JP2009146352A - Program component invocation system, program component invocation method, and user terminal - Google Patents

Abstract

<P>PROBLEM TO BE SOLVED: To provide a program component invocation system capable of allowing a Web service or an application created with a Web service to be simply started. <P>SOLUTION: The program component invocation system for allowing invocation of a program component from a user terminal for displaying content comprises a content holding-distributing device and a program component, while the user terminal comprises a scenario storage unit where a scenario is stored in advance. The user terminal acquires the content from the content holding-distributing device, displays the acquired content, acquires user operation information on the displayed content, transmits a request for the acquired operation information to the program component based on the scenario read from the scenario storage unit, acquires from the program component a result of processing for the transmitted request, and displays the acquired result of processing. <P>COPYRIGHT: (C)2009,JPO&INPIT

Description

  The present invention relates to a technique for calling an appropriate Web service along a scenario from operation information of a general browser user.

  In recent years, a program component called a Web service has attracted attention. By linking these program components, it is possible to easily create a new application. These Web services operate by sending and receiving XML (Extensible Markup Language) documents for mutual cooperation.

  As an example of such a Web service, there is one in which an interface is described in WSDL (Web Service Description Language) and SOAP (Simple Object Access Protocol) is used for communication between components. Its main application is in the field of B2B (Business to Business). As the Web environment has been enriched in the business world, what has been considered as a theoretical one has become practical. In addition, the use of Web services is also being studied in the ubiquitous field. For this reason, Web services are attracting attention in the fields of B2C (Business to Consumer) and C2C (Consumer to Consumer).

  In such a situation where the use of Web services is spreading to end users, a method of using Web services that is easy for many end users to use is required. For this purpose, it is preferable to use a program having a GUI (Graphical User Interface) in order for the end user to use the Web service.

  However, when many Web services and their applications are provided, it is necessary to create a dedicated GUI for these, which entails enormous costs. In addition, an enormous variety of GUIs will appear, and end users need to learn how to operate the GUI of the application to be used in order to use each application. Further, when the GUI is provided as a Web application, the user needs to display the dedicated Web application with a browser in order to use an application based on a desired Web service, resulting in an operation cost.

  Thus, a mechanism for easily creating a GUI for calling a Web service has been devised. For example, as a non-patent document 1, a technique of a programming language executed on a Web browser is known. With the technique of Non-Patent Document 1, a high-quality GUI for easily using an application in cooperation with a Web service can be created and provided to an end user using a browser.

Here, a technique is known in which a web service can be called from a web browser by adding an extension function called an extension to the web browser. With this technology, it is not necessary to display a dedicated Web page on the Web browser in order to use an application by the Web service, and it can be used easily.
Carl, Inc., “Curl Product Features”, December 7, 2007 search, Internet, <URL: http://www.curlap.com/products/feature/index.html>

  However, in order to use a GUI for using an application based on a Web service created by a technique as shown in Non-Patent Document 1, it is necessary to display a Web page for that purpose on a Web browser. There is a problem that the operation cost for use of the system is increased.

  It should be noted that, in order to use an application by a web service, it is possible to use a technique that enables a web service to be called from a web browser by adding an extension function called an extension to the web browser described above. The extension is not used only for calling a Web service, but is used for general function expansion of a Web browser. Therefore, in order to create this extension, it is necessary to acquire specialized knowledge such as Java (registered trademark) Script and XUL (XML-based User Interface Language), and it is impossible to easily create an extension for calling a Web service. There's a problem.

  The present invention has been made in view of such circumstances, and an object thereof is to call a program component that allows a user of a Web browser to easily start a Web service or an application created by the Web service from the Web browser. A system, a program component calling method, and a user terminal are provided.

  The present invention has been made to solve the above-described problems, and the invention according to claim 1 is a program component calling system that enables a program component to be called from a user terminal that displays content. And a content storage / delivery device that distributes content in response to the request, and a program component that performs processing on the received request and returns a processing result. A request for the acquired operation information is acquired based on a scenario obtained by acquiring content from a distribution device, displaying the acquired content, acquiring user operation information on the displayed content, and reading from the scenario storage unit To the program component and the transmitted request Gets the processing result for from the program component is a program component invocation system and displaying the acquired processing results.

  In the present invention, the user terminal analyzes the user operation information based on a scenario read from the scenario storage unit, and transmits a request to the program component based on the analyzed user operation information. A scenario execution unit that receives a processing result for the transmitted request, transmits a display instruction based on the received processing result and the scenario, and transmits a request to the content holding / distribution device. The content returned in response to the request is received, the received content is displayed, a user operation on the displayed content is transmitted to the scenario execution unit, and based on a display instruction from the scenario execution unit And a display unit for displaying the program component.

  Further, the present invention provides a scenario holding unit and a scenario in which the scenario execution unit uses the user operation information acquired from the display unit, the processing result acquired from the program component, or the processing result acquired from the display unit as events. User operation information / processing result acquisition unit to be transmitted to the management unit, the scenario is read in advance, the scenario corresponding to the received event is searched, and the searched scenario is transmitted as the target scenario to the scenario management unit A scenario holding unit, a scenario management unit for determining a process to be executed next based on the received event and the received target scenario, and transmitting the determined process as a processing request; and from the scenario management unit In response to receiving the processing request, a request is made to the program component. And receiving a processing result from the program component, processing the received processing result, and transmitting the processing result to the user operation information / processing result acquisition unit, and from the scenario management unit A GUI output unit that transmits a display request to the display unit in response to receiving the processing request, and transmits a display result to the user operation information / processing result acquisition unit as a processing result. This is a program component calling system.

  Further, the present invention provides an event / process for transmitting a processing request based on the scenario analysis description for the scenario management unit to analyze the event and the scenario management unit based on the analysis result. A request correspondence description and the component calling unit transmit a request to the program component, receive the result of the transmitted request, process the received result, and transmit the processed result as a processing result And a GUI output description for sending a display request to the display unit and sending a processing result for the transmitted display request. A program component calling system.

  The present invention also provides a content holding / delivery device that holds content and distributes content in response to a request, a program component that processes a received request and returns a processing result, and a user terminal that displays the content A program component calling method used in a program component calling system including: the user terminal acquires content from the content holding / distribution device, displays the acquired content, and displays the content on the displayed content. A scenario read from a scenario storage unit that acquires user operation information and stores in advance a scenario in which information about a program component to be called and a display method for the user operation information on the displayed content is described. Base And transmitting the request for the acquired operation information to the program component, acquiring the processing result for the transmitted request from the program component, and displaying the acquired processing result. It is.

  The present invention also provides a content holding / delivery device that holds content and distributes content in response to a request, a program component that processes a received request and returns a processing result, and a user terminal that displays the content A scenario is described in advance in which a user terminal used in a program component calling system having information is described, in which information about a program component to be called and a display method for user operation information on the displayed content is described. A scenario that has a scenario storage unit, acquires content from the content holding / distribution device, displays the acquired content, acquires user operation information on the displayed content, and reads the scenario from the scenario storage unit Obtained based on Sending a request for work information to the program component, and obtains the processing result for the transmitted request from the program component, and displays the acquired processing result, a user terminal, characterized in that.

  According to this invention, by setting a simple scenario as an extension for executing a dedicated scenario installed in a web browser, a web browser user can start a web service or an application created by the web service from the web browser There is an effect that can be done.

  Hereinafter, embodiments for carrying out the present invention will be described in detail with reference to the drawings. FIG. 1 is a configuration diagram of a program component calling system 1 according to the present embodiment. As shown in FIG. 1, the program component calling system 1 includes a plurality of user terminals 2, a plurality of content holding / distribution apparatuses 3, a plurality of program components 4, and a network 5.

The user terminal 2 is a PC (Personal Computer) in which a browser capable of extending functions such as Firefox (registered trademark) is installed. The user terminal 2 transmits a request to a Web browser and displays an HTML document corresponding thereto. In addition, by installing the extension in the browser, it is possible to add a new function to the browser.
The user terminal 2 is connected to an input device, a display device, and the like as peripheral devices. Here, the input device refers to an input device such as a keyboard and a mouse. The display device refers to a CRT (Cathode Ray Tube), a liquid crystal display device, or the like.

  The content holding / distributing device 3 is, for example, a Web server, holds content such as HTML, and returns content such as HTML held by itself in response to a request from a client terminal such as the user terminal 2.

  The program component 4 is, for example, a Web service, and returns a SOAP message as a processing result to a SOAP message from a client terminal such as the user terminal 2.

  The network 5 is, for example, the Internet, and interconnects the user terminal 2, the content holding / distribution apparatus 3, and the program component 4.

  FIG. 2 is a block diagram showing a configuration of the user terminal 2. In the figure, parts corresponding to those in FIG. 1 are denoted by the same reference numerals, and description thereof is omitted. Referring to FIG. 2, the user terminal 2 includes a scenario storage unit 21, a scenario execution unit 22, and a display unit 23.

  The scenario storage unit 21 stores in advance a scenario in which information about program components to be called and display methods for user operation information on the content displayed on the display unit 23 is described. For example, the scenario storage unit 21 stores in advance a scenario in which information about a Web service activated by a user operation, a display method on the display unit 23, and the like are described.

  The scenario execution unit 22 is implemented as an extension that is an extension function of a browser such as Firefox (registered trademark), for example, reads a scenario from the scenario storage unit 21 in which the scenario is stored in advance, and based on the read scenario To execute the process. For example, the scenario execution unit 22 receives user operation information such as, for example, a right click in an HTML document in response to the user operating the input device based on the information displayed on the display unit 23, Executes a scenario that should be executed according to operation information such as click-to-call, performs processing to check whether the clicked character string is a phone number, according to the scenario, takes two phone numbers as arguments, and calls the phone A message for connecting the clicked phone number and the user's phone number written in the setting file to the web service corresponding to the operation information written in the scenario such as the web service that connects the numbers. Web that connects requests such as “calling” It receives the results as a response-bis, and transmits the result to the display unit 23 in accordance with the display instruction scenarios that displays the Web browser of the status bar.

  The display unit 23 is a browser main body such as Firefox (registered trademark), for example, and transmits a request to a web server such as the content holding / distribution device 3 according to a user's operation. Display such content on itself. Also, the user's operation on itself is transmitted to the scenario execution unit 22 implemented as, for example, an extension of Firefox (registered trademark). Further, it receives a display instruction from the scenario execution unit 22 and displays it on itself according to it.

  FIG. 3 is a block diagram showing the configuration of the scenario execution unit 22. In the figure, parts corresponding to those in FIG. 1 or FIG. Referring to FIG. 3, the scenario execution unit 22 includes a user operation information / processing result acquisition unit 221, a scenario holding unit 222, a scenario management unit 223, a component call unit 224, and a GUI output unit 225.

  The scenario holding unit 222 reads scenarios from the scenario storage unit 21 in which scenarios are stored in advance, and holds them in itself. In addition, for an event input from the user operation information / processing result acquisition unit 221, a matching scenario is searched from a scenario held by itself, and the search result is transmitted to the scenario management unit 223 as a target scenario.

  The user operation information / processing result acquisition unit 221 receives user operation information such as a right click from the display unit 23 and transmits it as an event to the scenario holding unit 222 and the scenario management unit 223. In addition, the user operation information / processing result acquisition unit 221 receives a processing result such as a character string obtained by processing a response of a Web service that connects telephone numbers in an easy-to-understand manner from the component calling unit 224, and holds the scenario as an event To the unit 222 and the scenario management unit 223. In addition, the user operation information / processing result acquisition unit 221 receives a processing result such as the user pressing the “OK” button for the result of displaying the dialog from the GUI output unit 225, and uses it as an event as a scenario. The data is transmitted to the holding unit 222 and the scenario management unit 223.

  The scenario management unit 223 receives the scenario from the scenario holding unit 222, holds the received scenario inside, and executes processing based on the held scenario. For example, the scenario management unit 223 receives a scenario such as a click-to-call from the scenario holding unit 222, holds the received scenario inside, and performs a right click, for example, from the user operation information / processing result acquisition unit 221. When a special event is received, a process corresponding to the event, for example, a process for confirming whether the character string at the right-clicked position is a telephone number is executed. On the other hand, a scenario in which a processing request is transmitted to the component calling unit 224 so as to transmit a request to connect the telephone number of the right-clicked character string and the user's telephone number written in the setting file. The process in is executed. In addition, when the scenario management unit 223 is written to transmit a processing request to the GUI output unit 225 in the scenario, the scenario management unit 223 displays a processing request for displaying a character string on the status bar in the display unit 23, for example. Processing within a scenario such as transmission to the output unit 225 is executed.

The component calling unit 224 executes a processing request from the scenario management unit 223 such as transmitting a request for connecting two telephone numbers to a Web service for connecting two telephone numbers, and the Web service such as the program component 4 Is received, and for example, only a necessary value such as “calling” is extracted from the response, and transmitted to the user operation information / processing result acquisition unit 221 as a processing result.
When there is a processing request from the scenario management unit 223 to display a character string on, for example, a status bar displayed on the display unit 23, the GUI output unit 225 transmits a display instruction to the display unit 23, and the processing request And the display result is transmitted to the user operation information / processing result acquisition unit 221 as a processing result.

  FIG. 4 is a sequence diagram showing the operation of the program component calling system 1. In the figure, parts corresponding to those in FIGS. 1 to 3 are denoted by the same reference numerals, and description thereof is omitted. The following is an operation of the program component call system 1 taking as an example a case where a scenario such as click-to-call is executed.

  First, the user terminal 2 acquires a user operation (right click) via the input device (step S401), and transmits this as user operation information to the user operation information / processing result acquisition unit 221 (step S402). Upon receiving the user operation information, the user operation information / processing result acquisition unit 221 transmits the user operation information as an event to the scenario holding unit 222 and the scenario management unit 223 (steps S403 and S404). The scenario holding unit 222 that has received the event searches for a scenario corresponding to the event (step S405), and transmits the search result to the scenario management unit 223 as a target scenario (here, click-to-call) (step S406). The scenario management unit 223 that has received the target scenario and the event processes the event according to the scenario (for example, if the right-clicked character string is a telephone number, the right-clicked character on the Web service that connects the telephone numbers to each other) (In step S407), in this case, in order to use the component, a processing request is sent to the component calling unit 224 (for example, the component calling unit sets the telephone number). A processing request for calling a Web service for connecting them is transmitted (step S408).

  Next, the program component calling unit 224 transmits a request according to the processing request to the program component 4 (step S409), and acquires a result from the program component 4 (step S410). The program component calling unit 224 that has acquired the result processes the result (for example, extracts only a necessary character string such as “calling” from the response), and sends the processing result to the user operation information / processing result acquisition unit 221. Transmit (step S411). The user operation information / processing result acquisition unit 221 that has received the processing result transmits the processing result as an event to the scenario management unit 223 (step S412). The scenario management unit 223 that has received the event executes processing for the event according to the scenario (step S413). In this case, a processing request (for example, “calling” as a result of the component is displayed on the status bar) is transmitted to the GUI output unit 225 (step S414). The GUI output unit 225 that has received the processing request transmits a display request to the display unit 23 in accordance with the processing request (step S415), and transmits the result as a processing result to the user operation information / processing result acquisition unit 221 ( Step S416). The user operation information / processing result acquisition unit 221 that has received the processing result transmits the processing result as an event to the scenario management unit 223 (step S417). In this case, the scenario management unit 223 that has received the event terminates the scenario when receiving a specific event according to the scenario (step S418).

  FIG. 5 is a diagram illustrating an example of a scenario. The scenario includes an event analysis description A, an event / processing request correspondence description B, a program component calling description C, and a GUI output description D.

  The event analysis description A is a description for the scenario management unit 223 to analyze an event (such as a right click) and other conditions (whether the character string at the right clicked position is a telephone number) or the like.

  The event / processing request correspondence description B is a description for determining a processing request destination (component call unit 224 or GUI output unit 225) according to the result analyzed according to the event analysis description A.

The program component calling description C is a description related to a method for calling the program component 4 from the program component calling unit 224.
The GUI output description D is a description related to instruction contents when a display instruction is given from the GUI output unit 225 to the display unit 23.

  As described above, according to the present embodiment, a simple scenario is written, and the scenario is set as an extension for executing a dedicated scenario installed in the Web browser. There is an effect that it is possible to easily start an application created by a service or a Web service.

  2 is a non-volatile memory such as a hard disk device, a magneto-optical disk device, or a flash memory, a storage medium that can only be read such as a CR-ROM, or a RAM (Random Access Memory). Volatile memory or a combination thereof.

  The scenario execution unit 22 or the display unit 23 in FIG. 2 may be realized by dedicated hardware, and the scenario execution unit 22 or the display unit 23 is constituted by a memory and a CPU (central processing unit). The function may be realized by loading a program for realizing the function of the scenario execution unit 22 or the display unit 23 into a memory and executing the program.

  Also, a program for realizing the functions of the scenario execution unit 22 or the display unit 23 in FIG. 2 is recorded on a computer-readable recording medium, and the program recorded on the recording medium is read into a computer system and executed. Thus, the function of the scenario execution unit may be realized. Here, the “computer system” includes an OS and hardware such as peripheral devices.

Further, the “computer system” includes a homepage providing environment (or display environment) if a WWW system is used.
The “computer-readable recording medium” refers to a portable medium such as a flexible disk, a magneto-optical disk, a ROM, and a CD-ROM, and a storage device such as a hard disk built in the computer system. Furthermore, the “computer-readable recording medium” dynamically holds a program for a short time like a communication line when transmitting a program via a network such as the Internet or a communication line such as a telephone line. In this case, a volatile memory in a computer system serving as a server or a client in that case, and a program that holds a program for a certain period of time are also included. The program may be a program for realizing a part of the functions described above, and may be a program capable of realizing the functions described above in combination with a program already recorded in a computer system.

  The embodiment of the present invention has been described in detail with reference to the drawings. However, the specific configuration is not limited to this embodiment, and includes design and the like within a scope not departing from the gist of the present invention.

It is a block diagram which shows the structure of the program component calling system by one Embodiment of this invention. It is a block diagram which shows the structure of the user terminal of FIG. It is a block diagram which shows the structure of the scenario execution part of FIG. It is a sequence diagram which shows operation | movement of a program component call system. It is explanatory drawing which shows an example of a scenario.

Explanation of symbols

DESCRIPTION OF SYMBOLS 1 Program component call system 2 User terminal 3 Content holding | maintenance apparatus 4 Program component 5 Network 21 Scenario storage part 22 Scenario execution part 23 Display part 221 User operation information and process result acquisition part 222 Scenario holding part 223 Scenario management part 224 Component call Part 225 GUI output part

Claims (6)

A program component calling system that enables a program component to be called from a user terminal that displays content,
A content holding / delivery device that holds content and distributes content upon request;
A program component that processes the received request and returns the processing result;
Have
The user terminal is

A scenario storage unit that stores in advance a scenario in which information about a program component to be called and a display method for user operation information on the displayed content is described;
The user terminal is
Acquiring content from the content holding / distributing device, displaying the acquired content, acquiring user operation information on the displayed content,
Based on the scenario read from the scenario storage unit, a request for the acquired operation information is transmitted to the program component, a processing result for the transmitted request is acquired from the program component, and the acquired processing result is displayed. A program component calling system characterized by that. The user terminal is
Based on the scenario read from the scenario storage unit, the user operation information is analyzed, a request is transmitted to the program component based on the analyzed user operation information, and a processing result for the transmitted request is received. A scenario execution unit that transmits a display instruction based on the received processing result and the scenario;
The request is transmitted to the content holding / distribution device, the content returned in response to the transmitted request is received, the received content is displayed, and the user's operation on the displayed content is the scenario. A display unit that transmits to the execution unit and displays based on a display instruction from the scenario execution unit;
The program component calling system according to claim 1, comprising: The scenario execution unit
User operation information / processing result for transmitting the user operation information acquired from the display unit, the processing result acquired from the program component, or the processing result acquired from the display unit as an event to the scenario holding unit and the scenario management unit An acquisition unit;
A scenario holding unit that reads the scenario in advance, searches for the scenario corresponding to the received event, and transmits the searched scenario as a target scenario to the scenario management unit;
A scenario management unit that determines a process to be executed next based on the received event and the received target scenario, and transmits the determined process as a process request;
In response to receiving a processing request from the scenario management unit, a request is transmitted to the program component, a processing result is received from the program component, the received processing result is processed, and the user operation information and processing A component invocation unit that transmits the processing result to a result acquisition unit;
A GUI output unit that transmits a display request to the display unit in response to reception of the processing request from the scenario management unit, and transmits a display result to the user operation information / processing result acquisition unit as a processing result; ,
The program component calling system according to claim 2, comprising: The scenario is
An event analysis description for the scenario management unit to analyze the event;
Based on the analysis result, the scenario management unit transmits an event / processing request correspondence description for transmitting a processing request;
For calling a program component for the component calling unit to send a request to the program component, receive the result of the sent request, process the received result, and send the processed result as a processing result Description and
A GUI output description for transmitting a display request to the display unit by the GUI output unit and transmitting a processing result for the transmitted display request;
The program component calling system according to claim 3, wherein: A program component call that has a content holding / distribution device that holds content and distributes the content in response to the request, a program component that processes the received request and returns a processing result, and a user terminal that displays the content A program component calling method used in the system,
The user terminal is
Acquiring content from the content holding / distributing device, displaying the acquired content, acquiring user operation information on the displayed content,
The acquired operation information based on a scenario read from a scenario storage unit in which information describing a program component to be called and a display method for the user operation information on the displayed content is stored in advance. Sending a request to the program component, obtaining a processing result for the sent request from the program component, and displaying the obtained processing result.
A method for calling a program component. A program component call that has a content holding / distribution device that holds content and distributes the content in response to the request, a program component that processes the received request and returns a processing result, and a user terminal that displays the content A user terminal used in the system,
A scenario storage unit in which a scenario in which information related to a program component to be called and a display method for user operation information on the displayed content is described is stored;
Acquiring content from the content holding / distributing device, displaying the acquired content, acquiring user operation information on the displayed content,
Based on the scenario read from the scenario storage unit, a request for the acquired operation information is transmitted to the program component, a processing result for the transmitted request is acquired from the program component, and the acquired processing result is displayed. ,
A user terminal characterized by that.

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