JP2009232314A - Vlan design supporting system, vlan design supporting method, and vlan design supporting program - Google Patents

Abstract

<P>PROBLEM TO BE SOLVED: To efficiently make clarify a request specification, that is a requirement from a client, in design of VLAN, and to support accurate creation of a design specification of the VLAN according to the request specification. <P>SOLUTION: An element list storage means 91 stores a list of elements of a design specification. A question/answer information storage means 92 stores therein question/answer information including, for each element, a question calling the input of value of element and answers in an option form to the question and indicating corresponding relations of an answer to the question, an answer of the other question automatically narrowed down by selecting the answer, and the other question of which the answer is narrowed down. When a value of any element is inputted, a value corresponding means 93 adds the value to the list correspondingly to the element. While there is an element to which any value is not made corresponding on the list, a question specifying means 95 refers to the question/answer information to specify a question calling the input of the element, to which no value is made corresponding, and meeting a predetermined condition. <P>COPYRIGHT: (C)2010,JPO&INPIT

Description

  The present invention relates to a VLAN design support system, a VLAN design support method, and a VLAN design support program that support VLAN design.

  With the recent development of information and communication technology, networks of companies and organizations are becoming increasingly sophisticated. Among these, LAN (Local Area Network) is widely used as a base of a network connecting personal computers and servers. A typical network device constituting a LAN is a switch. A switch is a device that connects networks, and enables communication between terminals in the LAN. Many recent switch products have a VLAN (Virtual Local Area Network, also referred to as a virtual network, also referred to as a VLAN hereinafter) function, and switches equipped with the VLAN function allow more complicated communication control. It is possible. VLAN is a function for grouping terminals connected to a switch. It is possible to logically construct a LAN regardless of the physical connection of the LAN. By using the VLAN, packets can be transferred only to a specific terminal in the same network, and there are advantages such as reduction of unnecessary traffic and ensuring of security.

  Network designers such as specialists who construct networks and employees who operate and manage their own networks generally hear customer requests for VLANs when building a new VLAN on a switch network. Based on the request, the network designer takes a procedure of creating a design specification. The customers mentioned here are ISPs (Internet Service Providers) and companies operating data centers from the perspective of network builders, and the managers of offices and departments from the perspective of the operation manager of their network. Point to. The customer's VLAN request is information indicating what kind of VLAN the customer wants to construct, for example, specific information such as design policy, communication range, route, etc. And so on. This customer's request for VLAN is called a requirement specification. Design specifications are information necessary for deriving a concrete construction design plan for VLAN. Complete requirements specifications satisfying the design specifications and convenience of operation management by network designers without being involved in the requirements specifications. It is composed of information that can be determined independently.

  Various techniques relating to design support for virtual networks and information processing systems have been proposed (see Patent Documents 1 to 3).

  Patent Document 1 describes a design device that reduces the workload of network designers and administrators to create, modify, and delete VLANs that are difficult to grasp manually using a GUI. Yes. The design apparatus described in Patent Document 1 displays a physical network and a VLAN superimposed on a single map so that the network designer and administrator can intuitively understand the correspondence between the physical network and the virtual network. It is trying to become. The design apparatus described in Patent Document 1 displays a list of usable VLAN-IDs and subnet addresses in the same screen as the map so that registration errors such as duplication of IDs can be prevented.

  Patent Document 2 includes a business configuration database that stores master business configuration information created by hierarchically classifying and organizing business of information processing systems in the same field as the information processing system to be developed. A required specification design support device to be displayed is described. With the requirement specification design support apparatus described in Patent Document 2, an information processing system developer and a customer can refer to master information of a similar information processing system.

  Further, Patent Document 3 discloses a requirement that it is possible to suppress subsequent manual rework in information processing system development by enabling accurate and easy checking of design specifications that are likely to be overlooked or mistaken by humans. A specification description support device is described. In the requirement specification description support apparatus described in Patent Document 3, an input screen including all the components of the requirement specification model is prepared as the requirement specification input format, and various information is input to the request specification. Describe the specification. Each component of the requirement specification model includes use cases, actors, data, conditions, business rules, and the like. Furthermore, the requirement specification description support apparatus described in Patent Document 3 displays a matrix or the like indicating the relationship between use cases and the use case, and the operator leaks into a relationship to be originally defined by viewing these matrix displays. Check if there is any.

JP 2004-40374 A (paragraphs 0022-0047) JP 2000-66885 A (paragraphs 0018-0088) JP 2000-353083 A (paragraphs 0027-0062)

  Since the requirement specification is a vague request for a VLAN that a customer envisions, generally it is often very vague, and when the network designer creates the design specification, the requirement specification is insufficient as information There are many. Therefore, it takes time for the network designer to clarify the required specifications. In some cases, in order to clarify the required specifications, the customer may be interviewed again, and considerable time will be required to create the VLAN design specifications. In addition, since the network designer proceeds with the creation while confirming whether there is any inconsistency in implementation in the design specification, it takes extra time. There is a possibility that a design specification that cannot be implemented may be completed due to a mistake of confirmation by the network designer.

  In the system described in Patent Literature 1, it is possible to easily understand the correspondence between the physical network and the virtual network by using the GUI. However, even if such a correspondence relationship is displayed in the GUI, the system described in Patent Document 1 does not consider whether there is any inconsistency in implementation in the design specification, and the VLAN is not considered. It does not fully meet the demands of network designers who want to create design specifications accurately.

  The requirement specification design support apparatus described in Patent Document 2 displays the master job configuration information in an easy-to-understand manner using the GUI, but the design specification must be created manually by the network designer. There is a possibility that a specification creation error may occur, and the network designer's request to create a VLAN design specification accurately cannot be met.

  Further, in the requirement specification description support apparatus described in Patent Document 3, the relationship between the other components of the requirement specification model is displayed in a matrix. However, leakage and inconsistency due to the result of matching the specific contents of each component. Must be confirmed by the operator himself. Therefore, it does not sufficiently satisfy the demands of network designers who want to accurately create VLAN design specifications.

  The customers are vaguely envisioning the required specifications, and the required specifications are often ambiguous, and there may be omissions. Even in such a case, it is preferable that the required specifications are clarified so that a design specification according to the required specifications can be created. It is also preferable that such design specifications can be efficiently created.

  In view of this, the present invention provides a VLAN design support system that can efficiently clarify a requirement specification that is a customer's request in a VLAN design and accurately create a VLAN design specification according to the requirement specification, An object is to provide a VLAN design support method and a VLAN design support program.

  The VLAN design support system of the present invention includes an element list storage means for storing a list of each element whose value is specified by a design specification, a question for prompting input of an element value, and each answer in an option format for the question. Included for each element, memorizes answers to questions, answers to other questions that are automatically narrowed down when the answer is selected, and question answer information that indicates the correspondence between other questions that are narrowed down When the value of an element in the list is input, the value association means for associating the value with the element and adding the value to the list, and the value is associated with all the elements in the list A question that prompts input of an element that is not associated with a value by referring to the question answer information when there is an element that is not associated with a value in the list Place Wherein the query specifying means for specifying a satisfying questions, further comprising a Wizard generating means for generating a wizard that contains an answer choice format to the question and the question.

  In addition, the VLAN design support method of the present invention stores in advance a list of each element for which a value is specified in the design specification, and sends a question prompting input of the element value and each answer in an option format to the question. Pre-store question answer information indicating the correspondence between answers to questions included in each element, answers to other questions that are automatically narrowed down when the answer is selected, and other questions whose answers are narrowed down When the value of an element in the list is input, the value is associated with the element and added to the list, and it is determined whether or not the value is associated with all the elements in the list. When there is an element that is not associated, refer to the question answer information to identify a question that prompts the user to enter an element that does not have a value that meets the specified condition. Choice format And generating a wizard that contains an answer.

  Further, the VLAN design support program of the present invention includes an element list storage means for storing a list of each element for which a value is specified by a design specification, a question for prompting input of an element value, and an option format for the question. Question answer information that indicates the correspondence between the answers to the question, the answers to other questions that are automatically narrowed down when the answer is selected, and the other questions that are narrowed down the answers. A VLAN design support program mounted on a computer having question answering information storage means for storing a value, when a value of an element in the list is input to the computer, the value is associated with the element in the list Value association processing to be added, determination processing for determining whether or not a value is associated with all elements in the list, and there is an element that is not associated with a value in the list In response to the question answer information, a question identification process for identifying a question that prompts input of an element that is not associated with a value and that satisfies a predetermined condition, and a question and an option format for the question A wizard generation process for generating a wizard including answers is executed.

  According to the present invention, it is possible to efficiently clarify a requirement specification that is a customer's request and accurately create a VLAN design specification according to the requirement specification.

  Embodiments of the present invention will be described below with reference to the drawings. The VLAN design support system of the present invention supports the creation of design specifications. Since the creation of the design specification corresponds to the upstream design related to the VLAN, the VLAN design support system of the present invention can also be referred to as a VLAN upstream design support system.

Embodiment 1. FIG.
FIG. 1 is a block diagram illustrating an example of a VLAN design support system according to the first embodiment of this invention. The VLAN design support system 100 of the present invention includes a design specification element storage device 110, a value association unit 120, a design specification completion determination unit 130, a question answer table storage unit 140, a design specification input promotion wizard generation unit 150, Is provided. The VLAN design support system 100 is connected with required specification input means 220, design specification output means 230, wizard output means 240, and wizard input means 250. The VLAN design support system 100 may include requirement specification input means 220, design specification output means 230, wizard output means 240, and wizard input means 250.

  The requirement specification input unit 220 is an input device that inputs a requirement specification information set to the value association unit 120 of the VLAN design support system 100. The requirement specification information set is a group of information that collects customer requests for the VLAN. For example, the required specification information set includes information such as a design policy such as emphasis on security and communication quality, communication range, route, and the like.

  The design specification element storage device 110 stores elements necessary for creating a design specification as a table. This table is called a design specification element table. The elements necessary for creating the design specification include, for example, a VLAN-ID and a VLAN name necessary for constructing a new VLAN, a subnet address corresponding to the VLAN, a design policy for constructing the VLAN, and the like. The present invention assists network designers and customers to define the specific contents (hereinafter referred to as values) of these elements. The design specification element storage device 110 stores, as a design specification element table, a list of each element whose value is specified by the design specification. Hereinafter, an element whose value is specified by the design specification may be referred to as a design specification element.

  FIG. 2 is an explanatory diagram showing an example of the design specification element table stored in the design specification element storage device 110. The design specification element table includes elements for which values are specified by design specifications. For example, the name of each element whose value is specified in the design specification is included. FIG. 2 illustrates a case where each element name includes each name such as “VLAN name”, “subnet address”, “VLAN that permits inter-VLAN communication”, and the like. In the example shown in FIG. 2, the design specification element table includes item numbers as well as the names of the elements as identification information for identifying individual elements. For example, in the example shown in FIG. 2, the element name of item number 1 is “VLAN name”. For each element, a specific value of the element is added to the design specification element table as a character string, for example. However, the design specification element table does not include the value of each element in the initial state, and as the VLAN design support system advances the process, the element value is associated with the element and added to the design specification element table. . Elements for which values are specified by design specifications are not limited to the elements illustrated in FIG.

  The design specification element storage device 110 includes, for example, “VLAN name”, “subnet address”, “VLAN allowing communication between VLANs”, “number of terminals connected to the switch”, “VLAN-ID allocation policy”, “Communication Bandwidth Setting Policy”, “Detour Path Determination Policy in Case of Failure”, “Permitted Communication between Terminals in VLAN”, “Switch Additional Policy”, “Slot Additional Policy”, “Cable Additional Policy” , A design specification element table including at least one of the “existing VLAN change policies” may be stored.

  The “VLAN name” is an element having a specific VLAN name as a value.

  “VLAN that permits inter-VLAN communication” is a VLAN name of a VLAN that permits inter-VLAN communication, or an element whose value is not allowed (prohibited). When inter-VLAN communication is permitted, the VLAN name of the permitted VLAN is associated as a value, and when it is not permitted, it is associated as a value that it is not permitted.

  “Subnet address” is an element having a specific subnet address as a value.

  The “VLAN-ID allocation policy” is associated with a value that defines how the VLAN-ID is allocated. The value of “VLAN-ID allocation policy” specifies a good number such as 10, 20,... As VLAN-ID (this value is referred to as “select a drill number”). ) And a value specifying that an arbitrary value may be used as the VLAN-ID.

  The “number of terminals connected to the switch” is an element whose value is a specific number of terminals connected to the switch.

  The “communication band setting policy” is associated with a value that defines how the communication band is set. The value of “communication band setting policy” includes a value indicating that the band is guaranteed on the dedicated line, a value indicating that the largest possible band is set, a value indicating that the smallest possible band is set, and a band. There is a value indicating that there is no restriction on the setting.

  The “detour route determination policy when a failure occurs” is associated with a value that defines whether or not to secure a detour route when a failure occurs. The value of “detour route determination policy when failure occurs” includes a value that prescribes securing a detour route when a failure occurs and a value that prescribes that a detour route is not secured when a failure occurs.

  “Permitted communication between terminals in VLAN” is associated with a value that defines whether communication between terminals in the VLAN is permitted. The value of “possibility of communication between terminals in VLAN” includes a value that specifies that communication between terminals in the VLAN is permitted and a value that specifies that communication between terminals in the VLAN is not permitted.

  The “switch addition policy” is associated with a value that defines how to add or prohibit the addition of a switch. For the value of “Additional policy of switch”, a value that specifies that any number of switches can be added, a value that specifies that addition of switches is allowed as few as possible, and the addition of switches are prohibited. There is a value that prescribes that.

  The “slot addition policy” is associated with a value that defines how the slot addition is permitted or prohibited. The “slot addition policy” value includes a value that specifies that any number of slots can be added, a value that specifies that slots can be added as few as possible, and a slot addition is prohibited. There is a value that prescribes that.

  The “cable addition policy” is associated with a value that defines how to add or prohibit the addition of a cable. For the value of “Additional cable policy”, a value that specifies that any number of cables can be added, a value that specifies that cables should be added as few as possible, and the addition of cables are prohibited. There is a value that prescribes that.

  The “existing VLAN change policy” is associated with a value that defines whether or not to allow the existing VLAN to be changed. The value of “change policy of existing VLAN” includes a value that prescribes permission to change an existing VLAN and a value that prescribes not to change an existing VLAN.

  Moreover, the structure which can add or delete the element contained in a design specification element table may be sufficient. For example, the design specification element storage device 110 is a storage device that can be written as well as read, and the design specification element stored in the design specification element storage device 110 according to the operation of the administrator of the VLAN design support system. A means for updating (adding and deleting) the elements included in the table may be provided. Also, the order of the elements shown in FIG. 2 is an example, and the order of the elements in the design specification element table may be arbitrary.

  The value association unit 120 uses the requirement specification information set input through the requirement specification input unit 220 and the design specification element table stored in the design specification element storage device 110 to request each element in the design specification element table. Enter the specification information set information as a value. That is, the value association unit 120 identifies the value of the element in the design specification element table from the required specification information set, and associates the value with the element in the design specification element table. Note that the value of an element specified from the requirement specification information set input first is called an initial value, not by a wizard described later.

  The value association unit 120 also performs processing for associating a value input as an answer to the question via the wizard input unit 250 with an element in the design specification element table.

  The design specification completion determination unit 130 determines whether or not the design specification element table is completed by using the design specification element table in which the initial value is associated with the element by the value association unit 120. The completion of the design specification element table refers to a state where all the values of each element of the design specification element table are input. That is, it refers to a state in which values are associated with all elements of the design specification element table. The design specification completion determination means 130 determines that the design specification element table is complete if values are associated with all elements of the design specification element table, and elements that have not yet been associated with values. If there is, it is determined that the design specification element table is incomplete. The design specification completion determination means 130 also makes the same determination when the value input by the wizard is associated with an element in the design specification element table.

  The design specification output means 230 outputs the design specification element table determined to be complete by the design specification completion determination means 130.

  The question answer table storage device 140 stores a table that lists a question for allowing a network designer or a customer to accurately input elements necessary for creating a design specification and answer options corresponding to the question. Hereinafter, this table is referred to as a question answer table.

  In addition, when an answer to a certain question is selected from the choices, an answer to another question may be automatically narrowed down. In other words, answers to other questions may be limited. For example, there may be a relationship between the answers of the question that an answer of a certain question X is p and an answer of another question Y should be q. In this case, when the answer p is selected as the answer to a certain question X, the answers to other questions Y are automatically narrowed down to q. Further, the answer to another question to be narrowed down is not necessarily one. For example, when the answer p is selected as the answer of a certain question X, the answers of other questions Y may be automatically narrowed down to q or r. The question answer table stored in the question answer table storage device 140 is the correspondence between the answer to the question, the answer of another question that is automatically narrowed down when the answer is selected, and the other question for which the answer is narrowed down Are described in an identifiable manner. An example of the question answer table stored in the question answer table storage device 140 will be described later with reference to FIG.

  The design specification input promotion wizard generation means 150 uses the question answer table stored in the question answer table storage device 140 and the design specification element table determined to be incomplete by the design specification completion determination means 130, and the values still correspond. A wizard is generated for prompting the network designer or customer to input an answer by designating elements that are not attached. The wizard is a message requesting an answer input for the question, including a question in the question answer table and options for each answer to the question. The wizard may be a screen including questions and answers as options. Or the character string containing the choice used as a question and an answer may be sufficient.

  The wizard output unit 240 outputs the wizard generated by the design specification input promotion wizard generation unit 150.

  The wizard input unit 250 inputs an answer to the question input by the network designer or customer using the wizard output by the wizard output unit 240 to the value association unit 120 of the VLAN design support system 100.

  The wizard output unit 240 may be realized by the same output device as the design specification output unit 230. The wizard input unit 250 may be the same input device as the requirement specification input unit 220.

  The value association unit 120, the design specification completion determination unit 130, and the design specification input promotion wizard generation unit 150 are realized by, for example, a CPU that is operated by a program (VLAN design support program). The value association unit 120, the design specification completion determination unit 130, and the design specification input promotion wizard generation unit 150 may be realized by the same CPU. The program is stored in, for example, a program storage device (not shown) included in the VLAN design support system 100. The CPU reads the program and operates as the value association unit 120, the design specification completion determination unit 130, and the design specification input promotion wizard generation unit 150 according to the program.

  The design specification element storage device 110 and the question / answer table storage device 140 are realized by a storage device such as a hard disk, for example. The design specification element storage device 110 and the question / answer table storage device 140 may be realized by the same storage device.

  The requirement specification input unit 220 and the wizard input unit 250 are realized by an input device such as a keyboard, for example.

  The design specification output unit 230 and the wizard output unit 240 are realized by an output device such as a display device, for example.

Next, the operation of the VLAN design support system of the first embodiment will be described.
The value association unit 120 of the VLAN design support system 100 receives the required specification information set via the required specification input unit 220.

  When the requirement specification information set is input via the requirement specification input means 220, the value association means 120 identifies the element value in the design specification element table from the requirement specification information set, and the design specification element table Associate the value with the element in. For example, the value association unit 120 associates the value with the element of the design specification element table and adds the value of the element to the design specification element table.

  When the requirement specification information set is input, the value association unit 120 specifies the value of the element included in the design specification element table from the requirement specification information set. For example, data described in a format unique to each element may be specified as the value of each element. An operator who inputs a requirement specification information set via the requirement specification input means 220 may describe the value of an element in a format specific to the element and input it via the requirement specification input means 220. The element value specification mode shown here is an example, and the value association unit 120 may specify the element value from the required specification information set in another mode.

  When the value association unit 120 specifies an element value from the required specification information set, the value association unit 120 associates the value with the element in the design specification element table. In this example, the value association unit 120 associates the identified value with the element and adds it to the design specification element table.

  FIG. 3 is an explanatory diagram showing an example of correspondence between the initial value and the design specification element table. Assume that the requirement specification shown in FIG. 3A is included in the requirement specification information set. That is, the required specification information set includes “VLAN name”, “subnet address”, “VLAN that allows inter-VLAN communication”, “number of terminals connected to the switch”, “VLAN-ID allocation policy”, “communication bandwidth” It is assumed that values of each element such as “setting policy” include values such as “net1”, “non-registration”, “non-registration”, “10”, “select drill number”, “high speed”, etc. . When the value association unit 120 identifies “net1” as the value of the design specification element “VLAN name” in the required specification information set, the value association unit 120 associates the value of “net1” with the design specification element “VLAN name”. It is added to the design specification element table (see FIG. 3B). Similarly, when the value association unit 120 specifies “non-registered” as the value of the element “subnet address” of the design specification in the required specification information set, the value “non-registered” corresponds to the design specification element “subnet address”. Add to the design specification element table. However, there are cases where the requirement specifications envisioned by the customer are vague and not all design specification elements are described in the requirement specification information set. When the value of the design specification element cannot be specified in the required specification information set, since the initial value is unknown, the value association unit 120 does not associate the element with the value (initial value). The value association unit 120 attempts to specify a value from the required specification information set for each element in the design specification element table, and performs a process of associating with the element when the value can be specified.

  After associating the values (initial values) identified from the requirement specification information set with the elements, the design specification completion determination unit 130 has completed the design specification element table in which the value association unit 120 has completed the association of the initial values with the elements. To determine whether or not the design specification element table is completed. FIG. 4 is a flowchart showing an example of a process for determining whether or not the design specification element table is completed. First, the design specification completion determination unit 130 refers to the design specification element table in which the input of initial values of each element of the design specification has been completed by the value association unit 120, and determines whether all the values of each element have been input. Confirm (step S1). That is, it is confirmed whether or not values are associated with all the elements included in the design specification element table.

  When at least one value of each element in the design specification element table is not input, that is, when there is an element that is not associated with a value (No in step S1), the design specification completion determination unit 130 Is determined to be incomplete, the design specification element table is passed to the design specification input promotion wizard generation means 150 (step S3), and the determination process ends.

  If all elements in the design specification element table are associated with values (Yes in step S1), the design specification completion determination unit 130 determines that the design specification element table is complete, and stores the design specification element table. It passes to the design specification output means 230 (step S2), and the determination process is terminated. Specifically, in step S2, the design specification completion determination unit 130 causes the design specification output unit 230 to output a design specification element table. For example, if the design specification output unit 230 is a display device, the design specification completion determination unit 130 may display the design specification element table on the display device. However, the output mode of the design specification element table is not limited to display output, and for example, the design specification element table may be output as a file.

  By presenting each element of the design specification element table to the network designer or customer as a required specification, it is possible to clarify the customer's desire for VLAN construction. Here, each element name of the requirement specification presented to the customer or the like does not have to completely match each element name of the design specification element table. For example, in the design specification element table illustrated in FIG. 3B, “VLAN name” is clearly specified as “VLAN NAME”, “VLAN name”, etc. Can be changed to element name. In this case, the VLAN design support system indicates in advance in the storage device that the element name of the required specification such as “VLAN NAME” or “VLAN name” has a correspondence relationship with the element “VLAN name” of the design specification element table. A correspondence table between elements may be stored in advance. Then, the design specification completion determination means 130 searches the element name for presentation corresponding to the element name in the design specification element table with reference to the inter-element correspondence table, and uses the element name for presentation to design The design specification element table may be output to the specification output means 230. Further, when outputting the design specification element table, it may be output in a table format as exemplified in FIG. Or you may output in formats other than a table format. For example, a character string such as “VLAN name is net1” may be used.

  Next, the question answer table stored in the question answer table storage device 140 will be described, and the operation of the design specification input promotion wizard generation means 150 will be described.

  FIG. 5 is an explanatory diagram showing an example of a question answer table stored in the question answer table storage device 140. The question answer table lists a question for prompting input of a value of a design specification element and answer options corresponding to the question as a list. In the example shown in FIG. 5, a question for prompting the network designer or customer to input an element value is described in the “question” column 71, and the “answer” column 72 next to the “question” column 71. Describes the answer options corresponding to each question.

  For example, the first row “1. Would you like to register the VLAN name?” In the column 71 of “Question” in the question answer table shown in FIG. 5 is the design specification element table stored in the design specification element storage device 110. This is a question for prompting the network designer or customer to input the element “VLAN name”. The first row “A. Register” and the second row “B. Do not register” in the “Answer” column 72 to the right of the “Question” column 71 are “1. Do you want to register the VLAN name? Is an option to answer the question? When a wizard that prompts the user to answer this question is generated and the network designer or customer selects “A. Register”, the user is prompted to enter an appropriate VLAN name as a character string. On the other hand, if the network designer or customer selects “B. Do not register”, nothing is input.

  As shown in FIG. 5, a question for prompting the input of the value of each element is described in a “question” column 71 in the question answer table. In an “answer” column 72, the answer options for the question are Described in association with the question.

  In the example shown in FIG. 5, each question described in the “question” column 71 is assigned a question number. The question number is an item number of an element whose value is prompted by the question. For example, “1. Do you want to register the VLAN name?” Is a question for prompting the input of the value of the element “VLAN name” of item number 1. Each answer in the “answer” column 72 is also given a symbol (alphabet in this example) representing the answer.

  The “answer to question” column 73 shown on the right side of the question answer table is a set of columns 74 indicating respective answers of individual questions. In the example shown in FIG. 5, in the “answer to question” column 73, each question is represented by a question number. In addition, the answer to each question is described by a symbol (alphabet here) representing the answer. For example, “A” of “1” in the “answer to question” column 73 represents an answer “A. register” for the question “1. Do you want to register the VLAN name?”. Here, the numerical value assigned to each question and the alphabet assigned to each answer may be any numerical value, character or symbol. In addition, in the “answer to question” column 73, each question and each answer may not be indicated by numbers or symbols, but the contents of the question and the contents of the answer may be directly specified.

  In the question answer table, a matrix row is determined by a combination of each question in the “question” column 71 and an answer option in the “answer” column 72. The columns of the matrix are determined by the columns 74 in the “answer to question” column 73.

  The question answer table is described so that the correspondence between the answer to the question, the answer of the other question that is automatically narrowed down when the answer is selected, and the other question that is narrowed down the answer can be specified. The “◯” marked in the question / answer table shown in FIG. 5 indicates that there is this correspondence. That is, “○” is marked on the line determined by the combination of the question in the “question” column 71 and the answer option in the “answer” column 72, which means that the option is selected for the question. This means that the answers to other questions are automatically narrowed down. And the answer corresponding to the column marked with “◯” means the answer of another question that is automatically narrowed down. The question corresponding to the column marked with “◯” is another question whose answer is automatically narrowed down.

  For example, in the example shown in FIG. 5, a row corresponding to the answer “B. Do not register” to the question “2. Do you want to register a subnet address?” And a column corresponding to 3 in the “Answer to question” column “○” is marked at the intersection with. If “B. Do not register” is selected as an answer to the question “2. Do you want to register a subnet address?”, This “○” is an answer to the question “3. Do you allow communication between VLANs?” Indicates that “B. Do not allow” is automatically set. In FIG. 5, this correspondence is represented by “◯”, but any symbol may be used instead of “◯”. Or it may be any letter or number

  In the matrix, “◯” is not marked at the intersection of columns and rows corresponding to the same question and answer. In the drawing, the intersection of columns and rows corresponding to the same question and answer is indicated by hatching.

  As described above, the question / answer table storage device 140 determines the correspondence between the answer to the question, the answer of the other question that is automatically narrowed down when the answer is selected, and the other question for which the answer is narrowed down. A question answer table described in an identifiable manner is stored in advance.

  Moreover, the structure which can add or delete the question and answer contained in a question answer table may be sufficient. For example, the question / answer table storage device 140 is a storage device that can be written as well as read, and the question / answer table stored in the question / answer table storage device 140 according to the operation of the administrator of the VLAN design support system There may be provided means for updating (adding and deleting) questions and answers. Then, when an element of the design specification element table is added or deleted, a question and an answer may be added to or deleted from the question answer table in accordance with the addition or deletion of the element. Moreover, the order of each question and answer shown in FIG. 5 is an example, and the order of the list of questions and answers in the question answer table may be arbitrary. However, the correspondence between the question and the element is described so that it can be specified. In the example shown in FIG. 5, description is made so that consistency is maintained between the item number of the element (see FIG. 3B) and the question number.

  The design specification input promotion wizard generation means 150 refers to the question answer table stored in the question answer table storage device 140, and sets the values of elements that are not associated with values in the design specification element table determined to be incomplete. Generate a wizard to prompt the network designer or customer for input. At this time, the design specification input promotion wizard generation means 150 selects a question with the smallest number of remaining questions, and generates a wizard for prompting an answer to the question.

  FIG. 6 is a flowchart illustrating an example of processing in which the design specification input promotion wizard generation unit 150 generates a wizard. First, the design specification input promotion wizard generation means 150 is already in the design specification element table determined as incomplete by the design specification completion determination means 130 from the question answer table stored in the question answer table storage device 140. The question regarding the element with which the value is associated is excluded, and the question answer table is re-formed (step T1).

  FIG. 7 is an explanatory diagram showing an example of the process (step T1) for re-creating the question answer table. Assume that the design specification element table 1010 shown in FIG. 7 is obtained as a result of the value association unit 120 associating elements with values. Further, it is assumed that the question answer table storage device 140 stores a question answer table 1020 shown in FIG.

  In step T1, the design specification input promotion wizard generation means 150 refers to the design specification element table and determines an element that has already been associated with a value. In the example shown in FIG. 7, since the elements “E2” and “E3” in the design specification element table 1010 are associated with the values “V2” and “V3”, respectively, the elements “E2” and “E3” are Identify. Further, the design specification input promotion wizard generation means 150 identifies a question (question for prompting input of an element value) corresponding to an element to which a value has already been associated from the question answer table, and adds the question to the question. Corresponding rows and columns are respectively deleted from the question answer table, and a question answer table represented by rows and columns corresponding to each answer of each remaining question is formed. In the example shown in FIG. 7, among the questions described in the question answer table 1020, the questions corresponding to the elements “E2” and “E3” are “question about E2” and “question about E3”. The design specification input promotion wizard generation means 150 deletes each row and each column corresponding to the “question about E2” and the “question about E3” from the question answer table, and recreates the question answer table. A question / answer table 1030 shown in FIG. 7 is a question / answer table obtained by this re-forming process.

  When the question answer table is reformed in step T1, the design specification input promotion wizard generation means 150 refers to the question answer table, and for each answer of each question, the number of remaining questions when the answer is selected (remaining questions) The number of remaining questions is determined (step T2). A remaining question is a question other than a question that is automatically narrowed down to one when an answer is selected by the network designer or customer. In other words, an answer is sent to the network designer or customer. This is a question whose answer is not automatically narrowed down to one even if selected. The number of remaining questions varies from answer to answer. Therefore, specifically, the design specification input promotion wizard generation unit 150 calculates an average value of the number of remaining questions obtained for each answer for each question, and identifies a question having the minimum average value. The process of step T2 is a process performed to select an optimum question and present it to the network designer or customer when prompting the network designer or customer to input the value of the element of the undesignated design specification. . The term “optimal” here means that the number of questions to be presented to the network designer or customer is minimized. A specific example of the process in step T2 will be described later.

  After step T2, the design specification input promotion wizard generation means 150 generates a wizard that prompts the user to answer the question specified in step T2 (step T3). For example, the design specification input promotion wizard generation unit 150 generates a wizard that includes the question specified in step T2 and each option that is an answer to the question.

  Next, a process for identifying a question in step T2 will be described. FIG. 8 is a flowchart showing an example of the process of step T2. FIG. 9 is an explanatory diagram illustrating an example of a question answer table. Here, the case where the question answer table illustrated in FIG. 9 is obtained as a result of the reconstruction process in step T1 will be described as an example. In FIG. 9, the question is simplified as “Q” and the answer as “A”.

  In step T2, first, the design specification input promotion wizard generation means 150 calculates the remaining number of questions when the answer is selected by the network designer or customer among the answers of each question described in the question answer table. One answer that has not been calculated is selected (step U1). When a certain answer is selected by the network designer or customer, answers to other questions are automatically narrowed down, and as a result, it may not be necessary to present a question for prompting the input of a value. Accordingly, the number of remaining questions may differ for each answer of each question when the answer is selected by the network designer or customer. In step U1, the design specification input promotion wizard generation means 150 selects one answer that has not yet been calculated. For example, the design specification input promotion wizard generation means 150 may select from the answers such as “A1 of Q1”, “A2 of Q1”, “A1 of Q2”, “A2 of Q2”,. , Select “A1 of Q1”. However, it is assumed that the remaining number of questions regarding “A1 of Q1” has not yet been calculated.

  Next, the design specification input promotion wizard generation means 150 calculates the number of questions other than the question that is automatically narrowed down to one when the answer selected in step U1 is selected by the network designer or the customer. Obtain (step U2). That is, the design specification input promotion wizard generation means 150 refers to the intersection between the row corresponding to the answer selected in step U1 and the column corresponding to each answer of each question, and only one “O” is marked. Identify the question that is, and calculate the number of questions other than that question. Of the questions corresponding to each column, the question selected in step U1 is sent to the customer or the like when only one “○” is marked at the intersection of the row and column corresponding to the answer selected in step U1. By being selected, the answers are limited, and the answers are the answers corresponding to the columns marked with “◯”.

  However, a question using the answer selected in step U1 as an option is not included in the calculation target in step U2. For example, when “A1 of Q1” is selected in step U1, the question “Q1” is not included in step U2. In the example shown in FIG. 9, the portions that are not included in step U2 in this way are indicated by hatching.

  It is assumed that “A1 of Q1” is selected in step U1. In the question answer table illustrated in FIG. 9, “◯” is marked in the column corresponding to “A1 of Q2” among the columns crossing the “A1 of Q1” row. That is, it is shown that the answer of Q2 automatically becomes A1 when A1 of Q1 is answered. Therefore, it is not necessary to present the Q2 question to the network designer or customer. In step U2, the number of questions other than those that no longer need to be presented to the network designer or customer may be counted. In this example, the design specification input promotion wizard generation means 150 counts two questions Q3 and Q2 as the remaining number of questions when there is an answer “A1 of Q1”, and sets the remaining number of questions to 2. Since the remaining number of questions is the number of remaining questions when the answer “A1 of Q1” is obtained, the question Q1 using the answer selected in step U1 as an option is not included in step U2.

  In step U1, the design specification input promotion wizard generation means 150 selects “A2 of Q3”. In the question answer table illustrated in FIG. 9, “O” is marked in “A1 of Q4” and “A3 of Q4” among the columns intersecting with the “A2 of Q3” row. That is, the answer of Q4 is automatically narrowed down to A1 or A3 when A2 of Q3 is answered. In Q4, there are four options as answers, and only two of them will be narrowed down. Of these two, one of the answers must be selected by the network designer or customer. Therefore, the questions marked with two “◯” as in this example are included in the remaining number of questions. Therefore, when there is an answer “A2 of Q3”, the remaining number of questions Q1, Q2, and Q4 are counted, and the remaining number of questions is set to 2.

  After step U2, the design specification input promotion wizard generation means 150 determines whether or not the process of step U2 has been executed for the answers to all the questions described in the question answer table (step U3). When the execution of the process of step U2 is completed for all the answers to the questions (Yes in step U3), the process proceeds to step U4. If there is still an answer to a question for which the remaining number of questions has not been obtained in step U2, the processing after step U1 is repeated.

  In step U4, the design specification input promotion wizard generation means 150 obtains the sum of the remaining number of questions obtained for each answer of the question for each question described in the question answer table, and obtains the sum as the question. Is divided by the number of answers (step U4).

  A specific example of the process of step U4 will be described using the question Q1 as an example. The remaining number of questions obtained for “A1 of Q1” in the question answer table of FIG. 9 is 2 (Q3 and Q4). The remaining number of questions obtained for “A2 of Q1” is 2 (Q2 and Q4). Therefore, the sum of the remaining number of questions obtained for each answer of the question Q1 is 2 + 2 = 4. Since the number of answers of Q1 is two of A1 and A2, the sum is divided by the number of answers of Q1 and 2/2 is calculated. If the same calculation is performed for each of the questions Q2 to Q4, it becomes 2.67 for Q2, 2.5 for Q3, and 2.75 for Q4.

  Next, the design specification input promotion wizard generation means 150 determines the question having the smallest value among the values calculated in step U4 for each question as the question to be presented to the network designer or customer (step U5). ). For example, in the case of the question answering table illustrated in FIG. 9, the value obtained for Q1 is 2, which is the smallest, so Q1 is determined as a question to be presented to the network designer or customer. If there are equivalent questions at this time, any question may be a question presented to the network designer or customer.

  In step U5, when a question to be presented to the network designer or customer is determined, the design specification input promotion wizard generation unit 150 generates a wizard that displays each option as the question and the answer, and the wizard is output to the wizard output unit 240. To output. For example, the wizard output unit 240 may be a display device, and the wizard output unit 240 may display the wizard. As a wizard, a screen including options for questions and answers may be displayed. Alternatively, as a wizard, options for questions and answers may be output using the standard output.

  In addition, for example, when a specific value is input, such as when “A. Register” is selected for “1. Do you want to register the VLAN name?”, The design specification input promotion wizard generation means After an answer such as “A. Register” is selected, 150 prompts the user to input the value. For example, a message requesting input of a specific value is displayed on the wizard output means 240. The answer to the question may be the value itself.

  The network designer or customer is prompted to input an answer to the question by the wizard, and inputs the answer of the question via the wizard input means 250. The design specification input promotion wizard generation means 150 excludes the question determined in step U5 and other questions whose answers are automatically narrowed down to one by the answer of the question from the question answer table (step U6), and performs processing. finish. The operation of removing the question from the question answer table in step U6 is the same as in step T1.

  The value associating unit 120 receives the answer of the question presented by the wizard via the wizard input unit 250. Further, a specific value may be input along with the answer to the question. For example, a specific VLAN name may be input along with an answer “A. Register” to “1. Do you want to register the VLAN name?”. The value association unit 120 associates the element values input in this way with the elements in the design specification element table.

  Then, the design specification completion determination means 130 determines again whether or not the design specification element table is completed (step S1). The subsequent operations are the same as those already described.

  Next, effects of the first exemplary embodiment of the present invention will be described. According to the first embodiment of the present invention, information on required specifications that are insufficient for VLAN design can be clarified at the design stage in the construction work of a new VLAN. The reason is that a design specification element table listing the design specification elements necessary for VLAN design is referenced, and if there is an element for which a value has not yet been defined, a question for prompting the input of that value is presented. It is. By presenting such a question, the network designer or customer can clearly understand the information that is lacking in the requirement specification information set, and can clarify the contents of the insufficient requirement specification.

  Furthermore, according to the first embodiment of the present invention, inadequate design specifications can be completed efficiently and efficiently at the design stage in the construction work of a new VLAN. The reason for this is that the network designer or customer answers the question by using the question answer table stored in advance in the question answer table storage device 140, considering other questions that are automatically narrowed down when the answer to the question is selected. This is because the question with the least number of times is entered as the optimum question and the question is presented to the network designer or customer using a wizard. Thus, the network designer can efficiently complete a consistent and accurate VLAN design specification.

Embodiment 2. FIG.
FIG. 10 is a block diagram illustrating an example of a VLAN design support system according to the second embodiment of this invention. Constituent elements similar to those shown in the first embodiment are denoted by the same reference numerals as those in FIG. 1, and detailed description thereof is omitted.

  The VLAN design support system 100 of the present embodiment includes a design specification element storage device 110, a value association unit 120, a design specification completion determination unit 130, a question answer table storage device 140, and a design specification input promotion wizard generation unit 150. Furthermore, a design policy correspondence table storage device 310 is provided.

  The design policy correspondence table storage device 310 stores a table in which various design policies related to VLAN design are associated with elements of the design specification element table and their values. This table is referred to as a design policy correspondence table. The design policy correspondence table is information indicating which element should be set to which value when the design policy is designated. In the VLAN design, when a design policy is determined, the value of a certain element may be automatically set to a specific value. For example, when the design policy “emphasis on security” is adopted, the element “subnet address” is automatically set to “unregistered”. Which element should be set to which value for each design policy is determined in advance, the design policy is associated with the element and its value, and stored in the design policy correspondence table storage device 310 in advance as a design policy correspondence table. Is done.

  The design policy correspondence table storage device 310 may be realized by the same storage device as the design specification element storage device 110.

  11 to 14 are explanatory diagrams illustrating examples of design policy correspondence tables stored in the design policy correspondence table storage device 310. FIG. As shown in FIGS. 11 to 14, the design policy correspondence table storage device 310 stores a design policy correspondence table in which design policies are associated with elements and their values. In FIG. 11, the value of the element is shown in parentheses next to the element.

  The design policy correspondence table storage device 310 includes, for example, “security emphasis”, “communication quality emphasis”, “cost suppression emphasis”, “fault tolerance emphasis”, “operation manageability” shown in FIGS. 11 to 14 as design policies. A design policy correspondence table including “important” and “important use of resources” is stored. However, FIG. 11 to FIG. 14 are examples of the design policy correspondence table, and the design policy described in the design policy correspondence table, elements corresponding to the design policy, and values thereof are limited to the contents shown in FIG. 11 to FIG. Not. For example, the design policy correspondence table storage device 310 includes “security emphasis”, “communication quality emphasis”, “cost suppression emphasis”, “fault tolerance emphasis”, “operation management emphasis”, and “resource effective utilization emphasis”. A design policy correspondence table including at least one of them may be stored. Further, a design policy correspondence table different from those shown in FIGS. 11 to 14 may be stored. Hereinafter, specific examples of the design policy correspondence table will be shown by using FIGS. 11 to 14 as examples.

  As design specification elements corresponding to the design policy “emphasis on security”, “subnet address”, “VLAN that permits communication between VLANs”, and “possibility of communication between terminals in VLAN” are defined. Further, the value “unregistered” of the element “subnet address”, the value “unregistered” of the element “VLAN that permits communication between VLANs”, and the value “rejected” of the element “communication between terminals in the VLAN” are defined. . This is because when the design policy “emphasis on security” is adopted by the network designer or customer, the value of the element “subnet address” is set to “unregistered”, and the value of the element “VLAN that allows communication between VLANs” is set to “non-registered”. “Registration” and the value of the element “possibility of communication between terminals in VLAN” is set to “reject”. The element “subnet address” is an element associated with a value indicating whether or not to register a subnet address. All of these may not be defined as elements corresponding to “security emphasis”. For example, one or more of the above elements may be defined.

  In addition, as design specification elements corresponding to the design policy “emphasis on communication quality”, an element “high-speed port use” indicating whether or not to permit use of a high-speed port, and an element “number of relay switches” specifying the number of relay switches are provided. , “Communication bandwidth setting policy”, “switch addition policy”, “slot addition policy”, “switch movement” indicating whether the switch movement is prohibited, minimized or optional "Switch deletion" indicating whether switch deletion is prohibited, minimized or optional, "Cable addition policy" indicating whether a cable can be added, and "Cable" indicating whether a cable can be connected Connection ”,“ cable movement ”indicating whether the cable can be moved,“ cable deletion ”indicating whether the cable can be deleted, and“ change existing VLAN ”indicating whether the existing VLAN can be changed. It is fit. Furthermore, the value of “use high-speed port” is “useable on route / terminal”, the value of “number of relay switches” is “minimum”, the value of element “communication bandwidth setting policy” is “guaranteed using a dedicated line” , Element “switch addition policy” value “any number”, element “slot addition policy” value “any number”, and element “switch movement” value “any number” ”, Element“ Delete switch ”value“ any number ”, element“ cable addition policy ”value“ any number ”, and element“ cable connection ”value“ any number ” And the element “cable move” value “any number”, the element “cable deletion” value “any number”, and the element “change existing VLAN” value “free change” Is stipulated. This is because when the network designer or customer adopts the design policy “emphasis on communication quality”, the values of the respective elements from “use high speed port” to “change existing VLAN” shown in FIG. Represents that. Also, not all of these elements may be defined as elements corresponding to “communication quality emphasis”. For example, one or more of the above elements may be defined.

  In addition, as design specification elements corresponding to the design policy “emphasis on cost control”, “use high-speed port”, “communication bandwidth setting policy”, and an element indicating whether or not to use a slot free port “slot free port” Utilization "and elements indicating whether or not to allow port placement freely" Port placement "," Switch addition policy "," Slot addition policy "," Switch deletion "," Cable "Additional policy", "Cable connection", and "Cable deletion" are defined. Furthermore, the value “not used” of the element “use high-speed port”, the value “use the smallest possible band” of the element “communication band setting policy”, the value “Yes” of the element “use slot free port”, and the element The value of “Port Arrangement” “Free Arrangement”, the value “Prohibit” of the element “Addition Policy of Switch”, the value “Prohibition” of the element “Addition Policy of Slot”, and the value of “Element Delete” The value "prohibited" for element "cable addition policy", the value "prohibited" for element "cable connection", the value "prohibited" for element "cable connection", and the value "any number of elements" for element "cable deletion" It has been established. This means that when the design policy “emphasis on cost control” is adopted by the network designer or customer, the values of each element from “high speed port” to “cable deletion” shown in FIG. Represents. Also, not all of these elements may be defined as elements corresponding to “emphasis on cost reduction”. For example, one or more of the above elements may be defined.

  In addition, as the design specification elements corresponding to the design policy “Focus on fault tolerance”, an element “number of relay switches” indicating whether the number of relay switches is minimized or optional, and “detour route determination policy in case of failure” "Switch addition policy", "Slot addition policy", "Switch movement", "Cable addition policy", "Cable connection", and "Cable movement" Yes. Furthermore, the value of the element “number of relay switches” “minimum”, the value “reserve” of the element “detour route determination policy when a failure occurs”, the value “any number of elements” of the element “switch addition policy” , Element “slot addition policy” value “any number”, element “switch movement” value “any number”, element “cable addition policy” value “any number” The value “any number of cables” of the element “cable connection” and the value “any number of cables” of the element “cable movement” are defined. This is because when the design policy “emphasis on fault tolerance” is adopted by the network designer or customer, the values of each element from “number of relay switches” to “cable movement” shown in FIG. Represents what to do. Also, not all of these elements may be defined as elements corresponding to “fault tolerance emphasis”. For example, one or more of the above elements may be defined.

  Also, as design specification elements corresponding to the design policy “emphasis on operational manageability”, “VLAN name”, “VLAN-ID allocation policy”, “utilization of slot free port”, “port allocation”, “switch” Addition Policy ”,“ Additional Slot Policy ”,“ Move Switch ”,“ Delete Switch ”,“ Additional Cable Policy ”,“ Move Cable ”,“ Delete Cable ”, “Change of existing VLAN” is defined. Furthermore, the value “designate an arbitrary name” of the element “VLAN name”, the value “select a drill number” of the element “VLAN-ID allocation policy”, and the value “No” of the element “utilize slot free port” , The value of the element “port arrangement” “both sorting and arrangement match”, the value of the element “switch addition policy” “prohibited”, the value of the element “slot addition policy” “prohibited”, and the element “switch” ”Movement” value “Minimum”, Element “Delete switch” value “Minimum”, Element “Add cable policy” value “Prohibited”, Element “Move cable” value “Number” However, the element “cable deletion” value “any number is possible” and the element “change existing VLAN” value “can be freely changed” are defined. This is because when the network designer or customer adopts the design policy “emphasis on operational manageability”, the values of the respective elements from “VLAN name” to “change existing VLAN” shown in FIG. Represents what to do. Also, not all of these elements may be defined as elements corresponding to “emphasis on operational manageability”. For example, one or more of the above elements may be defined.

  The design specification elements corresponding to the design policy “Effective use of resources” include “High-speed port use”, “Utilization of slot free ports”, “Port allocation”, “Switch addition policy”, “Slot "Addition policy", "switch move", "switch delete", "cable add policy", "cable move", "cable delete", and "change existing VLAN" It has been established. Furthermore, the value “use of high-speed port” “usable in route / terminal”, the value “Yes” of element “utilize slot free port”, the value “free placement” of element “port placement”, and the element “ Switch addition policy value “prohibited”, element “slot addition policy” value “prohibited”, element “switch move” value “any number” and element “switch deletion” value The element “cable addition policy” value “prohibited”, the element “cable movement” value “any number” and the element “cable deletion” value “any number” The value “permitted” and the value “change of existing VLAN” “definable freely” are defined. This is because when the design policy “emphasis on effective use of resources” is adopted by the network designer or customer, the values of the respective elements from “high-speed port use” to “change of existing VLAN” shown in FIG. Represents a value. Also, not all of these elements may be defined as elements corresponding to “emphasis on effective use of resources”. For example, one or more of the above elements may be defined.

  Moreover, the structure which can add or delete the design policy, element, and element value included in the policy correspondence table may be used. For example, the design policy correspondence table storage device 310 is a storage device that can be written as well as read, and the design policy, elements, and elements included in the design policy correspondence table according to the operation of the administrator of the VLAN design support system There may be provided means for updating (adding and deleting) the value of. In addition, the design policies and the order of the elements shown in FIGS. 11 to 14 are examples, and the order of the design policies, the elements corresponding to the design policies, and the list of values in the design policy correspondence table are arbitrary. It's okay.

  In the present embodiment, the value association unit 120 performs the following processing in addition to the processing described in the first embodiment. The value associating means 120 identifies a VLAN design design policy from the input set of required specification information, retrieves element values corresponding to the design policy from the design policy correspondence table, and stores them in the design specification element table. to add. That is, the value association unit 120 adds not only the value of the element directly specified from the requirement specification information set but also the value of an element determined according to the design policy specified from the requirement specification information set to the design specification element table.

  Next, the operation of this embodiment will be described. The description of the same operation as that of the first embodiment is omitted.

  When the requirement specification information set is input via the requirement specification input means 220, the value association unit 120 specifies the element value in the design specification element table from the requirement specification information set, and the design specification element Associate that value with an element in the table. This operation is the same as that of the first embodiment.

  The value association unit 120 further specifies a design policy from the required specification information set. For example, data described in a predetermined format for describing the design policy may be specified as the design policy. The operator who inputs the requirement specification information set via the requirement specification input means 220 may describe the design policy in the above-mentioned predetermined format in the requirement specification information set and input it via the requirement specification input means 220. . The design policy specifying mode shown here is an example, and the value association unit 120 may specify the design policy from the required specification information set in another mode.

  When specifying the design policy, the value association unit 120 searches the design policy correspondence table stored in the design policy correspondence table storage device 310 for the element and the value corresponding to the setting policy. Then, the value of the element is associated with the element included in the design specification element table. That is, the element value retrieved from the design policy correspondence table is added to the design specification element table as the value of the element included in the design specification element table.

  For example, it is assumed that “restricted security” is included in the required specification information set as a design policy for VLAN construction. The value association unit 120 refers to the design policy “security emphasis” in the design policy correspondence table stored in the design policy correspondence table storage device 310, and searches for design specification elements and values related to this design policy. To do. In the example illustrated in FIG. 11, the value “unregistered” of the element “subnet address”, the value “unregistered” of the element “VLAN that allows communication between VLANs”, and the value “rejected” of the element “communication between terminals in the VLAN”. Search for. Then, the value association unit 120 associates and adds “non-registration” as the value of the element “subnet address” in the design specification element table. Similarly, the value of the element “VLAN that permits inter-VLAN communication” is associated, and “reject” is associated as the value of the element “inter-VLAN terminal communication”.

  If a plurality of design policies are retrieved from the required specification information set, a process of retrieving element values from the design policy correspondence table and adding them to the design specification element table is performed for each design policy.

  Thereafter, each process after the determination process of whether or not the design specification element table is completed may be performed.

  Next, effects of the second exemplary embodiment of the present invention will be described. According to the second embodiment of the present invention, values of some elements of the design specification element table can be automatically input at the design stage in the construction work of a new VLAN. The reason is that the design policy correspondence table storage device 310 stores in advance a design policy correspondence table showing the relationship between each design policy and each element of the design specification element table automatically obtained by determining the design policy. When the value association unit 120 specifies the design policy from the input requirement specification information set, the value association unit 120 retrieves the element value corresponding to the design policy from the design specification element table and adds it to the design specification element table. It is. As a result, the network designer can complete the design specifications of the VLAN at high speed.

Embodiment 3. FIG.
FIG. 15 is a block diagram illustrating an example of a VLAN design support system according to the third embodiment of this invention. Constituent elements similar to those shown in the first embodiment are denoted by the same reference numerals as those in FIG. 1, and detailed description thereof is omitted.

  The VLAN design support system 100 of the present embodiment includes a design specification element storage device 110, a value association unit 120, a design specification completion determination unit 130, a question answer table storage device 140, and a design specification input promotion wizard generation unit 150. Further, priority question selection means 410 is provided.

  As described in the first embodiment, the design specification input promotion wizard generation unit 150 includes the question answer table stored in the question answer table storage device 140 and the design determined to be incomplete by the design specification completion determination unit 130. Using the specification element table, the question answer table is re-formed (step T1, see FIG. 6). However, after that, the priority question selection means 410 performs processing for specifying a question using the question answer table. In addition, the design specification input promotion wizard generation unit 150 generates a wizard that prompts an answer to the question selected by the priority question selection unit 410.

  The priority question selection means 410 refers to the question answer table recreated by the design specification input promotion wizard generation means 150, and specifies the question that has the smallest number of answer options in the next question. Thus, in this embodiment, the priority question selection means 410 performs the process of specifying a question from the regenerated question answer table.

  The priority question selection unit 410 is realized by, for example, a CPU that is operated by a program (VLAN design support program). The priority question selection unit 410 may be realized by the same CPU as the design specification input promotion wizard generation unit 150 and the like.

  Next, the operation will be described. Detailed descriptions of operations similar to those of the first embodiment are omitted. The design specification completion determination unit 130 determines whether or not the design specification element table is completed. If the design specification element table is not completed, the design specification element table is passed to the design specification input promotion wizard generation unit 150. . This operation is the same as in the first embodiment. When the unfinished design specification element table is passed, the design specification input promotion wizard generation means 150 already has a value in the design specification element table out of the question answer table stored in the question answer table storage device 140. By identifying a question corresponding to the associated element and deleting the row and column corresponding to the question from the question answer table, the question answer table is reformed. The operation of the design specification input promotion wizard generation means 150 is the same as the operation of step T1 in the first embodiment.

  The priority question selection means 410 identifies the question that minimizes the number of answer options for the question from the question answer table reconstructed as described above. FIG. 16 is a flowchart illustrating an example of processing in which the priority question selection unit 410 specifies a question. Here, the case where the question answer table shown in FIG. 9 is obtained as a result of the reconfiguration by the design specification input promotion wizard generation means 150 will be described as an example.

  First, the priority question selection unit 410 selects a question for which the calculation in step V2 has not been performed among the answers of each question described in the question answer table regenerated by the design specification input promotion wizard generation unit 150. Select one answer (step V1).

  The priority question selection means 410 counts the number of questions (remaining questions) other than the questions whose answers are automatically narrowed down to one when the answer selected in step V1 is selected by the network designer or customer. The number of answer options for the remaining questions is counted, and a value obtained by dividing the number of answer options by the number of remaining questions is calculated (step V2). This value is called the average number of answer options. The priority question selection means 410 refers to the intersection of the row corresponding to the answer of the question selected in step V1 and the column corresponding to each answer of each question as the number of remaining questions, and one “◯” is present. The question marked only is identified, and the number of questions other than that question is counted as the number of remaining questions. However, a question using the answer selected in step V1 as an option is not included in the calculation target in step V2. For example, when “A1 of Q1” is selected in Step V1, the question “Q1” is not included in Step V2. In the example shown in FIG. 9, the portion that is not included in step V2 in this way is indicated by hatching. The priority question selection means 410 calculates the sum of the number of answer options for each remaining question and divides the sum by the number of remaining questions to obtain the average number of answer options. Here, when “O” is marked for the answer option of the remaining question, the answer options of that question are narrowed down to answer options marked with “O”. Therefore, when “O” is marked for the answer option of the remaining question, the number of answer options marked with “O” is defined as “the number of answer options of the remaining question”.

  For example, assume that “A1 of Q1” in the question answer table of FIG. 9 is selected. In the question answer table illustrated in FIG. 9, among the columns intersecting with the row “A1 of Q1”, regarding the question “Q2”, “O” is marked only for the answer “A1”. Therefore, the priority question selection means 410 counts two of Q3 and Q4 as the number of remaining questions. Furthermore, the priority question selection means 410 calculates the sum of the answer options of the two remaining questions Q3 and Q4. Since the number of answer options for Q3 is two and the number of answer options for Q4 is four, the total number of answer options is 2 + 4 = 6. The priority question selection means 410 divides the total number 6 of answer options by the number 2 of remaining questions to obtain an average answer option number 3.

  For example, assume that “A1 of Q3” is selected in step V1. In this case, there is no question marked with “○” in only one answer. Therefore, there are three remaining questions, Q1, Q2, and Q4. Q4 corresponds to the remaining questions because “1” is marked on A1 and A3, and the answer is not automatically narrowed down to one. In the remaining question Q4, “◯” is marked on A1 and A3, and the answer options are narrowed down to A1 and A2. Therefore, the number of answer options for the remaining question Q4 is two. The number of answer options for Q1 and Q3 is 2 and 3, respectively. Therefore, the priority question selection means 410 calculates the sum of the number of answer options for each remaining question as 2 + 3 + 2 = 7, and divides that value by the number of remaining questions 3 to obtain 2.33 as the average number of answer options. .

  After step V2, the priority question selection means 410 determines whether or not the processing of step V2 has been executed for the answers to all the questions described in the question answer table (step V3). When the process of step V2 has been completed for all the answers to the questions (Yes in step V3), the process proceeds to step V4. If there is an answer to a question that has not been calculated in step V2, the processing from step V1 onward is repeated.

  In step V4, the priority question selection means 410 obtains the sum of the average number of answer choices obtained for each answer of the question for each question described in the question answer table, and uses the sum as the answer to the question. (Step V4). For example, in “Q1” of the question answer table of FIG. 9, the average number of answer options obtained for “A1” is 3, and the average number of answer options obtained for “A2” is 3.5. Therefore, the priority question selection means 410 divides the sum of the average number of answer options obtained for each answer by the number of answer options 2 of the question Q1, and calculates (3 + 3.5) /2=3.25. Similarly, when the calculation in step V4 is performed for each question, the calculation results for Q2, A3, and Q4 are 2.78, 2.92, and 2.37, respectively.

  Next, the priority question selection means 410 determines a question having the smallest value among the values calculated in step V4 for each question as a question to be presented to the network designer or customer (step V5). For example, in the case of the question answering table of FIG. 9, the value obtained for Q4 is 2.37, which is the smallest, so Q4 is determined as a question to be presented to the network designer or customer. If there are equivalent questions at this time, any question may be a question presented to the network designer or customer.

  When the priority question selection unit 410 determines a question to be presented to the network designer or customer (step V5), the design specification input promotion wizard generation unit 150 generates a wizard that displays each option as the question and the answer. The wizard is output to the wizard output means 240. The operation of the design specification input promotion wizard generation means 150 is the same as that of the first embodiment.

  The network designer or customer is prompted to input an answer to the question by the wizard, and the answer to the question is input via the wizard input means 250. The design specification input promotion wizard generation means 150 excludes the question determined in step U5 and other questions whose answers are automatically narrowed down to one by the answer of the question from the question answer table (step V6), and performs the processing. finish. The operation of excluding the question from the question answer table in step V6 is the same as in step T1.

  The operation when the answer to the question presented by the wizard is input is the same as in the first embodiment.

  Next, effects of the third exemplary embodiment of the present invention will be described. According to the third embodiment of the present invention, it is possible to present a question that can be answered as easily as possible by the network designer or customer at the design stage in the construction work of a new VLAN. In the present embodiment, the priority question selection unit 410 calculates the average number of answer options using the question answer table re-created by the design specification input promotion wizard generation unit 150, and selects the question with the smallest number of average answer options. To answer questions. Then, the design specification input promotion wizard generation means 150 presents the question using the wizard. Therefore, a question with a small number of answer options is presented to the network designer or customer. For network designers or customers, questions with fewer answer options are easier to answer than questions with more answer options, so you can answer the questions more efficiently, and network designers can Accurate VLAN design specifications can be completed efficiently and easily.

  In the third embodiment, the process of identifying a question from the question answer table is performed by the priority question selection unit 410 instead of the design specification input promotion wizard generation unit 150. However, as a modification of the third embodiment, a design is performed. When the specification input promotion wizard generation unit 150 determines a question to be presented to the network designer or the customer as in the first embodiment, and there are a plurality of questions with the same number of remaining questions, the priority question selection unit 410 performs the above The process may be executed to identify the question. That is, when the design specification input promotion wizard generation means 150 performs the same process as in the first embodiment, and there are a plurality of questions having the minimum value among the values obtained in step U4 (see FIG. 8). The priority question selection unit 410 may execute the above processing. If the question having the minimum value is specified as one of the values obtained in step U4 (see FIG. 8), the question may be determined to be presented.

  In addition, when the design specification input promotion wizard generation unit 150 determines a question to be presented to the network designer or customer as in the first embodiment, and there are a plurality of questions with the same number of remaining questions, the plurality of questions It may be possible to switch between presenting all questions or presenting the question specified by the priority question selection means 410. For example, the switching instruction may be input from a network designer or a customer via an input device such as a keyboard, and a question to be presented may be specified according to the instruction.

Embodiment 4 FIG.
Next, a fourth embodiment will be described. In the fourth embodiment, as in the first embodiment, a process for specifying a question is performed, but there are a plurality of questions in which the value obtained for each question in step U4 (see FIG. 8) is the minimum value. In this case, a question that is most relevant to the question that was answered immediately before by the network designer or customer is specified from among the plurality of questions. Note that there is no previous question when identifying the first question to present to the network designer or customer. Therefore, when the first question is specified, the question is specified as in the first embodiment.

  FIG. 17 is a block diagram illustrating an example of a VLAN design support system according to the fourth embodiment of this invention. Constituent elements similar to those shown in the first embodiment are denoted by the same reference numerals as those in FIG. 1, and detailed description thereof is omitted.

  The VLAN design support system 100 according to the fourth embodiment includes a design specification element storage device 110, a value association unit 120, a design specification completion determination unit 130, a question answer table storage device 140, and a design specification input promotion wizard generation unit 150. In addition, a design specification element hierarchy information storage device 510 and related question selection means 520 are further provided.

  When the related question selection unit 520 determines the second and subsequent questions for the network designer or customer, the question (remaining number of questions) obtained for each question in step U4 (see FIG. 8) is the minimum value. If there are a plurality of questions, the question most relevant to the question answered immediately before is identified.

  The design specification element hierarchy information storage device 510 stores information representing the relationship between the elements of the design specification element table stored in the design specification element storage device 110. Here, a description will be given by taking as an example the case of storing a table in which the relationship of each element of the design specification element table is described in a hierarchical structure. Hereinafter, this table is referred to as a design specification hierarchy table.

  FIG. 18 is an explanatory diagram showing an example of the design specification hierarchy table stored in the design specification element hierarchy information storage device 510. In the design specification hierarchy table, each element is represented by, for example, an element name and hierarchy information. In the example shown in FIG. 18, a set of element name and hierarchy information is written in a rectangle for each element. The hierarchy information is information in which numerical values corresponding to the number of hierarchies from the root of the design specification hierarchy table to the lowermost leaf are connected. In the example illustrated in FIG. 18, the element “communication switch” serving as the lowermost leaf is in the fifth layer, so the number of layers is “5”, and the layer information includes five numerical values connected by dots “.”. . The position of the numerical value connected with dots in the hierarchy information corresponds to each hierarchy. For example, it corresponds to the first hierarchy, the second hierarchy,. Although FIG. 18 shows a case where the number of hierarchies is five, the number of hierarchies is not limited to five.

  In addition, a numerical value connected with dots in the hierarchy information is an identification number that uniquely identifies elements having a common parent in the same hierarchy. For example, the identification number is assigned to each child element having a common parent element in ascending order of an integer from 1. For example, “1.0.0.0.0” of the element “VLAN design specification” means “the element name“ VLAN design specification ”existing in the first layer and the identification number is 1”. In the hierarchical information of the n-th layer element, the numerical values from the first to the (n-1) th are the same as the hierarchical information of the parent element, the n-th value is the identification number of the element, The numerical value is 0. For example, the second numerical value “1.1” of the hierarchy information “1.1.2.0.0” of the element “communication range” of the third hierarchy illustrated in FIG. 18 is the parent requirement specification hierarchy. It is the same as information. The third numerical value “2” is an identification number for distinguishing the element “communication range” from the element “basic information”. The numerical values after the fourth are “0.0”.

  The design specification element table is determined in advance by the network designer and stored in the design specification element hierarchy information storage device 510. The administrator may define the design specification element table so that each element that is semantically similar becomes a child of a common element that is related to each element.

  Moreover, the structure which can add or delete the number of hierarchy of a design specification hierarchy table | surface, and can update the order of the element in the same hierarchy may be sufficient. For example, the design specification element hierarchy information storage device 510 is a writable storage device, and in accordance with the operation of the network designer, the addition and deletion of elements of each hierarchy in the design specification hierarchy table, or the element order within the same hierarchy There may be provided means for making a change and updating the hierarchy information.

  The design specification hierarchy table may be schematized as illustrated in FIG. 18 and stored in the design specification element hierarchy information storage device 510. Alternatively, it may be a file described in CSV (Comma Separated Values) format with one set of “element name and hierarchy information”. Further, it may be a file using a schema language such as DTD (Document Type Definition).

  The design specification element hierarchy information storage device 510 may be realized by the same storage device as the design specification element storage device 110 and the question / answer table storage device 140.

  In the present embodiment, the value association unit 120 associates each element in the design specification element table with the hierarchy information described in the design specification hierarchy table, and associates the hierarchy information of each element with the design specification element table. Add to The value association means 120 extracts, for each element in the design specification element table, the hierarchy information of the element from the design specification hierarchy table stored in the design specification element hierarchy information storage device 510, and within the design specification element table The hierarchical information is added to the design specification element table in association with the element. Hereinafter, the design specification element table to which the hierarchy information is added is referred to as a design specification element table with hierarchy information. FIG. 19 is an explanatory diagram of an example of a design specification element table with hierarchical information.

  The related question selection means 520 refers to the design specification element table with hierarchical information when identifying the question most relevant to the question that has been answered to the network designer or customer immediately before. Determine.

  The related question selection unit 520 is realized by, for example, a CPU that is operated by a program (VLAN design support program). The related question selection unit 520 may be realized by the same CPU as the design specification input promotion wizard generation unit 150 and the like.

  Next, the operation will be described. Note that detailed description of operations similar to those of the first embodiment is omitted.

  The value association unit 120 assigns hierarchical information to each element of the design specification element table using the design specification hierarchy table stored in the design specification element hierarchy information storage device 510. That is, the value association unit 120 extracts, for each element in the design specification element table, the element hierarchy information from the design specification hierarchy table stored in the design specification element hierarchy information storage device 510. Then, hierarchical information is added to the design specification element table in association with the elements in the design specification element table. For example, the value association unit 120 extracts the hierarchy information “1.1.1.1.0” of the element “VLAN name” from the design specification hierarchy table (see FIG. 18), and the “1.1.1. 1.0 ”is added to the design specification element table in association with“ VLAN name ”(see FIG. 19). The value association means 120 is performed for each element of the design specification element table, and generates a design specification element table with hierarchical information.

  Moreover, the design specification element table with hierarchical information may be stored in advance in the design specification element storage device 110 as the design specification element table.

  Then, the VLAN design support system 100 identifies the first question to the network designer or customer. This process may be performed in the same manner as the process for specifying a question in the first embodiment.

  Further, in this example, when specifying a question as described above, a design specification element table with hierarchical information to which hierarchical information is added is used.

  After presenting the first question, the value association means 120 receives the value of the element in the design specification element table with hierarchical information from the network designer or customer as an answer to the question via the wizard input means 250. Is done. Then, the value association unit 120 associates the value with an element in the design specification element table with hierarchical information.

  The design specification completion determination means 130 determines whether or not the design specification element table (in this example, the design specification element table with hierarchical information) has been completed. If the design specification element table with hierarchical information is incomplete, The design specification element table with hierarchy information is passed to the design specification input promotion wizard generation means 150. This operation is the same as in the first embodiment.

  When the unfinished design specification element table with hierarchical information is passed, the design specification input promotion wizard generation means 150 selects the design specification element table with hierarchical information from the question answer table stored in the question answer table storage device 140. The question corresponding to the element to which the value is already associated is identified, and the question and answer table is reformed by deleting the row and the column corresponding to the question from the question and answer table, respectively. The operation of the design specification input promotion wizard generation means 150 is the same as the operation of step T1 in the first embodiment.

  Furthermore, the design specification input promotion wizard generation means 150 executes the process after step U1 (see FIG. 8) as the process of specifying a question (see step T2, FIG. 6). At this time, if there is one question whose value obtained for each question in step U4 (see FIG. 8) is the smallest among the questions, the question is determined as a question to be presented to the network designer or customer. The process proceeds in the same manner as in the first embodiment.

  When there are a plurality of questions in which the value obtained for each question in step U4 (see FIG. 8) is the smallest among the questions, the related question selection means 520 immediately selects the network designer from the plurality of questions. Or identify the question most relevant to the question presented to the customer. Therefore, in this embodiment, when specifying the second and subsequent questions, the related question selection means 520 is provided on the condition that there are a plurality of questions in which the value obtained for each question in step U4 is the smallest among the questions. Specifies a question. In other cases, the design specification input promotion wizard generation means 150 specifies a question in the same manner as in the first embodiment.

  FIG. 20 is a flowchart illustrating an example of processing in which the related question selection unit 520 specifies a question that is most relevant to the immediately previous question (question answered immediately before). The related question selection means 520 identifies the element of the design specification corresponding to the question answered immediately before by the network administrator or the customer from the design specification element table with hierarchical information (step W1). The question number (see FIG. 5) identical to the item number is determined for the question corresponding to the element of a certain item number (not shown in FIG. 19, see FIG. 2). Therefore, the related question selection unit 520 may specify the element having the same item number as the question number of the immediately previous question.

Next, the related question selection means 520 calculates an element related value of each element of the design specification element table with hierarchical information (step W2). The element-related value is a numerical value that is individually determined for each element, and the difference between the values is a numerical value that represents the degree of the relationship between the elements. Number of levels from the root in the design specifications hierarchy tables until the lowermost leaf (total number of layers) is N, among the numerical values in the hierarchy information calculation target elements of the element-related values, the numerical value corresponding to the n hierarchical k _n And At this time, the element-related value (referred to as p) of the element is expressed by, for example, the following formula 1.

That is, related question selection unit 520, respectively, from n = 1 to n = N, calculate the ^{10 _N-n} × _k ^n, we obtain the sum as an element related value.

FIG. 21 is an explanatory diagram of a calculation example of element-related values. FIG. 21 illustrates a case where “1.1.1.1/24” is input to the question regarding the subnet address and the value is associated with “subnet address”. In the design specification hierarchy table illustrated in FIG. 18, since the total number of hierarchies is 5, N = 5. The hierarchy information of the element “subnet address” is “1.1.1.2.0”, and the numerical value corresponding to the first hierarchy is “1” on the left. Therefore, k ₁ = 1. Therefore, when calculating the ^{10 _N-n} × _k ⁿ relation to a numerical value corresponding to the first ^layer, a ^{10 5-1} × 1. Similarly, with respect to numerical values corresponding to the other layers, to calculate the ^{10 _N-n} × _k ^n, when determining the total sum, elements related value p ^{is, 10 5-1 × 1 + 10 5-2} × 1 + 10 5-3 X1 + 10 ^5-4 x2 + 10 ^5-5 x0 = 11120. Similarly, the element-related value of the element “VLAN name” is 11110, and the element-related value of the element “VLAN that allows communication between VLANs” is 11220. Thus, the related question selection means 520 calculates the element related value of each element.

  Next, the related question selection means 520 determines whether the value obtained in step U4 is the smallest among the questions (hereinafter referred to as the minimum value duplication question) from among the elements corresponding to the step W1. The element having the element related value closest to the element related value of the element specified in (2) is specified (step W3). That is, the related question selection means 520 specifies the element having the same item number as the question number of the question of the minimum value duplication question, and the absolute difference between the element related values of the elements specified in step W1 among the elements is determined. Identify the element with the smallest element-related value.

  For example, it is assumed that the element specified in step W1 is a “subnet address”. Further, it is assumed that the elements corresponding to the minimum value duplication question are “VLAN name” and “VLAN that permits communication between VLANs”. The related question selection means 520 obtains the absolute value of the difference between the element related value “11120” of the element “subnet address” and the element related value “11110” of the element “VLAN name”. This value is | 11110-11120 | = 10. Similarly, the absolute value of the difference between the element related value of the element “subnet address” and the element related value of the element “VLAN that allows inter-VLAN communication” is obtained. This value is | 11220-11120 | = 100. Therefore, in this example, the related question selection unit 520 determines that the element is “VLAN name”. This means that the element most closely related to the element “subnet address” is “VLAN name”.

  The related question selection means 520 specifies the question corresponding to the element specified in step W3 and the choice of the answer from the question answer table (the question answer table regenerated in the design specification input promotion wizard generation means 150). (Step W4). The related question selection means 520 may specify the question having the same question number as the item number of the element specified in step W3 and the option to be the answer. The question identified in step W4 is the question most closely related to the previous question.

  When the related question selection means 520 identifies the question and the options to be the answer in step W4, the design specification input promotion wizard generation means 150 generates a wizard that displays each option to be the question and the answer, and uses the wizard as the wizard. The output means 240 is made to output. The operation of the design specification input promotion wizard generation means 150 is the same as that of the first embodiment.

  Hereinafter, the VLAN design support system 100 repeats the same operation until the design specification element table (in this example, the design specification element table with hierarchical information) is completed.

  Further, in the above example, the related question selection unit 520 calculates the element related value in Step W2, but when the value association unit 120 creates the design specification element table with hierarchical information, the element related value is previously stored for each element. A value may be calculated and associated with the element and added to the design specification element table with hierarchical information. In addition, a question answer table to which hierarchical information and element-related values are assigned in advance may be stored in the question answer table storage device 140 and used for the processing of the related question selection means 520.

  In addition, when the design specification input promotion wizard generation unit 150 determines a question to be presented to the network designer or customer as in the first embodiment, and there are a plurality of questions with the same number of remaining questions, the plurality of questions It may be possible to switch between presenting all questions or presenting the question specified by the related question selection means 520. For example, the switching instruction may be input from a network designer or a customer via an input device such as a keyboard, and a question to be presented may be specified according to the instruction.

  In addition, a process when the design specification hierarchy table is described in another form will be described. Hereinafter, the case where the design specification hierarchy table is represented by DTD will be described as an example. FIG. 22 is an explanatory diagram showing an example of a design specification hierarchy table expressed in DTD.

  “<! DOCTYPE PE VLAN design specification []” illustrated in the first line of FIG. 22 indicates that the name of this design specification hierarchy table is “VLAN design specification hierarchy table”.

  Each element is described in parentheses “<>” together with a character string “! ELEMENT”. The element name is described after the character string “! ELEMENT”. In addition to the element name, other information (for example, information on child elements) may be described.

  Each element is described indented (indented) as the hierarchy is lower. For example, a child element is described by being indented one step from its parent. Indentation may be performed by, for example, a tab (tab key). The hierarchy of each element can be specified by the number of indentation steps. For example, it can be seen that an element described by indenting one step from the description of the element in the first layer is the second layer. Thus, an element described by indenting m steps from the description of the element in the first layer is an element in the (1 + m) layer. In addition, the child elements are collectively described in a line below the parent element. Hereinafter, a description example of each element will be described with reference to FIG.

  “<! ELEMENT VLAN design specification (required specification, design policy)>” illustrated in the second line of FIG. 22 is not indented with respect to the description of other elements. It represents an element of one layer. The description on the second line indicates that the element name of the first layer is “VLAN design specification”, and that there are two elements “required specification” and “design policy” as child elements of this element. Yes.

  Further, “<! ELEMENT basic information (VLAN name ?, subnet address?)>” Illustrated in the fourth line of FIG. 22 includes “VLAN name” and “subnet address” as child elements of the element “basic information”. There are two elements, and each element appears 0 times or once.

  Also, “<! ELEMENT VLAN name (#PCDATA)>” illustrated in the fifth line of FIG. 22 indicates that an arbitrary character string is input as the value of the element “VLAN name”.

  In addition, “<! ELEMENT communication switch group (communication switch +)>” illustrated in the ninth line of FIG. 22 has one element of “communication switch” as a child element of the element “communication switch group”. Represents one or more times.

  As illustrated in FIG. 22, when the element hierarchy is expressed by the number of indentation levels, the value association unit 120 does not have to add hierarchy information to the design specification element table. In addition, the related question selection unit 520 refers to the design specification hierarchy table illustrated in FIG. 22 and identifies the question most closely related to the immediately previous question. The related question selection means 520 specifies an element in the DTD document of the design specification hierarchy table that has the same number of indentation steps as the element corresponding to the immediately preceding question or an element whose description line is close. This element is an element closely related to the element corresponding to the immediately preceding question, and the related question selecting unit 520 determines the question corresponding to the element as the next question.

The operation of this example will be described.
Also in this example, when the VLAN design support system 100 specifies the first question to the network designer or customer, the VLAN design support system 100 specifies the question as in the first embodiment.

  After presenting the initial question, the value associating unit 120 receives the value of the element in the design specification element table as an answer to the question from the network designer or customer via the wizard input unit 250. Then, the value association unit 120 associates the value with an element in the design specification element table. The design specification completion determination unit 130 determines whether or not the design specification element table is completed. If the design specification element table is not completed, the design specification element table is passed to the design specification input promotion wizard generation unit 150. . This operation is the same as in the first embodiment. When the unfinished design specification element table is passed, the design specification input promotion wizard generation means 150 already has a value in the design specification element table out of the question answer table stored in the question answer table storage device 140. By identifying a question corresponding to the associated element and deleting the row and column corresponding to the question from the question answer table, the question answer table is reformed. The operation of the design specification input promotion wizard generation means 150 is the same as the operation of step T1 in the first embodiment.

  Furthermore, the design specification input promotion wizard generation means 150 executes the process after step U1 (see FIG. 8) as the process of specifying a question (see step T2, FIG. 6). At this time, if there is one question whose value obtained for each question in step U4 (see FIG. 8) is the smallest among the questions, the question is determined as a question to be presented to the network designer or customer. The process proceeds in the same manner as in the first embodiment.

  When there are a plurality of questions for which the value obtained for each question in step U4 (see FIG. 8) is the smallest among the questions, the related question selection means 520 is answered immediately before the plurality of questions. Identify the question most relevant to the question. Specifically, the element having the deepest relationship with the element corresponding to the immediately previous question is specified, and the question corresponding to the element is determined as the next question.

  FIG. 23 is a flowchart illustrating an example of processing for specifying an element having the deepest relationship with the element corresponding to the immediately preceding question. The case where the design specification hierarchy table is described as shown in FIG. 22 will be described as an example. The related question selection means 520 selects an element of the design specification corresponding to the question answered immediately by the network administrator or the customer from the design specification hierarchy table (hereinafter referred to as DTD document) described in DTD (step) X1). The element corresponding to the immediately preceding question is an element having the same item number as the question number of the immediately preceding question, and the related question selecting unit 520 may select a line in which the element name of the element is described.

  Next, the related question selection means 520 selects the element selected in step X1 from the elements corresponding to the minimum value duplication question (a plurality of questions whose values obtained in step U4 are the smallest among the questions). Then, elements having the same number of indentation steps are extracted (step X2). It is assumed that the element (“VLAN name”) on the fifth line is selected at step X1. For example, if the number of indentation steps in the first line in FIG. 22 is 0, the number of indentation steps in the fifth line is four. Further, it is assumed that “subnet address” and “communication switch group” are included in the element group corresponding to the minimum value duplication question. In this case, the related question selection unit 520 has an element corresponding to the minimum value duplication question (line 6 “<! ELEMENT subnet address (#PCDATA)>”) and line 9 from the DTD document. "<! ELEMENT communication switch group (communication switch +)>") is extracted.

  After step X2, the related question selection means 520 excludes elements that are already associated with values from the elements extracted in step X2 (step X3).

  Next, it is determined whether or not there is one or more elements remaining in the process of step X3 (step X4). If one or more elements remain (Yes in step X4), the process proceeds to step X6. On the other hand, if no element remains after step X3 (No in step X4), the related question selection means 520 determines the number of indentation steps from the elements selected in step X1 among the elements corresponding to the minimum value duplication question. Is extracted from the DTD document (step X5), and the processing after step X3 is performed.

  In this example, if at least one of “subnet address” and “communication switch group” remains after the process of step X3, the process proceeds to step X6. If both “subnet address” and “communication switch group” are excluded in step X3, the process proceeds to step X5. In this case, since the number of indentation steps of the element selected in step X1 is 4, an element with an indentation step number of 3 is extracted. As an element with 3 indents, “<! ELEMENT basic information (VLAN name ?, subnet address?)>” On line 4 and “<! ELEMENT communication range (communication switch group, communication between VLANs) on line 8 ?)> ”Etc. Alternatively, an element whose number of indentation steps is 1 more than 4 may be extracted. As an element whose indentation level is 5, there is, for example, “<! ELEMENT communication switch (number of terminal connection ports, arbitrarily designated port?)” On the 10th line. In this example, each element on the fourth, eighth, and tenth lines is an element corresponding to the minimum value duplication question.

  In step X6, the related question selection means 520 determines whether there is an element having the same parent element as the element selected in step X1 among the elements remaining after the determination in step X4 (step X6). When there is an element having the same parent element as the element selected in Step X1 (Yes in Step X6), the related question selection unit 520 identifies the element as the element most closely related to the element selected in Step X1 ( Step X7). For example, it is assumed that there are two elements in the sixth and ninth rows after the determination in step X4. The parent element of the element on the sixth line is the element on the fourth line, and the parent element of the element on the fifth line selected in the process of step X1 is also the element on the fourth line, and the parent element is common. Therefore, it is determined that the element “subnet address” described in the sixth line is the element most closely related to the “VLAN name” selected in step X1. In step X7, when there are a plurality of elements having a common parent element, the related question selection unit 520 may arbitrarily select any one of them. Alternatively, all of the plurality of elements may be selected.

  When it is determined that there is no element having the same parent element as the element selected in step X1 (No in step X6), the process proceeds to step X8. In step X8, the related question selection unit 520 calculates a semantic distance between the element selected in step X1 and all the elements remaining after the determination in step X4. Here, the greater the description position in the DTD document, the greater the semantic distance, and the absolute value of the line number difference is determined as the semantic distance as shown below.

| (Line number in the DTD document of the element selected in step X1) − (line number in the DTD document of the element after the determination in step X4) |

  Then, the related question selection means 520 selects the element having the smallest semantic distance from the element selected in step X1 among the elements remaining after step X4, the element most closely related to the element selected in step X1. It is determined that

  For example, if the element selected in step X1 is “<! ELEMENT terminal port group (terminal port +)>” on the 20th line, the elements remaining after the determination in step X4 are “<! ELEMENT path” on the 14th line. Port (slot number, port number, connection destination switch name, connection destination slot number, connection destination port number)> ”and“ <! ELEMENT communication disabled port group (communication disabled port +)> ”on line 24 Suppose that The distance between the 20th line and the 14th line is | 20-14 | = 6. The distance between the 20th line and the 24th line is | 20-24 | = 4. Therefore, the related question selection unit 520 determines that the element most closely related to the “terminal port group” on the 20th line is the “communication disabled port group” on the 24th line.

  The related question selection means 520 may specify only the element most closely related to the element selected in step X1. Alternatively, the order of elements may be determined in ascending order of the distance calculated in step X8, and each element may be specified as a deeply related element.

  After Steps X7 and X8, the related question selection unit 520 displays a question corresponding to the element specified in Steps X7 and X8 in the question answer table (the question answer table regenerated in the design specification input promotion wizard generation unit 150). Identify from the inside. The related question selection means 520 may specify a question having the same question number as the item number of the element specified in steps X7 and X8.

  When the related question selection unit 520 specifies a question, the design specification input promotion wizard generation unit 150 generates a wizard that displays each option as the question and the answer, and causes the wizard output unit 240 to output the wizard. The operation of the design specification input promotion wizard generation means 150 is the same as that of the first embodiment. When the related question selection unit 520 determines the order of elements, a wizard that displays questions in that order is generated. In this case, the network designer or customer may freely answer questions that are easy to answer among the questions arranged.

  Hereinafter, the VLAN design support system 100 repeats the same operation until the design specification element table is completed.

  Further, another processing example of the related question selection unit 520 will be described. In this example, for each element name, a table (denoted as a related element order table) in which elements deeply related to the element are listed in a deeply related order is stored in the question answering table storage device 140 in advance. deep. In this example, it is not necessary to provide the design specification element hierarchy information storage device 510.

  FIG. 24 is an explanatory diagram illustrating an example of a related element order table stored in the question / answer table storage device 140. In the related element order table, all design specification elements are specified in the element name column, and for each element name, element names closely related to the element are described in the order of deep relation. For example, “subnet address, communication switch, inter-VLAN communication, port selection,...” Are described in descending order of relevance as the first element “VLAN name” in FIG. Note that FIG. 24 is an example, and the related element order table is not limited to the example shown in FIG.

  In this example, when there are a plurality of questions in which the value obtained for each question in step U4 (see FIG. 8) is the minimum value, the related question selection unit 520 refers to the related element order table, Identify the element most closely related to the element corresponding to the question, and identify the question corresponding to that element.

The operation of this example will be described.
When specifying the second and subsequent questions, the operations other than the case where there are a plurality of questions in which the value obtained for each question in step U4 (see FIG. 8) is the smallest among the questions are described above. This is the same as the fourth embodiment. The operation in this case will be described below. FIG. 25 is a flowchart showing an example of the operation when there are a plurality of questions whose values obtained for each question in step U4 (see FIG. 8) are the smallest among the questions.

  The related question selection means 520 selects the element of the design specification element corresponding to the question answered immediately before by the network administrator or the customer from the element name column in the related element order table (step Y1).

  Next, the related question selection means 520 selects one element closely related to the element selected in step Y1 from the related element order table (step Y2). The process of steps Y2 and Y3 is a loop process, but in step Y2, one element that has not yet been extracted from the related element order table in step Y2 is extracted in descending order of relevance with the element selected in step Y1. . For example, when “VLAN name” is selected in step Y1 and the process proceeds to step Y2 for the first time, “subnet address” is selected (see FIG. 24). Next, when the process proceeds to step Y2, “communication switch” is selected.

  After step Y2, the related question selection means 520 determines whether or not a value is associated with the element extracted in step Y2 in the design specification element table (step Y3). If the values are associated (No in step Y3), the processes after step Y2 are repeated. That is, the element having the next highest relevance with the element selected in step Y1 is extracted, and the determination in step S3 is performed again. If the values are not associated (Yes in step Y3), the related question selection unit 520 identifies the element extracted in step Y2 as the element most closely related to the element selected in step Y1 (step Y4).

  For example, if no value is associated with the “subnet address” extracted in step Y2, “subnet address” is specified as an element closely related to “VLAN name”. If a value is associated with “subnet address”, the next element “communication switch” is extracted in step Y2, and the determination in step Y3 is performed.

  After step Y4, the related question selection unit 520 specifies the question corresponding to the element specified in step Y4 from the question answer table (the question answer table regenerated in the design specification input promotion wizard generation unit 150). . The related question selection unit 520 may specify a question having the same question number as the item number of the element specified in step Y4.

  When the related question selection unit 520 specifies a question, the design specification input promotion wizard generation unit 150 generates a wizard that displays each option as the question and the answer, and causes the wizard output unit 240 to output the wizard. The operation of the design specification input promotion wizard generation means 150 is the same as that of the first embodiment.

  Next, the effect of the fourth embodiment will be described. In this embodiment, the same effect as that of the first embodiment can be obtained. Further, according to the fourth embodiment of the present invention, when the design specification input promotion wizard generation unit 150 specifies a question, if there are a plurality of questions with the minimum remaining number of questions, the related question selection unit 520 Identifies the question most closely related to the previous question from among the multiple questions. Therefore, it is possible to present a question with the remaining number of questions as small as possible and most relevant to the previous question. When a question related to the previous question is presented, it becomes easy for the respondent to answer, and the design specification can be completed easily.

  Moreover, you may apply 2nd Embodiment to said 3rd Embodiment or 4th Embodiment.

  Next, the outline of the present invention will be described. FIG. 26 is a block diagram showing an outline of the present invention. The VLAN design support system of the present invention includes an element list storage unit 91 (for example, a design specification element storage unit 110), a question answer information storage unit 92 (for example, a question answer table storage unit 140), and a value association unit 93 ( For example, value association means 120), determination means 94 (for example, design specification completion determination means 130), question specification means 95 (for example, design specification input promotion wizard generation means 150), and wizard generation means 96 (for example, Design specification input promotion wizard generation means 150).

  The element list storage unit 91 stores a list (for example, a design specification element table) of each element whose value is specified by the design specification.

  The question answer information storage means 92 includes a question that prompts input of an element value and each answer in an option format for the question for each element, and automatically narrows down by selecting an answer to the question and selecting the answer. Question answer information (for example, a question answer table) indicating the correspondence between the answers to other questions to be answered and other questions for which the answers are narrowed down is stored.

  When a value of an element in the list is input, the value association unit 93 associates the value with the element and adds it to the list.

  The determination unit 94 determines whether or not values are associated with all elements in the list.

  The question specifying unit 95 refers to the question answer information when there is an element that is not associated with a value in the list, and is a question that prompts input of an element that is not associated with a value, and satisfies a predetermined condition Identify the question.

  The wizard generation means 96 generates a wizard including a question and an answer in an option format for the question.

  With the configuration as described above, each element for which a value is specified by design specifications can be clarified efficiently. Therefore, it is possible to efficiently clarify the customer's request and accurately create the design specification.

  The above embodiment discloses a configuration in which the question specifying unit 95 specifies a question with the smallest number of questions after the next time as a question that satisfies a predetermined condition.

  In the above embodiment, the question specifying means 95 refers to the question answer information, and selects the answer for each answer of each question corresponding to each element that is not associated with a value. The number of remaining questions that are other questions that are not automatically narrowed down to one is automatically calculated, and for each question, the average number of remaining questions for each answer is calculated. A configuration for identifying a question is disclosed.

  Further, in the above embodiment, there is an element that is not associated with a value in the list even after an element value is input as an answer to the question included in the wizard generated by the wizard generation unit 96, thereby identifying the question. As a result of calculating the average value for each question by means 95, when there are a plurality of questions having the minimum average value, the question most relevant to the question that was answered immediately before is identified. Related question specifying means (for example, related question selecting means 520), and when the question is specified by the related question specifying means, the wizard generating means 96 generates a wizard including the question and an answer in an option format for the question. The structure to perform is disclosed.

In the above embodiment, each element is described hierarchically to represent the relationship between the elements, and for each element, a design specification hierarchy that describes hierarchical information in which numerical values for the total number of hierarchies are connected. A hierarchical storage unit (for example, a design specification element hierarchy information storage device 510) that stores a table (for example, the design specification hierarchy table illustrated in FIG. 18) is provided, and the element hierarchy information is a numerical value corresponding to the element hierarchy, An identification number is set to identify the element in the hierarchy, and the same numerical value as the parent element is determined as the numerical value corresponding to the hierarchy higher than the hierarchical level of the element, corresponding to the hierarchical level lower than the hierarchical level of the element 0 is defined as a numerical value to be processed, and the related question specifying means refers to the hierarchical information of each element for each element, sets the total number of layers to N, and the numerical value in the hierarchical information corresponding to the nth layer Where _n = 1 Each until n = N, 10 a _^N-n × k ⁿ was calculated to obtain the sum as an element related value, among the plurality of questions average number of the remaining question is minimized for each answer, corresponding elements A configuration is disclosed in which a question having a related value closest to an element related value corresponding to a question answered immediately before is identified as a question most relevant to the question answered immediately before.

  In the above embodiment, the design specification hierarchy table (for example, FIG. 22) is described in which each element is described hierarchically to represent the relationship between the elements, and the child element is indented with respect to the parent element. And a related question specifying means includes a plurality of questions with the smallest average number of remaining questions for each answer, the corresponding element immediately before The question that has the same parent element as the element corresponding to the answered question is identified as the question most relevant to the question that was answered immediately before, and if that question does not exist, it is answered immediately before The question corresponding to the element described in the position closest to the description position of the element corresponding to the question that was answered immediately before is 1 Identified as the most relevant question Configuration is disclosed that.

  In the above-described embodiment, for each element, related element order information (for example, a related element order table illustrated in FIG. 24) in which elements related to the element are listed in order of high relevance is stored. Related element storage means (for example, realized by the question / answer table storage device 140) is provided, and the related question specifying means responds among a plurality of questions that have the smallest average number of remaining questions for each answer. A configuration is disclosed in which a question that is most relevant to an element corresponding to a question answered immediately before is identified as a question that is most relevant to the question answered immediately before.

  Further, in the above embodiment, the question specifying unit 95 (for example, the priority question selecting unit 410 in the third embodiment) has the smallest number of answers as options in the next question as a question that satisfies a predetermined condition. A configuration for identifying a question is disclosed.

  In the above embodiment, the question specifying means 95 refers to the question answer information, and selects the answer for each answer of each question corresponding to each element that is not associated with a value. Finds the number of remaining questions that are other questions that are not automatically narrowed down to one, divides the number of unanswered questions for each remaining question by the number of questions, and for each question, The structure which calculates the average value of the division result calculated with respect to each answer, and specifies the question with which the average value becomes the minimum is disclosed.

  In the above embodiment, the design policy storage means (for example, the design policy correspondence table storage device 310) that stores design policy information (for example, the design policy correspondence table) in which the design policy is associated with the element and its value. When the design policy is input, the value association unit retrieves an element corresponding to the design policy and its value from the design policy information, and adds the retrieved value to the list in association with the element. A configuration is disclosed.

  In the above embodiment, the design policy storage means includes at least one of security, communication quality, cost control, fault tolerance, operation manageability, and effective use of resources. A configuration for storing design policy information including the above as a design policy is disclosed.

  Further, the above embodiment discloses a configuration in which the question / answer information storage unit 92 is a writable storage device.

  In the above embodiment, the element list storage unit 91 includes at least a VLAN name, a subnet address, a VLAN that permits inter-VLAN communication, the number of terminals connected to the switch, a VLAN-ID allocation policy, and a communication bandwidth setting policy. One or more of a detour route determination policy at the time of failure, whether communication between terminals in the VLAN is possible, a switch addition policy, a slot addition policy, a cable addition policy, or an existing VLAN change policy An arrangement for storing a list including is disclosed.

  The present invention is preferably applied to a VLAN design support system that supports upstream design related to a VLAN, and can be used for VLAN design construction and simulation.

It is a block diagram which shows the example of the VLAN design support system of the 1st Embodiment of this invention. It is explanatory drawing which shows the example of the design specification element table memorize | stored in a design specification element memory | storage device. It is explanatory drawing which shows the example of matching with an initial value and the inside of a design specification element table | surface. It is a flowchart which shows the example of the determination process whether the design specification element table was completed. It is explanatory drawing which shows the example of the question answer table memorize | stored in a question answer table memory | storage device. It is a flowchart which shows the example of the process which the design specification input promotion wizard production | generation means produces | generates a wizard. It is explanatory drawing which shows the example of the process which re-forms a question answer table. It is a flowchart which shows the example of a process of step T2. It is explanatory drawing which shows the example of a question answer table. It is a block diagram which shows the example of the VLAN design support system of the 2nd Embodiment of this invention. It is explanatory drawing which shows the example of a design policy corresponding table. It is explanatory drawing which shows the example of a design policy corresponding table. It is explanatory drawing which shows the example of a design policy corresponding table. It is explanatory drawing which shows the example of a design policy corresponding table. It is a block diagram which shows the example of the VLAN design support system of the 3rd Embodiment of this invention. It is a flowchart which shows the example of the process in which the priority question selection means 410 specifies a question. It is a block diagram which shows the example of the VLAN design support system of the 4th Embodiment of this invention. It is explanatory drawing which shows the example of a design specification hierarchy table | surface. It is explanatory drawing which shows the example of a design specification element table | surface with hierarchy information. It is a flowchart which shows the example of the process which specifies the question with the highest relevance to the last question. It is explanatory drawing which shows the example of calculation of an element related value. It is explanatory drawing which shows the example of the design specification hierarchy table | surface represented by DTD. It is a flowchart which shows the example of the process which specifies the element with the deepest relationship with the element corresponding to the last question. It is explanatory drawing which shows the example of a related element order table. It is a flowchart which shows the example of operation | movement when there exist multiple questions from which the value calculated | required for every question in step U4 becomes the minimum in each question. It is a block diagram which shows the outline | summary of this invention.

Explanation of symbols

DESCRIPTION OF SYMBOLS 110 Design specification element memory | storage device 120 Value matching means 130 Design specification completion determination means 140 Question answer table memory | storage device 150 Design specification input promotion wizard production | generation means

Claims (19)

Element list storage means for storing a list of each element whose value is specified in the design specification;
Each element contains a question that prompts you to enter the value of the element and the choice format for that question, the answer to the question, and the answers to other questions that are automatically filtered by selecting that answer, Question answer information storage means for storing question answer information indicating a correspondence relationship with other questions for which answers are narrowed down;
When a value of an element in the list is input, value association means for associating the value with the element and adding the value to the list;
Determining means for determining whether or not values are associated with all elements in the list;
When there is an element that is not associated with a value in the list, a question that prompts input of an element that is not associated with a value and that satisfies a predetermined condition is identified with reference to the question answer information Question identification means;
A VLAN design support system comprising: a wizard generation unit configured to generate a wizard including the question and an answer in an option format for the question. The VLAN design support system according to claim 1, wherein the question specifying unit specifies a question that has the smallest number of questions after the next time as a question that satisfies a predetermined condition. The question specifying means refers to the question answer information and automatically narrows down the answer to one by selecting the answer for each answer of each question corresponding to each element not associated with a value. The number of remaining questions that are not other questions is calculated, and for each question, an average value of the number of remaining questions for each answer is calculated, and a question having the minimum average value is identified. The VLAN design support system according to claim 2. Even after the element value is input as an answer to the question included in the wizard generated by the wizard generating means, there is an element that is not associated with a value in the list, so that the question specifying means calculates the average value for each question. As a result of the calculation, when there are a plurality of questions having the minimum average value, a related question specifying unit that specifies a question most relevant to the question answered immediately before among the plurality of questions is provided,
The VLAN design support system according to claim 3, wherein the wizard generation unit generates a wizard including the question and an answer in an option format for the question when the question is specified by the related question specifying unit. Hierarchical storage means for storing a design specification hierarchy table in which hierarchical information is described in which each element is described hierarchically to represent the relationship between the elements, and for each element, the hierarchical information in which the numerical values for all the hierarchical levels are linked. ,
In the element hierarchy information, an identification number for identifying the element in the hierarchy is defined as a numerical value corresponding to the element hierarchy, and the numerical value corresponding to a hierarchy higher than the element hierarchy is the same as the parent element. Is defined as a numerical value, and 0 is defined as a numerical value corresponding to a hierarchy lower than the hierarchy of the element,
Related questions specifying means, for each element, with reference to the hierarchy information of each element, the number of all layers is N, the numerical values in the hierarchy information corresponding to the n hierarchy when a k _n, n = 1 to each until n = n, 10 a _^n-n × k ⁿ was calculated to obtain the sum as an element related value, among the plurality of questions average number of the remaining question is minimized for each answer, corresponding elements The VLAN design support system according to claim 4, wherein a question whose related value is closest to an element related value corresponding to a question answered immediately before is specified as a question most relevant to the question answered immediately before. A hierarchical storage means for storing a design specification hierarchy table in which each element is described hierarchically to represent the relationship between the elements and the child element is indented relative to the parent element,
The related question specifying means has a parent element that is common to an element corresponding to a question answered immediately before, among a plurality of questions having an average number of remaining questions for each answer. A question having the highest relevance to the question answered immediately before, and if the question does not exist, the difference in the number of indentation steps from the element corresponding to the question answered immediately before is 1 The question corresponding to the element described in the position closest to the description position of the element corresponding to the question answered immediately before is identified as the question most relevant to the question answered immediately before The VLAN design support system according to claim 4. For each element, it is provided with related element storage means for storing related element order information in which elements related to the element are listed in descending order of relevance,
The related question identification means selects the question that has the highest correlation between the corresponding elements of the multiple questions that have the smallest average number of remaining questions for each answer and the element that corresponds to the most recently answered question. The VLAN design support system according to claim 4, wherein the VLAN design support system is specified as a question most relevant to the question answered immediately before. 2. The VLAN design support system according to claim 1, wherein the question specifying unit specifies a question having the smallest number of answers that can be selected in a next question as a question that satisfies a predetermined condition. The question specifying means refers to the question answer information and automatically narrows down the answer to one by selecting the answer for each answer of each question corresponding to each element not associated with a value. The number of remaining questions that are not other questions, divide the number of unrestricted answers of each remaining question by the number of questions, and for each question, the division calculated for each answer The VLAN design support system according to claim 8, wherein an average value of the results is calculated and a question that minimizes the average value is specified. Design policy storage means for storing design policy information that associates design policies with elements and their values,
The value association means, when a design policy is inputted, searches for an element corresponding to the design policy and its value from the design policy information, and adds the searched value to the list in association with the element. The VLAN design support system according to any one of claims 1 to 9. The design policy storage means includes at least one of security policy, communication quality, cost control, fault tolerance, operation manageability, and effective use of resources as design policy information. The VLAN design support system according to claim 10. The VLAN design support system according to any one of claims 1 to 11, wherein the question answer information storage means is a writable storage device. The element list storage means includes at least a VLAN name, a subnet address, a VLAN that permits inter-VLAN communication, the number of terminals connected to the switch, a VLAN-ID allocation policy, a communication bandwidth setting policy, a detour route determination policy when a failure occurs, A list including any one or more of whether or not communication between terminals in a VLAN, switch addition policy, slot addition policy, cable addition policy, and existing VLAN change policy is stored as an element is stored. Item 13. The VLAN design support system according to any one of items 12 to 13. Pre-store a list of each element whose value is specified in the design specification,
Each element contains a question that prompts you to enter the value of the element and an answer in the form of choices for that question, the answer to the question, and the answers to other questions that are automatically filtered when that answer is selected, Pre-store question answer information indicating the correspondence with other questions for which answers are narrowed down,
When a value of an element in the list is input, the value is associated with the element and added to the list;
Determine whether or not values are associated with all elements in the list;
When there is an element that is not associated with a value in the list, the question answer information is referred to and a question that prompts input of an element that is not associated with a value and that satisfies a predetermined condition is identified. ,
A VLAN design support method, comprising: generating a wizard including the question and an answer in an option format for the question. The VLAN design support method according to claim 14, wherein a question that minimizes the number of questions after the next time is specified as a question that satisfies a predetermined condition. The VLAN design support method according to claim 14, wherein the question that satisfies the predetermined condition is specified as a question that minimizes the number of answers that can be selected in the next question. An element list storage means for storing a list of each element for which a value is specified in the design specification, a question that prompts input of an element value, and each answer in an option format for the question are included for each individual element. A question answer information storage unit for storing answers, answers to other questions that are automatically narrowed down when the answer is selected, and question answer information indicating a correspondence relationship with the other questions for which the answers are narrowed down A VLAN design support program installed in a computer,
In the computer,
When a value of an element in the list is input, a value association process for associating the value with the element and adding it to the list;
Determination processing for determining whether or not values are associated with all elements in the list;
When there is an element that is not associated with a value in the list, the question answer information is referred to and a question that prompts input of an element that is not associated with a value and that satisfies a predetermined condition is specified. A VLAN design support program for executing a question specifying process and a wizard generating process for generating a wizard including the question and an answer in an option format for the question. In the computer,
18. The VLAN design support program according to claim 17, wherein in the question specifying process, a question with the smallest number of questions after the next time is specified as a question that satisfies a predetermined condition. In the computer,
The VLAN design support program according to claim 17, wherein the question specifying process causes a question with the smallest number of answers to be selected as a next question to be specified as a question that satisfies a predetermined condition.

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