JPH0612554B2 - Electronic document retrieval device - Google Patents

Description

The present invention relates to a search device for electronic documents.

(Prior Art) As an indexing method for retrieval of electronic documents, there is a method in which an attribute having the property of an interval scale is regarded as a coordinate axis and each document is indexed as a point in a multidimensional coordinate space. The index based on the multidimensional coordinate space is highly expressive, and is useful for organizing and searching for attributes that cannot be clearly defined, such as the atmosphere of a document.

When viewing electronic documents that have been searched, it is usual to specify the search conditions, perform a search, and then actually check each document. The search condition specified for the multidimensional space structure specifies the subspace in the multidimensional space with the attribute axis, and the browsing (para-page turning) of search result documents must move in this subspace. Equivalent to.

(Problems to be Solved by the Invention) However, although the classification by the interval scale has high expressiveness, it has a problem that it is difficult to grasp the meaning and the relationship between axes, and it is difficult to perform search / browsing. In addition, when an attribute that cannot be clearly defined, such as the atmosphere of a document, is expressed by an interval scale, there are problems that there are large individual differences in the configuration of the scale and that the same person changes over time.

In searching in a multi-dimensional space, in order to quickly find a target document from the searched document set, it is necessary to determine an appropriate moving direction by knowing the configuration of the subspace. However, in the conventional method, it is not possible to determine the moving direction during browsing by using the information of the configuration of the subspace which is the search condition. In addition, since there is no function to compensate for individual fluctuations / time fluctuations in the structure of the scale, in order to understand the meaning of the axis and how to take intervals on the axis, it is inevitable to perform comprehensive browsing. Furthermore, since the browsing instruction method does not reflect the configuration of the multi-dimensional space, there is no method to move in that direction even if the moving direction is determined, and there is no choice but to perform exhaustive browsing. is there.

In addition to the above, in the search using the index method with the multidimensional spatial structure, not all search conditions have been determined from the beginning, but the results searched under some conditions are analyzed and the target document is searched. Often, search conditions are changed or added so that (or a set of documents) can be obtained. Therefore, it is necessary to analyze the position of the retrieved document in the multidimensional space and use it to set new retrieval conditions.

The first object of the present invention is to solve such problems and automatically arrange and present the retrieved electronic documents in a form that is easy to understand and grasp, thereby analyzing the search results and the desired documents. It is to provide a browsing device that facilitates the discovery of. More specifically, the present invention expresses the structure of a subspace, which is a search condition, by using an example document in a search using an index based on an interval scale, and if it can be used as appropriate advice data for determining a browsing direction. By doing so, the information retrieval efficiency is improved.

A second object of the present invention is to provide a method of using the configuration information of the subspace expressed by using an example document as an instruction of the browsing direction in the search using the index based on the interval scale.

A third object of the present invention is to provide a method for utilizing information on the composition of a subspace expressed by using an example document for determining / instructing a new search condition in a search using an index based on an interval scale. Especially.

(Means for Solving Problems) According to the present invention, there is provided a retrieval device for an apparatus for storing and displaying an electronic document, the input means for inputting information of an instruction regarding retrieval of the electronic document, and the electronic computer. A document storage means for storing a document; a multidimensional spatial structure storage means for storing a multidimensional spatial structure for organizing an electronic document by a plurality of axes;
A search means line for searching the document from the document storage means based on the search condition information input from the input means, an axis selection means for selecting an axis stored in the multidimensional spatial structure storage means, and the search An example selecting means for organizing the search result documents searched by the means and selecting an example document of the axis included in the output of the axis selecting means, and an axis for creating display information of the axis included in the output of the axis selecting means. Display information creating means, display means for displaying output from the axis display information creating means and displaying the corresponding digitized document, data from the document storing means and data from the multidimensional spatial structure storing means, the input means Control according to the output of
There is obtained an electronic document retrieving apparatus including control means for supplying the information on the display means via the axis display information generating means.

Further, according to the present invention, there is provided a search device for a device for storing and displaying an electronic document, the input device for inputting information of an instruction regarding search / selection of the electronic document, and the electronic document being stored. Document storing means, multidimensional spatial structure storing means for storing a multidimensional spatial structure for organizing electronic documents by a plurality of axes, and search condition information input from the inputting means are used to retrieve the corresponding documents from the document enabling means. Search means for searching, document selection means for selecting a corresponding document from the document storage means according to the document selection instruction information input from the input means, and axis selected in the multidimensional space structure storage means Axis selecting means, example selecting means for organizing the search result documents searched by the searching means, and selecting an example document of an axis included in the output of the axis selecting means, and the axis selecting means. Axis display information creating means for creating display information of the axis included in the output of the means, display output for displaying the output from the axis display information creating means and the corresponding electronic document, data from the document storing means, and An electronic document retrieving apparatus comprising: control means for controlling the data from the multidimensional space structure storage means according to the output of the input means, and supplying the data to the display means via the axis display information creating means. To be

Further, according to the present invention, there is provided a search device for a device for storing and displaying a digitized document, the input means for inputting information of an instruction regarding search / selection of the digitized document, and a document for storing the digitized document. Storage means, multidimensional spatial structure storage means for storing a multidimensional spatial structure for organizing electronic documents by a plurality of axes, inspection condition holding means for holding search condition information, and setting of contents of the search condition holding means The search condition setting / changing means for making a change, the search means for searching the corresponding document from the document storage means according to the contents of the search condition holding means, and the document selection instruction information input from the input means The document selecting means for selecting the corresponding document from the storing means, the axis selecting means row for selecting the axis stored in the multidimensional space structure storing means, and the search means searched for An example selecting unit that sorts the search result documents and selects an exemplary document of the axis included in the output of the axis selecting unit, and an axis display information creating unit that creates display information of the axis included in the output of the axis selecting unit. Controlling the display output from the axis display information creating means and the display means for displaying the corresponding electronic document, and the data from the document storing means and the data from the multidimensional spatial structure storing means according to the output of the input means. An electronic document retrieval device including a control means for supplying the information on the display means via the axis display information generating means can be obtained.

(Operation) In the present invention, the configuration of the subspace given as the search condition is visually displayed by using an axis that spans the subspace, a range on the axis, and a representative example of documents included in the range. That is, with respect to the axis designated as the search condition, the axis display information creating means displays the organized headline displaying the corresponding axis on the display means together with the corresponding document. Furthermore, similar information is illustrated for the axis selected among the axes not specified as the inspection condition. For example, the range on the attribute axis of “freshness”, “flexibility”, and “friendliness” is given as the search condition, and the display means when the axes of “newness” and “activity” are selected An example of the display is shown in Fig. 4 (a). In this example, the search target range is represented by a rectangle on the axis. Furthermore, as a representative example of each axis, a document in which the maximum value, the median value, and the minimum value are closest to each other among the search result documents is presented. By referring to the example document, it is possible not only to understand the properties of the search result document, but also to estimate how much the search target range is moved along each axis and what kind of characteristics will be obtained. Becomes When abstract information such as words and numerical values is used as a medium, there is a problem of time variation due to individual differences in interpretation, and it is often impossible to retrieve a desired document. In the present invention, since specific information called an example document can be used, it is easy to understand and it is possible to compensate for a time variation due to individual differences.

Further, these display information can be used for inputting the document selection instruction information. For example, in FIG. 4 (a), when the position information of the star on the axis "newness" is input from the input means, the position on the "newness" axis is input in the search document set. The document closest to the selected position is displayed.

Further, these display information can be used for inputting search conditions. For example, in the information of FIG. 4 (a), when the rectangular information indicated by the dotted line on the axis of “activity” is input, as shown in FIG. 4 (b), the axis of “activity” is displayed. Similar information is displayed for the search document set according to the new condition in which the above range is added to the search condition.

(Example) Hereinafter, the present invention will be described with reference to the drawings.

FIG. 1 is a block diagram showing a first embodiment of the present invention. The input means 1 of this embodiment is, for example, a pointing device such as a mouse or a trackball. If the operability is sacrificed a little, an input means such as a keyboard is also possible. As a result, it is possible to specify or change the search condition, and to specify a desired position on the attribute axis in the displayed organization heading. The document storage means 2 is means for storing generally digitized documents such as code data, graphic data or image data output by a word processor, and is composed of, for example, an optical disk device or a magnetic disk device.

The multidimensional space structure storage unit 3 is a unit that stores the axis number, the axis name, and the document number information corresponding to each position on each axis for a plurality of axes. The search unit 4 is a unit which is controlled by the control unit 9 described later and searches the document storage unit 2 for a document corresponding to the search condition information input from the input unit 1. The search result data created by the search means 4 is given to the example selection means 6, and the example selection means 6 sorts out the data and selects an example document.

On the other hand, the axis selection means 5 selects an axis to be displayed based on the search condition information input from the input means 1.

The fifth (a) is a block diagram showing the first embodiment of the axis selecting means 5. The selected axis number storage means 41 of this embodiment is means for registering the number of axes to be selected. The selection order storage means 42 is means for storing a predetermined priority order among the axes stored in the multidimensional space structure storage means 3. The selection means 43 refers to the contents of the selection order storage means 42 based on the search condition information sent from the control means 44, and stores the number of selected axes in descending order of priority from the axes for which search conditions are not specified. It is a means for selecting the number of axes stored in the means 41.

FIG. 5 (b) is a block diagram showing a second embodiment of the axis selecting means 5. The selected axis number storage means 45 of this embodiment is means for registering the number of axes to be selected. The search result analysis means 46 is means for analyzing the characteristics of the searched document. The selecting means 47 is means for selecting the number of axes stored in the selected axis number storage means 45 from the axes for which the search condition is not specified, according to the output of the search result analyzing means 46.
The control means 48 is means for controlling the input information from the outside and the output information of the search result analyzing means 46 and outputting the output information of the selecting means 47 to the outside. As an axis selection method based on the analysis of search results, for example, there is a method of selecting an axis having a large degree of dispersion (dispersion, range, etc.) of search result documents. This makes use of the fact that adding a search condition for an axis with a large degree of dispersion is an efficient narrowing method. Also, when analyzing the search result, it is effective information to know which axis has a high degree of dispersion. When this method is used, the search result analysis means 46 calculates the scatter degree of the values on the axis for which the search condition is not specified in the search result document. The selection means 47 is a search result analysis means 46.
According to the calculation result of, the number of axes stored in the selected axis number storage means 45 is selected in descending order of the degree of dispersion.

FIG. 5 (c) is a block diagram showing a third embodiment of the axis selecting means 5. The selected axis storage means 49 of this embodiment is means for registering the number of axes to be selected. The selection means 50 is means for selecting the number of axes stored in the selected axis number storage means 49 from the axes for which the search condition is not specified, based on the axis selection information input from the input means 1. Control means 51
Are means for controlling input information from the outside and outputting output information of the selecting means 50 to the outside.

As described above, in the three examples of the axis selecting means 5, the number of axes to be selected is set in advance, but it is also possible to determine this at the time of execution.

FIG. 6 (a) shows a first embodiment of the axis selecting means 5 when the number of selected axes is variable. In this embodiment, the selection order storage means 52 is a means for storing a predetermined priority order among the axes stored in the multidimensional space structure storage means 3. The selection axis number determining means 53 is means for determining the number of axes to be selected based on the search condition information input from the input means 1. As a method of determining the number of axes, for example, there is a method in which the total of the number of axes with which the search condition is designated is the number of axes that can be displayed on the display unit 8. The selection means 54 is means for selecting the number of axes determined by the selected axis number determination means 53 based on the contents of the selection order storage means 52.

A second embodiment of the axis selecting means 5 when the number of selected axes is variable is shown in FIG. 6 (b). In this embodiment, the search result analysis means 56 is means for analyzing the characteristics of the search result document.
The selected axis number determining means 57 is means for determining the number of axes to be selected based on the output of the search result analyzing means 56. As a method of determining the number of axes, for example, there is a method of setting the number of axes having a scatter value equal to or larger than a predetermined value. The selecting means 58 is means for selecting the number of axes determined by the selected axis number determining means 57 from the axes for which the search condition is not specified, according to the output of the search result analyzing means 56. The control means 59 is means for controlling the input information from the outside and the output information of the search result analyzing means 56 and outputting the output information of the selecting means 58 to the outside.

Further, FIG. 6 (c) shows a third embodiment of the axis selecting means 5 when the number of selected axes is variable. Means of selection
60 is based on the axis selection information input from input means row 1,
Determine the number of axes and axis type.

The example selecting means 6 is a means for organizing the documents searched by the searching means 4 by the search condition information output from the input means 1 and the output of the axis selecting means 5 and selecting an example document of each axis. As a concrete example of the method of selecting the example document, each axis is decomposed into several ranges, and the document closest to the center of each divided range is selected, and the maximum value, median value, and minimum value are calculated for each axis. There is a method of selecting the closest document.

FIG. 7 is a flow chart showing an example of detailed processing of the example selecting means 6 in the case of dividing each axis into several ranges and selecting a document close to the center of the divided range. is there. First, the first axis is the relevant axis. Next, in a range dividing step 72, the range is divided for the relevant axis. Next, in step 73, the set of retrieved documents is sorted in ascending order or ascending order for the relevant axis and set in the document number / value table. Using this sorting result, in step 74, the search result document set is divided according to which of the divided ranges is included. Next, the center of each range is calculated at step 75. In the selection step 76, the division information created in step 75 is used to select the document closest to the center of gravity for each range, and this is used as an example document of the relevant axis. In step 77, the division information of the relevant axis and the document information are set in the example document table. In step 78, if there is a next axis, that axis is set as the corresponding axis and the process returns to step 72. If there is no next axis, a processing end signal is output.

The axis display information creating means 7 outputs the output of the example selecting means 6
Based on the information stored in the multidimensional space structure storage unit 3,
This is means for creating display information about the axis included in the output of the axis selecting means 5.

FIG. 8 is a flow chart showing an example of detailed processing of the axis display information creating means 7. Step 81 is a process of setting a heading display axis name and range information on the axis. Step 82 is a process of setting display position information of the example document. Step 83 is a process for setting position information on the axis of the document to be currently displayed. The axis display information creating means 7 creates such information, and the actual operation is controlled by the control means 9 described later.

In the above example, all the axes for which the search target range is specified are displayed, but it is also possible to display only the selected axes.
In this case, in the embodiment of the axis selecting means 5 shown in FIG. 5 (a), the selected axis number storage means 41 stores the total number of axes to be displayed. The selection means 43 refers to the contents of the selection order storage means 42, and selects the number of axes stored in the selection axis number storage means 42 in descending order of priority regardless of whether the search target range is designated or not. Select an axis. Fifth of axis selecting means 5
Similarly, in the embodiment of (b), the selected axis number storage means 45 stores the total number of axes to be displayed. Search result analysis means 46
Analyzes the characteristics of the search result document for all axes, and the selecting means 47 selects the number of axes stored in the selected axis number storage means 42 regardless of whether or not the search target range is designated. The same applies to other embodiments of the axis selecting means 5.
Further, the example selecting means 6 performs processing by the output of the axis selecting means 5 regardless of the search condition information input from the input means 1.

The method of displaying all the axes for which the search condition is specified is effective in achieving the purpose of grasping the configuration of the subspace specified as the search condition, but the number of axes that can be displayed on the display means 8 is limited. In some cases, if the main purpose is to add or change search conditions, or if the nature of the search result document is clear for some of the axes for which the search range is specified, specify the search range. It is effective to display only the selected axes.

The means for actually displaying the axis name, the search range on the axis, and the exemplary document are the display means 8, and the display means 8 is configured by a normal CRT display.

Further, the control means 9 is means for controlling a series of retrieval processes, and controls the data from the document storage means 2 and the data from the multidimensional space structure storage means 3 according to the output of the input means 1 to create axis display information. It is supplied to the display means 8 via the means 7.

FIG. 9 is a flow chart showing an example of a detailed procedure of the control means 9. First, when a data input signal is given from the input means, an operation instruction is given to the search means 4 and the axis selection means 5.
When a processing end signal is given from both the search means 4 and the axis selection means 5, an operation instruction is given to the example selection means 6. When a processing end signal is given from the example selecting means 6, the example selecting means 6
The first axis of the example document table set by is the relevant axis. If the axis name, axis line and search target range of the corresponding axis are set in the axis display step 96, they are displayed. Next, in step 97, the first example document of the relevant axis is set as the relevant document. In step 98, the information of the relevant document is read from the document storage means 2. When it is determined in step 99 that the size of the example document is too large for the displayable area, the size of the example document is reduced to an appropriate size in step 100. Example Document information or its reduced information is displayed Step 10
In 1, the display is made at a predetermined position on the display means 8.
In step 102, if there is a next example document of the relevant axis, in step 103 it is set as the relevant document and the process returns to step 98.
If there is no next example document, go to step 104 and check whether there is a next axis.
Return to 96. If there is no next axis, the process proceeds to step 106, the current relevant document is displayed on the display unit 8, the position information of the relevant document is set, and the process is ended.

Next, FIG. 2 shows a second embodiment of the present invention. Here, the same number as the means in FIG.
A similar function is a means. The document selection means 10 is means for selecting a corresponding document from the document storage means 2 in accordance with the document selection instruction information input from the input means 1. That is, the document selecting means 10 uses the document number table set by the example selecting means 6 to select a document having a value closest to the designated value of the axis designated by the document selection information.

FIG. 10 is a flow chart showing an example of a detailed procedure of the control means 9 when the input means 1 is realized by a mouse. Step
91 to 107 are the same processes as in FIG. In mouse click detection step 108, it is detected whether or not the mouse is clicked, and if it is clicked, step 10
Go to 9. If it is not considered to be the end in step 109, the coordinates corresponding to the mouse cursor are detected in step 110. In step 107, the position information of the document currently set and displayed is compared with the position information indicated by the detected coordinates, and if it is determined that another document is at the position to be displayed, the document selecting means 10 To select the relevant document.
Then, the process returns to the relevant document display step 106, and the relevant document is displayed and the position information is set. At this time, it is also possible to display the position information of the relevant document on the displayed axis. If the end key is pressed or the end mouse button is clicked in step 109 and the end is considered, the operation is completed.

Next, FIG. 3 shows a third embodiment of the present invention. Here, the same number as the means in FIG.
It is a means having the same function. Search condition holding means 11
Is a means for holding the search condition information input from the input means. The search condition setting / changing means 12 is means for setting / changing the contents of the search condition holding means 11 based on the search condition information input from the input means 1.

FIG. 11 is a flow chart showing an example of a detailed procedure of the control means 9 when the input means 1 is realized by a mouse. Step
91 to 112 are the same processes as in FIG. In mouse click detection step 108, it is detected whether or not the mouse is clicked, and if it is clicked, step 10
Go to 9. If it is not regarded as the end in step 109, it is checked in step 113 whether or not the search condition is changed. If the search condition is not changed, in step 110, the coordinates corresponding to the mouse cursor are detected. If another document is located at the position where the other document should be displayed from the coordinates, the document selecting unit 8 selects the corresponding document. Then, the process returns to the relevant document display step 106, and the relevant document is displayed and the position information is set. If the search condition is changed in step 113, the search condition setting / changing means 12 is executed in step 114.
Change the contents of the search condition holding means 11,
Returning to 92, the same processing as described above is performed. If the end key is pressed or the end mouse button is clicked in step 109 and the end is considered, the operation is completed.

(Effects of the Invention) As described above, according to the present invention, when a search condition based on an attribute axis having the property of an interval scale is given, multi-faceted document rearrangement / rearrangement and browsing using the same are performed. , Filtering is possible. Paper documents can only be organized one-dimensionally due to their physical restrictions, whereas electronic documents can be directly and easily organized by a multidimensional index. In particular, indexing with multidimensional space is highly expressive and can be organized from a viewpoint that cannot be clearly defined. INDUSTRIAL APPLICABILITY The present invention solves the problems that it is difficult to grasp / analyze the overall composition, and that there are large individual differences / time fluctuations in the composition of the scale, making it easy to find the target document and grasp / analyze the overall tendency. You can do it. Further, since the headline is visually displayed, the user can easily and directly make a designation to browse the document, and the user interface is improved.

[Brief description of drawings]

FIG. 1 is a functional block diagram showing a first embodiment of the computerized document retrieval device of the present invention. 2 and 3 are block diagrams showing second and third embodiments of the present invention, respectively. Further, FIGS. 4 (a) and 4 (b) are diagrams showing specific examples of displaying the configuration of the subspace and using it for the document selection instruction and the search condition input in order to facilitate understanding of the method of the present invention. 5 and 6 are block diagrams showing an embodiment of the axis selecting means 5 in the embodiment of FIG. 1, and FIG. 7 is a flow chart showing an example of detailed processing of the example selecting means 6 in the embodiment of FIG. ,
FIG. 8 is a flow chart showing an example of detailed processing of the axis display information creating means 7 in the embodiment of FIG. 1, and FIG. 9 is a flow chart showing an example of detailed procedure of the control means 9 in the embodiment. FIG. 10 is a flow chart showing an example of a detailed procedure of the control means 9 in the second embodiment. FIG. 11 is a flow chart showing an example of a detailed procedure of the control means 9 in the third embodiment. 1 ... input means, 2 ... document storage means, 3 ... multidimensional space structure storage means, 4 ... search means, 5 ... axis selection means,
6 ... Example selecting means, 7 ... axis display information creating means, 8 ...
Display means, 9 ... Control means, 10 ... Document selection means, 11 ...
… Search condition holding means, 12 …… Search condition setting / changing means

Claims (3)

[Claims] 1. A retrieval device for storing and displaying a digitized document, comprising: input means for inputting information on an instruction relating to the retrieval of the digitized document; and document storage means for storing the digitized document. A multi-dimensional spatial structure storing means for storing a multi-dimensional spatial structure for organizing an electronic document by a plurality of axes; and a searching means for searching the document storing means for the corresponding document based on the search condition information input from the input means. , An axis selecting means for selecting an axis stored in the multidimensional space structure storing means, a search result document searched by the searching means, and an example document of an axis included in the output of the axis selecting means. An example of selecting a selection means, an axis display information creating means for creating display information of an axis included in the output of the axis selecting means, a display output from the axis display information creating means and a corresponding electronic document. The display means shown, the data from the document storage means and the data from the multidimensional spatial structure storage means are controlled according to the output of the input means, and are supplied to the display means via the axis display information creating means. An electronic document retrieving apparatus comprising: a control unit. 2. A retrieval device for storing and displaying a digitized document, comprising input means for inputting information on instructions for searching and selecting the digitized document, and document storage means for storing the digitized document. And a multidimensional spatial structure storage means for storing a multidimensional spatial structure for organizing an electronic document by a plurality of axes, and search condition information input from the input means,
Search means for searching the relevant document from the document storage means,
According to the document selection instruction information input from the input means,
A document selecting unit that selects a corresponding document from the document storing unit, an axis selecting unit that selects an axis stored in the multidimensional space structure storing unit, and a search result document searched by the searching unit is arranged. Together with an example selecting means for selecting an example document of an axis included in the output of the axis selecting means,
From the document storing means, the axis display information creating means for creating display information of the axis included in the output of the axis selecting means, the display output from the axis display information creating means and the corresponding electronic document, and the document storing means. And the data from the multidimensional space structure storage means are controlled according to the output of the input means, and are supplied to the display means via the axis display information creating means. Electronic document retrieval device. 3. A retrieval device for storing and displaying a digitized document, comprising: input means for inputting information on instructions for searching / selecting the digitized document; and document storage means for storing the digitized document. And a multidimensional spatial structure storage means for storing a multidimensional spatial structure for organizing an electronic document by a plurality of axes, a search condition holding means for holding search condition information, and setting / changing the contents of the search condition holding means. According to the contents of the search condition setting / changing means for performing
Search means for searching the relevant document from the document storage means,
According to the document selection instruction information input from the input means,
A document selecting unit that selects a corresponding document from the document storing unit, an axis selecting unit that selects an axis stored in the multidimensional space structure storing unit, and a search result document searched by the searching unit is arranged. Together with an example selecting means for selecting an example document of an axis included in the output of the axis selecting means,
From the document storing means, the axis display information creating means for creating display information of the axis included in the output of the axis selecting means, the display output from the axis display information creating means and the corresponding electronic document, and the document storing means. And the data from the multidimensional space structure storage means are controlled according to the output of the input means, and are supplied to the display means via the axis display information creating means. Electronic document retrieval device.