JPH08263516A - Information retrieval method and device - Google Patents

Abstract

(57) [Summary] [Purpose] It is an object to provide an information processing method and apparatus capable of automatically setting a word that has already been digitized and stored as a keyword for searching and searching. An information retrieval device that retrieves and reads desired data from a data file, stores input text data in a data storage area 120, and responds to an instruction when a retrieval keyword is instructed to be extracted. Then, by the retrieval keyword extraction program, the data storage area 120
The keywords used for the search are automatically extracted from the text data stored in. Based on the extracted keyword, the multimedia data file 125 stored in the non-volatile storage medium 114 is searched.

Description

Detailed Description of the Invention

[0001]

BACKGROUND OF THE INVENTION 1. Field of the Invention The present invention relates to an information retrieval method and apparatus for retrieving desired data from a data file.

[0002]

2. Description of the Related Art In a conventional retrieval apparatus for retrieving desired data from a data file that stores a large amount of data such as a database, when the user needs to obtain data related to a certain word, Used the word as a keyword and entered the keyword using a keyboard or the like to search the database.

In a personal computer or the like which is generally used at present, by operating an application program on an operating system,
The computer device can be used as a database search device or a text data management device. Further, a general personal computer has a memory such as a RAM for storing the created text data, and electronic data can be stored and stored in the memory.

[0004]

When text data consisting of a plurality of words is stored in such a memory, the user may want to search the text data by using the words included in the text data as keywords. is there. In such a case, the user has to input the word as a database search keyword into the keyword input text field of the database search application program. Also, when executing a text editing application, the range of the words to be searched included in the text data is cut out by input means such as a mouse, and the data is input via the temporary memory to the keyword input of the database search application. It had to be copied into the text field, giving the user a great deal of addedness.

Schedule data is an example of data stored in a memory for storing text data. In recent years, many applications (generally called schedulers) for managing individual schedules have been developed.

An example of these schedulers will be described below.

In the scheduler, a schedule is treated as a collection of "events". Typically,
The event has the following information.

Event name: Character string indicating the name of the event Place: Character string indicating the place where the event occurs Time 1: Event start year / month / day / hour / minute / second Time 2: Event end year / month / day / hour / minute / second -Details: A character string that indicates the details of the event. The user inputs these items to create an event and registers it in the schedule. The input event is stored in the data storage means and is used later for confirming one's own schedule. In the event, the event name, place,
Each field of detail is textual data and can contain multiple words. For a user who routinely inputs his or her own text into the schedule management device, the information that the individual needs within a certain day is the schedule data (text Data).

In the prior art, looking at the text-based schedule data displayed on the graphical user interface for the schedule management application software, there is a word in the text data that the user should know in detail. In doing so, there is a trouble that the search cannot be performed unless the character string previously input to the device is input again to the database as a keyword.

The present invention has been made in view of the above-mentioned conventional example, and provides an information processing method and apparatus capable of automatically setting a word that has already been digitized and stored as a keyword for searching and searching. The purpose is to do.

Another object of the present invention is to provide an information processing method and apparatus capable of searching a database from text data including a plurality of words without cutting out a desired word. Especially.

[0012]

In order to achieve the above object, the information retrieval apparatus of the present invention has the following configuration.
That is, an information retrieval device that retrieves desired data from a data file and reads it out, including storage means for storing input text data, instructing means for instructing extraction of retrieval keywords, and instructing by the instructing means. pls respond,
It has a keyword extracting means for automatically extracting a keyword used for a search from the text data stored in the storage means, and a searching means for searching the data file based on the keyword extracted by the keyword extracting means.

In order to achieve the above object, the information retrieval method of the present invention includes the following steps. That is, an information retrieval method for retrieving and reading out desired data from a data file, comprising the steps of storing input text data, instructing extraction of retrieval keywords, and storing in response to the instruction. And an extracting step of automatically extracting a keyword used for a search from the stored text data, and a step of searching the data file based on the extracted keyword.

[0014]

In the above structure, when the instructing means instructs the extraction of the retrieval keyword, in response to the instruction, the text data stored in the storage means for storing the input text data is Automatically extract keywords used for search. It operates so as to search the data file based on the keyword thus extracted.

[0015]

DETAILED DESCRIPTION OF THE PREFERRED EMBODIMENT A preferred embodiment of the present invention will now be described in detail with reference to the accompanying drawings.

[First Embodiment] In the information equipment according to the first embodiment of the present invention, the multimedia data file searching means is used together with the schedule managing means and the multimedia data file searching means from the schedule data managed by the schedule managing means. By providing a keyword extracting means for retrieval for automatically extracting the keyword used for the retrieval process, the user can retrieve the required multimedia data file without inputting the word existing on the schedule again, The contents of the search result file can be confirmed. In this embodiment, the symbols are written in C language.

FIG. 1 is a block diagram showing the basic configuration of an information device according to an embodiment of the present invention.

In FIG. 1, reference numeral 101 denotes a microprocessor, which performs arithmetic operations, logical judgments and the like. 102 is an address bus for designating the address of each input / output memory, 103 is a bidirectional data bus used for transferring various data, 10
Reference numeral 4 is a control bus used to read, write, accept interrupts from each memory, and transmit data set timing and the like. Reference numeral 106 is an input device such as a keyboard or mouse, and 105 is an input device controller for controlling the input device 106. The input device controller 105 is an input device 106 such as a keyboard or a mouse.
The input data is encoded and an interrupt signal indicating that there is a key input or the like is sent to the control bus 104. Reference numeral 108 denotes a display device such as a CRT and a liquid crystal display, which displays schedule data and other multimedia data. A display device controller 107 controls display of various data on the display device 108.

Reference numeral 110 is a read-only memory (ROM), which stores an initialization procedure when the information equipment of this embodiment is started. Reference numeral 109 is a controller that controls the reading of the ROM 110. Reference numeral 114 denotes a non-volatile storage medium such as a hard disk, which is an operating system file 122 in which an operating system for comprehensive management of this information equipment is described, and which is used for schedule management, keyword extraction, and database search. A processing procedure description file 123 that describes whether to perform such a processing procedure, a schedule management data file 124 that holds schedule data input by the user, and a multimedia data file such as a still image, a moving image, and a voice text. 125
have. 113 is this non-volatile storage medium 114
Is a non-volatile storage medium controller for controlling.

Reference numeral 112 denotes a random access memory (RA
M) and the operating system storage area 11
5, a processing management means storage area 116, a schedule management means storage area 117, a search keyword extraction means storage area 118, a multimedia data file search means storage area 119, a data storage area 120, and another area 121. Reference numeral 111 denotes a RAM controller that controls reading / writing of data to / from the RAM 112. Each means stored in this RAM 112 is
It is actually stored in the form of a control program.

FIG. 2 shows the RAM 112 of the information equipment of this embodiment.
3 is a diagram showing a more detailed memory map of a data storage area 120 provided in FIG.

In FIG. 2, a state storage area 701 stores the state of the information equipment of this embodiment. A search file name storage area 702 stores the file names of the files searched for when a database search is performed in a list format. The search file name storage area 702 lists the file names of files obtained as search results as shown in the figure (search files 1 to
Store in n). An event object storage area 703 stores the events input by the user so far as objects.

In the present embodiment, the event, which is the minimum unit of the schedule, is stored as an object in the data storage area 120, and the schedule management data file 124 is stored in the event object storage area 7.
It is expanded as an object on 03. An event object pointer storage area 704 stores, in a list format, pointers to one or more event objects selected by the user or extracted by this information device by some input from the user. An extracted keyword storage area 705 stores one or more keywords extracted by the search keyword extracting means (stored in 118 of FIG. 1) of the information device of this embodiment in a list format. A multimedia data storage area 709 stores multimedia data such as still images, moving images, text data, and audio data.

The extracted keyword storage area 705 further stores the following data.

Reference numeral 707 denotes TempStrMem used temporarily when extracting a keyword used for inspection from the text data of the event object. In the present embodiment, TempStrMem has a memory space of 50 bytes (for 50 characters), the start address of which is the pointer P2.
Is instructed by. In the present embodiment, since one character is represented by 1 byte, addressing to each character is performed in 1-byte units. Similarly, pointers P1 and P2, which will be described later, are also addressed in 1-byte units. 706 is the extracted 1
An extracted keyword list that stores one or more keywords in a list format. Each extracted keyword has the capacity to store up to 50 characters, similar to TempStrMem, and the first address of the extracted keyword 1 is (P2 + 50). Instructed by.

FIG. 3 is a functional block diagram showing a functional configuration of the information equipment of the first embodiment of the present invention. In the first embodiment, each means operates under the control of a multitasking operating system, and messaging (notification exchange) with an argument between each means indicated by an arrow is also performed through the operating system. Shall be provided.

In FIG. 3, the notification from each processing means is as follows:
The processing management means 601 stored in the processing management means storage area 116 manages centrally, and the processing management means 601.
Manages the processing order of each processing means by transmitting an appropriate notification to an appropriate processing means in response to the notification from each means. A data storage unit 602 corresponds to the data storage area 120. All the means shown in FIG. 3 can write data in and read data from the data storage means 602 via the operating system.
The input unit 603 including the input device controller 105 and the input device 106 receives an input from the user and transmits the input information to the process management unit 601.

The display means 604 having the display device controller 107 and the display device 108 is the process management means 60.
In response to the request from No. 1, various kinds of information are displayed in a display mode suitable as a display mode of various kinds of information. Schedule management means 6 stored in the schedule management means storage area 117
Reference numeral 05 is a means for managing the schedule input by the user. The schedule data input by the user through the input unit 603 is passed to the schedule management unit 605 via the process management unit 601. The schedule management unit 605 stores the schedule data in the event object storage area 703. Also,
When the user requests a schedule display, the requested schedule data is searched from the event object storage area 703, and the searched data is displayed on the display unit 604.

Above 601, 602, 603, 604, 6
A block 607 including each unit of 05 implements a function as a schedule management device.

The multimedia data file search means 608 stored in the multimedia data file search means storage area 119 searches for a target file from the multimedia data files 1 to n (125) by a free keyword. User input means 603
When a search request is input by designating a keyword, the process management means 601 sends a search command by the keyword designated by the user to the multimedia data file search means 608. Receiving this, the multimedia data file searching means 608 takes out a file having the file attribute of the designated keyword from the multimedia data files 1 to n (125), and searches the searched file name storage area 702 for the file. The created file name and path are stored.

The processing management means 601 controls the display means 604 according to the user's instruction input from the input means 603, and causes the display means 604 to display the contents of the retrieved multimedia data file. Above 601,
A block 610 including means 602, 603, 604, 608, and 609 realizes a function as a database device that performs search display using a free keyword.

Reference numeral 611 is a retrieval keyword extraction means, which automatically extracts a keyword used for retrieval by cutting out a word from text data of arbitrary length, and a multimedia data file retrieval means via the data storage means 602. The retrieval keyword automatically extracted is passed to 608.

FIG. 4 shows the display means 6 of the information equipment of this embodiment.
It is a figure which shows an example of the basic graphical user interface (GUI1) displayed on 04.

As shown in FIG. 4, the GUI 1 has a calendar format. When the information device of this embodiment is started up, a calendar including the date when the information device was started up is displayed.
In this embodiment, it is assumed that this information device was started up on March 24, 1994.
The month calendar is displayed.

In FIG. 4, 201 indicates an outer frame of a calendar, frame 202 indicates a unit of a day, and a date and, if an event exists on that date, the event name is displayed on the frame 202. Frame 208 is the date the device was started up, that is, March 24, 1994.
Indicates that the day is selected. When GUI1 is displayed for the first time after this information device is started up, the 24th day is selected in this way, but the user moves the mouse cursor to an arbitrary date and clicks the mask button there. By doing so, any date can be selected.

When the PrevMonth button 203 is clicked, GUI1 is changed to display the calendar of the previous month.
When the Next Month button 204 is clicked, the calendar display is changed to the next. Also, PrevYear button 2
If 05 is clicked, GUI1 is changed to the calendar of the same month of the previous year, and if the Next Year button 206 is clicked, the calendar display of the same month of the next year is changed. The Find MM Data button 207 will be described later.

Further, when the user double-clicks an arbitrary date, GUI1 is hidden and GUI2 shown in FIG. 5 is displayed instead. In GUI2, the date of double-clicking in GUI1 (199 in this embodiment).
The event name and the place of the event owned by the user (assuming that March 24, 4 was double-clicked) are displayed in order of time.

In FIG. 5, reference numeral 301 indicates an outer frame of GUI2, and 302 indicates a selection frame indicating that an event is selected. In this embodiment, time 1 = 1
0:00, place = Nakameguro (Nakameguro), event name =
An event that is a Visit Mitsutomo company has been selected. Reference numeral 303 denotes a New Event button that the user clicks when inputting a new event. By clicking the New Event button 303, the display of the user interface GUI2 disappears, and instead, the GUI3 which is a graphical user interface as shown in FIG. 6 is displayed. The user can use this user interface to enter new events.

When the Del Event button 304 is clicked,
The event data selected by the selection frame 302 is deleted. If you click the BackToCal button 305,
The display of GUI2 disappears, and GUI1 is displayed instead. The Find MM Data button 306 will be described later.

Next, FIG. 6 will be described. The GUI 3 shown in FIG. 6 displays all the field values of the event, and the user can edit each field on the GUI 3.

In FIG. 6, 401 is a text field for displaying and inputting an event name. 402
Is a text field for displaying and entering the location. Here, “place” indicates a place where the event indicated by the event name occurs. 403 is a text field for displaying and inputting time 1. Here, the time 1 indicates the time when the event indicated by the event name starts. Reference numeral 404 is a text field for displaying and inputting time 2. Here, the time 2 indicates the time when the event indicated by the event name ends. 40
Reference numeral 5 is a text field for displaying and inputting details of the event. Here, with the details of the event, the user inputs more detailed contents of the event indicated by the event name as text data of indefinite length. 406
Is a BackToCal button. By clicking this button 406, GUI3 disappears, and G
UI1 is displayed.

On the GUI 3, the user can edit each field using the input device 106 such as a keyboard and a mouse. The edited result is stored in the event object storage area 703, and is saved in the schedule management data file 124 when the user gives a save instruction or when the information device is powered off and the process is terminated. .

FIG. 7 is a diagram showing a display example by a graphical user interface (GUI4) for displaying the searched multimedia data when the information device of the present embodiment searches the multimedia data from the schedule data. is there.

In FIG. 7, reference numeral 501 denotes a retrieved still image, which is a view in which moving images, text data, etc. are displayed. Click Quit button 504
Disappears, and the GUI immediately before GUI4 is displayed instead is displayed on the display device 108, and the mode for displaying the search result ends. Also, PrevInfo button 50
When 5 is clicked, the files listed one above in the search file name list of FIG. 2 are displayed.
If the file currently being displayed is the first file in the list, the file currently being displayed is continuously displayed. Also, Next
Clicking on the Info button 506 will display the files listed one down in the list of FIG.
If the file currently being displayed is the last file in the list, the file being displayed is kept displayed.

The specific operation of the information equipment of this embodiment will be described in more detail below with reference to FIGS.

When the user turns on the power of this information device, the initialization program included in the ROM 110 is executed, and the initialization processing required for this information device is performed. When this initialization processing is completed, the operating system file 122 is read into the operating system storage area 115, and waits for an event from the user. When the user requests the use of the function of this information device by the input device 106, the operating system causes the processing means description file 1 to be stored in the nonvolatile storage medium 114.
23 is read, and the processing management means 601, the schedule management means 605, and the search keyword extraction means 61 are read.
1 and multimedia data file search means 6
08 to 116 to 11 of the RAM 120, respectively.
9 areas. At this point, each means stored in each area becomes effective on the information device as means for performing transmission / reception and processing specified for each.

Hereinafter, for simplification of description, description will be given with reference to the functional configuration shown in FIG. Each means shown in FIG.
All are realized by the basic configuration shown in FIG. 1, and the correspondence relationship between each unit in FIG. 3 and the basic configuration in FIG. 1 will be appropriately described below.

When each means of FIG. 3 becomes effective, first, the process management means 601 stored in the process management means storage area 116 is compared with the schedule management means 605 stored in the schedule management means storage area 117. A notification indicating the instruction to read the schedule data is transmitted. Upon receiving this notification, the schedule management unit 605 stores the schedule management data file 1 in the nonvolatile storage medium 114.
Load 24. And from this file 124,
An object of an event included in the schedule is generated according to the schedule data, and this is stored in the event object storage area 703. At the same time, the process management unit 601 waits for an input from the user after displaying all or part of the event information on the GUI 1 by the display unit 604. After that, the input means 60 from the user
When there is an input using 3, the process management means 60
1 controls each unit of FIG. 3 in accordance with an input from the user, so that the information device of the present embodiment has the GUI 1 to
It operates as described in GUI3.

The user selects the Find MM Data button (2 in FIG. 4) on each graphical user interface.
07, 306 in FIG. 5, and 407 in FIG. 6), the information device automatically extracts a keyword from the schedule data to search for a multimedia data file.

The processing procedure at this time will be described in detail with reference to the flowcharts of FIGS. 8 and 9.

The user uses the input device 106 to execute the Find MM Da
When the ta button is clicked, the processing management means 601 displays Fi
Upon receiving the notification that the nd MM Data button has been pressed, the processing is started from step S1 according to the procedure shown in FIG.

First, in step S1, the process management means 601 refers to the state storage area 701 of FIG. 2 to determine whether or not the current selection is designated by the time zone, and if it is designated by the time zone. If so, the process proceeds to step S4. If not specified by the time zone, the process proceeds to step S2. In this embodiment, the time zone is expressed as “from a certain time to a certain time”. For example, in this embodiment,
The selection state designated by the time zone is the G of FIG.
This corresponds to a state in which the date is selected by the frame 206 in UI1. That is, since March 24, 1994 is selected in FIG. 4, the time is:
From 0:00:00 on March 24, 1994, 1994
A time period up to 23:59:59 on March 24th is designated, and all events including any time within this time are in the selected state. Here, the word “event includes a time” is defined as event 1 includes time A if time 1 of event 1 ≦ A <time 2 of event 1.

When an arbitrary time t within the time zone A is included in the event 1, it is defined as "time zone A includes the event 1".

In step S2, the schedule management means 605 is inquired as to whether or not the current selection is selected by directly designating the event. The schedule management means 605 refers to the state storage area 701 to determine whether or not the current selection is selected by the direct event designation, and returns the result to the processing management means 601. Upon receiving this reply, the process management means 601 advances the process to step S3 if specified by the direct event specification. Here, the event direct designation is a selection method of directly selecting one or more events by designating an event name. In this embodiment, the event selected by the selection frame 302 in the GUI 2 of FIG. 5 (in FIG. 5, the event name “Visit Mitsuto
mo company. ”event) is selected by directly specifying the event.

If the judgment result of step S2 is "N"
If it is "o", the process proceeds to step S11, and since the target to be searched cannot be specified, an error message display request notification is transmitted to the display means 604. Then, the processing management means 601 presses the Find MM Data button. The processing procedure when the notification indicating is received is ended.

In step S4 by designating the time zone, the schedule management means 605 is sent a notification indicating a search request for an event including the designated time zone. Upon receiving the notification of the event search request, the schedule management unit 605 searches the event object storage area 703 for an event included in the designated time zone. Then, after storing all the pointers to the searched event in the event object pointer storage area 704, the processing management means 60 issues a notification indicating the end of the search.
Send to 1.

On the other hand, the processing management means 601 carries out step S4.
After transmitting the search request notification at, in step S5, the process enters a loop for determining whether or not there is a search end notification from the schedule management unit 605. When there is no search end notification, the process of step S5 is performed again, and when the search end notification is received, the process proceeds to step S6.

In step S3 in which the event is directly specified, a notification is sent to the schedule management means 605 requesting that the pointer of the event selected by the direct event specification be stored in the event object pointer storage area 704. To do. Next, in step S6, the process management unit 601 sends a notification indicating the execution request of the search keyword extraction unit 611 to the search keyword extraction unit 611. After that, in step S7, it is determined whether or not there is a notification that the end of the search keyword extraction processing is notified. If there is no notification, the processing is returned to step S7 again. Then, when the notification indicating the end of the search is received, the process proceeds from step S7 to step S8.

Here, the retrieval keyword extracting means 611.
The search keyword extraction processing procedure according to will be described in detail with reference to the flowchart of FIG. 9 and the memory map of FIG.

When the search keyword extraction means 611 receives a notification from the process management means 601 indicating a request for executing the search keyword extraction processing, first in step S21,
Substitute “0” for a variable (Count) for counting the number of cut out characters (extracted keywords) (in this embodiment, all the words cut out from the string of the event object are treated as extracted keywords. As such, the extracted word = extracted keyword). Next, in step S22, it is determined whether or not there is an unprocessed event by referring to the event object list in the event object pointer storage area 704 of FIG. If there are no unprocessed events, the process proceeds to step S30 to end the search keyword extraction process.

If there is an unprocessed event in step S22, the process proceeds to step S23, and the pointer of the event object (event to be processed) to be processed next is acquired. Next, proceeding to step S24, a pointer to the first character of the event name character string of the processing target event is acquired, and this pointer is set to P1. That is, the pointer P
1 is a pointer for designating an address of a character (character) represented by 1 byte. Symbols P2 and P3 used below also indicate pointers to the character in exactly the same manner. Next, in step S25, as shown in FIG.
The word cutout process shown in the flowchart of FIG.

In this word cutout process, first, in step S31, the value of the pointer P2 is substituted into the variable P3. Here, as shown in FIG. 2, the pointer P2 indicates the start address of the continuous area TempStrMem that holds 50 characters. Here, the size of the TempStrMem area is
In the present embodiment, 50 characters are used, but the memory capacity is not limited to this, and may be 100 bytes or 200 bytes. That is, the size of the area may be sufficient for the maximum number of characters in the character string used as the keyword. In the present embodiment, since this capacity is set to 50 bytes, the keywords that can be extracted are limited to character strings of 50 characters or less.

Next, in step S32, the character pointed to by the current pointer P1 is the capital letter "AZ".
Alternatively, it is determined whether or not the letters correspond to the lowercase letters "a to z". When the character corresponds to these English characters (the character designated by the pointer P1 is "AZ" or "az"), the process proceeds to step S33, and the character designated by the pointer P1 is changed to the pointer P3. Copy to the memory specified by. Then step S3
4, the pointer P3 is incremented by 1.

On the other hand, if it is determined in step S32 that the character indicated by the pointer P1 is not the character "AZ" or "az", the process proceeds to step S35, and it is determined whether P3 == P2. If P3 == P2, step S
38. If not, proceed to step S36,
After the process of incrementing the counter Count by +1 (Count = Count + 1) (after incrementing the cut word counter by one), the character string from the pointer P2 to the pointer P3 is set to the address of the pointer P2 + (Count × 50). Is copied at the beginning. And finally, add a null character (a code to signal the end of the string). Next, in step S37, the value of the pointer P2 is assigned to the pointer P3 (P3 = P2), and the pointer P3 is set to Te.
Return to the start address of mpStrMem and prepare for the next word cutout.

Next, in step S38, the pointer P1
Determines whether it points to the last character of the string, and if it is not the last character, the process proceeds to step S39,
The pointer P1 = P1 + 1 is set, the pointer P1 is incremented by one, the process returns to step S32, and the word is cut out again.

If it is determined in step S38 that the character is the last character, the flow advances to step S40 to determine whether P3 == P2. If P3 == P2, the process is terminated, but if not, the process proceeds to step S41, and the same process as step S36 described above is performed. After that, in step S42, the value of the pointer P2 is assigned to the pointer P3, and the process ends.

Note that the word segmentation in the first embodiment has been described with respect to the English text data. However, the first embodiment is not limited to this, and any other word cutting method according to the language may be used in other languages.

As described above, in step S25, as shown in FIG.
After the word segmentation processing is executed according to the processing procedure shown in the flowchart of FIG. 5, in step S25, the first character address of the character string in the “place” field of the processing target event is acquired, and this address is set in the pointer P1. To do. Next, in step S27, the same word cutting process as in step S25 is executed.

Next, in step S28, the leading character address of the character string in the "details" field of the event to be processed is acquired, and this address is set in the pointer P1.
Next, the process proceeds to step S29, and the word cutout process is executed as in step S25. When these processes are completed, the process returns to step S22 and the event list is referenced to determine whether there is an unprocessed event. When there are no unprocessed events, the process proceeds to step S30, the process management unit 601 is notified that the search keyword extraction process is completed, and then the process is completed.

At this time, all the events included in the character strings of the event names, places, and details of all the events selected by the user by the time zone designation or all the events selected by the user by the event direct designation are cut out. The extracted keyword list 70 as the extracted keyword
It will be listed in 6.

When the processing procedure shown in the flow chart of FIG. 9 is completed in this way, the determination in step S7 of FIG. 8 becomes "Yes", and the processing management means 601 carries out step S8.
Proceed to. In step S8, the process management means 601 sends a notification to the multimedia data file search means 608 requesting a search for multimedia data using the keywords listed in the extracted keyword list 706. Then, in step S9,
It is determined whether or not there is a notification of the end of the multimedia data file search processing by the multimedia data file search means 608. In step S9, the process is repeated until the notification is received, and when the notification is received, the process proceeds to step S10 and the search result is displayed using the display unit 604.

Multimedia data file search means 6
Upon receiving a multimedia data file search request from the process management unit 601, 08 performs a keyword search from the multimedia data file storage unit 609 using the keywords listed in the extracted keyword list 706, and obtains the search result. The path and file name of the multimedia data file to be stored are stored in the search file name storage area 702 (FIG. 2). After that, the process management unit 601 is notified of the end of the multimedia data file search process, and the process ends.
The details of the multimedia data file search processing by the multimedia data file search means have been omitted in this embodiment, but the processing procedure of the conventional database software for keyword search may be used.

Multimedia data file search means 6
When the 08 transmits the search end notification, the process proceeds to step S10, and the multimedia data listed as the search result in the search file name storage area 702 is displayed in the GUI 4 of FIG.
Display on top. As mentioned above, PrevInfo 505 and
After displaying the multimedia data according to the user's input to each button of NextInfo 506, the user then Quit
When the button 504 is pressed, the display processing of the search file in step S10 ends, and the processing procedure shown in the flowchart of FIG. 8 ends.

[Second Embodiment] FIG. 11 is a block diagram showing the functional arrangement of an information device according to the second embodiment of the present invention.

The information equipment according to the second embodiment of the present invention is L
The LA (Local Area Network) 636 is connected to the database server 1801.
It functions as a client that can perform a search from the database server 1801 via N636. Further, by providing the search keyword extracting means 633 and the inappropriate keyword dictionary 635 together with the text data management editing means 623 and the database server search management means 628, the user does not need to input a word included in the text data being edited. , Database server 1 for multimedia data files needed
The contents of the file showing the search result can be displayed and viewed by searching from 801.

Further, since an appropriate keyword is searched by referring to the inappropriate keyword dictionary 635, the traffic of the LAN 636 can be reduced and the load of the database server 1801 can be reduced. In the second embodiment, as in the first embodiment described above,
The symbols are written in C language.

The user normally uses the information device of the second embodiment as a word processor, specifies a character string of an arbitrary length managed by the word processor as required, and requests the information device for retrieval. To do. As a result, the information device automatically extracts the search keyword from the above characters, and
The multimedia data is searched from the database server on N636, and the search result is displayed on the display unit 625.

FIG. 12 shows a state in which the database server 1801 and a plurality of clients 1802 are connected via the LAN 636.

The information equipment of the second embodiment is LA as one of the plurality of clients 1802.
Assume that it is connected to N636. The database server 1801 stores a large amount of multimedia data. When the database server 1801 receives a multimedia data search request together with a keyword from the client 1802, the database server 1801 searches for multimedia data corresponding to the keyword and sends the searched data to the client. In the second embodiment, the LAN 636 is configured as shown in FIG. 12, but the configuration of the LAN 636 is not limited as long as this information device can exchange information with the database server 1801 through a communication path. .

FIG. 13 is a block diagram showing the functional arrangement of the information equipment of the second embodiment. The parts common to those in FIG. 1 are designated by the same reference numerals, and the description thereof will be omitted.

In FIG. 13, reference numeral 114a denotes a non-volatile storage medium, an operating system file 122 in which an operating system for performing comprehensive management of this information device is described, the information device is text editing management, keyword extraction, and a database. When performing a server search, a processing procedure description file 123 that describes what processing procedure is to be executed, an inappropriate keyword dictionary file 635 used when performing a keyword extraction process for search, and a user The text data files 1 to n (1028) which are the edited results of the texts are stored. The RAM 112a also includes an operating system storage area 115 and a processing management means storage area 11
6, a text data edit management means storage area 1020, a search keyword extraction means storage area 118, a database server search management means storage area 1022, a data storage area 120, and another area 121. 10
A communication device 16 transmits and receives data and commands to and from the database server 1801 via the LAN 636. A communication device controller 1015 controls the communication device 1016.

FIG. 14 is a diagram showing a more detailed memory map of the data storage area 120 in the information equipment of the second embodiment of the present invention.

In FIG. 14A, reference numeral 1101 denotes a work area used by each means of the information equipment as a work area. A selected character string storage area 1102 stores a character string selected by the user using the input device 106. Normally, the user can store text data having a sufficient length as the length of text data edited at one time. Has capacity. In the second embodiment, the selected character string storage area 1102 has a memory space of 1 Mbyte, its head address is SSP, and the end of the selected character string is a special symbol for notifying the end of the character string. Characters have been added. Reference numeral 1103 is a cut-out word list storage area.

FIG. 14B is a diagram showing a more detailed memory map of the cut word list storage area 1103.

The cut-out word list storage area 1103 is
As shown in the figure, it is a list of words cut out from the selected character string, and each cut-out word has a memory space of 50 characters. And the start address is DWP
And the special symbol “Endo at the end of the cut word list
"fWordList" is stored in this second embodiment as well, as in the first embodiment, one character is represented by one byte, so that the pointer P1 to be used later as a pointer variable to the character is used for the character. Addressing is performed in 1-byte units.

FIG. 14C is a diagram showing a memory map of the extracted keyword index list storage area 1104. In the cut-out word list, the index of a word judged to be used as a keyword (represented by 2 bytes) is shown. Stored in a list format. The head address is DKP, and the special symbol "EndoOfKWI" for indicating the end is stored at the end of the list. Reference numeral 1105 denotes a multimedia data storage area, and when the multimedia data obtained as a result of the search based on the extracted keyword is received via the communication means, the received data is stored here.

FIG. 11 is a functional block diagram showing each means provided in the information equipment of the second embodiment by a logical block. In this second embodiment, each means operates under the control of a multitasking operating system, and messaging (notification) with an argument between each means shown by an arrow is also performed through the operating system. Be done.

In FIG. 11, the notification from each processing unit is centrally managed by the processing management unit 621 stored in the processing management unit storage area 116 of FIG. 13, and the processing management unit 621 receives the notification from each unit. In response to the notification, the processing order of each processing means is managed by transmitting an appropriate notification to an appropriate processing means. 622 is the data storage area 12
0 is a data storage means, and all the means of FIG. 11 are data storage means 6 through the operating system.
Data can be written to and read from the data 22. The input unit 624 including the input device controller 105 and the input device 106 receives an input from the user and transmits the input information to the process management unit 621. Display means 625 having display device controller 107 and display device 108
Responds to a request from the process management unit 621 to display various types of information in a form suitable for displaying various types of information. The text data edit management means 623 stored in the text data edit management means storage area 1020 manages the editing of the text data by the user, and the text data storage means 626, which is a non-volatile storage medium, stores the text data in accordance with the user's instructions. It can be stored in or retrieved from.

A block 627 including the above means 621 to 625 realizes the function as a conventional word processor.

Reference numeral 1801 denotes a database server, which is connected to this information equipment via LAN 636 (wired and wireless). Reference numeral 629 is a communication means, and the communication device 10
16 and a communication device controller 1015. Reference numeral 628 denotes a database server search management unit, which controls the communication unit 929 based on a rule with the database server 1801 and sends a search request to the database server 1801 using the keyword designated by the process management unit 621. The search result file thus obtained is received from the database server 1801 and the result is transmitted to the processing management means 621.

Each of the above means 621, 622, 624, 6
Block 631 containing 25,628,629,636
Is a means included in the conventional database client machine, and the function as the conventional database client machine is realized.

Further, the inappropriate keyword dictionary 635 in FIG. 13 is a dictionary for words inappropriate as a keyword used for the search. In this example, the adjective,
Words that have parts of speech such as verbs, adverbs, prepositions, conjunctions, auxiliary verbs, interjections, pronouns, prefixes, suffixes, conjunctions, complex elements, definite articles, indefinite articles, and abstract nouns are inappropriate words to use as keywords The words belonging to these parts of speech are listed as a dictionary. In the second embodiment, the word belonging to the above-mentioned part-of-speech is an inappropriate word to be used as a keyword, but other parts-of-speech, such as an ordinary noun, may be an inappropriate word to use as a keyword. For example, you may register in this dictionary 635. Reference numeral 633 denotes a keyword extracting means for retrieval, which, upon receiving the text data (character string), first cuts a word from this character string and creates a cut word list. In the cut-out word list, the inappropriate keyword dictionary 635 is referred to search for a word that is not registered in the inappropriate keyword dictionary, and these (these) are extracted as a keyword from the extracted keyword index list (Fig. 14 (c)).

FIG. 15 is a diagram showing an example of a user interface displayed on the display device 108 when the user edits text data in the information device of the second embodiment.

In FIG. 15, reference numeral 1201 is a text field for the user to input text. A gray portion 1202 in the text field indicates that the character string is selected. The user can select a character string by dragging the mouse in the text field. Reference numeral 1203 denotes a Find MM Data button. By clicking this button 1203, it is possible to instruct the information device to start searching.

The specific operation of the information equipment of the second embodiment will be described in more detail below with reference to FIGS. 11 to 19.

When the user turns on the power of the information equipment, R
After the initialization program of the OM 110 is executed and the initial processing required for this information device is completed, the operating system file 122 is read into the operating system storage area 115 and waits for an event from the user. When the user requests the input device 106 to use the function of the information device, the operating system reads the processing means description file 123, and the processing means description file 621, the text data edit management means 623, and the search means 623 shown in FIG. Keyword extraction means 6
33 and the database server search management means 628, and each area of a processing management means storage area 116, a text data edit management means storage area 1020, a search keyword extraction means storage area 1021, and a database server search management means storage area 1022. To store. At this point, each means stored in each area is used as a means for transmitting / receiving a notification and performing a predetermined process.
It is effective on the information device of the embodiment.

The following description will be given mainly using the functional configuration of FIG. 11 for the sake of simplicity, but each means shown in FIG. 11 is realized by the configuration of FIG. Correspondence between each unit of FIG. 11 and the configuration of FIG. 13 will be described below as appropriate.

When the respective means shown in FIG. 11 are activated after the initialization procedure is completed, this information equipment is in a state of waiting for an input from the user. When the user requests the input means 624 to edit the text data file selected from the text data files 1 to n (1028), the text of the selected file is displayed on the user interface as shown in FIG. The data is displayed by the display means 625. From the displayed text data,
When the user selects a character string of any length by dragging the mouse and clicks the Find MM Data button 1203, this information device automatically extracts the keyword from the selected character string, and this (these) The database server 1801 is searched for multimedia data using a keyword.

Below, the user selects the Find MM Data button 120.
A specific operation of the information device in the second embodiment when a search is requested by clicking the mouse 3 is shown in FIG.
A specific description will be given with reference to FIGS.

The user uses the input means 624 to execute Find MM Da.
When the ta button 1203 is clicked with the mouse, the input means 6
24 notifies the processing management means 621 of this information. The processing management means 621 that has received this notification performs processing according to the flowchart of FIG.

The process management means 621 firstly executes step S5.
At 1, the notification indicating the execution request of the search keyword extraction processing is transmitted to the search keyword extraction means 633. Next, the process proceeds to step S52, and it is checked whether or not the end of the search keyword extraction processing has been notified.

Here, the flowchart of FIG. 17 and FIG.
A processing procedure for extracting the search keyword by the search keyword extraction unit 633 will be described with reference to the memory map diagram of FIG.

When the search keyword extraction means 633 receives a notification from the process management means 621 indicating the execution request of the search keyword extraction processing, first, in step S61, the process shown in FIG.
The word segmentation process as shown in the flowchart of 9 is executed.

In this word cut-out process, first, in step S81, SSP, which is the head address of the selected character string storage area 1102, is assigned to the character pointer variable P1 as an initial value. Next, in step S82, 1
“0” is assigned as an initial value to the integer type variable IndexA represented by 6 bits. Next, in step S83, the variable
Substitute “0” for offset. Here, the variable offset is an integer type variable, but addition / subtraction with a character type pointer is possible. For example, (DWP + offset) is a pointer indicating a memory byte that is a byte destination indicated by the variable offset rather than DWP. Next, in the determination step of step S84, the character at the address P1 is "a-z or AZ".
Determine if If the character at the address of the pointer P1 is not "a-z or AZ", the process proceeds to step S87.

If the character at the address of the pointer P1 is "a to z or A to Z", the flow advances to step S85 to change the content of the address pointed to by the pointer P1 to "DWP + IndexA".
It is copied to the address of “× 50 + offset”. Next, the process proceeds to step S86, and the content of the variable offset is incremented by one (offset
= Offset + 1).

On the other hand, if the character at the address of the pointer P1 is not "a to z or A to Z" in step S84, the process proceeds to step S87, and it is determined whether or not the value of the variable offset is "0". If "0", the process proceeds to step S90. If not, the process proceeds to step S88 and "DWP + Ind".
A null character (a special symbol indicating the end of the character string) is assigned to the address exA × 50 + offset + 1 ”. Next, step S8
Go to 9 and increment IndexA by 1 (IndexA =
IndexA + 1), and then assign "0" to the variable offset (off
set = 0) and the process proceeds to step S90.

In step S90, the pointer P1 is incremented by one (P1 = P1 + 1), and step S91
Then, it is determined whether or not the content of the address indicated by the content of the pointer P1 is null. If it is not null, the process returns to step S84 and the above-mentioned processing is executed. On the other hand, when the value is null (when the character string is at the end), the process proceeds to step S92, and it is determined whether or not the value of the variable offset is "0". Here, if the value of the variable offset is "0", the process proceeds to step S95. If not, the process proceeds to step S93 and "DWP + IndexA × 50 + offset +".
Null is assigned to the address "1". Next, the process proceeds to step S94, where the variable IndexA is incremented by one. Next, the process proceeds to step S95, where the special symbol (DWP + IndexA × 50) indicating the end of the list ( EndOfWordList symbol) is substituted, and the word segmentation process of FIG. 19 is completed.

As described above, in step S61 of FIG.
When the word cutout process shown in the flowchart of FIG. 19 is completed, the process proceeds to step S62, and "0" is assigned to the 16-bit integer type variable IndexA as an initial value. Next, proceeding to step S63, DKP is assigned as an initial value to the pointer variable PotInt to the integer type indicated by 16 bits. Next, in step S64, it is determined whether or not the content of the memory indicated by "DWP + IndexA × 50" is the special symbol "EndOfWordList" that tells the end of the word cutout list. If the contents of the memory indicated by "DWP + IndexA × 50" is the special symbol "EndOfWordList", the process proceeds to step S69. If not, the process proceeds to step S65.

In step S65, the same word as the character string from "DWP + IndexA × 50" to null (the cutout word indicated by the variable IndexA in the cutout word list) is inappropriate by referring to the inappropriate keyword dictionary 635. It is determined whether or not it is registered in the keyword dictionary 635.
If the same word as the character string from “DWP + IndexA × 50” to null (the cut word indicated by the variable IndexA in the cut word list) is registered in the inappropriate keyword dictionary 635, the process proceeds to step S68. DWP ＋ Ind
If the same word as the character string from exA × 50 ”to null (the cut-out word indicated by the variable IndexA in the cut-out word list) is not registered in the inappropriate keyword dictionary 635, the process proceeds to step S66, and the PtoInt address The value of the variable IndexA is assigned to the memory, whereby the cut-out word indicated by the variable IndexA is registered as the extraction keyword.
Next, the process proceeds to step S67, the pointer PtoInt is incremented by 1, and the process proceeds to step S68. Step S68
Then, the variable IndexA is incremented by one and the process proceeds to step S64.

On the other hand, if it is the end of the list in step S64, the operation proceeds to step S69, where the pointer PtoI
The special symbol “EndOfKWI” indicating the end of the list in the extracted keyword index list is assigned to the address indicated by nt. Next, in step S70, the process management unit 62
After notifying 1 that the search keyword extraction processing has ended, the search keyword extraction processing by the search keyword extraction means 633 shown in the flowchart of FIG. 17 ends.

When the search keyword extraction processing by the search keyword extraction means 633 is completed, the determination at step S52 in the flowchart of FIG. 16 becomes Yes, and the processing control means 621 causes the database server search management means. 628 is notified of a database search execution request by the extracted keyword. Then, in step S54, it is determined whether or not there is a notification of the end of the database search by the database server search management means 628. Step S5 when notified
In step S55, the multimedia data indicating the search result is displayed on the display unit 625.

Next, the database server search management means 6
The database server search processing procedure by 28 will be described in detail below with reference to the flowchart of FIG. 18 and the memory map diagram of FIG.

Database server search management means 628
1 receives the notification indicating the execution request of the database search by the keyword extracted from the processing management means 621, FIG.
The process starts from step S71 of 8. First, in step S71, a search pre-process for performing a multimedia data search from the database server 630 is performed based on the agreement with the database server 630. By this pre-processing, processing is performed up to a state in which a search can be performed only by specifying a keyword and transmitting a search request.
Then, proceeding to step S72, DKP is assigned as an initial value to the pointer variable PtoInt to the 16-bit integer type, and the variable PtoInt is set at the beginning of the extracted keyword index list in FIG. 14 (c).

Next, in step S73, it is determined whether the value (* PtoInt) of the variable PtoInt address is the special symbol "EndOfKWI" indicating the end of the extracted keyword index list. Here, * A indicates the contents of the memory at address A. If * PtoInt = EndOfKWI, the process proceeds from step S73 to step S74. If not, the process proceeds to step S76. In step S76, the communication means 629 is controlled to control the database server 630.
In response to this, a search is requested using a word represented by a character string from “DWP + (* PtoInt) × 50” to null (the cutout word PtoInt + 1 in FIG. 14B) as a keyword. Next, in step S77, if there is one or more searched files, the process proceeds to step S78, the communication means 629 is controlled, and the database server 180 is operated.
From 1, the file of the search result is received. Then, the received file is stored in the multimedia data storage area 1105 of the data storage means 622 of FIG. Next, the process proceeds to step S79, the variable PtoInt is incremented by 1 (PtoInt = PtoInt + 1), and then the process proceeds to step S73.

On the other hand, the determination in step S73 is Yes.
In this case, since there are no more search keywords to be searched, the process proceeds to step S74, the communication unit 629 is controlled, and the search end process based on the rule with the database server 1801 is performed. Then, the process proceeds to step S75, and the process managing unit 621 is notified of the end of the database server search by the database server search managing unit 628, and then the process ends.

In this way, the database server search management means 628 completes the database server search processing shown in the flowchart of FIG. 18, and the database server search management means 628 sends a processing end notification to the processing management means 621. It As a result, FIG.
From step S54 to step S55, the multimedia data storage area 1 is sent in response to a search request from the user.
The multimedia data of the search result stored in 105 is displayed by the display unit 625, and when the request for ending the search result display is received from the user, the processing shown in FIG. 16 is ended.

The information equipment in the second embodiment is LA
Although it is assumed that the server is connected to the database server on the premises via N636, the present invention is not limited to this, and is connected to a database server serviced from an external station via a communication path such as a public telephone line. You may use it.

The present invention may be applied to a system composed of a plurality of devices or an apparatus composed of one device. The present invention can also be applied to the case where it is achieved by supplying a program for implementing the present invention to a system or an apparatus.

As described above, according to the present embodiment, the data file can be searched by automatically extracting the keyword used for the search from the text data containing a plurality of words (especially the text data of the personal schedule). As described above, it is possible to search the search device for data without the trouble of entering a keyword from the input device.

Since the information important to a certain user is closely related to the schedule of the user, in particular, by automatically extracting the keyword for retrieval from the text data of the personal schedule and performing the retrieval, It can provide important data at that time.

Further, the information equipment in the second embodiment eliminates the unnecessary search by referring to the inappropriate keyword dictionary and excluding the inappropriate keyword before searching the database server. This allows
It is possible to reduce network traffic, reduce the load on the database server, and perform efficient data search.

[0122]

As described above, according to the present invention, there is an effect that a word that has already been digitized and stored can be automatically set as a search keyword and searched.

Further, according to the present invention, there is an effect that a database can be searched from text data including a plurality of words without cutting out a word to be searched. Further, according to the present invention, since it is possible to avoid searching the database server with an inappropriate keyword, it is possible to efficiently use the database server.

[0124]

[Brief description of drawings]

FIG. 1 is a block diagram showing a basic configuration of an information device according to an embodiment of the present invention.

FIG. 2 is a diagram showing a more detailed memory map of a data storage area provided in the RAM of the information device of this embodiment.

FIG. 3 is a functional block diagram showing a functional configuration of the information device according to the first embodiment of the present invention.

FIG. 4 is a basic graphical user interface (GUI1) displayed on the display means of the information device of this embodiment.
It is a figure showing an example of.

FIG. 5 is a graphical user interface (GUI) used in the information device of the first embodiment of the present invention.
It is a figure which shows an example of 2).

FIG. 6 is a graphical user interface (GUI) used in the information device of the first embodiment of the present invention.
It is a figure which shows an example of 3).

FIG. 7 is a diagram showing an example of a graphical user interface (GUI4) used in the information equipment of the first and second embodiments of the present invention.

FIG. 8 is a flowchart for explaining a processing procedure performed by a processing management unit when a user inputs a search request in the information device according to the first embodiment of the present invention.

FIG. 9 is a flowchart for explaining a procedure of a search keyword extraction process in the information device according to the first embodiment of the present invention.

FIG. 10 is a flowchart illustrating a processing procedure of a word cutout process in the information device according to the first embodiment of this invention.

FIG. 11 is a functional block diagram showing each means provided in the information equipment of the second embodiment of the present invention as a logical block.

FIG. 12 is a diagram showing the configuration of a LAN in the second embodiment of the present invention.

FIG. 13 is a block diagram showing a basic configuration of an information device according to a second embodiment of the present invention.

FIG. 14 is a memory map diagram for explaining details of a data storage area in the second embodiment.

FIG. 15 is a diagram showing an example of a text data editing user interface in the information equipment of the second embodiment of the present invention.

FIG. 16 is a flowchart for explaining a processing procedure performed by the processing management means when the user inputs a search request in the information device according to the second embodiment of the present invention.

FIG. 17 is a flow chart for explaining a processing procedure of search keyword extraction processing according to the second embodiment of the present invention.

FIG. 18 is a flow chart for explaining a processing procedure of a database service search management means in the second exemplary embodiment of the present invention.

FIG. 19 is a flowchart for explaining a processing procedure of word cutout processing according to the second embodiment of the present invention.

[Explanation of symbols]

 101 Microprocessor 112 RAM 114 Nonvolatile Storage Medium 120 Data Storage Area 123 Processing Means Descriptive File 124 Schedule Management Data File 601,621 Processing Management Means 602,622 Data Storage Means 608 Multimedia Data File Search Means 611,633 Search Keyword Extraction Means 629 Communication means 635 Inappropriate keyword dictionary 702 Search file name storage area 705 Extraction keyword storage area 709 Multimedia data storage area

Claims (13)

[Claims] 1. An information retrieval device for retrieving and reading desired data from a data file, comprising storage means for storing input text data, instructing means for instructing extraction of a search keyword, and said instructing means. In response to the instruction by the keyword extraction means for automatically extracting the keyword used for the search from the text data stored in the storage means, and searching the data file based on the keyword extracted by the keyword extraction means. Search means to
An information retrieval device comprising: 2. The information search device according to claim 1, wherein the text data is schedule data. 3. The instructing means, when instructing the keyword extraction according to the time zone of the schedule data, the keyword extracting means extracts the keyword based on the content of the event at the instructed time. The information search device according to Item 2. 4. The information search according to claim 2, wherein the instructing unit can instruct a time of the schedule data, and the keyword extracting unit extracts a keyword according to the content of the event at the time. apparatus. 5. An unsuitable keyword storage unit for storing a word that is not suitable as a keyword is further provided, and the keyword extraction unit extracts a word not stored in the unsuitable keyword storage unit as a keyword. The information search device according to claim 2. 6. The keyword extracting means comprises a range designating means for designating a range of text data and a word extracting means for extracting a word within the range designated by the range designating means. The information search device according to any one of 1 to 6. 7. The information retrieving apparatus according to claim 1, wherein the data file stores multimedia data. 8. An information retrieval method for retrieving and reading desired data from a data file, the method comprising storing input text data, instructing extraction of a keyword for retrieval, and responding to the instruction. And an extracting step of automatically extracting a keyword used for a search from the stored text data, and a step of searching the data file based on the extracted keyword. . 9. The information search method according to claim 8, wherein the text data is schedule data. 10. The method according to claim 9, wherein when the keyword extraction based on the time zone of the schedule data is instructed, the extraction step extracts the keyword based on the content of the event at the instructed time. Information retrieval method of the description. 11. When the time of the schedule data is instructed, the extracting step extracts a keyword according to the content of the event at the time.
Information retrieval method described in. 12. The information retrieval method according to claim 9, wherein unsuitable words are stored as keywords, and the extracting step extracts words that are not stored as unsuitable keywords as keywords. 13. The information search method according to claim 8, wherein the data file stores multimedia data.