JP2012128577A - Linkage support device, program, linkage support method, linkage support system and communication device - Google Patents

Abstract

PROBLEM TO BE SOLVED: To facilitate selection of application to be linked.SOLUTION: A first application identifier and a second application identifier are received. A type of output data of the first application and a type of input data of the second application are specified based on an application database that stores an application identifier for identifying an application, a type of input data of the application and a type of output data of the application in association with each other. A candidate for an application to be linked with the first application and the second application is extracted based on the specified types of output data and input data and the stored contents of the application database.

Description

  The present invention relates to a technique for linking applications.

A technique for linking a plurality of application programs (hereinafter referred to as “applications”) is known. The application cooperation means that a result obtained by executing the first application is delivered to the second application, and the second application executes processing according to the delivered result.
In order to link two applications, for example, it is necessary to satisfy certain conditions such that the type of output data of the first application matches the type of input data of the second application. Therefore, techniques for supporting selection of applications to be linked have been proposed. For example, in Patent Document 1, an application that can be linked to the application is extracted by comparing an item of data output from the application with a condition (an item of input data of another application) held in the linked server device. Techniques to do this have been proposed. In Patent Literature 2, by comparing the data item specified by the application with the condition (data item received or transmitted by another application) held in the data linkage device, an application that can be linked with the application is obtained. Extraction techniques have been proposed.

JP 2010-250386 A JP 2006-190008 A

In the techniques disclosed in Patent Documents 1 and 2, since only applications that can be linked to one application are extracted, it is troublesome for the user to narrow down candidates for linkage.
An object of the present invention is to facilitate selection of an application to be linked.

  The cooperation support apparatus according to claim 1 identifies a first application identifier for identifying a first application to be executed first and a second application to be executed last when a plurality of applications are linked. Receiving means for receiving the second application identifier, an application database for identifying the application, an input data type of the application, and an output data type of the application in association with each other. , Specifying means for specifying the type of output data of the first application and the type of input data of the second application, the type of output data and input data specified by the specifying means, and the application database Based on the stored contents, a cooperation candidate list that is data indicating candidate applications to be linked to the first application and the second application is created, and the created cooperation candidate lists are used as the first and second applications. A cooperation candidate list creating means for transmitting to an identifier transmission source, an application identifier indicating an application selected from the cooperation candidate list is received from the transmission source, and includes the application identifier and the first and second application identifiers It has the cooperation rule preparation means which produces the cooperation rule which is data, It is characterized by the above-mentioned.

The cooperation support device according to claim 2 is the cooperation support device according to claim 1, wherein the cooperation candidate list creation unit creates a cooperation candidate list including priority of each candidate when the cooperation candidate list is displayed. Then, an application that outputs the same type of output data as the input data specified by the specifying means is extracted from the application database, and among the extracted applications, the application corresponding to the first application, or the first The priority of an application that inputs data of the same type as the output data of the other application as input data is higher than the priority of other applications.
The cooperation support device according to claim 3 is the cooperation support device according to claim 2, wherein the specifying unit is configured to select an application selected from the cooperation candidate list when the cooperation rule is created by the cooperation rule creation unit. The type of input data is specified, and the cooperation candidate list creating unit extracts an application that outputs output data of the same type as the type of input data specified by the specifying unit from the application database, and among the extracted applications The priority of an application corresponding to the first application or an application that inputs data of the same type as the output data of the first application as input data is made higher than the priority of other applications. And
The cooperation support device according to claim 4 is the cooperation support device according to any one of claims 1 to 3, wherein the cooperation candidate list creation unit includes a cooperation rule including the first application and the second application. When created in the past, the priority of an application designated as an application to be linked to the first application and the second application in the linkage rule is made higher than that of another application. To do.
The cooperation support device according to claim 5 is the cooperation support device according to any one of claims 1 to 4, wherein the application database stores information indicating whether the application is a candidate of an application to be executed first. The association candidate list creating means stores the application selected from the cooperation candidate list not an application candidate to be executed first, and the application requires input data input. In some cases, the type of input data of the application is specified by the specifying means, and the cooperation candidate list is created based on the specified type of input data and the stored contents of the application database. To do.

The program according to claim 6 identifies a first application identifier for identifying a first application to be executed first when a computer is linked with a plurality of applications, and a second application to be executed last. Application database for storing a second application identifier for receiving, an application identifier for identifying the application, a type of input data of the application, and a type of output data of the application in association with each other The specifying means for specifying the type of output data of the first application and the type of input data of the second application, the type of output data and input data specified by the specifying means, and the application Based on the stored contents of the database, a cooperation candidate list that is data indicating application candidates to be linked to the first application and the second application is created, and the created cooperation candidate lists are used as the first and second cooperation candidate lists. A cooperation candidate list creating means for transmitting to the transmission source of the application identifier, an application identifier indicating the application selected from the cooperation candidate list is received from the transmission source, and the application identifier and the first and second application identifiers It is made to function as a cooperation rule preparation means which produces the cooperation rule which is data containing.
The cooperation support method according to claim 7 includes a first application identifier for identifying a first application to be executed first when the communication unit links a plurality of applications, and a second application to be executed last. A first step of receiving a second application identifier for identifying the application, an application identifier for identifying an application, a type of input data of the application, a type of output data of the application, A second step of specifying the type of output data of the first application and the type of input data of the second application based on the application database stored in association with each other, and the control unit specifies in the second step Output data and input data Separately, based on the stored contents of the application database, a cooperation candidate list that is data indicating candidate applications to be linked to the first application and the second application is created, and the communication unit creates the linkage A third step of transmitting a candidate list to a transmission source of the first and second application identifiers; and a communication unit receives an application identifier indicating an application selected from the cooperation candidate list from the transmission source, and a control unit Has a fourth step of creating a cooperation rule that is data including the application identifier and the first and second application identifiers.

  A cooperation support system according to an eighth aspect includes a communication device and a cooperation support device, and the communication device identifies a first application to be executed first when a plurality of applications are linked. And a second application identifier for identifying the second application to be executed last, to the cooperation support device, the cooperation support device from the communication device to the first An application database that receives the application identifier and the second application identifier and stores the application identifier for identifying the application, the type of input data of the application, and the type of output data of the application in association with each other The first application Based on the specifying means for specifying the type of output data and the type of input data of the second application, the type of output data and input data specified by the specifying means, and the storage contents of the application database A cooperation candidate list creating means for creating a cooperation candidate list that is data indicating candidate applications to be linked to the first application and the second application, and transmitting the created cooperation candidate list to the communication means; The communication device includes a display unit that displays the cooperation candidate list received from the cooperation support device, and transmits an application identifier indicating the application selected from the cooperation candidate list to the cooperation support device by the transmission unit. The cooperation support apparatus received from the communication means A communication rule creating unit that creates a collaboration rule that is data including an application identifier and the first and second application identifiers, and the communication unit creates a collaboration rule created by the collaboration rule creation unit, using the communication unit. It is characterized by transmitting to.

  The communication apparatus according to claim 9 is for identifying a first application identifier for identifying a first application to be executed first and a second application to be executed last when a plurality of applications are linked. By means of an application database storing a designation means for designating a second application identifier, an application identifier for identifying the application, a type of input data of the application, and a type of output data of the application, A specifying means for specifying a type of output data of the first application and a type of input data of the second application, a type of output data and input data specified by the specifying means, and a storage in the application database Based on the above, a cooperation candidate list creating means for creating a cooperation candidate list that is data indicating candidate applications to be linked to the first application and the second application, and a display means for displaying the cooperation candidate list And an application identifier indicating an application selected from the cooperation candidate list by the specifying means and a cooperation rule creating means for creating a cooperation rule that is data including the first and second application identifiers. .

  According to the present invention, it is possible to easily select an application to be linked.

It is a figure which shows the whole structure of embodiment. 2 is a diagram illustrating a hardware configuration of a communication device 100. FIG. 2 is a diagram illustrating a hardware configuration of an application management apparatus 500. FIG. It is a figure which shows the structure of application database DB-1. It is a figure which shows the hardware constitutions of the cooperation assistance apparatus 600. 2 is a diagram illustrating a hardware configuration of a history management device 700. FIG. It is a figure which shows operation | movement of embodiment. It is a figure which shows the procedure of the process in step S110. 6 is a diagram showing an image displayed on the display unit 108. FIG. 6 is a diagram showing an image displayed on the display unit 108. FIG.

(1) Embodiment An embodiment of the present invention will be described.
(1.1) Configuration FIG. 1 is a diagram showing the overall configuration of the present embodiment. The main components of the present embodiment are a communication device 100, a mobile communication network 200, a communication network 400, an application management device 500, a cooperation support device 600, and a history management device 700.
The communication device 100 is a mobile phone that performs communication in accordance with, for example, an IMT-2000 (International Mobile Telecommunication 2000) communication standard. The mobile communication network 200 includes a base station 210 and an exchange 220, and realizes a call and packet communication by the communication apparatus 100. The communication network 400 is a communication network for performing communication according to a communication protocol such as TCP / IP (Transmission Control Protocol / Internet Protocol) or HTTP (HyperText Transfer Protocol). The gateway server 300 performs communication protocol conversion between the mobile communication network 200 and the communication network 400. Actually, many communication apparatuses 100, base stations 210, and exchanges 220 other than those shown are provided, but they are not shown.

  FIG. 2 is a diagram illustrating a hardware configuration of the communication apparatus 100. The communication device 100 includes a control unit 101, a storage unit 102, a packet communication unit 103, a call unit 104, a microphone 105, a speaker 106, an operation unit 107, a display unit 108, an antenna 109, an IC (Integrated Circuit) card terminal 110, and GPS reception. The unit 112 is provided.

The control unit 101 includes a CPU (Central Processing Unit), a ROM (Read Only Memory), and a RAM (Random Access Memory) (all not shown). The storage unit 102 is, for example, a semiconductor memory that retains memory even when power is not supplied. The storage unit 102 stores an OS (Operating System), and controls the operation of the communication apparatus 100 when the control unit 101 executes the OS. Further, the storage unit 102 stores a browser program, and the control unit 101 causes the display unit 108 to display a document based on HTML (HyperText Markup Language) data or the like when the browser program is executed.
The packet communication unit 103 is a communication interface for connecting the communication device 100 to the mobile communication network 200 and performing packet communication. The packet communication unit 103 generates a packet based on the data supplied from the CPU 101, and transmits this packet to the base station 210 via the antenna 109. Further, when the packet transmitted from the base station is received by the antenna 109, the packet communication unit 103 connects the packets and supplies them to the CPU 101.

The call unit 104 is a communication interface for connecting the communication device 100 to the mobile communication network 200 to make a call. The microphone 105 supplies an audio signal representing the input audio to the call unit 104, and the call unit 104 transmits this audio signal to the base station 210. In addition, the communication unit 104 supplies the audio signal received from the base station 210 to the speaker 106, and the speaker 106 converts the audio signal into audio and outputs it.
The operation unit 107 is a group of operators for operating the communication apparatus 100, such as turning on / off the power, starting / ending a call, inputting a number / symbol / character, selecting a menu displayed on the display unit 108, and the like. It has a control for.
The display unit 108 is a liquid crystal display device, for example, and displays an image based on the image data supplied from the control unit 101.

The IC card 111 is a storage medium that is called a UIM (User Identity Module), a USIM (Universal Subscriber Identity Module), or the like and has an IC chip embedded in a resin plate that retains memory even when power is not supplied. The IC card 111 stores a user identifier for uniquely identifying a user, a carrier identifier for uniquely identifying a communication carrier, a telephone number, and the like. When the power is turned on after mounting, the control unit 101 permits a call or packet communication.
A GPS (Global Positioning System) receiving unit 112 receives a GPS signal transmitted from a GPS satellite, and supplies the received GPS signal to the control unit 101.

  FIG. 3 is a diagram illustrating a hardware configuration of the application management apparatus 500. The application management apparatus 500 includes a control unit 501, a storage unit 502, and a communication unit 503. The control unit 501 includes a CPU, a ROM, and a RAM (all not shown). The storage unit 502 is, for example, a hard disk storage device, and stores an OS and an application management program P-1. The control unit 501 controls the operation of the application management apparatus 500 by executing the OS and the application management program P-1. The communication unit 503 is a communication interface for connecting the application management apparatus 500 to the communication network 400.

  The storage unit 502 stores a plurality of applications in association with application identifiers for uniquely identifying each application. The control unit 501 transmits an application to the communication device 100 in response to a request from the communication device 100. Specifically, when the user activates the browser of the communication apparatus 100 and instructs to download a desired application on the browser screen, the control unit 101 manages a download request including an application identifier corresponding to the application. To device 500. The control unit 501 reads an application corresponding to the received application identifier from the storage unit 502 and transmits the application to the communication apparatus 100.

The storage unit 502 stores an application database DB-1. FIG. 4 is a diagram showing the configuration of the application database DB-1.
The application identifier is an identifier for uniquely identifying an application.
The application name is a name given to the application.
The type of input data is a type of data that requires input to the application when the application is executed.
The type of output data is the type of data output by the application when the application is executed.

Next, the Event application and the Action application will be described. In this embodiment, when a user selects a plurality of applications to be linked, first, an Event application and an Action application are selected.
The Event application is an application executed first among a plurality of applications to be linked. Therefore, the Event application must be an application that delivers information to another application when a specific event occurs, such as an incoming e-mail, reception of a GPS signal, or a transition of the display state of the display unit 108. Therefore, for example, an application that operates by receiving data from another application cannot be an application to be executed first, and thus is not a candidate for an Event application.

On the other hand, the Action application is an application executed last among a plurality of applications to be linked. For this reason, the Action application must be an application that completes processing by executing the application, such as displaying text, outputting sound, and switching the display state of the display unit 108. Therefore, for example, an application that is terminated only by passing data to another application cannot be an application to be executed last, and therefore cannot be a candidate for an Action application.
In the present embodiment, the number of applications to be linked may be any number as long as it is two or more. That is, when N (N is an integer of 2 or more) applications are linked, the Nth application to be executed is the Action application.

The Event application candidate column shown in FIG. 4 indicates whether or not the application is a candidate for the Event application.
The Action application candidate column indicates whether or not the application is a candidate for an Action application, and “◯” indicates that the application is a candidate for an Action application, and “X” indicates that the application is not a candidate.
The remark is a description of the function of the application.

Next, each application will be described.
The map application is an application that receives position information from an application that outputs position information, and causes the display unit 108 to display a map in a certain range around the position represented by the position information. Therefore, the map application is not a candidate for the Event application but a candidate for the Action application.
Next, the new mail checker is an application that, when an email arrives at the communication device 100, passes the subject, body, and sender's email address of the email to another application. However, the new mail checker does not display the subject, text and mail address. Therefore, the new mail checker is a candidate for the Event application, but is not a candidate for the Action application.
Next, the transfer guidance application receives these pieces of information from the application that outputs the departure station, the arrival station, and the required time, searches for the transfer station using the received information as a search condition, and displays the search result on the display unit 108. This is an application that delivers search results to other applications. Therefore, the transfer guidance application is not a candidate for the Event application but a candidate for the Action application.

Next, the text-to-speech application is an application that receives text from an application that outputs text and outputs audio corresponding to the text from the speaker 106. Therefore, the text-to-speech application is not a candidate for the Event application but a candidate for the Action application.
Next, the current position acquisition application is an application that delivers position information representing the current position of the communication device 100 to another application based on the GPS signal received by the communication device 100. However, the current position acquisition application does not display position information. Therefore, the current position acquisition application is a candidate for the Event application, but is not a candidate for the Action application.

  Next, the screen ON / OFF control application outputs a control signal for another application according to the state of the display unit 108, and the display state of the display unit 108 according to the control signal output from the other application This is an application having a function of switching. For example, when it is detected that the display unit 108 has transitioned from a state where no image is displayed to a state where an image is displayed, the screen ON / OFF control application outputs a control signal for starting another application. Alternatively, when a control signal is received from another application, the screen ON / OFF control application makes a transition from a state where an image is displayed on the display unit 108 to a state where no image is displayed. Therefore, the screen ON / OFF control application is a candidate for the Event application and a candidate for the Action application.

Next, when the music playback application receives a control signal from another application, the music playback application outputs a musical sound based on the music file associated with the music playback application from the speaker 106. Therefore, the music playback application is not an Event application candidate but an Action application candidate.
Next, the translation application is an application that receives text from an application that outputs text, translates the text into text in a specified language, and delivers the translated text to another application. However, the translation application does not display the translated text. Therefore, the translation application is neither a candidate for the Event application nor a candidate for the Action application. However, the translation application can be a candidate for an application to be executed between the Event application and the Action application when three or more applications are linked.
Next, the restaurant search application is an application that receives position information from an application that outputs position information, and causes the display unit 108 to display restaurant names within a certain range from the position represented by the position information. Therefore, the restaurant search application is not a candidate for the Event application but a candidate for the Action application.
The above is the contents of the application database DB-1. When receiving a search request for an application from the cooperation support apparatus 600, the control unit 501 searches the application database DB-1 according to the search request, and transmits the search result to the cooperation support apparatus 600.

FIG. 5 is a diagram illustrating a hardware configuration of the cooperation support apparatus 600. The cooperation support apparatus 600 includes a control unit 601, a storage unit 602, and a communication unit 603. The control unit 601 includes a CPU, a ROM, and a RAM (all not shown). The storage unit 602 is, for example, a hard disk storage device, and stores an OS and a cooperation support program P-2. The control unit 601 controls the operation of the cooperation support apparatus 600 by executing the OS and the cooperation support program P-2. The communication unit 603 is a communication interface for connecting the cooperation support apparatus 600 to the communication network 400.
The cooperation support apparatus 600 presents cooperation candidates that are candidates for applications to be linked to the Event application and Action application specified by the user to the user, and creates a cooperation rule indicating the execution order of the applications specified by the user. To do. This linkage rule is data in which application identifiers are written in the order of execution of the applications to be linked.

FIG. 6 is a diagram illustrating a hardware configuration of the history management device 700. The history management apparatus 700 includes a control unit 701, a storage unit 702, and a communication unit 703. The control unit 701 includes a CPU, a ROM, and a RAM (all not shown). The storage unit 702 is, for example, a hard disk storage device, and stores an OS and a history management program P-3. The control unit 701 controls the operation of the history management apparatus 700 by executing the OS and the history management program P-3. The communication unit 703 is a communication interface for connecting the history management device 700 to the communication network 400.
The storage unit 702 stores a history database DB-2 that accumulates cooperation rules created by the cooperation support apparatus 600. When receiving a search request for a cooperation rule including a combination of a specific Event application and an Action application from the cooperation support apparatus 600, the control unit 701 searches the history database DB-2 according to the search request, and searches the cooperation support apparatus 600 for the search result. Send to.

(1.2) Operation FIG. 7 is a diagram illustrating the operation of the present embodiment.
The control unit 101 of the communication apparatus 100 executes the browser program, the control unit 501 of the application management apparatus 500 executes the application management program P-1, and the control unit 601 of the cooperation support apparatus 600 executes the cooperation support program P-2. The control unit 701 of the history management apparatus 700 executes the history management program P-3.
In step S <b> 101, when a user inputs an application cooperation rule creation instruction to the browser, the control unit 101 of the communication apparatus 100 transmits a cooperation rule creation request to the cooperation support apparatus 600.
In step S <b> 102, the control unit 601 of the cooperation support apparatus 600 receives the creation request, and transmits a search request for the Event application candidate and the Action application candidate to the application management apparatus 500.

In step S <b> 103, the control unit 501 of the application management apparatus 500 extracts a record corresponding to the Event application candidate and a record corresponding to the Action application candidate from the application database DB- 1, and sends the extracted record to the cooperation support apparatus 600. Send. Here, the record includes all information associated with the application in the application database DB-1.
In step S <b> 104, the control unit 601 of the cooperation support apparatus 600 stores the record received from the application management apparatus 500 in the storage unit 602 and transfers this record to the communication apparatus 100.

  In step S105, the control unit 101 of the communication apparatus 100 accepts designation of an Event application and an Action application. Specifically, as illustrated in FIG. 9A, the control unit 101 causes the display unit 108 to display an operation element image of “Event application selection” and “Action application selection”. The user designates an application by moving the cursor on the screen using the operation unit 107 and clicking a desired item. When the user clicks “Select event application”, the control unit 101 extracts an application name corresponding to the Event application candidate from the received record, and displays an image of an operator having the extracted application name. According to FIG. 4, since the Event application candidates are the new mail checker, the current position acquisition application, and the screen ON / OFF control application, as shown in FIG. 9B, operators indicating these are displayed. On this screen, when the user clicks “new mail checker”, for example, the control unit 101 displays an image indicating that the new mail checker is selected as the Event application, as shown in FIG. 9C. Let

  Next, when the user clicks “Select Action Application”, the control unit 101 extracts an application name corresponding to the Action application candidate from the received record, and displays an image of an operator having the extracted application name. . According to FIG. 4, since the Action application candidates are a map application, a transfer guidance application, a text-to-speech application, a screen ON / OFF control application, a music playback application, and a restaurant search application, as shown in FIG. Is displayed. Although only the third candidate is shown in the figure, candidates that cannot be displayed are displayed by scrolling the image using the operation unit 107. When the user clicks one of the application names on this screen, the process proceeds to the next step. Here, it is assumed that “text reading application” is selected as the Action application.

In step S <b> 106, the control unit 101 transmits an application identifier corresponding to the Event application specified by the user and an application identifier corresponding to the Action application to the cooperation support apparatus 600.
In step S107, the control unit 601 of the cooperation support apparatus 600 specifies the type of output data of the Event application and the type of input data of the Action application based on the record stored in the storage unit 602 in step S104. The type of output data of the new mail checker is text and address, and the type of input data of the text-to-speech application is text.

In step S <b> 108, the control unit 601 specifies the type of input data of the application designated as the application to be linked to the Action application, and transmits a search request for an application that outputs output data of the same type to the application management apparatus 500. To do. However, in the first process of this step, since the application linked with the Action application has not been specified yet, in this case, a search for an application that outputs output data of the same type as the input data type of the Action application is performed. Send a request. In this example, since the text-to-speech application is designated as the Action application, the control unit 601 transmits an application search request that uses the text that is the input data type of the application as output data.
In step S109, the control unit 501 extracts a record corresponding to the search request from the application database DB-1, creates a cooperation candidate list including the extracted record, and transmits the cooperation candidate list to the cooperation support apparatus 600. . In this example, a record of an application having text as output data is written in the cooperation candidate list.

In step S <b> 110, the control unit 601 receives from the application management apparatus 500. Here, an application that has already been specified as an Action application and an application that has been specified as an application linked to the Action application are excluded from the cooperation candidate list. Then, the control unit 601 determines the priority of each cooperation candidate included in the cooperation candidate list. The control unit 601 increases the priority of the application to be selected with priority. FIG. 8 is a diagram showing a procedure of processing in step S110. Note that the priority of each cooperation candidate is initialized to 0 each time step S110 is executed.
In step S201, the control unit 601 determines whether or not the Event application specified in step S105 is included in the cooperation candidate list. If included (step S201: YES), the process proceeds to step S202. Then, 1 is added to the priority of the cooperation candidate. If the Event application is not included in the cooperation candidate list (step S201: NO), the priority remains unchanged. In this example, since the new mail checker specified as the Event application is included in the cooperation candidate list, the priority of the new mail checker is 1.

  In step S203, the control unit 601 determines whether an application that inputs data of the same type as the output data of the Event application specified in step S105 is included in the cooperation candidate list. If yes (step S203: YES), the process proceeds to step S204, and 1 is added to the priority of the cooperation candidate. If the corresponding application is not included in the cooperation candidate list (step S203: NO), the priority remains unchanged. In this example, the type of output data of the new mail checker designated as the Event application is text and address, and among the cooperation candidates, the text is input as the translation application, so the priority of the translation application is 1

In step S205, the control unit 601 transmits a search request for a cooperation rule having a combination of the Event application and the Action application specified in step S105 to the history management apparatus 700. In step S206, the control unit 701 of the history management apparatus 700 searches the history database DB-2 and transmits the search result to the cooperation support apparatus 600.
In step S207, the control unit 601 receives the search result, and determines whether or not a cooperation rule having a combination of the Event application and the Action application specified in step S105 is included in the search result. If the corresponding cooperation rule is included (step S207: YES), the process proceeds to step S208, and 1 is added to the priority of the applications other than the Event application and the Action application among the applications included in the cooperation rule. . If the corresponding cooperation rule is not included in the search result (step S207: NO), the priority remains unchanged.
The above is the content of the process executed by the control unit 601 in step S110.

Returning to FIG. In step S111, the control unit 601 writes the priority value determined in step S110 in association with each cooperation candidate in the cooperation candidate list, and transmits this cooperation candidate list to the communication apparatus 100. In this example, the new mail checker, the transfer guidance application, and the translation application are included in the cooperation candidate list. Among these, the new mail checker and the translation application have a priority of 1, and the transfer guidance application has a priority of 0.
In step S112, the control unit 101 of the communication apparatus 100 causes the display unit 108 to display the received cooperation candidate list. FIG. 10A is a diagram illustrating an image displayed on the display unit 108. The control unit 101 displays the number of ★ marks corresponding to the priority value on the left side of each application name. When the user designates any cooperation candidate, the process proceeds to step S113, and the control unit 101 transmits an application identifier corresponding to the designated cooperation candidate to the cooperation support apparatus 600. Here, it is assumed that a translation application is designated.

  In step S114, the control unit 601 determines from the cooperation candidate list whether or not the cooperation candidate designated by the user is an Event application candidate. If the cooperation candidate is an Event application candidate (step S114: YES), the application is the first application to be executed, and no further cooperation candidates are selected. In this case, the process proceeds to step S <b> 116, and the control unit 601 creates a cooperation rule that associates the application identifier of the application designated so far with the execution order of each application, and transmits it to the history management apparatus 700. The control unit 701 stores the received cooperation rule in the storage unit 702. On the other hand, when the cooperation candidate designated by the user is not an Event application candidate (step S114: NO), the process proceeds to step S115. In this example, since the translation application is not an Event application candidate, the process proceeds to step S115.

In step S115, the control unit 601 determines from the cooperation candidate list whether the cooperation candidate designated by the user is an application that does not require input data. If the application does not require input data input (step S115: YES), the application is the first application to be executed, and no further cooperation candidates are selected. In this case, the process proceeds to step S116, and the control unit 601 creates a cooperation rule including the applications specified so far, and transmits this cooperation rule to the communication device 100 and the history management device 700 (steps S117 and S118). On the other hand, when the cooperation candidate designated by the user is not an application that does not require input data (step S115: NO), the process proceeds to step S119. In this example, since the translation application is not an application that does not require input data, the process proceeds to step S119.
In step S119, the control unit 601 specifies the type of input data of the cooperation candidate designated by the user from the cooperation candidate list. In this example, the type of input data of the translation application is text. When the above processing is completed, the process returns to step S108.

  In step S108, the control unit 601 transmits to the application management apparatus 500 a search request for an application that outputs output data of the same type as the input data of the cooperation candidate specified by the user. In this example, since the input data of the translation application is text, the application management apparatus 500 searches for an application that uses text as output data. Applications that use text as output data are a new mail checker, a transfer guidance application, and a translation application, so these are extracted as cooperation candidates.

Then, the process after step S109 is performed. Here, since the translation application has already been specified as an application linked to the Action application, the translation application is excluded from the cooperation candidate list. Then, in step S110, the priority of the new mail checker is determined to be 1 and the priority of the transfer guidance application is determined to be 0. In step S112, the cooperation candidate list is displayed as shown in FIG. If the user designates a new mail checker, since the new mail checker is an Event application candidate (step S114: YES), the control unit 601 associates the new mail checker, the translation application, and the text-to-speech application in this order. The cooperation rule shown is created (step S116), and this cooperation rule is transmitted to the communication device 100 and the history management device 700 (steps S117 and S118). As shown in FIG. 10C, the control unit 101 of the communication apparatus 100 causes the display unit 108 to display an image indicating this cooperation rule. When the user clicks an operation element displayed as “execution”, the control unit 101 performs control. The unit 101 executes each application according to the cooperation rule. On the other hand, the control unit 701 of the history management device 700 stores the received cooperation rule in the storage unit 702.
The above is the operation of the present embodiment.

  According to the present embodiment, the Event application (the first application to be executed) and the Action application (the last application to be executed) are designated by the user, and the candidate application suitable for cooperation with these is presented. It is possible to efficiently select an application to be linked. Also, the same type as the input data of the application that outputs the same type of output data as the input data of the Action application, or the application with the earliest execution order except for the Event application among the applications specified as the applications linked to the Action application Since the application that outputs the output data is presented as a cooperation candidate, only applications that can be cooperated can be presented. In addition, among the cooperation candidates, since the priority of the application that inputs the same type of data as the output data of the Event application and the Event application is increased, a cooperation rule that connects the Event application and the Action application in the shortest time is created. It can be made easier. In addition, when the same combination of Event application and Action application as the linkage rule created in the past is specified, the priority of the application specified between the Event application and Action application in the linkage rule is increased. This makes it easy for the user to identify the selected application.

(2) Modifications Modifications shown below may be combined with each other.
(2.1) Modification 1
The cooperation support apparatus 600 may have the function of the application management apparatus 500. That is, the application management program P-1 and the application database DB-1 may be stored in the storage unit 602, and the control unit 601 may execute the application management program P-1.
The cooperation support apparatus 600 may have the function of the history management apparatus 700. That is, the history management program P-3 and the history database DB-2 may be stored in the storage unit 602, and the control unit 601 may execute the history management program P-3.
The communication apparatus 100 may have the function of the cooperation support apparatus 600. That is, the cooperation support program P-2 may be stored in the storage unit 102, and the control unit 101 may execute the cooperation support program P-2. Furthermore, the communication apparatus 100 may have the function of at least one of the application management apparatus 500 and the history management apparatus 700.

(2.2) Modification 2
Of the processing in step S110, steps S201 and S202 may be omitted.
Of the processing in step S110, steps S203 and S204 may be omitted.
Of the processing in step S110, steps S205 to S208 may be omitted.
Further, step S110 may be omitted.
In the embodiment, the priority of cooperation candidates is indicated by the number of ★ marks, but may be indicated in other forms. For example, a number indicating priority may be displayed in association with the application name. Or you may make it display an application name side by side from the top in order with a high priority.

(2.3) Modification 3
In the embodiment, an example is shown in which, in step S108, the type of input data of an application designated as an application to be linked to the Action application is specified, and an application that outputs output data of the same type is extracted as a linkage candidate. The type of output data of an application designated as an application to be linked to the Event application may be specified, and an application that inputs the same type of input data may be extracted as a linkage candidate. In this case, in step S201, the control unit 601 determines whether or not the Action application specified in step S105 is included in the cooperation candidate list. In step S203, the control unit 601 is specified in step S105. What is necessary is just to determine whether the application which outputs the same type of data as the input data of the Action application as output data is included in the cooperation candidate list. In step S114, the control unit 601 determines whether the cooperation candidate designated by the user is an Action application candidate. In step S115, the control unit 601 determines that the cooperation candidate designated by the user is output data. It may be determined whether or not the application does not output.

(2.4) Modification 4
In the embodiment, the example in which the control unit of each device realizes the above function by executing a program has been described. However, the same function may be implemented in each device by hardware. Further, such a program may be provided in a form recorded on a recording medium such as an optical disk, or may be downloaded to a computer via a communication network.
Communication device 100 may be a device other than a mobile phone. For example, a mobile communication terminal that does not have a telephone function, an automobile navigation device, a personal computer, a television receiver having a function of connecting to the Internet, a tablet personal computer that operates according to the behavior of a fingertip that touches the screen, etc. Any device having a data communication function may be used.

DESCRIPTION OF SYMBOLS 100 ... Communication apparatus, 101 ... Control part, 102 ... Memory | storage part, 103 ... Packet communication part, 104 ... Call part, 105 ... Microphone, 106 ... Speaker, 107 ... Operation part, 108 ... Display part, 109 ... Antenna, 110 ... IC card terminal, 111 ... IC card, 112 ... GPS receiver, 200 ... mobile communication network, 210 ... base station, 220 ... exchange, 300 ... gateway server, 400 ... communication network, 500 ... application management device, 501 ... control unit , 502 ... Storage unit, 503 ... Communication unit, 600 ... Cooperation support device, 601 ... Control unit, 602 ... Storage unit, 603 ... Communication unit, 700 ... History management device, 701 ... Control unit, 702 ... Storage unit, 703 ... Communication department

Claims (9)

When a plurality of applications are linked, a first application identifier for identifying a first application to be executed first and a second application identifier for identifying a second application to be executed last are received. Receiving means;
The application database for identifying the application, the type of input data of the application, and the type of output data of the application are stored in association with each other, and the output data type of the first application and the first A specifying means for specifying the type of input data of the second application;
Coordination that is data indicating candidate applications to be linked to the first application and the second application based on the type of output data and input data specified by the specifying means and the stored contents of the application database A candidate list is created, and a cooperation candidate list creating means for transmitting the created cooperation candidate list to the transmission source of the first and second application identifiers;
A cooperation rule creating means for receiving an application identifier indicating an application selected from the cooperation candidate list from the transmission source and creating a cooperation rule that is data including the application identifier and the first and second application identifiers; A cooperation support apparatus characterized by comprising: The cooperation candidate list creating means creates an cooperation candidate list including the priority of each candidate when displaying the cooperation candidate list, and outputs output data of the same type as the input data specified by the specifying means Of the extracted application, the priority of the application corresponding to the first application, or the application that inputs the same type of data as the output data of the first application as input data. The cooperation support apparatus according to claim 1, wherein the cooperation support apparatus has a higher priority than other applications. The specifying means specifies the type of input data of the application selected from the cooperation candidate list when a cooperation rule is created by the cooperation rule creating means,
The cooperation candidate list creation unit extracts an application that outputs output data of the same type as the type of input data specified by the specifying unit from the application database, and corresponds to the first application among the extracted applications. The priority of the application that inputs the same type of data as the output data of the first application or the output data of the first application as input data is set higher than the priority of other applications. Cooperation support device. The cooperation candidate list creation means cooperates with the first application and the second application by the cooperation rule when a cooperation rule including the first application and the second application has been created in the past. The cooperation support apparatus according to any one of claims 1 to 3, wherein the priority of an application designated as an application to be increased is made higher than that of another application. The application database stores information indicating whether an application is a candidate for an application to be executed first in association with an application identifier,
The cooperation candidate list creation unit is configured to input an application when the application selected from the cooperation candidate list is not a candidate of an application to be executed first and the application requires input data. The type of data is specified by the specifying means, and the cooperation candidate list is created based on the specified type of input data and the stored contents of the application database. The cooperation support apparatus according to crab. Computer
When a plurality of applications are linked, a first application identifier for identifying a first application to be executed first and a second application identifier for identifying a second application to be executed last are received. Receiving means;
The application database for identifying the application, the type of input data of the application, and the type of output data of the application are stored in association with each other, and the output data type of the first application and the first A specifying means for specifying the type of input data of the second application;
Coordination that is data indicating candidate applications to be linked to the first application and the second application based on the type of output data and input data specified by the specifying means and the stored contents of the application database A candidate list is created, and a cooperation candidate list creating means for transmitting the created cooperation candidate list to the transmission source of the first and second application identifiers;
Function as a cooperation rule creating means for receiving an application identifier indicating an application selected from the cooperation candidate list from the transmission source and creating a cooperation rule that is data including the application identifier and the first and second application identifiers. Program to let you. A first application identifier for identifying the first application to be executed first when the communication unit links a plurality of applications, and a second application identifier for identifying the second application to be executed last. A first step of receiving
The control unit stores an application identifier for identifying the application, the type of input data of the application, and the type of output data of the application in association with each other and stores the output data of the first application. A second step of identifying a type and a type of input data of the second application;
Based on the type of output data and input data specified in the second step and the stored contents of the application database, the control unit selects application candidates to be linked to the first application and the second application. A third step of creating a cooperation candidate list, which is data indicating, and the communication unit transmitting the created cooperation candidate list to the transmission source of the first and second application identifiers;
A communication unit receives an application identifier indicating an application selected from the cooperation candidate list from the transmission source, and a control unit creates a cooperation rule that is data including the application identifier and the first and second application identifiers. And a fourth step of creating the cooperation support method. A communication device and a cooperation support device;
The communication device
The cooperation support includes a first application identifier for identifying a first application to be executed first when a plurality of applications are to be linked and a second application identifier for identifying a second application to be executed last. Having transmission means for transmitting to the device;
The cooperation support device includes:
The first application identifier and the second application identifier are received from the communication device, an application identifier for identifying the application, a type of input data of the application, and a type of output data of the application A specifying means for specifying a type of output data of the first application and a type of input data of the second application by an application database stored in association;
Coordination that is data indicating candidate applications to be linked to the first application and the second application based on the type of output data and input data specified by the specifying means and the stored contents of the application database A candidate list is created, and the candidate list creation means for sending the created candidate cooperation list to the communication means,
The communication device
Display means for displaying a cooperation candidate list received from the cooperation support apparatus;
An application identifier indicating an application selected from the cooperation candidate list is transmitted to the cooperation support apparatus by the transmission unit,
The cooperation support device includes:
A linkage rule creating means for creating a linkage rule that is data including the application identifier received from the communication means and the first and second application identifiers;
The cooperation support system, wherein the cooperation rule created by the cooperation rule creation means is transmitted to the communication device by the communication means. Specification that specifies a first application identifier for identifying a first application that is executed first when a plurality of applications are linked, and a second application identifier for identifying a second application that is executed last. Means,
The application database for identifying the application, the type of input data of the application, and the type of output data of the application are stored in association with each other, and the output data type of the first application and the first A specifying means for specifying the type of input data of the second application;
Coordination that is data indicating candidate applications to be linked to the first application and the second application based on the type of output data and input data specified by the specifying means and the stored contents of the application database A collaborative candidate list creation means for creating a candidate list;
Display means for displaying the cooperation candidate list;
A communication rule creating means for creating a collaboration rule that is data including the application identifier indicating the application selected from the collaboration candidate list by the designation unit and the first and second application identifiers. apparatus.

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