JP2019086820A - Input content determination device - Google Patents

Abstract

To provide a device which can easily check whether or not an inputted free text is appropriately associated with each slot.MEANS: Display means 3 controls to display predetermined item names and determined contents, on a part of a free text reception screen. Determination means 5 determines contents data based on temporary contents data associated by temporary determination means 2. In particular, the determination means refers to additional information inputted by urging an additional input, and determines the contents data, when it is determined that the temporary contents data is not suitable in reference to the item. The display means 3 controls to display the contents corresponding to the item name on a confirmation display area in real time, according to the determination by the determination means 5.SELECTED DRAWING: Figure 1

Description

  The present invention relates to an apparatus that determines input content for each item based on an input natural sentence, and an apparatus that performs a search.

  It is performed to analyze the input natural sentence and to correspond to the slot (item). Thereby, instructions to the computer can be given by natural sentences. For example, according to Patent Document 1, it is disclosed that an item (a place of departure, a place of arrival, a flight name, etc.) necessary when making a reservation for an aircraft is a slot, and an input natural sentence is extracted into the slot. .

  In the apparatus of Patent Document 1, the computer side issues a question about a slot in which no entry is made, and prompts the user to make an entry. This makes it possible to input necessary slots in an interactive manner.

Japanese Patent Application Publication No. 2003-162524

  However, in the apparatus of Patent Document 1, the operator can not know what items are necessary items and which items of the necessary items are correctly input. Therefore, in the interactive input, there is a problem that the operator is not efficient for the correct input.

  SUMMARY OF THE INVENTION It is an object of the present invention to solve the above-mentioned problems and to provide an apparatus capable of easily grasping correctly input items and their contents in interactive input.

  Some of the independently applicable features of this invention are listed below.

(1) (2) The input content determination device according to the present invention displays a free text reception screen including in part a confirmation display area for displaying predetermined item names and content data corresponding thereto. Means, a temporary determination means for dividing the input natural sentence into elements and setting it as temporary content data of each item predetermined, and additional input when the content of the item corresponding to the temporary content data is not appropriate An input content determination device comprising: determination means for determining content data with reference to additional information input to the user; and in the confirmation display area, data corresponding to the item name according to the determination by the determination means Is displayed in real time.

  Therefore, it is possible to easily know whether the data for the item name is correctly recognized at the time of input.

(3) The input content determination device according to the present invention is characterized in that the display means performs processing for displaying the free text reception screen on a device connected via a communication line.

  Therefore, the processing result can be displayed by inputting from the terminal device.

(4) The input content determination device according to the present invention is characterized in that data corresponding to the item name is displayed in real time in the confirmation display area according to the determination by the determination means and the correspondence by the temporary determination means. There is.

  Therefore, the tentatively determined data can be easily confirmed.

(5) The input content determination device according to the present invention is characterized in that the display of the data corresponding to the item name in the confirmation display area differs depending on whether it is temporary content data or the determined content data. There is.

  Therefore, both can be easily distinguished.

(6) In the input content determination device according to the present invention, the determination means directly records, for at least one of the respective items, item content list data in which a list of possible data as contents of the item is recorded. Alternatively, if it is possible to specify whether or not the possible data can be specified as one based on the temporary content data by referring to it indirectly and if the possible data can be specified as one, the possible data is regarded as the content of the item. If it is not possible to specify the first determination means to be determined and the possible data as one, the candidate presenting means for performing processing for presenting a plurality of possible data as candidates based on the reference result, and the operation from the presented candidates And second determining means for determining the possible data selected by the person as the content of the item.

  Therefore, the data content can be determined appropriately.

(7) The input content determination device according to the present invention is characterized in that the candidate presenting means processes to display other item parts of the possible data together when presenting a plurality of possible data.

  Therefore, it becomes easy to perform correct data selection.

(8) In the input content determination device according to the present invention, the candidate presenting means does not perform processing to present possible data exceeding the predetermined number as the candidate when the number of possible data candidates exceeds the predetermined number, The present invention is characterized in that a question for narrowing down the possible data is presented, and after the possible data is narrowed down to a predetermined number or less based on an operator's response thereto, determination or presentation processing is performed.

  Therefore, selection of possible data is facilitated.

(9) In the input content determination device according to the present invention, when the element is associated with each predetermined item, the temporary determination means associates the item and the element that are not associated with each other when the element is associated. It is characterized by

  Therefore, it is possible to appropriately associate data that is difficult to associate.

(10) (11) The search device according to the present invention has a display means for displaying a free sentence reception screen including in part a confirmation display area for displaying predetermined item names and content data corresponding thereto The input natural sentence is divided into elements, and provisional content data of each item for which an essential item or an item which can be omitted can be determined in advance. If there is an item which can not be associated with the provisional content data, Temporary determination means for presenting to the operator a message prompting the user to input an item; determination means for determining content data based on the temporary content data for the obligatory items associated with the required items and the temporary content data;
A search apparatus comprising: search means for searching a database including an item corresponding to each item based on content data of an optional item and an optional item associated with temporary content data; Content data corresponding to the item name is displayed in real time according to the determination by the temporary determination means or the determination means.

  Therefore, it can be easily confirmed whether the data input for the search is performed correctly.

(12) In the search device according to the present invention, the item content list data in which the determination means records a list of possible data as contents of the item for the item that can be omitted in which the required item and the temporary content data are associated If the determination means determines whether or not the possible data can be specified as one based on the temporary content data by referring directly or indirectly, and if the possible data can be specified as one, the contents of the item concerned are the possible data From the presented candidates, a first determination means for determining as and a candidate presenting means for performing processing for presenting a plurality of possible data as candidates based on the reference result if the possible data can not be specified as one. And a second determination unit configured to determine the possible data selected by the operator as the content of the item.

  Therefore, the data content can be determined appropriately and the search can be performed.

  In the embodiment, “display means” corresponds to steps S531, S651, and S641.

  In the embodiment, “provisional determination means” corresponds to step S53.

  In the embodiment, "determination means" corresponds to steps S65 and S64.

  In the embodiment, “search means” corresponds to step S72.

  The “program” is a concept including not only a program directly executable by the CPU but also a program in source format, a program subjected to compression processing, an encrypted program and the like.

It is a functional block diagram of the input content determination apparatus by one Embodiment concerning this invention. FIG. 7 is a view showing an example of a detailed function of the determination means 5; FIG. 6 is a system configuration diagram when an input content determination device is constructed as a server device 20. It is a hardware configuration of the server apparatus 20. It is a hardware configuration of the terminal device 30. It is a flowchart of input content decision processing. It is a flowchart of input content decision processing. It is a flowchart of input content decision processing. It is a figure which shows the display screen in the terminal device 30. FIG. It is a figure which shows the display screen in the terminal device 30. FIG. It is a figure which shows the display screen in the terminal device 30. FIG. It is a figure which shows the display screen in the terminal device 30. FIG. It is a figure which shows the display screen in the terminal device 30. FIG. It is a figure which shows matching with a required item and a specific expression. It is a table which shows correspondence of DB corresponding to a required item. It is a figure which shows railway DB. It is a figure which shows supplier DB. It is a figure which shows matching of the data with a required item. It is a functional block diagram of the search device by a 2nd embodiment. It is a flowchart of a search process. It is a flowchart of a search process. It is a figure which shows the display screen in the terminal device 30. FIG. It is a figure which shows the display screen in the terminal device 30. FIG. It is a figure which shows the display screen in the terminal device 30. FIG. It is a figure which shows matching of the data with a required item. It is a figure which shows meeting room DB. It is data indicating the extracted empty meeting room. It is a figure showing employee DB.

1. First embodiment
1.1 Functional Block Diagram FIG. 1 shows a functional block diagram of an input content determination device according to an embodiment of the present invention. The temporary determination means 2 morphologically analyzes the natural sentence input on the free sentence reception screen and divides it into specific expressions. Furthermore, this unique expression is associated as temporary content data of each item (slot). In addition, the input of a natural sentence may be what was input as text data, and what was speech-converted may be text-converted. Moreover, what was input into handwriting may be converted into text.

  The display means 3 controls to display a predetermined item name and the determined content on a part of the free sentence reception screen.

  The determination means 5 determines the content data based on the temporary content data correlated by the temporary determination means 2. In particular, if it is determined that the provisional content data is not appropriate for the item, content data is determined with reference to the additional information input by prompting additional input.

  In response to the determination by the determination means 5, the display means 3 controls to display the content corresponding to the item name in the confirmation display area in real time.

  Therefore, the operator can perform interactive input while confirming whether or not the input content has been determined for each item, and the input can be made more efficient.

  FIG. 2 shows a detailed functional block diagram of the determination means 5 in this embodiment. When there is an item for which the temporary content data can not be associated by the temporary determination unit 2, the additional information request unit 9 requests the operator to input the item.

  The self-determination means 4 determines whether the temporary content data is appropriate for the item based on the temporary content data itself. For example, when "6 o'clock" is included in the input free sentence, this is associated with the item of time. However, it is unclear whether it is morning or afternoon, which is inappropriate. In this case, the additional information request means 9 displays a question of "morning or afternoon" and requests to input additional information.

  If it is "6 pm" and "6 am", it is judged to be appropriate. Thus, it is the self-determination means 4 that determines whether it is appropriate or not based on the input content data itself.

  The judging means 6 judges with reference to the item content list data 14 whether temporary content data is appropriate for the item. The item content data list 14 shows possible data that can be used as data of the item. Therefore, the judging means 6 judges whether or not the item content data list is appropriate depending on whether or not only one corresponding to the temporary content data can be specified.

  If it is determined that the temporary content data is appropriate for the item, the first determination unit 8 determines the temporary content data as data of the item.

  If it is determined that the temporary content data is not appropriate for the item, the candidate presenting unit 10 presents a plurality of item content data corresponding to the temporary content data as candidates. When the operator selects one of the item content data presented as a candidate, the second determination means determines this as data of the item. As described above, the content data of each item is determined.

The content data determined by the determination means 5 as described above is displayed together with the item name in the confirmation display area by the display means 3 of FIG.

1.2 System Configuration and Hardware Configuration FIG. 3 shows a system configuration when the input content determination device according to this embodiment is configured as a server device 20. A terminal device 30 is connected to the server device 20 via a network such as the Internet. In addition, a database 50 is connected to the server device 20. A plurality of databases 50 and terminal devices 30 may be provided. In this embodiment, a PC is used as the terminal device 30, but a smartphone or a doublet may be used.

  The hardware configuration of the server device 20 is shown in FIG. A memory 22, a hard disk 23, a DVD-ROM drive 24, and a communication circuit 25 are connected to the CPU 21. The communication circuit 25 is for communicating with the network.

  An operating system 26 and an input content determination program 27 are recorded on the hard disk 23. The input content determination program 27 cooperates with the operating system 26 to exhibit its function. These programs are the programs recorded in the DVD-ROM 28 installed in the hard disk 23 through the DVD-ROM drive 24. Note that these programs may be acquired from other devices on the network and installed.

  The hardware configuration of the terminal device 30 is shown in FIG. A memory 32, a hard disk 33, a DVD-ROM drive 34, a communication circuit 35, a display 39, and a keyboard / mouse 40 are connected to the CPU 31. The communication circuit 35 is for communicating with the network.

An operating system 36 and a browser program 37 are recorded on the hard disk 33. The browser program 37 cooperates with the operating system 36 to perform its function. These programs are the programs recorded in the DVD-ROM 38 installed in the hard disk 33 via the DVD-ROM drive 34.

1.3 Input Content Determination Process FIGS. 6 to 8 show flowcharts of the input content determination program 27 of the server device 20 and the browser program 37 of the terminal device 30, respectively. Here, the case of performing input content determination processing for travel expense reimbursement will be described.

  The operator operates the keyboard / mouse 40 of the terminal device 30 to access the server device 20 (step S1). In response to this, the server device 20 transmits a login screen to the terminal device 30. In the terminal device 30, the operator inputs a user ID and a password to the screen, and transmits the user ID and the password to the server device 20. If the combination of the user ID and the password is in the user list recorded in advance, the server device 20 proceeds with the subsequent processing (steps S2 and S51).

  The CPU 21 of the server device 20 (hereinafter sometimes referred to as the server device 20) transmits a free sentence input screen for travel expense reimbursement as shown in FIG. 9A to the terminal device 30 via the communication circuit 25. (Step S52).

  The free sentence input screen generated by the server device 20 is shown in FIG. 9A. Along with the free sentence input field 42, a confirmation display area 45 for performing confirmation display is provided. Here, items (“date”, “railway company”, “department station”, “arriving station”, “other party”) predetermined for travel expense settlement are shown. In this embodiment, “Date”, “Destination station”, “Destination station”, “Railway company”, and “Destination” are set in advance as input items (slots) necessary for performing the settlement process. That is, these are recorded on the hard disk 23 as necessary items. In addition, the necessary items necessary for performing the processing are similarly recorded for processing other than travel expense reimbursement.

  The CPU 31 of the terminal device 30 (hereinafter sometimes referred to as the terminal device 30) receives this and displays it on the display 39 (step S3). The operator operates the keyboard / mouse 40, and enters the date, departure station, arrival station, and destination of the settlement target in the free sentence input field 42 of FIG. 9A. When the input is completed and the transmission button 44 is clicked, the terminal device 30 transmits the input free text to the server device 20 via the communication circuit 35 (step S4). Here, a free sentence is data that is input without being associated with an item, and is a concept that includes not only natural sentences similar to human words but also sentences that do not conform to human grammar.

  The server device 20 receives the free text, and performs morphological analysis to extract a proper expression (step S53). That is, the unique expression is extracted in association with each predetermined item. For example, in the case of the item of "date", the morpheme with "day" is extracted.

  Also, the server device 20 records a template in advance, and also refers to this template to extract a unique expression corresponding to each item. For example, if you have prepared a template "A went to B to C" and a free text that applies to this is entered, A is "Date", B is "Destination", C is "Destination It is a unique expression corresponding to the item of "."

  For such morphological analysis and extraction of specific expressions, conventionally used methods can be used. For example, referring to the particles before and after the morpheme, it may be considered which item is the proper expression corresponding to.

  Here, as shown in FIG. 9B, the description will be made on the assumption that “Train fee to JR Kyoto who went to Natsume Chamber of Commerce on Wednesday” has been input. The server device 20 extracts unique expressions for each item as shown in FIG. 14A. The server device 20 displays the associated unique expression in the confirmation display area 45 as shown in FIG. 9B (step S531). That is, the unique expression is displayed in association with each item.

  In this embodiment, as shown in FIG. 9B, a pressable cross mark is displayed after the specific expression. This is provided for input content correction.

  When the operator notices an input error, when there is an error in text conversion when speech input is performed, when there is an error in the correspondence by the server device 20, when it is desired to delete a specific expression (for example, The operator clicks the cross mark after the erroneous specific expression, for example, when “Tabata industry” is deleted) when “Tadaya industry” is recognized as a partner and displayed. As a result, the server device 20 is notified that the cross mark has been clicked.

  In response to this, the server device 20 deletes the specific expression associated with the item in the table shown in FIG. 14A, and transmits a message prompting the user to re-enter the item to the terminal device 30. When the operator re-inputs from the terminal device 30, the unique expression for the item is extracted again and recorded in the table of FIG. 14A.

  Next, the server device 20 determines whether there is a required item (slot) to which no specific expression is associated (step S55). If not, the process proceeds to step S57. Here, as shown in FIG. 14A, no specific expression is associated with the item of “Departure station”. Therefore, the server device 20 transmits, to the terminal device 30, a screen for prompting additional input for the unneeded necessary item (step S56).

  The terminal device 30 records, in advance, data for prompting additional input in association with each item. If no specific expression is found for the item "Destination", as shown in FIG. 10A, a letter prompting additional input "Please enter" Destination "" and an input field 42 are displayed. Screen is sent.

  The terminal device 30 displays this additional input screen on the display 39 (step S5). In response to this, the operator operates the keyboard / mouse 40 to make an additional input of "start station". Here, it is assumed that “Osaka” is input as shown in FIG. 10A. When the transmission button 44 is clicked, the terminal device 30 transmits "Osaka" to the server device 20 (step S6).

  In response to this, the server device 20 extracts the specific expression (step S53), and as shown in FIG. 14B, associates "Osaka" as the content of the "start station". Further, display data is transmitted so as to display "Osaka" in the confirmation display area 45 in association with the "station of departure" (step S531). The display screen at this time is shown in FIG. 10B.

  As described above, when there are no items not supported, the server device 30 advances the process to step S57 (step S55).

  In step S57 and subsequent steps, the server device 30 determines whether the specific expression associated with each item can be determined as the content of the item. In this embodiment, there are two methods of determination depending on the item. There are two: self-determination and DB reference determination.

  For example, it is possible to determine whether an item such as a date is appropriate by the specific expression itself without referring to the database. On the other hand, the railway company, the departure station, the arrival station, the other party, etc. can not know whether or not their proper expressions are appropriate without referring to a database representing these lists. The former performs self-determination processing, and the latter performs DB reference determination. The determination process to be performed on each item is recorded in advance in the hard disk 23 for each item. In this embodiment, the “date” is set to perform self-determination processing and DB reference determination processing for “railway company”, “departure station”, “arriving station”, and “partner”.

  The server device 20 first determines whether the specific expression “Wednesday” is appropriate for the item “date”. The server device 20 determines whether or not each of “year”, “month”, and “day” is specified by numbers, or whether there is information sufficient to specify numbers.

  For example, in the case of "October 16, 2017", "year", "month" and "day" are respectively identified by numbers. On the other hand, in the case of "October 2017", "day" is not specified.

  Also, in the case of "yesterday", "year", "month" and "day" can be specified by referring to the built-in calendar.

  As shown in FIG. 14B, since the date can not be specified on "Wednesday" and is inappropriate (step S58), the server device 20 transmits a screen prompting additional input (step S59). For example, as shown in FIG. 11A, a message prompting an additional input “When is it Wednesday?” And a screen including an input field 42 and a confirmation display area 45 are transmitted. Such words are prepared and recorded in advance depending on which item is inappropriate. Note that, instead of FIG. 11A, a screen may be transmitted that displays the date of Wednesday up to about three weeks ago as an option.

  The terminal device 30 displays this additional input screen on the display 39 (step S7). In response to this, the operator operates the keyboard / mouse 40 to make an additional input regarding "Date". Here, as shown in FIG. 11B, it is assumed that "last week" is input. When the send button 44 is clicked, the terminal device 30 sends "last week" to the server device 20 (step S8).

  In response to this, the server device 20 extracts the unique expression, and based on this, identifies the "year", "month" and "day" (step S60). For example, if it is "last week", "year", "month" and "day" can be identified as last Wednesday. If "October 17, 2017" is today, it can be identified as "Oct. 11, 2017."

  As described above, if the content data is appropriate for each item that is the target of the self-determination process (here, only "date"), the data content of these items is determined as the data (step S65) ).

  The server device 20 transmits display data so as to display the data content “Oct. 11, 2017” determined in association with the item “Date” in the confirmation display area 45 (step S 651). The terminal device 30 displays this (step S81). The display on the terminal device 30 is shown in FIG. 11B. “2017/10/11” is displayed in association with “Date”. Further, in this embodiment, the determined content data is displayed so as to be distinguishable from the undecided content data. As shown in FIG. 11B, the background color is displayed darker.

  Subsequently, the server device 20 performs DB reference determination processing for the item determined by referring to the DB. The server device 20 records correspondence DBs as shown in FIG. 15 for each target item. For example, as for the item of "departure station", it is shown that the list is recorded in the item "station name" of the railway DB. That is, in the "station name" item (shown in parentheses in FIG. 15) of the railway DB, a list of possible data that can be taken at the "departure station" is shown.

  The server device 20 refers to the item data of the corresponding DB for the target item, and determines whether or not the content can be uniquely identified (step S61). For example, the item “company” of the railway DB is referred to for the specific expression “JR” of the item “railroad company” in FIG. 14B.

  FIG. 16 shows an example of the railway DB. This railway DB is created by modifying the general railway DB for its own company, so as to be convenient for travel expense reimbursement. In the general railway DB, the distinction between JR West, JR Tokai, etc. is made, but in this railway DB, it is unified to JR. This is because this company treats as JR collectively for the purpose of settlement.

  The specific expression “JR” of the item “railway company” in FIG. 14B is the same as the item “company” of the railway DB. Therefore, the specific expression "JR" can be uniquely identified for the purpose of travel expense reimbursement, and the specific expression "JR" is determined as the data content as it is (step S64).

  The server device 20 transmits display data so as to display the determined data content "JR" in the confirmation display area 45 in association with the item "railroad company" (step S641). In response to this, as shown in FIG. 12A, the terminal device 30 determines and displays (displays in dark background color) “JR” in association with the “railway company”.

  Similarly to the above, the server device 20 also performs DB reference determination processing for “Osaka” and “Kyoto” in FIG. 14B. Since "Osaka" and "Kyoto" are also in the railway DB in the same manner as the above "JR", they are determined as data contents as they are (step S64). Therefore, as shown in FIG. 12A, the decision display is also made for “Osaka” and “Kyoto”.

  Next, the server device 20 performs DB reference determination processing also on the specific expression “Natsume Shokai” of the item “other party”. As shown in FIG. 15, with regard to the supplier, it is determined to refer to the item “company name” of the supplier DB.

  FIG. 17 shows a supplier DB. The customer DB is a database indicating the business partners of the company. Referring to the client DB, it can be understood that there are three data corresponding to the specific expression "Natsume Shokai", "Natsume Shokai", "Natsume Shokai Co., Ltd." and "Natsume Shokai Shoji Kogyo". Therefore, it is not possible to uniquely identify a trading partner.

  The server device 20 generates a screen for selecting from the three companies retrieved by reference, and transmits the screen to the terminal device 30 (step S63). FIG. 12B shows an example of the selection screen.

The terminal device 30 displays this selection screen on the display 39 (step S9).

  In response, the operator operates the keyboard / mouse 40 and clicks to select one. Thereby, the selected content is transmitted to the server device 20 (step S10). When Natsume Shokai is selected, the server device 20 is notified that this has been selected. In response to this, the server device 20 determines the other party as "(N) Natsume Chamber of Commerce" (step S64).

  The server device 20 transmits display data so as to display the determined data content “(current) Natsume Trading Company” in the confirmation display area 45 in association with the item “other party” (step S641). In response to this, as shown in FIG. 13A, the terminal device 30 determines and displays (displays with a dark background color) “Natsume Shokai” in association with the “other party”. In step S62, if there is data in the DB that completely matches the specific expression, the data can be used as the determination data. Furthermore, when only one piece of data that is not a perfect match but partially includes a specific expression is found in the DB, if there is no other match data in the DB, the data is determined. For example, if the specific data is "Ando", only "Ando Kogyo Co., Ltd." is hit in FIG. 12, so the data content is determined accordingly.

As described above, data contents are determined for all necessary items. These determined data are passed to the travel expense reimbursement system for processing. In this embodiment, the travel expense is calculated on the side of the travel expense reimbursement system, so the input of the amount is unnecessary. However, the amount may also be input.

1.4 Other
(1) In the above embodiment, the data before being determined is also displayed in the confirmation display area 45. However, only the determined data may be displayed in the confirmation display area 45.

(2) In the above embodiment, the input content determination device for determining data to be provided to the travel expense reimbursement system has been described. However, the present invention can be generally applied to the determination of input contents, such as when determining the input contents of an order placement system, a delivery system, a conference room reservation system, an extension number search system, and the like.

(3) In the above embodiment, in step S63, the selection screen for selecting from the data extracted from the DB is transmitted. However, when the data extracted from the DB exceeds a predetermined number (for example, 5), a query for further narrowing down may be transmitted to the terminal device 30. In response to the answer to the question, if the number of data becomes equal to or less than a predetermined number, the selection screen may be transmitted.

(4) In the above embodiment, as shown in FIG. 13A, data of the item of the DB corresponding to the item to be determined is displayed as a selection candidate. However, other attributes of this selection candidate (data of other items of DB) may be displayed together. For example, as shown in FIG. 13B, displaying the address of FIG. 17 also makes it easy to select a company name.

(5) In the above embodiment, the case where the settlement process is performed based on the determined input content has been described. However, processing for searching the database may be performed based on the determined input content or the input content during determination.

(6) In the above embodiment, a general processing method is used as the processing for extracting the entity expression. However, in addition to this, the following elements may be added to extract a specific expression.

  First, the unique expression is extracted for each item by a general processing method. For example, when the natural sentence is input as shown in the lower part of FIG. 18, it is assumed that the proper expression can be extracted from the date, the railway company, the departure station, and the arrival station. However, it is assumed that only the "other party" can not extract the proper expression. In this case, morphological analysis is performed to associate the remaining "heavy works" as the unique representation of the "other party". By this, "heavy work" will be considered as the company name, and the possibility of correctly finding the proper expression becomes high.

(7) In the above embodiment, the input content determination device is constructed as a server device. However, input, display, and processing may be performed by one computer without using the server device.

(8) In the above embodiment, the server device 20 is provided with the input content determination program 27, and the terminal device 30 is provided with the browser program 37. That is, on the side of the terminal device 30, only processing of input and display is performed. However, an application may be provided on the terminal device 30 side to execute part of the processing performed on the server device 30 side. For example, the morphological analysis and the extraction of the specific expression are executed by the application of the terminal device 30, and the extracted specific expression is transmitted to the server device 20, and the server device 20 performs the subsequent processing. Good.

(9) In the above embodiment, the range of data in each item may be set. For example, when the working time of the company is from 9 am to 9 pm, it is possible to accept only the range of 9:00 to 21:00 for the date and time items for meeting room reservation. Further, even when "6 o'clock" is input, it can be automatically determined to be 6 o'clock in the afternoon based on this acceptable range.

(10) In the above embodiment, when it is determined that there is no corresponding input for any item, additional input is prompted (step S56). However, depending on the work content, there are items that are not necessarily mandatory. For example, in the above-mentioned transportation expenses settlement, it is assumed that the boarding time is not an essential item, but there is a company that treats this as an acceptable item. In this case, it is not necessary to prompt additional input for the item of boarding time even if there is no corresponding input.

  Therefore, it may be possible to set, for each item, whether it is an essential item or an omissible item. The server device 20 prompts additional input only for items designated as mandatory items, and does not prompt additional input for items that are optional items even if there is no corresponding entry.

(11) In the above embodiment, when Wednesday is input, it is inquired when it will be Wednesday. However, it may be determined automatically according to the work content.

  For example, if it is a process for a past matter such as a clearing operation, it is automatically determined to be "Wednesday" just before today as seen from today. In addition, in the case of processing for future matters such as reservation of a meeting room, it is automatically determined to be "Wednesday" which is the latest and latest from today.

(12) In the above embodiment, the data temporarily determined by changing the background density (temporary content data) and the data determined are distinguished and displayed. However, the display mode may be changed so as to be distinguishable by changing the background color, changing the color and density of the characters, changing the font of the characters, and changing the size.

(13) This embodiment and the other examples can be implemented in combination with the other embodiments and the other examples as long as the essence is not violated.

2. Second embodiment
2.1 Functional Block Diagram FIG. 19 shows a functional block diagram of a search device according to the second embodiment. The temporary determination means 2 morphologically analyzes the input natural sentence and divides it into specific representations. Furthermore, this unique expression is associated as temporary content data of each item (slot). In addition, the input of a natural sentence may be what was input as text data, and what was speech-converted may be text-converted. Moreover, what was input into handwriting may be converted into text.

  In this embodiment, it is determined for each item whether it is a required item or an omissible item. Mandatory items are items that must be input in order to search. Optional items are items that do not necessarily need to be input for search.

  The provisional determination means 2 presents a message prompting an input and obtains an input when the corresponding item is not input for the required item. However, for the optional items, even if there is no corresponding input, the input is not prompted.

  The determination means 5 determines the content of the omissible item in which the required item and the temporary data content are associated with each other based on the temporary content data. For example, each means of the first embodiment can be used as the configuration of the content determination.

  The search means 18 searches the database including the above-mentioned items based on the determined content data of the skippable item in which the required item and the temporary data content are associated.

As described above, a search apparatus by natural sentence input can be realized.

2.2 System Configuration and Hardware Configuration The system configuration and hardware configuration are the same as in the first embodiment. However, a search program is recorded in the server device 20 in place of the input content determination program 27.

2.3 Search Processing FIGS. 20 and 21 show flowcharts of a search program of the server device 20 and a browser program of the terminal device 30. In this embodiment, an apparatus for determining a meeting schedule in consideration of a meeting participant's schedule and a space of a meeting room for an operator will be described as an example.

  When the operator logs in to the server device 20, an input screen as shown in FIG. 22A is transmitted. The operator inquires about the meeting schedule in free text. For example, the user inputs from the terminal device 30 a question, "Can Yokota and Hirata-kun be able to hold a one-hour meeting in Osaka tomorrow afternoon?" The process of morphologically analyzing the free text and extracting the proper expression corresponding to a predetermined required item (slot) is as shown in FIG. This is processing similar to FIG. 6 of the first embodiment.

  However, in this embodiment, whether each required item is a required item or an optional item is recorded. Here, "period", "time spent", "participant", "base" and "conference room" are set as necessary items, and "participant" "period" "time spent" is an essential item, "participant" It is assumed that "base" and "meeting room" are defined as the items that can be omitted (see FIG. 25A). "Period" is a period for which a free search is to be performed, and "use time" is a use time length of a conference room.

  In step S55, when there is an item for which the specific expression can not be associated, in FIG. 6, all the additional inputs are prompted (step S56). However, in this embodiment, additional input is prompted only when the item for which the specific expression could not be associated is a required item (step S551). Therefore, even if the proper expressions can not be associated with the item that can be omitted, processing for prompting additional input is not performed.

  If a free sentence "Are you Yokota and Mr. Hirata, can you hold a one-hour meeting in Osaka tomorrow?" Is input on the screen in Fig. 22A, as shown in Fig. 25A, specific expressions are associated as shown in Fig. 25A. . Thus, a screen as shown in FIG. 22B is transmitted from the server device 20. In the confirmation display area 45, the content associated with each item as temporary content data is displayed. Although the specific expression associated with the meeting room has not been input, no additional input is required because it is an optional item.

  In addition, in the item of the participant, the operator is displayed as "Mr. Furuya". This is because it is common for operators to also attend meetings. Note that the operator's name and the like can be acquired from the employee DB stored in association with the ID at the time of login.

  In addition, the process at the time of clicking the x mark currently displayed after specific expression is the same as that of 1st Embodiment. However, in the case where the clicked X mark is an item that can be omitted, it is determined that the operator considered that the input is unnecessary, and a display prompting re-input is not displayed. In addition, when the clicked x mark is an essential item, it is the same as that of the first embodiment.

  In addition, for an optional item ("Conference room" in FIG. 22B) for which the corresponding specific expression has not been input, an input screen is displayed with a message prompting "Please enter a meeting room" when the item name is clicked. Is displayed. This is useful if you want to enter an optional item again later.

  Next, the server device 20 and the terminal device 30 perform the determination process shown in FIG. 21 for the omissible items in which the essential items and the temporary content data are associated (steps S71 and S20). That is, determination processing is performed for "period", "time of use", "participant", and "location". "Period" and "use time" perform self-determination processing, and "participant" and "base" perform DB reference determination processing.

  The period may span multiple days, or may specify a specific time zone of a specific day. In FIG. 25A, since the provisional content data is tomorrow afternoon, the server device 20 refers to the calendar and decides on 13:00 to 17:00 on October 18, 2017. The end of the time zone at 17:00 is based on predetermined working time information.

  Next, a process of determining the usage time is performed. The temporary content data is 1 hour, and is decided as it is because it is appropriate.

  In order to determine participants, refer to the employee DB. For example, if there are two or more Hirata among the employees, candidates are presented and the operator is made to make a selection.

  In order to determine a base, reference is made to a base master. In the base master, a base having a conference room is recorded in a list. For example, "Tokyo", "Osaka", "Nagoya", etc. are recorded. Here, it will be decided as Osaka.

  Since the meeting room is an omissible item to which temporary content data is not associated, it is assumed that there is no corresponding data. The results thus determined are shown in FIG. 25B. At this time, the screen transmitted from the server device 20 to the terminal device 30 and displayed is as shown in FIG. 23A. Since the data for each item is determined, the server device 20 generates display data so as to display the background color darker.

  Subsequently, the server device 20 searches the conference room DB based on the content data determined above, and displays the available time.

  First, the server device 20 searches the conference room reservation DB based on the “period”, the “use time”, and the “base”. FIG. 26 shows a part of the conference room reservation DB. In FIG. 26, the 印 mark means vacancy, and the x mark means with reservation. October 18, 2017 of "Period" is the item of "day", 13:00-17:00 of "Period" and 1 hour of "use time" is the item of time, "base" is "base" Perform a search by specifying it as the search condition of the item. In addition, since a meeting room is not specified, this is not considered as a search condition.

  Therefore, at the base "Osaka", a conference room having a time zone open continuously for one hour or more between 13:00 and 17:00 is searched. As a result, for example, as shown in FIG. 27, it is assumed that the availability of each conference room in Osaka is obtained.

  Next, it is checked by referring to the employee schedule DB whether or not each participant's schedule in this time zone is open. The employee schedule DB on October 18, 2017 is shown in FIG. It can be seen that the scheduled free time of three people is 16:00 to 17:00 in the above-mentioned idle time zone of the conference room. Therefore, the server apparatus 20 can find that a conference is possible between 16 o'clock and 17 o'clock in the 202 conference rooms in Osaka.

  The server device 20 transmits this result to the terminal device 30 (step S73). Here, since there is only one search result, only one result is shown as shown in FIG. 23B. In the case where there is a plurality, as shown in FIG. 24, it is transmitted so that the operator of the terminal device 30 can select it as a plurality of candidates. The terminal device 30 displays the result on the display 39 (step S21).

  The operator can operate the keyboard / mouse 40 of the terminal device 30, click the reservation button 92, and transmit the reservation of the conference room to the server device 20 (step S22). In response to this, the server device 20 reserves a conference room (step S74). Also, register this on each person's schedule.

As described above, it is possible to search for the availability of the conference room while referring to the schedule of each participant.

2.4 Other
(1) In the above embodiment, the data before being determined is also displayed in the confirmation display area 45. However, only the determined data may be displayed in the confirmation display area 45.

(2) In the above embodiment, the determination processing in the first embodiment is used as the determination processing in step S71. However, other determination processes may be used to determine the content data corresponding to the item.

(3) In the above-described embodiment, when the corresponding entry is not made for the required item, the screen for prompting the entry is displayed. However, even if there is no input, a default value to be used as the data content of the item may be determined and used without prompting the input. For example, in the above example, when the usage time is not input, "one hour" previously determined as a default value may be used as the data content.

(4) This embodiment and the other examples can be implemented in combination with the other embodiments and the other examples as long as the essence is not violated.

Claims (12)

Display means for displaying a free sentence reception screen including in part a confirmation display area for displaying predetermined item names and content data corresponding thereto;
Temporary determination means for dividing the input natural sentence into elements and setting temporary content data of each item determined in advance;
A determination unit that determines content data with reference to additional information that is input by prompting additional input when the temporary content data is not appropriate as the content of the corresponding item;
In the input content determination device provided with
An input content determination device characterized in that data corresponding to an item name is displayed in real time in the confirmation display area according to the determination by the determination means. An input content determination program for realizing an input content determination device by a computer, comprising:
Display means for displaying a free sentence reception screen including in part a confirmation display area for displaying predetermined item names and content data corresponding thereto;
Temporary determination means for dividing the input natural sentence into elements and setting temporary content data of each item determined in advance;
When the temporary content data is not appropriate as the content of the corresponding item, in the input content determination program for causing it to function as a determination means for determining content data with reference to the additional information prompting additional input,
11. An input content determination program according to claim 10, wherein data corresponding to the item name is displayed in real time in the confirmation display area according to the determination by the temporary determination means or the determination means. The apparatus according to claim 1 or the program according to claim 2
The apparatus or the program characterized in that the display means performs processing for displaying the free sentence reception screen on an apparatus connected via a communication line. The apparatus or program according to any one of claims 1 to 3.
An input content determination device characterized in that data corresponding to an item name is displayed in real time in the confirmation display area according to the determination by the determination means and the association by the temporary determination means. In the apparatus or program of claim 4,
An apparatus or a program characterized in that display of data corresponding to an item name in the confirmation display area is different depending on whether it is temporary content data or determined content data. In the device or program according to any one of claims 1 to 5,
The determining means is
For at least one of the above items, the item content list data recording the list of possible data as the content of the item is directly or indirectly referred to, and based on the temporary content data, the possible data is A judging means for judging whether or not it can be specified as one;
First determining means for determining the possible data as the content of the item if the possible data can be specified as one;
Candidate presenting means for performing processing for presenting a plurality of possible data as a candidate based on the reference result if the possible data can not be specified as one;
Second determining means for determining possible data selected by the operator from the presented candidates as the content of the item;
An apparatus or program comprising: In the apparatus or program of claim 6,
The apparatus or program, wherein the candidate presenting means processes to display other item parts of the possible data together when presenting a plurality of possible data. The apparatus or program according to claim 6 or 7
The candidate presenting means presents a question for narrowing down the possible data without performing a process of presenting the possible data exceeding the predetermined number as the candidate when the number of possible data candidates exceeds a predetermined number. A device or program characterized by performing determination or presentation processing after narrowing down the possible data to a predetermined number or less based on an operator's response thereto. The apparatus or program according to any one of claims 6 to 8.
The apparatus or the program characterized in that, when the element is associated with each predetermined item, the temporary determination unit associates the item and the element that are not associated with each other when the element is associated. Display means for displaying a free sentence reception screen including in part a confirmation display area for displaying predetermined item names and content data corresponding thereto;
The input natural sentence is divided into elements, and it is assumed that it is temporary content data of each item in which the mandatory item or the item which can be omitted can be determined in advance. Temporary determination means for presenting to the operator a message prompting input of
A determination unit configured to determine content data based on the temporary content data for the skippable items associated with the required items and the temporary content data;
Search means for searching a database including an item corresponding to each item based on content data of an optional item associated with the required item and the temporary content data;
In a search device provided with
A search apparatus characterized in that content data corresponding to an item name is displayed in real time in the confirmation display area according to the determination by the temporary determination means or the determination means. A search program for realizing a search device by a computer, the computer comprising:
Display means for displaying a free sentence reception screen including in part a confirmation display area for displaying predetermined item names and content data corresponding thereto;
The input natural sentence is divided into elements, and it is assumed that it is temporary content data of each item in which the mandatory item or the item which can be omitted can be determined in advance. Temporary determination means for presenting to the operator a message prompting input of
A determination unit configured to determine content data based on the temporary content data for the skippable items associated with the required items and the temporary content data;
A search program for functioning as a search means for searching a database including an item corresponding to each item based on content data of an omissible item in which a required item and temporary content data are associated with each other.
A search program characterized in that content data corresponding to an item name is displayed in real time in the confirmation display area in accordance with determination by a temporary determination means or a determination means. The apparatus according to claim 10 or the program according to claim 11.
The determining means is
Item contents list data in which a list of possible data as contents of the item is recorded can be referred to directly or indirectly for an omissible item in which the required item and the temporary content data are associated, based on the temporary content data , Determination means for determining whether the possible data can be identified as one, and
First determining means for determining the possible data as the content of the item if the possible data can be specified as one;
Candidate presenting means for performing processing for presenting a plurality of possible data as a candidate based on the reference result if the possible data can not be specified as one;
Second determining means for determining possible data selected by the operator from the presented candidates as the content of the item;
An apparatus or program comprising:

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