word may be displayed in the search option layer.

Even if there is no recommend search word, the list of recommended search words may not be displayed. In this case, the search request cannot be made without displaying the search option layer at all, but the search option layer can be displayed and searched using the target word itself as a search word.

When there are a plurality of recommended search terms, a list of recommended search terms may be displayed on the search option layer. A radio button may be provided in front of each recommendation search term in the recommendation search list to indicate which search word is selected and which search word may be selected. In this case, if the target word itself is a recommended search word, or if the word of the target word or the basic form of a verb is a recommended search word, the recommended search word may be displayed as a default. When displaying the recommended search terms in the list of recommended search terms, the priority is given so that the search words most suitable for the user's will are displayed at the top. The number of recommended search terms displayed when there are a plurality of recommended search terms may be limited, and the number may be set as an option of the search assistance module 320 by the user. The user may select a desired search word by clicking on the recommended search word list or operating a keyboard.

The search category list indicates a search category for searching for a search word selected by a user. Search categories include integrated search, knowledge search, video search, image search, blog search, cafe search, price comparison search, web search, dictionary search and news search. The user may set in the option of the search assistance module 320 to display only the desired search categories in the search category list in advance. The user can select one of the search categories from the list of search categories displayed by clicking with a mouse or using a keyboard.

Referring to FIG. 3, a search option layer displayed on the user terminal 300 when there is only one recommended search word will be described. The screen shown in FIG. 3 is a screen in which the search option layer 20 is displayed as a result of the user placing the mouse pointer over the 'DMB' word of the document 10 for a reference time. Here, the target word is 'DMB', and 'DMB' is extracted as a recommended search word. The search option layer 20 is displayed below the target word of the document 10, and the mouse pointer is displayed with a finger as an indication that the user is waiting for the user's selection. The list of recommended search terms is not displayed in the search option layer 20. The search word is 'DMB' by default. The search category list shows 'Integrated Search, Knowledge Search, Video Search, Image Search, Blog Search, Price Comparison Search'. On the other hand, the search option layer 20 may be displayed such that the document 10 is positioned at any one of the left and right, up and down of the target word according to the position of the target word.

A search option layer displayed on the user terminal 300 when there are a plurality of recommended search terms will be described with reference to FIG. 4. The screen shown in FIG. 4 is a screen in which the search option layer 30 is displayed as a result of the user placing the mouse pointer over the 'multimedia' word of the document 10 for a reference time. Here, the target word becomes 'multimedia', and as a search term, 'multimedia' and 'portable multimedia player', which is a meaningful word set including the same, were extracted. In this case, the search option layer 30 is divided into two areas, and the recommended search word list 32 and the search category list 34 are divided and displayed in each area. In the recommended search word list 32, 'multimedia' and 'portable multimedia player' are displayed as recommended search terms, and 'multimedia' is selected by default. The search category list 34 displays 'integrated search, knowledge search, video search, image search, blog search, price comparison search'.

Referring back to FIG. 2, the user selects a desired search option from the search option layer displayed on the user terminal 300 (S645). That is, the user selects a desired recommended search word from the recommended search word list and selects a desired search category from the search category list. Then, the search assistance module 320 transmits the selected search word and the search category to the search server 400 to make a search request. Of course, when the user does not need to select a search word, such as when there is only one recommended search word, the search word 400 which is determined by default is transmitted to the search server 400.

In response to a search request from the user terminal 300, the search server 400 searches for the corresponding search word in the corresponding search category (S650), and transmits the search result to the user terminal 300 (S655).

The browser 310 of the user terminal 300 receives a search result from the search server 400 and opens a new window to display it, or displays it in a window in which an existing document is opened (S660).

Thus, according to the search method according to the embodiment of the present invention, the user can easily perform a search since only the mouse pointer is placed on the word to be searched. In addition, the user can perform a desired search simply by selecting a desired search word and a category from among the recommended search words and the search categories displayed in the search option layer, thereby making it easier to search.

The search system and method according to an embodiment of the present invention can be variously changed. The word analysis unit and the search word recommendation unit of the web server 100 may be implemented to be included in the search server 400, or may be implemented to be included in a separate server (not shown). It may also be implemented such that they are included in the search assistance module 320.

The search server 400 is not necessarily provided in the search system according to the embodiment of the present invention and may be outside the search system. In this case, the search system transmits information about a search term and a search category selected by the user to an external search server (not shown) to make a search request, and receives the search result from the search server and delivers the search result to the user terminal 300. Can be.

Meanwhile, instead of providing various suggestions to the user, the user can provide words limited to the target word as a search word. In this case, the list of suggested search words may not be displayed in the search option layer, and the search word may be displayed as a block. have. In this case, the search term recommendation unit may not be provided, and the search assistance module 320 may extract a search word by having a word analysis function. According to this method, the load is not applied to the web server 100 and can be relatively simply implemented.

Embodiments of the invention include a computer readable medium containing program instructions for performing various computer-implemented operations. This medium records a program for executing the retrieval method using the retrieval option layer described above. The media may include, alone or in combination with the program instructions, data files, data structures, and the like. Examples of such media include magnetic media such as hard disks, floppy disks and magnetic tape, optical recording media such as CDs and DVDs, floppy disks and program commands such as magnetic-optical media, ROM, RAM, flash memory, and the like. Hardware devices configured to store and perform such operations. Alternatively, the medium may be a transmission medium such as an optical or metal wire, a waveguide, or the like including a carrier wave for transmitting a signal specifying a program command, a data structure, and the like. Examples of program instructions include not only machine code generated by a compiler, but also high-level language code that can be executed by a computer using an interpreter or the like.

Although the preferred embodiments of the present invention have been described in detail above, the scope of the present invention is not limited thereto, and various modifications and improvements of those skilled in the art using the basic concepts of the present invention defined in the following claims are also provided. It belongs to the scope of rights.

Thus, according to the present invention, since the user only needs to place a mouse pointer on a word to be searched further in the document, the user can perform the search quickly and easily.

In addition, the user can perform a desired search simply by selecting a desired search word and a category from among the recommended search terms and the search categories displayed in the search option layer, thereby making the search easier.

Claims (17)

Displaying a search option layer listing search categories when a predetermined event occurs for any word in the document, and Providing search results in the selected search category as the user selects any one of the search categories Search method comprising a. In claim 1, The predetermined event is a mouse pointer pointing the word for a reference time or more. In claim 1, The search category listed in the search category list is set by the user. In claim 1, The search option layer includes a list of suggested search terms in which suggested search terms are listed. The providing of the search result may include providing a search result for the selected recommended search term as the user selects any one of the recommended search terms. In claim 1, The providing of the search result may include performing a search in the selected search category for the search word based on the word. In claim 1, And extracting a recommended search word based on the word. In claim 6, The extraction step, Extracting a preliminary recommended search word from a target word group including the word and surrounding words of the word, and Extracting a preliminary search term in the list of recommended search terms as the search term from the preliminary search terms Search method comprising a. In claim 1, And searching for a portion corresponding to the search word based on the word when the predetermined event occurs differently from the surrounding portion. A computer-readable medium having recorded thereon a program for causing a computer to execute the method of any one of claims 1 to 8. A first server providing a search result in the selected search category as the user selects any one of the search categories by using a search option layer displayed on the user terminal, The search category is listed in the search option layer when a predetermined event occurs for any word of a document. In claim 10, The predetermined event is a mouse pointer pointing at the word for a reference time or more. In claim 10, The search category listed in the search category list is set by the user. In claim 10, The search option layer includes a list of suggested search terms in which suggested search terms are listed. The first server provides a search result for the selected recommended search term as the user selects any one of the recommended search terms. Search system. In claim 10, And a second server that extracts a recommended search word based on the word. The method of claim 14, The second server extracts a preliminary recommendation search word in a list of recommended search terms from the word analysis unit and the preliminary search term from the target word group including the word and the surrounding word of the word as the recommendation search word. Search system including search term recommendation. In claim 10, And searching for a portion corresponding to the search word based on the word when the predetermined event occurs differently from the surrounding portion. The method according to any one of claims 10 to 16, And a search server for performing a search in the selected search category for the search word based on the word.

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