Information processing system, information processing method, and information processing apparatus

An information processing method comprising:

• partitioning a memory into a first storage area and a second storage area such that, among at least one terminal device including a back-end operator terminal device and a front-end client terminal device, access to the first storage area is limited to only the back-end operator terminal device;
• associating identification information and setting information, the setting information indicating whether to search for image data in the first storage area or the second storage area in the memory associated with an image search system;
• storing the image data in one of the first storage area and the second storage area based on the setting information such that, when the image data is stored in the second storage area, the image data is not accessible by the front-end client terminal device;
• receiving, from the at least one terminal device, a search request for the image data;
• accepting the search request for the image data corresponding to a trial request received from the back-end operator terminal device;
• rejecting the search request for the image data corresponding to the trial request received from the front-end operator terminal device;
• determining whether the search request from the at least one terminal device includes the identification information;
• setting a searchable storage area as one of the first storage area and the second storage area based on the identification information and the setting information, in response to determining that the search request from the at least one terminal device includes the identification information;
• setting the searchable storage area as, in response to determining that the search request from the at least one terminal device does not include the identification information;
• setting a region specified for the image data stored in the memory and a weight of the region for search;
• searching the searchable storage area for the image data received from the at least one terminal device by reflecting the weight set for the region to generate a search result;
• and
• transmitting the search result to the at least one terminal device.

An information processing apparatus configured to communicate with a back-end operator terminal device and a front-end client terminal device, the information processing apparatus comprising:

• a memory configured to store therein image data, linkage information associated with the image data, and identification information identifying an image search program;
• and
• a processor configured to:
• partition the memory into a first storage area and a second storage area such that, among the back-end operator terminal device and the front-end client terminal device, access to the first storage area is limited to only the back-end operator terminal device,
• associate the identification information and setting information, the setting information indicating to search for the image data in the first storage area or the second storage area in the memory,
• store the image data in one of the first storage area and the second storage area based on the setting information such that, when the image data is stored in the second storage area, the image data is not accessible by the front-end client terminal device,
• receive, from a terminal device, a search request for the image data, the terminal device being one of the back-end operator terminal device and the front-end client terminal device,
• accept the search request for the image data corresponding to a trial request received from the back-end operator terminal device,
• reject the search request for the image data corresponding to the trial request received from the front-end operator terminal device,
• determine whether the search request from the terminal device includes the identification information,
• set a searchable storage area as one of the first storage area and the second storage area based on the identification information and the setting information, in response to determining that the search request from the terminal device includes the identification information,
• set the searchable storage area as the second storage area, in response to determining that the search request from the terminal device does not include the identification information,
• set a region specified for the image data stored in the memory and a weight of the region for search,
• search the searchable storage area for the image data received from the terminal device by reflecting the weight set for the region to generate a search result, and
• transmit the search result to the terminal device.