JP4580970B2 - Search mediation system - Google Patents

Description

  The present invention relates to a technique for searching a plurality of databases with different founders.

In recent years, it has been required to share information on logistics management and article location management across companies. As represented by ebXML (electronic business XML), a basic information acquisition mechanism, an information sharing / exchange framework, and common information items to be exchanged are being developed. Using this common information sharing / exchange framework, it is possible to start a smooth business operation by allowing existing or potential business partners to search a database that stores business information as needed. is there. On the other hand, a system for mediating data storage destinations has already been proposed (see Patent Document 1).
JP 2006-146293 A

  Disclosing information managed by the company has the advantage that new customers can be cultivated thereby. However, if the information is unconditionally disclosed, there is also a problem that it reveals the hand to the competitor. This is not only the contents of the information, but also the location of the database itself should be made known to potential customers, but it should be kept secret to inconvenient partners such as competitors in order to prevent industrial espionage and cracking interference. You will have inconsistent demands. Today, as standardized data sharing and exchange methods are becoming popular, the benefits of this are linked to a common foundation, and there is a potential opportunity for new, more advantageous business relationships that have never been met before. ing. However, it is still difficult to detect the presence and location even if it is shared as a base.

  On the other hand, search engines have been widely used and contributed greatly as Internet shopping services for general consumers other than business-to-business transactions and services that inform or introduce extremely ordinary content services that do not involve business transactions. The UDDI (Universal Description, Discovery, and Integration) method is also used in part for the purpose of announcing the supply of inter-company information XML Web services on the Internet. Anonymous search engine use is a convenient and desirable service form that allows the searcher to obtain the location of the information requested in one stop in a batch, but for that purpose providing a copy in advance on the assumption of anonymous access Due to the limitations due to the confidentiality of the business information described above, it is difficult for providers to accept from the viewpoint of information management. UDDI is only a means of announcing the content of the service provided. Whether the information content requested by the searcher actually exists under the service provider is determined by exchanging the service usage contract and communicating. After searching and after obtaining permission, it will be forced to take a great effort to find the validity only after searching.

  By the way, in order to realize sharing of logistics management and article location management across companies, it is currently assumed that an RFID (Radio Frequency IDentification) tag is used. However, as an origin of the item tracking information, it takes some cost to attach the RFID tag to each item to be managed. Therefore, the supplier of goods or the provider of logistics management information presses the burden of attaching such an RFID tag on the article supplier / distribution management information provider side, and then attaches the tag to the benefit recipient of the logistics management system. There is a situation that the spread of the information sharing / exchange mechanism represented by ebXML is hindered by fear that the burden cost cannot be distributed and distributed.

  Accordingly, a first object of the present invention is to provide a search mediation system capable of controlling access to a database and information to be disclosed in accordance with a partner who wants to access information. Another object of the present invention is to provide a search mediation system that enables a provider of distribution management information to properly collect costs for obtaining distribution management information from a user of distribution management information.

A first invention for solving the above-mentioned problem is a system that mediates search when searching a plurality of databases with different establishments from a user terminal,
Searcher information storage means for storing searcher information;
Provision conditions for each database are defined by "information granularity" that represents the degree of accuracy of information to be provided as a search result for each searcher category to which the searcher belongs ;
Search accepting means for accepting a search request from a user terminal;
Search request means for making a search request to each database according to the received search request;
Search result acquisition means for acquiring search results obtained from the databases;
Based on the searcher information and the provision conditions, extract what can be disclosed to the searcher of the request source from the acquired search results, or convert it to a value of information granularity level that can be disclosed to the user terminal A search result providing means to be provided;
Have
The provision condition is expressed by all combinations of a searcher category determined by a searcher's registered attribute and an identity disclosure searcher or not, and a corresponding granularity processing rule,
The granularity processing rule is defined when a granularity level, which is determined for a database item and indicates the degree of accuracy of information provided as a search result in stages, and the original value of the item is displayed at the granularity level. Which defines the conversion rules or replacement vocabulary to apply,
The search result providing means determines the searcher category of the searcher according to the provision condition, and applies the granularity processing rule corresponding to the determined searcher category to the original data that is the acquired search result, thereby To create a converted search result by converting each of the items into a display of the corresponding granularity level, and provide this to the user terminal.
The searcher information storage means, for each searcher, “demand granularity” indicating the level expected as the information granularity of the search result, and the information granularity determined by the provision conditions determined in advance by the database side satisfies the demand granularity. There is a storage area to specify three types of items: “Negotiation policy” that defines the negotiation policy for granularity negotiation that is invoked when there is not, and “Area policy” that defines the policy to terminate the granularity negotiation,
When the information granularity determined by the database side is less than the “demand granularity” requested by the searcher, the search result providing means is configured to determine the “demand granularity”, “negotiation policy”, “reach” predetermined by the searcher. The information granularity to be provided to the searcher is automatically re-determined based on the content of the policy, and the search results are processed and provided based on this granularity.
It is a search mediation system characterized by being a thing.

In the search mediation system according to the first aspect of the present invention , an information provision fee based on the granularity and the number of cases of the provision information extracted by the retrieval result provision means and its processing fee are calculated, and charging / allocation to the searcher and the database Content fee calculation means to calculate the amount;
Charge / distribution means for creating and recording the charge / distribution amount calculated by the content charge aggregation means as a record associated with the identification information of the searcher and information provider;
It is good also as a structure which comprises.

  A second invention for solving the problem is a software program that causes a computer to operate as the search mediation system according to the first invention.

  According to the present invention, the search mediation system intervenes between the database set by the searcher and the information provider, so that the searcher's information and database provision conditions are recorded in advance and a search request has been made. Depending on the searcher, information that can be made public is extracted from the searched information, or converted into a form that can be made public. It becomes possible to control. Further, the information provider using the database can obtain an information usage fee from the searcher according to the provided information, and can collect the distribution management information creation cost. Moreover, the search mediation system can allocate the information granularity reduction processing cost to its own operation cost burden by collecting it from the information provider.

  DESCRIPTION OF EMBODIMENTS Hereinafter, preferred embodiments of the present invention will be described in detail with reference to the drawings. FIG. 1 is a block diagram showing an embodiment of a search mediation system according to the present invention. In FIG. 1, 10 is a user terminal, 20 is a search mediation system, and 30a to 30c are independent database systems (hereinafter simply referred to as databases). The user terminal 10 and the search mediation system 20 are connected by the network 2. The search mediation system 20 and the databases 30 a to 30 c are connected to the network 3. The networks 2 and 3 may be the same.

  The user terminal 10 is a terminal device used by a user who performs a search, and is realized by a general-purpose computer that can access the search mediation system 20 via a network. The search mediation system 20 is a server computer having a function of searching a database on the network in response to a search request from the user terminal 10 and returning a search result to the user terminal 10. The provision condition storage means 22, the search reception means 23, the search request means 24, the search result acquisition means 25, the search result provision means 26, the content fee aggregation means 27, and the charge / distribution means 28 are provided.

  The searcher information storage unit 21 is a storage unit that stores information about a searcher. The provision condition storage unit 22 is a storage unit that stores the provision conditions of the databases 30a to 30c. The search receiving unit 23 has a function of receiving a search request from the user terminal 10. The search request unit 24 has a function of making a search request to the databases 30 a to 30 c according to the search request received from the user terminal 10. The search result acquisition unit 25 has a function of acquiring search results from the databases 30a to 30c. The search result providing unit 26 refers to the searcher information stored in the searcher information storage unit 21 and the provision conditions stored in the provision condition storage unit 22, and among the search results acquired from the databases 30a to 30c, the searcher Only a search result that can be disclosed to the user terminal 10 is extracted and provided to the user terminal 10 of the search request source.

  The content fee aggregation means 27 has a function of calculating an information provision fee and a processing fee based on the granularity and number of cases of the provided information extracted by the search result providing means 26, and calculating a charge / distribution to the searcher and the database. is doing. The number of cases does not necessarily correspond to the number of records. The accounting / distribution means 28 associates the record of the amount charged for the search use fee to the searcher and the record of the distribution amount of the information provision fee to the databases 30a to 30c with the identification information of the searcher and the information provider, respectively. Create as a record. This record is notified to the searcher by the method of mailing or the like, or by the telecommunication method such as electronic mail, and the founder of the distribution is notified of the distribution amount. (Dotted broken lines 4 and 5 in FIG. 1 indicate this notification.)

  The databases 30a to 30c are databases that are managed by different companies and permit access from the search mediation system 20. The databases are independent of each other and do not cooperate with each other unless the search mediating system 20 is used. In FIG. 1, the network 2 connecting the user terminal 10 and the search mediation system 20 and the network 3 connecting the search mediation system 20 and the databases 30a to 30c may be the same or different. Although it is possible to reach the databases 30a to 30c from the user terminal 10 as a potential communication path, the location as a communication destination is not known, and the user terminal 10 is known from the viewpoint of the databases 30a to 30c. Direct access is not allowed because there is no relationship. Since the databases 30a to 30c record important information managed by the company, only the search mediation system 20 is permitted to access. As described above, the databases 30a to 30c cannot be directly accessed from the user terminal 10, and the search mediation system 20 is always mediated. Conversely, by using this mechanism, the searcher need not specify the location of the databases 30a to 30c. In practice, it is not necessary for the searcher to request and negotiate individually with the openers of the databases 30a to 30c to conclude an access permission contract.

  The search mediation system 20 is realized by incorporating a dedicated program in a server computer connected to a network. Further, a data storage area for information as the searcher information storage means 21 and the provision condition storage means 22 is secured in a large-capacity storage device such as a hard disk. When the Internet is adopted as the network connecting the user terminal 10 and the search mediation system 20, the XML media service is provided from the user terminal 10 by providing the search mediation system 20 with the function of the XML Web service server. Can be used to access the search mediation system 20. In order for the search mediation system 20 to have the function of an XML Web service server, for example, software called Apache axis (registered trademark) is incorporated in a computer that implements the search mediation system 20.

  FIG. 2 is a diagram illustrating an example of searcher information stored in the searcher information storage unit 21. A person who wants to perform a search using this system must register information about the searcher himself as searcher information in advance. In the present embodiment, as shown in FIG. 2, as the searcher information, the searcher name, the type of business, the location, the annual sales scale, the searcher information disclosure conditions, and the granularity of demand, which is an item related to the granularity negotiation of the disclosed information described later, Negotiating policy, reaching policy, and other information. Other information includes public key data that identifies a user terminal for concealing communication between the user terminal of the searcher and the search mediation system 20. Each searcher is issued a searcher ID for specifying the searcher and is registered in the searcher information storage unit 21 in association with the searcher ID. The searcher information disclosure condition defines the conditions for disclosing the searcher information to the database opener. The searcher information disclosure conditions are set for each item of the searcher information and the settings according to the type of business of the opener. It is possible. In the item of demand granularity, the information granularity desired by the searcher is registered for each information item. The item of the negotiation policy is the price that the searcher offers to pay as a price in order to obtain finer granularity information when the disclosure granularity set by each database founder does not reach the demand granularity set by the searcher Pre-conditions for delivery are registered. This searcher information disclosure condition can set a plurality of contents for one searcher as long as no contradiction occurs. The reaching policy defines a negotiation termination policy (what compromise is to be made) when the searcher and the database opener do not agree on the granularity of the disclosed information.

  In the search mediation system 20, the “granularity” of information obtained by searching each database according to the relationship between the searcher and the database founder can be controlled and provided to the searcher. That is, the search result providing means 26 has a granularity processing rule table defined by each database founder as shown in FIG. 3, and the value of each item recorded in the database depends on the disclosed granularity level. It is converted into a value represented by roughness defined for each item and provided to the searcher. The disclosure granularity level of each item in the database at the time of a certain search request is determined according to a class correspondence table and a class definition table, which will be described later. As shown in FIG. 3, in the granularity processing rule table, for each item, the degree of accuracy with which information is provided in a maximum of seven levels from level A to level d is defined. In order to execute the granularity process, a conversion rule of “value” corresponding to the granularity level is determined for each DB item. This is because, as illustrated in FIG. 4, the expression vocabulary or conversion rule of “value” corresponding to each granularity level is hierarchically defined in advance from the coarsest level D to the finest level A. There is nothing else.

An example of information recorded in the database 30a is shown in FIG. As shown in FIG. 7, information of one record is recorded in the database 30 a according to items of recording time, product ID, product location, and inventory quantity. This one record usually corresponds to data when the reader reads the RFID tag once. Therefore, when the reader reads a plurality of tags at a time, a plurality of product IDs, which are recorded contents of the read tags, are recorded in the item of product ID. Further, in this case, the number of cases when the content fee aggregation means 27 calculates as the information provision fee is counted not as one case but as the number of product tags. The merchandise location is recorded in a hierarchical structure as shown in FIG. The databases 30a to 30c are independent from each other, and the databases 30b and 30c may be different from the structures shown in FIGS.

  FIG. 4 is a diagram showing a hierarchical structure (used vocabulary and conversion rules when displaying at each granularity level) of the item “product location”. The item “product location” has four levels of granularity from level A to level D. For example, when the value of the item “product location” is displayed at level A, “storage area a”, “storage area b”, etc. Displayed by value. In level B, the value of the item “product location” is displayed as “building / facility a”, “building / facility b”, and the like. That is, a set of values (vocabulary) that can be taken at each granularity level is defined in advance. In addition, the value displayed in any one of “Storage Area A”, “Storage Area B”, and “Storage Area C” at Level A should be displayed at Level B with the granularity level raised by one layer. Converted to “building / facility a”. That is, “building / facility a” is a replacement vocabulary for “storage area a”, “storage area b”, and “storage area c”. The hierarchical structure shown in FIG. 4 shows what values of lower level values are replaced at higher levels, that is, conversion rules.

  In order to reduce the information granularity, an operation load of data processing by the search mediation system 20 is required. Originally, in order to protect the confidentiality of information and economic value due to personal circumstances, each database should perform conversion processing on its own, and the search mediating system 20 is acting as a proxy for processing, and the cost for this granularity reduction processing It is reasonable that the database provider who provides the information bears the burden. For this reason, the granularity reduction processing cost is accumulated in the content fee aggregation means 27 for each vocabulary process or as a comprehensive process regardless of the number of processes or the number of processes indiscriminately. The information granularity reduction processing cost accumulated by the contents fee aggregation means as a periodic aggregation such as every time the search and response is completed or monthly etc. is also distributed to each database founder for the information providing consideration compensation accumulated by the same means It is sent to the billing / distribution means 28 in a form offset from the amount, and is recorded in association with the identification information of the information provider by the function of the means 28. By being settled by electronic or conventional commercial transaction means based on this record, each of the databases 30a-c can provide the information granularity for each item of information provided, the reduction processing cost, and the compensation as the sum of the number of items. Can receive distribution.

  The provision condition storage unit 22 stores a class definition table, a class correspondence table for each searcher category, and an information provision unit price table for the provision conditions. In this embodiment, the provision conditions are determined by the class definition table and the class correspondence table for each searcher category. FIG. 5 shows an example of a class definition table, FIG. 6 shows an example of a class correspondence table for each searcher category, and FIG. 9 shows an example of an information provision unit price table. In the class definition table, the level of disclosure of each item of information held in the database is set for each class. A class is a set of disclosure granularity levels when the disclosure granularity level for each item in the database is defined for all items. In the example of FIG. 5, class 1, class 2,... May be considered as names given to various sets of such disclosure granularity levels. That is, a set of disclosure granularity levels is specified by class 1, class 2,. This class definition table allows the database founder to easily set the disclosure granularity level of each item without setting each item individually when setting how much information is disclosed. .

When these searchers using this mechanism and the database share a common data exchange format standard, the format of the original original record and the provided data after the conversion process may not match due to the information granularity processing. there is a possibility. In this case, the search result providing means 26 can also create data that has been changed to a format different from the notation format of the original record and provide it to the searcher. As an example, when the item in which the product ID of FIG. 3 is recorded is converted into the product classification notation of level c, if the classification format structure of the classification is different from the product ID, it is different from the original record. You can answer by changing the format. However, if this deviates from the shared standard, the searcher will be notified in advance about the format that will be extended or changed from the common standard, and the searcher's receiving function will have a mechanism for processing and interpreting it. There is a need.

  In the example of FIG. 5, class 1 is the strictest, and the content becomes more gradual as the class number increases. Class 1 cannot disclose the existence of a database, nor can it disclose the type of business of the person who established the database. In the case of class 1, since the existence of the database cannot be disclosed, the items of information recorded in the database cannot be disclosed. Class 2 can disclose the existence of a database, but cannot disclose the type of business of the founder, and the inventory quantity and product location are disclosed at level D. As for levels, level A provides the most detailed information, and as levels B, C, and D, rough information is provided. Accordingly, Class 2 provides information in a very vague manner with respect to both the number of stocks and the location of goods. From Class 3 onwards, both the existence of the database and the type of business of the founder can be made public, and each item will be disclosed at a more detailed level as the class number increases with regard to inventory quantity and product location. I understand that.

Furthermore, information provision unit prices corresponding to the granularity are set for these items. In general, the content of information items provided at a finer granularity is more useful in terms of accuracy and precision of information, and has a higher economic value as a business secret. The price can be set higher than the price, but a flat price can be arbitrarily set according to the intention of the provider. FIG. 9 is an example of the information provision unit price table of the database 30a. For example, the item: product ID is set at 100 yen per case when provided at level A (recorded contents as it is), but is set at 10 yen per item when received at level c (product classification). ing.

  FIG. 6 shows an example of a class correspondence table by searcher category. The searcher category is a category for identifying a searcher determined by the database operator for the convenience of the database operator. The searcher category is usually determined by multiplying a category arbitrarily defined by the database founder based on the searcher attribute information registered as searcher information, with two combinations of whether the searcher is an identity disclosure searcher or not. . “Identity” in an identity non-disclosure searcher or an identity disclosure searcher means information sufficient to specify the searcher, and in this embodiment is a searcher name. The class correspondence table for each searcher category shown in FIG. 6 is for one database, and the same one is set for each database. The setting of the class can be arbitrarily set by the founder, but normally, as shown in FIG. 6, it is strict for non-disclosure searchers. It is also possible to specify a searcher name directly as a category and set a class.

By determining the category, the disclosure granularity class for each item that is a combination of the disclosure restrictions in FIG. 5 is determined. However, the disclosure granularity class set by the category class determined by the provider side based on the searcher category according to FIG. 6 is the demand granularity recorded in the searcher information storage means 21 shown in FIG. A situation that does not satisfy the information granularity for each item that the user wants normally occurs. The search result providing means 26 has a function of negotiating with the information provider side in order to obtain disclosure at a finer granularity based on the demand granularity, negotiation policy, and arrival policy set by the searcher in such a case. I have. This will be described in detail when the processing operation of the system is described.

(Processing operation)
Next, the processing operation of the system shown in FIG. 1 will be described. First, a user registered as a searcher in the searcher information storage unit 21 accesses the search mediation system 20 from the user terminal 10 and transmits a search request. At this time, the search receiving unit 23 authenticates the searcher and identifies which searcher is registered in the searcher information storage unit 21. This may be done, for example, by registering a password in the searcher information storage means 21 and requesting the searcher ID and password from the accessing user. In order to more reliably identify the searcher and protect the communication, the sender certificate obtained by encrypting the hash value of the search expression document transmitted by the searcher with the private key issued to the user terminal 10 is sent in advance. It is also possible to decrypt with the paired public key and collate with a value obtained by the same hash method as that at the time of transmission from the sent search expression. At the same time, the search formula text is also encrypted and transmitted with the public key issued by the search mediation system 20, and decrypted with the received secret key of the search mediation system 20, so that communication on the network can be protected. As a result, the identity of the searcher self-reported is identified as the registered original user.

  When the searcher ID is specified, the search receiving unit 23 refers to the searcher information storage unit 21 with the searcher ID, and acquires the attribute information of the searcher. Here, the business type and searcher information disclosure conditions are acquired as attribute information. Subsequently, the search receiving unit 23 refers to the provision condition storage unit 22 with the acquired attribute information, and acquires the address of a database that can be disclosed to the searcher. For example, in the examples of FIGS. 5 and 6, for the industry non-disclosure searcher, since it corresponds to the class 1, the existence of the database cannot be disclosed, and therefore no address is acquired. In the examples of FIGS. 5 and 6, in other cases, the database address is acquired. In this way, the search receiving means 23 acquires the address of the database that can be disclosed to the received searcher.

  When the database address is acquired from the provision condition storage unit 22, the search reception unit 23 requests all the databases from which the address has been acquired so as to search the contents according to the search request received from the user terminal 10. . Therefore, if the searcher's attribute does not meet the provision condition of the database, the address for the database is not acquired, and therefore the search request is not a target. As a result, useless search processing and invalid traffic on the way are suppressed in advance in order to obtain a search result that is determined in advance to be invalidated and discarded in the search mediation system 20. When all the addresses of the databases 30a to 30c have been acquired, a search request is transmitted to the database 30a, the database 30b, and the database 30c.

  If the data sharing / exchange method is standardized and all of the databases 30a to 30c requested to be searched conform to this, each database 30a to 30c is searched with the same content in this common format. Is requested. On the other hand, for a database that does not conform to this standard method, it is entrusted after converting it to a communication procedure and search expression format that can be communicated with the database. For this, use a conversion comparison table designed by acquiring the specifications of the database in advance, or apply transformation rules based on XSLT (XML Stylesheet Language Transformations).

  In each of the databases 30a to 30c, when a search request is received, the search request is accepted after authentication that the request is from the search mediation system 20. Then, each database searches its own database according to the received request contents, and obtains a search result. When the search result is obtained, each of the databases 30 a to 30 c transmits the search result to the search mediation system 20. The search result returned at this time may include confidential business information that needs to be restricted from being disclosed depending on the searcher. It is possible to realize the process of recognizing the actual searcher in the reply and omitting the contents to be concealed by referring to the business relationship on the side of the answering databases 30a to 30c. The database system developed for in-house use needs to be modified to provide an unexpected external information management function, and the information management processing load causes pressure on the original application. May occur or you may be forced to increase your capacity in anticipation of it. In the present invention, since the search mediation system 20 performs public content extraction based on the provision conditions, it is not necessary to bear this confidential processing load on the databases 30a to 30c side.

  In the search mediation system 20, the search result acquisition unit 25 acquires the search results transmitted from the databases 30a to 30c. At this time, if there is a communication procedure and response format that deviates from the standard in the database to be answered, the search results are obtained with the corresponding response means, and the search formula conversion is performed from the standard inconsistent format. By applying conversion means based on the specifications acquired in advance in the same way as when performing the pre-processing, the same disclosure provision as the following other answers is provided by pre-converting the response to the equivalent of other standard methods Possible information can be extracted. Subsequently, the search result providing means 26 refers to the searcher information stored in the searcher information storage means 21 and the provision conditions stored in the provision condition storage means 22 and extracts search results to be provided. For example, when the searcher ID of this search is A001, the search result providing unit 26 refers to the searcher information storage unit 21 and describes the industry “drug store chain” and the searcher information disclosure condition “ “Disclosure only for industry” is acquired. Then, the search result providing unit 26 refers to the provision condition storage unit 22 with the acquired information.

  Here, the process for the database 30a will be described. Since the searcher A001 is “disclosure of only the business type to the pharmaceutical industry”, the search result providing means 26 confirms the business type of the founder of the database 30a. Assuming that the founder of the database 30a is the pharmaceutical industry, the searcher information of the searcher A001 is “disclose only industry” for the database 30a. Then, the search result providing means 26 refers to the class correspondence table by searcher category (FIG. 6) for the non-disclosure searcher and business type “drug store chain”, and acquires “class 4”. Furthermore, with reference to the class definition table (FIG. 5) with this “class 4”, “publicly available” in the presence of the database, “publicly available” in the establishment industry, product location “level C”, inventory quantity “level C”, The product ID “level B” is acquired.

On the other hand, when the granularity level of the provided information requested by the searcher A001 is obtained from the demand granularity item of the searcher information storage means 21, for example, the product location “level D”, the inventory quantity “level B”, the product ID “level” A ”. In this case, as shown in FIG. 10, it is possible to provide information on the product location at a disclosure granularity level higher than that requested by the searcher. However, the information provider standardizes the inventory quantity and product ID. The disclosure granularity level to be set does not satisfy the disclosure granularity level requested by the searcher. Depending on the difference between the information provider and the searcher, such a trap may occur, but in such a case, the granularity negotiation processing function in the search result providing unit 26 functions.

  FIG. 12 is a flowchart for explaining the operation of the disclosure granularity determination process, which is the operation of the search result providing means 26. The operation so far will be described with reference to FIG. First, the searcher's disclosure conditions are read with reference to the searcher information storage means 21, and the default disclosure granularity for each item for the searcher is determined from the class correspondence table and class definition table for each searcher category set by the information provider. Determine (S100). On the other hand, referring to the item of demand granularity of the searcher in the searcher information storage means 21, the granularity level for each core item requested by the searcher is specified (S102). Both are put together and compared (S104). When the default disclosure granularity satisfies the searcher's demand granularity level in all items, the default disclosure granularity level and the information unit price are applied (S106). In contrast, in the previous example, a table as shown in FIG. 10 is obtained. According to this table, the merchandise location satisfies the demand granularity, but the items of inventory quantity and merchandise ID do not satisfy the demand granularity. Accordingly, the granularity negotiation process operates (S200). As a result, the granularity level determined by the granularity negotiation processing result and the information unit price are applied (S106).

  Next, the granularity negotiation process will be described with reference to the flowchart of FIG. Hereinafter, as in the previous example, the searcher A001 and the database will be described as 30a. First, the searcher's negotiation policy is temporarily stored with reference to the item of the searcher's “negotiation policy” in the searcher information storage means 21 (S201). Next, the allowable maximum amount is added to the price of the determination disclosure granularity of the item in accordance with the negotiation policy (S203). In the case of the searcher A001, “20% addition” is set, so a price that is 20% higher than the information unit price of inventory quantity: C level is set. It is determined whether or not this price (a presentation price with an allowable maximum amount added or a presentation price) satisfies the unit price at the demand granularity of the item (the same amount or more) (S203). If satisfied (Yes in S205), the information is received at the demand granularity for the item, and the unit price at the disclosed granularity level is applied (S207). Here, as the contents (item values) of the negotiation policy, “addition of 20% unit price”, “acceptance of high-level granularity up to two levels”, “addition of 20 yen unit price”, and the like can be set.

On the other hand, if the unit price at the demand granularity of the item cannot be satisfied even with the suggested price (No in S205), the searcher's arrival policy in the searcher information storage means 21 is referred to (S211). Reach policy is “Best”, “Unchangeable when not reached”, “Withdraw search when not reached”
One of them can be set. When the arrival policy is “best” (Yes in S213), the best granularity (the finest granularity) obtained within the offered price is set as the applicable disclosure granularity and unit price of the item (S215), and the process proceeds to S223. When the arrival policy is “not changed when not reached” (No in S213), the default granularity is set as the applicable disclosure granularity and unit price of the item (S215), and the process proceeds to S223. If the arrival policy is “withdraw search when not yet reached”, the search is canceled (S219), and the granularity negotiation process is immediately terminated.

When the granularity and unit price for the item have been determined, it is checked whether the granularity negotiation has been completed for all necessary items (S223), and if there are any remaining items, the process returns to S203 to perform the granularity negotiation for the next item. repeat.
In this way, the search result providing means 26 automatically combines the searcher information stored in the searcher information storage means 21 with the information provider conditions stored in the provision condition storage means 22. Negotiate the granularity and cost of provision information. (However, if the search is withdrawn during the granularity negotiation, information acquisition from the database is cancelled.)

  As a result, if it is information relating to the merchandise location, “inclusion in establishment” of the default disclosure granularity level C set by the founder of the database 30a for the searcher A001 is applied. Accordingly, FIG. 4 describes the facility belonging relationship of the establishment to which the database founder that is notified in advance to the search mediation system 20 or the database 30a itself supplies in response to an inquiry from the search mediation system 20 belongs. By referring to the business unit composition master data of the structure, from the acquired product location information to the level of “included in the company (major representative) business” as the stage semantic attribute assigned to this level of attribution, the attribution destination By moving up, you can obtain the location description content that matches the specified granularity of information that should be answered to the searcher, and by extracting this as an answer to the searcher, the actual search result originally has It is possible to observe the disclosure range designated by the founder of the database 30a, which is different from the definition of the product location. Further, the result of the granularity negotiation process is applied to the inventory quantity and the product ID. In other words, not only the convenience of the information provider but also the information provided in a form that reflects the searcher's needs to a certain extent, or in which the information provider / searcher's mutual information disclosure / acquisition policy is fully compromised And information can be acquired.

  Similarly, the searcher acquires information of a level corresponding to his / her searcher information and the provision conditions of the database from other databases.

  The determination of information to be disclosed will be described again. For example, consider the case where the type of business of the database 30a is the pharmaceutical industry. When the searcher A003 searches the database 30a, as shown in FIG. 2, the searcher information disclosure condition is “disclosure to retail and pharmaceutical industry”. Therefore, the searcher information of the searcher A003 is stored in the database 30a. Will be disclosed. Further, as shown in FIG. 2, since the searcher A003 is a wholesaler, it is determined as class 6 with reference to the information disclosure searcher and wholesaler in the searcher category class correspondence table of FIG. . On the other hand, when the searcher A001 searches the database 30a, as shown in FIG. 2, the searcher information disclosure condition is “disclose only the business type to the pharmaceutical industry”. In this case, since the founder of the database 30a is the pharmaceutical industry, only the business type is disclosed. Then, in the class correspondence table by searcher category in FIG. 6, it is determined as class 4 by referring to the identity non-disclosure searcher and the drug store chain. In the case of class 4, the product location is level D, the inventory quantity is level C, and the product ID is level B from the class definition table shown in FIG. Since the product location is level D, only the company name is disclosed. Since the stock quantity is level C, only the number of digits is disclosed. Since the product ID is level B, the product type code is disclosed. In this way, even if the searcher has disclosed only the type of business, that is, when limited attribute disclosure that falls between anonymous and real names is performed, an appropriate public information extraction range is set and surely Can be implemented.

  As described above, the information to be disclosed is determined and the search result is provided. From the searcher information disclosure condition in the searcher information stored in the searcher information storage means 21, FIG. It is also possible to create a searcher-opener correspondence table for each opener as shown in FIG. By storing the searcher-opener correspondence table as shown in FIG. 8 in a predetermined storage area, the search intermediary system 20 refers to the searcher-opener correspondence table after specifying the searcher ID. In addition, the database to be requested for search can be immediately identified, and when the content to be answered to the searcher is specified from the returned search result, the table corresponding to the class by searcher category shown in FIG. 6 is referred to. Can be performed at high speed.

  The preferred embodiment of the present invention has been described above. However, the present invention is not limited to the above embodiment, and various modifications can be made. For example, in the above embodiment, as shown in FIG. 6, in the class correspondence table by searcher category, which is a part of the provision conditions, the class is set for each type of searcher. The class may be set for other items in the searcher information such as the annual sales scale. In the above embodiment, the provision condition is determined by the class definition table and the class correspondence table for each searcher category. However, the provision condition may be determined by combining other tables.

Further, the billing / distribution means 28 records the amount charged for the search usage fee to the searcher and the record of the distribution amount of the information provision fee to the databases 30a to 30c as identification information of the searcher and the information provider, respectively. In addition to creating a record associating, a charge is made to the account requested by the searcher by the protocol used in the dedicated network (not shown) connected to the settlement institution (not shown), database opener It may also be configured to include an online payment function that issues a message for transferring the distribution amount to the parent's account.

It is a block diagram which shows one Embodiment of the search mediation system which concerns on this invention. It is a figure which shows an example of the searcher information memorize | stored in the searcher information storage means. It is a figure which shows a granularity process rule table | surface. It is a figure which shows the hierarchical structure of the merchandise location which is one item of merchandise information. It is a figure which shows the class definition table memorize | stored in the provision condition memory | storage means. It is a figure which shows the class correspondence table classified by searcher category memorize | stored in the provision condition memory | storage means. It is a figure which shows an example of the information memorize | stored in the database 30a. It is a figure which shows a searcher-opener correspondence table. It is an example of the information provision unit price table set to the database 30a. This is a proportional relationship between the demand granularity of the searcher and the default granularity of the information provider. 10 is a flowchart for explaining an operation of a disclosure granularity determination process that is a function of a search result providing unit 26; 6 is a flowchart for explaining the operation of granularity negotiation processing, which is a function of search result providing means 26.

Explanation of symbols

DESCRIPTION OF SYMBOLS 10 ... User terminal 20 ... Search mediation system 21 ... Searcher information storage means 22 ... Provision condition storage means 23 ... Search reception means 24 ... Search request means 25 ... Search Result acquisition means 26... Search result providing means 27... Content charge aggregation means 28... Billing / distribution means 30 a to 30 c.

Claims (3)

A system that mediates search when searching a plurality of databases with different founders from a user terminal,
Searcher information storage means for storing searcher information;
Provision conditions for each database are defined by "information granularity" that represents the degree of accuracy of information to be provided as a search result for each searcher category to which the searcher belongs ;
Search accepting means for accepting a search request from a user terminal;
Search request means for making a search request to each database according to the received search request;
Search result acquisition means for acquiring search results obtained from the databases;
Based on the searcher information and the provision conditions, extract what can be disclosed to the searcher of the request source from the acquired search results, or convert it to a value of information granularity level that can be disclosed to the user terminal A search result providing means to be provided;
Have
The provision condition is expressed by all combinations of a searcher category determined by a searcher's registered attribute and an identity disclosure searcher or not, and a corresponding granularity processing rule,
The granularity processing rule is defined when a granularity level, which is determined for a database item and indicates the degree of accuracy of information provided as a search result in stages, and the original value of the item is displayed at the granularity level. Which defines the conversion rules or replacement vocabulary to apply,
The search result providing means determines the searcher category of the searcher according to the provision condition, and applies the granularity processing rule corresponding to the determined searcher category to the original data that is the acquired search result, thereby To create a converted search result by converting each of the items into a display of the corresponding granularity level, and provide this to the user terminal.
The searcher information storage means, for each searcher, “demand granularity” indicating the level expected as the information granularity of the search result, and the information granularity determined by the provision conditions determined in advance by the database side satisfies the demand granularity. There is a storage area to specify three types of items: “Negotiation policy” that defines the negotiation policy for granularity negotiation that is invoked when there is not, and “Area policy” that defines the policy to terminate the granularity negotiation,
When the information granularity determined by the database side is less than the “demand granularity” requested by the searcher, the search result providing means is configured to determine the “demand granularity”, “negotiation policy”, “reach” predetermined by the searcher. The information granularity to be provided to the searcher is automatically re-determined based on the content of the policy, and the search results are processed and provided based on this granularity.
A search mediation system characterized by being a thing. Content fee aggregation means for calculating an information provision fee based on the granularity and number of cases provided by the search result providing means and its processing fee, and calculating a charge / distribution amount to the searcher and the database;
Charge / distribution means for creating and recording the charge / distribution amount calculated by the content charge aggregation means as a record associated with the identification information of the searcher and information provider;
The search mediation system according to claim 1, further comprising: A software program that causes a computer to function as the search mediation system according to claim 1 .

Images