Information processor with help function, help information retrieving method, and medium where help information retrieval program is recorded

Description: TECHNICAL FIELD [Detailed description of the invention]

【0001】

[Technical field to which the invention belongs]

The present invention is incorporated into a system such as a personal computer, an OA device, or a home appliance, and an information processing device with a help function and a help function that more appropriately search and display a function description indicating a system function and an operation method as help information Information retrieval method and help information Retrieving program related to the recording medium.

【0002】

[Conventional technology]

Conventionally, when the user does not understand the function or operation method of a home appliance such as a word processor, a personal computer, or a video deck, for example, an assist function that displays an operation explanation of the function by pressing the help key, or help I was using an auxiliary function called a function to assist the user. By using this help function and referring to the help information for user assistance, the user can easily find out the explanation of the necessary function or operation when necessary without having to remember the operation method. it can.

【0003】

However, in a system with an enormous number of functions, it is difficult for the user to find the necessary function explanation only by the help function for displaying all the function explanations. Therefore, a help information retrieval device that appropriately grasps the function requested by the user and displays the corresponding operation explanation is desired. As a conventional technique for solving this problem, for example, there is a help information retrieval device described in Japanese Patent Application Laid-Open No. 7-121563. According to Japanese Patent Application Laid-Open No. 7-212563, after the user presses the help key, a keyword is input, and appropriate help information can be searched and displayed by keyword matching.

【0004】

Further, there is an information processing device with a help function described in Japanese Patent Application Laid-Open No. 61-243517. According to Japanese Patent Application Laid-Open No. 61-243517, after the user presses the help key, two or more function keys are sequentially pressed, and the most appropriate help information can be displayed by the combination thereof.

【0005】

Further, as a conventional technique for improving document information retrieval of a word processor, a personal computer, or the like, there is a document retrieval apparatus described in Japanese Patent Application Laid-Open No. 6-195388. According to Japanese Patent Application Laid-Open No. 6-195388, desired document information can be obtained simply by defining a feature vector of a basic word having a high appearance rate by automatically creating a feature vector of a new word from the context information of the document. You can search with high accuracy.

【0006】

Furthermore, as a document retrieval technique using this context vector, "associative retrieval from a large-scale database" is described in AI92-99 (1993), an academic technical report published by the Institute of Electronics, Information and Communication Engineers.

【0007】

[Problems to be Solved by the Invention]

The help information retrieval device described in JP-A-7-121563 performs a search by keyword matching. For example, if the keyword (centering, centering) is given to the centering function of a word processor, and the request statement "centering" or "centering" is given by the user, centering is performed by matching the keywords. The function is searched.

【0008】

However, in the keyword matching search, even if you enter the request sentence "middle" to search for the centering function, the centering function cannot be searched because it does not match the centering keyword (centering, centering). ..

【0009】

It is virtually impossible to register all the keywords that the user is expected to enter in advance, and if you are a beginner, you may not even know that there is a centering function, and you can not enter the request text. There is a problem that there is. In this way, there is a limit to searching for help information by keyword matching.

【0010】

Further, in the information processing apparatus with a help function described in Japanese Patent Application Laid-Open No. 61-243517, the most appropriate help information is displayed by the combination of the function keys input after pressing the help key, and the function key is pressed. Although it is not possible to display related help information, even if the same function key is pressed many times, it is treated as the same function as the function pressed once.

【0011】

For example, it is not possible to display help information related to movement when the left cursor movement key is pressed once, and to display help for the "move line beginning" key when the cursor movement key is pressed many times. In addition, only one function is displayed by the combination, and related functions cannot be displayed in order of related order.

【0012】

The present invention has been made in consideration of the above circumstances, and can search the help information according to the operation status of the user from the function explanation database and display it in the order of the operation history of the input unit. Provided is a processing device, a help information search method, and a medium on which a help information search program is recorded.

【0013】

[Means for solving problems]

The present invention has a function explanation database that stores function explanations of the system that is the target of help information, an input unit for inputting various information or operating each function of the system, and a function operated by using the input unit. A history information storage unit that stores history information representing the history of the above, a request statement storage unit that temporarily stores a search request statement input using the input section, and a function description database corresponding to the search request statement and described above. Information with a help function that includes a search unit that searches for function explanations related to history information, and a display unit that displays the function explanations searched using the search unit in the order of the operation history of the input unit. It is a processing device.

【0014】

In the present invention, the function explanation database may be composed of a floppy disk (registered trademark), a hard disk, and a CD-ROM. The input unit may be composed of an input device such as a keyboard, a mouse, and a pointing device.

【0015】

The history information storage unit and the request statement storage unit may be composed of RAM, a floppy disk, and an MD. The search unit may be composed of a computer consisting of a CPU, ROM, RAM, and an I / O port. The display unit may be composed of a display device such as a CRT display, a liquid crystal display, a plasma display, or an EL display. According to the present invention, help information according to the operation status of the user can be searched from the function explanation database and displayed in the order of the operation history of the input unit.

【0016】

The history information storage unit may be configured to store history information related to the key operation history when a key operation is performed using the input unit. According to this configuration, the help information is searched from the function explanation database by using the history information related to the key operation history when the key is operated, so that it is possible to guess what the user was trying to do. In particular, it is effective for the help function of a dedicated word processor whose function is assigned to the key of the input unit and an information processing device that processes a non-window type application.

【0017】

The history information storage unit may be configured to store history information related to the function selection history when a function of the application is selected using the input unit. According to this configuration, since the history information regarding the function selection history of the selected function is used, it is possible to infer what the user was trying to do. In particular, it is effective for the help function of an information processing device that selects a function from a menu by operating a mouse or the like in a window-type application or a window-type application.

【0018】

The function description database stores relationship information representing the correspondence between each function of the application and the history information, and the search unit responds to the search request statement from the function description database based on the relationship information. It may be configured to search the function description related to the history information.

【0019】

For example, if the "Space" key and "Tab" key are associated with the "Centering" function and the "Space" key or "Tab" key is in the operation history, the "Centering" function is used. Configure to add to search results. According to this configuration, for example, the function description of the related key can be searched as help information without operating the function key.

【0020】

The function description database further includes a keyword conversion unit that converts the history information stored in the history information storage unit into keywords, the function description database stores keywords representing the features of the function description, and the search unit converts the keywords. Search the function description database corresponding to the search request statement and related to the history information based on the degree of matching between the keyword converted using the part and the keyword stored in the function description database. It may be configured.

【0021】

In this configuration, for example, when converting the operation of pressing the "space" key to the keyword "blank", when the "space" key is pressed, search for the one containing the keyword "blank" in the function description. Configure. Further, the keyword conversion unit may be composed of a computer CPU and a control program. According to this configuration, since the keyword is used in addition to the history information, more appropriate help information can be searched from the explanation database according to the operation status of the user.

【0022】

An operation vector database that stores an operation vector that represents the characteristics of an operation, and an operation history vector that generates an operation history vector that represents the characteristics of the operation history from the history information stored in the history information storage unit with reference to the operation vector database. The function description database further includes a generation unit, and the function description database stores a function description vector representing the features of the function description, and the search unit is based on the degree of coincidence between the operation history vector and the function description vector. The function description database may be configured to search for the function description corresponding to the search request and related to the history information.

【0023】

In this configuration, the operation vector dictionary may be composed of a floppy disk, a hard disk, and a CD-ROM. The operation history vector generation unit may be composed of a computer CPU and a control program. According to this configuration, not only the target help information but also the related help information can be searched at the same time by the semantic search using the vector representing the feature of the operation history and the vector representing the feature of the function description. it can.

【0024】

Refer to a word database that stores a word and a word vector that represents the characteristics of the word in association with each other, a word extraction unit that extracts words included in the search request sentence by referring to the word database, and a word dictionary. The function description database further includes a request sentence vector generation unit that generates a search request sentence vector representing the characteristics of the search request sentence from the word, and stores the function description sentence vector representing the characteristics of the function description sentence. The search unit is configured to search the function description database for the function description corresponding to the search request and related to the history information based on the degree of coincidence between the search request vector and the function description vector. You may.

【0025】

In this configuration, the word dictionary may be composed of a floppy disk, a hard disk, and a CD-ROM. The request statement vector generator may be composed of a computer CPU and a control program. According to this configuration, not only the target help information but also the related help information can be searched at the same time by the semantic search using the vector representing the feature of the search request sentence and the vector representing the feature of the function description sentence. Can be done.

【0026】

The "operation vector", "operation history vector", "search request sentence vector", and "function explanation sentence vector" used here are the credential technical bulletin AI92-99 (1993) "Large" published by the Society of Electronics, Information and Communication Engineers. It is the "context vector" proposed in "Associative search from scale database". That is, the "feature vector" in the present invention directly corresponds to the above "context vector".

【0027】

The feature vector indicates the degree of the relationship between the concept and the context of the word in the sentence, and is a vector representation of the degree of the semantic connection relationship with a large number of feature words. Assuming that N conceptual classifications are feature words, the values of each element of the N-dimensional vector are associated with each feature word.

【0028】

The value of each element of the feature vector Xi = (xi1, xi2, ..., xiN) of the word i is 0 xij Em. Em is a positive constant. If there is no relationship between the word i and the feature word j, xij = 0, and if there is a relationship, a large value is taken according to the degree of the relationship. For example, if the feature vector consists of five feature words (nature, city, noise, animal, green) and the value of each element is a binary value of 0 or 1, then the feature of the word "mountain" Vector, (1,0,0,1,1) And so on.

【0029】

According to another aspect of the present invention, the function description of the system that is the target of the help information is stored in the function description database, and various information is input using the input unit or each function of the system is operated and input. The history information representing the history of the functions operated by using the unit is stored in the history information storage unit, the search request statement input using the input unit is temporarily stored in the request statement storage unit, and the function explanation database is used to describe the above. It is characterized in that a function description that corresponds to a search request and is related to the history information is searched by using the search unit, and the function description that is searched by using the search unit is displayed on the display unit in the order of operation history. Help information retrieval method is provided.

【0030】

Further, according to another aspect of the present invention, the computer stores the function description of the system that is the target of the help information in the function description database, and uses the input unit to input various information or operate each function of the system. The history information representing the history of the function operated by using the input unit is stored in the history information storage unit, and the search request text input using the input unit is temporarily stored in the request text storage unit. Help information that causes the database to search the function description that corresponds to the search request and is related to the history information using the search unit, and displays the function description that was searched using the search unit on the display unit in the order of the operation history. A computer-readable recording medium on which the search program is recorded is provided.

【0031】

According to this configuration, the help information retrieval function of the present invention can be incorporated into an information processing device such as a word processor or a personal computer by installing the help information retrieval program of the present invention recorded on a recording medium in a computer.

【0032】

BEST MODE FOR CARRYING OUT THE INVENTION

Hereinafter, the present invention will be described in detail based on the examples shown in the figure. The present invention is not limited thereto. In this embodiment, an information processing device with a help function applied to a word processor operating on a window-type OS will be described as an example.

【0033】

FIG. 1 is a block diagram showing a schematic configuration of an information processing apparatus with a help function according to a first embodiment of the present invention. As shown in FIG. 1, the information processing apparatus with a help function of this embodiment is a recording medium such as a floppy disk, a hard disk, a CD-ROM, or an MD for storing a function description of the system targeted for help information. To display the configured function explanation database 7, the input unit 1 consisting of a keyboard, mouse, pointing device, etc. for performing key input operations, the search request text for searching for help information, and the searched help information. It is composed of a display unit 2 consisting of a liquid crystal display, a plasma display, an EL display, etc., a computer consisting of a CPU, ROM, RAM, and I / O ports for controlling each part of the device, a floppy disk, and a recording medium consisting of a hard disk. It is equipped with a control unit 3.

【0034】

The control unit 3 is a history information storage unit 4 that stores history information representing the history of functions operated using the input unit, a request statement storage unit 5 that temporarily stores a search request statement input using the input unit, A search unit 6 that searches the function description database for the function description corresponding to the search request and related to the history information is included. Further, the history information storage unit 4 and the request statement storage unit 5 are composed of the RAM of the computer. The search unit 6 is composed of a CPU and a control program.

【0035】

In addition, the main unit includes a recording medium reading unit 14 that reads each program from a recording medium 15 including an application program, a floppy disk for recording a help information search program, a CD-ROM, and the like. Further, the control unit 3 includes a program storage unit 3a for storing various programs, and installs an application program, a help information search program, etc. read by the recording medium reading unit 14 in the program storage unit 3a. The application program installed in the program storage unit 3a and the help information search program may be started and executed.

【0036】

The control unit 3 reads the help information search program recorded on the recording medium 15 by using the recording medium reading unit 14, and activates the help information search program. Then, the computer stores the function explanation of the system that is the target of the help information in the function explanation database 7, inputs various information using the input unit 1, or operates each function of the system, and uses the input unit 1. The history information representing the history of the operated function is stored in the history information storage unit 4, the search request statement input using the input unit is temporarily stored in the request statement storage unit 5, and the search request is made from the function explanation database. The function explanations corresponding to the sentences and related to the history information can be searched by using the search unit 6, and the function explanations searched by using the search unit 5 can be displayed on the display unit 2 in the order of the operation history. According to this configuration, the help information retrieval function of the present invention can be incorporated into an information processing device such as a word processor or a personal computer.

【0037】

The history information stored in the history information storage unit 4 may be the key operation history by the keyboard input from the input unit 1. In the case of a window-type application, it may be a function selection history when selecting an application function with a menu, an icon, a mouse, or the like on the window. Here, the case where the history information related to the mouse operation is stored in the history information storage unit 4 will be described later.

【0038】

FIG. 2 is a diagram showing an example of a sentence creation screen according to this embodiment. As shown in Fig. 2, each function can be selected by the menu arranged at the top of the text creation screen. In addition, the square frame indicated by "A", "B", "C", and "D" on the right side of the screen indicates an icon, and the function can also be executed by clicking this icon with the mouse. ..

【0039】

FIG. 3 is a diagram showing an example of the correspondence between the operation code stored in the history information storage unit according to the present embodiment and the actual operation. As shown in FIG. 3, the history information storage unit 4 stores a table indicating the correspondence between the operation code and the actual operation, and stores the operation code when the mouse is clicked based on this table.

【0040】

For example, on the text creation screen shown in FIG. 2, when the "File" menu is first clicked and then the "Open" function is clicked, the history information storage unit 4 is displayed. "05", "07" The operation code will be stored as history information. In this way, key operations are converted into operation codes and stored. The number of operation codes to be stored may be limited, and the old operation code may be deleted each time a new operation code is added. The control unit 3 inputs a search request statement for searching the function explanation database 7 using the input unit 1 such as a keyboard and stores it in the request statement storage unit 5.

【0041】

FIG. 4 is a flowchart showing the procedure of the help information retrieval process of the information processing apparatus with the help function according to this embodiment. In Figure 4, Step S1: By calling the help function from the "Help" key or the "Help" menu on the sentence creation screen, the help information search program is started by the control unit 3. Step S2: The user interactively inputs a search request text for searching the function description text, which is help information, from the function description database 7 using the search request text input screen as shown in FIG.

【0042】

Here, FIG. 5 is a diagram showing an example of a search request sentence input screen according to this embodiment. The request sentence input using the search request sentence input screen is stored in the request sentence storage unit. Then, when the search is started without inputting the search request sentence, the help information is searched based only on the history information.

【0043】

Step S3: The control unit 3 reads the history information from the history information storage unit 4. Step S4: The search unit 6 searches for a function description (search candidate) from the function description database 7 based on the input search request statement and the read history information. Step S5: Control unit 3 displays search candidates on display unit 2. Step S6: The user selects a desired function description (help information) from the search candidates using the input unit 1. Step S7: Display the desired function description on the display unit 2.

【0044】

The search of the functional database 7 in the search unit 6 is performed based on the history information stored in the history information storage unit 4 and the search request text input from the request text storage unit 5. Here, as an example of the search method, the search result based on the history information stored in the history information storage unit 4 and the search result based on the search request sentence input from the request sentence storage unit 5 are obtained respectively. The case of calculating independently and then integrating the search results will be described. Function description Each function (i) stored in the database 7 is scored based on the history information and the search request statement.

【0045】

The score calculated based on the history information for the function (i) is shown as Sh (i), and the score calculated based on the search request statement for the function (i) is shown as Sq (i), and these search results are integrated. If the integrated score calculated by the above is expressed by a mathematical formula as S (i), S (i) = f (Sh (i), Sq (i)) ...... (1) And. Here, as an example of the function f, S (i) = Sh (i) + Sq (i) ...... (2) To calculate. In this way, the score for each function in the function explanation database 7 is calculated, and the search result is displayed on the display unit 2 as a search candidate for displaying the function explanation from the one with the highest score.

【0046】

Three types of methods will be described here as methods for calculating the score Sh (i) for the above function (i) based on the history information stored in the history information storage unit 4. First, as the first search method, the score Sh1 (i) for each function (i) when each function (i) in the function explanation database 7 has a correspondence with each operation is obtained.

【0047】

FIG. 6 is a diagram showing an example of the correspondence between the function description stored in the function description database according to this embodiment and the actual operation. As shown in FIG. 6, the function description database 7 stores a table showing the correspondence between the function description and the actual operation, and stores the operation code corresponding to the function based on this table. Of the history information stored in the history information storage unit 4, if the number of recently performed operations n and the operation code are used for the search, the score of the function (i) based on the history information in this method Sh1 (i) is Sh1 (i) = (number of matching histories of correspondence) x 100 / n ...... (3) Calculate with.

【0048】

As an example, assuming that 3 history information is used, n = 3, the operation code by 3 recent operations is 03 "C", 05 "File", 07 "Open" If so, the score Sh1 (i) of each function (i) is Sh1 (Open file) = 2 × 100/3 = 67; (Number of matching histories is 2) Sh1 (Save file) = 1 × 100/3 = 33; (The number of matching histories is 1) Sh1 (end) = 0 × 100/3 = 0; (the number of matching histories is 0) Is calculated. However, this score is rounded off to the nearest whole number.

【0049】

Therefore, compared to the case of simply entering the help function key or entering the search request text to search for help information, not only the search request text but also the history of operations up to that point is used at the same time to obtain help information. Since the search is performed, the help information requested by the user can be searched and displayed more appropriately.

【0050】

FIG. 7 is a block diagram showing a schematic configuration of an information processing apparatus with a help function according to a second embodiment of the present invention. In FIG. 7, the same components as those in FIG. 1 are designated by the same reference numerals. Next, as the second search method, the keyword conversion unit 8 shown in FIG. 7 is used to convert the history information stored in the history information storage unit 4 into keywords, and then the target help information is converted into the function explanation database 7. The method of searching from is explained.

【0051】

FIG. 8 is a diagram showing an example of the correspondence between the operation code and the keyword stored in the keyword conversion unit according to this embodiment. As shown in FIG. 8, the keyword conversion unit 8 stores a table showing the correspondence between the operation code and the keyword, and performs conversion based on the table of the correspondence. Then, the search is performed based on whether or not the keyword converted in this way is included in the function name or function description stored in the function description database 7.

【0052】

Of the history information stored in the history information storage unit 4, if the number of recently performed operations n and the operation code are used for the search, the score of the function (i) based on the history information in this method Sh2 (i) is Sh2 (i) = (number of histories containing keywords in function name and function description) x 1 00 / n ...... (4) Calculate with.

【0053】

As an example, assuming that 3 history information is used, n = 3, the operation code by 3 recent operations is 03 "Left Aligned", 05 "File", 07 "Open" If so, the keyword conversion unit 8 based on the table shown in FIG. "Left-justified", "File", "Open" Is converted to the keyword.

【0054】

When using the table shown in Fig. 6 as the function description database 7, if the function name is "Open File", the function name and function description include two keywords, "File" and "Open". So, as n = 3 Sh2 (Open file) = 2 × 100/3 = 67; (Number of history included 2) Will be. If you calculate the other two functions in the same way, Sh2 (File save) = 1 × 100/3 = 33; (Number of history included 1) Sh2 (end) = 0 × 100/3 = 0; (number of history included 0) Will be. However, this score is rounded off to the nearest whole number.

【0055】

According to this configuration, since the keyword is used in addition to the history information, more appropriate help information can be searched from the function explanation database according to the operation status of the user.

【0056】

FIG. 9 is a block diagram showing a schematic configuration of an information processing apparatus with a help function according to a third embodiment of the present invention. In FIG. 9, the same components as those in FIG. 1 are designated by the same reference numerals. Next, as the third search method, the history information stored in the history information storage unit 4 is converted into an operation history vector by using the operation vector dictionary 9 and the operation history vector generation unit 10, and then the target help information is obtained. Explain how to search for.

【0057】

FIG. 10 is a diagram showing an example of an operation vector dictionary according to this embodiment. It is stored as a set with the operation code and operation vector. In this embodiment, a 10-dimensional vector is used. The operation history vector generation unit 10 generates the operation history vector with reference to the operation vector dictionary 9. As an example of the method of generating the operation history vector, a method of normalizing the sum of the operation vectors is used here.

【0058】

As an example, assuming that three history information is used and the operation codes of the three recent operations are "03", "05", and "07", the sum of these operation vectors is (1,1,0,2,1,0,1,0,0,0) Will be. The normalized version of this is the operation history vector Vh, but here, if it is normalized so that the magnitude is 10, Vh (3, 5,3, 5,0,7.1,3. 5,0,3.5) , 0,0,0). However, each element of Vh is rounded to the first decimal place.

【0059】

FIG. 11 is a diagram showing an example of a function description vector stored in the function description database according to this embodiment. Further, it is assumed that each function of the function explanation database 7 stores a function explanation vector as shown in FIG. The score Sh3 (i) of each function (i) when searching by this method is Sh3 (i) = Vh Vf (i) ...... (5) Calculate with.

【0060】

Here, the operator "" represents the inner product of the vectors, and Vf (i) represents the function description vector of the function (i). If the magnitude of Vf (i) is also normalized to a value of 10, the value of Sh3 (i) takes a value between 0 and 100, and the closer the vector distance, the larger the value. Function description When the database is shown in Fig. 11, Sh3 (open file) = 63.3 Sh3 (save file) = 35.4 Sh3 (end) = 0 Is calculated.

【0061】

According to this configuration, not only the target help information but also the related help information can be searched at the same time by the semantic search using the vector representing the feature of the operation history and the vector representing the feature of the function description. it can.

【0062】

FIG. 12 is a block diagram showing a schematic configuration of an information processing apparatus with a help function according to a fourth embodiment of the present invention. In FIG. 12, the same components as those in FIG. 1 are designated by the same reference numerals. As a method of calculating the score Sq (i) based on the search request sentence stored in the request sentence storage unit 5, here, the calculation is performed by the word vector stored in the word dictionary 11. First, the word dictionary 11 and the word extraction unit 12 are used to extract the words contained in the search request sentence stored in the request sentence storage unit 5.

【0063】

FIG. 13 is a diagram showing an example of a word dictionary according to this embodiment. As shown in FIG. 13, the word dictionary 11 stores words and word vectors as a pair. Here, as an example, as a search request statement, "Open file" Consider the case where is entered. In this case, the word extraction unit 12 refers to the word dictionary 11 as a word included in this search request sentence, and refers to the word dictionary 11. "File", "Open" Two words will be extracted.

【0064】

Next, the request sentence vector generation unit 13 generates a search request sentence vector by referring to the word dictionary 11 based on the words extracted by the word extraction unit 12. Here, the search request sentence vector is generated by normalizing the sum of the word vectors of the extracted words. When the search request statement is "Open file", "File" and "Open" are extracted, so the sum of these two vectors is (0,0,0,2,1,0,1,0,0,0) Will be.

【0065】

Here, the size of the search request statement vector is normalized to be 10. Then, the normalized search request statement vector Vq Vq = (0,0,0,8. 2,4.1,0,4.1,0,0,0) Will be. However, each element of Vq is rounded to the first decimal place. Further, it is assumed that each function of the function explanation database 7 stores a function explanation vector as shown in FIG.

【0066】

And the score Sq (i) by the search request sentence is Sq (i) = Vq Vf (i) Calculate with. Here, the operator "" represents the inner product of the vectors, and Vf (i) represents the function description vector of the function (i).

【0067】

If the magnitude of Vf (i) is also normalized to 10, the value of Sq (i) will take a value between 0 and 100, and the closer the vector distance, the larger the value. Function description When the database is shown in Fig. 11, Sq (open file) = 73.8 Sq (save file) = 41 Sq (end) = 0 Is calculated.

【0068】

According to this configuration, not only the target help information but also the related help information can be searched at the same time by the semantic search using the vector representing the feature of the search request sentence and the vector representing the feature of the function description sentence. Can be done.

【0069】

[Effect of the invention]

According to the present invention, help information according to the operation status of the user can be searched from the function explanation database and displayed in the order of the operation history of the input unit.

[Simple explanation of drawings]

[Figure 1]

It is a block diagram which shows the schematic structure of the information processing apparatus with a help function according to Example 1 of this invention.

[Figure 2]

It is a figure which shows an example of the sentence creation screen by this Example.

[Fig. 3]

It is a figure which shows an example of the correspondence relationship between the operation code stored in the history information storage part by this Example, and the actual operation.

[Fig. 4]

It is a flowchart which shows the procedure of the help information search processing of the information processing apparatus with a help function by this Example.

[Fig. 5]

It is a figure which shows an example of the search request sentence input screen by this Example.

[Fig. 6]

It is a figure which shows an example of the correspondence relation between the function explanation sentence stored in the function explanation database by this Example, and an actual operation.

[Fig. 7]

It is a block diagram which shows the schematic structure of the information processing apparatus with a help function by Example 2 of this invention.

[Fig. 8]

It is a figure which shows an example of the correspondence relation of the operation code and a keyword stored in the keyword conversion part by this Example.

[Fig. 9]

It is a block diagram which shows the schematic structure of the information processing apparatus with a help function according to Example 3 of this invention.

[Fig. 10]

It is a figure which shows an example of the operation vector dictionary by this Example.

[Fig. 11]

It is a figure which shows an example of the function explanation sentence vector stored in the function explanation database by this Example.

[Fig. 12]

It is a block diagram which shows the schematic structure of the information processing apparatus with a help function according to Example 4 of this invention.

[Fig. 13]

It is a figure which shows an example of the word dictionary by this Example.

[Explanation of symbols]

1 Input section 2 Output section 3 Control unit 3a Program storage 4 History information storage unit 5 Request statement storage 6 Search section 7 Function description database 8 Keyword conversion unit 9 Operation vector dictionary 10 Operation history vector generator 11 word dictionary 12 word extractor 13 Request statement vector generator 14 Recording medium reader 15 Recording medium