JPH0315787B2 - - Google Patents

Description

DETAILED DESCRIPTION OF THE INVENTION [Technical field to which the invention pertains] The present invention relates to a search device that can search for desired materials based on approximate dates.

[Prior art and its problems]

Conventionally, in order to search for a desired document, it was common to manually search for the corresponding file based on the title or serial number of the document and retrieve the desired document. If the information is stored, the user enters information such as the title of the desired material using a keyboard or the like to perform a search.

However, in these cases, if you forget the title or serial number of the material, or forget the storage location of the material, it takes a lot of effort and time to search for the material, and especially in the latter case, the input information is inaccurate. This had the drawback that searching for materials was completely impossible.

[Purpose of the invention]

The present invention has been made to eliminate the above-mentioned drawbacks, and an object of the present invention is to provide a search device that can search for desired materials based on approximate dates.

[Summary of the invention]

A time axis is designated by the input means, and this is displayed on the time axis display section, and a position on the time axis is designated by the position designation means, and by this position designation, the corresponding material is retrieved from the storage means. ing.

〔Effect of the invention〕

Since materials are searched using the time axis, it is possible to easily search for desired materials based on approximate dates.

[Embodiments of the invention]

An embodiment of the present invention will be described below with reference to the drawings.

In FIG. 1, reference numeral 1 denotes an input device consisting of a keyboard, for example, for instructing the search of materials, a position specifying device 11 consisting of a light pen, for example, for specifying a position, and a position specifying device 11 for changing the scale of the time axis. For example, it has a change instruction device 12 consisting of a function key.

In addition, a calculation device 2 is connected to this input device 1,
A storage device 3 for storing data is connected to this arithmetic device 2. In this case, the arithmetic unit 2 has a collation unit 21 that collates the date corresponding to the position on the time axis designated by the position designation device 11 with the data in the storage device 3. Further, a display device 4 made of, for example, a CRT display for displaying materials is connected to the arithmetic device 2. This display device 4 has a time axis display section 41 for displaying a time axis.

Next, its effect will be explained.

First, as an example, consider a case where a document dated around the beginning of September is to be searched for, the title of which has been forgotten as of October 1st.

In this case, since the materials to be searched are within 2 to 3 months, the input device 1 displays a time axis on the time axis display section 41 of the display device 4, as shown in FIG. Instruct the display of. At this point, the storage device 3 is sorted and the pointer is moved so that the data registered on the time axis shown in FIG. 2a, that is, from mid-July to the present, is easily accessed. ing.

In this state, to search for materials from around the beginning of September, for example, use the position specifying device 11 to move the cursor 5 to the vicinity of "9/1" on the time axis as shown in FIG. As shown in Figure b, “9/
Move the cursor 5 to the vicinity corresponding to "10" and specify the position. Then, in the matching section 21, from September 1st to 9th
Materials registered by around the 10th of the month are retrieved from the storage device 3, and this material list is displayed on the display device 4 as shown in FIG. 2b.

If the relevant material is present in this display, for example, by moving the cursor to the title of the relevant material and specifying it, only the corresponding material will be displayed on the display device 4.

In this case, instead of displaying a list of materials, for example, the group of materials searched by the matching unit 21 may be displayed on the display device 4 in a flip-flopping manner, or headings may be displayed on the display device 4 to search for the relevant materials. It is also possible to do so.

Next, let's consider a case in which materials from the end of May are subsequently searched. In this case, the cursor 5 is moved to the left end of the time axis, and a key is pressed on the change instruction device 12 to instruct, for example, to go back in time. Then, as shown in FIG. 3a, the time axis display section 41 displays, for example, a time axis from the beginning of May to the beginning of July. Subsequent document searches are performed in the same manner as described above. If the user wishes to search for further past materials, he or she may continue to operate the keys on the change instruction device 12.

On the other hand, if you wish to search over a long period of time, press a key on the change instruction device 12 to instruct, for example, to expand the time axis, and as shown in FIG. Axis can be displayed. Conversely, it is also possible to perform detailed searches in a shorter time.

Note that in this embodiment, the search is performed using the registration date that is automatically stored at the time of document registration, but the registrant may input the publication date or
Alternatively, if the publication date on the document is read using OCR, it is possible to search for the document based on the publication date.

Therefore, with this configuration, even if the stored information is ambiguous, it is possible to search for the desired material using only the approximate date.
Compared to the conventional method, in which it was difficult to search for materials unless information about the materials was accurately grasped, it is possible to search for desired materials quickly and with a simple effort.

[Other embodiments of the invention]

The present invention is not limited to the above-mentioned embodiments, but can be implemented with appropriate modifications without changing the gist. For example, in addition to the above-mentioned embodiments, if the application is applied to a large-scale database search such as a literature search, the user can search without learning the query language, or a touch sensor can be incorporated into the display device to indicate the time axis directly with a finger. You can also do that.

[Brief explanation of the drawing]

FIG. 1 is a block diagram showing an embodiment of the present invention, and FIGS. 2a and 2b and 3a and 3b are diagrams showing display examples of a display device used in the same embodiment, respectively. 1...Input device, 11...Position specifying device, 12
...Change instruction device, 2...Arithmetic device, 21...Verification device, 3...Storage device, 4...Display device, 41
...Time axis display section, 5...Cursor.

Claims (1)

[Scope of Claims] 1. An input means, a storage device storing a plurality of materials, a display means having a time axis display section for displaying a time axis designated by the input means, and a display means for displaying a position on the time axis. 1. A retrieval device comprising a position specifying means for specifying a position, and a means for searching for material in the storage means corresponding to a position on a time axis specified by the position specifying means. 2. The retrieval device according to claim 1, wherein the means for retrieving materials from the storage means has a function of displaying the retrieved materials on the display section. 3. The search device according to claim 1 or 2, wherein the input means includes change instruction means for instructing a change in the scale of the time axis.