JP7607863B2 - Information processing device, domain organization information production device, information processing method, domain organization information production method, and program - Google Patents

Description

The present invention relates to a device that performs processing using information related to domain names.

A conventional technique is known that outputs an input screen that accepts input of a company/corporation name and an email address (see, for example, Non-Patent Document 1).

"Transaction Value Improvement Seminar Participation Application Form", [online], [searched June 25, 2020], Internet <URL: https://mm-enquete-cnt.meti.go.jp/form/pub/chusyokeienshien/oem_1029_r1>

However, conventional technology has the problem that it is difficult to easily input an appropriate organization identifier.

For example, users had to input the organization identifier character by character using a keyboard or touch panel, which made it difficult to input information.

In addition, for example, even if the organizational identifier (e.g., corporate name, corporate code, etc.) is for the same organization (e.g., a company or corporation), the notation of the organizational identifier entered may differ depending on the user entering it, the situation at the time of entry, input errors, etc., and the appropriate organizational identifier may not be entered. For example, even if a user belongs to an organization whose name is "AAA Co., Ltd.", some users may enter the organization name as "AAA," some as "AAA (stock)," some as "AAA corporation," and some as "Aaa Co., Ltd." For example, data such as organization names entered using different notations, etc., are often judged to be different data in a database, etc., which hinders the effective use of the entered data, etc.

The present invention has been made to solve the above problems, and aims to provide an information processing device etc. that provides support for easily inputting an appropriate organization identifier.

The information processing device of the present invention is an information processing device that includes an acquisition unit that acquires domain information related to a domain name from an email address input by a user, a domain organization storage unit that stores one or more pieces of domain organization information that associates the domain name of the email address with an organization identifier that is an identifier of the organization, a search unit that uses the domain information to search for one or more organization identifiers from the domain organization information, and an output unit that outputs one or more organization identifiers acquired by the search unit through the search.

This configuration makes it possible to output one or more organization identifiers obtained using an email address, and provides assistance in easily inputting an appropriate organization identifier.

In addition, in the information processing device of the present invention, the domain organization information may have a score indicating the possibility that the organization identifier associated with the domain name is the organization identifier of an organization that uses the domain name, in association with the domain name and the organization identifier, and the output unit may output one or more organization identifiers acquired by the search unit through a search according to the score corresponding to the organization identifier.

With this configuration, the score can be used to appropriately output an organization identifier, and it is possible to assist in easily inputting an appropriate organization identifier with high accuracy.

In addition, in the information processing device of the present invention, the domain organization information may have a score indicating the possibility that the organization identifier associated with the domain name is an organization identifier of an organization that uses the domain name, in association with the domain name and the organization identifier, and the search unit may search for an organization identifier whose score associated with the organization identifier satisfies a predetermined condition.

This configuration allows the score to be used to more appropriately obtain an organization identifier, and helps facilitate easy input of an appropriate organization identifier with high accuracy.

In addition, in the information processing device of the present invention, the domain information may be at least a part of a character string of a domain name, and the search unit may search for an organization identifier associated with a domain name having a character string that matches or is similar to the character string in the domain information, and associated with a score indicating that the corresponding domain name is more likely to be a domain name used by the organization indicated by the corresponding organization identifier than a predetermined condition.

This configuration makes it possible to output an organization identifier that is likely to be the organization identifier of the organization to which the user belongs, and helps users input an appropriate organization identifier with high accuracy and ease.

In addition, in the information processing device of the present invention, when the search unit acquires a plurality of organization identifiers, the output unit may output the organization identifiers in an output order according to the scores associated with the organization identifiers.

This configuration makes it possible to output organization identifiers that are likely to be the organization identifiers of organizations to which the user belongs in a manner that is easy for the user to recognize, making it easier for the user to select an appropriate organization identifier.

In addition, in the information processing device of the present invention, the acquisition unit may acquire domain information for an email address entered in an email address input field displayed on the input screen, and the output unit may output one or more acquired organization identifiers as organization identifiers to be entered in an organization identifier input field displayed on the input screen.

This configuration can provide appropriate assistance in entering the organization identifier into the input field.

In addition, in the information processing device of the present invention, the acquisition unit may update the domain information acquired in response to an update of an email address input by a user, the search unit may perform a search using the updated domain information, and the output unit may update the output using an organization identifier acquired by the search unit in response to the updated domain information.

With this configuration, updated organization identifiers can be output sequentially in response to updates to email addresses, dynamically facilitating easy input of appropriate organization identifiers.

The information processing device of the present invention may further include an excluded domain storage unit in which one or more excluded domain names, which are domain names for which the organizational identifier is not output, are stored, and when the domain information acquired by the acquisition unit matches any one of the excluded domain names, the organizational identifier is not output.

With this configuration, it is possible to prevent the output of an organization identifier for email addresses that use excluded domain names, thereby preventing, for example, the output of an incorrect organization identifier for an organization that is not related to the user's organization.

In addition, in the information processing device of the present invention, the output unit may be configured to output information calling attention to the input email address if the search unit is unable to obtain an organization identifier.

This configuration also allows for appropriate warnings when entering an email address.

The domain organization information production device of the present invention is a domain organization information production device that includes a business card information acquisition unit that acquires a plurality of business card information having a user's email address and an organization identifier of the organization to which the user belongs, which is information related to business cards; a domain organization acquisition unit that acquires a domain name of the email address and an organization identifier from each of the plurality of business card information acquired by the business card information acquisition unit, and acquires one or more domain organization information having the acquired domain name and organization identifier; and a domain organization information output unit that outputs the one or more domain organization information acquired by the domain organization acquisition unit.

This configuration makes it possible to produce appropriate domain organization information.

In addition, the domain organization information production device of the present invention may be configured such that, in the domain organization information production device, the domain organization acquisition unit acquires the number of occurrences of pairs of the same domain name and organization identifier for the domain name and organization identifier acquired from the multiple business card information, and acquires domain organization information having a score corresponding to the acquired number of occurrences and the pairs of the domain name and organization identifier for which the number of occurrences has been acquired.

With this configuration, it is possible to appropriately produce domain organization information with an appropriate score.

The domain organization information production device of the present invention may further include an exclusion storage unit in which one or more acquisition excluded domain names, which are domain names to be excluded from acquisition from business card information, are stored, and the domain organization acquisition unit may prevent a domain name that matches any one of the acquisition excluded domain names from being acquired from the business card information acquired by the business card information acquisition unit.

This configuration makes it possible to obtain domain organization information that does not have acquisition exclusion domain names. For example, by setting domains that are difficult to associate with organizations used by users as acquisition exclusion domain names, it is possible to avoid producing domain organization information whose organization identifiers cannot be properly searched.

The information processing device according to the present invention can provide assistance for easily inputting an appropriate organization identifier.

FIG. 1 is a block diagram of an information processing system according to an embodiment of the present invention; A flowchart illustrating the operation of the information processing device. A flowchart explaining the operation of the domain organization information production device. FIG. 13 shows an example of the display of the input/output device. FIG. 5(a) is a diagram showing an example of an excluded domain name management table of the information processing device, and FIG. 5(b) is a diagram showing an example of an acquisition excluded management table of the domain organization information production device. FIG. 13 is a diagram showing an example of a domain organization information management table of the information processing device; 7(a) and 7(b) are diagrams showing display examples of the input/output device; FIG. 13 shows an example of the display of the input/output device. 9(a) and 9(b) are diagrams showing display examples of the input/output device. FIG. 13 is a diagram showing an example of the business card information management table. FIG. 11(a) to FIG. 11(c) are diagrams showing an example of a domain company management table of the domain organization information production device. FIG. 1 shows an example of the external appearance of the computer system. FIG. 1 shows an example of the configuration of the computer system.

Embodiments of an information processing device and the like will be described below with reference to the drawings. Note that components with the same reference numerals in the embodiments perform similar operations, and therefore may not be described again.

(Embodiment)
FIG. 1 is a block diagram of an information processing system 1000 according to the present embodiment.

The information processing system 1000 includes an information processing device 1, a domain organization information production device 2, and one or more input/output devices 3. The information processing device 1 and the domain organization information production device 2 are connected to each other so that information can be sent and received, for example, via a wired or wireless communication line. The information processing device 1 and the domain organization information production device 2 are connected to each other, for example, via a network such as the Internet. The same applies to the connection between the information processing device 1 and one or more input/output devices 3. In the following, in this embodiment, a case where there is one input/output device 3, as shown in FIG. 1, will be described as an example.

The information processing device 1 includes an acquisition unit 101, a domain organization storage unit 102, an excluded domain storage unit 103, a search unit 104, and an output unit 105.

The domain organization information production device 2 includes a business card information storage unit 201, a business card information acquisition unit 202, a domain organization acquisition unit 204, an exclusion storage unit 203, and a domain organization information output unit 205.

The information processing device 1 is typically a server device. For example, the information processing device 1 is a cloud server or an ASP (application server device). Note that the information processing device 1 does not have to be a server device. The information processing device 1 is realized, for example, by a computer, etc.

The acquisition unit 101 acquires domain information from an email address entered by a user. The domain information is information relating to the domain name of the email address entered by a user. The domain information is, for example, information that has at least a part of a domain name. The domain information is, for example, information about a character string included in a domain name. The domain information will be described later.

The domain name of an email address is, for example, the character string following the "@ (at)" sign in an email address. A domain name is usually made up of multiple character strings called labels separated by the "." symbol, and from the right, each character string separated by a "." is called the "top-level domain," "second-level domain," "third-level domain," and "fourth-level domain."

For example, in a domain name having a technical top level domain (gTLD) such as "com" or "net", a character string designated by the user is usually available as the second level domain. In a domain name having a country code top level domain (ccTLD) such as "jp" or "eu", where the second level domain does not include a character string for identifying the type of organization such as "co" or "ne", a character string designated by the user is usually available as the second level domain. In a domain name having a ccTLD where the second level domain includes a character string for identifying the organization, a character string designated by the user is usually available as the third level domain. Hereinafter, for the sake of convenience, the part of the character string designated by the user in such a domain name (specifically, such a label) is referred to as the user-specified domain. In addition, the label located on the left side of the user-specified domain is usually referred to as a subdomain to which the user can freely assign a character string in order to divide the domain.

Note that, although the case where the domain name includes a subdomain is described here, it may be considered that the subdomain is not included. Also, although the case where the domain name includes a gTLD, a ccTLD, or a combination of a ccTLD and a second-level domain that identifies the type of organization is described here, it may be considered that the domain name does not include these.

The email address entered by the user may be an email address that the user has entered, or an email address that the user is in the process of entering. The email address entered by the user may also be a part of the email address entered by the user (preferably the domain name part).

The email address input by the user may be an email address input by the user to the information processing device 1, or may be an email address input to a device other than the information processing device 1, such as the input/output device 3. For example, the acquisition unit 101 may acquire one or more of the following: an email address received by the information processing device 1 from the user via an input device such as a keyboard or a touch panel, a domain name of an email address input by the user, an email address that the user is in the middle of inputting, and a domain name of an email address that the user is in the middle of inputting. The acquisition unit 101 may also accept similar information that the user inputs to a device such as the input/output device 3 from a device such as the input/output device 3. The acceptance of such information from a device such as the input/output device 3 is specifically the reception of information. A reception unit (not shown) that accepts or receives such information may be included in the acquisition unit 101, for example, or may be included in the information processing device 1 as a processing unit other than the acquisition unit 101.

The acquisition unit 101, for example, accepts at least a portion of an email address input by a user and acquires domain information from this information. The email address input by the user here is usually the user's email address, i.e., the email address used by the user.

For example, the acquisition unit 101 accepts an email address input by a user and acquires domain information from the accepted email address. The acquired domain information may be, for example, the domain name of the accepted email address, or may be part of the domain name information acquired from the domain name of the email address. For example, the acquisition unit 101 acquires at least part of the domain name, which is the character string following the "@" mark in the email address, as the domain information. The acquisition unit 101 may also accept a domain name input by a user and acquire domain information from the accepted domain name. For example, the accepted domain name may be acquired as is as the domain information, or part of the domain name information may be acquired as the domain information.

The acquisition unit 101 may also acquire, as the domain information, the above-mentioned user-specified domain or a part thereof from the domain name of the email address, or may acquire, as the domain information, a combination of the above-mentioned user-specified domain and a subdomain from the domain name, or a part thereof.

For example, a user-specified domain or subdomain can be detected by the position from the right of the label separated by "." in the domain name. The position of the label to be detected can be determined using information (not shown) that associates and manages the top-level domain character string with the type of top-level domain (gTLD, ccTLD, etc.). The top-level domain character string and the position in the domain name of the character string (e.g., label) to be obtained as domain information can be associated and stored in advance in a storage unit (not shown), and this information can be used to obtain the character string at the desired position in the domain name as domain information according to the top-level domain character string.

The part of the user-specified domain or part of the combination of a subdomain and a user-specified domain acquired as domain information may be any part, for example, a string of any number of characters at the beginning of the user-specified domain or the combination of a subdomain and a user-specified domain, or a part that matches (or does not match) any of the words included in a dictionary prepared in advance, or a part that matches any of multiple strings representing organizations, etc. prepared in advance.

The acquisition unit 101 may also accept an email address that the user is in the middle of inputting, and acquire the domain name portion of this email address or a part of it as domain information. The acquisition unit 101 may also accept a domain name of an email address that the user is in the middle of inputting, and acquire the domain name or a part of it as domain information.

The acquisition unit 101 acquires domain information for an email address entered in an email address input field displayed on an input screen. This input screen is an input screen used to enter an email address and an organization identifier displayed on a monitor (not shown) of a device such as the information processing device 1 or the input/output device 3. The input field is also called an input field.

The acquisition unit 101 updates the domain information it acquires in response to updates to the email address entered by the user. Updates here include, for example, adding, deleting, or replacing a character string that constitutes an email address. For example, each time the user adds a character to the domain name string while entering the domain name of an email address, the acquisition unit 101 may acquire domain information for the added domain name and update the previously acquired domain information with the acquired domain information. For example, when a user inputs the character string "staff@pqr" as an email address, the acquisition unit 101 accepts this character string and acquires the character string "pqr" after the "@" mark (e.g., to the right) of this character string as domain information. Furthermore, when the user adds the character string "s" to the email address being input, updating the character string of the input email address to the character string "staff@pqrs", the acquisition unit 101 may accept this character string and update (e.g., overwrite) the domain information "pqr" acquired above with the character string "pqrs" after the "@" of this character string.

Note that the process by which the acquisition unit 101 acquires domain information described above is an example, and the process by which the acquisition unit 101 acquires domain information is not limited to the process described above.

The domain organization storage unit 102 stores one or more pieces of domain organization information. The domain organization information is information that associates the domain name of an email address with an organization identifier. For example, the domain organization information is information that has a pair of a domain name and an organization identifier. The organization identifier is an identifier that can identify an organization. The organization here is, for example, a corporation such as a company, a business, an incorporated association, or an incorporated foundation, but is not limited to this and may be an organization (group) other than a corporation or an individual. The organization identifier is, for example, a corporate name, a business name, a business code, a corporate number, etc.

Each domain organization information stored in the domain organization storage unit 102 may have a score (hereinafter, sometimes simply referred to as a score) indicating the possibility that the organization identifier associated with the domain name by the domain organization information is the organization identifier of the organization using the domain name, associated with the domain name and the organization identifier. The score may be, for example, an evaluation value that evaluates the possibility that the organization identifier associated with the domain name is the organization identifier of the organization using the domain name. The score may also be a value indicating the probability that the organization identifier associated with the domain name is the organization identifier of the organization using the domain name. The score may be the number of times that the combination of the domain name and the organization identifier appears (hereinafter, sometimes referred to as the number of occurrences), the frequency of occurrence, a value that indexes the number of occurrences or the frequency of occurrence, a value that ranks the combination of the domain name and the organization identifier by the number of occurrences or the frequency of occurrence, etc. Specifically, the score is a value indicating the possibility that a combination of an e-mail address having the same domain name and the same organization identifier will appear in a plurality of pieces of information having an e-mail address and an organization identifier of an organization to which a user who uses the e-mail address belongs, which are stored in a storage unit (not shown) or a business card information storage unit 201 described later, or in a database in which such information is stored, and is, for example, the number of times that information having an e-mail address having the same domain name and the same organization identifier appears, the frequency of appearance, a value that indexes the number of appearances or frequency, or a value that ranks the number of appearances or frequency by value range. The frequency of appearance may be, for example, a ratio to the number of all records of one or more pieces of information having the above-mentioned e-mail address and organization identifier, or a database in which such information is stored, or may be a frequency to the total number of pieces of information having an e-mail address with the same domain name. This score is usually a numerical value, but may be a value such as a character string that can be converted into a numerical value. One or more pieces of information having an e-mail address and an organization identifier, or a database in which these pieces of information are stored, is, for example, one or more pieces of business card information having an organization identifier and an e-mail address, or a database in which these pieces of information are stored. Business card information etc. will be discussed later.

The score may be a value calculated using not only the number of occurrences and frequency of occurrence as described above, but also other factors that indicate the likelihood that the domain name is an organizational identifier. For example, if an organizational identifier such as a company name detected when performing a database (not shown) that provides company information or a web search using the domain name of an email address contained in one domain organizational information matches an organizational identifier contained in this domain organizational information, a score may be calculated by adding or multiplying the value representing the number of occurrences or frequency of occurrence as described above corresponding to this organizational identifier by a predetermined value that increases these values, or a value corresponding to the number of members of the organization obtained by the search.

Furthermore, the score is not limited to the values described above, as long as it is, for example, a value that ultimately indicates the possibility that an organization identifier contained in the domain organization information is an organization identifier of an organization that uses a domain name contained in the same domain organization information, or a value that ultimately enables evaluation of this possibility, etc.

The domain organization storage unit 102 is preferably a non-volatile recording medium, but can also be realized as a volatile recording medium. The same applies to the other storage units described below.

The excluded domain storage unit 103 stores one or more excluded domain names. An excluded domain name is, for example, a domain name for which a corresponding organization identifier is not output. An excluded domain name is, for example, one or more domain names that are not used in a search for outputting an organization identifier. An excluded domain name may be, for example, one or more domain names that are excluded from a search target by the search unit 104.

Excluded domain names are those that are difficult to identify the organization that uses them, for example, because an unspecified number of users use them as domain names for their e-mail accounts. Excluded domain names are, for example, so-called free mail services and domain names of e-mail accounts provided to users by Internet service providers, etc.

The excluded domain names stored in the excluded domain storage unit 103 are usually domain names, but may also be user-specified domains among domain names.

In addition, if the domain organization storage unit 102 does not store domain organization information having a domain name that matches an excluded domain name stored in the excluded domain storage unit 103, the excluded domain storage unit 103 may be omitted, and the information processing device 1 may not perform processing, etc. using the excluded domain name stored in the excluded domain storage unit 103.

The search unit 104 uses the domain information to search for one or more organization identifiers from one or more domain organization information. The search unit 104 searches for one or more organization identifiers from one or more domain organization information stored in the domain organization storage unit 102, for example, using the domain information as a search key. The search here is, for example, a search for one or more organization identifiers associated with a domain name that matches the domain information. The match here is usually a perfect match, but may be a partial match. A perfect match domain name is, for example, a domain name that is the same as the domain information. A partial match domain name is, for example, a domain name that matches the front of the domain information (i.e., the front part of the character string is the same), a domain name that matches the back of the domain information (i.e., the back part of the character string is the same), or a domain name that includes the same character string as the domain information. A partial match domain name may be, for example, a domain name that is the same as a part of the domain information. A partial match domain name may be a domain name in which part of the domain information is the same as a part of the domain name. However, in this case, it is preferable that the part of the domain name is a part of the domain name excluding the top level domain and the second level domain used to identify the organization. Additionally, searches may be made to avoid domain names where part of the domain information is the same as part of the domain name.

The search performed by the search unit 104 may be a similarity search. For example, the search unit 104 may search the domain organization information for an organization identifier associated with a domain name similar to the domain information, or an organization identifier associated with a domain name having a character string similar to the domain information. For example, the search unit 104 may calculate the Levenshtein distance or the Jaro-Winkler distance, etc., to convert the similarity between character strings into a numerical value, and use this numerical value to search for one or more organization identifiers associated with domain names that have a high similarity to the domain information. Note that the similarity search described here is an example, and the similarity search performed by the search unit 104 is not limited to this similarity search.

The search unit 104 may perform multiple searches under different conditions using the domain information. For example, the search unit 104 may search for one or more organization identifiers associated with a domain name that completely matches the domain information, and may further search for one or more organization identifiers associated with a domain name that partially matches the domain information. The search unit 104 may also perform multiple searches using different search keys obtained using the domain information. For example, the search unit 104 may use the domain information, which is a domain name, as it is as a search key to search for one or more organization identifiers associated with a domain name that completely matches, and may further use a search key that excludes a part of the domain information, which is a domain name (for example, a user-specified domain of the domain name as a search key), to obtain one or more organization identifiers associated with a domain name having a character string that completely matches this search key. Note that searches under different conditions or searches using different search keys may be performed only when the search results from the first search do not satisfy a predetermined condition, for example, when a predetermined number or more of organization identifiers cannot be detected, or when a score associated with a score equal to or greater than a threshold cannot be detected.

The search unit 104 may search for an organization identifier whose score associated with the organization identifier further satisfies a predetermined condition. For example, the search unit 104 searches for an organization identifier associated with a domain name having a character string that matches or is similar to a character string in the domain information, and whose score indicates that the possibility that the corresponding domain name is a domain name used by the organization indicated by the corresponding organization identifier is higher than a predetermined condition. For example, the search unit 104 may search for organization identifiers within a predetermined rank in order of the score associated with the organization identifier indicating a higher possibility that the organization identifier is an organization identifier of the organization using the corresponding domain name, or may search for organization identifiers whose score associated with the organization identifier is a value within a range indicating a higher possibility that the organization identifier is an organization identifier of the organization using the corresponding domain name. The range here may be a range in which only the upper or lower limit is specified by a threshold value or the like. For example, when using a score for the domain organization information such that the higher the score, the more likely it is that the organization identifier associated with the domain name in the domain organization information is the organization identifier of the organization that uses this domain name, the search unit 104 may further search for organization identifiers associated with scores whose magnitude falls within a predetermined ranking when counted from the highest scores, or whose value is greater than a predetermined threshold value.

When the domain information acquired by the acquisition unit 101 is updated, the search unit 104 may perform a search again using the updated domain information and update the search results.

In addition, when the domain information acquired by the acquisition unit 101 corresponds to (specifically matches) any one of one or more excluded domain names stored in the excluded domain storage unit 103, the search unit 104 may not search for an organization identifier using the domain information as described above. For example, when the domain information acquired by the acquisition unit 101 is a domain name, the search unit 104 may search for an excluded domain name that matches this domain name in the excluded domain storage unit 103, and when a matching excluded domain name is detected, the search unit 104 may not search for an organization identifier using the domain information as described above. The match here is preferably a perfect match, but may also be a partial match. In this way, when the domain information acquired by the acquisition unit 101 matches any one of the excluded domain names, the information processing device 1 may not output an organization identifier as a result.

The output unit 105 outputs one or more organization identifiers acquired by the search unit 104 through a search. The output here is a concept that includes displaying on a display, projecting using a projector, transmitting to an external device, and passing the processing results to another processing device, another program, etc.

The output unit 105 outputs, for example, one or more organization identifiers acquired by the search unit 104 as input candidates for organization identifiers (for example, input candidates for an input field, etc.). For example, the output unit 105 outputs one or more organization identifiers acquired by the search unit 104 as a list of input candidates selectable by the user. Outputting as a list may mean displaying the list, or may mean transmitting or delivering information that can be displayed as a list of input candidates to another device such as the input/output device 3. The organization identifier is selected via an input device such as a mouse, keyboard, or touch panel. Note that the process of outputting a list of input candidates, etc. is a publicly known technique, and therefore will not be described in detail here.

When the output unit 105 displays one or more organization identifiers acquired by the search unit 104, for example, it is preferable to display the one or more organization identifiers acquired by the search unit 104 (e.g., a list of input candidates having organization identifiers) on an input screen (not shown) having an input field for the organization identifier, and it is more preferable to display them in the vicinity (e.g., above, below, left, right, etc.) of the input field for the organization identifier displayed on the input screen. Note that when the search unit 104 acquires only one organization identifier, the acquired organization identifier may be displayed in the input field for the organization identifier.

When the output unit 105 transmits or delivers one or more organization identifiers acquired by the search unit 104 or information that can be displayed as a list of input candidates having one or more organization identifiers to another device such as the input/output device 3, the output unit 105 may, for example, output the information in association with information indicating that the one or more organization identifiers have been acquired by search, an identifier indicating that the organization identifiers are input candidates, an identifier identifying the input field for the organization identifier to be input, etc.

The output unit 105 outputs, for example, one or more organization identifiers acquired by the search unit 104 through a search, according to the score corresponding to the organization identifier. For example, when the search unit 104 acquires a plurality of organization identifiers, the output unit 105 outputs the plurality of organization identifiers in an output order according to the score associated with the organization identifier. For example, the output unit 105 outputs the plurality of organization identifiers arranged by the score associated with the organization identifier (for example, arranged in ascending or descending order of score). For example, the output unit 105 outputs (for example, displays) the plurality of organization identifiers such that the score associated with the organization identifier indicates that the score is more likely to be the organization identifier of the organization using the corresponding domain name, and the value indicating that the score is more likely to be the organization identifier of the organization using the corresponding domain name is located closer to the input field for the organization identifier. For example, when a score such that the higher the value is, the more likely the organization identifier associated with the domain name in the domain organization information is to be the organization identifier of the organization using this domain name, is used as the score possessed by the domain organization information, the plurality of organization identifiers are arranged and output such that the corresponding value is more likely to be located closer to the input field for the organization identifier. Note that transmitting organization identifiers in output order may mean arranging multiple organization identifiers in output order and transmitting them, or may mean associating each organization identifier with information indicating the output order and transmitting them.

Also, for example, the output unit 105 may output only organization identifiers whose scores associated with each organization identifier are within a predetermined rank in order of the value indicating the higher possibility that the organization identifier is an organization identifier of an organization using the corresponding domain name among one or more organization identifiers acquired by the search unit 104 through a search, or may output only organization identifiers whose scores associated with each organization identifier are within a range indicating the higher possibility that the organization identifier is an organization identifier of an organization using the corresponding domain name. The range here may be a range in which only the upper or lower limit is specified by a threshold value or the like. For example, when a score that is higher in value as the score of the domain organization information is used, the output unit 105 may output only one or more organization identifiers associated with a score that is higher in value than a predetermined threshold value or a score whose magnitude is within a predetermined rank counting from the highest score. However, in a case where the search unit 104 is searching for similar organization identifiers using a score as a search condition, the output unit 105 may not perform a process of determining the organization identifier to be output using such a score.

Note that outputting one or more organization identifiers according to the score corresponding to each organization identifier may be a concept that includes not outputting some organization identifiers depending on the score corresponding to each organization identifier. For example, if there is no organization identifier associated with a score greater than a predetermined threshold value, the output unit 105 may not need to output an organization identifier.

Note that if the search unit 104 is unable to obtain the organization identifier through a search, the output unit 105 does not need to output the organization identifier.

The output unit 105 may output predetermined information when the search unit 104 fails to acquire one or more organization identifiers through the search. The predetermined information may be, for example, information created using a predetermined template or the like. For example, the output unit 105 may output information indicating that an organization identifier could not be detected. Furthermore, the output unit 105 may output information that draws attention to an input email address when the search unit 104 fails to acquire one or more organization identifiers. The information that draws attention may be, for example, information that warns that the input email address is incorrect, such as a message saying "The email address is incorrect," or may be information that prompts the user to confirm that the input email address is correct, such as a message saying "Is this the correct email address?" or "Please check your email address."

When the search unit 104 performs a search in response to an update of the domain information acquired by the acquisition unit 101 as described above and acquires one or more organization identifiers, the output unit 105 may update the output using, for example, the organization identifier acquired by the search unit 104 in response to the updated domain information.

The output unit 105 may be configured not to output one or more organization identifiers detected by the search unit 104 when the domain information acquired by the acquisition unit 101 matches one of the excluded domain names. As a result, when the domain information acquired by the acquisition unit 101 matches one of the excluded domain names, the information processing device 1 may not output the organization identifier. In order to perform the above process, for example, when the search unit 104 acquires one or more organization identifiers by searching, the output unit 105 may determine whether the domain information acquired by the acquisition unit 101 matches one of the excluded domain names.

The output unit 105 may or may not include an output device such as a monitor or a communication means. The output unit 105 may be realized by driver software for an output device, or a combination of driver software for an output device and an output device.

The domain organization information production device 2 is a device that produces domain organization information. The domain organization information production device 2 can be realized, for example, by a computer.

The business card information storage unit 201 stores one or more pieces of business card information. The business card information is information about a business card. The business card information is information that includes the user's email address and the organization identifier of the organization to which the user belongs. The business card information may include information other than the email address and the organization identifier. The business card information may include information other than the email address and the organization identifier, such as the user's name, telephone number, and work address. The business card information may be, for example, information obtained by reading a business card with a scanner or camera and performing OCR or the like, information obtained manually from an image of the business card, or information on an electronic business card such as a so-called electronic business card or digital business card, and it does not matter how the information is obtained.

The storage here may be temporary storage of business card information accepted by a reception unit (not shown) or business card information received by a receiving unit (not shown).

The business card information acquisition unit 202 acquires multiple pieces of business card information. For example, the business card information acquisition unit 202 reads and acquires multiple pieces of business card information stored in the business card information storage unit 201. The business card information acquisition unit 202 may also acquire business card information stored in an external device (not shown) accessible to the domain organization information production device 2. The external device is, for example, a server device (not shown) that manages and provides business card information. The business card information acquisition unit 202 may also acquire business card information accepted by a reception unit (not shown) or business card information received by a receiving unit (not shown). The business card information acquisition unit 202 may acquire multiple pieces of business card information simultaneously or at different times, and the timing of acquisition is not important.

In the following, in this embodiment, an example will be described in which the business card information acquisition unit 202 acquires business card information from the business card information storage unit 201. Note that if the business card information acquisition unit 202 does not acquire business card information from the business card information storage unit 201, the business card information storage unit 201 may be omitted.

The excluded storage unit 203 stores one or more acquisition excluded domain names. The acquired excluded domain names are domain names that are excluded as acquisition targets from business card information. For example, the acquired excluded domain names are domain names that are excluded from the domain names contained in the domain organization information produced by the domain organization information production device 2. For the acquired excluded domain names, domain names similar to the excluded domain names stored in the excluded domain storage unit 103 described above (for example, the same domain names) can be used. The one or more excluded domain names stored in the excluded domain storage unit 103 and the one or more acquired excluded domain names stored in the excluded storage unit 203 may be completely the same, or may be at least partially different. For example, a part of the stored excluded domain names may not be the same as a part of the stored acquired excluded domain names.

When the domain organization information production device 2 can access the excluded domain storage unit 103 of the information processing device 1, the excluded domain storage unit 203 may be omitted by using one or more excluded domain names stored in the excluded domain storage unit 103 as the acquired excluded domain names. Similarly, when the information processing device 1 can access the excluded domain storage unit 203 of the domain organization information production device 2, the information processing device 1 may use one or more acquired excluded domain names stored in the excluded domain storage unit 203 as the acquired excluded domain names, and the excluded domain storage unit 103 may be omitted.

The domain organization acquisition unit 204 acquires the domain name of the email address and the organization identifier from each of the multiple business card information acquired by the business card information acquisition unit 202, and acquires one or more pieces of domain organization information having the acquired domain name and organization identifier. The domain organization acquisition unit 204 acquires domain organization information without duplication. For example, the domain organization acquisition unit 204 performs so-called unique processing on multiple pairs of domain names and organization identifiers acquired from the multiple business card information, and acquires one or more pieces of domain organization information while leaving only one pair for pairs in which both the domain name and organization identifier are duplicated.

The domain organization acquisition unit 204 acquires the number of occurrences of pairs of domain names and organization identifiers that are the same for pairs of domain names and organization identifiers acquired from multiple business card information, and acquires one or more pieces of domain organization information having a score corresponding to the acquired number of occurrences and pairs of domain names and organization identifiers for which the number of occurrences has been acquired. For example, the domain organization acquisition unit 204 acquires a score corresponding to the acquired number of occurrences and acquires domain organization information having the acquired score. For example, the domain organization acquisition unit 204 retains only one pair for one or more pairs of domain names and organization identifiers that are the same for which the number of occurrences has been acquired, acquires a score corresponding to the acquired number of occurrences, and acquires domain organization information by associating the score corresponding to the acquired number of occurrences with the remaining pair of domain names and organization identifiers. The process of extracting duplicate data from multiple data and counting and acquiring the number of occurrences of each data is a publicly known technology, so a detailed description will be omitted here.

The score corresponding to the number of occurrences is the same score as the score stored in the domain organization storage unit 102 described above. For example, the domain organization acquisition unit 204 may acquire the acquired number of occurrences as it is as the score. Alternatively, the acquired number of occurrences may be divided by the total number of multiple business card information acquired by the business card information acquisition unit 202 to acquire the frequency of occurrence for all business card information as the score. Alternatively, the acquired number of occurrences may be divided by the number of occurrences of the same domain name to acquire the frequency of occurrence for business card information having the same domain name as the score. Alternatively, a value according to an element indicating the high possibility that the domain name is an organization identifier other than the number of occurrences or frequency of occurrence as described above may be further applied (for example, by addition, subtraction, multiplication, and division) to the acquired number of occurrences or frequency of occurrence to acquire a score. Alternatively, a value corresponding to the number of occurrences such as the number of occurrences or frequency of occurrence may be indexed or ranked as the score. Indexing and ranking can be performed, for example, using a known algorithm or a conversion table.

It is preferable that the domain organization acquisition unit 204 does not acquire a domain name that matches any one of the acquisition exclusion domain names stored in the exclusion storage unit 203 from the multiple business card information acquired by the business card information acquisition unit 202. In other words, it is preferable that the domain organization acquisition unit 204 does not acquire a pair of a domain name and an organization identifier that has a domain name that matches any one of the acquisition exclusion domain names, and does not acquire domain organization information that has an acquisition exclusion domain name and an organization identifier, or domain organization information that has an acquisition exclusion domain name, an organization identifier, and a score. In addition, not acquiring a domain name here may be considered to include deleting a domain name that matches any one of the acquisition exclusion domain names among the domain names once acquired. In addition, if the domain organization information produced by the domain organization information production device 2 may have domain organization information that has a domain name that matches the acquisition exclusion domain name, the process of not acquiring a domain name that matches any one of the acquisition exclusion domain names from the multiple business card information acquired by the business card information acquisition unit 202 may be omitted, and in this case, the exclusion storage unit 203 may be omitted.

The domain organization information output unit 205 outputs one or more pieces of domain organization information acquired by the domain organization acquisition unit 204 as the produced domain organization information. The output here is a concept that includes, for example, display on a display device such as a monitor, transmission to an external device, storage in a recording medium, and delivery of the processing results to other processing devices or other programs. For example, the domain organization information output unit 205 may store one or more pieces of domain organization information in a storage unit (not shown) or a storage unit (not shown) accessible to the domain organization information production device 2. The domain organization information output unit 205 may also transmit one or more pieces of domain organization information to the information processing device 1. In this case, for example, the information processing device 1 may receive one or more pieces of domain organization information at a receiving unit (not shown) or the like, and store the received domain organization information in the domain organization storage unit 102.

The domain organization information output unit 205 may or may not include an output device such as a monitor or a communication means. The domain organization information output unit 205 may be realized by driver software for an output device, or by a combination of driver software for an output device and an output device.

The input/output device 3 is a device that accepts input of an email address and an organization identifier. The input/output device 3 is also a device that can, for example, transmit at least a portion of the input email address to the information processing device 1, and receive one or more organization identifiers and messages, etc. from the information processing device 1 in response to this transmission. The input/output device 3 is also a device that can, for example, display one or more received organization identifiers, specifically, display them as input candidates for organization identifiers. The input/output device 3 may be a device that can execute other processes in addition to the above processes.

For example, the input/output device 3 is a device equipped with a display unit (not shown) for displaying an input screen (not shown) for accepting input of an email address and an organization identifier on a display device (not shown) such as a monitor, a reception unit (not shown) for accepting an email address and an organization identifier input by a user via the input screen using an input device such as a keyboard, a mouse, or a touch panel, a transmission unit (not shown) for transmitting the email address accepted by the reception unit via the input screen to the information processing device 1, and a reception unit (not shown) for receiving one or more organization identifiers and messages searched and output by the information processing device 1 in response to the transmission of the email address. In this input/output device 3, the display unit displays an input screen having, for example, an input field for an email address and an input field for an organization identifier. In addition, the display unit displays, for example, one or more organization identifiers received by the reception unit near the input field for the organization identifier on the input screen. For example, the display unit displays one or more organization identifiers received by the reception unit in a list form as input candidates for the organization identifier. When the user selects one of the one or more organization identifiers displayed near the input field via an input device or the like, the reception unit accepts the selected organization identifier as the organization identifier to be input in the input field in response to the operation, and the display unit displays the accepted organization identifier in the input field for the organization identifier. The input/output device 3 may have a processing unit that performs a predetermined process using the accepted email address and organization identifier, or a storage unit (not shown) that stores the accepted information in a storage unit (not shown). The transmission unit may transmit the processing result of the processing unit, the email address and organization identifier accepted by the acceptance unit to another device or the like. The display unit may display the processing result of the processing unit, the above-mentioned input screen, and the email address and organization identifier accepted by the acceptance unit on a display device such as a monitor. The input/output device 3 may also have a means for performing processes other than those described above.

The input/output device 3 can be realized, for example, by a computer, a tablet terminal, a multi-function mobile phone such as a smartphone, etc.

Next, an example of the operation of the information processing device 1 of the information processing system 1000 will be described with reference to the flowchart in FIG. 2. Here, an example will be described in which the acquisition unit 101 of the information processing device 1 receives an email address input by a user to the input/output device 3, and acquires domain information from the received email address.

(Step S101) The acquisition unit 101 determines whether or not it has received an email address entered by the user. This email address may be an email address that is in the middle of being entered. The reception of the email address here may be the reception of the domain name of the email address being entered. For example, when the acquisition unit 101 receives a character string containing the "@" mark, it may determine that this character string is an email address. Also, the acquisition unit 101 does not have to determine whether or not the received information is an email address. If it has been received, the process proceeds to step S102, and if it has not been received, the process returns to step S101.

(Step S102) The acquisition unit 101 acquires domain information from the email address received in step S101.

(Step S103) The acquisition unit 101 determines whether the domain information acquired in step S102 corresponds to, for example, matches, any one of the excluded domain names stored in the excluded domain storage unit 103. If it corresponds to any one, the process proceeds to step S108; if it does not correspond to any, the process proceeds to step S104.

(Step S104) The search unit 104 searches one or more pieces of domain organization information stored in the domain organization storage unit 102 for one or more organization identifiers associated with a domain name that matches the domain information. The search here may be a single search, or multiple searches with different search conditions, search keys, etc.

(Step S105) The search unit 104 determines whether one or more organization identifiers have been obtained by the search in step S104. If so, the process proceeds to step S106; if not, the process proceeds to step S110.

(Step S106) The search unit 104 searches for organization identifiers whose corresponding scores satisfy a predetermined condition among the organization identifiers acquired in step S105, and acquires one or more organization identifiers. If an organization identifier cannot be acquired by searching for this score, the process may proceed to step S108. Note that if the number of organization identifiers acquired in step S105 is equal to or less than a predetermined number, the process of step S106 may be omitted. Furthermore, if an organization identifier cannot be acquired by this search, a search may be performed using domain information with search conditions, search keys, etc. changed from the search in step S104, and the above-mentioned search using the score may be performed on the search results.

(Step S107) The output unit 105 outputs (e.g., transmits) the organization identifiers acquired in step S106 in an output order according to the scores. Note that if only one organization identifier is acquired, the acquired organization identifier may simply be output.

(Step S108) The acquisition unit 101 determines whether the user has finished inputting the email address. For example, it may be determined that the input of the email address has finished when the acquisition unit 101 or a receiving unit (not shown) receives information indicating that the focus of the cursor or the like has been removed from the email address input field from the input/output device 3 (which is the sender of the email address), or it may be determined that the input has finished when a predetermined time or more has passed since the acquisition unit 101 received the email address from the input/output device 3. If the input of the email address has finished, the process ends, and if not, proceed to step S109.

(Step S109) The acquisition unit 101 determines whether the email address has been updated. For example, when the acquisition unit 101 receives an updated email address (e.g., an email address that has a string of one or more characters different from the email address received immediately before) from the input/output device 3, the acquisition unit 101 determines that the email address has been updated. If it has been updated, the process proceeds to step S102, and a process of acquiring domain information from the updated email address is performed. If it has not been updated, the process returns to step S108.

(Step S110) The output unit 105 outputs information to call attention to the email address received by the acquisition unit 101. Then, the process proceeds to step S108.

In addition, in step S104, one or more organization identifiers associated with domain names similar to the domain information may be searched for.

In addition, if domain organization information having the same domain name as the excluded domain name stored in the excluded domain storage unit 103 is not stored in the domain organization storage unit 102, the processing of step S103 may be omitted.

In addition, if the information processing device 1 does not perform processing such as obtaining an organization identifier for an updated email address, the processing from step S108 to step S109 may be omitted, and if it is determined in step S103 that the domain name matches an excluded domain name, the processing may be terminated after step S107 and after sending warning information in step S110.

In the flowchart in Figure 2, processing ends when the power is turned off or an interrupt occurs to end processing.

Next, an example of the operation of the domain organization information production device 2 of the information processing system 1000 will be described using the flowchart in Figure 3.

(Step S201) The business card information acquisition unit 201 assigns 1 to the value of counter m.

(Step S202) The business card information acquisition unit 201 acquires the m-th business card information from the business card information storage unit 201. For example, the m-th business card information is read.

(Step S203) The domain organization acquisition unit 204 acquires a pair of the domain name of the email address and the organization identifier from the m-th business card information.

(Step S204) The domain organization acquisition unit 204 determines whether the domain information acquired in step S203 matches any one of the excluded domain names stored in the exclusion storage unit 203. If there is no match, proceed to step S205; if there is a match, proceed to step S206.

(Step S205) The domain organization acquisition unit 204 stores the pair of the domain name and organization identifier acquired in step S203 in a storage unit or the like (not shown). The storage here may be temporary.

(Step S206) The business card information acquisition unit 201 increments the value of counter m by 1.

(Step S207) The business card information acquisition unit 201 determines whether the m-th business card information is stored in the business card information storage unit 201. If it is stored, the process returns to step S202; if it is not stored, the process proceeds to step S208.

(Step S208) The domain organization acquisition unit 204 counts and acquires the number of occurrences of pairs of the same domain name and organization identifier among the pairs of domain name and organization identifier accumulated in step S205.

(Step S209) The domain organization acquisition unit 204 acquires a score corresponding to the counted number of occurrences for each pair of the domain name and organization identifier for which the number of occurrences has been counted.

(Step S210) For each pair of domain name and organization identifier for which a score was obtained in step S209, the domain organization acquisition unit 204 acquires domain organization information having the acquired score, domain name, and organization identifier.

(Step S211) The domain organization information output unit 205 outputs the domain organization information acquired in step S210. Then, the process ends.

In the flowchart of FIG. 3, the addition of information to be stored in the business card information storage unit 201 may be monitored, and the above-mentioned processes from step S201 to step S211 may be performed each time information is added.

The following describes the specific operation of the processing using the information processing device 1 and the input/output device 3 in the information processing system 1000 in this embodiment. Here, the explanation is given taking as an example a case where the input/output device 3 is a computer with a monitor. Also, the explanation is given taking as an example a case where a user inputs information to the input/output device 3 to apply for a seminar or the like.

(Specific Example 1)
4 is a diagram showing an example of an input screen for applying for a seminar displayed on the monitor 3a of the input/output device 3. The input screen has an input field 41 for the email address of the user making the application, and an input field 42 for the company name of the company to which the user belongs, which is the organization identifier of the organization to which the user belongs.

When user A is inputting information into the input screen shown in FIG. 4 to apply for a seminar, for example, he moves the focus (e.g., cursor, etc.) to input field 41 and inputs his/her email address "usera@asmno.com", the reception unit (not shown) of input/output device 3 accepts this email address. If user A then moves the focus outside input field 41, the transmission unit (not shown) of input/output device 3 transmits the email address entered into input field 41 to information processing device 1 in response to the movement of the focus.

When the acquisition unit 101 of the information processing device 1 receives the email address "usera@asmno.com" from the input/output device 3, the acquisition unit 101 acquires the domain name "asmno.com", which is the character string to the right of the "@" mark in the email address, as domain information.

Figure 5 (a) shows an excluded domain name management table that manages the excluded domain names stored in the excluded domain storage unit 103. The excluded domain name management table may be considered as a list of excluded domain names.

6 is a domain organization information management table that manages the domain organization information stored in the domain organization storage unit 102. The domain organization information management table has attributes such as "ID", "domain name", "company name", and "score". "ID" is a domain organization identifier that manages the domain organization information. Note that the domain organization identifier is for convenience of explanation and may be omitted. "Domain name" is the domain name of an email address. "Company name" is the company name. Here, an example will be described in which the organization using the domain name is a company and the organization identifier is the company name. "Score" is a score indicating the possibility that a company using the "domain name" of the same record is the company indicated by the "company name" of the same record, and here, the higher the score, the higher the possibility. Here, this score is, for example, a value indicating the number of times that a pair of "domain name" and "company name" of each domain organization information appears in one or more business card information stored in the business card information storage unit 201. Note that in this domain organization information management table, each record is represented by each row.

The search unit 104 performs a search to determine whether an excluded domain name that is an exact match with the domain information "asmno.com" acquired by the acquisition unit 101 exists in the excluded domain name management table. If an exact match is found, the information processing device 1 ends the process of acquiring organization identifier candidates from the received email address. Here, it is assumed that an exact match is not found in the search.

The search unit 104 searches the domain organization information management table shown in FIG. 6 for records whose "Domain name" attribute value exactly matches the domain information "asmno.com." Here, it is assumed that seven records with "ID"s ranging from "10003" to "10009" are detected.

The search unit 104 further detects the records with the four highest "score" values from the seven detected records, i.e., the records with the top four "score" values. Here, it is assumed that four records with "ID" of "10003", "10005", "10006", and "10009" are detected. For example, the search unit 104 reads information of the four detected records from the domain organization storage unit 102 and temporarily stores it in a memory (not shown) or the like. The detection of records of domain organization information here can be considered to be equivalent to the detection of the "company name", which is the organization identifier included in each record.

The output unit 105 outputs the attribute value of "company name" of each record of the domain organization information detected and temporarily stored by the search unit 104 according to the value of "score" corresponding to each "company name", that is, the value of "score" of the same record as each "company name". Specifically, the output unit 105 acquires company names, which are the attribute values of "company name", from each record of the domain organization information detected and temporarily stored by the search unit 104 in order from the highest "score" value, and associates consecutive numbers starting from the value "1" as values indicating the ranking with the acquired company names in order from the highest "score" value. The consecutive numbers are assumed to be consecutive numbers whose value increases by one when the ranking decreases by one. In this way, for example, information on company names associated with the ranking of "score" values such as "1: Amoto Corporation, 2: Amoto Industries Co., Ltd., 3: Amoto Sales Co., Ltd., 4: amoto corporation" is acquired. The acquired company name information is then sent to the input/output device 3, which is the sender of the email address "usera@asmno.com".

The display unit (not shown) of the input/output device 3 displays the company name information received by the receiving unit (not shown) of the input/output device 3 from the information processing device 1 below the "company name" input field 42 on the input screen shown in FIG. 4. Here, a list is generated and displayed in which the company name information associated with the ranking of the received "score" value has the higher ranking (i.e., the smaller the numerical value indicating the ranking) placed at the top. The displayed list may be considered, for example, as a list of candidate companies to be entered into the input field 42.

Figure 7 (a) is a diagram showing an example of an input screen on which the list 70 of company names generated above is displayed. The list 70 is created, for example, using a template or the like. Each item showing a company name in the displayed list is set with a program or the like that generates an event to input the company name displayed in each item into the input field 42 when an operation to specify the item is received.

If user A finds the name of the company he or she belongs to, "Ahon Sales Co., Ltd.", among the items in list 70 and clicks or taps on this item on list 70 with the mouse, the company name of this item, "Ahon Sales Co., Ltd.", is entered into company name input field 42, as shown in FIG. 7(b). Note that if the company name is not on list 70, the company name can be entered into input field 42 using a keyboard or touch panel.

If the search unit 104 cannot find a record in the domain organization information management table shown in FIG. 6 in which the attribute value of "Domain name" exactly matches the domain information "asmno.com", the output unit 105 sends to the input/output device 3 a message "Please check that the e-mail address is correct" to alert the user about the input of an e-mail address that is prepared in advance in the storage unit (not shown).

The input/output device 3 that receives this message displays the above-mentioned message on the input screen shown in FIG. 4. For example, the message is displayed as a dialog box superimposed on the input screen. Note that this display is only one example, and there is no restriction on where on the input screen the input/output device 3 displays the message, or how it displays it.

In the above, the input/output device 3 transmits the entire email address entered in the input field 41 to the information processing device 1, but it is also possible to extract only the domain name of the entered email address using the "@" mark or the like, and transmit the extracted domain name to the information processing device 1 as part of the email information.

(Specific Example 2)
In the above specific example, the e-mail address that has been completely entered into the input field 41 is sent to the information processing device 1, but every time a character string of the domain name of the e-mail address is entered into the input field, the character string of the domain name of the e-mail address that is being entered in the input field is sent to the information processing device 1, and a specific example of a process for acquiring information on the input candidate of the company name, which is the organization identifier, using the domain name that is being entered in the input field will be described below. Note that the excluded domain management table and the domain organization information management table will be described using those shown in Figures 5(a) and 6.

Like FIG. 4, FIG. 8 is a diagram showing an example of an input screen for applying for a seminar that is displayed on the monitor 3a of the input/output device 3. This input screen differs from the input screen of FIG. 4 in that the input field for the email address of the user making the application is divided into an input field 41a for the user name, which is the part before (to the left of) the "@" mark in the email address, and an input field 41b for the domain name, which is the part after (to the right of) the "@" mark in the email address. The user name in the email address is also called the local part.

If user A enters the username "usera" of user A's email address "usera@asmno.com" in input field 41a and the first character "a" of the domain name of user A's email address in input field 41b, the transmission unit (not shown) of input/output device 3 will transmit the first character "a" of the domain name, which is part of user A's email address entered in input field 41b, to information processing device 1.

When the acquisition unit 101 of the information processing device 1 receives the first character "a" of the domain name of the email address to be sent, it acquires this character "a" as domain information.

Then, the search unit 104 searches the excluded domain name management table shown in FIG. 5(a) to determine whether there is an excluded domain name that exactly matches the character "a" that is the domain information. If there is an excluded domain name that exactly matches, the search unit 104 does not perform the process of searching for the company name that is the organization identifier. Here, it is assumed that there is no excluded domain name that exactly matches.

Next, the search unit 104 searches the domain organization information management table shown in FIG. 6 for records in which the attribute value of the "domain name" matches the domain information "a". Unlike the above specific example, here, a record that matches the beginning of the domain information "a" (i.e., the forwardmost part of the domain name completely matches the domain information) is searched for. Specifically, a record in which the first character (the forwardmost character) of the attribute value of the "domain name" is "a", which matches the domain information, is searched for.

Here, assume that 10 records with "ID" ranging from "10001" to "10010" were detected.

The search unit 104 further detects the top four records with "score" values from the 10 detected records, as in the above specific example. Here, it is assumed that four records with "ID" of "10002", "10003", "10006", and "10010" are detected. The search unit 104 reads information on the four detected records from the domain organization storage unit 102, for example, and temporarily stores it in a memory (not shown) or the like.

As in the above specific example, the output unit 105 acquires company names, which are attribute values of "company name," from each record of the domain organization information detected and temporarily stored by the search unit 104, in order from highest to lowest "score" value, and associates consecutive numbers indicating the ranking with the acquired company names in order from highest to lowest "score" value. In this way, for example, company name information associated with the ranking of "score" values, such as "1: Amoto Co., Ltd., 2: Amoto Kogyo Co., Ltd., 3: Ato Co., Ltd., 4: ASM Co., Ltd." is acquired. The acquired company name information is then sent to the input/output device 3, which is the sender of the email address "usera@asmno.com."

As in the above specific example, the display unit (not shown) of the input/output device 3 generates and displays a list of the company name information received from the information processing device 1 below the "company name" input field 42 on the input screen shown in Figure 4, with the lowest serial number indicating the corresponding ranking being placed at the top.

Figure 9 (a) shows an example of an input screen displaying the list 71 of company names generated above.

Here, if user A finds, for example, the name of the company he or she belongs to, "Ahon Sales Co., Ltd.", among the items in list 71, and clicks or taps on this item on list 71 with the mouse, this company name will be entered into input field 42. However, in this case, he or she is unable to find the name of the company he or she belongs to, and does not perform an operation such as clicking or tapping the mouse to specify the company name.

If user A further inputs the new character "s" following the character "a" input above in the input field 41b for the domain name of the email address, updating the input character string from "a" to "as", the transmission unit (not shown) of the information processing device 1 transmits the updated character string to the information processing device 1.

When the acquisition unit 101 receives "as", which is part of the domain name of the updated email address, from the information processing device 1 that is the sender of "a", which is part of the domain name of the above email address, the acquisition unit 101 acquires the character string "as" as updated domain information.

Then, the search unit 104 searches the excluded domain name management table shown in FIG. 5(a) to determine whether there is an excluded domain name that exactly matches the characters "as" that are the domain information. Here, it is assumed that there is no excluded domain name that exactly matches.

Next, the search unit 104 searches the domain organization information management table shown in FIG. 6 for a record whose "Domain name" attribute value matches the beginning of the domain information "as".

Here, let's assume that eight records with "ID" ranging from "10003" to "10010" were detected.

The search unit 104 further detects the top four records with "score" values from the eight detected records, as in the above specific example, and temporarily stores them in a memory (not shown) or the like. Here, it is assumed that four records with "ID" of "10003", "10005", "10006", and "10010" have been detected.

As in the above specific example, the output unit 105 acquires company names, which are attribute values of "company name," from each record of the domain organization information detected and temporarily stored by the search unit 104, in order from highest to lowest "score" value, and associates consecutive numbers indicating the ranking with the acquired company names in order from highest to lowest "score" value. In this way, for example, information on company names associated with the ranking of "score" values, such as "1: Amoto Co., Ltd., 2: Amoto Industrial Co., Ltd., 3: ASM Co., Ltd., 4: Amoto Sales Co., Ltd." is acquired. The acquired company name information is then transmitted to the input/output device 3.

As in the above specific example, the display unit (not shown) of the input/output device 3 generates and displays a list of the company name information received from the information processing device 1 below the "company name" input field 42 on the input screen shown in Figure 4, with the lowest serial number indicating the corresponding ranking being placed at the top. Specifically, the newly generated list is displayed in place of the list 71 displayed in Figure 9(a), thereby updating the list for selecting company name candidates.

Figure 9 (b) shows an example of an input screen displaying the list 72 of company names generated above.

Now, if user A finds the name of the company he or she belongs to, "Ahon Sales Co., Ltd.", from among the items in list 72 and clicks or taps on this item on list 72 with the mouse, this company name is entered into input field 42. Then, the process of obtaining a list of company name input candidates as described above ends. If an operation such as clicking or tapping with the mouse to specify a company name is not performed, the same process as described above is repeated using the newly updated characters in input field 41b. This process is repeated, for example, until the company name is entered into input field 42 or the input of the domain name of the email address into input field 41b is completed. The end of domain name input is detected, for example, when the focus is removed from input field 41b.

(Specific Example 3)
Next, a specific example of a process for producing domain organization information using the domain organization information production device 2 will be described.

Figure 10 is a diagram showing an example of a business card information management table that manages multiple business card information stored in the business card information storage unit 201. The business card information management table has attributes such as "Name" which is the name of the user, "Company Name" which is the name of the company to which the user belongs, "Email Address" which is the user's email address, "Telephone Number" which is the user's telephone number, and "Address" which is the address of the user's workplace. Each record in the business card information management table corresponds to each piece of business card information. Note that each record is represented by each row here. The business card information management table is, for example, a management table that manages business card information obtained from multiple business cards. At least a portion of the business card information may be business card information read from a business card or the like by an OCR or the like. Also, at least a portion of the business card information may be business card information manually entered by a user or the like.

Figure 5 (b) shows an acquisition exclusion management table that manages the acquisition exclusion domain names stored in the exclusion storage unit 203. The acquisition exclusion management table may be considered as a list of one or more acquisition exclusion domain names.

The business card information acquisition unit 202 sequentially acquires pairs of domain names of the attribute values of "email address" and company names of the attribute values of "company name" from each record corresponding to each business card information managed in the business card information management table shown in FIG. 10, and judges whether there is an acquisition exclusion domain name in the acquisition exclusion management table shown in FIG. 5 (b) that completely matches the acquired domain name. If there is not, the acquired domain name and company name pair is sequentially stored in a storage medium such as a memory. If there is an acquisition exclusion domain name that completely matches, it is difficult to identify the relationship between the domain name and the company that uses the email address having this domain name, so the acquired domain name and company name pair is not stored. For example, since there is no acquisition exclusion domain name that completely matches the domain name "asmno.com" acquired from the attribute value of "email address" in the first line from the top of FIG. 10, the pair of this domain name and the company name "Amoto Co., Ltd." acquired from the attribute value of "company name" in the first line from the top is stored. On the other hand, since there is an excluded domain name that is an exact match with the domain name "gooddle.com" obtained from the attribute value of "email address" on the second line from the top of Figure 10, the pair of this domain name and the company name "Japan KR Co., Ltd." obtained from the attribute value of "company name" on the second line from the top is not stored and is discarded.

Figure 11 (a) shows a domain company management table that manages multiple pairs of domain names and company names obtained and stored by performing the above process on all business card information managed in the business card information management table shown in Figure 10. The domain company management table has attributes "Domain name" which is the domain name, and "Company name" which is the company name.

The domain organization acquisition unit 204 counts the number of occurrences of pairs of the same domain name and company name in the domain company management table shown in FIG. 11(a). For example, the domain organization acquisition unit 204 sorts the records having pairs of domain name and company name in the domain company management table shown in FIG. 11(a) by domain name as shown in FIG. 11(b), and further sorts the records having the same domain name by company name as shown in FIG. 11(c), and counts the number of occurrences of pairs of the same domain name and company name using the sorting result. Then, the counted number of occurrences is acquired as a score of the corresponding pair of domain name and company name, and the acquired score and multiple domain organization information having the corresponding pairs of domain name and company name are acquired. In this way, it is possible to acquire domain organization information similar to the domain organization information shown in FIG. 6.

Then, the domain organization information output unit 205 transmits the multiple pieces of domain organization information produced by the domain organization acquisition unit 204 to, for example, the information processing device 1, etc.

For example, a receiving unit (not shown) of the information processing device 1 receives the domain organization information produced by the domain organization information production device 2, and updates the domain organization information stored in the domain organization storage unit 102 with the received domain organization information. The update here may be any process that results in an update of the information, and may be, for example, an addition or deletion of the changed portion, or an overwrite.

As described above, according to this embodiment, it is possible to output candidates for the organization identifier to which the user belongs according to the email address input by the user, and to provide assistance for easily inputting an appropriate organization identifier. For example, by selecting the organization identifier to be input from the output candidates for organization identifiers, it becomes possible to easily input an appropriate organization identifier with little variation in notation, etc.

In addition, according to this embodiment, it is possible to output candidate organization identifiers using a score indicating the likelihood that an organization identifier contained in domain organization information is an organization identifier of an organization that uses a domain name contained in the same domain organization information, thereby providing assistance for easily entering an appropriate organization identifier with high accuracy.

For example, if multiple companies belonging to the same group share the same domain name, the domain organization information management table may contain multiple domain organization information with the same domain name but different company names. Also, if the same company has different notations in business card information, etc., the domain organization information management table may contain multiple domain organization information with the same domain name but different notations in the company name. Different notations in the company name include, for example, when the company name is written in English, or when part of the company name is shortened, for example, when a company is displayed as (stock company) instead of a company name. In such a case, for example, multiple organization identifiers corresponding to the domain name of the email address entered by the user will be detected. In this embodiment, the score associated with the organization identifier is used to preferentially output or selectively output organization identifiers that are likely to be organization identifiers corresponding to the domain name of the email address entered by the user, thereby more appropriately assisting the input of organization identifiers.

In the above embodiment, an example has been described in which the domain organization information production device 2 is connected to the information processing device 1 via a communication line or the like. However, when the domain organization information generated by the domain organization information production device 2 is not directly transmitted to the information processing device 1 (for example, when the domain organization information is transferred via a removable recording medium or the like), they do not have to be connected. The domain organization information production device 2 and the information processing device 1 may be realized as a single information processing device. In this case, for example, the domain organization information output by the domain organization information output unit 205 may be accumulated in the domain organization storage unit 102, and the excluded domain storage unit 103 and the excluded storage unit 203 may be realized as a single storage unit as appropriate.

In addition, in the above embodiment, the information processing device 1 and the input/output device 3 may be realized in a single information processing device. This allows, for example, the information processing device 1 to accept an email address and an organization identifier from a user, etc.

In the above embodiment, each process (each function) may be realized by centralized processing in a single device (system), or may be realized by distributed processing in multiple devices.

Furthermore, in the above embodiment, it goes without saying that two or more communication means (acquisition unit, output unit, etc.) that may exist in one device may be realized physically by one medium.

In addition, in each of the above embodiments, the information processing device is described as a server device in a server-client system, but the information processing device may be a standalone device or a server device in a server-client system. In the latter case, the output unit and the reception unit will receive input and output on a screen via a communication line. For example, in the latter case, the input/output device 3 may be considered as a client device that performs input/output to the information processing device.

In the above embodiment, each component may be configured with dedicated hardware, or components that can be realized by software may be realized by executing a program. For example, each component may be realized by a program execution unit such as a CPU reading and executing a software program recorded on a recording medium such as a hard disk or semiconductor memory. During execution, the program execution unit may execute the program while accessing a storage unit (for example, a recording medium such as a hard disk or memory).

The software for realizing the information processing device in the above embodiment is the following program. In other words, this program causes a computer that can access a domain organization storage unit in which one or more pieces of domain organization information that correspond to a domain name of an email address and an organization identifier that is an organization identifier to function as an acquisition unit that acquires domain information related to a domain name from an email address input by a user, a search unit that uses the domain information to search for one or more organization identifiers from the domain organization information, and an output unit that outputs one or more organization identifiers acquired by the search unit through the search.

The software for realizing the domain organization information production device in the above embodiment is the following program. That is, this program causes a computer to function as a business card information acquisition unit that acquires a plurality of pieces of business card information, which are information related to business cards and have a user's email address and an organization identifier of the organization to which the user belongs, a domain organization acquisition unit that acquires the domain name of the email address and the organization identifier from each of the plurality of pieces of business card information acquired by the business card information acquisition unit, and acquires one or more pieces of domain organization information having the acquired domain name and organization identifier, and a domain organization information output unit that outputs the one or more pieces of domain organization information acquired by the domain organization acquisition unit.

In addition, in the above program, the functions realized by the above program do not include functions that can only be realized by hardware. For example, functions that can only be realized by hardware such as a modem or interface card in an acquisition unit that acquires information or an output unit that outputs information are not included in the functions realized by the above program.

The program may be executed by a single computer or multiple computers. In other words, it may be executed by centralized processing or distributed processing.

Figure 12 is a schematic diagram showing an example of the appearance of a computer that executes the above program to realize the information processing device and domain organization information production device according to the above embodiment. The above embodiment can be realized by computer hardware and a computer program executed thereon.

In FIG. 12, the computer system 900 includes a computer 901 including a CD-ROM (Compact Disk Read Only Memory) drive 905, a keyboard 902, a mouse 903, and a monitor 904.

Figure 13 is a diagram showing the internal configuration of a computer system 900. In Figure 13, in addition to a CD-ROM drive 905, the computer 901 includes an MPU (Micro Processing Unit) 911, a ROM 912 for storing programs such as a boot-up program, a RAM (Random Access Memory) 913 connected to the MPU 911 and temporarily storing application program instructions and providing temporary storage space, a hard disk 914 for storing application programs, system programs, and data, and a bus 915 for interconnecting the MPU 911, the ROM 912, etc. Note that the computer 901 may also include a network card (not shown) for providing a connection to a LAN.

A program that causes the computer system 900 to execute the functions of the information processing device or the like according to the above-described embodiment may be stored on a CD-ROM 921, inserted into the CD-ROM drive 905, and transferred to the hard disk 914. Alternatively, the program may be sent to the computer 901 via a network (not shown) and stored on the hard disk 914. The program is loaded into the RAM 913 when executed. The program may also be loaded directly from the CD-ROM 921 or the network.

The program does not necessarily have to include an operating system (OS) or a third-party program that causes the computer 901 to execute the functions of the information processing device according to the above-described embodiment. The program may include only an instruction portion that calls appropriate functions (modules) in a controlled manner to obtain the desired results. How the computer system 900 operates is well known, and a detailed description will be omitted.

The present invention is not limited to the above-described embodiment, and various modifications are possible, and it goes without saying that these are also included within the scope of the present invention.

As described above, the information processing device of the present invention is suitable as a device used to input an organizational identifier, and is particularly useful as a device used to input an email address and an organizational identifier.

REFERENCE SIGNS LIST 1 Information processing device 2 Domain organization information production device 3 Input/output device 3a Monitor 101 Acquisition unit 102 Domain organization storage unit 103 Exclusion domain storage unit 104 Search unit 105 Output unit 201 Business card information storage unit 202 Business card information acquisition unit 203 Exclusion storage unit 204 Domain organization acquisition unit 205 Domain organization information output unit 1000 Information processing system

Claims (10)

an acquisition unit that acquires domain information related to a domain name from an email address input by a user;
a domain organization storage unit for storing one or more pieces of domain organization information each having a domain name of an e-mail address and an organization identifier that is an identifier of an organization in association with each other;
a search unit that searches the domain organization information for one or more organization identifiers using the domain information;
an output unit that outputs one or more organization identifiers obtained by the search unit through the search,
the domain organization information includes a score indicating a possibility that an organization identifier associated with a domain name is an organization identifier of an organization that uses the domain name, the score being associated with the domain name and the organization identifier;
The output unit is an information processing device that outputs one or more organization identifiers obtained by the search unit through a search in accordance with a score corresponding to the organization identifier. an acquisition unit that acquires domain information related to a domain name from an email address input by a user;
a domain organization storage unit for storing one or more pieces of domain organization information each having a domain name of an e-mail address and an organization identifier that is an identifier of an organization in association with each other;
a search unit that searches the domain organization information for one or more organization identifiers using the domain information;
an output unit that outputs one or more organization identifiers obtained by the search unit through the search,
the domain organization information includes a score indicating a possibility that an organization identifier associated with a domain name is an organization identifier of an organization that uses the domain name, the score being associated with the domain name and the organization identifier;
The search unit is an information processing device that searches for an organization identifier whose score associated with the organization identifier satisfies a predetermined condition. The domain information is at least a part of a character string of a domain name,
3. The information processing device of claim 2, wherein the search unit searches for an organization identifier associated with a domain name having a string that matches or is similar to a string in the domain information, and the organization identifier associated with a score indicating that the corresponding domain name is more likely to be used by the organization indicated by the corresponding organization identifier than a predetermined condition. The information processing device according to claim 1 or 2, wherein the output unit outputs the organization identifiers in an output order according to the scores associated with the organization identifiers when the search unit acquires multiple organization identifiers. the acquiring unit acquires domain information for an e-mail address entered in an e-mail address entry field displayed on an input screen,
5 . The information processing apparatus according to claim 1 , wherein the output unit outputs the one or more acquired organization identifiers as organization identifiers to be input into an input field for an organization identifier displayed on the input screen. The system further includes an excluded domain storage unit for storing one or more excluded domain names that are domain names for which the organization identifier is not to be output,
6. The information processing apparatus according to claim 1, wherein when the domain information acquired by the acquisition unit matches any one of the excluded domain names, an organization identifier is not output. An information processing method using an acquisition unit, a domain organization storage unit in which one or more pieces of domain organization information each having a domain name of an email address and an organization identifier that is an identifier of an organization in association with each other are stored, a search unit, and an output unit,
an acquisition step in which the acquisition unit acquires domain information related to a domain name from an email address input by a user;
a search step in which the search unit searches for one or more organization identifiers from the domain organization information by using the domain information;
an output step in which the output unit outputs one or more organization identifiers obtained by the search in the search step,
the domain organization information includes a score indicating a possibility that an organization identifier associated with a domain name is an organization identifier of an organization that uses the domain name, the score being associated with the domain name and the organization identifier;
The output step is an information processing method in which one or more organization identifiers obtained by the search unit through a search are output according to a score corresponding to the organization identifier. An information processing method using an acquisition unit, a domain organization storage unit in which one or more pieces of domain organization information each having a domain name of an email address and an organization identifier that is an identifier of an organization in association with each other are stored, a search unit, and an output unit,
an acquisition step in which the acquisition unit acquires domain information related to a domain name from an email address input by a user;
a search step in which the search unit searches for one or more organization identifiers from the domain organization information by using the domain information;
an output step in which the output unit outputs one or more organization identifiers obtained by the search in the search step,
the domain organization information includes a score indicating a possibility that an organization identifier associated with a domain name is an organization identifier of an organization that uses the domain name, the score being associated with the domain name and the organization identifier;
The searching step is an information processing method for searching for an organization identifier in which a score associated with the organization identifier satisfies a predetermined condition. A computer that can access a domain organization storage unit that stores one or more pieces of domain organization information having a domain name of an email address and an organization identifier that is an identifier of an organization in association with each other,
an acquisition unit that acquires domain information related to a domain name from an email address input by a user;
a search unit that searches the domain organization information for one or more organization identifiers using the domain information;
an output unit that outputs one or more organization identifiers acquired by the search unit through the search;
the domain organization information includes a score indicating a possibility that an organization identifier associated with a domain name is an organization identifier of an organization that uses the domain name, the score being associated with the domain name and the organization identifier;
The output unit is a program that outputs one or more organization identifiers obtained by the search unit through a search according to a score corresponding to the organization identifier. A computer that can access a domain organization storage unit that stores one or more pieces of domain organization information having a domain name of an email address and an organization identifier that is an identifier of an organization in association with each other,
an acquisition unit that acquires domain information related to a domain name from an email address input by a user;
a search unit that searches the domain organization information for one or more organization identifiers using the domain information;
an output unit that outputs one or more organization identifiers acquired by the search unit through the search;
the domain organization information includes a score indicating a possibility that an organization identifier associated with a domain name is an organization identifier of an organization that uses the domain name, the score being associated with the domain name and the organization identifier;
The search unit is a program that searches for an organization identifier whose score associated with the organization identifier satisfies a predetermined condition.

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