JP2000194715A - Browser device and storage medium stored with browser program - Google Patents

Abstract

PROBLEM TO BE SOLVED: To display a home page to be made correspond to the place on a map. SOLUTION: This browser device 10 provided with map display function executes map browser processing by executing a map display browser program 30 stored in a program storage area 27 of a memory 26 through a CPU 20. In map browser processing, the home page downloaded through a network 12 is displayed on the map browser screen of a display part 22. In this case, the information of a place is retrieved based on the downloaded home page, and the place related to the home page is displayed on the map based on this retrieved information of the place.

Description

DETAILED DESCRIPTION OF THE INVENTION

[0001]

BACKGROUND OF THE INVENTION 1. Field of the Invention The present invention relates to a browser device for displaying a homepage downloaded via a network, and a storage medium storing a browser program.

[0002]

2. Description of the Related Art In recent years, the Internet has been widely used, and by using a WWW (World Wide Web) browser, a homepage (WWW) registered on a WWW server located all over the world connected via a network.
eb page is generically referred to) and can be displayed on the screen.

In a WWW browser (hereinafter simply referred to as a browser), simply specifying a position (jump command position) at which a link to another page in a home page is set, the page at which the link is set is immediately browsed by the browser. It can be displayed on the screen. By performing this operation one after another, so-called net surfing can be realized.

[0004]

However, in a conventional browser, it is difficult to know which location (country, region, city, etc.) in the world is related to the homepage displayed on the browser screen. I could only imagine referring to the specified URL (uniform resource locator).

[0005] For this reason, even if web pages all over the world can be successively displayed on a browser screen by surfing the Internet, it has been difficult to imagine which place in the world is surfing the Internet, and it has become intriguing.

SUMMARY OF THE INVENTION The present invention has been made in view of the above problems, and has a browser apparatus capable of displaying a home page by associating the home page with a location on a map, and a storage medium storing a browser program. The purpose is to provide.

[0007]

SUMMARY OF THE INVENTION According to the present invention, there is provided a browser apparatus for displaying a homepage downloaded via a network, a search unit for searching for location information based on the downloaded homepage, and a search performed by the search unit. And a map display means for displaying a location related to the homepage on a map based on the location information.

[0008] That is, since the location related to the currently displayed homepage can be referred to on the map together with the homepage, as the homepage is displayed one after another by the Internet surfing, the location related to the homepage is displayed on the map. Are displayed one after another, so that it is easy to imagine which places (countries, regions, cities, etc.) in the world are surfing the Internet.

[0009] The search means may search for the location information by searching a downloaded homepage based on information of a predetermined location.

That is, information related to a place is acquired from the contents of the homepage itself.

A registration unit for registering information on the displayed home page in association with a location on a map displayed by the map display unit; and a registration unit for registering the map displayed by the map display unit. When a place associated with the information on the homepage is designated by the user, homepage display means for displaying the homepage based on the information on the homepage corresponding to the place is provided.

That is, by registering the information on the homepage in association with the location on the map, the designation of the location on the map causes the homepage related to this location to be displayed.

[0013]

Embodiments of the present invention will be described below with reference to the drawings.

FIG. 1 is a block diagram showing a configuration of an electronic circuit of a browser device 10 with a map display function according to an embodiment of the present invention. The browser device 10 with a map display function is configured by a computer which reads programs recorded on various storage media and whose operation is controlled by the read programs.

The browser device 10 with a map display function is connected to another computer 14, for example, a server device that provides a home page, via a network 12 such as the Internet, and downloads and displays an arbitrary specified home page. be able to. The browser device with a map display function 10 of the present embodiment can display a homepage and also display a location related to the displayed homepage on a map.

The browser device 10 with a map display function is shown in FIG.
As shown in FIG. 1, the CPU 20 includes an input unit 21, a display unit 22,
The communication unit 23, the storage medium reading unit 24, and the memory 26 are interconnected.

The CPU 20 controls the entire browser device 10 with a map display function, and executes various processes by executing programs stored in the memory 26. By executing the map display browser program, the CPU 20 can cause the display unit 22 to display a map related to the homepage together with the homepage downloaded via the network 12.

The input unit 21 includes a keyboard, a pointing device such as a mouse, and is used to input data and various instructions.

The display unit 22 displays various information, and displays a home page by executing a map display browser program.

The communication unit 23 controls communication with another computer 14 via the network 12 under the control of the CPU 20.

The storage medium reading unit 24 has a storage medium 25 in which programs, data, and the like are recorded in advance.
This storage medium 25 is constituted by a magnetic or optical storage medium or a semiconductor memory. The storage medium 25 is fixedly provided in the recording medium reading unit 24 or is detachably mounted. The program, data, and the like stored in the storage medium 25 may be configured to be received and stored from another device connected via a communication line or the like. A storage device having a storage medium may be provided on another device side, and the program and data stored in the storage medium may be used via a communication line.

The memory 26 stores information on programs and data accessed by the CPU 20, and has a program storage area 27 and a data storage area 28 as required.

FIG. 2 shows details of information stored in the memory 26. As shown in FIG. 2A, for example, a map display browser program 30 for realizing a map browser process for displaying a map together with a homepage is stored in the program storage area 27.

In the data storage area 28, various data used when executing the map browser processing, that is, the current route number (No) 32, the current URL (unif
orm resource locator) address 33, current latitude / longitude 34, map route number (No) 36, map mark number (No) 38, city name / latitude / longitude table 40, region name / latitude / longitude table 41, country name A latitude / longitude table 42, a world map 43, and a regional map 44 are stored.

The current route No. 32 has data (URL address and latitude / longitude) of the currently displayed homepage in the route registered in the map route No. 38 (details will be described later) by surfing the Internet. Is stored.

The current URL address 33 stores the URL address of the currently displayed homepage.

The current latitude / longitude 34 stores data relating to the latitude and longitude indicating a location on a map, which is associated with the currently displayed homepage.

In the map route No. 36, each time homepages are displayed one after another by surfing the Internet, information on each homepage, that is, a memory location for registering the URL address and the latitude / longitude data on the map in association with each other. Is stored. That is, the position of the latitude / longitude memory shown in FIG. 2B is designated by the map route No. 36. For example, the 0th memory position contains the URL address of the homepage (the first displayed page) and the location on the map. The data on the latitude and longitude shown are stored in association with each other. When a display of another page is requested (instruction of a jump command) from the home page indicated by the home URL address, the jump destination URL address (jump 1U) is stored in the first memory location.
RL address) and data on latitude and longitude indicating a location on the map corresponding to the page to which the jump is made are stored in association with each other. Hereinafter, similarly, the map route No.
36, the information (U) related to the page to be jumped is sequentially stored in the corresponding memory location of the latitude and longitude memory.
RL address and latitude / longitude data) are stored.

In the map mark No. 38, information (URL address) relating to the currently displayed homepage is registered in association with a location (latitude / longitude) on the map displayed together with the homepage in response to a map mark registration instruction. Memory locations are stored. That is, the map mark No. 38
The memory location shown in FIG. 2 (c) is designated by a map mark processing (described later), and the information (U) related to the currently displayed home page is sequentially displayed from the first memory location.
(RL address) and a location (latitude / longitude) on a map displayed together with the homepage are stored in association with each other.

The latitude / longitude table 40 for each city name is referred to to search for information on a place related to the homepage based on the contents of the homepage, and information on a predetermined place, for example, Text data representing the names of cities in various parts of the world are stored in association with the latitude / longitude data of each city. In this case, by searching the text data of the homepage based on the text data representing the city name, the latitude / longitude data of the city corresponding to the homepage can be obtained.

The latitude / longitude table 41 for each area name is referred to for searching for information on a place related to the homepage based on the contents of the homepage, and information on a predetermined place, for example, Text data representing a specific region name in the world is stored in association with data on latitude and longitude (for example, the center position of the region) indicating each region. In this case, by searching the text data of the homepage based on the text data representing the area name, the latitude / longitude data of the area corresponding to the homepage can be obtained. The region here can be arbitrarily defined such as North America, Southeast Asia, Europe, and each country.

The country name / latitude / longitude table 42 is referenced to search for information on a location related to the homepage based on the content of the homepage. Text data representing the country name of each country is stored in association with the latitude / longitude data of each country. In this case, by searching the text data of the homepage based on the text data representing the country name, the latitude / longitude data of the country corresponding to the homepage can be obtained.

The world map 43 stores data of a world map to be displayed together with the homepage.

The regional map 44 stores map data of each region to be displayed together with the homepage. It is assumed that the regional map 44 stores map data of each region corresponding to the regional name stored in the latitude / longitude table 41 for each regional name.

The memory 26 is provided with a work area for temporarily storing work data as required.

Next, the operation of the browser device 10 with a map display function of the present embodiment will be described with reference to flowcharts shown in FIGS. 3 to 7 and examples of map browser screens shown in FIGS.

First, the map browser processing (overall processing) will be described with reference to the flowchart shown in FIG.

The map browser process is started by activating the map display browser program 30 stored in the program storage area 27 by the CPU 20.

First, the CPU 20 sets an initial value "0" to the current path No. 32 in the memory 26 (step A1), and replaces the URL address set to be displayed first when the browser is started with the current URL address. 3
3 is set, the homepage is downloaded based on the URL address, and displayed on the map browser screen set in the display screen of the display unit 22.

FIG. 8 (a1) shows an example of a map browser screen on which a home page is displayed. The map browser screen has multiple buttons for commanding,
That is, "return" 60, "stop" 61, "keyword"
There are provided buttons 62, “map mark” 63, and “map enlargement” 64 (details of processing executed according to an instruction for each button will be described later). Also, a URL for displaying a URL address indicating the currently displayed page
An address display area 65 and a map display area 66 for displaying a map are provided. Each of the buttons 60 to 64 and each of the display areas 65 and 66 include, for example, a page display area 6 for displaying a page as shown in FIG.
7.

When the homepage is displayed in the page display area 67 of the map browser screen, the CPU 20 executes a map display process for displaying a map in the map display area 66 (step A3). In the map display area 66, for example, a world map as shown in FIG. 8 (a2) is displayed.

Here, the map display processing will be described with reference to the flowchart shown in FIG. In the map display process, based on the text data of the homepage,
Search for information on places related to the homepage and specify this place on a map.

First, the CPU 20 determines the map display area 6 of the map browser screen based on the data of the world map 43.
In step 6, a world map is displayed.

Next, the CPU 20 sets a pointer indicating the data position to be processed at the head of the text data of the homepage (step B1), and extracts one word to be processed from the position indicated by the pointer (step B).
2).

Here, the CPU 20 compares the extracted word with each city name stored in the latitude / longitude table 40 for each city name in the memory 26, and determines whether or not there is a matching city name (see FIG. 4). Step B3). If there is a matching city name, the latitude / longitude data stored in association with this city name is read out from the latitude / longitude table 40 for each city name and stored in the current latitude / longitude 34 (step B4).

If no city name matches the extracted word, the CPU 20 compares the extracted word with each area name stored in the latitude / longitude table 41 for each area name in the memory 26, and matches. It is determined whether or not there is an area name (step B5). If there is a matching area name, the latitude / longitude data stored in association with this area name is read out from the latitude / longitude table 41 for each area name and stored in the current latitude / longitude 34 (step B6).

If no region name matches the extracted word, the CPU 20 compares the extracted word with each country name stored in the latitude / longitude table 42 for each country name in the memory 26, and determines the matching country name. It is determined whether or not there is (step B7). If there is a matching country name, the latitude / longitude data stored in association with this country name is
It is read from the longitude table 42 and stored in the current latitude / longitude 34 (step B8).

By giving priority to the search for latitude and longitude data based on the city name as described above, the location on the map can be specified based on the area name and country name. It can be more specific than it is.

On the other hand, the word extracted in step B2 is
If none of the city, region, or country matches,
The CPU 20 moves the pointer to the beginning of the next word (step B9). As a result, if it is not the end of the text (step B10), one word to be processed is extracted from the position indicated by the pointer (step B2).

In the same manner, the above-described processing (steps B3 to B7) is executed for the next word to be processed. As a result, if the current latitude / longitude data cannot be obtained, the process is executed for each word on the homepage while sequentially updating the pointer.

As a result of executing the above processing for all the words in the homepage, if the current latitude / longitude data cannot be obtained (step B10), the CPU 20
The last latitude / longitude data is stored in the current latitude / longitude 34 (step B11). When the browser is started and there is no previous latitude / longitude data, the latitude / longitude data of a place set in advance to the homepage set to be displayed first when the browser is started is set. Alternatively, the latitude / longitude data set arbitrarily in advance may be stored in the current latitude / longitude 34. Also, if the latitude / longitude data cannot be obtained from the contents of the homepage when the browser is started, the mark of the current position may not be displayed.

When the current latitude / longitude 34 is stored in this way, the CPU 20 adds a predetermined mark on the world map displayed on the map display area 66 according to the latitude / longitude data, and (Step B
12). In the example shown in FIG. 8A2, the current position is specified by displaying a black circle mark on the world map.

When the previous latitude / longitude data is stored, not when the browser is started, the current position is determined from the black circle indicating the previous position displayed according to the previous latitude / longitude data. An arrow pointing to the indicated black circle is added and displayed (step B13).

For example, when a jump is made from the home page shown in FIG. 8 (a1) to the home page shown in FIG. 8 (b1) linked to this home page (this jump process will be described later (steps A5 to A).
9)), as shown in FIG. 8B2, an arrow is displayed on the world map from the black circle indicating the previous position to the black circle indicating the current position.

The CPU 20 adds a white circle to the map mark position based on the latitude and longitude data stored in the memory position indicated by the map mark No. 38 in the memory 26 (see FIG. 2C). (Step B14). Note that the latitude / longitude data stored in the memory position indicated by the map mark No. 38 has been stored by map mark processing described later. Details will be described later.

Here, the process returns to the map browser processing shown in the flowchart of FIG.

When the map display processing in step A3 is completed, the CPU 20 stores the current latitude / longitude data set in the map display processing into the map route No. 36.
Is stored as latitude / longitude data of the home in the latitude / longitude memory indicated by the 0th address in association with the current URL address 33 (step A4).

Hereinafter, a process corresponding to an instruction for the information displayed on the map browser screen is executed.

First, in the home page displayed in the page display area 67, a position (jump instruction position) indicating that a link to another page has been set is input to the input unit 21.
If specified by a mouse operation (step A5) (step A5), the CPU 20 downloads the page of the URL address of the jump instruction at the specified position (step A5).
6), executing map display processing (FIG. 4) (step A)
7).

For example, in the homepage shown in FIG. 8 (a1), the text string of “WWK International Whaling Association” and “Whale Museum” in the text data indicates that a link is set to another homepage. Therefore, by specifying the character string position (jump command position) of “WWK International Whaling Association”, based on the URL address indicating the link destination page set for this position, for example, FIG.
The homepage shown in 1) is downloaded and displayed.

The CPU 20 sets the map route No. 36 to “1”.
The current (jump destination) UR is added to the position of the latitude and longitude memory indicated by the map route No. 36 (step A8).
The L address is stored in association with the latitude / longitude data obtained by the map display processing (step A9).

When another home page is displayed by the jump processing, the map display processing (step B)
12, B13), based on the location information obtained from the homepage, that is, the latitude / longitude data, as shown in FIG. 8 (b2), relates to the homepage currently displayed on the world map. The place to be executed is marked (black circle), and an arrow from the black circle indicating the previous position to the black circle indicating the current position is added.

In the example shown in FIG. 8 (b1), since the character string “Switzerland” exists in the text data of the homepage, it corresponds to the country name “Swiss” stored in the latitude / longitude table 42 for each country name. The corresponding position on the world map is calculated based on the registered latitude / longitude data, and this position is marked as shown in FIG. 8 (b2).

In the homepage shown in FIG. 8B1, “Whole Watchin” in the text data is displayed.
g ”“ World Nature Associate ”
The character string “on” indicates that a link is set to another homepage. Here, "Whole W
By designating the character string position (jump instruction position) of "attaching", for example, the homepage shown in FIG. 9C1 is downloaded based on the URL address indicating the link destination page set for this position. Is displayed.

In the example shown in FIG. 9 (c1), since the character string "Calfornia" is present in the text data of the homepage, for example, the area name per latitude / longitude table 41 (city name per latitude / longitude table) 40 may be registered), a corresponding position on the world map is calculated based on the latitude / longitude data registered corresponding to the area name “Calfornia” stored in FIG.
As shown in 2), an arrow connecting the previous position is displayed together with the mark display.

Further, in the homepage shown in FIG. 9 (c1), "Antarctica T" in the text data is displayed.
urist "" Norway While Assoc
The character string “iation” indicates that a link to another home page is set. Here, "Ant
By designating the character string position (jump instruction position) of "artica Turist", for example, the home page shown in FIG. 9 (d1) is downloaded based on the URL address indicating the link destination page set for this position. Is displayed.

In the example shown in FIG. 9 (d 1), since the character string “Antarctica” exists in the text data of the homepage, for example, the region name “Antarctica” stored in the latitude / longitude table 41 for each region name. Based on the latitude / longitude data registered for
The corresponding position on the world map is calculated, and this position is
As shown in (d2), an arrow connecting the previous position is displayed together with the mark display.

On the other hand, on the map browser screen, the following various processes can be executed. That is, by specifying the map displayed on the map display area 66 (step A10), the map jump processing can be executed (step A11). Further, by selecting the button of "map mark" 63 provided on the map browser screen, the map mark processing can be executed (step A13), and by selecting the button of "map enlargement" 64, the map can be displayed. An enlargement process can be executed (step A15). Further, other processing can be executed by selecting another command button (step A16) (step A17). Less than,
Each of the map jump processing, the map mark processing, and the map enlargement processing will be described.

First, the map mark processing will be described with reference to FIG.
This will be described with reference to the flowchart shown in FIG.

When the button of the "map mark" 63 is selected on the map browser screen on which a certain homepage is displayed, the CPU 20 selects, for example, a menu for registering the map mark and for selecting one of the processes for editing the map mark. Is displayed.

If the map mark registration is selected (step D1), the CPU 20 sets the map mark No. 38
Is set to a value obtained by adding 1 to the maximum value of the memory location indicated by the registered map mark No. 38, and a memory location for registering the next data is set (step D2).

The CPU 20 calculates the value N of the map mark No. 38
The current URL address 33 is registered in the memory location indicated by (step D3), and the data of the current latitude and longitude 34 are registered in association with each other (step D4).

The CPU 20 calculates the value N of the map mark No. 38
Based on the latitude / longitude data additionally registered in the memory location indicated by, a corresponding position on the map displayed in the map display area 66 is calculated and registered at this position as shown in FIG. 10 (e2). Then, a white circle mark indicating the completion is displayed (step D5).

The position where the white circle mark registered by the map mark processing is displayed is stored in the storage medium 25 even after the map browser processing is completed, and when the map browser processing is executed thereafter, the map browser It is clearly indicated on the map in a map display area 66 in the screen.

When an instruction is given for the white circle mark displayed on the map, the map jump processing described later stores the latitude and longitude corresponding to the designated position stored in the memory position indicated by the map mark No. 38. The home page can be displayed directly based on the URL address associated with the longitude data. Details of the map jump processing will be described later.

In the home page shown in FIG. 10 (e1), “Australia To
us "and" Asia Tours "indicate that a link has been established to another homepage.
For example, by specifying a character string position (jump instruction position) of “Antarctica Turist”, a UR indicating a linked page set for this position is designated.
Based on the L address, for example, a home page shown in FIG. 10 (f1) is downloaded and displayed.

In the example shown in FIG. 10 (f 1), since the character string “Australia” exists in the text data of the homepage, it corresponds to the country name “Australia” stored in the latitude / longitude table 42 for each country name. The corresponding position on the world map is calculated based on the registered latitude / longitude data, and a black circle mark is displayed at this position as shown in FIG. An arrow connecting the white circle mark indicating the position is displayed.

On the other hand, when the editing of the map mark is selected in step D1, the CPU 20 stores the data (URL address, latitude / longitude data) stored in the memory locations indicated by all the values of the registered map mark No. 38. ) Is read, and a list of map marks is displayed according to each data (step D6).

If one of the map marks is selected from the list (step D7), the CPU 20
Displays a menu for selecting one of “change latitude and longitude”, “delete”, and “cancel” for selecting a process for the selected map mark.

When "cancel" is selected from this menu, the CPU 20 terminates the map mark processing.
When "delete" is selected, the designated map mark No. 38 is searched (step D14), and the URL address and the latitude / longitude data stored in the memory location indicated by the map mark No. 38 are deleted (step D14). Step D1
5). Then, the memory location for the URL address and the latitude / longitude data after the memory location indicated by the map mark No. 38 designated for deletion is updated to the location indicated by the immediately preceding map mark No. 38 (step D16).

On the other hand, when "change latitude / longitude" is selected from the menu, the CPU 20 searches the designated map mark No. 38 (step D9) and corrects the latitude / longitude data indicated by the map mark No. 38. It is displayed as an object (step D10). Here, for the latitude / longitude data to be corrected, the value of the corrected latitude / longitude data can be arbitrarily input from the input unit 21 (step D11).

When the end of the correction of the latitude / longitude data is confirmed (step D12), the CPU 20 converts the latitude / longitude data at the memory position indicated by the designated map mark No. 38 into a value corresponding to the correction input. Update (Step D
13).

Next, the map jump processing will be described with reference to the flowchart shown in FIG.

The map jump process is executed when the position of the map displayed in the map display area 66 of the map browser screen is designated by operating the pointing device or the like of the input unit 21.

First, when a position is specified for the map in the map display area 66, the CPU 20 obtains latitude / longitude data corresponding to the specified position (step C).
1).

Here, a variable value N for searching data stored in the latitude and longitude memory indicated by the map route No. 36 is set to an initial value 0 (step C2), and the latitude and longitude data of the designated position is set to N. It is determined whether the data corresponds to the latitude / longitude data stored in the latitude / longitude memory of the second map route No. 36 (step C3). It should be noted that the latitude / longitude data at the designated position may be treated as indicating a predetermined area instead of indicating a strict one point. Further, the range of the predetermined area can be appropriately determined in consideration of the operability based on the size, display resolution, map scale, and the like of the map displayed in the map display area 66 (arbitrarily). May be changed).

The latitude / longitude data at the designated position is
If it is determined that the data does not correspond to the latitude / longitude data stored in the latitude / longitude memory of the N-th map route No. 36,
The value of the variable value N is increased by 1 (step C6), and as a result,
Map route No. 3 whose variable value N is registered in the latitude and longitude memory
If it does not exceed the maximum value of 6 (step C7), the same processing is executed for the latitude / longitude data stored in the next latitude / longitude memory (step C3).

Hereinafter, the step C is performed based on the latitude / longitude data stored in the latitude / longitude memory indicated by the map route No. 36.
Until the data corresponding to the latitude / longitude data specified in 1 is obtained or the variable value N exceeds the maximum value of the map route No. 36, the variable value N is sequentially updated one by one while each latitude / longitude is updated. Is determined for the data of.

On the other hand, the latitude and longitude stored in the latitude and longitude memory
If any of the longitude data corresponds to the specified latitude / longitude data (step C3), the CPU 20
Is the URL address stored in the latitude / longitude memory indicated by the N-th map route No. 36 to the current URL address 33.
(Step C4), and the N-th map route No.
The latitude / longitude data stored in the latitude / longitude memory indicated by 36 is set as the current latitude / longitude 34 (step C).
5).

The CPU 20 downloads the page of the URL address corresponding to the specified position (set at the current URL address 33) (step C12) and displays it in the page display area 67 of the map browser screen. When the data of the homepage displayed in the past during the execution of the map browser processing is stored in the storage medium 25 or the like in association with the URL address, the data is read out from the storage medium 25 via the storage medium reading unit 24. You may make it display.

The CPU 20 calculates the current latitude / longitude 3
In accordance with the latitude / longitude data stored in No. 4, a mark indicating the current position is added to the world map displayed in the map display area 66 (step C13), and the mark is displayed according to the previous latitude / longitude data. From the mark indicating the previous position,
An arrow pointing to the mark indicating the current position is added and displayed (step C14).

FIGS. 11 (g1) and (g2) show display examples when the black circle mark added to the United States (“Calfornia”) on the map is designated. The black circle mark added to the United States (“Calfornia”) is the mark added when the homepage was displayed first (FIGS. 9 (c1) and 9 (c2)), and the URL at this position was displayed.
The address and the latitude / longitude data are stored in the latitude / longitude memory indicated by the map route No. 36.

A home page is displayed in the page display area 67 in the same manner as in FIG. 9 (c1). As one of the surfing routes, as shown in FIG. The arrow to the mark of the current position is displayed.

By the way, the data of the latitude and longitude corresponding to the position designated in step C1 is stored in step C1.
If not obtained in the processing of C3, C6, C7, the CPU 2
No. 0 executes the same processing as described above on data stored in the memory position indicated by the map mark No. 38 registered by the map mark processing.

Here, the variable value N for retrieving the data stored at the memory location indicated by the map mark No. 38 is set to an initial value 1 (step C8), and the latitude and
The longitude data is the latitude and longitude of the N-th map mark No. 38
It is determined whether the data corresponds to the longitude data (step C).
9). It should be noted that the latitude / longitude data at the designated position does not indicate a strict one point but may indicate a predetermined area as described above.

The latitude / longitude data at the designated position is
If it is determined that the data does not correspond to the latitude / longitude data of the N-th map mark No. 38, the value of the variable value N is increased by 1 (step C15). As a result, the maximum value of the map mark No. If it does not exceed (step C16), the same processing is executed for the latitude / longitude data stored in the memory location indicated by the next map mark No. 38 (step C9).

Hereinafter, from the latitude / longitude data indicated by the map mark No. 38, data corresponding to the latitude / longitude data specified in step C1 is obtained, or the variable value N exceeds the maximum value of the map mark No. 38. Up to
While updating the variable value N one by one, determination is made for each latitude / longitude data.

On the other hand, the registered latitude and longitude data include
If there is data corresponding to the designated latitude / longitude data (step C9), the CPU 20 sets the URL address stored in the memory location indicated by the N-th map mark No. 38 as the current URL address 33 (step C9). Step C
10) The latitude and longitude indicated by the N-th map mark No. 38
The longitude data is set to the current latitude / longitude 34 (step C11).

The CPU 20 downloads the page of the URL address corresponding to the designated position (set at the current URL address 33) (step C12) and displays it in the page display area 67 of the map browser screen.

The CPU 20 determines the current latitude / longitude 3
In accordance with the latitude / longitude data stored in No. 4, a mark indicating the current position is added to the world map displayed in the map display area 66 (step C13), and the mark is displayed according to the previous latitude / longitude data. From the mark indicating the previous position,
An arrow pointing to the mark indicating the current position is added and displayed (step C14).

In this way, by referring to the position of the map displayed in the map display area 66, the previously referred home page or the home page registered by the map mark processing can be downloaded and displayed. Therefore, the URL address display area 65 displays the URL
By re-entering the L address or designating the "return" button 60, the desired home page can be displayed by a simple operation without having to take a method of going back to the home page sequentially displayed by surfing the Internet. Operability becomes very good.

Next, the map enlargement processing will be described with reference to the flowchart shown in FIG.

The map enlargement process is a process of changing the scale of the world map displayed in the map display area 66 of the map browser screen and displaying a map for each region or country.

When the button of "enlarge map" 64 is selected on the map browser screen on which a certain homepage is displayed, the CPU 20 reads the data of the current latitude / longitude 34 (step E1), and reads the data of the latitude / longitude. Is selected from the regional maps 44 (step E2). The CPU 20 displays a country-specific map in the map display area 66 based on the selected country map data (step E3).

Here, the CPU 20 determines that the map route No. 36
The variable value N for searching the data stored in the latitude and longitude memory indicated by is set to the initial value 0, and the N-th map route No. 3
The data of the latitude / longitude stored in the latitude / longitude memory of No. 6 is read out, and it is determined whether or not the data can be displayed on the country-specific map to be currently displayed (step E6). As a result,
If it can be displayed, the CPU 20 adds a black circle mark display to a position corresponding to the latitude / longitude data on the map (step E7).

The CPU 20 executes a calculation for displaying an arrow pointing from the mark position indicating the previous position displayed according to the previous latitude and longitude data to the mark position displayed at step E7 (step E8). ). As a result,
If the arrow from the previous position can be displayed, the arrow is displayed on the map (step E10).

When the arrow can be displayed, it is determined in step E6 that the mark can be displayed on the country map, and the map is displayed before the map route No. 36 in which the latitude and longitude data corresponding to the mark display is stored. Is stored in the map route No. 36 in which data of another latitude / longitude is stored.
Before (N-1), data of another latitude and longitude is stored, and a mark is displayed on the map based on the data of the latitude and longitude. Even if the mark corresponding to the different latitude / longitude data is not displayed on the map, an arrow connecting the virtual position based on this different latitude / longitude data and the mark position displayed on the map. Can be displayed.

Here, the map route No.
If 36 is not the last (step E11), the value of the variable value N is increased by 1 (step E12), and the same processing is executed for the latitude / longitude data stored in the next latitude / longitude memory (step E5). -E10).

Hereinafter, for all the latitude / longitude data stored in the latitude / longitude memory indicated by the map route No. 36,
The same processing as described above is executed to display a mark and an arrow that can be displayed on the country map. In addition, the mark corresponding to the current latitude / longitude data is displayed in a blinking manner so that the mark can be easily recognized (step E13).

[0110] Further, the CPU 20 determines all the latitudes / maps indicated by the map mark No. 38 registered by the map mark processing.
For the longitude data, the latitude /
The same processing as described above is performed on the longitude data, and for those that can be displayed on the country map, a white circle mark is added to the position corresponding to the latitude / longitude data (step E14).

For example, when the button of “enlarge map” 64 is selected while the map browser screen is displayed as shown in FIGS. 11 (g1) and 11 (g2),
As shown in 2), the current position ("Calfo" in the United States)
rnia ”), the map data of the United States is read from the regional map 44 and displayed. Then, a mark that can be displayed on the map and an arrow connecting the mark and another position are added and displayed.

In this way, the map displayed in the map display area 66 can be enlarged and displayed by arbitrarily specifying the "map enlargement" 64 button.
Locations related to the homepage changed by surfing can be referenced on the map in more detail.

Here, the use of the position registered by the map mark processing will be described. When the position specified on the map is registered by the map mark processing, for example, the UR of each map route No.
The L address and the latitude / longitude data are stored in the storage medium 25 in association with each other, and when the map browser processing is executed thereafter, the map display area 66 is read from the storage medium 25 and displayed on the map browser screen. Is specified on the map.

For example, as shown in FIG. 12 (j1), when the map browser process is executed again,
As shown in 2), the positions registered on the world map displayed in the map display area 66 are marked with white circles (the positions registered when the homepage of FIG. 10 (e1) is displayed). .

Here, when the position of the white circle mark displayed on the map is designated by the mouse or the like of the input unit 21, the URL corresponding to the latitude / longitude data corresponding to the designated position is obtained by the map jump processing. Based on the address, the home page can be displayed directly as shown in FIG. 12 (k1). At this time, an arrow from the home position to the registered position of the jump destination is added and displayed in the map display area 66.

In the above-described map display processing, information on the latitude / longitude is retrieved by searching for text data of the homepage using preset location information (country name, area name, city name, etc.). However, detection may be performed based on information other than text data.
For example, it is possible to use an image or a URL address on a homepage, a keyword effective for specifying a place registered in advance, or the like.

Also, in the map display process, the latitude / longitude data is searched by executing a search on the entire text data of the homepage. However, information representing a location is entered in a fixed portion of the page. By setting a rule to place, it is possible to efficiently and reliably execute a search process for searching for location information.

[0118]

As described above, according to the browser apparatus according to the present invention, the information on the location related to the downloaded home page is searched, and the information related to the home page is searched based on the information on the searched location. Since the location can be displayed on a map, as the homepage is displayed one after another by surfing, places related to the homepage will be displayed one after another on the map, so any place in the world (Countries, regions, cities, etc.)
It is easy to imagine whether you are surfing the Internet.

[Brief description of the drawings]

FIG. 1 is a block diagram showing a configuration of an electronic circuit of a browser device with a map display function 10 according to an embodiment of the present invention.

FIG. 2 is a diagram showing details of information stored in a memory 26;

FIG. 3 is a flowchart illustrating map browser processing (overall processing).

FIG. 4 is a flowchart illustrating a map display process.

FIG. 5 is a flowchart illustrating map mark processing.

FIG. 6 is a flowchart illustrating a map jump process.

FIG. 7 is a flowchart illustrating a map enlargement process.

FIG. 8 is a diagram illustrating an example of a map displayed on a map browser screen and a map display area on which a homepage is displayed.

FIG. 9 is a view showing an example of a map displayed on a map browser screen on which a homepage is displayed and a map display area.

FIG. 10 is a diagram showing an example of a map displayed on a map browser screen and a map display area on which a homepage is displayed.

FIG. 11 is a diagram showing an example of a map browser screen on which a homepage is displayed and an example of a map displayed in a map display area.

FIG. 12 is a diagram illustrating an example of a map displayed on a map browser screen and a map display area on which a homepage is displayed.

[Explanation of symbols]

 Reference Signs List 10 Browser device with map display function 12 Network 20 CPU 21 Input unit 22 Display unit 23 Communication unit 24 Storage medium reading unit 25 Storage medium 26 Memory 27 Program storage area 28 Data storage area

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Claims (4)

[Claims] 1. A browser device for displaying a homepage downloaded via a network, a search unit for searching for location information based on the downloaded homepage, and based on the information on the location searched by the search unit. And a map display means for displaying a location related to a homepage on a map. 2. The information processing apparatus according to claim 1, wherein the search unit searches for the location information by searching a downloaded homepage based on information of a predetermined location.
Browser device as described. 3. A registration unit for registering information on a displayed home page in association with a location on a map displayed by the map display unit, and a registration unit for registering a map displayed by the map display unit. 2. A homepage display means for displaying a homepage based on information on the homepage corresponding to the location when a location associated with the information on the homepage is designated by the user. Browser device. 4. A storage medium having a computer-readable program code for displaying a homepage downloaded via a network, wherein the location information is searched based on the downloaded homepage. A storage medium storing a browser program having a computer-readable program code for displaying a location related to a homepage on a map based on the information of the above.