FR2815436A1 - Location and representation in real-time on geographical maps of data from distributed sources, uses geographical information in response from directory server to create maps on user's screen - Google Patents

Abstract

The system has a directory server which can be accessed by clients. Client users select data of interest and forward search requests to the directory server. Client programs receive the response, and use location information in the response to display the geographic location of a particular data source on a map. The client programs also manipulate the map display.

Description

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 The present invention relates to a device and a method for obtaining the representation on a geographic map of data stored non-centrally on any number of computer systems dispersed geographically, in real time, for the purpose of locating the source of said data. , and possibly put a person who owns data in contact with other people interested in them.

 Computer networks, in particular the Internet, allow the instantaneous dissemination of information from a connected machine (for example a PC) to another machine connected to the same network. One of the major applications of networks is the exchange of data between users, for example directly by email, or indirectly by storage on a third-party server. In some cases, users connected to the same network wish to exchange data of a certain type quickly and directly with each other, for example music files in mp3 format, therefore on the one hand make their data available to others under certain conditions , and on the other hand being able under certain conditions to transfer all or part of the data from another machine to their own. Technologies are currently being born to satisfy this need for contact between the data owner and those interested in this data. We frequently group them under the name of peer-to-peer, which we translate as equal to equal or peer to peer.

 The object of the invention is to simplify for each user the location of data likely to interest him, to make this location intuitive to him, so as to facilitate access to him.

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The device according to the invention consists of one or more client software programs which are not necessarily all identical, of which each user has a copy on his computer system (eg PC), connected to the same common network; a server computer system connected to the same network comprising a database management system; according to the invention, it acts as a directory and will be in the rest of the text called directory server or simply server.

 Client software can use the said network to connect to the directory server; they regularly send signals to the directory server, at a frequency fixed in advance, to indicate that they are still connected.

 According to particular embodiments, the device comprises several directory servers connected to the network and connected to each other. The directories are then either partial or complete. Client software connects to one or all of the servers. In the case where clients only connect to a single server (partial directories), each directory server receiving from a client a search request in the directory transmits it to the other directory servers, so that the final response to the search concerns the entire directory.

 According to particular embodiments, the client software can also operate in server mode.

These are so-called client-server software. They are in server mode when they receive and respond to requests from other client software, typically a request to download data after a connection phase.

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The method according to the invention consists of the following steps:
1. User A obtains client software and installs it on his computer system;
2. User A informs his geographic position, in particular the couple (city, country), at least the country, that the client software memorizes;
3. User A may give personal information, in particular his first and last name, which the client software stores;
4. User A indicates to his client software the data files to be shared;
5. The client software analyzes the data to be shared, in order to extract a descriptive summary, including the name of the original file, its size and any information necessary in order to be able to identify the original file from the descriptive summary;
6. The client software transmits the descriptive summary, personal information, the geographic position of
A and the network address of the computer system of A to a server of the device, and this separately for each data file to be shared;
7. The directory server incorporates the information received into its database;
8. A user B makes a search request through his client software;

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9. The client software interprets and then transmits the request to one of the device's directory servers, named here
Sl; 10. In the case where the device comprises several servers, the server S1 transmits the request to the other servers of the device; 11. Each server of the device interprets the request and performs the search among its database of descriptive summaries; 12. If the server detects one or more correspondences, possibly partial, with the content of one or more summaries stored at the time of the request, it then sends in sequential response the summaries, the personal information and the corresponding geographic positions, to the client software of user B, so as to correctly distinguish the data files which are the source of summaries; otherwise after having consulted the entire database which it stores at the time of the request, it returns in response that no match has been found; 13. The client software interprets the data received from the servers of the device and displays on the screen one or more geographic maps on which graphic symbols represent the geographic positions received. According to particular embodiments, the representation of geographic information can take other forms, such as the enhancement of geographic areas (display of countries in different color tones, with hatching, etc.); 14. According to a particular embodiment, the user
B can influence the representation of the cards,

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 in particular isolate parts of the map and make enlargements or reductions in scale; 15. User B can separately select a summary and the corresponding personal information by simple operations, such as moving the mouse pointer over the symbols on one of the displayed maps. According to particular embodiments, user B also obtains the connection status of the software having supplied the data of which he has obtained the summary, that is to say that he obtains the information that the software is still being execution and has access to the network, or the software has not been accessible for some time. This information is important for the connection, it is indeed for the user to know if he will be able to enter into contact quickly with the user providing the data of which he has received the summary.

16. User B can choose one of the summaries that his client software has received. This summary then corresponds to a file stored on the computer system of another user, for example, user A. It is therefore a connection between two users.

 According to particular embodiments, in particular when the two users have client-server software, - user B can request to enter into communication with user A by means of their respective client-server software, or vice and versa - user B can request to retrieve all or part of the data contained in the file identified by the chosen summary.

 - User A can accept or refuse this request.

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- The request and / or its acceptance can be automatic - The request and / or its acceptance can be subject to conditions 17. Each client software sends signals to the directory server which will signify one of the following states:
The software is about to send descriptive summaries and the accompanying information to the server.

 - The data files indicated as to be shared by the user have not been modified; this signal is transmitted regularly to the server, for example every hour, or every minute. If this signal is not received after a certain period of time, the directory server considers that the software no longer has access to the network.

 - At least one of the data files indicated as to be shared by the user has been modified, deleted or removed from the list of files to be shared; the identity of each file in this case, including their names, is transmitted to the server at the same time; so that the latter deletes the corresponding data from its database - The execution of the software will be stopped imminently, or the software will no longer have access to the network immediately.

 According to particular embodiments, each of these signals will include more information intended for the server, and the number of types of signals may be greater.

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 It should be noted that user B is not obliged to indicate a data file to share, in which case personal information and geographic location may not be provided. The user can nevertheless formulate a request, and obtain the answer. Likewise, user A can optionally make requests. According to particular embodiments, client software is to be divided into three categories: those which only allow the sharing of data files (steps 2 to 6), those which only allow the formulation of query and the visualization of the result, those which allow both.

 According to particular embodiments, the client software uses an auxiliary database in order to calculate the descriptive summary, in particular a statistical database previously produced from an analysis of the descriptive summaries transmitted to the directory server. The role of this auxiliary database is to make the summary more relevant. By way of nonlimiting example, in the case where the summary includes surnames, the auxiliary database will classify the surnames and will include known variations of a patronymic, in order to reduce the diversity, and to limit disparities deemed not significant. For example, the surnames Condamine, Condemine, Contamine, Contemine are recognized to have the same etymological origin and to be variations of the same strain. It can be agreed that a summary will include only the most common variation.

An additional database is necessary for this kind of processing, and will ideally be stored on the same computer system as the client software itself. In this case, the interpretation of the formulation of the user request by the client may take this additional database into account.

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 The expression “real time” used above means firstly that the execution time of steps 9 to 13 is very often less than 30s, and secondly that the data does not remain on the directory server until the software having supplied them remains connected to the network and that the data files at the origin of this data remain unchanged. The device according to the invention therefore erases obsolete data from its database, either because the client software that provided it indicates that the files causing this data have changed, or that it did not appear during a certain period fixed in advance, that is, it signals its imminent disconnection from the network. According to certain embodiments of the device, the data is not erased immediately after a disconnection signaled to the server or assumed by the server, but after a latency period D defined in advance, the aim being to show on the geographic map not only data shared by users currently connected to the network, but also data from users who have been recently connected. Duration D will be for example a week, or 168 hours. We can indeed assume that a recently connected person is able to reconnect in the near future.

 By way of nonlimiting example, the invention gives genealogists around the world the possibility of searching for other genealogists possessing data on surnames which interest them. The shared data are then genealogies stored on computer support in GEDCOM format by the users, the GEDCOM format being a standard file format recognized by a very large number of genealogy software in the world. The descriptive summary established by the client software mainly identifies the surnames possibly with dates and places of occurrence. The search query consists of a surname: the user enters the surname that interests him by

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 through its client software. The client software interprets the request by performing standard processing (standardization of the request: change to lowercase, removal of unnecessary spaces, etc.), then transmits it to the directory server. The interpretation of the request by the server (s) includes the phonetic and historical variants of the patronym. In the event of concordance with the data in the server database, the server returns information indicating the users who store on computer support genealogies containing the surname sought or its variants, and that these users have indicated that they are located in such cities, such country. The user having formulated the request can then see on a world map where there are genealogists having in their genealogical files the desired surname. The scale of the map may be inappropriate, if for example the patronym is found in a large number of genealogies located in the same area of smaller area; the user can then select the area in question so as to obtain an enlargement and be able to better distinguish the genealogies from each other.

Claims (9)

 1) Method for locating non-centralized data stored by users on their own computer systems connected to a common communication network, in particular the Internet, method characterized in that each user has client software, in that there is a system computer directory linked to said network, and in that it comprises the following stages, where: the user designates data files to be shared;

 the user enters his geographic position; the user enters personal information; said client software calculates a descriptive summary of the content of said data files then said client software connects to said directory computer system and sends it a set of data for each data file to be shared, each of said sets comprising the previously calculated descriptive summary, the position geographic information entered by the user, the personal information entered by the user and

 the address of the computer system on said network; the user makes a search request from client software; said client software interprets this request and sends it to the directory system; said directory system performs a search in its database from the request received <Desc / Clms Page number 11>  then transmits the result, to the client software from which it comes, of a list of disjoint data sets, each of the sets corresponding to a data file to be shared; said client software represents on the screen said result by means of graphic symbols on geographic maps, the symbols being placed on the maps at the locations indicated by said geographic information contained in the result data sets; the user modifies the scale on certain parts of the geographic maps; the user selects any one of said data sets constituting said result, a data set which comprises inter alia said personal information entered and the address on the network of the computer system by means of which client software was able to send said set of data to the directory server. 2) Method according to claim 1) characterized in that the selection of any of the results is carried out by positioning the cursor on the screen on one of the symbols or area of the geographic map; 3) Method according to any one of the preceding claims, characterized in that said data files are in GEDCOM format; 4) Method according to any one of the preceding claims, characterized in that said software calculates descriptive summaries containing surnames from data files containing surnames; <Desc / Clms Page number 12>  5) Method according to one of claims 1) to 4) above characterized in that said client software calculates the descriptive summaries of the data files using a database to which it has access, stored on the system IT where it runs; 6) Device for processing and storing data thanks to a communication network in particular Internet for implementing the method according to claim 1, characterized in that: A. The device consists of a directory server, with database, connected to the network, and one or more software, each software running on a computer system having or having had access to said communication network; B. said software calculates descriptive summaries from data files stored on said computer systems where they are executed and then sends them to said directory server which incorporates them into its database; C. the sending of said data is accompanied by the sending of two other types of data, namely indications of geographical origin and information on the holder of said data files; D. the directory server receives signals from each of the said software which can mean, among other things: a. that said software is preparing to send it data comprising said calculated descriptive summaries, <Desc / Clms Page number 13> E. said directory server detects the prolonged absence of sending signals from each of said software, and considers them as disconnection signals from them.  b. that said data files at the origin of the data which it previously transmitted have not changed, c. that at least one of these files has changed, d. that it is no longer able to send signals regularly, a signal that we will call a disconnection signal from them;  F. said directory server deletes from its database the data transmitted by one of said software at the time when a. this indicates to him that the file at their origin has changed, b. a duration D fixed in advance has elapsed after the device has detected a disconnection signal from it. 7) Device according to claim 6) characterized in that the duration D is one week, or 168h; 8) Device according to claim 6) characterized in that the duration D is Oh, that is to say that the device erases the data stored by the directory server, data that the latter has incorporated following the sending by one of said software, as soon as the software in question signals its disconnection, or as soon as the server detects this disconnection; <Desc / Clms Page number 14>  9) Device according to claim 6) characterized in that it comprises several directory servers located in several places.