JPH11232292A - Method and device for retrieving different machine sort distribution data - Google Patents

Abstract

PROBLEM TO BE SOLVED: To make it possible to execute processing by an existing host computer independently of a machine sort without changing existing retrieval application and to reduce the operation load of a system due to the change or addition of editing processing by utilizing mobile agent technology and a terminal emulator function. SOLUTION: Data distributively stored in existing host computers 20 of different machine sorts are successively retrieved. A retrieval execution request/ result display device 12 receives a retrieval execution request from a user and displays its corresponding retrieval result. An agent issuing/receiving device 14 executes the generation of a mobile agent circulation rule, the issue/reception of a mobile agent, the management of a retrieval result, etc., based on retrieving condition sentences transmitted from respective display devices 12 by using mobile agent technology. Consequently the quantity of data transfer on a network between the agent issuing/receiving device 14 and each agent execution device can be sharply reduced and the whole capacity can be improved.

Description

DETAILED DESCRIPTION OF THE INVENTION

[0001]

BACKGROUND OF THE INVENTION 1. Field of the Invention The present invention relates to a heterogeneous distributed data search method and a search apparatus for sequentially searching data distributed and stored in existing heterogeneous host computers.

[0002]

2. Description of the Related Art In general, in a host computer called a mainframe or a general-purpose computer, standards such as a communication protocol and a data storage format are not unified.
Different standards are adopted for each manufacturer. In order to search and edit data stored in such different types of host computers in a distributed manner, a data search / editing application that operates on each host computer must be newly provided for each type of host computer. Is the most common method.

However, in the above-described method, it is necessary to create a new data search / edit application that operates on the host computer for each model and editing process of the host computer. There was a problem. In addition, when the editing process needs to be changed or added frequently, the application must be changed for each model of the host computer, and there is a problem that the operation load of the system is increased.

On the other hand, data is searched using, for example, an existing search application running on a host computer, and all results searched by each host computer are transferred to a requesting computer to perform batch editing. It is possible. However, in this method, as the number of host computers to be searched and the data amount of the search results increase, a large amount of data is transferred via the network, so that the performance of the entire system decreases. There was a problem.

[0005] By the way, as for processing data stored in a server, which is not related to a host computer, for example, a distributed information processing method and apparatus disclosed in JP-A-6-149756 are known. I have. This distributed information processing method and apparatus perform processing on a server by transferring a processing procedure unique to a client to a server, linking the processing procedure and data on the server and the processing procedure on the client with each other. It is intended to be.

[0006] However, the distributed information processing method and apparatus disclosed in the publication do not process data stored in the host computer as described above.
It processes data stored in a server and cannot be applied to search for data stored in two or more different types of host computers. Therefore, it is distributed to different types of host computers. However, the above-mentioned problem peculiar to the processing of the stored data cannot be solved.

[0007]

SUMMARY OF THE INVENTION It is an object of the present invention to provide a host computer of a different type without changing any existing search application operating on the existing host computer in view of the above-mentioned problems of the prior art. You can search for data stored in
Moreover, it is an object of the present invention to provide a heterogeneous distributed data search method and a search device capable of reducing the amount of data transferred on a network.

[0008]

In order to achieve the above object, the present invention provides a heterogeneous distributed data retrieval method for retrieving data distributed and stored in at least two existing heterogeneous host computers. A command to be executed on a client to execute an existing search application on each of the existing host computers based on a search execution request for searching data distributed and stored in the existing host computer. And creating a traveling rule for determining the execution order, the server issues a mobile agent having the traveling rule to at least two of the clients, and executes the migration according to the execution order determined by the traveling rule. Let the agent patrol each of the clients, and Executing the command to be executed on the client, emulating the operation of the existing host computer, executing the existing search application corresponding to the command on each of the existing host computers, and responding to this. To obtain a search result, and then download and execute a program for editing the search result from the server to the client,
Another object of the present invention is to provide a heterogeneous distributed data search method characterized in that a search result after editing is transferred to the server.

Further, the present invention is a heterogeneous distributed data search apparatus for searching data distributed and stored in at least two different types of existing host computers, wherein the data is distributed and stored in the existing host computers. First means for inputting a search execution request for searching for existing data, and executing on a client based on the search execution request an existing search application to be executed on each of the existing host computers Creating a traveling rule for determining a command and an execution order thereof, and issuing a mobile agent having the traveling rule from a server to at least two clients.
Means for causing the mobile agent to circulate each of the clients in accordance with the execution order determined by the circulating rule, and causing the mobile agent to execute the command to be executed on the destination client, Fourth means for emulating the operation of the host computer, wherein the fourth means executes an existing search application corresponding to the command on each of the existing host computers, and After obtaining the search result, the third means downloads a program for editing the search result from the server to the client, executes the program, and transfers the edited search result to the server. An object of the present invention is to provide a heterogeneous distributed data search apparatus.

[0010] Here, the heterogeneous distributed data search apparatus further comprises means for resetting the traveling rule of the mobile agent according to a result of executing the command on the client at the destination. Is preferred.

It is preferable that the heterogeneous distributed data search apparatus further includes means for storing summary information of the search results as billing data.

It is preferable that the heterogeneous distributed data search device further includes a means for notifying a user of the search result by electronic mail.

[0013]

BRIEF DESCRIPTION OF THE DRAWINGS FIG. 1 is a block diagram of a preferred embodiment of a heterogeneous distributed data search method and apparatus according to the present invention;

FIG. 1 is a schematic block diagram of an embodiment of a heterogeneous distributed data search apparatus according to the present invention. The heterogeneous distributed data search apparatus 10 of the present invention uses an existing search application of an existing host computer to sequentially search for data distributed and stored in an existing host computer 20 of a different model. As shown in the figure, it has a search execution request / result display device 12, an agent issuing / receiving device 14, an agent execution device 16, an emulator automatic operation device 18, and the like.

Here, a search execution request / result display device 1
2. The agent issuing / receiving device 14, the agent execution device 16, and the emulator automatic operation device 18 are interconnected by a network to which a communication protocol of a common standard such as TCP / IP is applied. The host computer 20 and the host computer 20 are interconnected via a network to which a communication protocol of a unique standard depending on the model of the host computer 20 is applied.

In the heterogeneous distributed data search device 10 shown in the figure, the search execution request / result display device 12 first receives a search execution request such as a search condition or a search target job (search job) from a user. For example, a personal computer or the like is used as a terminal for inputting search conditions and displaying search results. As a program for input and display, for example, an Internet browser (browsing program) is used.

Here, the above-mentioned search conditions are, for example, search items such as a product type, a standard, and a size. Thus, a series of predetermined search processing procedures are summarized. As shown in FIG. 2, the search execution request / result display device 12 includes an input / display unit 22 in a GUI (graphical user interface) environment, a communication thread 24, and the like.

In the search execution request / result display device 12, first, the input / display unit 22, as described above, uses an Internet browser or the like in a GUI environment.
This is for inputting a search execution request such as a search condition and a search job, and displaying a search result corresponding thereto. In addition, in the input / display unit 22, a search condition statement in a predetermined format that can be used in the heterogeneous distributed data search apparatus 10 of the present invention is created based on a search execution request from a user.

The communication thread 24 receives the search execution request
The two-way communication is performed between the result display device 12 and the agent issuing / receiving device 14. Under the control of the communication thread 24, the above-described search condition statement is transmitted from the search execution request / result display device 12 to the agent issuing / receiving device 1
4 and the search result is received from the agent issuing / receiving device 14 to the search execution request / result display device 12. The search execution request / result display device 12 is as described above.

Subsequently, the agent issuing / receiving device 14
Is based on the search condition sent from each search execution request / result display device 12 using mobile agent technology, to generate a traveling rule for the mobile agent, to issue / receive the mobile agent, to manage the search results, This is for storing billing data and the like. As the agent issuing / receiving device 14, for example, a workstation or the like,
Each client is used as a server of the agent execution device 16.

Here, the mobile agent technology means that a mobile agent having a traveling rule is issued from an agent issuing / receiving device 14 as a server, and each agent executing device 16 as a client is transmitted to the mobile agent according to the traveling rule. It sequentially traverses, performs search processing on each client at the movement destination, downloads necessary programs from the server, performs editing processing, and receives a mobile agent holding only the final search results to the server. It is like that.

The traveling rule is a record of the order of each client that the mobile agent travels, a series of processing procedures to be executed on each client, and the like.
By using this mobile agent technology, only the final search result after editing needs to be transferred, so that a network connection between the agent issuing / receiving device 14 as a server and each agent execution device 16 as a client is established. The amount of data transfer can be significantly reduced, and the performance of the entire system can be improved.

As shown in FIG. 3, the agent issuing / receiving device 14 includes an agent server management process 26,
Communication server thread 28, reference data access method 30, stack management thread 32, timer monitoring thread 34, accounting creation thread 36, agent communication thread 38, agent control data 50, stack data 52, HTML data 54, accounting data 56 ,
Various databases such as mobile code data 58 (D
B) and the like.

In the agent issuing / receiving apparatus 14, first, an agent server management process 26 controls the operation of the entire agent issuing / receiving apparatus 14. As shown in FIG. 3, the agent server management process 26 reads, for example, various databases, manages and executes various threads, manages a mobile agent, queues search execution requests and search results, and creates a mobile agent patrol rule. And so on.

Subsequently, the communication server thread 28 performs two-way communication between the agent issuing / receiving device 14 and each search execution request / result display device 12.
Under the control of the communication server thread 28, a search condition sentence transmitted from each search execution request / result display device 12 to the agent issuing / receiving device 14 is received, and the corresponding search result is transmitted to the agent issuing / receiving device. 1
4 to each search execution request / result display device 12.

The reference data access method 30 accesses the agent control data 50.
In the illustrated example, the agent control data 50 includes login data 40, broadcast data 42, search job data 44, command data 46, and node data 48.
And so on. The agent server management process 26 obtains various kinds of information stored in the agent control data 50 via the reference data access method 30.

FIG. 6 is a conceptual diagram of one embodiment showing the format of agent control data. As shown in this figure, each database constituting the agent control data 50 is stored in a storage device such as a hard disk as, for example, a text format file. In each file, one record is delimited by a line feed. ing. Hereinafter, the respective databases constituting the agent control data 50 will be described with reference to FIG.

First, the log-in data 40 is a file for managing various information for specifying a user and a search operation that can be executed. Each record includes, in the example shown in FIG. User ID (recognition number), password,
The broadcast group name, e-mail address, affiliation, user name, and the like are registered. In the present invention, by managing the user's e-mail address with the login data 40, the user can be notified of the end of the search operation and the search result by e-mail.

The broadcast data 42 is a file that manages messages that need to be transmitted when the user logs in. In the illustrated example, the broadcast data 42 includes a broadcast group registered by the login data 40 in the illustrated example. A broadcast message corresponding to the name is registered.

The user inputs his / her user ID and password on his / her own search execution request / result display device 12, and logs in to this heterogeneous distributed data search device 10. At this time, only the user who matches the user ID and password registered in the login data 40 in advance can log in, and the logged-in user is provided with a broadcast group on the screen of the search execution request / result display device 12. The broadcast message corresponding to the name is displayed.

Next, the search job data 44 is a file that manages a series of command names indicating processing procedures to be executed in each search job. In the illustrated example, the search job data 44 is located after the tag indicated by name. Is registered, and a series of command names to be executed in the search job indicated by the search job name is registered after the tag indicated by com. Also, for each search job, a search job name and a series of command names corresponding to the search job name are registered.

The command data 46 is a file that is managed by the agent issuing / receiving device 14 and that manages the names of commands that can be executed by each agent execution device 16. Here, the command name indicates the name of a command to be executed on the agent execution device 16 in order to execute an existing search application on the existing host computer 20.
Is registered for all command names registered in the search operation data 44.

In the illustrated example, the command data 46 includes, for each command registered in the search business data 44, c
The command name and the node name of the agent execution device 16 that should execute this command are registered after the tag indicated by om, and the mobile code storage directory, the mobile code name, and any comments are registered after the tag indicated by loadModule. After the tag indicated by "call", the name of the next execution command and the execution result of the mobile code which is a condition for executing the next execution command are registered.

Here, the above-mentioned mobile codes are various programs for editing that are executed after executing the command indicated by the command name on each agent execution device 16, and are stored in the mobile code data 58. I have. The mobile agent downloads and executes a program for editing indicated by the mobile code name stored in the mobile code storage directory in the mobile code data 58 on each agent execution device 16 at the destination.

As described above, various programs for editing are collectively stored in the mobile code data 58 of the agent issuing / receiving device 14 which is a server, and are downloaded to each agent execution device 16 which is a client. With the configuration in which the program is executed, only the necessary programs need to be downloaded when necessary, so that the network load can be reduced.

The next execution command name indicates the name of a command to be executed according to the execution result after executing the program indicated by the mobile code name. For example, when any of the states 0, 1, and 2 is obtained as an execution result when a program with a mobile code name is executed, the next execution command name corresponding to each execution result 0, 1, 2 is registered. By doing so, a command indicated by the next execution command name is executed according to each execution result.

Next, the node data 48 manages, for each node name registered in the command data 46, the Internet address (IP address), port number, etc. of the agent execution device 16 corresponding to each node name. File. In each record of the node data 48, in the illustrated example, an IP address and a port number corresponding to the node name of each agent execution device 16 are registered after the tag indicated by node.

Here, the Internet address and the port number are information for specifying the agent execution device 16 indicated by the node name and the process running on the agent execution device 16, respectively. The agent server management process 26 stores the search business data 4
4. Create a traveling rule for the mobile agent with reference to the command data 46 and the node data 48. The agent control data 50 is as described above.

Subsequently, the stack management thread 32 is used to store information on the execution state of each mobile agent and the search result in the stack data 52, such as “search executed, search executed, search not executed” and the like. It is. The timer monitoring thread 34 monitors the elapsed time of each mobile agent in order to stop the processing of the mobile agent when a predetermined time has elapsed since the mobile agent was issued.

The billing thread 36 is for storing, in the billing data 56, summary information of the results of the search operation performed by each mobile agent in each agent execution device 16. In the present invention, by managing operation logs such as the number of searches and the processing time as summary information of the search results stored in the charging data 56, the summary information is used as information for charging for the search services. can do.

Subsequently, the agent communication thread 38
Performs bidirectional communication between the agent issuing / receiving device 14 and each agent execution device 16. Under the control of the agent communication thread 38, a mobile agent is issued from the agent issuing / receiving device 14 to each agent execution device 16,
The mobile agent having the search result is transmitted from each agent execution device 16 to the agent issuing / receiving device 14.
Is received.

The HTML data 54 is an HTML file and a program used by the Internet browser used in the search execution request / result display device 12. In the search execution request / result display device 12, a search execution request input screen or a search result display screen is displayed using, for example, an Internet browser in order to allow a user to input a search execution request or check a search result. It is displayed on the input / display section 22 of the search execution request / result display device 12.

That is, the HTML data 54 stores a file for a search execution request input screen and a screen program for displaying search results received from each agent execution device 16. The file of the search execution request input screen and the search result display screen program stored in the HTML data 54 are transmitted to the search execution request / result display device 12 and displayed on the input / display unit 22.
The agent issuing / receiving device 14 is as described above.

Subsequently, in the heterogeneous distributed data search device 10 shown in FIG. 1, the agent execution device 16 executes a search process of the mobile agent issued from the agent issuing / receiving device 14, and according to the search result. , Resetting the traveling rules of the mobile agent, and the like. As the agent execution device 16, for example, a workstation or the like is used as a client for the agent issuing / receiving device 14, which is a server.

As shown in FIG. 4, the agent execution device 16 includes an agent execution management process 60, a mobile code execution process 62, and agent control data 7.
6, an agent communication thread 64, an emulator communication program 66, and the like. The agent control data 76 includes a database of command data 68, node data 70, module definition data 72, reset command data 74, and the like.

In the agent execution device 16, first, an agent communication thread 64 performs bidirectional communication between the agent execution device 16 and the agent issuing / receiving device 14 or another agent execution device 16. The mobile agent issued from the issuing / receiving device 14 or the agent executing device 16 is received by the agent executing device 16 and the mobile agent having the search result is sent from the agent executing device 16 to the agent issuing / receiving device 14 or the agent executing device. 16 is transmitted.

Subsequently, the agent execution management process 6
0 controls the operation of the entire agent execution device 16. For example, the mobile code execution process 62
Management and execution of the agent communication thread 64, the emulator communication program 66, etc., reading of various databases of the agent control data 76, execution of the command indicated by the command name and the editing program indicated by the mobile code name, re-execution of the tour rule Perform settings, etc.

Here, FIG. 7 shows a conceptual diagram of one embodiment representing the format of the agent control data. As shown in this figure, each database constituting the agent control data 76 is a text file, and in each file, one record is separated by a line feed. First, the command data 68 and the node data 70
The content and format of the agent issuing / receiving device 14
Are the same as those used in.

That is, the command data 68 is a file that manages the command names, which are the names of the commands executable by the other agent execution devices 16, which are recognized by each agent execution device 16. The node data 70 is a file that manages the Internet address and port number of each agent execution device 16 corresponding to each node name registered in the command data 68.

Subsequently, the module definition data 72 is a file that manages a module name corresponding to a command name executed by each agent execution device 16. In the example shown in FIG. 7, in each record, a module name corresponding to each command name is registered after a tag indicated by com. Here, the module name indicates a file name of the program. When a command indicated by a command name is given, the program indicated by the module name is executed.

The reset command data 74 indicates that after the mobile agent executes a command according to the traveling rule,
This file manages the names of commands executed immediately before referencing when re-setting the tour rule and the names of commands to be executed next time. In the example shown in FIG. 7, for each command executed by the agent execution device 16, the name of the command executed immediately before is registered after the tag indicated by precom.
The command name to be executed next is registered after the tag indicated by com.

The agent execution management process 60 refers to the module definition data 72, executes the program having the module name corresponding to the command name, and then executes the command data 68, the node data 70, and the reset command data 7
The mobile agent specifies the agent execution device 16 to be moved next and the command to be executed with reference to the database such as 4 and resets the traveling rule of the mobile agent. The agent control data 76 is as described above.

Subsequently, the mobile code execution process 62
After the agent execution management process 60 executes the command according to the patrol rule, downloads and executes the editing program indicated by the mobile code name stored in the mobile code data 58 of the agent issuing / receiving device 14 Is what you do. The agent execution management process 60 resets the traveling rule according to the result of executing the program with the mobile code name.

The emulator communication program 66 performs bidirectional communication between the agent execution device 16 and the emulator automatic operation device 18. The agent execution device 16 requests a search process corresponding to a command name. Each is transmitted to the corresponding emulator automatic driving device 18, and the corresponding search result is received from each emulator automatic driving device 18 to the agent execution device 16. The agent execution device 16 is as described above.

Subsequently, in the heterogeneous distributed data search device 10, the automatic emulator 18 receives the request for the search process from the agent execution device 16 and uses the terminal emulator function to operate the existing host computer 20. Emulates the host computer 2
0, an existing search application corresponding to the search processing request is executed. As the emulator automatic driving device 18, for example, a personal computer or the like is used.

As shown in FIG. 5, the emulator automatic operation device 18 includes an emulator automatic operation program 78, application connection data 80, and a terminal emulator 82.
And so on. In the case of the example shown in FIG. 1, automatic emulators for company A and company B are provided, and a search processing request is received from the corresponding agent execution device 16. Above, the existing search application corresponding to the search processing request is executed, and the search result is obtained.

In the automatic emulator 18 for the emulator,
First, the application connection data 80 is a file that manages screen transitions for each search operation of the emulator automatic operation device 18 for each company, field positions of items on each screen, and the like. In the application connection data 80,
For example, at the time of a certain search operation, what kind of screen development should be performed to reach a predetermined screen, what data each item of the found screen has, and the like are defined.

The emulator automatic operation program 78
Absorbs differences in the communication protocol and data storage format of the host computer 20 that differ for each model, emulates the operation of the existing host computer 20, and executes the existing search application for the host computer 20 on the host computer 20 Let the terminal emulator 82
With reference to the application connection data 80 on the search result displayed on the screen of (1), an item (search result) stored in a predetermined field position is obtained.

As the terminal emulator 82, there is already a terminal emulator 82 for each company host computer that operates on a personal computer. Therefore, according to the present invention, it is not necessary to add any labor and cost for newly developing the terminal emulator 82 for the existing host computer of each company.
The existing terminal emulator 82 can be used as it is simply by preparing the (general-purpose program independent of the model of the host computer) and the application connection data 80.

The automatic emulator 18 receives the request for the search process from the agent execution device 16 and emulates the operation of the host computer 20 as described above to obtain the search result corresponding to the request for the search process. Get. This search result is stored in the agent execution device 16
And is transmitted to the requesting agent execution device 16.
The emulator automatic driving device 18 is as described above.

It should be noted that the heterogeneous distributed data search device of the present invention is not limited to the illustrated example, and for example, three or more heterogeneous host computers 20 may be connected. In addition, although a personal computer, a workstation, or the like is illustrated as each of the devices 12, 14, 16, and 18, the present invention is not limited thereto. Further, in the illustrated example, the agent execution device 16 is provided for each host computer 20. However, one agent execution device 16 may be shared by a plurality of host computers 20.

Further, since the devices 12, 14, 16, 18 and the host computer 20 are interconnected by a network, they may be arranged at remote locations from each other. Also,
The agent issuing / receiving device 14 and the agent execution device 16 may be shared by one device. In the illustrated example,
Although an example of the file format of various databases has been described, the format is not limited at all, and the format may be appropriately changed as needed. The heterogeneous distributed data search device of the present invention is basically as described above.

Next, based on the configuration of the heterogeneous distributed data search apparatus 10 of the present invention shown in FIGS. 1 to 5, the heterogeneous distributed data search apparatus 10 of the present invention will be described with reference to flowcharts shown in FIGS. A description will now be given of the heterogeneous distributed data search method according to the present invention, together with the operation described above.

First, as shown in FIG. 8, as shown in FIG. 8, a search execution request input by the user on the search execution request / result display device 12 is received by the agent issuing / receiving device 14 and the search business data 44 is read. Then, the command name of a series of commands to be executed in the search operation related to the search execution request is specified.

Subsequently, as step 2, the command data 46 is read, the execution order of a series of commands to be executed in this search operation, the node name, the mobile code name, and the mobile code of the agent execution device 16 at the movement destination (execution destination). , The next execution command name corresponding to the execution result is specified, the node data 48 is read in the same manner, and the I / O of the destination agent execution device 16 corresponding to the node name
Specify P address, port number, etc.

As step 3, a list of jobs to be executed by each agent execution unit 16 for a series of commands to be executed in this search job is created, thereby creating a traveling agent traveling rule corresponding to this search job. I do. As shown in FIG. 8, each job is, for example, a destination (execution destination) agent execution device 1
In addition to the IP address, the command name, the mobile code name, and the return value of the mobile code corresponding to the next execution command name, the list is formed.

That is, it is determined whether or not the command is an essential process. If the command is an essential process, for example, a command name registered after a com tag of the command data 46, this is determined. The job is added to the list of each job as a normal job indicated by the name in the order of execution. On the other hand, if the command is not an essential process, for example, as in the next execution command name registered after the call tag of the command data 46, this is regarded as a non-normal job indicated by the next execution command name. Add to the list of jobs.

Subsequently, as step 4, a mobile agent having a traveling rule is issued from the agent issuing / receiving device 14 as a server and moved to the agent executing device 16 of the client executing the first job. When the second and subsequent jobs are executed, the mobile agent holding the reset traveling rules is transferred from the agent execution device 16 that executed the previous job to the agent execution device 16 that executes the next job. Move.

As shown in FIG. 9, in step 5, the destination agent execution device 16 refers to the module definition data 72 and specifies and executes a program having a module name corresponding to the command name. This allows
The operation of the host computer 20 is emulated by the automatic emulator 18, an existing search application corresponding to the command name is executed on the host computer 20, and the search result is transmitted to the agent execution device 16.

The destination agent execution device 16
In step (2), as needed, an editing program indicated by the mobile code name is downloaded from the mobile code data 58 of the agent issuing / receiving device 14 and executed, and the search result is edited.

Subsequently, in step 6, it is determined whether or not there is a next command to be executed. Here, if there is no command to be executed, the mobile agent returns to the issuing agent issuing / receiving apparatus 14 together with the final search result after editing. On the other hand, if there is a command to be executed, it is determined whether the next command to be executed is in a non-normal job.

If the next command to be executed is in the non-normal job, the next command to be executed in the non-normal job is added as a normal job in the order of execution, and the job list is reset, and the process proceeds to step 5. Go back and repeat. On the other hand, if the next command to be executed is not in the non-normal job, the reset command data 74
After the command to be executed next is specified, the process returns to step 2 to reset and execute the traveling rule of the mobile agent.

In step 7, the search result is converted into an HTML file in the agent issuing / receiving device 14 and stored in the HTML data 54, and then transmitted to the search result request / result display device 12 of the request source. At this time, the end of the search and the search result can be notified to the user by e-mail. In addition, summary information of the search result is written in the billing data 56, and the search result is stored in the stack data 52. The heterogeneous distributed data search method of the present invention is basically as described above.

In the above embodiment, the case where the traveling rule is reset is exemplified. However, the present invention is not limited to this.
The mobile agent may be patrolled based on a patrolling rule created by the agent issuing / receiving device 14 in advance. As described above, the heterogeneous distributed data search method and the search device of the present invention have been described in detail. However, the present invention is not limited to the above-described embodiment, and various improvements and changes are made without departing from the gist of the present invention. Of course it is good.

[0075]

As described in detail above, the heterogeneous distributed data search method and the search apparatus of the present invention issue a mobile agent from a server to a client using a mobile agent technology, and each client at a transfer destination. Execute the command on the above, use the terminal emulator function to emulate the operation of the existing host computer, execute the existing search application corresponding to the command on the existing host computer, and obtain the search results. Accordingly, a program for editing the search result is downloaded from the server side to the client side and executed, and the edited search result is transferred to the server side. According to the heterogeneous distributed data search method and search device of the present invention,
By using the mobile agent technology and the terminal emulator function, regardless of the type of the host computer, the existing search application running on the existing host computer can be executed on the existing host computer without any change, In addition, it is possible to reduce the operation load of the system due to the change or addition of the editing process, and to reduce the data transfer amount on the network, thereby improving the performance of the entire system. Further, according to the heterogeneous distributed data search method and the search apparatus of the present invention, at the time of actual operation of the system, the end of the search and the search result are notified to the user by e-mail, There is also an advantage that it can be managed as.

[Brief description of the drawings]

FIG. 1 is a conceptual block diagram of an embodiment of a heterogeneous distributed data search apparatus according to the present invention.

FIG. 2 is a schematic configuration diagram of an embodiment of a search execution request / result display device.

FIG. 3 is a schematic configuration diagram of an embodiment of an agent issuing / receiving apparatus.

FIG. 4 is a schematic configuration diagram of an embodiment of an agent execution device.

FIG. 5 is a schematic diagram of a configuration of an embodiment of an emulator automatic operation device.

FIG. 6 is a conceptual diagram illustrating an example of a format of agent control data according to an embodiment.

FIG. 7 is a conceptual diagram illustrating an example of a format of agent control data according to an embodiment;

FIG. 8 is a flowchart of an embodiment showing the steps of the heterogeneous distributed data search method of the present invention.

FIG. 9 is a flowchart of an embodiment showing steps of the heterogeneous distributed data search method of the present invention.

[Explanation of symbols]

 Reference Signs List 10 heterogeneous distributed data search device 12 search execution request / result display device 14 agent issuing / receiving device 16 agent execution device 18 emulator automatic operation device 20 host computer 22 input / display unit 24 communication thread 26 agent server management process 28 communication server thread 30 Reference Data Access Method 32 Stack Management Thread 34 Timer Monitoring Thread 36 Charge Creation Thread 38 Agent Communication Thread 40 Login Data 42 Broadcast Data 44 Search Business Data 46,68 Command Data 48,70 Node Data 50,76 Agent Control Data 52 Stack Data 54 HTML data 56 Billing data 58 Mobile code data 60 Agent execution management process 62 Irukodo execution process 64 Agent communication thread 66 emulator communication program 72 module definition data 74 reset command data 78 emulator automatic operation program 80 application connection data 82 terminal emulator

 ──────────────────────────────────────────────────続 き Continuing from the front page (72) Inventor Atsumi Okuno 2-3-2 Uchisaiwaicho, Chiyoda-ku, Tokyo Kawatetsu Information System Co., Ltd. (72) Inventor Yasuhiro Motofuji 1-3-3 Nakase, Mihama-ku, Chiba Information System Co., Ltd.

Claims (5)

[Claims] 1. A heterogeneous distributed data retrieval method for retrieving data distributed and stored in at least two different types of existing host computers, comprising the steps of: Based on a search execution request for searching, after creating a command to be executed on a client to execute an existing search application on each of the existing host computers and a traveling rule for determining an execution order thereof, from the server, Issue a mobile agent having the traveling rule to at least two of the clients, and cause the mobile agent to travel through each of the clients according to an execution order determined by the traveling rule; Execute the command to be executed on the Emulating the operation of the existing host computer, executing an existing search application corresponding to the command on each of the existing host computers, obtaining a search result corresponding to the command, and thereafter retrieving the search result. A heterogeneous distributed data search method, wherein a program for editing is downloaded from the server to the client, executed, and the edited search result is transferred to the server. 2. A heterogeneous distributed data retrieval apparatus for retrieving data distributed and stored in at least two different types of existing host computers, comprising: First means for inputting a search execution request for searching, and a command to be executed on a client to execute an existing search application on each of the existing host computers based on the search execution request, and execution thereof Second means for creating a traveling rule for determining an order, and issuing a mobile agent having the traveling rule from a server to at least two of the clients; and executing the traveling agent determined by the traveling rule. The mobile agent circulates each of the clients, and A third means for executing the command to be executed on the existing host computer, and a fourth means for emulating the operation of the existing host computer, wherein the fourth means is provided on each of the existing host computers. Then, after executing an existing search application corresponding to the command and obtaining a search result corresponding thereto,
The third means downloads a program for editing the search result from the server to the client, executes the program, and transfers the edited search result to the server. apparatus. 3. The heterogeneous distributed data search device according to claim 2, further comprising: resetting the traveling rule of the mobile agent according to a result of executing the command on the destination client. A heterogeneous distributed data search device comprising means. 4. The heterogeneous distributed data search apparatus according to claim 2 or 3, further comprising means for storing summary information of the search result as billing data. apparatus. 5. The heterogeneous distributed data search device according to claim 2, further comprising means for notifying a user of the search result by e-mail. Distributed data retrieval device.