We are developing a facility diagnostic system for maintenance staffs as the application of question answering system by using e-mail. This system analyzes mail text to figure the status level of the facility in question and reply the reference part of the maintenance manual. The manual is transformed from a plain text format into an XML document. This system features a function to accept questions written in a natural language and convert database answers into mail text. This system implements manual information retrieval and simple diagnosis by any terminal without specific software or a web browser for the database system.

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