Information extraction system, information processing apparatus, information collection apparatus, character string extraction method, and storage medium

• US 7,490,090 B2
• Filed: 07/05/2005
• Issued: 02/10/2009
• Est. Priority Date: 12/27/1999
• Status: Expired due to Fees

• Current Assignee: International Business Machines Corporation
• Original Assignee: International Business Machines Corporation
• Inventors: Hijikata, Yoshinori, Nakajima, Amane, Aoki, Yoshinori
• Primary Examiner(s): Vital; Pierre M.
• Assistant Examiner(s): Vo; Truong V
• Application Number:
  US11/175,095
• Publication Number:
  US 20050246348A1
• Time in Patent Office: 1,316 Days
• Field of Search: 707/10
• US Class Current: 1/1
• CPC Class Codes: G06F 16/9577 Optimising the visualization of content, e.g. distillation of HTML documents

Abstract

The present invention permits users to obtain detailed information concerning those portions of web contents in which they are most interested and provides an information extraction system. In an embodiment, the information extraction system comprises a server and a client, connected via a communication network, wherein the server provides a data file for a client to browse; and wherein the client includes a browser for displaying the contents of the data file that is received from the server via the communication network, an operation event detection analyzer for detecting a predetermined specific operation based on a user'"'"'s operation when the user reads the contents of the data file displayed by the browser, and a text extractor for extracting information that is displayed at a location whereat the specific operation that is detected by the operation event analyzer is performed on a display screen of the browser.

Claims

1. A computer-implemented information processing apparatus comprising:

browsing means implemented by a computer device, for receiving and displaying document data, said document data corresponding to a downloaded document including one or more executable scripts;

operation detection means implemented by said browsing means executing a first of said one or more executable scripts, for employing an input operation, performed by a user when said user browses said document data displayed by said browsing means, to detect an operation defined as a specific operation that said user unintentionally performed to obtain interesting information; and

character string extraction means implemented by said browsing means executing a second of said one or more executable scripts, for extracting a character string that is displayed at a location whereat said specific operation that is detected by said operation detection means is performed on a display screen of said browsing means, wherein the specific operation comprises an operation selected from all of the group of operations of selecting of text, pointing to a link, clicking on a link, tracing and reading in a transverse horizontal direction detected in accordance with the user'"'"'s movement of a pointer in a transverse direction that matches the direction of horizontally oriented lines of text of a displayed document or transverse movement of the pointer perpendicular to vertically oriented lines, and, tracing and reading in a vertical direction detected in accordance with user'"'"'s movement of the pointer perpendicular to the horizontally oriented lines and movement of the pointer that matches the direction of vertically oriented lines of text of a displayed document.

2. A character string extraction method comprising the steps of:

detecting a predetermined, specific operation based on an input operation performed by a user on a display screen on which document data are displayed, said document data corresponding to a downloaded document including one or more executable scripts, said detecting performed by implementing a first executable script, in said document data; and

extracting, as a unit, a sentence or a line that includes a character string that is displayed at a location whereat said specific operation that is detected has been performed on said display screen, wherein the specific operation comprises an operation selected from all of the group of operations of selecting of text, pointing to a link, clicking on a link, tracing and reading in a transverse horizontal direction detected in accordance with the user'"'"'s movement of a pointer in a transverse direction that matches the direction of horizontally oriented lines of text of a displayed document or transverse movement of the pointer perpendicular to vertically oriented lines, and, tracing and reading in a vertical direction detected in accordance with user'"'"'s movement of the pointer perpendicular to the horizontally oriented lines and movement of the pointer that matches the direction of vertically oriented lines of text of a displayed document, said extracting performed by implementing a second executable script.

3. The character string extraction method according to claim 2, wherein, as a result of tracing and reading movement by which the pointer of a pointing device is moved by a user along lines in a document that is displayed, said step of extracting a character string, a sentence or a line includes extracting a character string belonging to a document immediately above a character string selected using said pointer.

4. A storage medium on which the input means of a computer stores a computer-readable program such that, when executed by a processor device, permits said computer to perform:

a process for displaying the contents of document data, said document data corresponding to a downloaded document including one or more executable scripts;

an process for detecting a predetermined specific operation based on a user'"'"'s operation on a display screen where said document data are displayed, said detecting performed by implementing, a first executable script in said document data; and

a process for extracting a character string that is displayed at a location whereat said specific operation that is detected is performed on said display screen, wherein the specific operation comprises an operation selected from all of the group of operations of selecting of text, pointing to a link, clicking on a link, tracing and reading in a transverse horizontal direction detected in accordance with the user'"'"'s movement of a pointer in a transverse direction that matches the direction of horizontally oriented lines of text of a displayed document or transverse movement of the pointer perpendicular to vertically oriented lines, and, tracing and reading in a vertical direction detected in accordance with user'"'"'s movement of the pointer perpendicular to the horizontally oriented lines and movement of the pointer that matches the direction of vertically oriented lines of text of a displayed document, said extracting performed by implementing a second executable script.

5. An article of manufacture comprising a computer storage medium having computer readable program code means embodied therein for causing character string extraction, the computer readable program code means in said article of manufacture comprising computer readable program code means for causing a computer to effect the steps of

detecting a predetermined, specific operation based on an input operation performed by a user on a display screen on which document data are displayed, said document data corresponding to a downloaded document including one or more executable scripts, said detecting performed by implementing a first executable script in said document data;

and

extracting, as a unit, a sentence or a line that includes a character string that is displayed at a location whereat said specific operation that is detected has been performed on said display screen, wherein the specific operation comprises an operation selected from all of the group of operations of selecting of text, pointing to a link clicking on a link, tracing and reading in a transverse horizontal direction detected in accordance with the user'"'"'s movement of a pointer in a transverse direction that matches the direction of horizontally oriented lines of text of a displayed document or transverse movement of the pointer perpendicular to vertically oriented lines, and tracing and reading in a vertical direction detected in accordance with user'"'"'s movement of the pointer perpendicular to the horizontally oriented lines and movement of the pointer that matches the direction of vertically oriented lines of text of a displayed document, said extracting performed by implementing a second executable script.