Information processing method and apparatus, and storage medium storing medium storing program for practicing this method

A computer-readable storage medium storing a control program for performing a determination to determine whether a designated character train is included in text information, said program comprising:

• program code for a formation step of forming a pattern including a first number of characters in which at least one character is deleted from the designated character train;
• program code for a division step of dividing the pattern into a plurality of test character trains each including a predetermined second number of characters of the pattern without any other characters, the second number being less than the first number;
• program code for a first determination step of performing a first determination that determines whether the test character trains are included in the text information;
• program code for a second determination step of performing a second determination that determines whether the first number of characters are included in the text information for which the first determination step has determined that the test character trains are included;
• and
• program code for a control step of controlling output of the text information, for which the second determination step has determined that the first number of characters are included, as a search operation result.

An information processing method of determining whether a designated character train is included in text information, said method comprising the steps of:

• forming a pattern including a first number of characters in which at least one character is deleted from the designated character train;
• dividing the pattern into a plurality of test character trains each including a predetermined second number of characters of the pattern without any other characters, the second number being less than the first number;
• performing a first determination that determines whether the test character trains are included in the text information under an assumption that another character is inserted at a position of character deletion in the formed pattern;
• performing a second determination that determines whether the first number of characters are included in the text information for which the first determination has determined that the test character trains are included;
• and
• controlling output of the text information, for which the second determination has determined that the first number of characters are included, as a search operation result.

An information processing apparatus comprising:

• a text information storage memory for storing text information;
• a first determination unit for determining whether a designated character train is included in the text information, wherein said first determination unit determines whether the test character trains are included in the text information;
• a pattern forming unit for forming a pattern including a first number of characters in which at least one character is deleted from the designated character train;
• a second determination unit for determining whether the first number of characters is included in the text information for which said first determining unit has determined to include the test character trains;
• and
• a controller for outputting the text information, for which said second determination unit has determined to include the first numbers of characters, as a search operation result.