JPH01140332A - Information retrieval system - Google Patents

Abstract

PURPOSE:To realize flexible retrieval by changing a concept in a retrieval text as observing multilateral information with respect to a remarked concept, and generating the retrieval text. CONSTITUTION:The display of the retrieval text, that of the high-order concept of the remarked concept in the retrieval text, and network display from the remarked concept to a low-order concept which satisfies a condition being attached on the remarked concept from a changeable high-order concept are performed by utilizing a multiwindow function. Also, it is possible to always execute the movement of the remarked concept by the movement between concepts in the retrieval text, the change of the remarked concept in the concept which satisfies an attached condition, the addition of the condition and the route of the remarked concept, the retrieval of the concept which satisfies the attached condition. In such a way, it is possible to find the concept without being conscious of retrieving the concept by a user.

Description

[Detailed Description of the Invention] [Industrial Application Field] The present invention relates to an information retrieval method, and in particular, to efficiently retrieve knowledge stored in an electronic file in a network structure using a computer with a multi-window function. This paper relates to an information retrieval method that performs.

[Conventional technology]

In recent years, with the advent of small, large-capacity storage devices such as optical disk storage devices, the management and search processing of databases that enable the storage and retrieval of large amounts of information, which used to be done by experts, has become easier. A document filing device for offices that is directly operated by an end user has been realized.

A diagram of the concepts stored in the knowledge base is shown in FIG. In Figure 3, ellipses represent concepts and arrows represent relationships.
In the knowledge base, all concepts are defined as the concept rUNIV
They are connected by an inclusive relationship with ER3ALJ as the top concept. The subsumption relation represents the relation that "...is (one) of...". This relationship has the attributes of upper and lower. With a certain concept as a standard, higher-level concepts are called superordinate concepts, and lower-level concepts are called lower-level concepts. For example, the superordinate concept of “hardware” 312 is rLINIVER
sALJ 301, rThings J310. r Artifact”
It is 311. In addition, concepts relate to each other through 5 general relationships. When expressing the relationship between two concepts in words, there are two different names for the relationship depending on which of the two concepts is the subject. for example,
“Organization/Institution J307 and “Hardware” 312 are connected by a general relationship of “Development” 325.

The names of this relationship are ``Hardware'' developed by ``Organization/Institution'' and ``Hardware'' developed by ``Hardware''.
It has two names: ``Organizations/Institutions''.

``Hardware'' is ``developed by an organization/institution.''
When we add the relationship ``conditional addition,'' when we add the relationship ``the organization/institution that developed the pa'', we call it ``condition addition.''
This will be called ``route addition''.

Concrete relationships are those that relate concrete knowledge to each other,
To create this relationship, superordinate concepts must be connected by a general relationship with the same relationship name. For example, "Hitachi" 309 and rCreative VS
2050J 315 is connected with "Concrete Relationship 11 Development" 330.The user can browse (browse) among the concepts stored in the knowledge base. A concept that exists is called a concept of interest, and a sentence for limiting the concept by a general relationship is called a search sentence.

As described in Japanese Patent Application Laid-Open No. 60-60678, as a knowledge-based search method, a means is provided for interactively adding information for search sequentially, starting from the most important concepts, and Ambiguous search is now possible. In this search method, for example, we will search for "articles about computers developed by a company in California whose operating system is UX." Here, the instruction command for generating a search sentence is assumed to be q. At this time, first, shift the attention concept to the most important concept "Article J" that is the target of this search, and start generating the search sentence by inputting the instruction command q. 1. The system is such that superordinate concepts can be inherited. Articles, including
Displays frames of general relationships that can be attached to. Here, the user specifies and selects the relationship ``article with subject'' by number.The system moves the concept of interest to the superordinate concept of the item, in this case ``υNIVHR5ALJ.''

The user can now use any network browsing functions. substring input, menu selection, or.

By directly inputting "COMPUTER", the concept of interest is moved to "computer". In this example, there are additional conditions related to computers, so the command q is input continuously to add the conditions related to "computer". The system displays a general frame related to "computers", from which the user selects "Developed by an organization/institution", enters "Company", and selects the condition "Developed by a company". There are also additional conditions to be added to "computer".

Next, input command q to continue the search sentence generation process.

The system displays general relationships for ``Company r,'' and the user selects the relationship ``located'' from among them, moves the focused concept to ``California,'' and the condition ``located in California.'' Add. The end of condition input is notified to the system by inputting "OK". Finish entering the conditions for "Company" and enter the conditions for "Computer J" again.
The information that the computer runs on the operating system UX is input. Perform a search after completing all of the above processes.

In the above-mentioned conventional technology, the search sentences are created sequentially and the search is performed after the creation, so there are the following problems and it is difficult to perform a flexible search.

In this way, since the search conditions are created sequentially, the user cannot freely specify a concept in the search sentence and change that concept to another concept. In other words, after creating the above search sentence, ``An article about a computer developed by a company in California that runs UNIX,'' I found that ``Computer J could not be converted to ``Workstation J,'' I had to rewrite my search for "articles about workstations whose operating system is UX" developed by a company located in the United States.

Also, I didn't know which concept could be changed to "computer."

In addition, when creating a search sentence, the concept of interest is first shifted to the concept to be searched, and search conditions are added hierarchically from there. could not be changed. In the conventional technology, it was necessary to first shift the attention concept to the most important concept to be searched, the concept corresponding to the article in the above search sentence. After doing a search on ``What is UX an Operating System?''
Even when I wanted to look up Note 3, which describes the computer, I had to rewrite the search statement.

Furthermore, since it is not possible to perform a search while a search sentence is being created, it is not possible to check the results each time a search condition is added. Therefore, search conditions may be too loose or too strict, resulting in too many or too few search results.
Sometimes I didn't get the results I wanted. Further, even though there is nothing that matches the search condition, the user may continue to add conditions without knowing it, resulting in wasteful processing. ′ Also, since it was not possible to indicate the concept in the search sentence, partial searches of the search sentence could not be performed.

In other words, in the above search sentence, if you want to search for "a company located in California" 2 "'A computer developed by a company in California whose operating system is UX", you will need to create a search sentence again. I had to.

[Problems to be solved by the present invention]

In this way, with conventional search operation methods, it is extremely difficult to create search conditions that will allow users to appropriately retrieve the information they need when creating search conditions for searching from a knowledge base. Met.

The purpose of the present invention is to solve the above-mentioned problems, make it easy to change the concept in a search sentence, make it possible to change the search target, make it possible to search sequentially even while creating a search sentence, and enable partial searches of the search sentence. By doing so, it is an object of the present invention to provide a device that allows a user to find the concept he or she is looking for without feeling that he or she is searching.

[Means for solving problems]

The purpose of the above is to use the multi-window function to display the search sentence, display the subordinate concept of the concept of interest in the search statement, and add the second-place concept to the concept of interest, which can be changed to the concept of interest. The network is displayed up to the lower level concepts that add 521 conditions. In addition, moving the concept of interest by moving between concepts in the search sentence, changing the concept of interest within a concept that satisfies the added conditions, adding conditions and adding a route to the concept of interest, and concepts that satisfy the added conditions. This is achieved by making it possible to always search for

[Effect]

The principle and operation of the search device of the present invention will be explained below.

FIG. 1 is a screen for interaction with the user during concept search. Super concept display area 1o1 of the concept of interest Search sentence display area 102 including the concept of interest. Subsumption relation book display area 103 of concepts corresponding to the search sentence. System message display area 10
4. An input area 105 exists. Here, the area is an interaction window with the user on one screen. The concept of interest is always displayed in each area, and pointers such as a black and white bitmap, a frame, and an underline are attached so that it can be easily recognized. In Figure 1,
The concept of interest is the r-computer.

The system displays the top concept “
UNIVIER5AL” 108 to the concept “Computer” 112 is connected through subsumption relationship “UNIVER5”
AL” 108 “Object” 109 “Artifact” 110 “5 Hardware” l 11 “Computer” 112 are displayed in order.
2, the current search sentence is displayed, and a pointer (square frame) 114 is placed at the character string "computer" 113, which is the concept of interest.
Attach. Furthermore, the system displays the subsumption relation book display area 10.
3, lower concepts in the subsumption relation from the top concept that can be changed by the concept of interest are displayed, and a pointer 116 is attached to the character string "computer" 115 of the concept of interest. Hereinafter, the topmost concept displayed in the J subsumption relationship book display area 103 will be referred to as an anchor. As in this case, when no relationship is attached to the concept of interest, the anchor is "UNTVI-:R5AL"] 17. Messages from the system are displayed in the system message display area kIA104. The input area 105 is
The string entered from the keyboard is displayed. The system displays search sentence display area 102. Furthermore, since the coordinates of the character string of the concept displayed in the subsumption relationship book display area 103 are stored in the memory, the character string of the concept can be extracted by clicking on the character string of the concept with the mouse. Information regarding the search sentence displayed in the search sentence display area 102 is as follows.

It is stored in memory using the LISP 8 formula. For example, when the search sentence is "1 computer is...", the 8 formulas stored in memory are (Computer (UNIVER5AL UNIVER3
AL) (X I Y 1 )) Te. Kokote, (U
UNIVER3AL) is a list of anchors based on the relationship added as a root and anchors based on the relationship added as conditions, and the anchor when displaying a subsumption relationship is a subordinate concept of both anchors. (Xi Yl) is the X coordinate of the displayed character string "computer".

This is the Y coordinate. A subsumption relationship is a list of the displayed concept and the concepts one layer lower than it, and is stored in memory for concepts in which there are multiple concepts that are one layer higher than the displayed concept.

When displaying, a line connects the concept and all of the concepts one layer above it.

The concept of interest can be changed by selecting the concept displayed in the search sentence display area 102 and the subsumption relation main display area 103 with a mouse or by inputting a keyboard input. When the user performs a keyboard input, the system searches for a concept from among the subordinate concepts of the anchor displayed in the subsumption relationship book display area 103. When the concept extracted by keyboard input is not displayed in the subsumption relationship book display area 103, the system examines its superordinate concept and stores the subsumption relationship in memory, and displays it in conjunction with the displayed subsumption relationship tree. I do. Every time the concept of interest is changed, the system redisplays the new superordinate concept of the new concept of interest in the superordinate concept display area 101, and
Now, the concept of interest 113 in the search sentence is rewritten to a new concept of interest, and the pointer 116 of the concept of interest is moved to the new concept of interest in the subsumption relation main display area 103.

To add a search condition, when the user moves the concept of interest to the concept to which the user wants to add a condition and clicks the character string 113 of the concept of interest in the search text display area 102 with the mouse, the system displays the conditions that can be added using a pop-up menu. Since a list is displayed, the user can select from the list.

401 in Figure 4 is the character string computer of the concept of interest.
This is a frame of conditions that can be added that is displayed when 113 is clicked with the mouse. Figure 4 is.

“Computer” 402 or “Computer” 40
2 and a superordinate concept in the subsumption relationship, that is, "computer" 11 in the superordinate concept display area 101 in FIG.
2. 'Hardware' 111° 'Artifact' 110. 'Object' 109 , 'UNIVER5AL' 108 This is a list of concepts connected in a general relationship and the names of relationships with 'Computer' 402 as the subject.

The "computer" 402 in the upper right corner of FIG. 4 is a concept for adding conditions. The "computer" 402 on the left side
2 or “computer” 402 is a character string of a concept that is connected in a general relationship with a higher level concept in a subsumption relationship. The right side is the name of the general relationship with the concept on the left, mainly "computer". The number is the slot number of this frame.

The user selects the relationship he or she wishes to add from among these using the mouse. Here, the related item “Developed by organization/institution” 40
When 3 is selected, the system changes the search sentence to "Computers developed by organizations/institutions..." and shifts the concept of interest to the superordinate concept "organizations/institutions" of the selected item.

You can change the search target in the search sentence.

The search target in a search sentence is the most important concept that is the main subject of the search sentence. For example, in the search sentence "The computer developed by the company...", [computer j is the concept to be searched for. Here, changing the search target means 1. In the search sentence that has been created, change the search target to a certain concept that is connected in a general relationship with the concept that is the search target as the subject of the search. That's true. For example, in the search sentence you have created, ``The computer developed by the company...'', you can change the search target to ``document,'' which is connected to the concept ``computer,'' and the relationship ``subject.'' . At this time, the system sets the search sentence to "documents developed by the company and whose subject matter is computers." Hereinafter, the name of this relationship will be called a root. To change the search target,
When the user moves the concept of interest to the concept that is the target of the current search and clicks the character string 113 of the concept of interest in the search text display area 102 with the mouse, the system displays a list of routes that can be added using a pop-up menu. Therefore, the user can select from among them. Reference numeral 501 in FIG. 5 is a frame of an addable route that is displayed when the character string "computer" 113 of the concept to be searched is clicked with the mouse. FIG. 5 shows "computer" 113 or "computer" 113 and a superordinate concept in a subsumption relationship, that is, "computer" 112 in the upper concept display area JOI of FIG.
“Hardware” 111. “Artifact” 110, “Thing”
109. "UNTVER5AL" 108 is a list of relationship names based on concepts connected by general relationships. The computer "5o2" in the upper left corner of FIG. 5 is a concept that adds routes.

The left side is a character string of concepts that are connected in a general relationship with concepts that are higher or on the same level in a subsumption relationship with "computer" 502. The right side is a character string of concepts that have a general relationship with "computer" that is based on the concept on the left. It is a name. The number is the slot number of this frame. The user can use the mouse to select the relationship he or she wants to add. For example, if a user is an organization/institution developed on a computer
If you select the relationship 02, the system will change the search sentence to ``
The organization/institution developed by computer is...'', and the concept of interest is shifted to the subordinate concept of the selected item, ``organization/institution J.'' In this way, the target of the search in the search sentence is r
J'+113=11・engine".

In this way, it is assumed that a search sentence such as ``Computers developed by a company in Japan...''' is created.

When the concept of interest is "computer", the screen in this state 75 is shown in FIG. The search sentence display area 202 is
``A general-purpose computer developed by a company in Japan...''
is displayed. At this time, the 8 formulas stored in the memory are:
r:, 7 (XI Yl) ((developed (company (organization/institution organization/institution) (X2 Y2)
(in Japan (location UNIVER3AL (x 3, Y
3))))))). (Xi Yl), (X2
Y2) and (X3Y3) are search sentence display areas 202, respectively.
The character string “computer” displayed in 208. These are the X and Y coordinates of “Company” 210 and “Japan” 211.

(υNIVER5AL hardware) is the anchor rUNIV when there is no relationship attached as a root.
This is a list of anchor [hardware] with lliR3AL J and the relationship "development" added as a condition. Similarly, (organization/institution organization/institution) is the anchor "organization/institution" with the relationship "development" added as the root, and the relationship [location] added as the condition.
(Location UNIVER3AL) is a list of anchors "Organizations/Institutions", and (Location UNIVER3AL) is the anchor "Location" with the relationship "Location" added as the root, and the anchor rUNIV when there is no relationship added as a condition.
This is a list of ER3ALJ.

The user selects the character string of the concept included in the search sentence displayed in the search sentence display area 202, “Japan” 211,
"Company" 210. By selecting "computer" 208 with the mouse, it is possible to move the concepts of interest and attach relationships to each concept. The anchor of the subsumption relation main display area 203 searches for a concept that is connected by a relationship (condition or root) among the concepts of interest or higher-level concepts of the concept of interest, and selects the lowest concept among them. In the above search sentence, the concept of interest is associated with the relationship "development" as one condition. As shown in FIG. 3, the superordinate concept "hardware" 312 of "computer" 313 is connected to the superordinate concept [organization/institution] 307 of "company" 308 through the relationship "development" 325, so the anchor is " Hardware” 31
It becomes 2. Then, the concepts below the concept "hardware" 312 are displayed in a subsumption relation book.

If the search sentence is ``Articles about computers developed in a company and run on an operating system,'' and the concept of interest is [computer,] the system searches for concepts under "computer." Displays a subsumption relation tree of concepts that apply to a sentence. In the above search sentence, the focused concept "computer" has the relation "
development".

"○S" and "subject" are connected. As shown in FIG. 3, "Computer" 313 is connected to "Operating System" 317 through relationship rO8J 326, "Hardware" 312 is connected to "Organization/Institution" 307 through relationship [Development] 325, and rUNIVER3ALJ 301 is connected to [Document] 320 is connected to the relationship “Main MJ 327.

Therefore, the system uses "computer J313", which is a subordinate concept among "computer" 313, "hardware" 312, and rUNIVER3ALJ 301, as an anchor.

In addition, the user can click on the search result output menu 206 with the concept character strings ``Japan'' 211, ``Company'' 210, or ``Computer'' 208 in the search sentence display area 202 of FIG. company'"
You can search for "computers developed by Japanese companies," etc.

〔Example〕

FIG. 6 is a configuration diagram of a filing system using an information retrieval device which is an embodiment of the method of the present invention. An overview of the overall configuration and operation of the device will be explained.

The device includes a control unit [(CUP) 600, and a main main unit 11-9.
610, magnetic disk device group 630. Operation terminal 620
, CRT622. Keyboard 623. It consists of a data processing section consisting of a mouse 625. Concept searches can be done using the terminal 62.
Perform on 0. The search target is a set of registered concepts and facts described as relationships between concepts,
It is stored in file 630. Further file 63
0 also includes knowledge of natural language to express concepts and relationships.

The window of the terminal 620 is controlled by the control device 600. The mouse 625 has a CRT622
It is possible to select the concept displayed on the RT622 and to select from the menu. This feature allows you to browse freely without relying on keyboard input. CRT
622 is managed by the CPU 600.

The main operation of the device will be explained below. When a knowledge base search is started, a window necessary for displaying the knowledge base is displayed on the CRT 622. At this time, click the mouse 625 and store the position information of the character string you want to retrieve in the main memory 625.
Store it at 0. When the mouse 625 is clicked, its position is checked and the clicked character string is retrieved based on the position information stored in the main memory 610. Also,
Mouse 625 is clicked or keyboard 62
When an input is made from 3, the control unit 600 searches for a window to be redisplayed, searches for necessary information from the magnetic disk 630, and redisplays it.

The present invention will be specifically described below using FIG. 1, FIG. 2, and FIGS. explain.

FIG. 7 shows the initial screen when starting the search.

Clicking on the reset menu 707 brings up this initial screen. The concept of interest is the top level concept “IVER”.
I am SALJ. The above concept display area 701 is rUNI
VER3ALJ (7) Character string “UNIVER3AL”
708 is displayed. In the search sentence display area 702, a character string "UNIVER3AL" 709 is displayed and a pointer (square frame) 71o is placed. Inclusion-related book display area 703
Now, set the anchor to rUNIVF':R3ALJ and set it to 1
The concepts of m layers below are displayed as a tree up to n points. String “U”
Place point 9-712 on NIVER3AL”711.

The values of m and n can be freely changed by the user at any time. In the following example, m = 1, n' = 2, and in the subsumption relationship main display area 703, a concept whose subordinate concept is not displayed, ``Object''713゜''Location'' 7
When the concept of interest moves to 14 and there is a subordinate concept to the concept of interest, the concepts one layer lower will be displayed as a tree by adding concepts up to 2.6 In the figure, you can select "comp" from the keyboard.
This is the screen when the concept of interest is changed by inputting "Uter".The concept of interest can be moved by mouse selection and keyboard input.

When "computer" is input using the keyboard, a concept search is performed and "computer" is obtained as a search result. When a plurality of concepts are extracted, the extracted concepts are displayed in a menu together with the concepts that are one layer higher than each concept, and can be uniquely determined by selecting from among them with the mouse. Since the concept "computer J" extracted here has not been searched before and is not displayed in the subsumption relations book display area 703 in FIG. 7, first check the superordinate concepts of the concept "computer" and The concept displayed in the main display area 703 and "computer J" are combined in an inclusive relationship. The concept "computer" is set as the concept of interest. Since the concept of interest has been moved to the concept "computer," the superordinate concept display area 101 is rewritten to the superordinate concept of "computer." Search sentence display area 102
Now, replace the focused concept part 113 in the search sentence with "computer" and display it again, and enter the string "computer"1.
Place the pointer 114 at 13. Inclusion-related book display area 1
In 03, since no conditions are attached to the concept of interest, the anchor is rUNIVER5ALJ, and the concepts up to "computer" and the concepts one layer below "computer" are "workstation" 117 and "AI machine" 11.
8 is also displayed as a tree, and a pointer 116 is placed on the character string "computer" 115. The flow of processing from FIG. 7 to the screen shown in FIG. 1 is shown in FIGS. 19 and 20. FIG. 19 is a flowchart of a process for determining which process to proceed to. In step 1910, it is determined whether an input has been made from the keyboard. In step 1920, it is determined whether the character string of the concept displayed in the search sentence display area has been selected with the mouse. In step 1930, it is determined whether the character string of the concept displayed in the subsumption relationship main display area has been selected with the mouse.

In step 1940, it is determined whether the search result output menu has been selected with the mouse. When the result output menu is selected, the search results are displayed in text in step 1941. In step 1950, it is determined whether the reset menu has been selected with the mouse. When the reset menu is selected, in step 1951, the top concept rUNIVER5ALJ is made the concept of interest in the subsumption relationship. FIG. 20 is a flowchart of processing performed when a character string is input from the keyboard. Step 2000 is
Performs matching of concepts corresponding to input string. Here, partial matching using partial character strings is also performed. In step 2010, it is determined whether there are multiple matched concepts. When a plurality of concepts are matched, in step 2020, a list of the matched concepts and superordinate concepts of each concept is displayed in a pop-up menu, and in step 2030, one corresponding concept is selected with the mouse. In step 2040, it is determined whether the matched concept is displayed in the subsumption relationship main display area. If it is not displayed, check the superordinate concepts of the concept. In step 2060, the matched concept is set as a concept of interest. In step 2070, the superordinate concept of the concept that has newly become the concept of interest is redisplayed in the superordinate concept display area. In step 2080, the search sentence is redisplayed in the search sentence display area, and the pointer is placed on the concept of interest. The subsumption relationship tree is redisplayed in the subsumption relationship main display area, and the pointer is placed on the concept of interest. Before moving from the screen shown in FIG. 7 to the screen shown in FIG. Moving on to step 2000 in the figure, steps 2010, 2040 . ．． 2050,20
60° 2070.2080.2090 processing is performed sequentially.

Connector 1960 returns to step 1910 of FIG.

Conditions can be added to the concept of interest by clicking the character string of the concept of interest in the search text display area with the mouse. FIG. 8 is a screen shot during this process. Character string “computer” of note IJ concept in search text display area 802
When you click 808 with the mouse, the concept "computer" is the concept of interest and the concept to be searched in the search sentence, so a pop-up will appear where you can select whether to add a condition or a route to the concept of interest. Menu 8
09 appears. Here, if you select "add condition" 810, the system will include the superordinate concepts that can be inherited.
General relationships that can be added to "Computer" are displayed in frame 811.

- Once a general relationship that can be added to the concept of interest is searched for and displayed, the data or the displayed window is stored internally, so there is no need to search for a relationship that can be added to the same concept again. Among these, the user can select the relevant related item "Computers developed by organizations/institutions" 812
Select by clicking with the mouse. FIG. 9 shows the screen after selecting the relationship to be added using the mouse. The search sentence becomes ``Computers developed by organizations/institutions'' 908 with the relation added, and the concept of interest is in related item 1''Computers developed by organizations/institutions.''

Moving on to the higher-level concept "organization/institution." Search sentence display area 90
In step 2, the search sentence is displayed again and a pointer 910 is placed on the character string "organization/institution" 909 of the concept of interest. In the inclusion relationship book display area 903, “computer” and the relationship “development” are displayed.
Using the superordinate concept ``Organization/Institution'' as an anchor, the concepts one level lower than ``Organization/Institution'' 911 and ``Organization/Institution'' are dispersed to create a character string of concepts up to 2, ``Company.''``''912゜゛'Educationalinstitution'' 913 is displayed as a tree, and a pointer 914 is placed on the character string ``organization/institution'' 911.

The flow of processing from Figure 1 to the screen in Figure 9 is shown in Figure 1.
It is shown in FIG. 9 and FIG. 21. FIG. 21 is a flowchart of a process for adding a condition or route to a concept of interest. In step 2100, it is determined whether the concept represented by the character string on the search text display area specified by the mouse is the same as the concept of interest. If they are the same, in step 2101, the designated concept is made the concept of interest. In step 2110, it is determined whether or not the concept 2] is the target of the search in the search sentence. If the concept is the target of the search, a condition is added in step 212o.

In step 2121, it is determined whether or not to add a route. When adding a condition, a list of general relationships that can be added as a condition to the concept of interest is displayed in step 2130, the relevant relationship is selected from the list in step 214o, and the condition is added to the search sentence in step 215o. Then, in step 216o, the concept above the selected relational item is set as the concept of interest.

If a root is to be added, in step 2122, a list of general relationships that can be added to the concept of interest as a root is displayed;
In step 2123, the relevant relationship is selected from the displayed list, in step 2124 a root is added to the search sentence, and in step 2125, the concept subordinate to the selected relationship item is made the concept of interest. In step 2170, the superordinate concepts of the concept of interest that connect the relationships (conditions and routes) added to the concept of interest are checked, and the lowest concept among them is set as the anchor. Before moving from the screen in FIG. 1 to the screen in FIG. 9, in order to add conditions to the concept of interest, step 19 in FIG.
10, 1920, then as shown by the connector 1980,
Moving on to step 2100 in FIG. 21, step 2110
,2120,2130°2140.2150,2160
．． 2170 in sequence, and further steps 2070, 2080, and 209 in FIG.
0 and the connector 1960 performs step 1 in FIG.
Return to 910.

The concept of interest can be changed by selecting the character string of the concept on the subsumption relationship display area with the mouse.

Here, we want to investigate "computers developed by the company," so in Fig. 9, the subsumption relation display area 9
Click on the character string "Company" 912 displayed in 03 with the left mouse button to move the concept of interest to "Company".

FIG. 10 shows the screen in this state. Since the concept of interest has been moved to the concept "company", the superordinate concept display area 100
1 is rewritten as a superordinate concept of "company r" as shown in Figure 7, "LINIVER3AL" 1011. "Things" 101
2. “Artifact” 1013. “Organizations/Institutions” 1014,”
Company" 1.015. In the search sentence display area 1002, the search sentence is "Computer developed by the company" 100.
8 is displayed again, and a pointer 1010 is placed on the character string "company" 1009 of the concept of interest. Inclusion-related book display area 100
3, pointer 1009 of the concept of interest is “company” 10
Move to 08. The concept r clicked with the left mouse button
Since "Company" is the lowest level concept in the subsumption relationship book display area 903 of FIG. 9, the concepts one layer further down to the digit 2 are searched and displayed in a powerful manner a. At this time, you may redisplay the entire subsumption relationship tree, or move the pointer of the concept of interest to "Company" 1008 and additionally display the sub-concepts of "Company" 1008 such as "Electric Manufacturer" 1016 and "Financial Institution" 1017. When additionally displaying, if the display overlaps with the display of other concepts, only the area of the additionally displayed concept, that is, the area where "Electric Manufacturer" 1016 and "Financial Institution" 1017 are displayed, is deleted. In the subsumption relation main display area 1003, the concept of interest can be further moved to a lower level concept of ``R Company'' or to a higher level or the same level concept. As the user moves, the number of concepts displayed in the subsumption relationship book display area 1003 increases, and the user can see the concepts that the user has traced. Also, -
It remembers the concepts you've seen each time, so you don't have to search for them again. The processing from FIG. 9 to the screen shown in FIG. 10 is shown in FIGS. 19 and 22. FIG. 22 is a flowchart of a process for moving the note EAR using the subsumption relationship tree displayed in the subsumption relationship water area. Step 2200
determines whether or not the character string displayed in the subsumption-related water area is clicked with the left mouse button. When clicking with the left mouse button, the concept clicked in step 2201 is set as the focused concept, and step 2202
Determine whether the lower level of the concept clicked on [Nen] is displayed.0 If it is not displayed, step 2
In step 203, concepts at a lower level are examined. Step 2210
determines whether the character string displayed in the subsumption-related water area is clicked with the right mouse button. When clicking with the right button of the mouse, a menu of concepts one layer below the clicked concept is displayed in step 2220, and when the corresponding concept is selected with the mouse in step 2230, the concept is displayed in step 2240. Make it a noteworthy concept. Before moving from screen 914 to the screen shown in FIG.
Steps 1910, 1920, and 1930 in FIG.
Steps 220], 2202 and 2203 are performed sequentially, and as shown in the connector 2100, the 20th
Moving to step 2070 in the diagram, step 2080.20
90, and the connector 1960 returns to step 1910 of FIG.

Furthermore, since there is a condition to be added regarding the focused concept "company", the same processing as above is performed. FIG. 11 shows the screen during this process. Attention concept character string ``company'' 110
Clicking 8 displays a general-related frame 11o9. Among these, the corresponding related item "Company in location" 1110 is selected with the mouse. FIG. 12 shows the screen after selecting the relationship to be added. The relationship is added to the search sentence, and the concept of interest moves to the higher level concept "location" in the related item "company located in location". Since the concept of interest has moved to the concept "location", the above concept display area 1101
is rewritten as a superordinate concept of "place." In the search sentence display area 1202, the search sentence is redisplayed as ``Computer developed at a company located at location'' 1209, and the pointer 1210 is placed on the character string ``location'' 1208 of the concept of interest.In the subsumption relation book display area 1203, ,"Computer"
Using the concept "Location" connected by the relationship "Development" as an anchor, the concepts one layer below "Location" are displayed as a tree to a depth of 2, and the pointer 1212 is placed on the character string "Location" 1211.
19 and 21 show the flow of processing from when the screen is placed to when the screen moves from FIG. 10 to the screen shown in FIG. 12. Before moving from the screen shown in FIG. 10 to the screen shown in FIG. 12, steps 1910.
1920 and the 21st
Moving on to step 2100 in the diagram, step 2110゜21
30. Perform steps 2140, 2150, 2160, and 2170 in sequence, then proceed to step 2070 in FIG. 20, as shown by connector 2100, and step 2080.2090.
and step 1 in FIG. 19 using the connector 1960.
Return to 910.

The concept of interest can be changed by selecting a concept on the subsumption relationship main display area with the mouse, but the concepts displayed in the subsumption relationship main display area are part of the subsumption relationship. FIG. 13 shows the subsumption relationship book display area 120 in FIG.
The subsumption relationship book display area 120 is based on the concept below the anchor of 3.
3 represents the process of using the mouse to search for a concept that is not displayed.

By selecting a concept on the subsumption relationship main display area 1303 with the right mouse button, all subordinate concepts of the concept can be displayed. Here, we want to find out about ``Computers developed by a company in Japan'', so if we click with the right mouse button on the character string ``Nation'' 1308 in the inclusion relationship book display area 1303, we will find the - round number of the concept ``Nation''. Subordinate concepts are displayed in menu 1309. In this,
Click on the corresponding concept page "Japan" 1310.

The concept of interest moves to the concept "Japan." If you click outside the menu area, the concept of interest moves to ``Concept r Nation''. FIG. 14 shows the screen after the concept of interest has been moved to "Japan." Since the concept of interest has been moved to the concept "Japan J," the superordinate concept display area 1401 is rewritten to the superordinate concept of "Japan." In the search text display area 1402, the search text is "Computers developed by a company in Japan"14.
08 is redisplayed, and the character string "Japan" of the featured concept is 1409.
Place pointer 1410 at . Inclusion-related book display area 14
In 03, ``Japan'' 141 is below ``Nation'' 1411.
2 is added and redisplayed, and the pointer 1413 is moved to "Notable concept 11 Japan" 1412. Subsumption relationship book display area 140
By clicking on the concept in the middle of the relationship displayed in 3 with the middle mouse button, lower-level concepts are displayed, and when the concept of interest is shifted to a concept within it, the concept is added and displayed. 1st
The flow of processing from Figure 2 to the screen in Figure 14 is shown in Figure 1.
It is shown in FIG. 9 and FIG. 22. Before moving from the screen shown in Fig. 12 to Fig. 14, in order to move the concept of interest to the concept displayed in the subsumption relationship main display area, step 1 in Fig. 19 is required.
Steps 910, 1920 and 1930 are performed, and as shown by a connector 1990, the process moves to step 2200 in FIG. Moving on to step 2070, step 2080 follows.

2090, and the connector 1960 returns to step 1910 in FIG.

You can move the concept of interest by clicking the character string of the concept in the search sentence display area with the mouse, change the concept, or add a relationship. Here, let's say you want to find articles about the search phrase you've created, ``Computers developed by a company in Japan.''

In the search sentence display area 1402 of FIG. 14, click the character string 11 "computer" 1414 with the mouse to move the concept of interest to "computer". FIG. 2 shows the screen in this state. Since the concept of interest has been moved to the concept "computer," the superordinate concept display area 201 is rewritten to the superordinate concept of "computer." Search sentence display area 20
In 2.

Place the pointer 209 on the character string ``computer'' 208 of the concept of interest.In the subsumption relationship tree display area 203, r
Using the superordinate concept "Hardware" of "Computer J", which is connected to the superordinate concept "Organization/Institution" of "Company" and the relationship "Development", as an anchor, "Hardware" 204 and below are displayed as a tree, and the one character string "Computer" is displayed. ” Place the pointer 211 at 210. At this time, it may be possible to display only ``Developed by a company in Japan'' among the concepts under ``Hardware.'' Alternatively, ``Hardware'' 2
Of the concepts below 04, the number of concepts that satisfy "developed by a company in Japan" may be displayed.

The flow of processing from FIG. 14 to the screen shown in FIG. 2 is shown in FIGS. 19 and 21.

Before moving from Figure 14 to the screen in Figure 2, the concept of interest is moved to the concept in the search sentence, so step 1 in Figure 19
910.1920 and moves to step 2100 of FIG.
1.2170, and then proceed to step 207o in FIG. 20, as shown by connector 2100, 4J,
080, 2090, and the 19th
Returning to step 1910 of the diagram.

Figure 15 is about the concept "computer".

The process of adding a route is shown. Search sentence display area 1502
When the character string "computer" 150B is clicked with the mouse, a pop-up menu 1509 appears. Here, when "add route" 1510 is selected, a menu 1511 related to general items that can be added as a root to "rcomputer" is displayed. Here, if you select the related item "Document about computers" 1512.

The relationship is added to the search sentence, and the concept of interest is in the related item "Documents about computers."

Let's move on to the lower-level concept "document." FIG. 16 shows the screen in this state.Since the 6 concepts of interest have been moved to the concept "document," the superordinate concept display area 1601 is.

It has been rewritten as a superordinate concept of "document". In the search sentence display area 1602, a pointer 1609 is placed on the character string "document" 1608 of the concept of interest. Subsumption relationship tree display area 16o3
Now, with "Document" connected to "Computer" by the relationship "Development" as the anchor, "Document" 1611 and below are displayed in a tree, and the pointer 1611 is placed on the character string "Document" 1610.

19 and 21 show the flow of processing from FIG. 15 to the screen shown in FIG. 16. Step 191.0.19 in Figure 19 before moving from Figure 15 to the screen in Figure 16
20 and moves to step 2100 in FIG.
,2121.2+,22°2123.2124,212
Steps 5 and 2170 are sequentially performed, and then, as shown in connector 2100, the process moves to step 2070 in FIG. 20, and step 2080.

2090, and the connector 1960 returns to step 1910 in FIG.

FIG. 17 shows the output result corresponding to "Document related to computers developed by a company in Japan."

This can be done by clicking on the result output menu 1706 with the mouse when the concept of interest is "document". Search results are available in the pop-up menu 1708
is displayed.

The flow of processing at this time is shown in FIG. Steps 1910, 1920, 1930°1940.19 in Figure 19
41 in sequence, and as shown by the connector 1960, the 19th
Returning to step 1910 of the diagram.

FIG. 18 shows a search for ``company in Japan''. This can be done by clicking on the result output menu 1806 when the concept of interest is ``company r''. . The search results are displayed in a pop-up menu 1808.

Although the embodiments have been described above using specific examples in order to make the explanation easier to understand, the system of the present invention is not limited to the specific examples, and various functions may be added. For example, the number of concepts that satisfy the conditions added each time the concept of interest is moved or the search results may be displayed.

Further, only concepts that satisfy the added conditions may be displayed in the subsumption relationship tree.

Furthermore, concepts that do not satisfy the conditions in the subsumption relationship tree display may be displayed by drawing a line segment or the like above the character string.

In addition to the display shown above, concepts such as specific relationships associated with the concept of interest may also be displayed sequentially for +1.

Further, a plurality of selections may be made simultaneously using the pop-up menu.

〔effect〕

As explained above, according to the present invention, it is possible to create a search sentence by changing the concept in the search sentence while looking at multifaceted information regarding the concept of interest, so that the search results can be obtained. You can create search sentences that are free from contradictions. Since the search target can be changed, the user is not limited to the search target at the start of the search. Furthermore, since information can be searched while creating a search sentence, search efficiency is greatly improved. Furthermore, since a partial search can be performed on a search sentence, there is no need to create similar search sentences over and over again.

[Brief explanation of the drawing]

Figures 1 and 2 are diagrams showing the screen when performing a concept search, Figure 3 is a diagram representing the concepts and related knowledge stored in the database, and Figure 4 is a diagram when adding conditions. 5 is a diagram showing an example of a table displayed when adding a route. FIG. 6 is a system configuration diagram of the present invention. The figures up to the figure are figures showing screens that appear during one process of information search, and figures 19 to 2.
The figures up to Figure 2 are diagrams showing the flow of processing of the present invention.

Claims (1)

[Claims] 1. In an information retrieval system that inputs an abstract concept expression expressed by a combination of concepts and relationships and performs a search using the abstract concept expression as a search condition, an interaction window that displays a search sentence; A dialogue representing the network, having means for displaying a dialogue window that displays a network representing the interrelationship of a set of concepts that satisfy the relationships added to the concepts, and that represents the network in response to a change in the display of the dialogue window that displays the search sentence. Information retrieval comprising a means for rewriting the window and replacing the concept of interest in a search sentence with the concept displayed in the dialog window displaying the network according to the change of the concept of interest in the concept displayed by the dialog window displaying the network, thereby rewriting the display of the search sentence. method. 2. In the information retrieval system as set forth in claim 1, the rewriting means selects among the concepts that are connected to the concept of interest through a subsumption relationship, the concepts that are connected through the general relationship that is added to the concept of interest in the search sentence. , and among those concepts, display the concepts below the lowest concept in the subsumption relationship,
An information retrieval method comprising means for changing the concept of interest to a concept within the display range. 3. In the information retrieval method described in claim 1, the rewriting means includes means for freely moving the concept of interest between concepts in the search sentence and adding conditions to the concepts in the search sentence. Information retrieval method. 4. In the information retrieval method described in claim 1, the rewriting means has means for adding a root to the concept to be searched in the search sentence to change the concept to be searched. An information retrieval method characterized by 5. The information retrieval method according to claim 1, wherein the rewriting means includes means for sequentially enabling the retrieval of concepts to which conditions are added in the search sentence.