Database constructing apparatus, database search apparatus, database apparatus, method of constructing database, and method of searching database

A database search apparatus for managing structured documents, the database search apparatus comprising:

• an element name dictionary in which a unique element name ID has been registered for each element name appearing in each structured document;
• an ancestral path name dictionary in which a unique ancestral path name ID has been registered for each ancestral path name appearing in the structured document;
• an element appearance information storage portion in which element appearance information has been stored using an element name ID as a key based on results of analysis of the structured document, the element appearance information including at least information about a document number at which an element of interest appears, character position, ancestral path name ID, and order of branches;
• an ancestral path appearance information storage portion in which ancestral path appearance information has been stored using an ancestral path name ID as a key based on the results of the analysis of the structured document, the ancestral path appearance information including at least information about the document number at which the element of interest appears, character position, element name ID, and order of branches;
• a search condition input portion for entering a search formula;
• a search condition analysis portion for converting the input search formula into an internal condition formula by referring to the element name dictionary and the ancestral path name dictionary;
• and
• an appearance information acquisition portion for finding plural search results from element appearance information from the element appearance information storage portion and from ancestral path appearance information from the ancestral path appearance information storage portion according to the internal condition formula output by the search condition analysis portion.

A method of constructing a database for managing structured documents, the method comprising the steps of:

• assigning a unique document number to each structured document and analyzing its structure;
• assigning a unique element name ID to each element name appearing in the structured document based on results of the analysis and registering the element name in an element name dictionary;
• assigning a unique ancestral path name ID to each ancestral path name appearing in the structured document based on results of the analysis and registering the ancestral path name ID in an ancestral path name dictionary;
• and
• registering element appearance information including at least information about a document number at which an element of interest appears, character position, ancestral path name ID, and order of branches into an element appearance information storage portion using an element name ID as a key based on the results of the analysis and registering ancestral path appearance information including at least information about the document number at which the element of interest appears, character position, element name ID, and order of branches into an ancestral path appearance information storage portion using an ancestral path name ID as a key.

A method of searching a database for managing structured documents by the use of a database search apparatus, the database search apparatus having:

• an element name dictionary in which an element name ID unique to each element name appearing in each structured document has been registered;
• an ancestral path name dictionary in which an ancestral path name ID unique to each ancestral path name appearing in the structured document has been registered;
• an element appearance information storage portion in which element appearance information is stored using an element name ID as a key based on results of analysis of the structured document, the element appearance information including at least information about a document number at which an element of interest appears, character position, ancestral path name ID, and order of branches;
• and
• ancestral path appearance information storage portion in which ancestral path appearance information is stored using an ancestral path name ID as a key based on the results of the analysis of the structured document, the ancestral path appearance information including at least information about the document number at which the element of interest appears, character position, element name ID, and order of branches;
• the method comprising the steps of:
• entering a search formula;
• converting the entered search formula into internal condition formulas while referring to the element name dictionary and the ancestral path name dictionary;
• and
• finding plural search results from element appearance information from the element appearance information storage portion and from ancestral path appearance information from the ancestral path appearance information storage portion according to the internal condition formulas.

A database apparatus for managing structured documents, the database apparatus comprising:

• a database constructing apparatus having
• an element name dictionary for storing an element name ID unique to each element name appearing in each structured document,
• an ancestral path name dictionary for storing an ancestral path name ID unique to each ancestral path name appearing in the structured document,
• an input document analysis portion for assigning a unique document number to the structured document and analyzing its structure,
• an element name registration portion for assigning a unique element name ID to each element name appearing in the structured document based on results of analysis performed by the input document analysis portion and registering the element name in the element name dictionary,
• an ancestral path name registration portion for assigning a unique ancestral path name ID to each ancestral path name appearing in the structured document based on the results of the analysis performed by the input document analysis portion and registering the ancestral path name in the ancestral path name dictionary,
• an element appearance information storage portion for storing element appearance information including at least information about document number, character position, ancestral path name ID, and order of branches using an element name ID as a key,
• an ancestral path appearance information storage portion for storing ancestral path appearance information including at least information about document number, character position, element name ID, and order of branches using an ancestral path name ID as a key, and
• an appearance information registration portion for registering element appearance information including at least information about the document number at which the element of interest appears, character position, ancestral path name ID, and order of branches into the element appearance information storage portion using the element name ID of the element of interest as a key based on the results of the analysis performed by the input document analysis portion and registering ancestral path appearance information including at least information about the document number at which the element of interest appears, character position, element name ID, and order of branches into the ancestral path appearance information storage portion using the ancestral path name ID of the element of interest as a key;
• and
• a database search apparatus having
• a search condition input portion for entering a search formula,
• a search condition analysis portion for converting the search formula entered by the search condition input portion into an internal condition formula in which element name and ancestral path name are expressed by element name ID and ancestral path name ID, respectively, while referring to the element name dictionary and the ancestral path name dictionary, and
• an appearance information acquisition portion for extracting data about plural search results complying with the internal condition formula created by the search condition analysis portion from the element appearance information stored in the element appearance information storage portion and from the ancestral path appearance information stored in the ancestral path appearance information storage portion.