Method for providing search suggestion candidates for input key and method for creating database dfa

A method for creating a database DFA, wherein the database DFA has a plurality of bridge transitions each linking a bridge head state and a bridge tail state, and the method comprises:

• (A) acquiring a target candidate;
• (B) acquiring characteristic information of the target candidate;
• (C) creating a characteristic DFA of the target candidate based on the characteristic information of the target candidate;
• (D) linking a final state of the characteristic DFA of the target candidate with the target candidate by a bridge transition of the plurality of bridge transitions;
• and
• (E) adding the linked target candidate and its characteristic DFA into the database DFA, such that the final state of the characteristic DFA is corresponding to a bridge head state of the database DFA.

An apparatus for providing one or more search suggestion candidates for an input key, comprising:

• an acquisition unit for acquiring characteristic information of the input key;
• a DFA creating unit for creating a characteristic DFA of the input key based on the characteristic information of the input key;
• a searching unit for searching the characteristic DFA of the input key in a predetermined database DFA having a plurality of bridge transitions each linking a bridge head state with a bridge tail state, so as to identify a bridge head state that matches the characteristic DFA of the input key, wherein each bridge head state of the predetermined database DFA corresponds to a final state of a characteristic DFA of a target candidate which is created based on characteristic information of the target candidate;
• and
• an output unit for outputting one or more target candidates corresponding to a bridge tail state linked with the identified bridge head state as the search suggestion candidate for the input key.

An apparatus for creating a database DFA, wherein the database DFA has a plurality of bridge transitions each linking a bridge head state and a bridge tail state, and the apparatus comprises:

• a data acquisition unit for acquiring a target candidate;
• an information acquisition unit for acquiring characteristic information of the target candidate;
• a creating unit for creating a characteristic DFA of the target candidate based on the characteristic information of the target candidate;
• a linking unit for linking a final state of the characteristic DFA of the target candidate with the target candidate by a bridge transition of the plurality of bridge transitions;
• and
• an adding unit for adding the linked target candidate and its characteristic DFA into the database DFA, such that the final state of the characteristic DFA is corresponding to a bridge head state of the database DFA.

A computer program product for providing one or more search suggestion candidates for an input key, wherein the computer program product comprising a non-transitory computer readable storage medium including instructions executable by a processor to cause the processor to perform:

• (1) acquiring characteristic information of the input key;
• (2) creating a characteristic DFA (Deterministic Finite Automaton) of the input key based on the characteristic information of the input key;
• (3) searching the characteristic DFA of the input key in a predetermined database DFA having a plurality of bridge transitions each linking a bridge head state with a bridge tail state, so as to identify a bridge head state that matches the characteristic DFA of the input key, wherein each bridge head state of the predetermined database DFA corresponds to a final state of a characteristic DFA of a target candidate which is created based on characteristic information of the target candidate;
• and
• (4) outputting one or more target candidates corresponding to a bridge tail state linked with the identified bridge head state as the search suggestion candidate for the input key.

A computer program product for creating a database DFA having a plurality of bridge transitions each linking a bridge head state and a bridge tail state, wherein the computer program product comprising a non-transitory computer readable storage medium including instructions for performing:

• (A) acquiring a target candidate;
• (B) acquiring characteristic information of the target candidate;
• (C) creating a characteristic DFA of the target candidate based on the characteristic information of the target candidate;
• (D) linking a final state of the characteristic DFA of the target candidate with the target candidate by a bridge transition of the plurality of bridge transitions;
• and
• (E) adding the linked target candidate and its characteristic DFA into the database DFA, such that the final state of the characteristic DFA is corresponding to a bridge head state of the database DFA.