Apparatus and method for retrieving data from a document database

• US 6,602,300 B2
• Filed: 09/03/1998
• Issued: 08/05/2003
• Est. Priority Date: 02/03/1998
• Status: Expired due to Term

• Current Assignee: Fujitsu Limited
• Original Assignee: Fujitsu Limited
• Inventors: Ushioda, Akira, Fuji, Masaru
• Primary Examiner(s): Feild, Joseph H.
• Assistant Examiner(s): Bashore, William L.
• Application Number:
  US09/145,969
• Publication Number:
  US 20020007384A1
• Time in Patent Office: 1,797 Days
• Field of Search: 707/536, 707/5, 704/10, 704/2, 704/3, 704/4, 704/9, 715/536
• US Class Current: 715/264
• CPC Class Codes: G06F 16/258 Data format conversion from or to a database
• CPC Class Codes: G06F 16/3337 Translation of the query language, e.g. Chinese to English
• CPC Class Codes: Y10S 707/99935 Query augmenting and refining, e.g. inexact access

Abstract

When a keyword described in Japanese is input, the input keyword is converted from Japanese into English. Thus, a retrieval keyword described in English is generated based on the input keyword described in Japanese. Documents that are described in English and that contain the retrieval keyword described in English are retrieved from a database. The retrieved documents are translated from English into Japanese. The documents translated into Japanese are compared with the input keyword described in Japanese. Thus, the validity of the results retrieved from the database is evaluated. Thus, even if the language of a database from which the data is retrieved is different from the language of the input keyword, retrieved results exactly based on the input keyword can be output.

Claims

1. An information retrieving apparatus, comprising:

an inputting unit inputting a retrieval request described in a first data format;

an expansion unit expanding the retrieval request described in the first data format into expanded results described in the first data format based on expansion rules;

a generating unit generating retrieval information described in a second data format based on the expanded results described in the first data format;

a retrieving unit retrieving data from a document database which stores documents described in the second data format, based on the retrieval information described in the second data format;

a converted results weight assigning unit assigning a weight to the retrieval information described in the second data format based on parts of speech of the retrieval request described in the first data format;

a conversion unit converting one or more of the retrieved data from the second data format into the first data format based on the weight assigned to the retrieval information corresponding to the retrieved data; and

an evaluating unit calculating a correlation rate between the retrieval request described in the first data format and the one or more retrieved data converted into the first data format by comparing the one or more retrieved data with the retrieval request and evaluating the one or more retrieved data based on the correlation rate.

2. The information retrieving apparatus as set forth in claim 1,

wherein said generating unit has an extracting unit extracting key information described in the first data format from the retrieval request so as to generate the retrieval information described in the second data format based on the key information.

3. The information retrieving apparatus as set forth in claim 2,

wherein said generating unit has a logical operation unit performing a logical operation for the key information in the first data format so as to generate the retrieval information described in the second data format based on results of the logical operation.

4. The information retrieving apparatus as set forth in claim 3,

wherein said evaluating unit evaluates the one or more retrieved data converted into the first data format based on the results of the logical operation.

5. The information retrieving apparatus as set forth in claim 2,

wherein said evaluating unit evaluates the one or more retrieved data converted into the first data format based on the key information.

6. The information retrieving apparatus as set forth in claim 1,

wherein said generating unit has a logical operation unit performing a logical operation for the expanded results in the first data format so as to generate the retrieval information described in the second data format based on results of the logical operation.

7. The information apparatus as set forth in claim 6,

wherein said evaluating unit evaluates the one or more retrieved data converted into the first data format based on the results of the logical operation.

8. The information retrieving apparatus as set forth in claim 1,

wherein said evaluating unit evaluates the one or more retrieved data converted into the first data format based on the expanded results.

9. The information retrieving apparatus as set forth in claim 1,

wherein said evaluating unit has a ranking unit ranking the one or more retrieved data based on the evaluated results thereof.

10. An information retrieving apparatus, comprising:

a retrieval request inputting unit inputting a retrieval request described in a first data format;

an expansion unit expanding the retrieval request described in the first data format into expanded results described in the first data format based on expansion rules;

a first format converting unit converting the expanded results from the first data format into a second data format;

a retrieving process unit retrieving data from a document database which stores documents described in the second data format, based on converted results of said first format converting unit;

a converted results weight assigning unit assigning a weight to the converted results described in the second data format based on parts of speech of the retrieval request described in the first data format;

a second format converting unit converting one or more of the retrieved results from the document database, from the second data format into the first data format based on the weight assigned to the converted results corresponding to the retrieved results;

a retrieved result arranging unit calculating a correlation rate between the retrieval request described in the first data format and a retrieved result converted into the first data format by comparing the retrieved result with the retrieval request and arranging the retrieved results based on the correlation rate; and

a retrieved result displaying unit displaying data arranged by said retrieved result arranging unit.

11. The information retrieving apparatus as set forth in claim 10,

wherein the conversion between the first data format and the second data format is a language converting process or a dictionary retrieving process.

12. The information retrieving apparatus as set forth in claim 11, further comprising:

a language determining unit automatically determining a second data language,

wherein said second format converting unit performs a converting process or a dictionary retrieving process based on a determined result of said language determining unit.

13. The information retrieving apparatus as set forth in claim 11, further comprising:

a first extracting unit extracting sentences containing a retrieval keyword from the retrieved results of the document database,

wherein said second format converting unit converts only for the sentences extracted by said first extracting unit.

14. The information retrieving apparatus as set forth in claim 11, further comprising:

a second extracting unit extracting paragraphs containing a retrieval keyword from the retrieved results of the document database,

wherein said second format converting unit converts only for the paragraphs extracted by said second extracting unit.

15. The information retrieving apparatus as set forth in claim 10, further comprising:

an expanded results weight assigning unit assigning a weight to the expanded results,

wherein said retrieved result arranging unit arranges the one or more retrieved results converted into the first data format based on the weight assigned by said expanded results weight assigning unit.

16. The information retrieving apparatus as set forth in claim 10,

wherein said retrieved result arranging unit arranges the retrieved results converted into the first data format based on the weight assigned by said converted results weight assigning unit.

17. The information retrieving apparatus as set forth in claim 10,

wherein said retrieving process unit retrieves data based on retrieval information when the retrieval information is generated as the results converted by said first format converting unit.

18. The information retrieving apparatus as set forth in claim 10,

wherein if a plurality of candidates are generated for an element of a conversion result of said second format converting unit, said second format converting unit converts the retrieved results from the document database in correspondence with each of the plurality of candidates.

19. The information retrieving apparatus as set forth in claim 10,

wherein said retrieved result arranging unit has a selecting unit selecting at most one converted result for a corresponding retrieved result when a plurality of the converted results for corresponding retrieved results retrieved by said second format converting unit is generated.

20. The information retrieving apparatus as set forth in claim 10,

wherein if a plurality of candidates are generated for an element of a conversion result of said second format converting unit, said second format converting unit expands the plurality of candidates in the retrieved results from the document database.

21. The information retrieving apparatus as set forth in claim 10,

wherein said retrieved result arranging unit arranges the one or more retrieved results converted into the first data format based on results of a logical operation for the retrieval request described in the first data format.

22. The information retrieving apparatus as set forth in claim 10,

wherein said retrieved result arranging unit has a correlation rate calculating unit calculating the correlation rate of the retrieval request and the one or more retrieved results converted into the first data format so as to rank the one or more retrieved results converted into the first data format based on the correlation rate.

23. The information retrieving apparatus as set forth in claim 10,

wherein said retrieved result displaying unit has a first highlight displaying unit highlighting a portion that matches the retrieval request in the one or more retrieved results converted into the first data format.

24. The information retrieving apparatus as set forth in claim 10,

wherein said retrieved result displaying unit has a second highlight displaying unit separately highlighting a portion that matches the retrieval request and a portion that matches the expanded results of the retrieval request in the one or more retrieved results converted into the first data format.

25. The information retrieving apparatus as set forth in claim 10, further comprising:

a parallel processing unit processing data retrieval from the document database by said retrieving process unit in parallel with conversion of the retrieved result from the second data format into the first data format.

26. The information retrieving apparatus as set forth in claim 10,

wherein said retrieved result displaying unit displays the retrieved results described in the second data format based on results arranged by said retrieved result arranging unit.

27. An information retrieving apparatus, comprising:

a retrieval request inputting unit inputting a retrieval request described in a first data format;

an expansion unit expanding the retrieval request described in the first data format into expanded results described in the first data format based on expansion rules;

a first format converting unit converting the expanded results from the first data format into a second data format;

a retrieving process unit retrieving data from a document database, which stores documents described in the second data format, based on converted results by said first format converting unit;

a converted results weight assigning unit assigning a weight to the converted results described in the second data formats based on parts of speech of the retrieval request described in the first data format;

a first ranking unit ranking retrieved results from the document database in the second data format based on the weight assigned to the converted results corresponding to the retrieved results;

an extracting unit extracting higher ranked retrieved results based on the retrieved results ranked by said first ranking unit;

a second format converting unit converting one or more of the retrieved results extracted by said extracting unit from the second data format into the first data format according to the ranking of the retrieved results;

retrieved result arranging unit calculating a correlation rate between the retrieval request described in the first data format and the one or more retrieved results converted into the first data format by comparing the one or more retrieved results with the retrieval request and arranging the one or more retrieved results based on the correlation rate; and

a retrieved result displaying unit displaying data arranged by said retrieved result arranging unit.

28. An information retrieving apparatus, comprising:

a retrieval request inputting unit inputting a retrieval request described in a first data format;

an expansion unit expanding the retrieval request described in the first data format into expanded results described in the first data format based on expansion rules;

a first format converting unit converting the expanded results from the first data format into a second data format;

a second format converting unit converting the expanded results from the first data format into a third data format;

a first retrieving process unit retrieving data from a first document database, which stores documents described in the second data format, based on converted results by said first format converting unit;

a second retrieving process unit retrieving data from a second document database, which stores documents described in the third data format, based on converted results by said second format converting unit;

a converted results weight assigning unit assigning a weight to the converted results described in the second and the third data formats based on parts of speech of the retrieval request described in the first data format;

a third format converting unit converting one or more of the retrieved results from the first document database, from the second data format into the first data format based on the weight assigned to the converted results corresponding to the retrieved results;

a fourth format converting unit converting one or more of the retrieved results from the second document database, from the third data format into the first data format based on the weight assigned to the converted results corresponding to the retrieved results;

a first retrieved result arranging unit calculating a first correlation rate between the retrieval request described in the first data format and the one or more retrieved results from the first document database converted into the first data format by comparing the one or more retrieved results from the first document database with the retrieval request and arranging the one or more retrieved results from the first document database converted into the first data format based on the first correlation rate;

a second retrieved result arranging unit calculating a second correlation rate between the retrieval request described in the first data format and the one or more retrieved results from the second document database converted into the first data format by comparing the one or more retrieved results from the second document database with the retrieval request and arranging the one or more retrieved results from the second document database converted into first data format based on the second correlation rate; and

a retrieved result displaying unit displaying data arranged by said first retrieved result arranging unit and data arranged by said second retrieved result arranging unit.

29. An information retrieving apparatus, comprising:

a retrieval request inputting unit inputting a retrieval request described in a first data format;

an expansion unit expanding the retrieval request described in the first data format into expanded results described in the first data format based on expansion rules;

a first format converting unit converting the expanded results from the first data format into a second data format;

a retrieving process unit retrieving data from a document database, which stores documents described in the second data format, based on converted results by said first format converting unit;

a converted results weight assigning unit assigning a weight to the converted results described in the second data format based on parts of speech of the retrieval request described in the first data format;

a first ranking unit ranking retrieved results from the document database in the second data format based on the weight assigned to the converted results corresponding to the retrieved results;

an extracting unit extracting higher ranked retrieved results based on the retrieved results ranked by said first ranking unit;

a second format converting unit converting one or more of the retrieved results extracted by said extracting unit from the second data format into the first data format according to the ranking of the retrieved results;

a retrieved result arranging unit calculating a correlation rate between the retrieval request described in the first data format and the one or more retrieved results converted into the first data format by comparing the one or more retrieved results with the retrieval request and arranging the one or more retrieved results based on the correlation rate; and

a retrieved result displaying unit displaying data arranged by said retrieved result arranging unit.

30. An information retrieving apparatus, comprising:

a retrieval request inputting unit inputting a retrieval request described in a first data format;

an expansion unit expanding the retrieval request described in the first data format into expanded results described in the first data format based on expansion rules;

a first format converting unit converting the expanded results from the first data format into a second data format;

a first retrieving process unit retrieving data from a first document database which stores documents described in the first data format, based on the expanded results described in the first data format;

a second retrieving process unit retrieving data from a second document database which stores documents described in the second data format based on converted results by said first format converting unit;

a converted results weight assigning unit assigning a weight to the converted results described in the second data format based on parts of speech of the retrieval request described in the first data format;

a second format converting unit converting one or more of the retrieved results from the second document database from the second data format into the first data format based on the weight assigned to the converted results corresponding to the retrieved results;

a retrieved result arranging unit calculating a correlation rate between the retrieval request described in the first data format and the one or more retrieved results converted into the first data format from the second document database by comparing the one or more retrieved results converted from the second document database into the first data format with the retrieval request and calculating a correlation rate between the retrieval request described in the first data format and the retrieved results from the first document database by comparing the retrieved results from the first document database in the first data format with the retrieval request and arranging the retrieved results from the first document database and the one or more retrieved results from the second document database converted into the first data format, based on the correlation rate; and

a retrieved result displaying unit displaying data arranged by said retrieved result arranging unit.

31. The information retrieving apparatus as set forth in claim 30,

wherein said retrieved result displaying unit separately displays the retrieved results from the first document database and the one or more retrieved results from the second document database and converted into the first data format on a same screen.

32. An information retrieving apparatus, comprising:

an inputting unit inputting a keyword described in a first language;

an expansion unit expanding the keyword described in the first language into expanded results described in the first language based on expansion rules;

a first converting unit converting the expanded results from the first language into converted results in a second language;

a retrieving unit retrieving data from a document database which stores documents described in the second language, based on the converted results in the second language;

a converted results weight assigning unit assigning a weight to the converted results described in the second language based on a part of speech of the keyword described in the first language;

a second converting unit converting one or more of retrieved results from the document database from the second language into the first language based on the weight assigned to the converted results corresponding to the retrieved results; and

an evaluating unit calculating a correlation rate between the keyword described in the first language and the one or more retrieved results converted into the first language by comparing the one or more retrieved results with the keyword and evaluating the one or more retrieved results based on the correlation rate.

33. An information retrieving apparatus for retrieving data from a document database which stores documents described in a data format different from a data format in which a retrieval request is described by expanding the retrieval request in the same format as the retrieval request, retrieving data from the document database according to expanded results converted into the data format of the document database, assigning a weight to the converted expanded results, and converting one or more of retrieved results retrieved from the document database based on the weight assigned to the converted expanded results corresponding to the retrieved results,

wherein said information retrieving apparatus matches the data format of the one or more retrieved results with the data format of the retrieval request and calculates a correlation rate between the described retrieval request and the one or more retrieved results by comparing the one or more retrieved results with the retrieval request and evaluates the one or more retrieved results based on the correlation rate.

34. An information retrieving method, comprising:

inputting key information described in a first data format;

expanding the key information described in the first data format into expanded results described in the first data format based on expansion rules;

converting the expanded results from the first data format into a second data format;

retrieving data from a document database, which stores documents described in the second data format, based on the expanded results converted into a second data format;

assigning a weight to the converted results based on parts of speech of the key information described in the first data format;

converting one or more of retrieved results from the second data format into the first data format based on the weight assigned to the converted results corresponding to the retrieved data; and

calculating a correlation rate between the key information described in the first data format and the one or more retrieved results converted into the first data format by comparing the one or more retrieved results with the key information and evaluating the one or more retrieved results based on the correlation rate.

35. An information retrieving method, comprising:

retrieving, based on expanded results of an input keyword described in a first data format, data from a document database which stores documents described in a second data format;

assigning a weight to the expanded results converted into the second data format based on a part of speech of the input keyword described in the first data format;

converting one or more of retrieved results from the document database from the second data format into the first data format based on the weight assigned to the converted results corresponding to the retrieved results; and

comparing the one or more retrieved results converted into the first data format with the input keyword described in the first data format; and

calculating a correlation rate between the input keyword described in the first data format and the one or more retrieved results converted into the first data format by comparing the one or more retrieved results with the input keyword and determining whether or not the one or more retrieved results are valid based on the correlation rate.

36. An information retrieving method for retrieving, based on expanded results of an input keyword described in a first language, data from a document database which stores documents described in a second language by:

assigning a weight to the expanded results converted into the second language based on a part of speech of the input keyword described in the first language;

converting one or more of retrieved results from the document database in the second language into the first language based on the weight assigned to the converted results corresponding to the retrieved results,

wherein evaluating the one or more retrieved results is performed by calculating a correlation rate between the input keyword described in the first language and the one or more retrieved results by comparing the one or more retrieved results with the input keyword.

37. A computer-readable storage medium storing instructions to direct a computer to perform a method for retrieving data from a document database, said method comprising:

retrieving, based on expanded results of an input keyword described in a first data format, data from the document database which stores documents described in a second data format;

assigning a weight to the expanded results converted into a second data format based on a part of speech of the input keyword described in the first data format;

converting one or more of retrieved results from the document database from the second data format into the first data format based on the weight assigned to the converted results corresponding to the retrieved results;

comparing the one or more retrieved results converted into the first data format with the input keyword described in the first data format; and

calculating a correlation rate between the input keyword described in the first data format and the one or more retrieved results by comparing the one or more retrieved results with the input keyword and evaluating the one or more retrieved results based on the correlation rate.