JP2000285062A - Client-server system for business - Google Patents

Abstract

PROBLEM TO BE SOLVED: To provide a business client-server system capable of smoothly executing a business application program without changing it and being conscious of its switching and easily customizing also a business application program developed by another developing method. SOLUTION: A business application program is separated from terminal screen control, the terminal screen control is realized by an HTML browser 10 and each input picture element is allowed to correspond to a URL, so that the browser 10 can transmit/receive data to/from plural server programs 20 to 40 through the same window.

Description

DETAILED DESCRIPTION OF THE INVENTION

[0001]

BACKGROUND OF THE INVENTION 1. Field of the Invention The present invention relates to a business client server system for inputting and managing information based on a routine business such as a customer / product information management system, a call center system, and an inventory management system. The present invention relates to a business client server system that can be smoothly operated without performing it and without being conscious of the switching, and that can be easily customized even with a business application program by another development method.

[0002]

2. Description of the Related Art In general, a client-server system for routine business is constructed in such a manner that a plurality of terminals equipped with business application programs share a database. In this case, it is this business application program that controls the screen on the terminal, and a series of screen flows are all realized by a single business application program.

[0003]

However, according to the conventional business client-server system described above,
There were the following problems. (1) In a conventional business client server system,
Since the screen transition of a series of routine tasks is controlled by a single business application program, there has been a problem that any addition of a function or a change in screen transition requires a change of the business application program. (2) On the other hand, for example, Japanese Patent Laid-Open No. 10-17175
As shown in Japanese Patent Publication No. 5 (2005), applying recent Internet technology, HTML (Hyper Text Markup Language)
By using a browser for terminal screen control and separating terminal screen control and business application programs,
It is also possible to eliminate the need to change the business application program. In this case, the business application program can operate on the same terminal as the browser, and the terminal can be equipped with only the browser, and a separate application server for processing the business application program can be prepared. However, the technology described in Japanese Patent Application Laid-Open No. 10-171755 is a technology that uses a single business application program, and when it is desired to use the functions of a plurality of individually developed business application programs, Must be started individually and displayed in a separate window. Therefore, there is a problem that the operator must always be aware of the switching of the business application programs. (3) Further, when the system is installed at a plurality of locations and the screen transition is to be customized according to each installation location, the customization requires a change of the business application program. The problem was that it was not possible to take another development method.

[0004] Therefore, an object of the present invention is to enable a smooth operation without changing the business application program and without being aware of the switching, and to easily execute the business application program by another development method. An object of the present invention is to provide a business client server system that can be customized.

[0005]

In order to achieve the above object, the present invention provides an HTML browser which reads an HTML file in which an input screen element is embedded together with display information to an operator, and displays the contents on a screen, An HTML file having at least two or more server programs for performing predetermined program processing by a business application program based on the input contents of an operator with respect to a business screen element, and communication means for performing communication between the server program and an HTML browser , A server program for performing a predetermined program processing is specified, and the specified server program is updated by the predetermined program processing to a new HTM.
Generate L file and add new HTML file to HTML
By transmitting to the L browser, input / output with at least two or more server programs based on different designs is transmitted to the H browser.
An object of the present invention is to provide a business client server system characterized by being made possible in the same window of a TML browser.

In the above configuration, the designated server program is a server program different from the server program that generated the HTML file, and a new HTML file is acquired from the different server program to display the screen, thereby enabling screen transition. Is preferably realized by cooperation of a plurality of server programs.

It is desirable that the window of the HTML file displayed on the screen of the HTML browser be divided into two or more sections, and the results of input / output with different server programs for each of the divided sections are displayed on the screen.

Further, the business client-server system has a database for storing the input contents of the operator, and it is desirable to exchange data between at least two or more server programs via the database.

[0009]

BRIEF DESCRIPTION OF THE DRAWINGS FIG.
An embodiment of the present invention will be described in detail.

FIG. 1 is a diagram showing a configuration of a business client server system according to an embodiment of the present invention.
In the figure, 10 is an HTML browser as a client, 20, 30, and 40 are server programs as servers, and 50 is a database (or a shared file). Here, reference numeral 20 denotes a main server program, and reference numerals 30 and 40 denote sub server programs. Each server program may reside on a single server, or may reside on multiple servers. In the above configuration, each of the server programs 20, 30 and 40 communicates with the HTML browser 10 as a means for communicating with the HTML browser 10.
otocol) services 21, 31, 41. Although the number of sub-server programs is two in the figure, the number is not limited to this number, and one or more sub-server programs can be used.

An HTTP service 21, 3 is provided between the HTML browser 10 and each server program 20, 30, 40.
A text file in a format called an HTML format is transmitted and received by 1,41. In the HTML format, in addition to a character string displayed on the screen of the HTML browser 10, a button, a character string input field, a menu,
It is possible to specify an input screen element that can be selected, pressed, and input by an operator, such as a toggle switch. The display attributes (size, character type, color, position) and input screen elements of the display character string are specified by a character string having a format of “<...>” Generally called an HTML tag.

HTTP services 21, 31, 41 and HT
A procedure regarding data transmission / reception between the ML browsers 10,
That is, in the HTTP protocol, the HTML browser 10
An HTML file to be obtained is specified from the server program to each of the server programs 20, 30, and 40. The server programs 20, 30, and 40 retrieve the file from the storage device or generate the file by the program, and send the file to the HTML browser 10. Repeat the request / response cycle to send.

The processing operation of this business client server system is as follows.

First, the start of the first process starts when a request for generating an initial screen is issued from the HTML browser 10 in FIG. 1 to the main server program 20.

The main server program 20, which has received this request, enters, for example, as shown in FIG. 2, an input character string sandwiched between two tags <form> and </ form> in addition to the character string displayed to the operator. The HTML file including the screen element is returned to the HTML browser 10. The HTML browser 10 performs screen display based on the HTML file.

The display result of the HTML is, for example, as shown in FIG. 3. In general, not only a character string but also an input screen element such as a field for inputting a character by an operator or a button which can be pressed is displayed. Each input screen element has a URL (Uniform Resource Locator) specifying a location of a server program to which information is to be notified when an operation is performed on the input screen element.
cator).

In HTML, as shown in FIG. 4, the correspondence between each input screen element and a URL is defined by <form ac
Tion = URL> tag is used. here,
The values of the input screen elements between <form> and </ form> are all transmitted to the server program described after “action =”. The URL described after “action =” has a structure of http: // host name where the server program is located / directory where the server program is located / server program name.

<Form> ... Between </ form>,
A plurality of input screen elements can be specified, and an identifier can be assigned to each of them. The transmission to the server program is actually performed when an operation is performed on an input screen element starting with <INPUT type = "submit"...> in <form>... </ Form>. <Form>... </ Form> are transmitted to the associated server program together with the identifiers. When the current value of the item in <form>... </ Form> is transmitted to the associated server program, the HTML browser 10 waits for the server program to return a new HTML file as a response.

The associated server program performs program processing based on the transmitted information,
It generates an L file and responds to the HTML browser 10. The HTML browser 10 receives the new HTML
The area where the original HTML file was displayed is replaced with the L file.

As described above, the business application program is separated from the terminal screen control, and the terminal screen control is performed in HTML.
The HTML browser can transmit and receive data to and from a plurality of server programs from the same window by realizing it by a browser and associating each input screen element with a URL. Therefore, the operator can perform the operation without being conscious of switching the server program. In addition, by associating each input screen element with a URL, it is possible to change each application program unit or add a new application.

In an HTML file, a plurality of <for
m> ... </ form> section can be arranged. By utilizing this, when an operation is performed on the input screen element, a new screen can be generated by a server program different from the server program that generated the HTML file displayed by the screen element. it can.

In the above example, the main server program 2
The HTML file responded from 0 to the HTML browser 10 has, for example, the configuration shown in FIG. In this configuration, when button 1 is pressed, text field S1
And the value of the list box L1 are the main server program 2
0 and the main server program 20 executes the next HTM
Generate an L file. On the other hand, when the button "secondary server 1" is pressed, the values of the list box L2 and the check box C2 are transmitted to the secondary server program 30, and the secondary server program 30 generates a new HTML file.

In this case, besides pressing this button by the operator, a script function of the HTML browser 10 (for example, a script function such as “Java Script” jointly developed by Netscape Corporation and Sunsoft Corporation) is used. By doing so, it is possible to automatically press the corresponding button after a certain time or in cooperation with another button.

Further, if a <form> section in which the main server program 20 is specified is arranged in an HTML file generated by a certain server program, for example, the screen generation may be returned from the sub server program 30 to the main server program 20. Can be. It is also possible for another secondary server program, for example, the secondary server program 40, to generate a screen.

As described above, the HTML browser can transmit the input contents of the operator to a server program different from the server program that created the screen, and can acquire the result as a new screen display content. Thus, it is possible to realize a screen transition of one routine job without the operator being conscious of the switching. In this case, a customizable part is prepared for part of the screen transition when designing the basic system, and that part is realized by another server program, so that the server program corresponding to the customized part is different from the basic system. Language and design. Similarly, coordination with an existing application developed according to another design policy extends the existing application and enables input / output using an HTML file.

By the way, in an HTML file, <fr
For example, as shown in FIG. 6, by using an “aset>” and “<frame>” tag, as shown in FIG. 6, a single HTML file is composed of a main and a file for each section, so that the screen can be divided into several sections. In FIG. 6, 2
Just as the second partition is generated from the secondary server program 30, a server program different from the server program that generated the main HTML file can be specified for each partition.

With such a screen partitioned,
When the input screen element being displayed is operated and the server responds with an HTML file for the next screen, the display is performed in the same section as the section where the input screen element is located. When displaying the screen, or when clearing all sections and replacing the entire window of the HTML browser 10 with a new H
In some cases, drawing is performed using a TML file. These controls include <form>... </ Fo where the input screen element is included.
rm> can be specified as an option.

<Form including an input screen element
For example, as shown in FIG. 7, when “TARGET =“ _ top ”” or “TARGET =“ _ parent ”” is specified as an option of the section, a new HTML file is displayed on the entire screen. You. In FIG. 7, when the option after the underlined “TARGET =” is not specified, a new HTML
Files are displayed in the same section.

As described above, when the input and output with a plurality of server programs are simultaneously displayed, the screen is divided into a plurality of sections by utilizing the function of the HTML browser, so that a different server can be connected to each section. Input / output results can be displayed on the same screen. For this reason, the operator can proceed with the operation while referring to the display from a plurality of applications.

On the other hand, in the above method, <form>.
The input value of the operator for the input screen element specified by “form>” is transmitted only to the specified server program. For this reason, as shown in FIG. 8, for example, a database (or shared file) 50 is used as a method of referring to input information by a plurality of server programs. In the example of FIG. 8, information input in one screen section displayed on the HTML browser 10 in the initial screen request () is transmitted to the server program designated in the screen section, that is, the sub server program 30. Sent(). The secondary server program 30 that has received the information processes this information with the application (), and stores the processed information in the DBM of the database (or shared file) 50.
It is stored in S (Data Base Management System) in association with the identifier (). The stored information can be referred to from each server program. Then, it generates an HTML file and responds to the HTML browser 10 ().

The stored information can be read into the server program when an operator inputs in another section () and the processing of the corresponding server program is started (). Further, when a corresponding item is changed by using the script function of the HTML browser 10, by redisplaying a section that does not include the item, a request is issued to each corresponding server program. At this point, it is also possible for each corresponding server program to read the stored item.

As described above, by using a database (or a shared file) that can be commonly referred to by each server application, the input contents of the operator are processed as necessary and registered in the database, so that a plurality of operator inputs can be input. The information can be shared by the application, and can be referenced from another server program, so that the operator does not need to input the same information.

In the present embodiment, the HTTP service is built in each server program, and each server program can communicate with an HTML browser individually. However, as long as a different URL is assigned to each server program, the HTTP service is provided. You are not limited to the configuration.

As shown in FIG. 9, another program such as an HTTP server 9 is used instead of the HTTP service.
The present invention can also be realized with 0.

[0035]

As described above, according to the business client server system of the present invention, an HTML browser that reads an HTML file in which an input screen element is embedded together with display information to an operator, and displays the content on a screen, An HTML having at least two or more server programs for performing predetermined program processing by a business application program based on the input contents of the operator on the input screen element, and communication means for communicating between the server program and an HTML browser; In the file
A server program for performing a predetermined program process is designated, the designated server program generates a new HTML file by the predetermined program process, and generates a new HT file.
By transmitting the ML file to the HTML browser, input / output with at least two or more server programs based on different designs is made possible in the same window of the HTML browser, so that the business application program is not changed, and The operation can be smoothly performed without being conscious of switching, and business application programs using different development methods can be easily customized.

[Brief description of the drawings]

FIG. 1 is a diagram showing a configuration of a business client server system according to an embodiment of the present invention.

FIG. 2 is a diagram illustrating an example of an HTML file.

FIG. 3 is a diagram illustrating an example of a screen display by an HTML file in FIG. 2;

FIG. 4 is a diagram illustrating an example in which an input screen element is associated with a URL by an HTML <form> tag.

FIG. 5 is a diagram showing an example in which a plurality of HTML <form> tags are arranged.

FIG. 6 is a diagram illustrating an example of screen division.

FIG. 7 is a diagram for describing designation of a display section.

FIG. 8 is a diagram for explaining data sharing by a database.

FIG. 9 is a diagram showing a configuration using an HTTP server.

[Explanation of symbols]

 Reference Signs List 10 HTML browser 20 Main server program 30 Secondary server program 40 Secondary server program 50 Database (or shared file) 90 HTTP server

Claims (4)

[Claims] 1. An HTML browser which reads an HTML file in which an input screen element is embedded together with information to be displayed to an operator and displays the content on a screen, and a business application program based on the operator's input to the input screen element At least two or more server programs for performing predetermined program processing according to the following, and communication means for performing communication between the server program and the HTML browser, and a server program for performing the predetermined program processing on the HTML file Is specified, and the specified server program executes a new H by the predetermined program processing.
By generating a HTML file and transmitting the new HTML file to the HTML browser, input / output with the at least two or more server programs based on different designs is enabled in the same window of the HTML browser. Business client server system to be. 2. The method according to claim 1, wherein the server program to be specified is a server program different from the server program that generated the HTML file, and the new HTML file is acquired from the another server program to display a screen. 2. The business client server system according to claim 1, wherein the transition is realized by cooperation of a plurality of server programs. 3. The method according to claim 1, wherein a window of the HTML file displayed on the screen of the HTML browser is divided into two or more sections, and an input / output result with a different server program is displayed on the screen for each of the divided sections. The business client server system according to claim 1, wherein: 4. The business client server system further includes a database for storing the input contents of the operator, and performs data exchange between the at least two or more server programs via the database. 2. The business client server system according to claim 1, wherein