JP2018195171A - Information processing apparatus, information processing system, control method thereof, and program - Google Patents

Abstract

To provide an information processing apparatus which allows a user to reach re-input of a search character string efficiently, an information processing system, a control method thereof, and a program.SOLUTION: An information processing apparatus receives a character string as a search condition, specifies certainty of a document searched with the character string, with respect to the received character string, specifies certainty of a category with respect to the received character string, determines whether the certainty of the category has reached a threshold, determines, when the threshold is reached, whether the certainty of the document has reached a threshold, presents the category as a search refinement condition when the certainty of the document has not reached the threshold, and presents information for prompting a user to input a character string again as a search condition without determining the certainty of the document when the certainty of the category has not reached the threshold.SELECTED DRAWING: Figure 6

Description

  The present invention relates to an information processing apparatus, an information processing system, a control method thereof, and a program.

  Conventionally, an information retrieval technique for retrieving a large amount of documents has been developed. However, in the question answering system, in order to appropriately respond to data / documents that are plausible answers to the search conditions entered by the user, not only has an information search technology that can perform a search with high accuracy, In the first place, the search conditions entered by the user must be appropriate.

  For example, if the search condition keyword is vague at the time of document search, no matter how high-precision search technology is used, the search result may contain noise, or many documents may be extracted and presented as the search result. In this case, the user must further perform an operation of searching for the desired document from the large number of documents.

  Further, if the input condition is inappropriate as a condition for obtaining a document desired by the user, the document desired by the user may not be included in the document group of the search result. That is, in order to extract or present an appropriate search result, a user's skill level is required for selecting an appropriate search condition from various assumed search conditions.

  For example, a document to be searched is classified, and a document search and a process using the classified information are integrated based on a search condition input by the user. Techniques to present have been developed.

  In Patent Document 1, classification is given to a document set in advance, or classification is performed dynamically at the time of retrieval, and the classification is presented to the user as a list of topics, and the user includes information intended by the user. A technique for narrowing down documents including information desired by a user by selecting a topic is described.

  In Patent Document 2, clustering is performed on a document set extracted as a search result according to a search condition input by a user, a category name representing the largest cluster with the largest number of classified documents is presented to the user, and the category Allows the user to select the category or conditions that they want to search for. It is described that a document set in the maximum cluster or a document set in another cluster is presented as a search result according to the selection result.

JP 2002-324077 A JP 2009-301221 A

  According to the techniques in Patent Document 1 and Patent Document 2, it is possible to accurately find information desired by the user by narrowing down documents to be responded / presented as search results by classification of topics / categories selected by the user. It becomes.

  However, the user must always perform an operation of selecting a classification in order to confirm the search result.

  Further, even if the accuracy of the search result of the executed search is sufficient, the classification is presented, which is troublesome.

  In addition, the user does not determine whether the search condition is appropriate or inappropriate in the first place, and since the search result is presented even when the inappropriate search condition is input and the accuracy of the search result is not sufficient, If the search result is not confirmed, it cannot be understood that the accuracy of the search result is not sufficient. If the desired search result is not obtained due to insufficient accuracy, the user must input / select another search condition and search again.

  If the character string for search is inappropriate in the first place, the user wants to know that as soon as possible and wants to search using a character string different from the previous one.

  If the notification that the character string for search is inappropriate or the screen display for re-searching is delayed, the time from the user performing the first search until the next search is extended accordingly. Therefore, the extended time is accumulated by the number of search attempts overlapping, which may lead to a large time loss.

  An object of the present invention is to provide a mechanism that allows a user to efficiently arrive at re-input of a search character string.

  The present invention is an information processing system including a storage device that stores a document whose category can be specified and an information processing device, and accepts a character string accepting unit that accepts a character string as a search condition and the character string accepting unit. A certainty factor specifying means for specifying the certainty factor of the document searched for the character string, and a category specifying the certainty factor of the category for the character string received by the character string accepting unit. A certainty factor identifying unit; a category certainty factor determining unit that determines whether the certainty factor of the category specified by the category certainty factor identifying unit has reached a threshold; and a certainty factor of the category determined by the category certainty factor determining unit. Whether the certainty factor of the document specified by the document certainty factor specifying unit has reached a threshold when it is determined that When it is determined by the document certainty determination means to be determined and the document certainty determination means that the certainty of the document has not reached the threshold, the category is notified as a search narrowing condition, and the category certainty determination When the means determines that the certainty factor of the category has not reached the threshold, the notification that prompts the user to re-enter the character string as the search condition without performing the determination by the document certainty factor determining unit And means.

  ADVANTAGE OF THE INVENTION According to this invention, the mechanism in which a user can arrive at the re-input of a search character string efficiently can be provided.

  Note that if the likelihood of a category for a search character string is low, it is considered that the probability of a document belonging to the category that is lower than the category is also low.

  According to the present invention, the search character string is inappropriate by confirming the certainty of the search with respect to the category of the document to be searched first and confirming the certainty of the document as the search result when the certainty is low. It is possible to shorten the time until the determination is made and the time until notification of re-input of the search character string.

  In addition, until it is determined that the search character string is inappropriate by confirming the certainty of the search for the category of the document to be searched first and confirming the certainty of the document as the search result when the probability is low. This algorithm can be simplified.

It is a figure which shows an example of a function structure of the information processing apparatus in embodiment of this invention. It is a figure which shows an example of the hardware constitutions of information processing apparatus in embodiment of this invention. It is a figure which shows an example of the document used as search object in embodiment of this invention. It is a figure which shows an example of the category of a search result, a document, and a certainty factor in embodiment of this invention. It is a figure which shows an example of a structure of the display screen in embodiment of this invention. It is a flowchart which shows the outline | summary of a process in embodiment of this invention. It is a flowchart which shows the flow of the reliability check process of a document in embodiment of this invention. It is a flowchart which shows the flow of the reliability check process of a category in embodiment of this invention. It is a figure which shows an example of a table structure in embodiment of this invention. .

  Hereinafter, an example of an embodiment of the present invention will be described with reference to the drawings.

  First, an example of a functional configuration of an information processing apparatus in the embodiment of the present invention will be described with reference to FIG.

  The input character string receiving unit 101 receives an input character string serving as a search condition for searching for a document.

  When the information processing apparatus according to the present invention is a computer that functions as a client device, the input character string is a functional unit that directly receives an input from a user who uses the computer.

  The document search unit 102 searches for and acquires a document stored in the document storage unit 121 based on the input character string input by the input character string receiving unit 101.

  In the document storage unit 121, it is assumed that a category to which the document belongs is associated with each document and stored in advance.

  In addition, the document search unit 102 calculates the certainty factor (reliability) of the document searched by the document search unit 102 with respect to the character string that is the search condition for each document. That is, it is a specific part of the certainty factor by document.

  The certainty factor is how likely the search result document is to the input character string, that is, the relevance between the search condition and the search result document, and the category to which the search condition and search result document belongs. This is a value (score) indicating the degree of fit.

  The higher the certainty factor, the more likely the answer / category is to the search condition that is a question. In the description of the present embodiment, the certainty value is calculated and stored in the range of 0.00 to 1.00. The closer the value is to 1.00, the higher the certainty factor, and the closer the value is to 0.00, the lower the certainty factor. The expression of the certainty value and the high / low standard are not limited to the above-described expressions / standards.

  The search of the document and the calculation / specification of the certainty factor for each search result are performed using a known technique. For example, it can be performed using a known search and ranking technique using IBM® WATSON® (https: // retrieve-and-rank-demo). .mybluemix.net /).

  The search certainty factor calculation unit 103 uses the certainty factor value for each document calculated and specified by the document search unit 102 to be used for the determination by the search certainty factor determination unit 104 (representing the certainty factor of the search result document). Value). For example, the highest certainty value is specified in the category of the search result document.

  The search certainty determination unit 104 determines whether the certainty factor of the search result document for the search condition specified by the search certainty calculation unit 103 has reached a threshold value.

  The category-specific certainty specifying unit 105 searches for the category to which the character string that is the search condition belongs, and calculates and specifies the certainty factor for each category with respect to the character string that is the search condition. For example, a list of large categories stored in the document storage unit 121 is stored, the certainty factors for the search character strings are calculated in the large category list, and the categories with the highest certainty factor are the search conditions. The category to which the character string belongs is specified.

  The determination / specification of which category the character string belongs to and the calculation / specification of the certainty factor for each category are performed using a known technique. For example, it can be performed using a known natural language classifier technology using IBM® WATSON® (https://www.ibm.com/watson/ developercloud / doc / nl-classifier /).

  The category here is a category to which the document stored in the document storage unit 121 belongs.

  The category certainty factor calculation unit 106 uses the certainty factor value calculated by and specified by the category certainty factor identification unit 105 for each category, and the certainty factor used for the determination by the category certainty factor determination unit 107 (representative of the category certainty factor). Is calculated and specified. For example, the highest certainty value in the category is specified.

  When the search certainty factor determination unit 104 determines that the document certainty factor has not reached the threshold value, the category certainty factor determination unit 107 uses the certainty factor value specified by the category certainty factor calculation unit 106 as the threshold value. Determine if it has reached.

  The display unit 108 causes the category certainty determination unit 107 to display that the character string that is the search condition is inappropriate when the category certainty factor has not reached the threshold, and prompt the user to re-enter the character string. To notify the user of the input again.

  Further, the display unit 108 is a case where the category certainty factor determining unit 107 determines that the category certainty factor has reached the threshold value, and the search certainty factor determining unit 104 has reached the document certainty factor. If it is determined that the category is not, the processing unit displays the categories in descending order of certainty.

  In addition, when the search reliability determination unit 104 determines that the document reliability has reached the threshold, the search reliability determination unit 104 displays the search result document on the screen as a search result.

  The selected category receiving unit 109 receives a category selected from the categories displayed on the display unit. The document search unit 102 searches for a document belonging to the category whose category has been received by the selected category reception unit 109 using the search condition (character string used for searching the document) used to display the category. Do. In other words, the search is performed again after narrowing down to the selected category. The above is the description of FIG.

  FIG. 2 is a block diagram illustrating an example of a hardware configuration of the information processing apparatus according to the embodiment of this invention.

  As illustrated in FIG. 2, the information processing apparatus 100 includes a central processing unit (CPU) 201, a random access memory (RAM) 202, a read only memory (ROM) 203, an input controller 205, and a video controller 206 via a system bus 204. The memory controller 207, the communication I / F controller 208, and the like are connected.

  The CPU 201 comprehensively controls each device and controller connected to the system bus 204.

  Further, the ROM 203 or the external memory 211 will be described later, which is necessary for realizing the functions executed by each server or each PC, such as BIOS (Basic Input / Output System) and OS (Operating System) which are control programs of the CPU 201. Various programs are stored. Further, information necessary for carrying out the present invention is stored. The external memory may be a storage device such as an external hard disk (others such as a database server).

  The RAM 202 functions as a main memory, work area, and the like for the CPU 201. The CPU 201 implements various operations by loading a program or the like necessary for executing the processing from the ROM 203 or the external memory 211 to the RAM 202 and executing the loaded program.

  The input controller 205 controls input from a keyboard (KB) 209 or a pointing device such as a mouse (not shown).

  The video controller 206 controls display on a display device such as the display 210. The display device may be a display device such as a liquid crystal display. These are used by the administrator as needed.

  The memory controller 207 is an external storage device (hard disk (HD)), flexible disk (FD), or PCMCIA (Personal Computer) that stores a boot program, various applications, font data, user files, editing files, various data, and the like. Controls access to an external memory 211 such as a Compact Flash (registered trademark) memory connected to a Memory Card International Association (Card Memory) card slot via an adapter.

  The communication I / F controller 208 connects and communicates with an external device via a network, and executes communication control processing on the network. For example, communication using TCP / IP (Transmission Control Protocol / Internet Protocol) is possible.

  Note that the CPU 201 can display on the display 210 by executing an outline font rasterization process on a display information area in the RAM 202, for example. Further, the CPU 201 enables a user instruction using a mouse cursor (not shown) on the display 210.

  Various programs to be described later for realizing the present invention are recorded in the external memory 211 and executed by the CPU 201 by being loaded into the RAM 202 as necessary. The above is the description of FIG.

  FIG. 3 is a diagram showing an example of a search target document in the embodiment of the present invention. 301a to 301d represent examples of individual documents. Each document is stored in the document storage unit 121 of the external memory 211 as a text file.

  Each document is divided into several parts called fields. For example, the document of FIG. 3 is divided into “large category”, “medium category”, “small category”, and “text”. That is, it is a document whose category can be specified. In this example, “text” is used as a search target such as a morpheme (token).

  The field is not necessarily just the above four parts. For example, there are a part to be searched as a morpheme (or an N-gram token) analyzed by morpheme, a character string, a numerical value, a date, and the like. The above is the description of FIG.

  Next, an overview of processing in the embodiment of the present invention will be described with reference to FIG.

  The processing in FIG. 6 is executed by the CPU 201 of the information processing apparatus 100 using the function of the functional unit included in the own apparatus.

  Note that at the start of step S601, it is assumed that the display unit 108 has already displayed the search screen indicated by 500a in FIG.

  In step S <b> 601, the input character string receiving unit 101 displays a character string input to the character string input unit 501 by receiving a press of a “search” button 502 on the chat screen 500 a (search screen) for document search. Accept from the unit 108.

  In step S602, the document search unit 102 searches the “text” of the document in the document storage unit 121 using the character string received by the input character string receiving unit 101 as a search condition (search key), and is specified as a search result. A document is acquired and stored in the RAM 202.

  In step S602, the document search unit 102 calculates and specifies the certainty factor for the search condition of each document (document “text”) as a search result, and associates it with the document (document “text”). To remember. Also, the documents are sorted in descending order of certainty. An example after sorting is shown at 410 in FIG.

  The document search result certainty factor 410 includes a document body 412 as a search result, a certainty factor 413 with respect to a search condition for the text of each document, and a rank 411 indicating the rank of the certainty factor.

  In step S603, the information processing apparatus 100 instructs the category-specific certainty factor identifying unit 105 to calculate and identify the certainty factor for each category.

  The category certainty factor identifying unit 105 that has received the instruction calculates and identifies the certainty factor of each category with respect to the search condition, and identifies the category to which the character string of the search condition belongs. Each category and the certainty factor are stored in the RAM 202 in association with each other. The categories are sorted in descending order of certainty. An example after sorting is shown by 400 in FIG.

  The category determination certainty factor 400 includes a category 402, a certainty factor 403 of each category with respect to the search condition, and a rank 401 indicating the rank of the certainty factor.

  The category certainty calculation unit 106 acquires the category determination certainty factor 400, stores it in the RAM 202, and executes the process of step S604.

  In step S604, the category certainty factor calculation unit 106 and the category certainty factor determination unit 107 perform a category certainty factor check process. Details of this processing will be described later with reference to FIG.

  Here, with reference to FIG. 8, the flow of the category certainty check process will be described. The processing of FIG. 8 is executed by the CPU 201 of the information processing apparatus 100 using the function of the functional unit included in the own apparatus.

  In step S801, the category certainty factor calculation unit 106 refers to the rule 900 shown in FIG. 9 and uses the highest certainty factor to determine whether to determine the certainty factor of the category used for the subsequent determination in step S605. .

  It is assumed that the rule 900 is stored in advance in the external memory 211 of the information processing apparatus 100.

  In the present embodiment, the certainty factor of “upper first place” or “up to third place” is used.

  When the setting content 901 = the number of category determination upper case setting value 902 = 1, it is determined that the reliability of the category used for the determination in the subsequent step S605 is determined by using the highest-ranking reliability. The process proceeds to S802.

  In step S <b> 802, the category certainty calculation unit 106 determines that the first certainty value in the category determination certainty 400 on the RAM is set as the certainty of the category used for the subsequent determination in step S <b> 605 (category Corresponding to certainty factor specifying means), stored in the RAM 202.

  When the setting content 901 = the setting number 902 of the category determination upper case number 902 = 3, it is determined that the confidence level of the category used for the determination in the subsequent step S605 is determined using the confidence levels up to the top three. The process proceeds to step S803.

  In step S803, the category certainty factor calculation unit 106 determines the certainty factor value used for the subsequent determination in step S605 using the first to third ranked certainty values in the category determination certainty factor 400 on the RAM. .

  For example, the average value of the 1st to 3rd certainty factors is calculated (the calculated value is specified as the certainty factor of the category used for the determination in step S605 / corresponds to the category certainty factor specifying means), and the RAM 202 To remember.

  In step S804, the category certainty determination unit 107 determines whether the certainty stored in the RAM 202 in step S802 or S803 is equal to or greater than the setting content 901 of the rule 900 = the setting value 902 of the category determination threshold. Here, the setting value 902 = 0.90.

  If the certainty factor is greater than or equal to the threshold value, the process proceeds to step S805. If the certainty factor is less than the threshold value, the process proceeds to step S806.

  In step S805, the category certainty level determination unit 107 stores a value (classConfFlag = True) indicating that the certainty level has reached the threshold value in the RAM 202, and ends the process of FIG.

  In step S <b> 806, the category certainty determination unit 107 stores a value (classConfFlag = False) indicating that the certainty has not reached the threshold in the RAM 202.

  Thereafter, in step S807, the category certainty determination unit 107 attenuates the threshold according to the setting content 901 of the rule 900 = the setting value 902 of the category determination threshold attenuation rate, and ends the process of FIG. The above is the description of FIG.

  Returning to the description of FIG. In step S <b> 605, the category certainty determination unit 107 refers to the value of classConfFlag stored in the RAM 202 and determines whether the certainty of the category is greater than or equal to a threshold value. That is, it is determined whether the threshold value has been reached.

  When the certainty factor of the category is less than the threshold, the display unit 108 is responded that the character string of the search condition is inappropriate (a search result with a high certainty factor cannot be obtained with the current search character string). That is, an instruction for notifying the user to search by changing the character string is transmitted to the display unit 108.

  The display unit 108 accepts the response, and displays a search screen in which a message “Please re-enter search conditions” is inserted, and re-searches by re-entering the character string, as shown by 500d in FIG. Notice.

  On the other hand, if the certainty factor of the category is greater than or equal to the threshold value, the process proceeds to step S606.

  In step S606, the search certainty calculation unit 103 acquires the document search result certainty 410, and determines whether there is a document as a search result.

  If the search result is 0, a response indicating that the search result is 0 is returned to the display unit 108, the process is returned to before step S600, and the process waits until a new character string is accepted. The display unit 108 accepts the response and displays that the search result is 0 on the chat screen 500a.

  If there is a search result document, the process proceeds to step S607. In step S <b> 607, the search certainty calculation unit 103 and the search certainty determination unit 104 execute a certainty check process for the document text of the search result. Details of this processing will be described later with reference to FIG.

  Here, the flow of document reliability check processing will be described with reference to FIG. The processing in FIG. 7 is executed by the CPU 201 of the information processing apparatus 100 using the function of the functional unit included in the own apparatus.

  In step S701, the search certainty calculation unit 103 refers to the rule 900 shown in FIG. 9 and uses the highest certainty factor to determine the document of the search result (the text of the document) used in the subsequent determination in step S605. It is determined whether to determine the certainty level.

  In the present embodiment, the certainty factor of “upper first place” or “up to third place” is used.

  When the setting content 901 = the setting number 902 of the search result upper rank number is 1, it is determined that the certainty degree of the search result document to be used for the determination in the subsequent step S608 is determined using the highest rank certainty degree. The process proceeds to step S702.

  In step S <b> 702, the search certainty calculation unit 103 uses the value of the first certainty in the document search result certainty 410 on the RAM as the certainty of the document as the search result used for the subsequent determination in step S <b> 608. Is determined (corresponding to document certainty specifying means) and stored in the RAM 202.

  When the setting content 901 = the setting number 902 = 3 of the search result upper rank number, it is determined that the certainty level of the search result document to be used for the determination in the subsequent step S608 is determined using the reliability levels up to the top three. Then, the process proceeds to step S703.

  In step S703, the search certainty calculation unit 103 determines the value of the certainty used in the subsequent determination in step S608 using the first to third ranked beliefs in the document search result certainty 410 on the RAM. To do.

  For example, the average value of the 1st to 3rd certainty factors is calculated (the calculated value is specified as the certainty factor of the document of the search result used for the determination in step S608 / corresponds to the document certainty factor specifying means) And stored in the RAM 202.

  In step S704, the search certainty determination unit 104 determines whether the certainty stored in the RAM 202 in step S702 or S703 is equal to or greater than the setting content 901 of the rule 900 = the set value 902 of the search determination threshold (document certainty determination unit) Fall under). Here, the setting value 902 = 0.50.

  If the certainty factor is greater than or equal to the threshold, the process proceeds to step S705. If the certainty factor is less than the threshold, the process proceeds to step S706.

  In step S705, the search certainty determination unit 104 stores a value (searchConf Flag = True) indicating that the certainty has reached the threshold in the RAM 202, and ends the process of FIG.

  In step S <b> 706, the search certainty determination unit 104 stores a value (searchConfFlag = False) indicating that the certainty has not reached the threshold in the RAM 202.

  Thereafter, in step S707, the search certainty determination unit 104 attenuates the threshold according to the setting content 901 of the rule 900 = the set value 902 of the search determination threshold attenuation rate, and ends the process of FIG. The above is the description of FIG.

  Returning to the description of FIG. In step S <b> 608, the search certainty determination unit 104 refers to the value of the searchconfflag stored in the RAM 202 and determines whether the certainty of the document as a search result is equal to or greater than a threshold value. That is, it is determined whether the threshold value has been reached.

  If the certainty factor of the search result document is greater than or equal to the threshold value, the process proceeds to step S612. If the certainty factor of the search result document is less than the threshold value, the process proceeds to step S609.

  In step S609, the category certainty determination unit 107 identifies the top n categories with the highest certainty as candidate categories for narrowing down the search results. And it transmits with respect to the display part 108. FIG. That is, the display unit 108 is instructed to display the narrowing-down category on the screen.

  The n values are stored in the external memory 211 in advance, and can be arbitrarily changed by user operation. In the present embodiment, description will be made assuming that n = 3.

  The display unit 108 that has received the instruction displays a search screen as indicated by 500b in FIG. 5 in accordance with the instruction. Actually, the displayed search screen is updated to the chat screen 500b.

  The chat screen 500b includes a display area 503 for displaying a narrowing category and a category 504. The chat screen 500b displays three categories: “PC”, “In-house system”, and “Network connection”.

  In step S610, the selected category receiving unit 109 receives from the display unit 108 the category 504 that has been selected on the chat screen 500b. Then, the document search unit 102 is instructed to search again with the accepted category.

  In step S611, when the document search unit 102 receives the category 504 selected from the selected category reception unit 109, the document search unit 102 narrows down the documents in the document storage unit 121 to the category by using the character string (search condition) received in step S600. Search by. Then, the process proceeds to step S603.

  In the determination in step S605 after the re-search, the determination is performed using the attenuated search determination threshold attenuation rate (when the threshold is attenuated in step S707). In the determination in step S608 after the re-search, the determination is performed using the attenuated category determination threshold attenuation rate (when the threshold has been attenuated in step S807).

  For example, when the certainty factor of a document that has already been searched is equal to or less than a threshold value, the certainty factor for the search character string of the document itself does not change even if the document is narrowed down by category, so that the narrowed down document cannot be displayed as a search result.

  When the search results using the search character string that has already been input are narrowed down based on the category, the documents that were not displayed as the search results in the previous search are displayed as the search results. Probability can be improved.

  In step S <b> 612, the search certainty determination unit 104 transmits to the display unit 108 an instruction to transmit and display the top n certainty factors of the search result document.

  The n values are stored in the external memory 211 in advance, and can be arbitrarily changed by user operation. In the present embodiment, description will be made assuming that n = 3.

  The display unit 108 that has received the instruction displays a search screen as shown in 500c or 500e of FIG. 5 in accordance with the instruction. Actually, the displayed search screen is updated to the chat screen 500c or 500e, and the search result list is displayed.

  The chat screens 500c and 500e display a display area 505 that displays a list of search result documents (a list of character strings of a predetermined number of characters at the beginning of the document body in which hyperlinks for displaying the search result documents are embedded). And a document 506.

  There are three chat screens 500c and 500e: "1) If you forget the HDD password ..." "2) Password of the PC that is participating in the domain" "3) New account on the PC ..." The document link is displayed.

  The chat screen 500e is a screen that is displayed when it is determined in step S608 that the certainty factor of the document is equal to or greater than the threshold without displaying the narrowing-down category in step S609.

  On the other hand, in the chat screen 500c, after the narrowing-down category is displayed in step S609, a re-search is executed by selecting the category, and the certainty factor of the document as the search result of the re-search has reached the threshold after attenuation. As a result of the determination, the search result documents narrowed down to the category are displayed. For this reason, the category display area 503 and the category 504 are still displayed, and a document that is additionally searched under the selected category 504 is displayed in the display area 505.

  When the document link selection is received, the information processing apparatus 100 acquires the document from the link destination and displays the document on the display screen using the function of the display unit 108. The above is the description of FIG.

  As described above, according to the present invention, the user is notified of re-entry of a search result document, a category, and a search character string dynamically using the certainty factor of the search result document and category for the character string. Can be presented.

  In addition, for example, the probability of the document of the search result is confirmed first, the probability of the category is confirmed when the probability of the document is low, and the search character string is inappropriate when the probability of the category is low. Compared to the mechanism for determining and notifying re-entry of the search character string, the time until determining that the search character string is inappropriate and the time for notifying the re-input of the search character string are reduced. Is possible.

  Further, the number of determination steps until it is determined that the search character string is inappropriate can be reduced, and the algorithm can be simplified.

  Therefore, the user can efficiently reach the screen for re-inputting the search character string.

  As described above, according to the present invention, it is possible for the user to efficiently arrive at a desired search result or search character string re-input.

  In the explanation example of the present invention, a document file in which the text of the document and the category are integrated is used. However, the category as the document and the attribute information of the document may be stored and managed as separate files.

  In addition, the text of the document may be stored and managed in two fields, a question sentence and an answer sentence.

  The search using the character string of the search condition may be performed on the question sentence.

  The character string to be searched does not necessarily have to be extracted from the text of the document file itself. For example, the question and the answer described in the document are different from the document file (for example, a document question list stored in the document storage unit 121 and a document answer list stored in the document storage unit 121). The file may be stored in the document storage unit 121, and one or both of them may be selectively set as a search target.

  Further, in the present embodiment, the screen shown in FIG. 5 is a screen displayed on the display unit of the information processing apparatus and a display of a search result document, a category display, and a notification prompting re-input of a character string on the screen. As described above, the screen configuration and the display / notification method are not necessarily limited thereto. For example, you may comprise a screen for portable terminals, such as a smart phone.

  Further, notification for prompting re-input of the character string may be performed by sound reproduction using a speaker (not shown) provided in the information processing apparatus. The structure of each screen shown to 500a-500e is not necessarily restricted to a chat screen.

  The document search and the calculation / specification of the certainty factor for each document, the specification of the category to which the character string of the search condition belongs, and the calculation / specification method of the certainty factor for each category are not limited to the methods described above. For example, as a technique for specifying / classifying a category to which a character string of a search condition belongs, for example, a technique described in Japanese Patent Application Laid-Open No. 2003-141129 may be used.

  In addition, the process for specifying the category of a document already obtained as a search result is set as the process for specifying the character string of the search condition, and the reliability for each category is calculated and specified only for the document category of the search result. May be.

  Moreover, in step S703 and step S803 of the above-described embodiment, an example in which the average value of the first to third confidence levels is calculated has been described. For example, the total value of the first to third confidence levels is calculated. You may make it specify by calculating.

  It should be noted that the present invention can be implemented as, for example, a system, apparatus, method, program, or storage medium, and can be applied to a system composed of a plurality of devices. You may apply to the apparatus which consists of one apparatus.

  Specifically, the client PC including the display unit 108, the server device A including the document storage unit 121 and the document search unit 102, the server device B including the category-specific certainty level identifying unit 105, and the input character string receiving unit 101 The information processing device 100 (server device C) including the search certainty calculation unit 103, the search certainty determination unit 104, the category certainty calculation unit 106, the category certainty determination unit 107, and the selected category reception unit 109 is connected to a network (wide As an information processing system configured to be communicably connected via an area network or the like, the processes of the above-described embodiments may be executed to implement the present invention.

  For example, the client PC displays the chat screen 500a received from the information processing apparatus 100 in the browser software, and transmits a search condition character string to the information processing apparatus 100 when the “search” button is pressed on the chat screen 500a. . The information processing apparatus 100 receives the character string in step S601, transmits the character string to the server A, and requests a document search and a certainty factor calculation.

  The server A searches for a document and calculates a certainty factor, and returns data 410 in FIG. 4 to the information processing apparatus 100 as a search result. The information processing apparatus 100 receives the search result, stores it in the RAM 202, and executes the processes of steps S604 and S605.

  In step S603, the information processing apparatus 100 transmits the search condition character string to the server B, and requests the calculation of the certainty factor of the category and the specification of the category to which the search condition character string belongs.

  The server B that has received the request executes the calculation of the certainty factor of the category and the identification process of the category to which the character string of the search condition belongs in step S603, generates the result as 410 in FIG. Send back. The information processing apparatus 100 receives the information 410 and stores the information in its own RAM 202, and executes the processes of steps S605 to S608.

  If it is determined in step S605 that the certainty factor is less than the threshold value, the information processing apparatus 100 generates the 500d html in FIG. 5 and transmits it to the client PC, thereby displaying the 500d screen with the browser software of the client PC. Instruct. The browser of the client PC that has received the html displays a 500d screen.

  When it is determined in step S608 that the certainty factor is greater than or equal to the threshold value, the information processing apparatus 100 generates the html of the screen illustrated in 500c or 500e in FIG. 5 and transmits the generated html to the client PC. Instruct to display the screen of 500c or 500e. The browser of the client PC that has received the html displays a 500c or 500e screen in step S612.

  If it is determined in step S605 that the certainty factor is less than the threshold, the information processing apparatus 100 generates the html of 500b in FIG. 5 and transmits it to the client PC, thereby displaying the screen of 500b with the browser software of the client PC. Instruct them to do so. The browser of the client PC that has received the html displays a 500b screen.

  In step S610, the client PC that has received the category selection in 500b transmits information on the category to the information processing apparatus 100. The information processing apparatus 100 that has received the information of the category transmits a search condition character string and the category to the server A, and requests to narrow down the category and perform a search (to narrow down the search results to documents of the category). To do.

  The server A that has received the request performs a search according to the request in step S611. Then, the search result is regenerated as 410 and returned to the information processing apparatus 100.

  In addition, the server device A including the document storage unit 121 and the document search unit 102, the server device B including the category-specific certainty factor identifying unit 105, the input character string receiving unit 101, the search certainty factor calculating unit 103, and the search certainty factor determination Unit 104, category certainty factor calculating unit 106, category certainty factor determining unit 107, display unit 108, and information processing apparatus 100 (client PC) including selected category receiving unit 109 can communicate via a network (such as a wide area network). As an information processing system connected and configured, each process of the embodiment described above may be executed to implement the present invention.

  Server A and server B may be the same housing.

  Note that the present invention includes a software program that implements the functions of the above-described embodiments directly or remotely from a system or apparatus. The present invention also includes a case where the system or the computer of the apparatus is achieved by reading and executing the supplied program code.

  Accordingly, since the functions of the present invention are implemented by computer, the program code installed in the computer also implements the present invention. In other words, the present invention includes a computer program itself for realizing the functional processing of the present invention.

  Examples of the recording medium for supplying the program include a flexible disk, hard disk, optical disk, magneto-optical disk, MO, CD-ROM, CD-R, and CD-RW. In addition, there are magnetic tape, nonvolatile memory card, ROM, DVD (DVD-ROM, DVD-R), and the like.

  As another program supply method, a browser on a client computer is used to connect to an Internet home page. The computer program itself of the present invention or a compressed file including an automatic installation function can be downloaded from the homepage by downloading it to a recording medium such as a hard disk.

  It can also be realized by dividing the program code constituting the program of the present invention into a plurality of files and downloading each file from a different homepage. That is, a WWW server that allows a plurality of users to download a program file for realizing the functional processing of the present invention on a computer is also included in the present invention.

  In addition, the program of the present invention is encrypted, stored in a storage medium such as a CD-ROM, distributed to users, and key information for decryption is downloaded from a homepage via the Internet to users who have cleared predetermined conditions. Let It is also possible to execute the encrypted program by using the downloaded key information and install the program on a computer.

  Further, the functions of the above-described embodiments are realized by the computer executing the read program. In addition, based on the instructions of the program, an OS or the like running on the computer performs part or all of the actual processing, and the functions of the above-described embodiments can also be realized by the processing.

  Further, the program read from the recording medium is written in a memory provided in a function expansion board inserted into the computer or a function expansion unit connected to the computer. Thereafter, the CPU of the function expansion board or function expansion unit performs part or all of the actual processing based on the instructions of the program, and the functions of the above-described embodiments are realized by the processing.

The above-described embodiments are merely examples of implementation in carrying out the present invention, and the technical scope of the present invention should not be construed as being limited thereto.
That is, the present invention can be implemented in various forms without departing from the technical idea or the main features thereof.

DESCRIPTION OF SYMBOLS 100 Information processing apparatus 101 Input character string reception part 102 Document search part 103 Search reliability calculation part 104 Search reliability determination part 105 Certainty factor specific classification part 106 Category reliability calculation part 107 Category reliability determination part 108 Display part 109 Selection Category reception unit 121 Document storage unit

Claims (9)

An information processing system including a storage device that stores a document whose category can be specified and an information processing device,
A character string receiving means for receiving a character string as a search condition;
Document certainty factor specifying means for specifying the certainty factor of the document searched by the character string with respect to the character string received by the character string receiving unit;
Category certainty specifying means for specifying the certainty of the category for the character string received by the character string receiving means;
Category certainty determining means for determining whether the certainty of the category specified by the category certainty specifying means has reached a threshold;
Document belief for determining whether the certainty factor of the document specified by the document certainty factor identifying unit has reached a threshold value when the category certainty factor determining unit determines that the certainty factor of the category has reached a threshold value Degree determination means;
When it is determined by the document certainty determination means that the certainty of the document has not reached the threshold, the category is notified as a search narrowing condition, and the certainty of the category is determined by the category certainty determination means. A notification means for notifying the user to re-enter a character string as a search condition without performing the determination by the document certainty determination means;
An information processing system comprising:   The notifying means notifies a plurality of documents searched by the character string as a search result when the certainty factor of the document has reached a threshold value and the certainty factor of the category has reached the threshold value. The information processing system according to claim 1. Search means for searching for a document in the storage device based on the character string received by the character string receiving means,
The search unit, when receiving the selection of the category as a narrowing condition notified by the notification unit, searches for a document specified by the category that has received the selection based on the character string. The information processing system according to claim 1 or 2. And attenuating means for attenuating the threshold when the certainty factor of the document does not reach the threshold value, and attenuating the threshold value when the certainty factor of the category does not reach the threshold value. Item 4. The information processing system according to any one of Items 1 to 3. A control method for an information processing system including a storage device for storing a document whose category can be specified and an information processing device,
A character string accepting step for accepting a character string as a search condition;
A document certainty factor identifying step for identifying the certainty factor of the document searched by the character string with respect to the character string accepted by the character string accepting step;
A category certainty factor identifying step for identifying the certainty factor of the category for the character string accepted by the character string accepting step;
A category certainty determination step for determining whether the certainty of the category specified by the category certainty specifying step has reached a threshold;
Document belief for determining whether the certainty factor of the document specified by the document certainty factor specifying step has reached the threshold value when it is determined by the category certainty factor determining step that the certainty factor of the category has reached a threshold value Degree determination step,
When it is determined that the document certainty factor has not reached the threshold value by the document certainty factor determining step, the category is notified as a search narrowing condition, and the category certainty factor is determined by the category certainty factor determining step. A notification step for notifying the user to re-input a character string as a search condition without performing the determination by the document certainty determination step;
The control method characterized by including. A program for controlling an information processing system including a storage device that stores a document whose category can be specified and an information processing device,
The information processing system;
A character string receiving means for receiving a character string as a search condition;
Document certainty factor specifying means for specifying the certainty factor of the document searched by the character string with respect to the character string received by the character string receiving unit;
Category certainty specifying means for specifying the certainty of the category for the character string received by the character string receiving means;
Category certainty determining means for determining whether the certainty of the category specified by the category certainty specifying means has reached a threshold;
Document belief for determining whether the certainty factor of the document specified by the document certainty factor identifying unit has reached a threshold value when the category certainty factor determining unit determines that the certainty factor of the category has reached a threshold value Degree determination means;
When it is determined by the document certainty determination means that the certainty of the document has not reached the threshold, the category is notified as a search narrowing condition, and the certainty of the category is determined by the category certainty determination means. A program for functioning as notification means for notifying the user to re-input a character string as a search condition without making the determination by the document certainty determination means when it is determined that the document has not been reached. An information processing apparatus that can be connected to a storage device that stores a document that can specify a category,
A character string receiving means for receiving a character string as a search condition;
Document certainty factor specifying means for specifying the certainty factor of the document searched by the character string with respect to the character string received by the character string receiving unit;
Category certainty specifying means for specifying the certainty of the category for the character string received by the character string receiving means;
Category certainty determining means for determining whether the certainty of the category specified by the category certainty specifying means has reached a threshold;
Document belief for determining whether the certainty factor of the document specified by the document certainty factor identifying unit has reached a threshold value when the category certainty factor determining unit determines that the certainty factor of the category has reached a threshold value Degree determination means;
When it is determined by the document certainty determination means that the certainty of the document has not reached the threshold, the category is notified as a search narrowing condition, and the certainty of the category is determined by the category certainty determination means. A notification means for notifying the user to re-enter a character string as a search condition without performing the determination by the document certainty determination means;
An information processing apparatus comprising: A method of controlling an information processing apparatus that can be connected to a storage device that stores a document that can specify a category,
A character string accepting step for accepting a character string as a search condition;
A document certainty factor identifying step for identifying the certainty factor of the document searched by the character string with respect to the character string accepted by the character string accepting step;
A category certainty factor identifying step for identifying the certainty factor of the category for the character string accepted by the character string accepting step;
A category certainty determination step for determining whether the certainty of the category specified by the category certainty specifying step has reached a threshold;
Document belief for determining whether the certainty factor of the document specified by the document certainty factor specifying step has reached the threshold value when it is determined by the category certainty factor determining step that the certainty factor of the category has reached a threshold value Degree determination step,
When it is determined that the document certainty factor has not reached the threshold value by the document certainty factor determining step, the category is notified as a search narrowing condition, and the category certainty factor is determined by the category certainty factor determining step. A notification step for notifying the user to re-input a character string as a search condition without performing the determination by the document certainty determination step;
The control method characterized by including. A program for controlling an information processing device that can be connected to a storage device that stores a document that can specify a category,
The information processing apparatus;
A character string receiving means for receiving a character string as a search condition;
Document certainty factor specifying means for specifying the certainty factor of the document searched by the character string with respect to the character string received by the character string receiving unit;
Category certainty specifying means for specifying the certainty of the category for the character string received by the character string receiving means;
Category certainty determining means for determining whether the certainty of the category specified by the category certainty specifying means has reached a threshold;
Document belief for determining whether the certainty factor of the document specified by the document certainty factor identifying unit has reached a threshold value when the category certainty factor determining unit determines that the certainty factor of the category has reached a threshold value Degree determination means;
When it is determined by the document certainty determination means that the certainty of the document has not reached the threshold, the category is notified as a search narrowing condition, and the certainty of the category is determined by the category certainty determination means. A program for functioning as notification means for notifying the user to re-input a character string as a search condition without making the determination by the document certainty determination means when it is determined that the document has not been reached.

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