Information processing device and information processing method

Abstract

When an input of a first specifying instruction to specify a character substring within an input character string displayed on a display unit (30) by a user operation is received, a control unit (11) reads, from a storage unit (50), a character string including the same character substring as a remaining character substring after removing the character substring specified by the first specifying instruction from the input character string displayed on the display unit (30), acquires the read character string as a candidate for a setting character string to be used for setting a usage character string, and displays the acquired candidate for the setting character string on the display unit (30). When an input of a second specifying instruction to specify a setting character string to be used for setting a usage character string from the candidate for the setting character string displayed on the display unit (30) by a user operation is received, the control unit (11) sets the setting character string specified by the second specifying instruction as a usage character string.

Description

Information processing device and information processing method

[0001] The present invention relates to an information processing device and an information processing method, and more particularly to an information processing device and an information processing method that execute a predetermined process based on a character string input by a user.

[0002] An example of an information processing device that executes predetermined processing based on a character string entered by a user is disclosed in Patent Document 1. In this information processing device, when a user searches for a desired web page from among numerous web pages available on the Internet, the information processing device accesses a predetermined search site based on the user's operation and displays a search screen of the search site on a display unit. When the user manually enters a character string consisting of multiple characters that the user wants to search for in a search field on the search screen and operates a "Search" button, the information processing device transmits a search instruction and the character string manually entered by the user in the search field to the search site. The server hosting the search site uses a predetermined search engine to search a database for web pages that match the transmitted character string and transmits the search results to the information processing device from which the user accessed the site.

[0003] Japanese Patent Application Laid-Open No. 2007-004681

[0004] However, if a user is ambiguous about a part of the character string they want to search for, and they enter the character string in the search field of a search screen while leaving the part of the character string they want to search for ambiguous, they may not get the desired search results. This situation, where a user does not get the results they expect because they enter a character string while leaving the part of the character string ambiguous, can also occur in processes other than searches that use character strings entered in the search field of a search screen.

[0005] The present invention has been made in consideration of the above circumstances, and aims to enable a user to obtain the results he or she expects through predetermined processing, even if the user is ambiguous about some parts of a string of characters consisting of multiple characters.

[0006] An information processing device according to one aspect of the present invention includes a display unit, an operation unit that receives instructions from a user, a control unit that, when a designation instruction specifying an input string consisting of a plurality of characters is input to the operation unit by a user operation, causes the input string to be displayed on the display unit and sets a use string to be used in a predetermined process based on the input string, a storage unit that stores a plurality of character strings that the control unit uses to set the use string, and an instruction unit that instructs an external device to execute the predetermined process using the use string set by the control unit, and the control unit displays a part of the input string on the display unit by a user operation. When input of a first designation instruction specifying a part is accepted, a string including a string part identical to the remaining string part of the input string displayed on the display unit, excluding the part of the string part specified by the first designation instruction, is read from the memory unit and acquired as a candidate setting string to be used for setting the use string, the acquired candidate setting string is displayed on the display unit, and when input of a second designation instruction specifying the setting string to be used for setting the use string from the candidate setting strings displayed on the display unit by user operation is accepted, the setting string specified by the second designation instruction is set as the use string.

[0007] A data search method according to one aspect of the present invention includes a control step of, when a user inputs a designation instruction specifying an input string consisting of a plurality of characters into an operation unit, causing the input string to be displayed on a display unit and setting a use string to be used in a predetermined process based on the input string; and an instruction step of instructing an external device to execute the predetermined process using the use string set in the control step. In the control step, when a user inputs a first designation instruction specifying a part of a character string of the input string displayed on the display unit, the control step Among the input strings, a string that includes a string portion identical to the remaining string portion excluding the part of the string portion specified by the first specification instruction is read from a memory unit that stores a plurality of strings to be used in setting the use string in the control step, and is acquired as a candidate setting string to be used in setting the use string.The acquired candidate setting strings are displayed on the display unit, and when input of a second specification instruction is accepted to specify the setting string to be used in setting the use string from the candidate setting strings displayed on the display unit by user operation, the setting string specified by the second specification instruction is set as the use string.

[0008] According to the present invention, even if a user inputs an input string consisting of multiple characters while being ambiguous about some of the character string portions, by specifying the part of the character string, a character string including the same character string portion as the remaining part of the input string excluding the part of the character string specified by the user is read from the storage unit and displayed on the display unit as a candidate setting character string. Since the user can specify a character string to be used in a predetermined process from the candidate setting character strings, the user can obtain the result he or she expects from the predetermined process.

[0009] 1 is a block diagram showing the electrical configuration of an information processing device according to an embodiment of the present invention. FIG. 2 is a diagram showing an example of a setting screen for setting a character string. FIG. 3 is a diagram showing an example of a setting screen in which a character string has been input into a text field. FIG. 4 is a diagram showing an example of a setting screen in which a part of the input character string has been specified. FIG. 5 is a diagram showing an example of a dictionary. FIG. 6 is a diagram showing an example of a dialog box. FIG. 7 is a diagram showing an example of a dialog box in which a character string to be set has been specified. FIG. 8 is a diagram showing an example of a setting screen in which a character string specified by a user is displayed in a text field. FIG. 9 is a diagram showing an example of a search screen of a search site in which a character string specified by a user is displayed. FIG. 10 is a flowchart showing the flow of information processing by the information processing device of FIG. 1.

[0010] An information processing device and an information processing method according to the present invention will be described below with reference to the drawings.

[0011] First, an information processing device 1 according to one embodiment of the present invention will be described with reference to Fig. 1. Fig. 1 is a block diagram showing the electrical configuration of the information processing device 1 according to one embodiment of the present invention. The information processing device 1 is, for example, a personal computer. The information processing device 1 includes a control unit 10, an operation unit 20, a display unit 30, a communication unit 40, and a storage unit 50. Each of these components is capable of transmitting and receiving data or signals to and from each other via a communication bus.

[0012] The operation unit 20 is composed of a keyboard, a mouse, etc., and accepts input of instructions from the user based on the user's operation. The display unit 30 is composed of an LCD (Liquid Crystal Display) etc., and its operation is controlled by the control unit 11 in the control unit 10.

[0013] The communication unit 40 is a communication interface that transmits and receives various data to and from external devices such as image forming devices and servers within a local area or on the Internet.

[0014] The storage unit 50 is a large-capacity storage device such as a hard disk drive (HDD) or a solid state drive (SSD), and stores various computer programs such as a control program for realizing the operation of the information processing device 1. An information processing program 51 is installed in the storage unit 50 as one of the control programs.

[0015] The control unit 10 includes a processor, a RAM (Random Access Memory), a ROM (Read Only Memory), and a dedicated hardware circuit. The processor may be, for example, a CPU (Central Processing Unit), an ASIC (Application Specific Integrated Circuit), or an MPU (Micro Processing Unit). The control unit 10 includes a control unit 11 and an instruction unit 12.

[0016] The control unit 10 functions as a control unit 11 and an instruction unit 12 through operation of the processor in accordance with an information processing program 51 stored in the storage unit 50. However, the control unit 11 and the like can also be configured by hardware circuits, without relying on operation in accordance with a control program and a data search program by the control unit 10. Unless otherwise stated below, the same applies to each embodiment.

[0017] The control unit 11 controls the overall operation of the information processing device 1. The control unit 11 is connected to the operation unit 20, the display unit 30, the communication unit 40, and the storage unit 50, and controls the driving of these units.

[0018] When a user inputs a designation instruction specifying an input string consisting of multiple characters into operation unit 20, control unit 11 displays the input string on display unit 30 and sets a use string to be used in a predetermined process based on the input string. Storage unit 50 stores multiple character strings used by control unit 11 to set the use string. Instructing unit 12 instructs an external device to execute a predetermined process using the use string set by control unit 11.

[0019] When control unit 11 receives, through operation unit 20 by a user's operation, an input of a first designation instruction that designates a part of a string of characters from an input string displayed on display unit 30, control unit 11 reads from storage unit 50 a string that includes a part of the input string that is identical to the remaining part of the string, excluding the part of the string designated by the first designation instruction, of the input string displayed on display unit 30, acquires the string as a candidate for setting string to be used for setting the use string, and causes display unit 30 to display the acquired candidate for setting string. When control unit 11 receives, through operation unit 20 by a user's operation, an input of a second designation instruction that designates a setting string to be used for setting the use string from the candidate setting strings displayed on display unit 30, control unit 11 sets the setting string designated by the second designation instruction as the use string.

[0020] Next, specific examples of information processing by the information processing device 1 will be described with reference to FIGS. 2 to 9. FIG.

[0021] The storage unit 50 stores setting screen information for displaying a setting screen for setting a character string to be searched for on a search site (a character string used in search processing: a search character string), an example of which is shown in Fig. 2. The control unit 11 causes the display unit 30 to display the setting screen, an example of which is shown in Fig. 2, based on the setting screen information stored in the storage unit 50. On the setting screen, under display control by the control unit 11, the display unit 30 displays a text field 101 in which the user inputs a character string using the keyboard of the operation unit 20, a "Candidate" button 102, and a "Set" button 103.

[0022] When a user operates the keyboard of operation unit 20 to input a string of characters (hereinafter referred to as the "input string") "xxxxx△△□□◇" into text field 101, operation unit 20 receives an input of a designation instruction specifying the input string "xxxxx△□□◇", and operation unit 20 outputs the designation instruction to control unit 11. Control unit 11 causes display unit 30 to display the input string "xxxxx△□□◇" specified by the designation instruction in text field 101, thereby displaying a setting screen, an example of which is shown in FIG. 3, on display unit 30. In this embodiment, the input string input by the user into text field 101 includes a portion including characters that the user considers to be incorrect and a portion including characters that the user considers to be correct.

[0023] The user believes that the "〇〇〇" portion of the input string "〇〇〇△△□□◇" displayed in text field 101 in FIG. 3 contains an incorrect character. As shown in an example in FIG. 4 , the user operates the mouse of operation unit 20 to specify the "〇〇〇" portion of the input string "〇〇〇△△□□◇" in text field 101. Operation unit 20 receives a designation instruction specifying the "〇〇〇" portion of the input string "〇〇〇△△□□◇," and operation unit 20 outputs the designation instruction to control unit 11. Control unit 11 identifies the "〇〇〇" portion of the input string "〇〇〇△△□□◇" specified by the designation instruction as the user-designated portion of the string (hereinafter referred to as the "designated portion of the string"). The user can designate the "〇〇〇" portion of the input string "〇〇〇△△□□◇" using a known mechanism, such as a cursor or a marker.

[0024] The user specifies a part of the string "XXX" (specified string part "XXX") of the input string "XXX△□□◇", and then operates the mouse of the operation unit 20 to left-click the "Candidates" button 102 on the screen shown as an example in Figure 4, which causes the operation unit 20 to accept input of a search instruction for candidate setting strings, and the operation unit 20 outputs the search instruction to the control unit 11.

[0025] The storage unit 50 stores a dictionary 110, an example of which is shown in Fig. 5. The dictionary 110, an example of which is shown in Fig. 5, stores character strings such as "XXXx△△□□◇," "XXX△□□◇," and "XXX△□□◇."

[0026] In accordance with the search instructions for candidate setting strings input from the operation unit 20, the control unit 11 uses the search condition that the input string "XXXXX△△□□◇" contains the same character string portion as the remaining input string portion "△△□□◇" excluding the character string portion (specified character string portion) "XXXXX" identified as specified by the user, and searches for character strings containing the same character string portion as the remaining input string portion "△△□□◇" from the character strings stored in the dictionary, an example of which is shown in Figure 5, and extracts "XXX×△△□□◇", "XX××△△□□◇", and "XXX××△△□□◇", which contain the same character string portion as "△△□□◇", as candidate setting strings to be used for setting the search string.

[0027] The control unit 11 sets the extracted character strings "XXX×△△□□◇," "XXX△△□□◇," and "XXX△△□□◇" as candidate setting character strings, and causes the display unit 30 to display a dialog box 120, an example of which is shown in Fig. 6, in which the candidate setting character strings are options. In the dialog box 120, under the display control of the control unit 11, the display unit 30 displays the candidate setting character strings "XXX×△△□□◇," "XXX△△□□◇," and "XXX△△□□◇" as selectable options in a character string specification field 121, and displays a "Decide" button 122.

[0028] When the user selects the setting string "XXX△△□□◇" from the candidate setting strings displayed in string specification field 121 of dialog box 120 in Fig. 6 as the setting string to be used for setting a search string, as shown in an example in Fig. 7, the user operates the mouse of operation unit 20 to specify the setting string "XXX△△□□◇" from the candidate setting strings as the setting string to be used for setting a search string, whereupon operation unit 20 accepts input of a specification instruction specifying the setting string "XXX△△□□◇", and operation unit 20 outputs the specification instruction to control unit 11. Control unit 11 identifies the setting string "XXX△△□□◇" specified by the specification instruction input from operation unit 20 from the candidate setting strings as the setting string to be used for setting a search string.

[0029] After the user specifies the string "O××△△□□◇" as the setting string, in the dialog box 120, an example of which is shown in Figure 7, the user operates the mouse of the operation unit 20 to left-click the "OK" button 122, and the operation unit 20 accepts input of an instruction to change the string to change "O××△△□□◇" displayed in the text field 101 to the setting string "O××△△□□◇" specified by the user as the setting string to be used in setting the search string, and the operation unit 20 outputs an instruction to change the string to the control unit 11.

[0030] In accordance with the string change instruction input from the operation unit 20, the control unit 11 displays in the text field 101 the setting string ``〇××△△□□◇'' that has been identified as the setting string to be used for setting the search string, and thereby displays on the display unit 30 a setting screen, an example of which is shown in Figure 8.

[0031] When the user operates the mouse of the operation unit 20 to left-click on the "Set" button 103 on the setting screen, an example of which is shown in Figure 8, the operation unit 20 accepts input of a search string setting instruction to set the setting string "〇××△△□□◇" displayed in the text field 101 as the search string, and the operation unit 20 outputs the search string setting instruction to the control unit 11.

[0032] When an instruction to set a search string is input from the operation unit 20, the control unit 11 causes the communication unit 40 to access the search site and acquire search screen information for displaying a search screen of the search site on the display unit 30, and based on the search screen information, causes the display unit 30 to display a search screen of the search site including a text field 201 and a "Search" button 202, an example of which is shown in Fig. 9. At this time, the control unit 11 displays, in the text field 201 on the display unit 30, the setting string "XXX△△□□◇" (the setting string "XXX△△□□◇" specified as a search string by the user from among the setting string candidates) that was displayed in the text field 101 of the setting screen of Fig. 8, thereby setting the setting string "XXX△△□□◇" displayed in the text field 101 of the setting screen of Fig. 8 as a search string.

[0033] When a user operates the mouse of the operation unit 20 to left-click on the "Search" button 202 on the search screen of the search site, an example of which is shown in Figure 9, the operation unit 20 accepts input of a search instruction to the search site, and the operation unit 20 outputs the search instruction to the instruction unit 12. When the search instruction is input from the operation unit 20, the instruction unit 12 causes the communication unit 40 to send a search instruction to the search site, instructing the search site to execute a search process to search a database owned by the search site for the search string "XXX△△□□◇" displayed in the text field 201. The search site refers to the database owned by the search site, searches for the search string "XXX△△□□◇", and sends the search results to the information processing device 1. In the information processing device 1, the communication unit 40 receives the search results and outputs the received search results to the control unit 11, and the control unit 11 displays the search results on the display unit 30.

[0034] Next, the information processing and information processing method by the information processing device 1 will be described with reference to Fig. 10. Fig. 10 is a flowchart showing the flow of information processing by the information processing device 1.

[0035] The control unit 11 causes the display unit 30 to display a setting screen (see FIG. 2, etc.) based on setting screen information for displaying a setting screen for setting a search string, which is stored in the memory unit 50 (step S1).

[0036] When a user operates the keyboard of the operation unit 20 to input a string of characters (input string) into the text field 101 of the setting screen, the operation unit 20 accepts input of a designation instruction that specifies the input string, and the operation unit 20 outputs the designation instruction to the control unit 11.

[0037] Based on the input signal input from the operation unit 20, the control unit 11 determines whether or not a designation instruction for designating an input string has been input from the operation unit 20, i.e., whether or not the user has input a string into the text field 101 (step S2). If the control unit 11 determines that a designation instruction for designating an input string has not been input from the operation unit 20, i.e., that the user has not input a string into the text field 101 (S2: NO), the control unit 11 returns to the processing of step S2. On the other hand, if the control unit 11 determines that a designation instruction for designating an input string has been input from the operation unit 20, i.e., that the user has input a string into the text field 101 (S2: YES), the control unit 11 causes the display unit 30 to display the string input by the user into the text field 101 (input string) in the text field 101 of the setting screen (step S3).

[0038] When the user operates the mouse of the operation unit 20 to left-click the "Set" button 103 on the setting screen, the operation unit 20 receives an input of a search string setting instruction to set the setting string displayed in the text field 101 as a search string, and the operation unit 20 outputs an instruction to set the search string to the control unit 11.

[0039] Based on the signal input from the operation unit 20, the control unit 11 determines whether an instruction to set a search string has been input from the operation unit 20, i.e., whether the user has operated the ``Set'' button 103 (step S4).

[0040] When a user operates the mouse of the operation unit 20 in the text field 101 of the setting screen to specify a part of the string of characters that is to be input in the text field 101, the operation unit 20 receives an input of a designation instruction that specifies a part of the string of characters that is to be input, and the operation unit 20 outputs the designation instruction to the control unit 11.

[0041] If the control unit 11 determines that an instruction to set a search string has not been input from the operation unit 20, that is, that the user has not operated the "Set" button 103 (S4: NO), the control unit 11 determines, based on the input signal input from the operation unit 20, whether or not a designation instruction to designate a part of the input string has been input from the operation unit 20, that is, whether or not the user has designated a part of the input string (step S5). If the control unit 11 determines that an instruction to designate a part of the input string has not been input from the operation unit 20, that is, that the user has not designated a part of the input string (S5: NO), the control unit 11 returns to the processing of step S5.

[0042] When the user operates the mouse of the operation unit 20 to left-click the "Candidates" button 102 on the setting screen, the operation unit 20 receives an input of a search instruction for candidate setting strings, and the operation unit 20 outputs the search instruction to the control unit 11.

[0043] If the control unit 11 determines that a designation instruction for designating a part of the input character string has been input from the operation unit 20, that is, that the user has designated a part of the input character string (S5: YES), the control unit 11 identifies the part of the input character string designated by the designation instruction as the part of the character string designated by the user (designated character string part), and determines, based on the signal input from the operation unit 20, whether or not an instruction for searching for candidate character strings for setting has been input from the operation unit 20, that is, whether or not the user has operated the "Candidates" button 102 (step S6). If the control unit 11 determines that an instruction for searching for candidate character strings for setting has not been input from the operation unit 20, that is, that the user has not operated the "Candidates" button 102 (S6: NO), the control unit 11 returns to the processing of step S5.

[0044] When the control unit 11 determines that an instruction to search for candidate setting strings has been input from the operation unit 20, that is, that the user has operated the "Candidates" button 102 (S6: YES), the control unit 11 searches for a string that includes a character string portion that is identical to the remaining input character string portion, excluding the character string portion identified as specified by the user (specified character string portion), from among the input character strings displayed in the text field 101, using this as a search criterion, and extracts the string that includes the character string portion that is identical to the remaining input character string portion as a candidate setting string (step S7).

[0045] The control unit 11 sets the extracted character string as a candidate for the setting character string, and causes the display unit 30 to display a dialog box 120 (see Figure 6, etc.) including a character string specification field 121 in which the candidate setting character strings are available as options, and a "Decide" button 122 (step S8).

[0046] When the user operates the mouse of the operation unit 20 to specify a setting string to be used for setting a search string from among the candidate setting strings in the string specification field 121 of the dialog box 120, the operation unit 20 receives input of a specification instruction to specify the setting string to be used for setting the search string, and the operation unit 20 outputs the specification instruction to the control unit 11.

[0047] Based on the input signal input from the operation unit 20, the control unit 11 determines whether or not a designation instruction to designate a setting string to be used in setting a search string has been input from the operation unit 20, that is, whether or not the user has designated a setting string to be used in setting a search string from among the candidate setting strings (step S9). If the control unit 11 determines that a designation instruction to designate a setting string to be used in setting a search string has not been input from the operation unit 20, that is, that the user has not designated a setting string to be used in setting a search string from among the candidate setting strings (S9: NO), the control unit 11 returns to the processing of step S9.

[0048] When the user operates the mouse of the operation unit 20 to left-click the "OK" button 122 in the dialog box 120, the operation unit 20 receives an instruction to change the string displayed in the text field 101 to a setting string specified by the user, and the operation unit 20 outputs an instruction to change the string to the control unit 11.

[0049] If the control unit 11 determines that a designation instruction for designating a setting string to be used in setting a search string has been input from the operation unit 20, that is, that the user has designated a setting string to be used in setting a search string from among the candidate setting strings (S9: YES), the control unit 11 identifies the setting string designated by the designation instruction from among the candidate setting strings as the setting string to be used in setting a search string, and determines, based on a signal input from the operation unit 20, whether or not an instruction to change the string has been input from the operation unit 20, that is, whether or not the user has operated the "Enter" button 122 (step S10). If the control unit 11 determines that a designation instruction for changing the string has not been input from the operation unit 20, that is, that the user has not operated the "Enter" button 122 (S10: NO), the control unit 11 returns to the processing of step S9.

[0050] If the control unit 11 determines that an instruction to change the character string has been input from the operation unit 20, that is, that the user has operated the "Enter" button 122 (S10: YES), the control unit 11 causes the display unit 30 to display a setting screen in which the setting string identified as the setting string to be used for setting the search string is displayed in the text field 101 (step S11), and the control unit 11 returns to the processing of step S4. Based on the signal input from the operation unit 20, the control unit 11 determines whether an instruction to set the search string has been input from the operation unit 20, that is, whether the user has operated the "Set" button 103 (step S4).

[0051] When the control unit 11 determines that an instruction to set a search string has been input from the operation unit 20, that is, that the user has operated the "Set" button 103 (S4: YES), the control unit 11 causes the communication unit 40 to access the search site and acquire search screen information for displaying a search screen of the search site on the display unit 30, and based on the search screen information, causes the display unit 30 to display a search screen of the search site including a text field 201 and a "Search" button 202. At this time, the control unit 11 causes the display unit 30 to display in the text field 201 the setting string (e.g., a setting string designated as a search string by the user from among the setting string candidates) that was displayed in the text field 101 of the setting screen, thereby setting the setting string (e.g., a setting string designated as a search string by the user from among the setting string candidates) that was displayed in the text field 101 of the setting screen as a search string (step S12).

[0052] When a user operates the mouse of the operation unit 20 to left-click the "Search" button 202 on the search screen of the search site, the operation unit 20 accepts input of a search instruction for the search site, and the operation unit 20 outputs the search instruction for the search site to the instruction unit 12.

[0053] Based on the signal input from the operation unit 20, the instruction unit 12 determines whether or not a search instruction for the search site has been input from the operation unit 20, i.e., whether or not the user has operated the "Search" button 202 (step S13). If the instruction unit 12 determines that a search instruction for the search site has not been input from the operation unit 20, i.e., the user has not operated the "Search" button 202 (S13: NO), the instruction unit 12 returns to the processing of step S13. On the other hand, if the instruction unit 12 determines that a search instruction has been input to the search site from the operation unit 20, that is, that the user has operated the ``Search'' button 202 (S13: YES), the instruction unit 12 causes the communication unit 40 to send a search instruction to the search site instructing the search site to perform a search process that searches the search string displayed in the text field 201 in a database owned by the search site, and the communication unit 40 receives the search results of the search process performed on the search site and outputs the received search results to the control unit 11, and the control unit 11 displays the search results on the display unit 30 (step S14).

[0054] According to the above-described embodiment, even if the user inputs an input string consisting of multiple characters while being ambiguous about some of the character string portions, by specifying the part of the input string, a string including the same character string portion as the remaining part of the input string excluding the part of the character string specified by the user is read from the storage unit 50 and displayed as a candidate setting string on the display unit 30. The user can specify the setting string to be used to set a search string from among the candidate setting strings, thereby obtaining the results the user expects in search processing on a search site.

[0055] The present invention is not limited to the configurations of the above-described embodiments, and various modifications are possible.

[0056] For example, in the above embodiment, an example was given in which the external device is a search site, the predetermined process is a search process that searches for a search string, the string to be used is the search string, and the instruction unit 12 instructs the search site to execute a search process that searches for the search string, but this is not limited to this.

[0057] Furthermore, in the above embodiment, when acquiring candidate setting strings from the dictionary 110 stored in the storage unit 50, the control unit 11 reads out from the dictionary 110 stored in the storage unit 50 a string that includes a character string portion identical to the remaining character string portion of the input character string displayed in the text field 101 of the display unit 30, excluding a portion of the character string specified by the user's operation of the operation unit 20, and acquires the string as a candidate setting string to be used in setting a search string; however, this is not limited to this, and the following may be used, for example: For example, when retrieving candidate setting strings from the dictionary 110 stored in the storage unit 50, the control unit 11 may read from the dictionary 110 stored in the storage unit 50 a string that includes a character string portion identical to the remaining character string portion of the input string displayed in the text field 101 of the display unit 30, excluding a portion of the character string specified by the user's operation on the operation unit 20, the character string having the same number of characters as the input string and in the same position as the remaining character string portion of the input string, and retrieve the read string as a candidate setting string to be used for setting a search string. For example, if the dictionary 110 stores "xxxx△△□□◇," "xxxx△△□□◇," and "△△□□◇xxxxxx," and the user inputs the input string "xxxx△△□□◇" in the text field 101 and specifies "xxxx" in the input string "xxxx△△□□◇," the control unit 11 extracts "xxxx△△□□◇" from the dictionary 110 as a candidate setting string. Note that although "xxxxx△△□□◇" contains the same character string portion "△△□□◇" as the remaining character string portion, the control unit 11 does not extract "xxxxx△△□□◇" as a candidate for the setting character string from the dictionary 110 because the number of characters is different from that of the input character string. Also, although "△△□□◇〇〇×" contains the same character string portion "△△□□◇" as the remaining character string portion, the control unit 11 does not extract "△△□□◇〇〇×" as a candidate for the setting character string from the dictionary 110 because the same character string portion "△△□□◇" is located in a different position from that of the remaining character string portion in the input character string.In this way, the setting strings that the control unit 11 lists as candidate setting strings are narrowed down, so the user only needs to specify the setting string to be used to set the search string from among the narrowed down list of candidate setting strings, thereby making the user's task of specifying setting strings more efficient.

[0058] Furthermore, in the above embodiment, the character string input by the user using the operation unit 20 (input character string) is described as including a portion of the input character string designated by the user (designated character string portion) and the remaining input character string excluding the designated character string portion, but is not limited to this and may be, for example, as follows: The character string input by the user using the operation unit 20 (input character string) is including a portion of the input character string designated by the user (designated character string portion) and the remaining input character string excluding the designated character string portion, and the designated character string portion may include a portion of the designated character string portion that is separately designated by the user (hereinafter, appropriately referred to as a "portion of the designated character string portion") and the remaining portion of the designated character string excluding the portion of the designated character string (hereinafter, appropriately referred to as a "remaining portion of the designated character string portion").

[0059] In this case, for example, the following may be done. In a similar manner to the above embodiment, a partial string portion (specified string portion) of an input string displayed in the text field 101 is specified. In the specified string portion, the user specifies a portion of the specified string portion by operating the mouse of the operation unit 20. When the user specifies a portion of the specified string portion by operating the mouse of the operation unit 20, the operation unit 20 receives an input of a specification instruction specifying the portion of the specified string portion, and the operation unit 20 outputs the specification instruction to the control unit 11. The control unit 11 identifies the portion of the specified string portion in the input string displayed in the text field 101 in accordance with the specification instruction input from the operation unit 20. Note that the user may also specify the remaining portion of the specified character portion and a portion of the specified character portion.

[0060] The control unit 11 uses the search criteria of including a character string portion identical to the remaining character string portion excluding the specified character string portion of the input character string displayed in the text field 101 of the display unit 30 and including a character string portion similar to a portion of the specified character string portion, and searches for character strings stored in the dictionary that include a character string portion identical to the remaining character string portion and a character string portion similar to a portion of the specified character string portion, and extracts character strings that include a character string portion identical to the remaining character string portion and a character string portion similar to a portion of the specified character string portion as candidates for a setting character string to be used for setting a search character string. Note that determining whether a character string stored in the dictionary includes a character string portion similar to a portion of the specified character string portion may be performed, for example, by determining whether a character string portion that differs from a portion of the specified character string by only one character is similar to the portion of the specified character string portion and determining whether the character string includes a character string portion that differs from the portion of the specified character string by only one character. Note that the search for similar portions can utilize known mechanisms such as searching for spelling variations. In this way, the setting strings that the control unit 11 lists as candidate setting strings are narrowed down, so the user only needs to specify the setting string to be used to set the search string from among the narrowed down list of candidate setting strings, thereby making the user's task of specifying setting strings more efficient.

[0061] In the above-described modified example, when acquiring candidate setting strings from the dictionary 110 stored in the storage unit 50, the control unit 11 may read out from the dictionary 110 stored in the storage unit 50 strings that include a character string portion identical to the remaining character string portion of the input string displayed in the text field 101 of the display unit 30, excluding a portion of the character string specified by the user's operation of the operation unit 20, and that include a character string portion similar to a portion of the specified character string portion specified by the user's operation of the operation unit 20, and that have the same number of characters as the input string, and in which the identical character string portions are arranged in the same positions as the remaining character string portions of the input string, and in which the similar character string portions are arranged in the same positions as the portions of the specified character string portions of the input string, and that obtain these strings as candidates for setting strings to be used for setting a search string.

[0062] The configurations and processes shown in the above embodiment using Figures 1 to 10 and the configurations and processes shown in the above modified examples are merely one embodiment of the present invention, and are not intended to limit the present invention to these configurations and processes.

Claims

a control unit that, when a user inputs a first specification instruction specifying a part of the input string displayed on the display unit, and sets a use string to be used in a predetermined process based on the input string, displays the input string on the display unit; a storage unit that stores a plurality of character strings used by the control unit to set the use string; and an instruction unit that instructs an external device to execute the predetermined process using the use string set by the control unit, wherein the control unit, when a user inputs a first specification instruction specifying a part of the input string displayed on the display unit, reads from the storage unit a character string that includes a part of the input string that is the same as the remaining part of the input string, excluding the part of the string specified by the first specification instruction, and acquires the read character string as a candidate for a setting string to be used in setting the use string, and displays the acquired candidate for a setting string on the display unit, When a second designation instruction is input by a user to designate the setting string to be used for setting the use string from among the candidate setting strings displayed on the display unit, the information processing device sets the setting string designated by the second designation instruction as the use string.

2. The information processing device according to claim 1, wherein, when retrieving candidates for the setting string from the memory unit, the control unit reads from the memory unit a string that includes a string portion identical to the remaining string portion, has the same number of characters as the input string, and has the identical string portion located in the same position as the remaining string portion in the input string, and retrieves the string as a candidate for the setting string.

3. The information processing device of claim 1, wherein when the control unit receives input of a third designation instruction by a user operation that designates a portion of the partial string portion of the input string displayed on the display unit, the control unit reads out from the memory unit a string that includes a string portion that is identical to the remaining string portion and that includes a string portion that is similar to the portion of the partial string portion designated by the third designation instruction, and acquires the string as a candidate for the setting string.

4. The information processing device of claim 1, wherein when the control unit receives, through a user operation, an input of a third designation instruction that designates a portion of the character portion of the input string displayed on the display unit, the control unit reads from the memory unit a string that includes a character portion that is identical to the remaining character portion and a character portion that is similar to the portion designated by the third designation instruction, the string having the same number of characters as the input string, the identical character portion being located in the same position as the remaining character portion in the input string, and the similar character portion being located in the same position as the portion in the input string, and acquires the string as a candidate for the setting string.

5. The information processing device according to claim 1, wherein the external device is a search site, the predetermined process is a search process for searching for a search string, the use string is the search string, and the instruction unit instructs the search site to execute a search process for searching for the search string.

6. A control step, when a user operates an operation unit to accept input of a designation instruction specifying an input string consisting of a plurality of characters, causing the input string to be displayed on a display unit and setting a use string to be used in a predetermined process based on the input string; and an instruction step of instructing an external device to execute the predetermined process using the use string set in the control step, wherein in the control step, when a user operates an operation unit to accept input of a first designation instruction specifying a part of the input string displayed on the display unit, reads out from a storage unit that stores a plurality of character strings to be used in setting the use string in the control step a character string that includes a part of the input string that is the same as the remaining part of the input string excluding the part of the string specified by the first designation instruction, and acquires the character string as a candidate for setting the use string, and displays the acquired candidate for setting the character string on the display unit, and when a user operates an operation unit to accept input of a second designation instruction specifying the setting string to be used in setting the use string from the candidate for setting the use string, setting the setting character string designated by the second designation instruction as the use character string.

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