WO2002003311A2

WO2002003311A2 - File search service system and method through the internet

Info

Publication number: WO2002003311A2
Application number: PCT/KR2000/001304
Authority: WO
Inventors: Kyoung-Hwan Im
Original assignee: Bflysoft Co., Ltd.
Priority date: 2000-06-30
Filing date: 2000-11-15
Publication date: 2002-01-10
Also published as: AU2001214211A1; WO2002003311A3; KR20020004041A

Abstract

Disclosed is a file search service system and method for the Internet. A subscriber logs onto the search system through the Internet and inputs predetermined search conditions for obtaining information about a predetermined file. Then, the system searches the database for the information about the file with the search conditions, and provides search results. In addition, the file search robot builds the information database following a procedure including the steps of: analyzing and classifying the html documents of the searched site; storing the information of the internal document about the file in the information database; and storing URLs of the external links in the list of those that will be searched next. Therefore, users can easily get the information directly related to the topic through the Internet.

Description

FILE SEARCH SERVICE SYSTEM AND METHOD THROUGH THE

INTERNET

BACKGROUND OF THE INVENTION

(a) Field of the Invention

The present invention relates to a file search service system and method through the Internet. More specifically, the present invention relates to a system and method wherewith a file-level multiple searching service can be provided to a user through the Internet.

(b) Description of the Related Art

Users worldwide now use the Internet for accessing a variety of information, and the number of users tends to increase from day to day. Retrieval systems, which are supplied by many commercial services, are used for retrieving the information through the Internet.

Conventional search systems perform searching operations using document-level searching methods. Therefore, too many search results are often supplied to the users, and in addition, the same results are often repeated. In that case, users should check all the results, and that is time- consuming work. In addition, a user who wants to download a file should connect to the web site where a file downloading service is supplied. Hence, when the user wants to download a plurality of files scattered in many computer systems, they must connect to many web sites and execute downloading of the files one by one.

SUMMARY OF THE INVENTION

It is an object of the present invention to provide a file search service system and method through the Internet, wherein users can easily get information directly related to a predetermined topic via the Internet.

To achieve the above object, the present invention provides a preferred file search service SYSTEM including: a database that has information about files on the Internet; a file search robot that searches all over the web sites and makes the database of the information about the files scattered in the Internet; and an information file complement robot that connects the sites in the information file stored by the file search robot, and deletes information about the site when connection errors occur repeatedly above a predetermined number of times.

The present invention also provides a file search service method through the Internet comprising the steps of a subscriber logging onto the

Internet and inputting the search conditions, and the service system searching the information database for the file information and providing the search results to the subscriber.

BRIEF DESCRIPTION OF THE DRAWINGS

The accompanying drawings, which are incorporated in and constitute a part of the specification, illustrate an embodiment of the invention, and, together with the description, serve to explain the principles of the invention.

FIG. 1 is a block diagram of a file search service system through the Internet to which the present invention is applied.

FIG. 2 shows a flow chart of the file search service following the preferred embodiment of the invention.

FIG. 3 shows the search conditions inputted by the user. Fig. 4 shows a flow of the process wherein the information database is built by the file search robot.

FIG. 5 shows an example of the screen where options and method of search are input for controlling the file search robot.

FIG. 6 shows an example of the screen where the kinds of file to be searched are selected.

FIG. 7 shows a screen presenting the status of a search process. FIG. 8 shows a flow chart of an information file completion process by the complement robot.

FIG. 9 shows a screen where the schedule of the information file complement robot is determined by the option of the service provider.

FIG. 10 shows an example of deleting file information during the information file completion process.

FIG. 11 shows a flow of a search process with a natural language.

DETAILED DESCRIPTION OF THE PREFERRED EMBODIMENTS

In the following detailed description, only the preferred embodiment of the invention has been shown and described, simply by way of illustration of the best mode contemplated by the inventor(s) of carrying out the invention. As will be realized, the invention is capable of modification in various obvious respects, all without departing from the invention. Accordingly, the drawings and description are to be regarded as illustrative in nature, and not restrictive.

Preferred embodiments of the present invention will now be described in detail, with reference to the accompanying drawings. FIG. 1 is a block diagram of a file search service system through the

Internet to which the present invention is applied. As shown in FIG. 1 , a preferred file search service system comprises a user's computer 10; a database 50 that has information about the subscriber of the service; a database 60 that has information about the files on the Internet; a web server 72 that provides a home page when the user logs on via the Internet; a file search robot 74 that searches all over the web sites and makes the database of the information about the files on the Internet; an information file complement robot 71 that connects the sites in the information file stored by the file search robot 74, and deletes information about the site when connection errors occur repeatedly above a predetermined number of times; and a file search engine 73 that provides search results after searching the information file of the database with search conditions input by the user via the Internet.

The above-mentioned user's computer 10 comprises a hard disk drive, HDD 19, where a web browser or a multi-connection program is stored; a CPU 12 that controls reading, storing into the memory 9, executing the web browser or the multi-connection program, connecting to the other computer system via the Internet and sharing information with it; a modem

14 that modulates/demodulates the sent/received data from the above

CPU 12; a display controller 13; a display device 11 ; a system bus 15; a keyboard 18; and a mouse 17.

The above-mentioned user's computer 10 can be connected to the Internet through a private communication network 20, a commercial web server 40 or a web server 30 provided by the user's own computer system. Next, the operation of the file search system in the preferred embodiment will be described in detail, with references to the Figs. 1-11.

First, a user boots his computer 10 and loads a web browser program. The user connects his computer 10 to the file search engine 73 by inputting a command with a mouse 17 or a keyboard 18: S21 in Fig. 2.

Then, the web server 72 provides a home page 80 and the user's computer 10 displays the home page 80 of the service provider with the display device 11 : S21 in Fig. 2. When the user inputs identification data (ID) and a password, the web server 72 checks if the ID and the password coincide with those in the database 50 of the subscriber's information. The detailed description will be omitted because the technology of data communication between a client and a server is well known in the area of the art. If the user is not a subscriber, registration or use of the service in the restricted range as a guest is recommended. If the user is a subscriber or finishes the registration process properly, the file search service is provided through a searching window in the initial screen of the home page.

Next, the user inputs the search conditions and selects the search command shown on the display device 11 : S22 in Fig. 2. The search conditions are shown in Fig. 3. As shown in Fig. 3, the user decides on the kind of predetermined file and inputs keywords.

Then, the file search engine 73 searches the information file database 60 for files meeting the search conditions: S23 and S24, and provides the search results to the user: S25. Next, if the user selects downloading of the file in the search results:

526, the file search engine 73 sends the file to the user's computer system:

527. If the user selects a move to the web site in which the file is provided, the user's web browser connects to the web site: S28.

The above-mentioned information file database 60 is made and up- dated by the file search robot 74, as described below in detail.

Fig. 4 shows a flow of the process wherein the information database is made.

As shown in Fig. 4, there are two methods of starting a search. One method is starting a search from a predetermined site: S41 , and the other is starting from a group of sites that are provided by a predetermined search engine: S42 and S43. The method of starting a search is at the service provider's option. In both methods, the sites, having the information of the file, are recorded in the information file database 60 without duplication: S44.

Hypertext markup language (HTML) documents, classified as internal documents in the sites, are analyzed, and all the information identified as being about the file is stored in the information database: S47.

The above-described procedure is repeated until all the external sites are searched: S48.

An example of the screen where options and method of searching are determined is shown in Fig. 5.

In Fig. 5, one method, wherein a search process is started from a predetermined site and is continued through the linked sites and files, can be selected on the screen. The other method, wherein a search process is started from a group of sites that is provided by a predetermined search engine, for example Yahoo, can also be performed.

Fig. 6 shows an example of the screen, where the kinds of files to be searched are selected.

As shown in Fig. 6, the files searched by the file search engine 73 are classified into many groups such as MP3 files, image files, sound files, moving picture files, execution files, compressed files, document files, etc. The extension codes of the files, which can be classified into the same groups, are provided on the menu, and the brief descriptions of the extension codes are shown. The extension codes can be modified, added or deleted.

Fig. 7 shows a screen presenting the status of a search process. The screen shows the status of searching predetermined URLs, and, if external documents are found during the search process, the URLs of the related sites are stored in the list of the URLs that will be searched next.

Fig. 8 shows a flow chart of an information file completion process by the information file complement robot 71.

As shown in Fig. 8, the information file complement robot 71 connects the sites, one by one, in the information file stored by the file search robot 74: S81. When connection errors occur repeatedly above a predetermined number of times while the robot is trying to connect to one of the sites: S82, S83 and S84, the robot determines that the information about the site is not reliable and deletes the information about the site: S85. The completion process is continued to the next site with the same procedure until all the sites in the information file database 60 are connected: S86 and S87.

Fig. 9 shows a screen where the schedule of the information file complement robot 71 is determined by the option of the service provider. Fig. 10 shows an example of deleting file information during the information file completion process. As shown in the figure, the information file complement robot 71 searches the results for the message 'unlink' automatically, checks the number of times that errors occur, and deletes automatically when connection errors occur repeatedly above a predetermined number of times set by the service provider.

Fig. 11 shows a flow of a search process with a natural language. As shown in Fig. 11 , a user inputs key words in a form of a sentence, and then the file search engine 73 searches the file names in the information file database 60 by the method of module A.

The method of module A comprises the steps of searching the information file database 60 with all keywords: S111 ; each keyword: S112; each keyword except the auxiliary words and the ending of the words: S113; and finally synonyms of each keyword except the auxiliary words and the ending of the words: S114.

Next, the file search engine 73 searches the file descriptions in the information file database 60 by the method of module A: S120, and repeats the search in the entire texts: S130.

While this invention has been described in connection with what is presently considered to be the most practical and preferred embodiment, it is to be understood that the invention is not limited to the disclosed embodiments, but, on the contrary, is intended to cover various modifications and equivalent arrangements included within the spirit and scope of the appended claims.

For example, in the above-mentioned preferred embodiments, the components such as the web server 72, the file search engine 73, the file search robot 74 etc. can be realized with hardware, and the search conditions can be variously modified by a service provider or a subscriber.

In summary, the present invention provides a file search service system and method wherein users can accomplish a file-level search via the Internet.

Claims

WHAT IS CLAIMED IS:

1. A file search service system through the Internet comprising: a database for storing information classified by each file in the Internet; and a system for searching the database for predetermined file information with predetermined search conditions input by a subscriber via the Internet, and providing search results.

2. The system of claim 1 wherein the search system comprises: a web server providing a home page when a user logs on via the Internet; a file search robot searching all over the web sites, classifying the information about files scattered on the Internet and having the classified information stored in the information database; an information file complement robot connecting to the sites in the information file database made by the file search robot, and deleting information about the site when connection errors occur repeatedly above a predetermined number of times; and a file search engine providing search results after searching the information file of the database with the search conditions input by the subscriber via the Internet.

3. The system of claim 1 further comprising a database including a dictionary for supplying synonyms of search keywords.

4. A file search service method through the Internet comprising the steps of: a subscriber logging onto the Internet and inputting the search conditions; and the service system searching the information database for the file information and providing the search results to the subscriber.

5. The method of claim 4, wherein the file search robot builds the information database following a procedure including the steps of: analyzing and classifying html documents of a searched site; storing information of the internal document about the file in the information database; and storing URLs of external links in the list of URLs that will be searched next.

6. The method of claim 4, wherein the search condition is a form of a sentence comprising a natural language.