Document browse support system and document processing system

• US 6,035,338 A
• Filed: 09/18/1997
• Issued: 03/07/2000
• Est. Priority Date: 09/19/1996
• Status: Expired due to Term

• Current Assignee: Kabushiki Kaisha Toshiba (Toshiba Corporation)
• Original Assignee: Kabushiki Kaisha Toshiba (Toshiba Corporation)
• Inventors: Kimura, Kazuhiro, Hirakawa, Hideki
• Primary Examiner(s): Asta, Frank J.
• Assistant Examiner(s): Willett, Stephan F.
• Application Number:
  US08/933,137
• Time in Patent Office: 901 Days
• Field of Search: 709/238, 709/243, 707/3, 707/4, 707/5, 707/6
• US Class Current: 709/243
• CPC Class Codes: G06F 16/94 Hypermedia Hyperlinking G06F40/134
• CPC Class Codes: G06F 16/9558 Details of hyperlinks; Management of linked annotations
• CPC Class Codes: H04L 67/02 based on web technology, e.g. hypertext transfer protocol [HTTP]
• CPC Class Codes: H04L 9/40 Network security protocols
• CPC Class Codes: Y10S 707/99933 Query processing, i.e. searching
• CPC Class Codes: Y10S 707/99934 Query formulation, input preparation, or translation
• CPC Class Codes: Y10S 707/99935 Query augmenting and refining, e.g. inexact access
• CPC Class Codes: Y10S 707/99936 Pattern matching access

Abstract

An expression pattern in a document and the data describing related information associated with the output information to obtain the output information corresponding to the expression pattern are inputted. An expression pattern in a document on a computer network is sensed by reference to the expression pattern in the data. The output information corresponding to the sensed expression pattern is created from a document on the computer network on the basis of the related information in the inputted data.

Claims

1. A document browse support system comprising:

a pattern action unit containing a pattern description section in which an expression pattern is written, and an action description section in which an action corresponding to the expression pattern is written;

a browser in which contents of a document are inputted from a network;

retrieval means for retrieving the expression pattern written in the pattern description section of the pattern action unit, said expression pattern being concerned in a contents of the document inputted to the browser; and

execution means for executing a specific program on the basis of a description in the action description section corresponding to the expression pattern retrieved by the retrieval means,

wherein the action description section contains a program number associated with the expression pattern, and the execution means starts the specific program identified with the program number.

2. The system according to claim 1, further comprising preprocess means for carrying out natural language processing including a dictionary consulting process, morpheme analyzing and sentence analyzing, on the document inputted to the browser,

wherein the retrieval means retrieves the expression pattern on the basis of a preprocess means.

3. The system according to claim 1, wherein the specific program is a program for performing database processing on a predetermined database for storing lesson data.

4. The system according to claim 1, wherein said network is a World Wide Web of an Internet and said document is a hypertext using hypertext markup language.

5. A computer-readable memory having program code means embodied for supporting a document browsing system for browsing through documents on a network by a browser using a pattern action unit containing a pattern description section in which an expression pattern is written and an action description section in which an action corresponding to the expression pattern is written, comprising:

first instruction means for causing a computer to retrieve the expression pattern written in the pattern description section of the pattern action unit, from the document inputted by the browser; and

second instruction means for causing a computer to execute a specific program on the basis of a description in the action description section, corresponding to the expression pattern retrieved by the first instruction means,

wherein the action description section contains a program number associated with the expression pattern, and the second instruction means starts the specific program identified with the program number.