JP2000207339A - System and method for information service - Google Patents

Abstract

PROBLEM TO BE SOLVED: To partially automate information collection, edition, and distribution. SOLUTION: An information server 1 collects new information from an information providing server 2 and stores the information on a hard disk incorporated in the server 1 at a prescribe time. After editing the collecting information, the server 1 distributes the information stored in a specific area of the hard disk to a client 3 at the prescribed time. Therefore, the collection and distribution of the information are automatically executed as one task.

Description

DETAILED DESCRIPTION OF THE INVENTION

[0001]

BACKGROUND OF THE INVENTION 1. Field of the Invention The present invention relates to an information service system and method for collecting, editing, and providing information to members from an information providing server connected to a wide area network such as the Internet.

[0002]

2. Description of the Related Art Conventionally, the Internet includes the whole world.
Its scale is expanding rapidly. The number of sites (information providing servers) connected to the Internet and transmitting information is increasing, and the number of sites for commercial purposes is increasing.

[0003]

The information provided by the information providing server via the Internet is usually WWW (w
The communication is performed using a communication protocol called "old Wide Web". The information provided is HTML (Hype
r Text Markup Language) (hereinafter, an HTML document). HT
By creating a document using the ML language, it is possible to handle not only characters but also information in which images and sounds are mixed.

When a user wants to view information provided by an information providing server, a computer (hereinafter, a client) such as his / her own personal computer accesses the information providing server via the Internet. Then, using an HTML document display software called a dedicated browser, the HTML document stored in the information providing server is read and displayed on the display screen of the client. As a browser, Internet Explorer by Microsoft Corporation is famous.

[0005] The browser has a function called a patrol service or a subscription, that is, a specific information providing server is accessed at regular intervals, and a new HTML document (or an image or text defined in the HTML document) is accessed. File) is stored in the information providing server, many have a function of importing the HTML document into its own client.

Considering an information service that collects information from an information providing server connected to a wide area network such as the Internet and distributes the information to customers,
Conventionally, information can be collected using a browser as described above. However, when editing an HTML document, word processing software or dedicated HTML editing software must be started to perform the editing. Further, mail communication software for delivering information to customers must be started to create communication information.

As described above, conventionally, when distributing information, the above three different software programs are manually started, and information collection, document editing, and broadcast (distribution) are performed. Many manual operations must be performed.

Accordingly, an object of the present invention is to provide an information collection, editing,
An object of the present invention is to provide an information service system and a method capable of automating manual operations related to distribution as much as possible.

[0009]

In order to achieve the above object, according to the present invention, there is provided a collection server connected to a wide area communication network, and information from the collection server via the wide area communication network. The collection server has a plurality of clients that receive the distribution of the new information, and the collection server fetches new information from an information providing server specified in advance via the wide area communication network, and First information processing means for storing;
A second information processing unit that edits the stored information and stores the edited information in a distribution information storage area of the storage unit; and specifies the information stored in the distribution information storage area of the storage unit in advance. A third information processing means for sending an e-mail to the delivery destination, and a control means for executing the processing by the first information processing means and the processing by the third information processing means at predetermined times, respectively. It is characterized by.

According to a second aspect of the present invention, there is provided an information service method for distributing information from a collection server connected to a wide area communication network to a client via the communication network, wherein the collection server is connected to the wide area communication network via the wide area communication network. A first method of fetching new information from an information providing server designated in advance and storing the new information in a collected information storage area of the storage means.
And a second step of editing the stored information and storing the edited information in the distribution information storage area of the storage means, and storing the information stored in the distribution information storage area of the storage means in advance. 3rd to mail to specified delivery destination
And the steps of the first step and the third step are respectively executed at predetermined times.

[0011]

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

FIG. 1 shows a system configuration of an information service system to which the present invention is applied. In FIG. 1, reference numeral 1 denotes a server that collects information and distributes the information to a client 3 of a customer (hereinafter, a collection server). Reference numeral 2 denotes an information providing server similar to the conventional one. Reference numeral 3 denotes a plurality of clients similar to the related art that receive information distribution from the collection server. The collection server 1, the information providing server 2, and the client 3 are connected to a wide area communication network 4 such as the Internet.

This embodiment is characterized by information collection processing, editing processing, and distribution processing executed on the collection server 1 side. FIG. 2 shows a display screen for performing these processes.
In FIG. 2, reference numeral 11 denotes a pull-down menu for instructing to call, store, and edit collected information. Reference numeral 12 denotes a menu (collection menu) for setting conditions regarding information collection.

The setting contents include the information collection destination name, communication address (generally called URL), collection time, and the like. Reference numeral 13 denotes a pull-down menu for setting communication conditions relating to a distribution destination customer, which registers and corrects a customer name, a mail address, an information distribution time, and the like.

Collection menu 12 and distribution menu 1
When the position of No. 3 is designated with the mouse and the click button of the mouse is operated, a window screen for registering the above information is displayed. The operator inputs necessary information from the keyboard,
Lastly, when the confirm button (OK button) (not shown) is operated, the input information is stored in a specific storage area of the hard disk in the collection server 1. Reference numeral 16 denotes a screen area for editing collected information. Using a call command in the file menu 11, information to be distributed is called from a hard disk or a floppy (registered trademark) disk and displayed on the display area 16. Reference numerals 14 and 15 denote window screens for displaying collected information, and in this example, indicate that two pieces of information are being collected.

Next, a process of collecting, editing, and distributing information by the collection server 1 of the present embodiment will be described with reference to flowcharts of FIGS.

The processing procedure shown in FIGS. 3 and 4 is a program executable by the CPU of the collection server 1 and stored in the hard disk. This program is always executed while the collection server 1 is powered on. FIG. 3 shows a main processing procedure of the program, and FIG. 4 shows a processing procedure in the edit mode.

In FIG. 3, steps S10 to S10 are usually performed.
The loop processing of S40 is repeatedly executed. Step S
At 10, it is determined whether or not the current time has reached a preset collection time. In step S20, it is determined whether or not an instruction to edit the collected information has been given. When an edit command in this file menu is designated by a mouse, an edit instruction event occurs.

In step S30, it is determined whether or not the current time has reached a preset distribution time. In step S40, registration, change of distribution destination, setting of distribution time and the like, registration and change of information collection destination, setting of collection time and the like are accepted.

When this loop processing is repeated, for example, at the time of information collection at midnight, the CPU automatically starts an information collection program (a communication program called a subscription or patrol service) similar to the conventional one, and Access the set information collection destination and download (import) new information. The downloaded information is stored in a specific storage area (collection information storage area) in the hard disk (step S10 → S11 → S1).
2).

Also, when the delivery time is 12:00 am, the CP
U mails an edited document (described later) stored in a specific storage area (distribution information storage area) in the hard disk to a preset distribution destination (step S31). The document to be e-mailed includes an edited document attached to a prepared sentence prepared in advance (also called MIME).

As described above, information collection and information distribution are performed at a predetermined time, and the two processes (jobs) are executed in one task (information processing). And different.

Another difference from the prior art is that edit processing by manual operation described later is permitted on this task. When the edit mode is instructed by designating the edit command in the menu 11, the procedure proceeds from step S20 to step S2.
The process proceeds to 1 where the detailed procedure of FIG. 4 is executed.

The CPU reads out all the collected information from a specific area (storage address is fixed) for the collected information on the hard disk and displays it in the form of window screens 14 and 15 (step S100). The operator performs the editing by copying necessary information, pasting it into the editing display area 16, and deleting unnecessary portions. New information is added by inputting information from a keyboard or copying from another information file. This process can perform the same process as a word processor. Further, these editing commands may be prepared in the form of a pull-down menu.

Each time an editing-related instruction is input from the operator, the CPU performs a corresponding editing process on the RAM (steps S120 → S121). When the editing is completed, the operator issues a save command in the menu 11 Specify (highlight) with the mouse. Thereby, the CPU stores the edited information in a specific area in the hard disk in which the distribution information is stored (steps S130 → S140). In the above-described processing, the storage area for the collected information and the storage area for the distribution information are fixed, so that the user does not need to perform manual input, and the storage destination (or file name) related to reading and storing information Is released from the setting process.

The editing process described above can be performed at any time between the information collection time and the information distribution time.

In addition to this embodiment, the following embodiment can be executed.

1) The display of the HTML document is based on the format of the HTML document source (character size, typeface designation, file storage location designation, image display location designation, etc.).
Displaying (a document described in the ML language) facilitates the editing process. Note that the collected HTML document may be converted into a word processing document for editing.

2) In the above example, the editing operation is performed manually. However, if the format of the collected information is predetermined, the editing process may be automated. In this case, the editing instruction can be specified by a macro instruction.

[0030]

As described above, according to the first and second aspects of the present invention, information collection and distribution processing is automatically performed at a predetermined time, so that the operator can manually edit only the collected information by manual operation. And the operation labor is reduced as compared with the conventional case.

[Brief description of the drawings]

FIG. 1 is a block diagram illustrating a system configuration according to an embodiment of the present invention.

FIG. 2 is an explanatory diagram showing an example of a display screen of the information server 1.

FIG. 3 is a flowchart showing a processing procedure executed by the information server 1.

FIG. 4 is a flowchart showing a processing procedure executed by the information server 1.

[Explanation of symbols]

 Reference Signs List 1 collection server 2 information providing server 3 client 4 wide area communication network

Claims (2)

[Claims] 1. A collection server connected to a wide area communication network, and a plurality of clients receiving distribution of information from the collection server via the wide area communication network, wherein the collection server includes: a storage unit; First information processing means for fetching new information from an information providing server designated in advance via the wide area communication network and storing the new information in a collected information storage area of the storage means; Second information processing means for storing the information stored in the distribution information storage area of the storage means, and third information processing for e-mailing the information stored in the distribution information storage area of the storage means to a predetermined destination Means, and control means for executing processing by the first information processing means and processing by the third information processing means at predetermined times, respectively. Information service system characterized in that it equipped. 2. An information service method for distributing information from a collection server connected to a wide area communication network to a client via the communication network, wherein the collection server comprises: information specified in advance via the wide area communication network A first step of fetching new information from the providing server and storing it in the collected information storage area of the storage means; and a step of editing the stored information and storing the edited information in the distribution information storage area of the storage means. A second step, a third step of mailing the information stored in the distribution information storage area of the storage means to a pre-designated distribution destination, and a process of the first step and the third step, respectively, are predetermined. An information service method characterized by being executed at a given time.