JP5171574B2 - Screen creation display system - Google Patents

Description

  The present invention relates to a screen creation display system.

  An application program (hereinafter simply referred to as “application”) that operates on an OS (Operating System) having a GUI (Graphical User Interface) can display a plurality of types of screens for data display and data input. . Since these screens have different types and layout of objects to be displayed and the content and layout of displayed characters, the screens must be created individually, and the data that is input and output on the screens. Must be individually associated with the application. Therefore, many costs are required for screen creation and quality assurance.

In addition, in order to reduce such costs, standardized elements for data input / output such as lists and tables have been made into parts. The handling of data that needs to be created must be made, and the cost of screen creation has not been dramatically reduced.
In addition, the process of displaying the screen and the data to be input and output to the screen are often designed separately and created as separate components. When the data component is changed, multiple screens are modified accordingly. There has been a problem that the consistency between the data and the screen has been lost, such as the necessity to do so, or the occurrence of correction omissions.

  By the way, Patent Document 1 discloses a technique for reducing the development effort of a new application by defining a class common to all applications. The image forming apparatus disclosed in Patent Document 1 refers to an operation flow control unit that generates an instance from a common menu screen class common to all applications and menu screens, and a reference when the operation flow control unit generates an instance. Operation flow instance generation information is provided. The operation flow control unit acquires information related to the screen layout of the transition destination screen from the operation flow instance generation information, instantiates the class of the common menu screen, and displays the transition destination screen.

However, in Japanese Patent Application Laid-Open No. H11-260260, even if the specifications of some screens are changed, the class of the common menu screen must be changed to support it. As a result, other screens are affected, and a regression test for investigating the effects is required, which incurs costs for ensuring quality.
JP 2005-117544 A

  As described in the background art, there is a problem in that it takes a high cost to create a screen.

  An object of the present invention is to solve the above-described problems and to provide a screen creation display system capable of reducing screen creation costs in screen creation.

  A screen creation display system according to the present invention includes a component class library having a plurality of component classes for executing processing for displaying screen components, a converter, and a generator, and the converter stores additional information included in the class. Based on the acquired property type, the property information acquisition unit that acquires the additional information acquisition unit that acquires the property type associated with the additional information included in the class, and displays the screen from the component class library. A component class selection unit that selects a component class to be used and generates component class information indicating the component class, and a screen layout editing unit that generates layout information indicating the configuration of the screen based on the acquired additional information. The generator receives the component class information and the layer from the converter. A screen information acquisition means for acquiring the door information, based on the acquired component class information and the layout information, using said component class, those having an instance execution means for outputting the screen. Thereby, the cost of screen creation can be reduced.

  The screen may be arranged with objects corresponding to the respective properties.

  Furthermore, when the property type is a class, the component class selection unit may generate the component class information so that an object corresponding to the property is displayed in a nested configuration.

  Furthermore, when the type of the property is a class, the part class selection unit may generate the part class information so that an object corresponding to the property is displayed by a dialog.

  On the other hand, the part class selection means may generate the part class information so as to display the object corresponding to the property as a table.

  Further, the table may be configured such that elements can be added and deleted when the property type is an array type.

  Here, the additional information may include a display type indicating a display format of the object corresponding to the property, and the component class selection unit may generate the component class information based on the display type. .

  On the other hand, the additional information includes dependent property information indicating a dependent property, and the instance executing means, when the value of the dependent property field is changed, the property field associated with the additional information. May be displayed on the corresponding object.

  Furthermore, the class may have a display control method for returning information related to the display of the object, and the instance execution means may display the object based on a return value of the display control method.

  According to the present invention, it is possible to provide a screen creation display system that can reduce the cost of screen creation.

Hereinafter, embodiments of the present invention will be described with reference to the drawings.
Here, terms used in the description of the embodiment of the present invention will be described.
A class is defined as a structure in which data and methods are grouped in object-oriented programming.
An instance is an entity to which a storage area corresponding to the class structure is allocated.
A field is data such as a variable included in a class.
A method defines a series of processes.
A property is a method that accesses a field of a class.
An attribute is information on a class, a property, or a method, and is information stored in a program generated at the time of compilation. Attributes also function as attribute classes.

An object is an element constituting a screen such as a check box, text box, or combo box.
In the embodiment, an example is shown in which the present invention is implemented in a programming environment based on .NET Framework (registered trademark) of Microsoft (registered trademark) which is an object-oriented language.

Embodiment 1 of the Invention
A screen creation display system according to a first embodiment of the present invention will be described.
FIG. 1 is a block diagram showing a screen creation display system according to an embodiment of the present invention.
The screen creation display system 1 includes a screen creation unit 10, a compilation unit 20, a storage unit 30, and an input display unit 40.

The screen creation unit 10 executes the program generated by the compilation unit 20 and creates a screen to be displayed. Then, the screen creation unit 10 performs processing for outputting the created screen to the input display unit 40. The screen creation unit 10 includes a CPU (Central Processing Unit), a memory, and the like (not shown), and can operate an OS (Operating System) 11 and a .NET Framework (registered trademark) class library 12.
The compiling unit 20 compiles the source code and generates a program that displays a screen. The compiling unit 20 includes a CPU (Central Processing Unit), a memory, and the like (not shown), and can operate an OS (Operating System) 21, a compiler 22, a .NET Framework (registered trademark) class library 23, and the like.

The storage unit 30 stores a converter 100, a generator 200, and a part class library 300. The storage unit 30 includes a storage device such as a memory, an HDD (Hard Disk Drive), or a CD-ROM (Compact Disk Read Only Memory).
The input display unit 40 performs processing for displaying the screen output from the screen creation unit 10. Moreover, the process which inputs the input data input by the user into the screen creation part 10 is performed. The input display unit 40 includes, for example, a display device such as a CRT (Cathode Ray Tube), a plasma display or a liquid crystal display, and an input device such as a mouse or a keyboard.

  The converter 100 generates part class information and layout information based on the class configuration described in the source code. The converter 100 generates component class information indicating a component class used for displaying a screen in the component class library. The converter 100 generates component class information so as to obtain a screen in which a class is a window and each property or method included in the class is an object included in the window. Note that the converter 100 determines the type of an object such as a check box, text box, or combo box based on a property type such as a truth value, a numerical value, and a character string.

  In addition, converter 100 generates layout information indicating the configuration of the screen to be displayed based on the additional information. Here, the additional information is information such as the display name of the window or object displayed on the screen, the display order, the display type (display in the vertical direction, display in the horizontal direction, display as a table, etc.) and input restrictions. Note that the converter 100 uses a class, property, or method associated with additional information as an element constituting a screen such as a window or an object.

The generator 200 uses the component class library 300 based on the component class information and layout information generated by the converter 100 to perform a process of outputting a screen to the input display unit 40. The component class library 300 is displayed on the screen to be displayed. Processing to display screen elements such as included objects is performed. The component class library 300 processes input to the object from the input display unit 40. The part class library may be created by inheriting a class for displaying an object included in the .NET Framework (registered trademark) class library, for example.

Here, the converter 100, the generator 200, and the component class library 300 are stored in the storage unit 30 as a DLL (Dynamic Link Library). When the compiling unit 20 compiles the source code, or when the screen creation unit 10 displays a screen, it is loaded into the screen creation unit 10 or the compilation unit 20 and executes processing.
The converter 100, the generator 200, and the component class library 300 may be included in a program generated by the compiling unit 20 by including these processes in a source code to be compiled without preparing them as DLLs.

Here, the configuration of the screen creation display system may be any configuration as long as the functions corresponding to the above-described components are included.
For example, the screen creation unit 10, the compilation unit 20, the storage unit 30, and the input display unit 40 may be provided in a distributed manner in each of a plurality of information processing apparatuses such as a PC (Personal computer) or a server. The information processing apparatus may be provided together.

Next, processing of the screen creation display system according to the first exemplary embodiment of the present invention will be described with reference to FIG.
FIG. 2 is a diagram showing details of the screen creation display system according to the first exemplary embodiment of the present invention.
First, the compiling unit 20 uses the compiler 22 to compile the source code 410 and generate a program 420 that displays a screen.
The property information acquisition unit 110 of the converter 100 acquires the property type described in the source code 410 during compilation.
Further, the additional information acquisition unit 120 of the converter 100 acquires additional information described in the source code 410 at the time of compilation. The property type and additional information acquired by the converter 110 are included in the program 420.

Here, the processing in the compiling unit 20 will be specifically described. In the present embodiment, the source code shown in FIG. FIG. 4A shows a conceptual diagram of the source code class shown in FIG.
In the Rectangle class shown in the 6th to 22nd lines of the source code shown in FIG. 3, the information specified as the attribute argument is the additional information in the 6th, 14th, 17th and 20th lines. is there. In this way, the additional information is associated with the class, property, and method.
In the attribute of the sixth line in FIG. 3, the first argument indicates the display name, and the third argument indicates the display type.
The attributes on the 14th line in FIG. 3 indicate that the first argument is the display name, the third argument is the display order, and the fourth argument is the input constraint.
In the attributes on the 17th and 20th lines in FIG. 3, the first argument indicates the display name, and the third argument indicates the display order.

In the RectSize class shown in the 24th to 38th lines of the source code shown in FIG. 3, the information specified as the attribute argument in the 24th, 32nd and 36th lines is the additional information.
In the attribute on the 24th line in FIG. 3, the first argument indicates the display name, and the third argument indicates the display type.
In the attributes on the 32nd and 36th lines in FIG. 3, the first argument indicates the display name, and the third argument indicates the input constraint.
Details of the additional information will be described later. The second argument can specify a message to be displayed when the mouse pointer is over the object corresponding to the property / method on the finally displayed screen.

Here, the attributes “UIStack”, “UIString”, “UIPanelItem”, “UIMethod”, and “UIDecimal” shown in the source code of FIG. 3 function as classes (hereinafter referred to as attribute classes).
The property information acquisition unit 110 is realized by acquiring the corresponding property type by using the .NET Framework (registered trademark) library 23 in the processing of the attribute class constructor.
The additional information acquisition unit 120 is realized by acquiring additional information as an argument to the constructor of the attribute class.
An instance of the attribute class including the property type and additional information acquired in this manner is stored in the program 420 that is generated by serialization.
Thus, in this embodiment, the attribute class functions as the converter 100.

Next, the screen creation unit 11 executes the generated program 420 to create screen display data, and displays the created screen on the input display unit 40.
This process will be described with reference to the sequence diagram shown in FIG.
First, when the program 420 is executed by the screen creation unit 11, an instance of a generator is generated (S701).
Next, the program 420 generates an instance of the Rcangle class shown in FIGS. 3 and 4 (S702).
Next, the generator 200 acquires an instance of the Rcangle class (S703).

Next, the screen information acquisition unit 210 of the generator 200 calls a method for acquiring the component class information and layout information of the converter 100 (S704).
When the method is called by the generator 200, the converter 100 generates part class information and layout information based on the class configuration described in the source code (S705).
Here, the processes in steps S704 and S705 will be described in detail.
First, when a method is called by the generator 200, the component class selection unit 130 of the converter 100 determines an object corresponding to this property based on the property type of the converter 100. Then, the component class used for displaying the determined object is selected, and component class information indicating the component class is generated.

Specifically, when the type is a character string as in the property “Name” of the Rectangle class shown in FIG. 4, the text box is determined as the corresponding object.
Further, when the type is a class like the property “Size”, the object is determined so that the object corresponding to the property included in the RectSize class that is the type is displayed in a nested configuration.
The method “Set” determines a command button as a corresponding object.

When the type is a numerical value, such as the properties “Height” and “Width” of the RectSize class, the text box is determined as the corresponding object.
Note that objects corresponding to property types and methods can be freely defined, and are not limited to those exemplified in the present embodiment.

Furthermore, the screen layout editing unit 140 of the converter 100 generates layout information based on the additional information that the converter 100 has.
Specifically, when the display name of the additional information is “square” and the type is “StackLayout.LONG” as in the Rectangle class shown in FIG. 4, “square” is displayed in the window and included in the window. Layout information is generated so that each of the objects is displayed vertically.
In addition, layout information is generated so that the display name specified in the display name of the additional information is displayed on each object.
Furthermore, the layout information is generated so that each object is displayed in the vertical order from the top in the order specified in the display order of the additional information.

Since the type of the RectSize class is “StackLayout.LONG”, the layout information is generated so that the objects displayed in the nested configuration are displayed side by side.
Further, in the additional information, layout information includes an input constraint that disables input to the object such as the property “Name”, and an input constraint that restricts input to the object such as the properties “Height” and “Width”. It can also be included.

Here, more specifically, in the present embodiment, as described above, the attribute class functions as the converter 100. Therefore, in the processing of steps S704 and S705, the generator 200 performs component class information and layout information of the attribute class. This is done by calling the method that gets. That is, component class information and layout information are acquired by calling attribute class methods corresponding to classes, properties, and methods.
The processing in the component class selection unit 130 and the screen layout editing unit 140 may be executed by the attribute class constructor so that the component class information and the layout information are generated when compiling.

The screen information acquisition unit 210 of the generator 200 acquires the component class information and the layout information generated in this way (S706).
Next, the instance execution means 220 of the generator 200 generates an instance of the component class indicated by the component class information in the component class library, and acquires the generated instance (S707, S708).
Then, the instance execution means 220 of the generator 200 executes the method of the component class that generated the instance (S709). For example, the instance execution means 220 executes a component class constructor, method, and the like by specifying an argument based on the layout information.
In step S709, the component class method displays the screen shown in FIG. 4B on the input display unit 40 (S710).

  In this way, on the displayed screen, the data stored in the field corresponding to the property is displayed on the object corresponding to this property. For example, when the value stored in the field “name” shown in FIG. 3 corresponding to the property “Name” in FIG. 4A-1 is “Sample”, the correspondence is as shown in FIG. The value is displayed in the text box "Name".

  When a value is input from the input display unit 40 to the object corresponding to the property, the value is set in the field corresponding to the property. For example, when values are entered in the text boxes “height” and “width” corresponding to the properties “Height” and “Width” in FIG. 4A-2, the corresponding fields “height” and “Height” shown in FIG. The value input in “width” is stored. This processing can be performed by reflecting the value of the component class input to the object in the field according to the property of the RectSize class.

Embodiment 2 of the Invention
A screen creation display system according to a second embodiment of the present invention will be described.
Note that the configuration and processing of the screen creation display system are the same as those in the first embodiment, and a description thereof will be omitted.
FIG. 6 shows a conceptual diagram of a class and a generated screen according to the second embodiment of the present invention.
When the screen is generated based on the source code 410 in which the classes shown in FIGS. 6A-1 and 6A-2 are described, the screen shown in FIG. 6B is created and displayed.
When the display type of the additional information is “Grid” like the property “Size” illustrated in FIG. 6, the component class selection unit 130 of the converter 100 displays the object corresponding to the property “Size” as a table. Next, component class information is generated.

  At this time, as shown in FIG. 6, if the type of the property “Size” is an array or a collection, a table in which elements can be added / deleted can be formed. For example, when the property type is an array or a collection, a part class that displays a table in which elements can be added or deleted may be selected. Addition / deletion can be specified by additional information, and the argument indicated by the layout information generated based on this additional information is added / deleted by specifying the part class that displays the table. It may be possible to switch to a table object that can be used.

Embodiment 3 of the Invention
A screen creation display system according to a third embodiment of the present invention will be described.
Note that the configuration and processing of the screen creation display system are the same as those in the first embodiment, and a description thereof will be omitted.
FIG. 7 shows a conceptual diagram of a class and a generated screen according to the third embodiment of the present invention.
When the screen is generated based on the source code 410 in which the classes shown in FIGS. 7A-1 and 7A-2 are described, the screen shown in FIG. 7B is created and displayed.
When the type of additional information is “Dialog” as in the property “Confirm” shown in FIG. 7, the component class selection unit 130 of the converter 100 displays the object corresponding to the property “Confirm” as a dialog. Generate component class information.

Embodiment 4 of the Invention
A screen creation display system according to a fourth embodiment of the present invention will be described.
Note that the configuration and processing of the screen creation display system are the same as those in the first embodiment, and a description thereof will be omitted.
FIG. 8 shows a conceptual diagram of a class and a generated screen according to the fourth embodiment of the present invention.
When the screen is generated based on the source code 410 describing the class shown in FIG. 8A, the screen shown in FIG. 8B-1 is created and displayed. Note that the values shown in FIG. 8B-1 are input by the user on the input display unit 40.

In the present embodiment, as shown in FIG. 8A, a dependency property indicating a dependent property can be designated in the additional information. In the dependency property, specify the name of the dependent property. When the value of the field corresponding to the dependent property is changed, the generator 200 acquires the value of the field corresponding to the property that specifies the dependent property, and displays the object by the acquired value.
Thereby, when the value of the field corresponding to the property changes with the change of the value of the field of the specific property, the value of the field after the change can be acquired and displayed.

Here, it is assumed that the value of the field corresponding to the property “Num2” illustrated in FIG. 8A is a value obtained by doubling the value of the field corresponding to the property “Num1”. Further, the property “Num1” is designated as the dependency property of the property “Num2”.
In the state of the screen shown in FIG. 8 (b-1), as shown in FIG. 8 (b-2), when “2” is input to the value of the object corresponding to the property “Num1”, this object is supported. In the part class to be changed, the field value of the property “Num1” is changed to 2. Along with this, the value of the field of the property “Num2” is changed to “4”, which is a value obtained by doubling “2”.

  When the value of the dependent property field is changed, the generator 200 acquires the value of the field of the property “Num2” and displays the corresponding object by the acquired value. As a result, the screen display is as shown in FIG. For example, this process is implemented in one of the methods of the generator 200, and this method is registered in the component class as an event to be called when the value of the object corresponding to the property “Num1” is changed. Can be realized.

Embodiment 5 of the Invention
A screen creation display system according to a fifth embodiment of the present invention will be described.
Note that the configuration and processing of the screen creation display system are the same as those in the first embodiment, and a description thereof will be omitted.
FIG. 9 shows source code according to the third embodiment of the present invention. FIG. 10 shows a conceptual diagram of a class described in the source code shown in FIG. 9 and a generated screen.
When the screen is generated based on the source code 410 describing the class shown in FIG. 10A, the screen shown in FIG. 10B-1 or FIG. 10B-2 is created and displayed. Is done.

The class described in the source code 410 of this embodiment has a display control method.
When the generator 200 uses the component class library 300 to display an object, the generator 200 switches display / non-display of the corresponding object according to the return value of the display control method.
The method “GetVisibleForName” on line 26 and the method “GetVisibleForSet” on line 32 of the source code shown in FIG. 9 are display control methods. The display control method “GetVisibleForName” returns information indicating display / non-display of the object corresponding to the property “Name”. The display control method “GetVisibleForSet” returns information indicating the display / non-display of the object corresponding to the method “Set”.

First, when each display control method returns “false”, the generator 200 hides the object corresponding to the property “Name” and the method “Set” and displays the screen illustrated in FIG. To do.
Next, when the check box is checked by the input display unit 40, the component class corresponding to the check box uses the properties “IsNameVisual” and “IsSetVisual” shown in FIG. Set to ".

In addition, when the check box is checked, the component class changes the value of the field of the corresponding property “Input”. Therefore, the generator 200 performs processing for displaying objects corresponding to the property “Name” and the method “Set” whose dependency property is “Input”.
At this time, the generator 200 calls the display control method and displays the object corresponding to the property “Name” and the method “Set” because the return value is “true”.
By preparing the display control method, display / non-display of the method corresponding to the property can be controlled in this way.

  In addition to the display control method for controlling display / non-display, a display control method for obtaining options can be provided. For example, a display control method that returns an item to be displayed in the combo box by a return value may be provided. Further, the component class selection unit 130 of the converter 100 is not a text box when there is a display control method for obtaining an option corresponding to this property, even if it is a property of a type originally displayed in a text box. The part class information can be generated so as to display the combo box.

According to the embodiment of the present invention described above, a screen can be created simply by defining a class describing data such as fields and additional information. The production cost can be reduced.
In addition, since the properties corresponding to the data are used as elements constituting the screen, the consistency between the data and the screen is not lost due to correction or change of the screen.
Furthermore, since the screen is automatically generated based on the class configuration, a screen with a uniform layout can be created and displayed.
In addition, even if data is transmitted from different applications, devices, or systems, a screen can be created and displayed as long as the type can be recognized, and data can be input / output via the screen. Also, since the data transmitted at this time does not need to include information for processing to be displayed, the amount of data to be transmitted can be reduced, and the communication load can be reduced.

The screen creation display system according to the present invention described above supplies a storage medium storing a program for realizing the functions of the above-described embodiments to the system or apparatus, and the computer or CPU (Central Processing Unit) included in the system or apparatus. ) And MPU (Micro Processing Unit) can be configured by executing this program.
In addition, this program can be stored in various types of storage media, and can be transmitted via a communication medium. Here, the storage medium includes, for example, a flexible disk, hard disk, magnetic disk, magneto-optical disk, CD-ROM (Compact Disk Read Only Memory), DVD (Digital Versatile Disk), BD (Blu-ray Disk), ROM ( A read only memory (RAM) cartridge, a battery-backed RAM (Random Access Memory) memory cartridge, a flash memory cartridge, and a nonvolatile RAM cartridge are included. The communication medium includes a telephone line wired communication medium and a microwave line wireless communication medium, and also includes the Internet (registered trademark).

Further, when the computer executes the program that realizes the functions of the above-described embodiment, not only the functions of the above-described embodiment are realized, but also the computer is operating on the basis of the instructions of this program. A case where the functions of the above-described embodiment are realized in cooperation with an OS (Operating System) or application software is also included in the embodiment of the invention.
Further, when the functions of the above-described embodiment are realized by performing all or part of the processing of the program by a function expansion board inserted into the computer or a function expansion unit connected to the computer, the present invention may be implemented. It is included in the form.

It is a block diagram which shows the screen creation display system concerning Embodiment 1 of this invention. It is a figure which shows the detail of the screen creation display system concerning Embodiment 1 of this invention. It is a figure which shows the source code concerning Embodiment 1 of this invention. It is a figure which shows the conceptual diagram and display screen of the class concerning Embodiment 1 of this invention. It is a sequence diagram of the screen creation display process concerning Embodiment 1 of this invention. It is a figure which shows the conceptual diagram and display screen of the class concerning Embodiment 2 of this invention. It is a figure which shows the conceptual diagram and display screen of the class concerning Embodiment 3 of this invention. It is a figure which shows the conceptual diagram and display screen of the class concerning Embodiment 4 of this invention. It is a figure which shows the source code concerning Embodiment 5 of this invention. It is a figure which shows the conceptual diagram and display screen of the class concerning Embodiment 5 of this invention.

Explanation of symbols

1 Screen creation display system 10 Screen creation unit 11, 21 OS
12, 13 .NET Framework (registered trademark) class library 20 Compile unit 22 Compiler 30 Storage unit 40 Input display unit 100 Converter 110 Property information acquisition unit 120 Additional information acquisition unit 130 Part class selection unit 140 Screen layout editing unit 210 Screen information acquisition Means 220 Instance Execution Means 300 Part Class Library 410 Source Code 420 Program

Claims (9)

A component class library having a plurality of component classes that execute processing for displaying the components of the screen, a converter, and a generator;
The converter includes additional information acquisition means for acquiring additional information included in a class;
Property information acquisition means for acquiring a property type associated with additional information included in the class;
Based on the acquired property type, a part class selection unit that selects a part class to be used for display on the screen from the part class library and generates part class information indicating the part class;
Screen layout editing means for generating layout information indicating the configuration of the screen based on the acquired additional information;
The generator includes screen information acquisition means for acquiring the component class information and the layout information from the converter;
A screen creation / display system having instance execution means for outputting the screen using the component class based on the acquired component class information and layout information. The screen creation display system according to claim 1, wherein an object corresponding to each of the properties is arranged on the screen.   3. The screen creation display system according to claim 2, wherein when the property type is a class, the part class selection unit generates the part class information so as to display an object corresponding to the property in a nested configuration. .   The screen creation / display system according to claim 2, wherein when the property type is a class, the part class selection unit generates the part class information so as to display an object corresponding to the property by a dialog.   The screen creation / display system according to claim 3 or 4, wherein the part class selection unit generates the part class information so as to display an object corresponding to the property as a table.   6. The screen creation display system according to claim 5, wherein the table can be added and deleted when the property type is an array type. The additional information includes a display type indicating a display format of an object corresponding to the property,
The screen creation display system according to claim 3, wherein the part class selection unit generates the part class information based on the display type. The additional information includes dependency property information indicating a dependent property,
8. The instance execution means, when the value of the dependent property field is changed, displays the value of the property field associated with the additional information on the corresponding object. The screen creation display system described in 1. The class has a display control method that returns information related to the display of the object,
9. The screen creation display system according to claim 2, wherein the instance execution unit displays the object based on a return value of the display control method.

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