JP2000209254A - Information service system - Google Patents

Abstract

PROBLEM TO BE SOLVED: To reduce the load of a database server. SOLUTION: A relay server 3 is interposed between a database server 1 and a group of information terminals 5a-5c. The relay server 3 extracts information of a plurality of specific ranges used suitably by the information terminals 5a-5c from conference information stored in the database server 1 stores the information in advance and has the format of files used to record the information of the specific range converted into a format suitably used by the information terminals 5a-5c, such as an HTML format. Thus, it is not required to extract the information and to convert the file format for every access from the information terminals 5a-5c. Since direct communication from the database server 1 to the information terminals 5a-5c is unnecessary, the processing load is relieved and maintenance of the performance of other processing, such as acquisition of conference information becomes possible. Moreover, the security with respect to the data of the database server 1 can be enhanced also.

Description

DETAILED DESCRIPTION OF THE INVENTION

[0001]

BACKGROUND OF THE INVENTION 1. Field of the Invention The present invention relates to an information providing system suitable for use as a conference information providing system, and more particularly to an improvement for reducing a load on a database server.

[0002]

2. Description of the Related Art Conventionally, a conference information providing system for providing information on a conference (hereinafter, conference information) to an information terminal has been used in the main assembly of the Diet. This means that information about attendees at the plenary session (hereinafter, attendee information), information about voting results (hereinafter, voting information), and other information are transferred to an external network to which multiple information terminals can connect. It is a system that outputs, and thereby allows, access to the information from each information terminal.

[0003]

However, in the conventional conference information providing system, a database server for acquiring and storing conference information such as voting information is directly connected to a network, and each information terminal makes a request. information,
It was sent directly to each information terminal. For this reason, if information requests from a large number of information terminals are concentrated in the same time, the processing load for transmitting information in the database server becomes heavy, and the performance of other processing such as acquisition of conference information may be reduced. there were.

In particular, the database server not only extracts information required by each information terminal from the conference information and selectively transmits the information, but also converts the information into a file format required by each information terminal. The transmitting process must also be executed, and the load on the database server when information requests are flooded from a plurality of information terminals is enormous.
In addition, since the database server is directly connected to the external network, special measures must be taken to eliminate the danger of external devices illegally invading the database server and falsifying data through the network. There was also a problem that required.

SUMMARY OF THE INVENTION The present invention has been made to solve the above-mentioned problems in the conventional system, and is an information capable of reducing the load on a database server and improving data security with a simple structure. The purpose is to provide a providing system.

[0006]

According to a first aspect of the present invention, there is provided an information providing system, comprising: a database server for acquiring and storing information; an external network connectable to a group of information terminals; and the database server. A relay server that creates and stores a plurality of files in a format to be accessed by the information terminal group by extracting information in a plurality of specific ranges from the information.

In a system according to a second aspect of the present invention, in the information providing system according to the first aspect, the information terminal group includes a plurality of information terminals that access a plurality of different types of files. The plurality of files to be stored include the plurality of types of files.

According to a third aspect of the present invention, in the information providing system according to the first or second aspect, the information is conference information including voting information.

[0009]

DESCRIPTION OF THE PREFERRED EMBODIMENTS <1. First Embodiment> First,
An information providing system according to the first embodiment will be described.

<1-1. Outline of System> FIG. 1 is a block diagram showing a configuration of an information providing system according to the first embodiment. The information providing system 10 is configured as a conference information providing system, and includes a database server 1, an internal network 2, and a relay server 3. The information providing system 10 is connected to the external network 4. Information terminal groups 5a to 5c can be connected to the external network 4 at any time.

The database server 1 and the relay server 3
They are connected to each other through the internal network 2.
The relay server 3 is connected to the external network 4. That is, the database server 1 is indirectly connected to the external network 4 through the internal network 2 and the relay server 3. The database server 1 and the relay server 3 include, for example, a storage medium such as a hard disk for storing information, and a control unit for writing and reading information to and from the storage medium.

The information providing system 10 can be widely used for various conferences, for example, a conference in the Diet, a council of a local government, and a private conference such as an in-house conference, an academic conference, and an international conference. In the section, an example of installation at the plenary hall of the Diet will be described. FIG. 2 is an explanatory view showing, in a table form, the conference information stored in the database server 1 in such an example.

As shown in FIG. 2, the database server 1
Stores, as meeting information, for example, the date of the plenary meeting, the next session of the Diet, the number of attendees,... That is, the meeting information is document information that can be expressed as a document. In this example, the voting information is
Information on the results of the vote for the vote on the bill at the plenary session.

FIGS. 3 to 5 are diagrams exemplifying information acquired and displayed by the information terminal groups 5a to 5c accessing the information providing system 10. FIG. Information terminal group 5a
5c are, for example, members of the hospital and officers. Each of the information terminal groups 5a to 5c includes an image display unit such as a CRT, and the acquired information is displayed on the screen 20 of the image display unit, for example, in a form illustrated in FIGS. Is displayed.

An active title bar 2 for displaying the name of the application program in use is displayed on the screen 20.
1. A tool box 22 in which operation menus are arranged, an address bar 23 for displaying names of addresses, folders and files to be accessed, a window 24 for displaying information obtained by accessing, and pages of the window 24 A scroll bar 25 for instructing a turn or the like is displayed.

In the example of FIG. 3, the window 24 displays attendee information for each denomination among the conference information of the plenary session of the Diet. On the other hand, in the example of FIG. 4, the attendee information for each position is displayed. In the example of FIG. 5, voting information is displayed. Thus, the information terminal groups 5a-5
c, information of a specific range illustrated in FIGS. 3 to 5 from the conference information stored in the database server 1,
The information can be requested and obtained from the information providing system 10 and displayed.

<1-2. Relay Server> Information Provision System 1
In the case of 0, access from the information terminal groups 5a to 5c is not received by the database server 1, but is received by the relay server 3, and information required by the information terminal groups 5a to 5c is provided by the relay server 3. Hereinafter, the characteristic operation of the relay server 3 will be described.

FIG. 6 is an explanatory diagram showing a main flow of information from the database server 1 to the information terminal groups 5a to 5c. FIG. 6 illustrates only the information terminal 5a on behalf of the information terminal groups 5a to 5c. The relay server 3 accesses the database server 1 to acquire conference information, processes the information into a form suitable for use of the information terminal groups 5a to 5c, stores the processed information, and stores the information in the information terminal groups 5a to 5c. Prepare for access. Thereafter, the relay server 3 sets the information terminal group 5
Required information is provided in response to a request from a to 5c.
The arrows in FIG. 6 indicate the flow of such information.

FIG. 7 is a flowchart showing in more detail the processing procedure from the start of the operation of the system until the information is stored in the relay server 3. When the operation of the information providing system 10 is started, for example, according to the progress of the plenary meeting or after the plenary meeting, for example, an operator (operator)
Performs the input operation, the conference information is input to the database server 1. For example, an input terminal (not shown) of an operator is connected to the internal network 2 (FIG. 6). The input conference information is stored in a storage medium provided in the database server 1 (the above,
Step S1).

Next, after confirming the release of the conference information, the operator transmits the conference information stored in the database server 1 to the relay server 3 (step S).
1). Thereafter, the relay server 3 processes the meeting information (Step S3). In the processing of the conference information, the information terminal group 5
Information in a plurality of specific ranges required by a to 5c is extracted from the conference information. Then, the extracted information of the plurality of specific ranges is stored in a storage medium provided in the relay server 3 in the form of separate files. When the storage is completed, the processing in FIG. 7 ends.

FIG. 8 is an explanatory diagram showing an example of a mode in which a file is stored in the storage medium of the relay server 3. In the example of FIG. 8, an HTML format suitable for use in the information terminal groups 5a to 5c (a typical file format widely used on the Internet) is provided below the topmost folder (root directory) 30 of the storage medium. A folder 31 for storing a group of files is secured. And in the folder 31,
Various files 32 to 35 in the HTML format are stored.

The extracted information of a plurality of specific ranges is recorded in these files 32 to 35, respectively. For example, the file 32 records attendee information for each denomination illustrated in FIG. 3, the file 33 records attendee information for each position illustrated in FIG. 4, and the file 34 includes FIG.
Is recorded. As described above, the relay server 3 extracts a plurality of pieces of information in a specific range suitable for use of the information terminal groups 5a to 5c from the conference information, stores the information, and changes the format of a file for recording the information in the specific range. Is converted from the format in the database server 1 into a format suitable for use in the information terminal groups 5a to 5c.

FIG. 9 is a flowchart showing in detail the flow of processing when the information terminal groups 5a to 5c use the information providing system 10, that is, when browsing information. When this process is started, an operator of any one of the information terminal groups 5a to 5c (there may be a plurality of information terminals) accesses the information providing system 10 through the external network 4. Then, a request is made to provide or retrieve information in a specific range. The access from the information terminal groups 5a to 5c is received by the relay server 3 (step S11).

Next, the relay server 3 reads out the file in which the requested specific range of information is recorded from the files stored in the storage medium, and transmits it to the information terminal which has requested the provision of the information. . When a search for information is requested from the information terminal, the relay server 3 searches each file stored in the storage medium, and returns a search result regarding the presence or absence of the corresponding information (step S1).
2). Thereafter, the information terminal that has requested the provision or search of the information receives and displays the information or the search result transmitted by the relay server 3 (step S13). When the processing in step S13 ends, the processing in FIG. 9 is completed.

In order to realize the display of the information shown in FIG. 3, the information terminal may request the file 32 (FIG. 8) for recording the attendee information for each party in the HTML format. At this time, as shown in FIG. 3, the address bar 23 of the screen 20 displays the name of the address / folder to which the file 32 belongs,
And the name of the file 32 is displayed. Similarly, FIG. 4 and FIG.
And a screen 20 when a file 34 is requested.

As described above, in the information providing system 10, the relay server 3 previously creates and stores a plurality of files 32 to 35 required by the information terminal groups 5a to 5c. There is no need to extract information and convert the file format every time there is access from. Therefore, even if accesses from a large number of information terminal groups 5a to 5c are concentrated at the same time, processing can be performed.

Further, since the database server 1 does not need to directly communicate with the information terminal groups 5a to 5c, the load on the database server 1 is reduced, and the performance of other processes such as acquisition of conference information is maintained. It becomes possible. Further, since the external device cannot directly access the database server 1, data security can be easily increased by a simple structure.

<2. Second Embodiment> FIG. 10 is a block diagram showing a configuration of an information providing system according to a second embodiment. This information providing system 10 is also configured as a conference information providing system. And the external network 4
Assuming that a different type of information terminal requesting a file format different from the file format requested by the information terminal groups 5a to 5c is connected to the relay server 3, the relay server 3 creates and stores a plurality of types of files. You. In the example of FIG. 10, a minutes preparation support system 6 is connected to the external network 4 as another type of information terminal. The minutes creation support system 6 is a system for creating minutes of the plenary session.

FIG. 11 is an explanatory diagram exemplifying the contents of information created by the minutes creation support system 6, that is, minutes. At the end of the minutes, the attendees of the plenary session are described. Therefore, the minutes preparation support system 6 requests the information providing system 10 to provide attendee information. However, the file format required by the minutes preparation support system 6 is a format different from the HTML format, for example, a CSV format widely used in spreadsheet application programs.

For this reason, as shown in FIG. 12, the relay server 3 creates and stores a file 37 separately from the files 32 to 35 in its storage medium. File 37 is
This is a CSV format file that records attendee information. The file 37 is, for example, below the top-level folder 30,
It is stored in a folder 36 secured separately from the folder 31. As described above, in the relay server 3, a plurality of different types of files are created and stored in advance, so that it is possible to quickly respond to an information provision request from a plurality of types of information terminals that require different types of files. It is possible to do.

<3. Modification> In the above embodiment, the information providing system provides the conference information, that is,
Although the preferred example configured as the conference information providing system has been described, the information providing system of the present invention is not limited to the conference information, and can be constructed as a system for providing general information. However, in the use as a conference information providing system, since a conference proceeds in a certain limited period, access from a large number of information terminals is particularly likely to concentrate in a limited period,
Above all, when voting takes place, access is temporarily concentrated. Therefore, the information providing system of the present invention
Particularly suitable for use as a conference information providing system.

[0032]

In the system according to the first aspect of the present invention, the relay server transmits a plurality of specific ranges of information required by the information terminal group.
Since the information is extracted from the information stored in the database server and stored in advance in a file format required by the information terminal group, even if accesses from a large number of information terminal groups are concentrated at the same time, processing can be performed. Moreover, since the database server does not need to respond directly to the access of the information terminal group, the load on the database server is reduced, and the performance of other processing such as information acquisition can be maintained. Further, since external devices cannot directly access the database server, data security is enhanced.

In the system of the second invention, the relay server 3
However, since a plurality of different types of files are created and stored in advance, it is possible to quickly respond to an information provision request from a plurality of types of information terminals that require different types of files.

In the system according to the third invention, the information acquired by the database server is conference information including voting information in which information requests from a large number of terminals are concentrated at one time.
The effect of reducing the load on the database server by the relay server is particularly remarkable.

[Brief description of the drawings]

FIG. 1 is a block diagram of a system according to a first embodiment.

FIG. 2 is an explanatory diagram illustrating conference information stored in the relay server of FIG. 1;

FIG. 3 is a diagram illustrating an example of a video on a screen of an information terminal.

FIG. 4 is a diagram showing another example of a video image on the screen of the information terminal.

FIG. 5 is a diagram showing still another example of the image on the screen of the information terminal.

FIG. 6 is an explanatory diagram showing a main flow of information.

FIG. 7 is a flowchart showing a processing procedure of the system of FIG. 1;

FIG. 8 is an explanatory diagram showing a file storage mode in the relay server of FIG. 1;

FIG. 9 is a flowchart showing a processing procedure of the system of FIG. 1;

FIG. 10 is a block diagram of a system according to a second embodiment.

FIG. 11 is an explanatory diagram of the minutes created by the minutes creation support system.

FIG. 12 is an explanatory diagram showing a file storage form in the relay server of FIG. 10;

[Explanation of symbols]

1 database server, 3 relay server, 4 external network, 5a-5d information terminal group, 6 minutes preparation support (information terminal), 32-35 files.

──────────────────────────────────────────────────続 き Continued on the front page (51) Int.Cl. ⁷ Identification symbol FI theme coat ゛ (reference) // G06F 19/00 F term (reference) 5B049 AA05 BB36 CC02 DD05 EE05 FF03 FF04 FF09 GG04 GG07 5B089 GA11 GA21 JA16 JA32 JA33 KA06 KA17 KB13 5K015 AA00 AB00 AF08 JA00 JA10 5K030 GA04 HA05 HC01 HC13 HD06 JT02 LD08 9A001 BB04 CC08 JJ02 JJ05 JJ07 JJ13 KK06

Claims (3)

[Claims] 1. An information processing system comprising: a database server for acquiring and storing information; and an intervening network between an external network to which a group of information terminals can be connected and the database server, and extracting a plurality of specific ranges of information from the information. And a relay server for creating and storing a plurality of files in a format to be accessed by the information terminal group. 2. The information terminal group includes a plurality of information terminals accessing a plurality of different types of files, and the plurality of files created and stored by the relay server include the plurality of types of files. 2. The information providing system according to claim 1, wherein: 3. The information providing system according to claim 1, wherein the information is meeting information including voting information.