JP2003058564A - Information acquisition support device - Google Patents

Abstract

(57) [Abstract] [PROBLEMS] To efficiently obtain information provided by an information providing server connected to a network in a short time without any trouble. An information providing system includes an information providing server connected to a network such as the Internet.
2, 2n, an information acquisition support server 3, a database 4 accessible to the information acquisition support server 3, and a terminal device 5 accessible to the information acquisition support server 3. When the user transmits an information search request including the input search condition to the information acquisition support server 3 using the terminal device 5, the information acquisition support server 3 sends the database 4 based on the received search condition.
And transmits the search result to the terminal device 5. When a search cannot be performed from the database 4, for example, one or more information providing servers based on the received search conditions are selected, and an information search request is transmitted to the selected information providing server.

Description

Detailed Description of the Invention

[0001]

BACKGROUND OF THE INVENTION 1. Field of the Invention The present invention relates to an information acquisition support device for supporting acquisition of information provided by an information providing server connected to a network.

[0002]

2. Description of the Related Art When designing various products, it is indispensable to obtain catalog data of element products such as various parts that are constituent elements of the product to be designed. Conventionally, such data has been acquired by referring to a data book obtained from each device manufacturer or the like that supplies each component product. In addition, in recent years, with the spread of the Internet and the like, each device manufacturer is supplying not only various data books but also catalog data via a network, so that it is possible to acquire catalog data via a network. Has become.

However, since the data book has a heavy burden of storage and version control, and the types and the number of copies that can be prepared are limited, it is difficult for the designer to refer to the optimum element parts. When browsing the catalog data via the network, although there is no such problem, it takes time to access and search the necessary site, and the user accesses the necessary site each time to browse the catalog data. Therefore, the same data is often referred to, and the line usage cost cannot be ignored.

Further, in designing, catalog data of a plurality of manufacturers are generally referred to in many cases, but the catalog formats of the data book and the electronic information are different for each manufacturer, so that the usability is not necessarily good.

[0005]

SUMMARY OF THE INVENTION The present invention has been made in view of the above circumstances, and provides information provided by an information providing server connected to a network, such as product catalog data by each equipment manufacturer, in a short time. It is an object of the present invention to provide an information acquisition support device that enables efficient acquisition without any trouble.

[0006]

An information acquisition support device of the present invention supports acquisition of information provided by an information providing server connected to a network, and the information acquisition support server connected to the network. And a database for accumulating information provided by the information providing server in a predetermined uniform format, the information acquisition support server, the information retrieved from the database in response to an information retrieval request from the terminal device, Alternatively, the information acquired from the information providing server is presented to the terminal device, and the database is updated based on the information acquired from the information providing server. By doing so, the information from the information providing server is automatically stored in the database in the unified format, so that the search time and the hit rate are improved, and the necessary information can be efficiently obtained in a short time.

Further, the information acquisition support server in the information acquisition support device of the present invention searches the information providing server for information when the information satisfying the information search request from the terminal device cannot be searched from the database. It outputs a request. Therefore, it suffices to access the external information supply server only when necessary, and further reduction of line usage cost can be expected.

Further, the information acquisition support server in the information acquisition support apparatus of the present invention holds connection information for connecting to the information providing server in association with information of a specific category included in the information search request. The connection is made to the corresponding information providing server based on the information of the specific category. By doing this, it becomes possible to properly access the appropriate external information supply server.

Further, the information acquisition support server in the information acquisition support apparatus of the present invention holds data format information for each information provision server indicating a format of information provided by the information provision server, and the data format Based on the information obtained according to the information, the presentation to the terminal device and the updating of the database are performed. This makes it possible to easily store the information acquired from a plurality of information supply servers in the database of the same format.

The information acquisition support device of the present invention supports acquisition of catalog data of element products which are constituent elements of the product to be designed provided by the information providing server.

The information providing server in the information acquisition support device of the present invention is a WWW server.

[0012] The information acquisition support method of the present invention supports acquisition of information provided by an information providing server connected to a network, and provides information provided by the information providing server in response to an information search request. Based on the database stored in a predetermined uniform format, or the step of acquiring from the information providing server, the step of presenting the acquired information to an information search request source, and the information acquired from the information providing server And updating.

[0013]

BEST MODE FOR CARRYING OUT THE INVENTION Embodiments of the present invention will be described below with reference to the drawings. FIG. 1 is a diagram showing a schematic configuration of an information providing system including an information acquisition support device of the present invention. The system shown in FIG. 1 includes information providing servers 21, 22, 2n connected to a network 1 such as the Internet.
The information acquisition support server 3, the database 4 accessible by the information acquisition support server 3, and the terminal device 5 accessible by the information acquisition support server 3.

The information providing servers 21, 22, 2n supply various information stored in an internal or external database (not shown), and output information in response to an information search request via the network 1. It is a thing. In Figure 1,
Although only three are shown, in reality more information providing servers are connected.

The information acquisition support server 3 accesses the database 4 or the information providing servers 21, 22, 2n in response to an information search request from the connected terminal device 5, and retrieves the information or the information providing server from the database 4. 21,
The information acquired from 22, 2n is presented to the terminal device 5, and the database 4 is updated based on the information acquired from the information providing servers 21, 22, 2n. The database 4 stores information in a unified format, and if the information obtained from the information providing servers 21, 22, 2n is different from the unified format, format conversion is performed. The information acquisition support server 3 holds the connection information for connecting to the information providing servers 21, 22, and 2n in association with the information of the specific category included in the information search request, and based on the information of the specific category. , And the corresponding information providing servers 21, 22, 2n. The connection to the information providing server 21, 22, 2n and the search request are normally output when the information satisfying the information search request from the terminal device 5 cannot be searched from the database 4, but the amount of information searched from the database 4 When the number is small, the information may be output even when there is a request from the terminal device 5.

The database 4 includes an information providing server 21,
The information provided by 22 and 2n is stored in a predetermined uniform format. In FIG. 1, the database 4 and the information acquisition support server 3 are configured separately, but the database 4 may be formed in the computer configuring the information acquisition support server 3.

The terminal device 5 is used by a user who wants to receive information and is configured to be capable of transmitting search request information including a search condition for required information to the information acquisition support server 3. In FIG. 1, only one terminal device 5 directly connected to the information acquisition support server 3 is shown, but a larger number of terminal devices can be connected. In addition, the information acquisition support server 3 and the terminal device 5 do not always have to be directly connected,
It suffices if connection is possible at the request of the terminal device 5. The connection method is not limited to the direct connection, and may be a LAN connection or a connection method via the network 1.

A schematic flow of the information acquisition operation using the system of FIG. 1 will be described with reference to FIG. A user who intends to receive information accesses the information acquisition support server 3 using the terminal device 5 to input search conditions (step 101), and sends an information search request including the input search conditions (step 101). 102) and the information acquisition support server 3
The database 4 is searched based on the received search condition (step 103), one or more information providing servers are selected based on the received search condition (step 104), and an information search request is sent to the selected information providing server (step). 10
Perform 5). The information providing server that has received the information search request searches for information based on the search condition (step 10).
6) The search information is transmitted to the information acquisition support server (step 107). The information acquisition support server converts the format of the received search information (step 108), updates the database 4 on the basis of the converted information (step 109), and, together with the search information retrieved from the database 4 in step 103, the terminal. Send to the device (step 110). Then, the user refers to the received search information on the terminal device 5 (step 111).

Of the above steps, steps 104 to 1
09 is not always performed, and when the information corresponding to the database 4 is accumulated, the information is transmitted to the terminal device 5. If the corresponding information is not stored in the database 4, the information providing servers 21, 22,
From 2n, one or a plurality of servers are selected based on the received search condition, and an information search request is output. Then, the obtained information is output to the terminal device 5, and the database 4 is updated based on the information obtained from the information providing servers 21, 22, 2n. When updating database 4,
A time stamp is created (step 112), information is acquired again from the information providing server every time a certain time has elapsed from the time stamp, the acquired information is compared with the information in the database 4, and information support is provided if there is a change. The database 4 in the server is updated (step 113). The information from the information providing server is changed to the format of the database 4 based on the data format information for each information providing server, and is used for updating the database and comparing information. The format output to the terminal device 5 is
The format for each server or the unified format registered in the database 4 may be used, but the unified format is preferable.

Next, a more detailed description will be given by taking as an example the acquisition of catalog data of element products such as various parts which are components of the product to be designed. Here, the network 1 is the Internet, and the information providing servers 21, 22, 2n
Is a WWW server managed by a manufacturer of element products, and the catalog data of the element products is provided by a web page on the WWW server.

FIG. 3 shows the information providing servers 21, 22, 2n.
4 is a display example of product catalog data provided by one of the servers, and FIG. 4 is a part of the HTML source code thereof. In this example, the product type “capacitor-aluminum electrolytic capacitor” has the following specifications: product number, SMD, series / type, shape, polarity, rated voltage, capacitance, category temperature range, body diameter, body length, rated ripple current. The specified frequency, rated ripple current value, durability (time), processing and packaging categories are presented separately.

Items to be presented as such catalog data are generally the same even if the manufacturers are different, but since the formats to be presented are different, it is inconvenient for the user. Therefore, the database 4 of FIG. 1 stores the catalog data of the products provided by the information providing servers 21, 22, 2n in a predetermined unified format. As the unified format, it is preferable to use the format of the company's own product or the manufacturer that is frequently used.

The information acquisition support server 3 holds, for each manufacturer or information providing server, data format information indicating the format of the provided information that is constant for each manufacturer, and the information obtained in accordance with the data format information. Based on, the storage format in the database 4 or the presentation format to the terminal device 4 is changed. The format of the information provided as the HTML document can be determined to be the specification for identifying the product based on the type and position of the tag included in the HTML source code. Therefore, the data format uses the type and position information of the tag. Is preferred. For example, in the example of FIGS. 3 and 4, the SMD, series / type, shape, polarity, rated voltage, capacitance, category temperature range, body diameter, body length, and rated ripple current of the product number “ECEV0GA101SR” Specified frequency, rated ripple current value,
Durability (time), processing and packaging classifications are "correspondence", "V type S series", "vertical surface mounting", and "polarity" respectively.
"4""100""-40 to 85""5""5.4"
"120", "61", "1000", and "reel taping (surface mount product)" can be recognized by counting the number of tags "<TD>".

When the information satisfying the information search request from the terminal device 5 is not obtained from the database 4, the information acquisition support server 3 automatically or by an instruction from the search requester.
Access to the information providing servers 21, 22, 2n. The access destination (server or page) at that time is held in association with the information of the specific category included in the information search request, for example, the product type. The component type corresponding to the access destination does not have to be of a single layer, but it is preferable to prepare for a plurality of layer product types such as electrical components, capacitors, and electrolytic capacitors. Then, as a result of the access, it is desirable to retain whether or not the information can be acquired. When such management is performed, for example, the information providing server of the company A provides the catalog information of the capacitors at the site providing the information of electric parts, but does not provide the information of the transistors. Such a track record can be retained. Therefore, the site of company A is normally accessed to search for electrical parts, but not the transistor.
Useless access to the information providing server can be reduced.

In the above description, the information providing server 21,
22 and 2n are automatically accessed to acquire information and store it in the database 4. However, since it is difficult to hold all the access information to the information providing server in advance, it is preferable that the user can access the new information providing server by using a search engine or the like. In that case, it is preferable to additionally hold the information of the access destination and the acquisition propriety information in the information acquisition support server. It is preferable that the obtained information be stored once, the data format information is registered, and then the format is changed and registered in the database 4. The data format information is preferably updated by regularly checking the information provided by the information providing server.

[0026]

As is apparent from the above description, according to the present invention, information provided by an information providing server connected to a network, such as product catalog data by each device manufacturer, can be saved in a short time. Can be obtained efficiently without

[Brief description of drawings]

FIG. 1 is a diagram showing a schematic configuration of an information providing system including an information acquisition support device of the present invention.

FIG. 2 is a diagram showing a schematic flow of an information acquisition operation of the information acquisition support device of the present invention.

FIG. 3 is a diagram showing a display example of product catalog data provided by the information acquisition support device of the present invention.

FIG. 4 is a diagram showing a part of an HTML source code of a display example of product catalog data provided by the information acquisition support device of the present invention.

[Explanation of symbols]

1 ... Network 21, 22, 2n ... Information providing server 3 ... Information acquisition support server 4 ... Database 5: Terminal device

Claims (8)

[Claims] 1. An information acquisition support device for supporting acquisition of information provided by an information providing server connected to a network, the information acquisition supporting server connected to the network, and information provided by the information providing server. A database for accumulating in a predetermined uniform format, the information acquisition support server, in response to an information search request from the terminal device, the information retrieved from the database, or the information obtained from the information providing server. An information acquisition support device for presenting to the terminal device and updating the database based on the information acquired from the information providing server. 2. The information acquisition support device according to claim 1, wherein the information acquisition support server, when the information satisfying the information search request from the terminal device cannot be searched from the database, the information providing server. An information acquisition support device that outputs an information retrieval request to a device. 3. The information acquisition support device according to claim 1, wherein the information acquisition support server includes connection information for connecting to the information providing server in a specific category included in the information search request. An information acquisition support device which holds information corresponding to information and connects to the corresponding information providing server based on the information of the specific category. 4. The information acquisition support device according to claim 1, wherein the information acquisition support server indicates the format of information provided by the information providing server for each information providing server. An information acquisition support device that holds data format information, and presents to the terminal device and updates the database based on information obtained according to the data format information. 5. The information acquisition support device according to claim 1, wherein the information provided by the information providing server is catalog data of element products that are constituent elements of the product to be designed. Information acquisition support device. 6. The information acquisition support device according to claim 1, wherein the information providing server is a WWW server. 7. The information acquisition support device according to claim 1, wherein the information acquisition support server periodically updates the information acquired from the information providing server. Acquisition support device. 8. An information acquisition support method for supporting acquisition of information provided by an information providing server connected to a network, wherein the information provided by the information providing server is in a predetermined uniform format in response to an information search request. A step of acquiring the information from the information storage server, or a step of presenting the acquired information to an information search request source, and a step of updating the database based on the information acquired from the information providing server An information acquisition support method having: