JPH11345178A - Apparatus and method for transforming contents for distributed network computing system, key binding method and display method for command - Google Patents

Abstract

PROBLEM TO BE SOLVED: To provide various application services by transforming contents into processible formats even in the case of a miniaturized and limited display device or character input device type, such as portable information terminal or smart phone in a distributed computing environment in which various kinds of terminal equipment exist. SOLUTION: This apparatus is provided with a terminal attribute managing part 111 for managing terminal attributes showing functions provided with terminals 3 (31, 32 and 33), a service access part 112 for extracting information according to a request by accessing an application service part 12 and an input/ output transforming part 113 for transforming the contents of information extracted from the terminals 3 according to the terminal attributes, displaying them on the terminals 3 and transforming commands sent from the terminals 3 to command for accessing services.

Description

DETAILED DESCRIPTION OF THE INVENTION

[0001]

BACKGROUND OF THE INVENTION 1. Field of the Invention The present invention relates to display format conversion in a distributed network computing system, and more particularly to a content conversion device in a distributed network computing system for improving display technology for portable information terminals. The present invention also relates to a content conversion method, a key binding method, and a command display method in the system.

[0002]

2. Description of the Related Art Conventionally, in an intranet system, for example, distributed processing in which a plurality of computers are connected by a network or the like, resources of each computer are shared, and efficient processing can be performed. It has become to.

[0003] These are called distributed computing, and it becomes possible for a user to behave logically as if all processing is performed by a PC (personal computer) or the like operated by the user. ing.

[0004] One typical example is that the spread of the Internet allows ordinary users to refer to information on computers located all over the world through a WWW browser.

[0005]

However, in the above-described distributed environment in the related art, when considering an application system for performing office work, the terminal devices that can be used by the user are limited or the terminal devices are limited. It was necessary to take countermeasures such as preparing content for each time.

For example, the rapid spread of the Internet is due to the WW
Content browsing by W browsers has been common.
However, many corporate information in a business field or the like requires a great effort for artificially converting contents.

In addition, PHS (Personal Handy Phone System) and portable telephones have been rapidly spread, and mobile computing has been widely used by business persons from a specific individual to a business person due to the synergistic effect of higher performance and miniaturization of portable information terminals. Is being used for Information terminals used for such mobile computing have high processing capabilities due to their high functionality or miniaturization, but their display sizes are limited. For example, it has become essential to create content depending on the attributes of terminal devices.

[0008] Furthermore, the terminal device used is disadvantageous in that it is difficult to use a general-purpose screen configuration due to restrictions on key input and the like, and a large amount of unnecessary information is output depending on the content, making it unsuitable for display on a small information terminal. There was a problem.

Therefore, the present invention has been made in view of the above circumstances, and solves the above-mentioned disadvantages. In a distributed computing environment in which various terminal devices are present, a small display such as a portable information terminal or a smart phone is used. Content conversion in a distributed network computing system that can provide various application services by converting content into a format that can be processed even if the device or character input device has a limited model It is an object to provide a device, a content conversion method, a key binding method, and a command display method in the system.

[0010]

In order to achieve the above object, the present invention provides a content conversion apparatus in which a server computer and a terminal are connected by a communication network, and the terminal intervenes in accessing information of an application service operated on the server computer. So,
A terminal attribute management unit that manages terminal attributes indicating functions provided by the terminal, a service access unit that accesses application services and retrieves information according to a request, and converts content extracted from the terminal according to the terminal attributes. An input / output conversion unit for displaying a command on the terminal and converting a command sent from the terminal into a command for service access.

According to such a configuration, the exchange with the application service is performed by the service access unit, thereby absorbing service-specific access means and enabling abstract access from the display conversion unit. In addition, the display conversion unit can exchange data with various terminals by performing input / output conversion according to the terminal attributes.

[0012] In order to achieve the above object, the present invention provides
This is a method of converting the display format of data. For display of data having a table structure, the column width is adjusted within an allowable range specified by the content provider, and the data is converted to a display device having a different column width. It is characterized by displaying.

According to such a configuration, depending on the portable terminal, the number of columns is different, so that the content provider does not determine the width of each column, but indicates only the range, and the display conversion unit responds to the terminal attribute. By converting the data, the content can be presented with an appropriate column width.

Further, in order to achieve the above object, the present invention is a key binding method for associating a command to be displayed on an output device with a key of an input device. A command is associated with a key of an input device.

According to such a configuration, even when the type of input keys is small or the number of keys that are easy to input is small as in a portable information terminal, the correspondence between input keys and commands is changed according to the device to be used. Therefore, operability can be improved. In addition, by managing the correspondence table for each user, it is possible to customize not only for each device but also for each user.

Further, in order to achieve the above object, the present invention is characterized in that, in addition to the above configuration, command and key binding information is held as terminal attributes, and the information is extracted and applied according to the terminal used. And

According to such a configuration, the keys which can be easily input differ for each terminal. By having the key binding information as the terminal attribute, the input key corresponding to the key name can be changed.

Further, in order to achieve the above object, the present invention is a key binding method for associating a command displayed on an output device with a key of an input device. Special names are assigned to frequently used keys, general-purpose names are assigned to various commands, and these intermediate commands are associated with keys of the input device.

According to such a configuration, the operability for the user is improved by fixing the correspondence between the command frequently used by the user and the key input. On the other hand, by assigning a general-purpose command name to a command that is required only in a specific situation, the types of input keys can be limited.

Further, in order to achieve the above object, the present invention provides a method of displaying a command to be displayed on an output device, wherein a command to be displayed is provided with a group attribute.
Generates a command to select a group for a set of commands with the group attribute when displayed on an output device, displays it on the output device, and includes it in the group when a command of the group is selected And displaying a command to be executed and performing a process corresponding to the command when the command is input.

According to such a configuration, when all commands cannot be displayed, the same group attribute is assigned to a virtual single command, so that the user needs even a terminal having a small screen. In addition to data, various commands can be displayed.

In order to achieve the above object, the present invention provides a method of displaying a command on an output device, wherein at least two commands are displayed when a command to be displayed cannot be displayed because the number of digits that can be displayed differs depending on the terminal. The commands are grouped as described above, the commands for selecting a group are displayed instead of the commands included in the group, and when the command of the group is selected, the commands included in the group are displayed, and the command is displayed. Is performed when a command is input.

According to such a configuration, when commands cannot be arranged on the screen, a large number of commands can be received by grouping the last one. This allows devices with different screen sizes to
Commands that are not displayed can be eliminated. In addition, since the content provider is not required to restrict the number of commands or to add group information, it is possible to provide a degree of freedom in content creation.

Further, in order to achieve the above object, the present invention relates to a key binding method for associating a command displayed on an output device with a key of an input device. A key is assigned to a variable number of commands by assigning one character to one command if it is shorter than the character set, and assigning it to a command by a combination of characters if the number of commands is larger than the character set. I do.

According to such a configuration, even when the number of commands dynamically changes according to the state of the system, it is possible to realize key binding according to the number of commands by combining characters. By this method, an appropriate key can be assigned even when the number of lines or the number of digits of the display terminal changes.

[0026]

DESCRIPTION OF THE PREFERRED EMBODIMENTS One embodiment of the present invention will be described below with reference to the drawings. FIG. 1 is a block diagram showing a schematic configuration of a system according to the present embodiment. In FIG. 1, 1 is a server computer, 2 is a communication network, and 3 is a terminal (terminal device).

The server computer 1 includes a content conversion device 11 and an application service unit 12 for providing various application services.
It is composed of It is needless to say that each function may be distributed to a plurality of computers.

The content conversion device 11 includes a terminal attribute management unit 111, a service access unit 112, and an input / output conversion unit 113. Here, the terminal attribute management unit 11
1 manages a terminal attribute indicating a function of the terminal. The service access unit 112 accesses the application service and extracts information according to the request.

The input / output conversion unit 113 converts the command sent from the terminal into a command for service access, passes the command to the service access unit, and upon receiving information corresponding to the command, converts the content according to the terminal attribute and converts the content according to the terminal attribute. To be displayed.

The communication network 2 includes a mobile communication network such as a PHS and a mobile phone, a public network 21 including a general telephone network, and a LAN.
(Local area network) 22. These may coexist or may consist of only one.

The terminal 3 includes a PC 31, a portable information terminal 32,
There is a smartphone 33 and the like. Here, a PHS or a mobile phone having a character communication function is also included as a smartphone.
In the present embodiment, the PC 31 and the portable information terminal 32
Is assumed to be able to access information by text or WWW browser. In addition, it is assumed that the smartphone 33 can access information by text.

Next, the operation and operation of the present system will be described with respect to the above configuration. The first exchange when using the application service 12 from the terminal 3 will be described. A login process is required for the user to use the terminal 3 to start using the service. Here, the details are not described as being described by the login script. A code indicating the terminal type is described in this script, and the terminal type of the terminal 3 is notified by transmitting the code to the server computer 1 at the time of login.

The terminal attribute management unit 111 in the content conversion device 11 holds the terminal attribute of the terminal 3 and returns the terminal attribute in response to an inquiry from the input / output conversion unit 113. The terminal attributes include information such as the number of display digits and the number of display lines.

The data first returned from the server computer 1 is sent to the terminal according to the terminal attribute. Next, the request from the user is sent to the application service,
A series of operations for displaying the result on the terminal side will be described.

A request from a user is input to the terminal 3 and transmitted to the server computer 3 via the communication network 2. In the content conversion device 11 of the server computer 1, the input / output management unit 1
In step 13, a request character from the user is converted into a request command from a correspondence table of input characters and commands held as terminal attributes and sent to the service access unit 112.

Then, the service access unit 112 converts the request command into the format of the application service unit 12,
Send to application service 12. The result is applied service 12
To service access unit 11 of content conversion device 11
2, the display data and the command are converted into a format independent of the application service, and this is converted into the input / output conversion unit 113.
In accordance with the terminal attributes, the data is converted into a format that can be displayed and input on the terminal, and sent to the terminal 1 via the communication network 2. Thereafter, this is repeated. (1) Adjustment method of display column width according to terminal attribute The adjustment method will be described with reference to the flowchart of FIG. For the sake of simplicity, the prerequisites for the description are given.

First, the terminal type can be determined by a method of transmitting the terminal type from the terminal to the server in a connection protocol to the server or a method of inquiring the terminal of the type from the server.
Here, it is assumed that a character string indicating the terminal type is incorporated in the access script on the terminal side, and is sent from the terminal side when the server is connected.

FIG. 3A shows a part of a script for access. In this example, the right side of TERM = TERM1 represents the terminal type. Detailed terminal attributes are managed by a terminal attribute management unit of the server. FIG. 3B shows part of the terminal attributes for TERM1.

The contents stored in the service function are classified by type. Here, only “mail list” and “mail text” are taken as an example. The minimum width and the maximum width in each column are set for each type of this content.

FIG. 3C shows the minimum width and the maximum width of each column in the "mail list". For example, "mail list" is 3
It consists of columns, each with a minimum and maximum width of 8
Digits and 15 digits, 8 digits and 8 digits, 10 digits and 40 digits are set.

Now, in order to take out information from the service and display it on the terminal, processing is performed in the following procedure. The "display digit number" is extracted from the terminal attribute corresponding to the currently connected terminal (step S21). Here, the terminal is TERM1
The number of display digits is 40 digits.

Next, the service function is accessed, and the information requested by the user is extracted from the service function (step S22). Here, it is assumed to be “mail list”. FIG. 3D shows a part of the extracted information.

Based on the content type "mail list", the minimum width and the maximum width of the display column of each line are extracted (step S23). The number of display digits of the terminal attribute is divided. First, a minimum width is assigned to each row (step S24a). Here, the number is 8, 8, or 10.
At this stage, 26 digits are assigned.

When a blank character is inserted as a column delimiter, two digits are used as the delimiter, and the remaining number of digits is twelve. Next, the remaining 26 digits are assigned. When a blank character is inserted as a column delimiter, two digits are used as the delimiter, and the remaining digits are twelve digits. Next, the column width is determined by allocating the remaining digits according to the difference between the minimum width and the maximum width (step S).
24b, 24c).

Now, since the difference in column width is 7,0,30, the 12 digits are divided into 2,0,10. Thereby, the display digits of each column are set to 10, 8, and 20 (step S2).
5). FIG. 3E shows the result of converting the information in FIG. 3D according to the number of display digits. In this example, the minimum width and the maximum width of each column used for display are registered in advance, but the minimum width and the maximum width are calculated from each column included in the information actually extracted from the service, and the It is also possible to determine the number of digits in each line based on the information.

In the above description, the priority of determining the column width is set to the left side priority. However, the priority may be designated for each column, and the column width may be determined according to the order. In addition, depending on the number of display digits, a column in which the minimum width cannot be distributed appears. In this case, there is a method of hiding the column. (2) Command submenus Because the number of digits that can be displayed differs depending on the terminal, not all commands to be arranged may be displayed. At this time, a method of grouping those commands is shown in the flowchart of FIG. 4, and a method of displaying them as another menu is shown in the flowchart of FIG. Hereinafter, a method of making a command into a submenu will be described.

The procedure until the user retrieves necessary information from the terminal is the same as the method of adjusting the display column width according to the terminal attribute described above (steps S41 to S43). It is assumed that a command group corresponding to the extracted content type is stored on the server side. For "Email body", "Send", "Reply", "Forward", "Previous mail",
There are seven commands of “next mail”, “previous page”, and “next page”, and a group name is added as shown in FIG. For simplicity, each command requires 10 digits.

First, a command set corresponding to the content type is extracted (step S51). Since the group is divided into three (step S52), the number of digits required for displaying these is 30 digits. That is, a command is displayed as shown in FIG. Here, when the function 1 is selected, a submenu of commands as shown in FIG. 6C is displayed (step S53).

By selecting a command in this submenu, an operation on the content requested by the user is performed. For example, when "reply" is selected, the state transits to a process for returning the current mail text to the specified address.

Here, a method of grouping all commands when a group name is added has been described. However, if there is a column number that can display all commands, it is also possible not to perform grouping.

As another method, commands are displayed sequentially without adding group information to the commands. When the commands cannot be displayed on the screen, a submenu selection command is arranged as a final command, and the subsequent commands are arranged. Commands can also be displayed as submenus. (3) Method of assigning command input keys Key binding method of assigning a special name to frequently used keys among command input keys and assigning a general-purpose name to various command keys FIG. This will be described with reference to FIG.

A set of system fixed command keys shown in FIG. 8A is combined with a physical key and a command name as terminal attributes shown in FIG. 8B (step S).
71). For example, the key to instruct the display of the next page is NE
Name it XT and assign its key to the letter "N".

A key "PRV" is assigned as a key for instructing display of the previous page, and is assigned to a character "P". These keys will display the next page if a "P" is entered anywhere in the system.

Next, steps S72 to S76 will be executed. That is, a command key set different for each situation as shown in FIG. 8C is combined with a physical key having a terminal attribute shown in FIG. 8B.

In other words, a key for instructing a change of a special setting is given a general-purpose name such as SUBMIT1 and assigns "*" to the key within the effective range of the command key.

For example, in the “mail list”, a command for sorting by sender is given a general-purpose name “SUMBIT1”, and a key “*” is assigned to this. On the other hand, in the “mail body”, the command to reply to the mail is “SUBMIT1”, and the key “*” is assigned to this. This indicates that the action for the key “*” changes depending on the state of the system.

In a similar manner, by having a binding between a key name and an input key as a terminal attribute, a physical key can be changed for each model. Further, by managing the terminal attributes for each individual, it becomes possible to customize the key binding for each user. (5) Function of Assigning Keys to Selected Items A method of assigning a key as a command to a plurality of selected items as in the case of displaying the text from a mail list will be described with reference to FIGS.

First, the number of elements N is checked from a key assignable character set (step S91). In this example, 3
It is. Next, the number of selected items I is checked (step S9).
2) The combination character number R (R ≧ 1) is obtained so that I ≦ N ＾ R (step S93). In this case, R is 2
Becomes

That is, when the number of selected items is three or less, the characters are assigned to the items one by one. When there are four or more and nine or less selection items, a combination of two characters is set (step S94).

As described above, when the number of selection items increases, a key is assigned by a combination of characters. Also, by managing the assignable character set as the terminal attribute, it is possible to cope with a case where the characters that can be input by the terminal are limited. Similarly, by managing terminal attributes for each user, it is also possible to customize the terminal to use characters that are easy for the user to use.

[0061]

As described above in detail, according to the present invention, in a distributed computing environment in which various terminal devices exist, a small display device and a character input device such as a portable information terminal and a smartphone are limited. Even with a certain model, various application services can be provided by converting the content into a format that can be processed.

[Brief description of the drawings]

FIG. 1 is a block diagram showing a schematic configuration of a system according to an embodiment of the present invention.

FIG. 2 is an exemplary flowchart illustrating the flow of a process of an adjustment method according to the embodiment.

FIG. 3 is an exemplary view showing a specific example of an adjustment method according to the embodiment.

FIG. 4 is an exemplary flowchart showing the flow of a grouping procedure according to the embodiment;

FIG. 5 is an exemplary flowchart illustrating a procedure of displaying a submenu according to the embodiment.

FIG. 6 is an exemplary view showing a specific example of making a command or a submenu according to the embodiment;

FIG. 7 is an exemplary flowchart illustrating the flow of a process of a key binding method according to the embodiment.

FIG. 8 is an exemplary view showing a specific example of a command input key assignment method according to the embodiment;

FIG. 9 is an exemplary flowchart showing the flow of a key assignment method according to the embodiment;

FIG. 10 is an exemplary view showing a specific example of a function of assigning keys to selection items according to the embodiment;

[Explanation of symbols]

 DESCRIPTION OF SYMBOLS 1 ... Server computer 2 ... Communication network 3 ... Terminal 11 ... Content conversion device 12 ... Application service part 21 ... Public network 22 ... LAN 31 ... PC 32 ... Personal digital assistant 33 ... Smartphone 111 ... Terminal attribute management part 112 ... Service access part 113 input / output conversion unit

 ────────────────────────────────────────────────── ─── Continued on the front page (72) Inventor Naoko Ozaki 2-9-9 Suehirocho, Ome City, Tokyo Inside the Toshiba Ome Plant

Claims (8)

[Claims] 1. A content conversion device that connects a server computer and a terminal device via a communication network and intervenes from the terminal device to access information of an application service operated on the server computer, the content conversion device being provided in the terminal device. Terminal attribute management means for managing a terminal attribute indicating a function; service access means for accessing the application service and extracting information according to a request; and converting the information extracted from the terminal device according to the terminal attribute to convert the content into the terminal device. And an input / output converter for converting a command sent from a terminal device into a command for service access. 2. A method for converting a display format of data, wherein a display device having a different column width is adjusted for a display of data having a table structure by adjusting a column width within an allowable range designated by a content provider. A content conversion method in a distributed network computing system, wherein the content is converted and displayed. 3. A key binding method for associating a command to be displayed on an output device with a key of an input device, wherein the key binding is assigned to an intermediate command on the output device, and the intermediate command is associated with a key of the input device. Key binding method characterized by the following. 4. The key binding method according to claim 3, wherein command and key binding information is held as terminal attributes, and the information is extracted and applied according to a terminal device to be used. 5. A method for displaying a command to be displayed on an output device, wherein a command to be displayed is added with a group attribute. A command for selecting a group is generated and displayed on an output device. When a command of the group is selected, a command included in the group is displayed. When the command is input, a process corresponding to the command is performed. And displaying the command. 6. A method for displaying a command on an output device, wherein at least two commands are displayed when a command to be displayed cannot be displayed because the number of digits that can be displayed differs depending on a terminal.
Group commands into one or more commands, display commands for selecting a group instead of commands included in the group, and when a command in the group is selected, display commands included in the group, A command display method comprising: performing a process corresponding to a command when the command is input. 7. A key binding method for associating a command displayed on an output device with a key of an input device, wherein a special name is assigned to a frequently used key and a general-purpose key is assigned to various commands. Assign a name,
4. The key binding method according to claim 3, wherein the intermediate commands are associated with keys of an input device. 8. A key binding method for associating a command displayed on an output device with a key of an input device, comprising a character set that can be assigned as a key, and one character when the number of commands is smaller than the character set. Is assigned to one command, and when the number of commands is larger than the character set, keys are assigned to a variable number of commands by assigning the commands to a combination of characters.