Electronic device, data search program, and data search method

Abstract

An information processing device (1) comprises: an extraction unit (102) that, from a data table in which for each of items indicated in the respective rows of the same column, data is set in another column of the same row, narrows down to and extracts a selected item and data in the other column of the same row associated with the item; a display unit (23); and a reception unit (101) that receives, as the search condition, a designation of at least one piece of data to be searched for, for each of the items, from among a plurality of different pieces of data set in the other column. The extraction unit (102) includes a control unit (100) that extracts, from the data table, items in the other column of the same row associated with the data for which the designation was received by the reception unit (101) and, furthermore, displays on the display unit (23) the items extracted by the extraction unit (102) and the data in the other column of the same row associated with the items, so as to be arranged in respective rows for each item.

Description

Electronic device, data search program, and data search method

[0001] The present invention relates to an electronic device, a data search program, and a data search method, and more particularly to a search refinement technique for further narrowing down data from a plurality of data.

[0002] In an information processing device on which spreadsheet software is installed, a refined search is performed to further refine data from multiple data. In this refined search, for example, multiple items shown in each row of the same column are narrowed down to only some items selected by the user, and a search is performed to extract the narrowed down items as well as data set in other columns in the same row as the narrowed down items. Furthermore, Patent Document 1 listed below discloses a search system that efficiently performs a refined search by using tags associated with data.

[0003] Japanese Patent Application Laid-Open No. 2022-136506

[0004] However, in the above-described narrowed search, it was not possible to narrow down multiple items shown in each row of the same column according to the content of data set in other columns in the same row as the item in question. Furthermore, it was not possible to simultaneously extract, for multiple items shown in each row of the same column, an item associated with certain data and set in other columns in the same row, and an item associated with other data different from the associated data and set in other columns in the same row. Therefore, it was not possible to easily narrow down the items to be narrowed down based on the content of data set in other columns in the same row as the item in question.

[0005] The present invention has been made in consideration of the above circumstances, and aims to make it possible to extract, from multiple items shown in each row of the same column, items in which certain data and other data different from the data in question are set in correspondence with other columns in the same row, as targets for narrowing down, and to make it possible to obtain search results by narrowing down the items with such detailed conditions set with simple operations.

[0006] An electronic device according to one aspect of the present invention comprises an extraction unit that, for each item shown in each row of the same column, narrows down and extracts data from a data table in which data is set in other columns of the same row, including a selected item and data from other columns of the same row that are associated with the item; a display unit; and a reception unit that receives, as the search conditions, one or more specifications of data to be searched for for each item from a plurality of different data set in the other columns. The extraction unit extracts from the data table the items in the other columns of the same row that are associated with the data for which the reception unit has accepted the specifications, and further comprises a control unit that causes the display unit to display the items extracted by the extraction unit and the data from the other columns of the same row that are associated with the items, arranged in rows for each item.

[0007] A data search program according to one aspect of the present invention causes a computer to operate as an extraction unit that, for each item shown in each row of the same column, narrows down and extracts data from a selected item and other columns in the same row that correspond to the item from a data table in which data is set in other columns of the same row, and an acceptance unit that accepts, as the search conditions, one or more specifications of data to be searched for for each item from a plurality of different pieces of data set in the other columns, wherein the extraction unit extracts from the data table the items in the other columns in the same row that correspond to the data for which the acceptance unit accepted the specifications, and further causes the computer to operate as a control unit that displays, on the display unit, the items extracted by the extraction unit and the data in the other columns in the same row that correspond to the items, arranged in rows for each item.

[0008] A data search method according to one aspect of the present invention comprises: an extraction step of narrowing down and extracting, for each item shown in each row of the same column, data from a data table in which data is set in other columns of the same row, data from a selected item and data from other columns of the same row associated with the selected item; and a search condition acceptance step of accepting, as the search condition, one or more specifications of data to be searched for for each item from a plurality of different data set in the other columns, wherein the extraction step extracts from the data table the items in the other columns of the same row associated with the data for which the acceptance unit has accepted the specifications, and further comprises a display control step of displaying, on a display unit, the items extracted in the extraction step and the data from the other columns of the same row associated with the selected item, arranged in rows for each item.

[0009] According to the present invention, it is possible to extract, from among multiple items shown in each row of the same column, items in which certain data and other data different from the data in question are set in correspondence with other columns in the same row, as targets for narrowing down, and search results based on such narrowing down with detailed conditions set can be obtained with simple operations.

[0010] FIG. 1 is a block diagram showing the electrical configuration of an information processing device 1 that is an embodiment of an electronic device according to the present invention. FIG. 2 is a diagram showing an example of a spreadsheet. FIG. 3 is a flowchart showing the flow of data search processing by the information processing device. FIG. 4 is a diagram showing an example of a spreadsheet and a pop-up. FIG. 5 is a diagram showing an example of a spreadsheet showing extraction results. FIG. 6 is a diagram showing an example of a spreadsheet and a pop-up that is not according to an embodiment of the present invention. FIG. 7 is a diagram showing an example of a spreadsheet showing extraction results that is not according to an embodiment of the present invention. FIG. 8 is a diagram showing an example of a spreadsheet and a pop-up that is not according to an embodiment of the present invention.

[0011] 1 is a block diagram showing the electrical configuration of an information processing device 1 that is an embodiment of an electronic device according to the present invention.

[0012] The information processing device 1 is, for example, a personal computer. The information processing device 1 includes a control unit 10, an operation unit 22, a display unit 23, a communication unit 24, and a storage unit 25. These components are capable of transmitting and receiving data or signals to and from each other via a communication bus.

[0013] The operation unit 22 is composed of a keyboard, a mouse, etc., and receives instructions input from the user based on the user's operation. The display unit 23 is composed of an LCD (Liquid Crystal Display), etc., and its operation is controlled by the control unit 100.

[0014] The communication unit 24 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.

[0015] The storage unit 25 is a large-capacity storage device such as a hard disk drive (HDD) or a solid state drive (SSD), and stores various control programs, etc. A data search program 250 is installed in the storage unit 25.

[0016] The control unit 10 includes a processor, a random access memory (RAM), a read-only memory (ROM), and a dedicated hardware circuit. The processor may be, for example, a central processing unit (CPU), an application specific integrated circuit (ASIC), or a micro processing unit (MPU). The control unit 10 includes a control unit 100, a reception unit 101, and an extraction unit 102.

[0017] The control unit 10 functions as a control unit 100, a receiving unit 101, and an extracting unit 102 through operation of the processor in accordance with a data search program stored in the storage unit 25. However, the control unit 100 and the like can also be configured by hardware circuits, without relying on operation in accordance with the control program and data search program by the control unit 10. Unless otherwise stated below, this applies to each embodiment.

[0018] The control unit 100 controls the overall operation of the information processing device 1. The control unit 100 is connected to the operation unit 22, the display unit 23, the communication unit 24, and the storage unit 25, and controls the driving of these units.

[0019] For each item shown in each row of the same column, the extraction unit 102 searches a data table in which data is set in other columns of the same row, and narrows down and extracts data from the data table for the selected item and other columns of the same row that correspond to the selected item.

[0020] The receiving unit 101 receives one or more specifications of data to be searched for, for each item, from one or more pieces of data set in a column other than the column in which each item to be selected is written as a search condition in the data table.

[0021] The extraction unit 102 further extracts from the data table items that are associated with the data whose designation has been accepted by the acceptance unit 101 and that are arranged in other columns in the same row as the data.

[0022] The receiving unit 101 also receives designation of items that are not to be extracted by the extracting unit 102. In this case, the extracting unit 102 does not extract the items for which the receiving unit 101 has received designation.

[0023] The data search program has the functions of spreadsheet software. The processor of the control unit 10 operates in accordance with the data search program, causing the control unit 100 to execute various processes as spreadsheet software. For example, the control unit 100 executes processes such as creating a data table, tabulating data based on the data table, analyzing the data, and automatically calculating the data. As shown in FIG. 2 below, the control unit 100 inputs characters, numbers, and formulas into a spreadsheet consisting of vertical and horizontal grids, and executes data processing according to instructions from the user. Data processing includes data tabulation, statistical processing, graph display, simulation, and data search. The control unit 100 displays a spreadsheet screen on the display unit 23, showing the spreadsheet into which characters, numbers, and the like have been input as a data table.

[0024] 2 is a diagram showing an example of a data table to be searched. The control unit 100 causes the display unit 23 to display a spreadsheet 50, into which characters, numbers, etc., shown in the example of FIG. 2, have been entered, as the data table. As shown in FIG. 2, in the spreadsheet 50, an item is set in each row of the same column. In the spreadsheet 50, "Company" indicating the item name is entered in the first row of the same column. In the second and subsequent rows of the same column, one of "Company A," "Company B," or "Company C" indicating the content of the item is entered, respectively.

[0025] Furthermore, in the spreadsheet 50, data (numeric values, characters, symbols, etc.) is input and set in a column different from the column in which the item in question is input. Each item is associated with data set in other columns in the same row. In this example, "convenience," which indicates the name of the data, is input in the first row. In the second row and subsequent rows in the same column, one of "○," "△," or "×," which indicates the content of the data, is input. In other words, in the spreadsheet 50, data (numeric values, characters, symbols, etc.) is input and set in a column different from the column in which the item in question is input.

[0026] The control unit 100 also executes a filter function, which is one of the functions of the spreadsheet software. The filter function is a function for narrowing down and displaying items and data entered in the spreadsheet 50, or for extracting and excluding items and data that meet specific conditions.

[0027] Next, a description will be given of the data search process and data search method performed by the information processing device 1. Fig. 3 is a flowchart showing the flow of the data search process performed by the information processing device 1.

[0028] It is assumed that the control unit 100 starts up the spreadsheet software and displays the spreadsheet 50 shown in FIG. 2 on the display unit 23 in accordance with a sheet specification instruction input by the user to the operation unit 22 (S1).

[0029] Here, the user operates the mouse of the operation unit 22 to receive an instruction to designate cell A1 in the first row of column A in the spreadsheet 50 and a filter instruction to set the filter function. In accordance with these instructions, the control unit 100 has already set the filter function targeting cells A2 to A10 in the second to tenth rows following cell A1, with cell A1 in the first row of column A as the title row. The control unit 100 filters each of cells A2 to A10, along with data set in other columns in the same row. In the spreadsheet 50, the data set in cells A2 to A10 as items in each row of the same column A is the data entered in the same row of cells B2 to B10 set in another column B. When the filter function is set in the spreadsheet 50 in this manner, the control unit 100 displays a filter mark FM1 in cell A1, the title row in the first row of column A.

[0030] While the control unit 100 is displaying the spreadsheet 50 on the display unit 23, if the user specifies the filter mark FM1 by operating the mouse on the operation unit 22 and inputs an instruction to display refinement candidate data to the operation unit 22 (YES in S2), the control unit 100, in accordance with the display instruction, displays, for example, a pop-up P1 (search condition reception screen) for each of the data (here, "○," "△," and "X") set in other columns B for each of the cells A2 to A10 that are subject to the filter function in column A (S3), as shown in the example of FIG. 4. As long as an instruction to display refinement candidate data is not input to the operation unit 22 (NO in S2), the control unit 100 continues to display the spreadsheet 50. Note that the control unit 100 preferably displays the pop-up P1 over the portion of column B where the other columns B are displayed, rather than the portion of column A where the filter mark FM1 is displayed.

[0031] In the spreadsheet 50, "Company A," "Company B," and "Company C" are displayed in cells A2 to A10, which are targets of the filter function in column A. Therefore, in the pop-up P1, the control unit 100 displays, as narrowed-down candidate data, displays for each of "Company A," "Company B," and "Company C" that accept the selection of "○," "△," or "×," as well as a display for accepting all of these selections.

[0032] When the pop-up P1 is displayed, the user operates the mouse of the operation unit 22 to input an instruction to select one of "○," "△," or "×" as the data to be narrowed down for each of "Company A," "Company B," and "Company C." For example, when the user operates the mouse to select the "○" check box CK13 displayed with "Company A," a selection instruction to select "○" as the data to be narrowed down for the item "Company A" is input to the operation unit 22, and the reception unit 101 accepts the selection instruction (S4). Also, when the user operates the mouse to select the "△" check box CK22 displayed with "Company B" and the "○" check box CK23, a selection instruction to select "△" or "○" as the data to be narrowed down for the item "Company B" is input to the operation unit 22, and the reception unit 101 accepts the selection instruction (S3).

[0033] Furthermore, when none of the "x" checkbox CK31, the "triangle" checkbox CK32, and the "circle" checkbox CK33 displayed together with "Company C" are designated, an instruction to select data to be narrowed down for the item "Company C" is input to the operation unit 22, and the reception unit 101 does not accept an instruction to select data to be narrowed down for "Company C." In other words, when an instruction to select data to be narrowed down for a certain item is not input by the user operating the mouse of the operation unit 22, the reception unit 101 accepts the designation of that item as an item not to be extracted. The extraction unit 102 does not include the item for which the designation has been accepted by the reception unit 101 as a target for the above-mentioned extraction.

[0034] When the reception unit 101 receives each of the selection instructions described above, the control unit 100 displays the selected data with a check mark in the pop-up P1. Fig. 4 shows the pop-up P1 that the control unit 100 displays when the reception unit 101 receives each of the selection instructions described above.

[0035] Next, the extraction unit 102 performs an extraction process in accordance with the selection instruction received by the reception unit 101 (S5). In this example, from cells A2 to A10 in column A, which is the target of the filter function, the extraction unit 102 extracts cells whose item is "Company A," for which an instruction to select data to be narrowed down has been received, and for which the data "○" is indicated in other columns in the same row, and further extracts cells whose item is "Company B," for which an instruction to select data to be narrowed down has been received, and for which the data "△" or "○" is indicated in other columns in the same row. The extraction unit 102 does not extract cells whose item is "Company C," for which an instruction to select data to be narrowed down has not been received.

[0036] Then, the control unit 100 causes the display unit 23 to display the items extracted by the extraction unit 102 and the data in other columns in the same row that are associated with the items, arranged in rows for each item (S6). In this example, as shown in Fig. 5, the control unit 100 causes the display unit 23 to display, in rows for each item, cells in which "Company A" is the item and in which the data "○" is displayed in other columns in the same row, and cells in which "Company B" is the item and in which the data "△" or "○" is displayed in other columns in the same row. Note that the control unit 100 does not display items and data that are not selected by the above selection instruction.

[0037] As a result, according to this embodiment, it is possible to extract, as a narrowing-down target, items in which a certain piece of data and other data different from the certain piece of data are set in correspondence with other columns in the same row from multiple items shown in each row of the same column in the spreadsheet 50, and to obtain search results by narrowing down the search results by setting detailed conditions in this way with a simple operation. In the above embodiment, it is possible to extract and display cells in which "Company A" is the item and in which the data "○" is displayed in other columns in the same row, and it is also possible to extract and display cells in which "Company B" is the item and in which the data "○" is displayed in other columns in the same row and in which the data "△" is displayed in other columns in the same row.

[0038] In addition, when the spreadsheet 50 is displayed on the display unit 23 and the user operates the mouse on the operation unit 22 to input an instruction to specify the filter mark FM2 displayed in cell B1, which is the title row of the first row in column B (S4), the control unit 100 causes the control unit 100 to display, for example, a pop-up P2, the respective data set in other column A (here, "Company A," "Company B," and "Company C") as candidate data for narrowing down for each of cells B2 to B10 that are the target of the filter function in column B (S3), as shown in the example of Figure 6.

[0039] In the spreadsheet 50, cells B2 to B10 in column B, which are the targets of the filter function, show "○", "△", and "×", so in the pop-up P2, the control unit 100 displays, for each of the "○", "△", and "×", a display for accepting the selection of "Company A", "Company B", and "Company C", as well as a display for accepting the selection of all of these, as narrowed-down candidate data.

[0040] Thereafter, as in the case of column A, the receiving unit 101 receives an instruction to select data to be narrowed down by the user operating the mouse of the operation unit 22 (S4), and the extraction unit 102 performs extraction in accordance with the received selection instruction (S5). The control unit 100 causes the display unit 23 to display the items extracted by the extraction unit 102 and the data in other columns in the same row that are associated with the items, arranged by item in each row (S6).

[0041] In this example, it is assumed that the control unit 100 receives, via the receiving unit 101, a selection instruction to select "Company C" as the data to be narrowed down for cells with an item "○", and a selection instruction to select "Company B" and "Company C" as the data to be narrowed down for cells with an item "△" ( FIG. 6 ). In this case, as shown in FIG. 7 , the control unit 100 causes the display unit 23 to display, in rows by item, cells with an item "○" that have the data "Company C" in another column in the same row, and cells with an item "△" that have either the data "Company B" or "Company C" in another column in the same row.

[0042] In a typical data search process and data search method not according to the above embodiment, when narrowing down data in a spreadsheet 50 shown in FIG. 2 , when a user operates the mouse on the operation unit to input an instruction to specify the filter mark FM1 displayed in cell A1, which serves as the title row of the first row in column A, the control unit displays the item contents of "Company A," "Company B," and "Company C" displayed in cells A2 to A10 in column A as narrowing-down candidates in a pop-up P3 (normal reception screen) as shown in FIG. 8 . Then, cells indicating the item contents specified by the user's operation of the mouse on the operation unit 22 are extracted, and the extracted cells are displayed on the display unit, arranged by item in each row, as shown in FIG. 9 . Thus, the process of narrowing down the multiple items displayed in column A to only those indicating the selected item contents is performed.

[0043] Alternatively, in the spreadsheet 50 shown in Fig. 3, when a user operates the mouse on the operation unit to input an instruction to specify the filter mark FM2 displayed in cell B1, which serves as the title row of the first row in column B, the control unit displays the item contents of "○," "△," and "×" displayed in cells B2 to B10 in column B as narrowing-down candidates in a pop-up P4, as shown in Fig. 10. Then, cells indicating the item contents specified by the user's operation of the mouse on the operation unit 22 are extracted, and as shown in Fig. 11, the cells are displayed on the display unit, arranged by item in each row. Therefore, the multiple items shown in column B are also narrowed down to only those indicating the selected item contents.

[0044] In contrast to this, according to the above embodiment of the present invention, as described above, it is possible to extract, as a target for narrowing down, an item in which a certain piece of data and other data different from that data are set in correspondence with other columns in the same row from multiple items shown in each row of the same column, and therefore it is possible to obtain search results by narrowing down with such detailed conditions set with a simple operation.

[0045] Note that the present invention is not limited to the configuration of the above embodiment and various modifications are possible. For example, in the embodiment, when a filter mark FM1 is designated and an instruction to display narrowing-down candidate data is input to the operation unit 22, the control unit 100, in accordance with the display instruction, displays a pop-up P1 in which, for each cell in column A that is the target of the filter function, each piece of data set in other column B is set as narrowing-down candidate data, as shown in the example of FIG. 4. However, instead of this, when a filter mark FM1 is designated and an instruction to display narrowing-down candidate data is input to the operation unit 22, the control unit 100, in accordance with a selection instruction input to the operation unit 22, may selectively display either a normal reception screen (an example of which is the pop-up P3 shown in FIG. 8 ) for receiving the designation of items to narrow down the items displayed in each row of column A in which the designated filter mark FM1 is displayed as narrowing-down candidates, or a search condition reception screen such as the pop-up P1. When the control unit 100 displays the normal reception screen, the reception unit 101 receives items to be used as search conditions in accordance with instructions received by the operation unit 22 through operations on the normal reception screen, and the extraction unit 102 extracts data from the row containing the items received by the reception unit 101 and other columns of the row.

[0046] Furthermore, the configuration and processing shown in the above embodiment using FIGS. 1 to 7 are merely one embodiment of the present invention, and the present invention is not limited to these configurations and processing.

Claims

1. An electronic device comprising: an extraction unit that, for each item shown in each row of the same column, narrows down and extracts data from a selected item and other columns in the same row associated with that item from a data table in which data is set in other columns in the same row; a display unit; and a reception unit that receives, as the search conditions, one or more specifications of data to be searched for for each item from a plurality of different pieces of data set in the other columns, wherein the extraction unit extracts from the data table the items in the other columns in the same row associated with the data for which the reception unit has accepted the specifications, and further comprises a control unit that displays the items extracted by the extraction unit and the data in the other columns in the same row associated with the items in the same row, arranged in rows for each item, on the display unit.

2. The electronic device of claim 1, wherein the reception unit receives a designation of an item that is not to be extracted by the extraction unit, and the extraction unit excludes the item for which the reception unit has received the designation from the extraction target.

3. The electronic device of claim 2, wherein the reception unit receives, as the search conditions, one or more specifications of data to be searched for for each item from among the different multiple pieces of data set in the other columns, and receives the specification of an item for which no specification of data to be searched for has been received as an item not to be extracted by the extraction unit.

4. The electronic device of claim 1, wherein the control unit pops up a search condition acceptance screen on the display unit as a separate screen for accepting one or more designations of data to be searched for for each item from the different multiple data set in the other columns as search conditions.

5. The electronic device according to claim 4, wherein the control unit displays the search condition acceptance screen on the display unit so as to overlap the portion where the other columns are displayed.

6. An electronic device as described in claim 4, further comprising an operation unit into which instructions from a user are input, wherein the control unit causes the display unit to display filter marks for each column for accepting instructions to display the search condition acceptance screen, and when an instruction to specify the filter mark is input to the operation unit, selectively displays either a normal acceptance screen for accepting specification of items to be narrowed down or the search condition acceptance screen, in accordance with the selection instruction input to the operation unit, with the items shown in each row of the column in which the filter mark specified by the instruction is displayed as narrowing-down candidates.

7. A data search program that causes a computer to operate as: an extraction unit that, for each item shown in each row of the same column, narrows down and extracts data from a selected item and other columns in the same row associated with that item from a data table in which data is set in other columns in the same row; and a reception unit that receives, as the search conditions, one or more specifications of data to be searched for for each item from a plurality of different pieces of data set in the other columns, wherein the extraction unit extracts from the data table the items in other columns in the same row associated with the data for which the reception unit has received the specifications; and further causes the computer to operate as a control unit that displays, on the display unit, the items extracted by the extraction unit and the data in other columns in the same row associated with that item, arranged item by item in each row.

8. A data search method comprising: an extraction step for narrowing down and extracting, for each item shown in each row of the same column, data from a data table in which data is set in other columns of the same row, data from the selected item and data from other columns of the same row associated with the item; and a search condition acceptance step for accepting, as the search condition, one or more specifications of data to be searched for for each item from a plurality of different data set in the other columns, wherein in the extraction step, the item in the other columns of the same row associated with the data for which the acceptance unit accepted the specification is extracted from the data table; and a display control step for displaying, on a display unit, the item extracted in the extraction step and the data from the other columns of the same row associated with the item, arranged in rows for each item.

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