JP2005284466A - Service providing method and system - Google Patents

Abstract

[PROBLEMS] To easily acquire information provided in other sites from a search result in a first site arbitrarily selected by a user who needs to acquire search information using a plurality of sites. Is possible.
When a program is started on a user terminal a, link destination information is acquired from a link information providing server d and displayed on a menu (S1). In the process of searching and browsing on the first site (S2), the user automatically acquires necessary data for searching on the second site (S3), and the second site designated by the user is In accordance with the required information, the necessary link information is obtained from the link information providing server d using the necessary data as an argument and converted into the format of the second site argument (S4) (S5). The search is transmitted to the site (S6), and the search at the second site linked to the first site is automatically performed (S7).
[Selection] Figure 2

Description

  The present invention provides a service for automatically searching information at other sites by diverting information search result data at a first site between a user terminal and a plurality of sites connected to each other via a network. More particularly, the present invention relates to a method for providing a document information search service that can be suitably used for searching document information, and a system and program thereof.

In a user terminal connected to a plurality of sites via the Internet, for example, when searching document information such as published patent information, the user can search a target document information search site, such as a Japanese patent. Access and search the patent digital library site of the Agency.
In these sites, a search condition input screen (search form) by the user is prepared in order to display information requested by the user. The user can search for a search condition for obtaining target information, for example, a technical theme. After entering a keyword, document number, inventor, etc. in the search condition input field on the screen, a search execution instruction is performed. When a search execution instruction is received, the search system linked to the site converts the input data by the user into a machine search expression, performs a database search, and displays a list of document numbers corresponding to the conditions on the user terminal.
Further, when the user selects an arbitrary document number from the document number list, the search system displays detailed information of the corresponding document on the user terminal as a search result.

By the way, in order to obtain the information intended by the user, it is not sufficient to have only search information that can be displayed on one site, and it is often necessary to search by accessing another site.
For example, if you want to check the application status in foreign countries based on the search results from the Japan Patent Office's patent electronic library site, you must access the US Patent Office or European Patent Office homepage and perform a similar search. Don't be In such a case, the user selects necessary data from the search results on the patent electronic library site (first site), and saves the selected data, for example, a document number, etc., to the clipboard by operating the mouse on the screen. After accessing the homepage (second site) such as the US Patent Office and pasting the clipboard saved data into the search condition input field on the search condition input screen, It is common practice to input a search execution instruction.

However, if the format of the search result displayed on the first site is different from the format of the input to the search condition input field on the second site, the user manually enters the reference number in the search condition input field. Must be entered.
In addition, when the input item in the search condition input field in the second site is data that is not included in the search result by the first site, another material is referred to or another data is re-entered based on the search result. You have to get new information, such as by searching.

  On the other hand, for example, Patent Document 1 discloses a service providing method for diverting information between a first site and a second site.

JP 2003-67633 A

However, since this service providing method is for transferring information between two sites specified in advance, the information to be transferred is also specified in advance in a format that can be used at both sites. It is impossible to divert information between two sites that are arbitrarily selected by the user from the sites and whose format and input items themselves may be different.
That is, the method of Patent Document 1 is a specialized technique in which position information (longitude / latitude) included in map information provided at the first site is transferred to the second site and linked to the position information at the second site. Information is provided. Therefore, there are a plurality of search result data such as a plurality of document numbers such as an application number, a publication number, and a registration number, an invention name, an inventor, and a technical content keyword, as well as published patent information. It is not possible to divert information between sites that have different search forms, input formats, required input items, etc. for each homepage of each national patent office such as Europe.

  The present invention has been made in view of the above-described conventional circumstances, and the intended process is that a user searches for link information at a second site based on a search result acquired at the first site. In this case, there is no need for extra operations such as copying, pasting by mouse operation, inputting search conditions by key input, referring to other materials, and other search operations. It is to provide a new service providing method and system capable of performing the search.

  In order to achieve the above object, according to the present invention, in the process of displaying the content information of the first WEB site by the user terminal, the second WEB site searches from the WEB format data provided by the WEB content. Automatically acquiring the data necessary to perform, automatically converting the acquired data into the WEB content argument format of the second site according to the data format required by the second site selected by the user, An argument is automatically transmitted to the second site, and a search result in the second site is automatically acquired and displayed.

That is, in the service providing method according to the present invention, information search result data of the first site is diverted between the user terminal and the plurality of sites connected to each other via the network. A service providing method for automatically performing a search,
Performing a search for information input by the user at the first site designated by the user and displaying the search result on the user terminal;
Automatically acquiring necessary data for performing a search at the second site from the search result data provided by the first site;
Automatically converting search result data provided by the first site into an argument in a format required for a search at the second site based on the required data;
Automatically transmitting the converted argument to a second site designated by the user and performing an automatic search at the second site;
Displaying search results on the second site on the user terminal;
It is characterized by having.

According to the present invention, in the process of browsing the search result in the first site on the user terminal, the user automatically obtains data necessary for linking to the second site and performing a search. At the same time, data necessary for the search at the second site selected by the user is automatically converted into an argument, transmitted to the second site, automatically searched, and the result is displayed on the user terminal. be able to.
The first site and the second site may be different sites or the same site.

Further, the present invention comprises link information providing means such as a link information providing server connected to each other via the network with the user terminal and a plurality of sites,
When the search result data provided by the first site is insufficient as necessary data for performing a search at the second site, or necessary data for performing a search at the second site In order to shorten the processing time for acquisition, data automatically acquired from the first site is automatically transmitted to the link information providing unit, and the link information providing unit performs a search at the second site. The method includes a step of automatically acquiring necessary data and returning the necessary data to the user terminal.

  In this case, the link information providing means can cope with the case where the search result data provided by the first site does not include the necessary data for the search at the second site. Alternatively, it is possible to shorten the processing time for obtaining necessary data for the search at the second site.

According to the present invention, after the necessary data for performing the search at the second site is automatically acquired from the search result data provided by the first site, the necessary data is stored in the second site designated by the user. Pre-assigning using attributes (name, type, initial value, etc.) assigned to the search condition input field on the search form in
Automatically inputting the necessary data in the search condition input field on the search form of the second site according to the pre-allocation information;
A step of automatically pressing a search execution button on the search form of the second site to automatically perform the search.

  In this case, it is possible to cope with the second site that prohibits the search by directly assigning an argument without using the search condition input on the search condition input screen (search form).

  According to the present invention, since the link information to the second site can be automatically obtained based on the search result in the first site and the automatic search can be performed in the second site. The burden can be reduced.

Hereinafter, an example of an embodiment of the present invention will be described with reference to the drawings.
FIG. 1 is a configuration diagram of a system that implements a service providing method according to the present example. In FIG. 1, a is a user terminal, and b is a first WEB site (hereinafter referred to as “first site”). A first document information providing server that provides a search and browsing service, and c is a second document information providing server that provides a document information search and browsing service at a second WEB site (hereinafter referred to as “second site”). , D is a link information providing server for linking the first site and the second site provided by the servers b and c, e is the user terminal a, the first document information providing server b, and the second document information providing. A network line such as the Internet for connecting the server c and the link information providing server d to each other is shown.

  The user terminal a is a computer terminal such as a personal computer, and accesses the first site and the second site provided by the first and second document information providing servers b and c, the function of connecting to a network line such as the Internet. In addition to the function of searching and browsing document information, etc., the program according to the present invention is stored to provide the functions described later.

  The first and second document information providing servers b and c are server computers having a function as a WWW server, and are equipped with functions and various databases necessary for operation of a site that provides a document information search and browsing service. For example, a server that operates a digital patent library site on the homepage of the Japan Patent Office, a patent information search site on the homepage of the US Patent Office, the European Patent Office, or the like can be cited.

  The link information providing server d is a server computer having a function as a WWW server, and link information for linking the first site and the second site provided by the first and second document information providing servers b and c. It has a function to provide.

The service providing method according to the present invention will be described below with reference to FIGS.
FIG. 2 is a flowchart showing an outline of service provision by a program according to the present invention operating on the user terminal a, and FIGS. 3A and 3B are image diagrams of screens of the user terminal a in the service provision. . FIG. 4 is a flowchart showing an outline of a link information providing method in the link information providing server d.

FIG. 5 shows a schema that defines the structure of XML data that stores link information data (link information of the first site and the second site) provided from the link information providing server d and interface menu information of the user terminal a. This is an example, and as a result, the site name, captions for displaying various menu buttons, and site URLs are provided as information of a plurality of first sites as starting points, and information of a plurality of second sites as link destinations is provided. The site name, caption for displaying various menu buttons, site URL, and parameter format of arguments are provided.
By adopting a mechanism for acquiring such link information data from the link information providing server d on the system provider side, all changes to the link information in accordance with the change of the site arbitrarily selected by the user can be quickly performed. Can be reflected on the user terminal.

First, when the user activates the program of the user terminal a, the program requests link information from the link information providing server d, and a plurality of first sites as a starting point and a plurality of second sites as link destinations. Acquisition of link information data and menu display are performed (S1).
In this example, information on a plurality of first sites serving as starting points and a plurality of second site information serving as link destinations are dynamically generated for the menu bar 301 on the screen of the user terminal a.

The link information data provided from the link information providing server d is XML data storing interface menu information according to a schema that defines the configuration as shown in FIG. 5, and the data and the data shown in FIG. The assignment of data items on the screen of the user terminal a is as follows.
ipdls.ipdl: Multiple settings can be made for each service, and as many menu bars as the number of settings are generated
ipdls.ipdl.caption: Service name
ipdls.ipdl.caption: Service name caption (3010)
ipdls, ipdl.url: URL to be displayed when 3010 is pressed
ipdls.ipdl.source: Multiple first sites can be set for each service, and buttons for the number of settings are automatically generated.
ipdls.ipdl.source.name: First site name
ipdls.ipdl.source.caption: 1st site caption (3011, 3012, 3013)
ipdls.ipdl.source.url: URL to be displayed when the first site caption is pressed
ipdls.ipdl.distination: Multiple second sites can be set for each service, and buttons for the number of settings are automatically generated 3014: Separation between the first site and the second site
ipdls.ipdl.distination.name: Second site name
ipdls.ipdl.distination.caption: Second site caption (3015, 3016)
ipdls.ipdl.distination.url: URL to be displayed when the second site caption is pressed
ipdls.ipdl.distination.param: Parameter list assigned to the second site URL
ipdls.ipdl.distination.autofill: Information for automatically entering search conditions in the WEB search form on the second site
ipdls.ipdl.distination.autofill.formitem: Multiple search condition input field information on the WEB search form of the second site
ipdls.ipdl.distination.autofill.formitem.name: Item name on the WEB search form at the second site
ipdls.ipdl.distination.autofill.formitem.value: WEB search form auto-fill value of the second site
ipdls.ipdl.distination.autofill.formitem.param: Parameter list to be added to the value of WEB search form automatic input at the second site
ipdls.ipdl.distination.autofill.ClickElementIitem: Execution button information on the WEB search form of the second site
ipdls.ipdl.distination.autofill.ClickElementIitem.tagname: Tag name of the execution button on the WEB search form of the second site
ipdls.ipdl.distination.autofill.ClickElementIitem.type: Type of the execution button on the WEB search form at the second site
ipdls.ipdl.distination.autofill.ClickElementIitem.type: Caption of the execute button on the WEB search form on the second site

  When a user selects an arbitrary first site (for example, a patent digital library site of the Japan Patent Office) from a plurality of source menus on the screen of the user terminal a, the program is downloaded from the link information providing server d. From the acquired URL, the home page data of the document information providing server b of the first site is acquired, and the service content provided by the first site is displayed on the source display screen 302 (S2).

  A program for displaying service contents such as the source screen 302 can be realized by using a WEB browser component provided by a general application creation program.

Further, menu operations for searching on the source screen 302 are also performed on the browser menu bar 300 on the screen of the user terminal “a”, “return” 3001, “forward” 3002, “stop” 3003, “ This can be performed in the same manner as when using a normal WEB browser by using buttons such as “Update” 3004.
Then, the search result list data (for example, a published patent) is detected by detecting the display of the search result list by acquiring the transitioned URL information and HTML information based on the input of the search condition by the user, the search execution instruction, and the like. (Publication number list) is recorded in the internal memory, and a number arbitrarily selected from the search result list by the user (for example, any published patent publication number) is stored.
Specifically, when it is confirmed that the URL is a URL for displaying a search result list at the timing when the information acquisition success / completion (Document Complete, etc.) event of the WEB browser component occurs, the URL is displayed from the URL via HTTP. An HTML source text is acquired, and necessary data for performing a search at the second site is acquired therefrom (S3).

In a general search service system, a search condition input screen by a user is prepared in order to display information requested by the user. The search condition data input by the user according to the search execution instruction is given as an argument to the search system, and the search system converts the user input data into a machine search expression and performs a database search, and the search corresponding to the condition. Display the result list.
In contrast, in the system of this example, when the user selects an arbitrary second site (for example, a patent information search site on the US Patent Office home page) from the second site menus 3015 and 3016, the link information In accordance with the parameter format that is the argument of the second site in the link information data obtained when the program is started from the providing server d, the necessary data for performing the search at the second site is obtained, and the converted data is used as the argument.

  Specifically, necessary data according to the function name described in the parameter list (here, _JPO_Application Number) is added to the parameter position (% s) in the second site URL of the XML data in which the interface menu information is stored. Then, the second site URL is completed by complementing the application number) (see FIG. 6).

  In addition, when the data acquired from the search result at the first site is insufficient as the necessary data for performing the search at the second site, or for acquiring the necessary data for performing the search at the second site. In order to shorten the processing time, the search result data at the first site is automatically transmitted as an argument to the link information providing server d (S4), and the necessary data is automatically acquired (S5).

  Here, the case where the data acquired from the search result at the first site is insufficient as necessary data for performing the search at the second site is, for example, when the first site is a patent digital library site, a link The information providing server d holds the cited document information, cited document information, etc. using the patent document number as a key as a database, and the user terminal a for the cited document information request, cited document information, etc., using the patent document number as an argument. It is possible to provide information that is not available on public patent information search sites in response to requests from.

A case where the processing time for acquiring necessary data for performing a search at the second site is shortened will be described below.
For example, an application number is required to search for a priority claim number at a patent information search site of the US Patent Office based on a publication search result of a patent electronic library site of the Japan Patent Office. It is also possible to obtain the application number by analyzing the HTML text of the detailed information displayed by the user selecting any document number from the list of document numbers based on the search results on the patent electronic library site However, analysis of the HTML text must require a corresponding processing time.
Similarly, if the application status in a foreign country is confirmed based on the search result of the special fact DB of the patent electronic library site, and the display format is PDF, the search based on the display format is performed again. Data must be obtained.
Furthermore, when checking the application status in foreign countries based on the publication text search of the patent electronic library site, one of the search result lists, or a plurality of search results, the priority claim number on the search site of the US Patent Office In order to perform a search, all application numbers corresponding to the search result list are required. Although the document number can be obtained from the search result list, the application number is not displayed unless detailed display is performed.
In order to obtain application numbers corresponding to all document numbers in the search result list, it takes a considerable amount of processing time to obtain application numbers while displaying detailed information for all documents corresponding to the search result list. .
Further, when the application status in Japan is confirmed based on the text search result on the patent information search site of the US Patent Office, the application number can be obtained from the detailed display on the patent information search site of the US Patent Office. Although it is possible to perform a search by specifying the application number from the text search of the patent electronic library site, the text search service of the patent electronic library site is always crowded, so the document number is specified by the special fact DB search service Searching results can be obtained much faster. Furthermore, when searching on the European Patent Office site based on the patent publication number display on the patent electronic library site, the search result is the fastest when searching with the international publication number corresponding to the patent publication number. Can be obtained.
In the system of this example, in order to cope with such a situation, the link information providing server d holds, for example, a link information database 406 in which a patent publication number and a patent application number, and a patent publication number and an international publication number are paired. Request for a patent application number with a patent publication number as an argument, a request for a patent publication number with a patent application number as an argument, a request for an international publication number with a patent publication number as an argument, a patent publication number with an international publication number as an argument It is possible to shorten the processing time by providing target information at a high speed to such requests.

  In the system of this example, the link information providing function of the link information providing server d is realized as a WEB service. The WEB service is a technology for linking autonomous applications on a network by SOAP / XML format message exchange, or the application, and is one of standard technologies for linking systems on the WEB.

  As shown in FIG. 4, when the link information providing server d receives the client request from the user terminal a (S401), the link information providing server d acquires the parameter given by the argument (S402) and generates the search condition SQL ( In step S403, the link information database 406 is searched (S404), and the search result is returned to the user terminal a (S405).

  The user terminal a sends the necessary data for performing the search at the second site acquired in this way as an argument to the second document information providing server c (S6), and the homepage information acquired via the HTML protocol (S6). As shown in FIG. 3B, the second site is displayed on the linked homepage display screen 303 (S7).

  In a general search service system, there is a site that prohibits acquisition of search result information with a URL directly given an argument without using an input on a search condition input screen. In addition, in the WEB search form created in HTML, unique attributes (name, type, initial value, etc.) are assigned to each of the input fields.

Therefore, in the system of this example, in addition to the search result information acquisition method using the URL with the argument, the search condition input WEB search form is displayed, and the necessary data is displayed in the corresponding input field on the WEB search form. It has a function of pre-assigning using the assigned attributes (name, type, initial value, etc.), automatically entering the corresponding entry field on the WEB search form, and automatically pressing the search execution button.
Specifically, for the input field on the WEB search form specified by destination.autofill.Formitem.Name, in the location of% s of destination.autofill.Formitem.Value,
Automatically input the data that complements the value obtained by the function of distination.autofill.Formitem.Param,
The execution button on the web search form that matches distination.autofill.ClickElementItem.Tagnem, distination.autofill.ClickElementItem.type, Tagnem, distination.autofill.ClickElementItem.value is automatically pressed. An example of the data is shown in FIG.

  The exemplary embodiment of the present invention has been described above with reference to the drawings. However, the service providing method and the system according to the present invention are not limited to the exemplary embodiment, and each claim of the claims It goes without saying that various modifications are possible within the scope of the technical idea described.

The system block diagram in an example of the system which implements the service provision method which concerns on this invention. The flowchart which shows the outline | summary of the service provision in a user terminal. It is an image figure of a user terminal screen. The flowchart which shows the outline | summary of the service provision in a link information provision server. A schema that defines the configuration of the interface menu information XML data provided from the link information providing server. The example of a data description to the parameter position (% s) in the 2nd site URL of the interface menu information XML data provided from a link information provision server. A data description example in which a search condition input WEB search form is displayed, link data is automatically assigned to a corresponding input field on the WEB search form, and a search execution button is automatically pressed.

Explanation of symbols

a: user terminal b: first document information providing server c: second document information providing server d: link information providing server e: network

Claims (7)

A service providing method for automatically searching for information on a second site by diverting information search result data on a first site between a user terminal and a plurality of sites connected to each other via a network. And
Performing a search for information input by the user at the first site designated by the user and displaying the search result on the user terminal;
Automatically acquiring necessary data for performing a search at the second site from the search result data provided by the first site;
Automatically converting search result data provided by the first site into an argument in a format required for a search at the second site based on the required data;
Automatically transmitting the converted argument to a second site designated by the user and performing an automatic search at the second site;
And a step of displaying a search result on the second site on a user terminal. Link information providing means connected to each other via a network with the user terminal and a plurality of sites,
When the search result data provided by the first site is insufficient as necessary data for performing a search at the second site, or necessary data for performing a search at the second site Necessary for automatically transmitting the data acquired from the first site to the link information providing means and performing a search at the second site in the link information providing means in order to shorten the processing time for acquisition 2. The service providing method according to claim 1, further comprising the step of automatically acquiring data and returning the necessary data to the user terminal. After automatically obtaining necessary data for performing a search at the second site from the search result data provided by the first site, the necessary data is stored on the search form at the second site designated by the user. Pre-assigning using attributes assigned to the search condition input field;
Automatically inputting the necessary data in the search condition input field on the search form of the second site according to the pre-allocation information;
The service providing method according to claim 1, further comprising: automatically pressing a search execution button on the search form of the second site to perform the search automatically. A plurality of information providing servers that provide a search and browsing service site are provided with user terminals connected to each other via a network and a link information providing server that provides link information, and information search results on the first site A service providing system that automatically searches for information on a second site by using data,
The user terminal searches the information input by the user at the first site designated by the user, displays the search result, and automatically obtains the data automatically acquired from the first site. It has a function to automatically send to the information providing server,
The link information providing server has a function of acquiring necessary data for performing a search at a second site based on the data transmitted from the user terminal and returning the necessary data to the user terminal. And
Further, the user terminal automatically converts the necessary data returned from the link information providing server into an argument in a format necessary for performing a search at the second site, and uses the converted argument. A service providing system characterized by having a function of automatically transmitting to a second site designated by a user, and performing a search automatically on the second site and displaying the search result. After the user terminal automatically acquires the necessary data for performing a search at the second site from the search result data provided by the first site, the user terminal designates the necessary data as the second data specified by the user. A function that pre-assigns using the attribute assigned to the search condition input field on the search form on the site,
A function of automatically inputting the necessary data in the search condition input field on the search form of the second site according to the information of the pre-allocation;
5. The service providing system according to claim 4, further comprising a function of automatically pressing the search execution button on the search form of the second site to perform the search automatically. A program that operates on user terminals connected to each other via a network for a plurality of information providing servers that provide search and browsing service sites and link information providing servers,
In the first site designated by the user, the information input by the user is searched and the search result is displayed, and the data automatically acquired from the first site is automatically transmitted to the link information providing server. Function to
Based on the automatically acquired data, a function for automatically acquiring necessary data for performing a search at the second site from the link information providing server;
The necessary data automatically acquired from the link information providing server is automatically converted into an argument in a format required for performing a search at the second site designated by the user, and the converted argument is converted to the user. Automatically send to the second site specified by
A program for causing the user terminal to execute a function of automatically performing a search on the second site and displaying the search result. The search condition on the search form at the second site designated by the user is stored in the user terminal as necessary data for performing the search at the second site acquired from the search result data by the first site. A function to pre-allocate using the attribute assigned to the input field,
A function of automatically inputting the necessary data in the search condition input field on the search form of the second site according to the information of the pre-allocation;
7. The program according to claim 6, wherein a function for automatically pressing the search execution button on the search form of the second site is executed.

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