Data processing: database and file management or data structures – Database design – Data structure types
Reexamination Certificate
1998-06-05
2001-04-17
Breene, John (Department: 2177)
Data processing: database and file management or data structures
Database design
Data structure types
C707S793000, C707S793000
Reexamination Certificate
active
06219665
ABSTRACT:
BACKGROUND OF THE INVENTION
(1) Field of the Invention
The present invention relates to a retrieval menu creation device that creates retrieval menus from data according to the contents of the data, a retrieval menu creation method, and a recording medium that stores a retrieval menu creation program.
(2) Description of the Related Art
A large amount of data is now available to ordinary users via networks, for instance, the Internet. “A Method of Clustering Documents Using Classification Patterns” (Information Processing Society of Japan SIG Notes, 97-NL-117-14) introduces a menus retrieval system that creates retrieval menus according to the contents of data so that even a user who is unfamilar with the use of information technology may easily select desired information from the large amount of available data.
FIG. 1
is a block diagram that shows the construction of the menu retrieval system.
The menu retrieval system shown in
FIG. 1
includes data storage unit
3501
, thesaurus storage unit
3502
, data feature extraction unit
3503
, data relating unit
3504
, menu creation unit
3503
, and display unit
3506
.
Data storage unit
3501
stores the document data that has been obtained via a network and the features that has been extracted by data features extraction unit
3503
.
FIG. 2A
shows an example of the data stored in data storage unit
3501
. As shown in
FIG. 2A
, data storage unit
3501
stores document data
3621
,
3622
, and
3623
that have been obtained via a network, and features
3601
,
3602
, and
3603
that have been extracted by data feature extraction unit
3503
.
Thesaurus storage unit
3502
stores thesauruses. A thesaurus is a dictionary in which words categorized according to meaning are arranged in a tree. In a thesaurus that thesaurus storage unit
3502
stores, the word with the highest concept is arranged at the root, words with the lowest concept are arranged at the leaves, and words having similar meanings are arranged close to each other.
FIG. 2B
shows thesaurus
3511
, a thesaurus that thesaurus storage unit
3502
stores. In thesaurus
3511
, “means of transport”
3618
is the root, and “car”
3617
and “railway”
3616
are connected to “means of transport”
3618
. “Truck”
3611
and “bus”
3612
are connected to “car”
3617
, and “steam train”
3613
and “electric train”
3614
are connected to “railway”
3616
.
According to thesaurus
3511
, “means of transport”
3618
is a higher concept than “car”
3617
and “railway”
3616
, “car”
3617
is the conception higher than “truck”
3611
and “bus”
3612
, and “railway”
3616
is the conception higher than “steam train”
3613
and “electric train”
3614
.
Data feature extraction unit
3503
extracts features of document data that data storage unit
3501
stores. More specifically, data feature extraction unit
3503
extracts words that are often used in the document data as the features.
FIG. 2A
shows that data feature extraction unit
3503
extracts feature
3601
“bus” as the feature of document data
3621
, feature
3602
“truck” as that of document data
3622
, and feature
3603
“electric train” as that of document data
3623
.
Date relating unit
3504
finds the word that correspond to the feature of document data in a thesaurus. For instance, data relating unit
3504
finds that “bus”
3612
in thesaurus
3511
corresponds to feature
3601
“bus”, “truck”
3611
in thesaurus
3511
corresponds to feature
3602
“truck”, and “electric train”
3614
in thesaurus
3511
corresponds to feature
3603
“electric train”. Accordingly, each of the features is connected to the corresponding word in thesaurus
3511
a
as shown in FIG.
3
.
Menu creation unit
3505
extracts each word whose corresponding feature has been found by data relating unit
3504
, and the words that are connected to the words whose corresponding features have been found by data relating unit
3504
from thesaurus
3511
a
, and creates a menu construction. More specifically, menu creation unit
3505
extracts “truck”
3611
corresponding to feature
3602
“truck”, “bus”
3612
corresponding to feature
3601
“bus”, “electric train”
3614
corresponding to feature
3603
“electric train”, “car”
3617
connected with “truck”
3611
, “railway”
3616
connected to “electric train”
3614
, and “means of transport”
3618
connected to “car”
3617
from thesaurus
3511
a
shown in
FIG. 3
, and creates menu construction
3511
b
shown in FIG.
4
A.
Display unit
3506
displays retrieval menus based on the created menu construction. More specifically, display unit
3506
displays retrieval menu
3700
in which the title is “means of transport” and the choices are “car”
3702
and “railway”
3703
as shown in
FIG. 4B
based on menu construction
3511
b
shown in FIG.
4
A. When the user selects “car”
3702
, display unit
3506
displays retrieval menu
3710
in which the title is “car”
3711
and the choices are “truck”
3712
and “bus”
3713
as shown in FIG.
4
C.
In the example of the conventional art that has been described, these retrieval menus using one thesaurus are created based on the data obtained via a network. Even a user who is unfamilar with the use of information technology may easily retrieve necessary information with these retrieval menus. The above-described example, however, has problems. Firstly, these retrieval menus are created using one thesaurus, so that it is not possible to retrieve data when the word used for retrieval is not included in the thesaurus in which the words are categorized according to meaning sand arranged in a tree. More specifically, while the word “road” can be considered to be related to the word “means of transport”, the word “road” is not related to any word in thesaurus
3511
in which the words are arranged in terms of “means of transport”.
Secondly, retrieval menus in which the choices of a retrieval menu and the choices of another retrieval menu categorize data in different terms and are not related to each other in meaning can not be created based on a thesaurus. More specifically, the choices “up to 10”, “11 to 20”, and “over 21” in the retrieval menu “age” and the choices “student”, “salaried worker”, and “housewife” in the retrieval menu “occupation” categorize data in different terms and are not related to each other in meaning. As a result, retrieval menus that include the retrieval menu “occupation” below the retrieval menu “age” may not be created based on one thesaurus.
Thirdly, when data is added to or changed in a thesaurus, it is necessary to maintain the structure of the thesaurus in which data is categorized according to meaning and arranged in a tree. The addition or the change of data in a thesaurus is very complicated.
SUMMARY OF THE INVENTION
The object of the present invention is to provide a retrieval menu creation device that creates retrieval menus by relating data to choices included in categorization patterns in which the choices in each categorization pattern categorize data in different terms and are not related to each other in meaning, and to provide a recoding medium that records a retrieval menu creation method and a retrieval menu creation program.
The above-mentioned project is achieved by a retrieval menu creation device that may create retrieval menus based on a plurality of pieces of input data and may include a data storage unit for storing the plurality of piece of input data, a categorization pattern storage unit for storing a plurality of categorization patterns each of which includes a plurality of items wherein no item that is included in a categorization pattern may be related to any item that is included in another categorization pattern, a relating unit for relating pieces of input data that are stored in the data storage unit to corresponding items, a categorization pattern selection unit for selecting categorization patterns from the plurality of categorization patterns that are stored in the categorization pattern storage unit based on a first predetermined standard, and a menu extraction unit for extracting items to which p
Breene John
Matsushita Electric - Industrial Co., Ltd.
Price and Gess
Robinson Greta L.
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