JP2001027923A - Help system corresponding to communication - Google Patents

Abstract

PROBLEM TO BE SOLVED: To inexpensively provide a help system supplying help information on the operation process of a client side information processor from a host device through the use of a communication line and to facilitate the change and the management of a data base. SOLUTION: When the user of a client device 10 gives a help request to an operation process, the contents of a state change history buffer 13 are transmitted to a host device 20 by using a communication line T. A host side help control means 22 predicts an operation target based on an inference rule in a rule data base 23 based on state change information and transmits a help message which is considered to be appropriate based on the result. Since the data base of a large scale is constructed only in the host device 20, it frequently occurs that only a host side is changed even if a help system is to be changed and maintenance becomes easy.

Description

DETAILED DESCRIPTION OF THE INVENTION

[0001]

BACKGROUND OF THE INVENTION 1. Field of the Invention The present invention relates to a help system for an information processing apparatus, and more particularly, to a help system for supporting a user's operation using communication, supporting recovery from a failure, and analyzing the cause of a failure.

[0002]

2. Description of the Related Art In general, an information processing apparatus, particularly an information processing apparatus having an interactive user interface, is provided with a help function for displaying information such as an operation method by a specific operation from a user. The conventional help function displays the information that seems to be optimal by providing inference means for estimating the information requested by the user based on the current state of the device, the operation contents of the user, the operation history of the user, etc. Do. Techniques related to such an apparatus include, for example, JP-A-2-216516 and JP-A-5-29804.
No. 5, No. 5, Japanese Patent Publication No. 5 and the like.

[0003] Further, when an unexpected failure occurs, the information processing apparatus performs the following based on the content of the current failure.
Notify the user that a failure has occurred. The user notifies the support center of the device that the failure has occurred, but the center generally informs the notified information, for example, information about the failure displayed by the device, the status of the device as seen by the user, and the failure. The cause is identified based on the operation contents before and after the occurrence, and the countermeasures are taken. In order to compensate for the lack of the amount of information for identifying the cause in such a situation, a conventional Japanese Patent Application Laid-Open No.
As described in JP-A-6726, JP-A-2-51776, JP-A-3-157737, etc., a user's operation procedure is recorded and a reproduction test can be performed using the history.

[0004]

In the above prior art, more accurate information such as information for realizing a help function, for example, information for displaying to a user and inference rules for estimating information required by the user, is used. In order to provide high information, an enormous amount of information is required, and it is necessary to implement a storage area and information processing capability necessary for realizing the information for each device.
Also, in recent years, information processing apparatuses have become more complicated and, conversely, the user interface has been required to be easy to understand. In recent years, the amount of information required for the help function has increased, leading to an increase in the cost of the apparatus.

[0005] In the above-mentioned prior art, in the event of a failure or when the user does not know the operation method, information that is deemed appropriate for the user is selected and displayed. However, the methods and rules for selecting appropriate information are generally fixed or only selectable by the user. If the information selection method and rules prepared by the system designer are not appropriate for the user, it becomes difficult for the user to obtain necessary information. In such a case, the user is required to perform a new operation to search for necessary information, but even in such a case, the user cannot obtain the target information or is extremely difficult in the event of an event or failure that is not assumed by the system designer. May be.

An object of the present invention is to use a communication line without fixing a method or a rule for selecting necessary information from a group of information prepared for providing information appropriate for a user. It is possible to select information with higher accuracy by changing the information according to the usage status from a plurality of users.
In addition, when a user requests information on an unexpected event or a failure occurrence by a designer, information can be collected interactively with the user using a communication line, and more accurate information can be selected and provided.

Another object of the present invention is to use a communication line when a user notifies a support center that a failure has occurred in the event of a failure. By providing the details of the state change before the failure occurred to the support center,
The purpose is to enable information gathering and interactive support to take more appropriate measures.

[0008]

SUMMARY OF THE INVENTION The present invention has been made to solve the above-mentioned problems, and has an operation process storing means for storing an operation process of an information processing apparatus, and a communication means for communicating with a host device. A client device having: a prediction device for analyzing an operation process of the client device to predict an operation purpose; an information storage device for storing information corresponding to the operation purpose; and a communication device for communicating with the client device. In a communication-compatible help system including a host device, when the host device receives the operation process storage information stored in the operation process storage means from the client device, the host device analyzes the operation process storage information to determine the operation purpose. And searching for information corresponding to the predicted operation purpose, and notifying the client device.

Further, the present invention provides a client device having an operation process storing means for storing a data change in an operation process of an information processing device, a communication device for communicating with a host device, and a data change in the operation process of the client device. In a communication-compatible help system, comprising: a predicting unit that analyzes the data to predict an operation purpose; a storage unit that stores information corresponding to the operation purpose; and a host device including a communication unit that communicates with a client device. When the host device receives, from the client device, the data change storage information of the operation process stored in the operation process storage means, the host device analyzes the data change storage information of the operation process, predicts the operation purpose, and predicts the operation purpose. Search for information corresponding to the operation purpose,
Informing the client device is provided.

Further, the present invention provides a client device having operation process storage means for storing a data change in an operation process of an information processing device, a communication device for communicating with a host device, and a data change in the operation process of the client device. In a communication-compatible help system comprising: a detecting device for detecting an abnormality in a data change by analyzing data, and a communication device for communicating with the client device, the host device transmits the operation process from the client device. Receiving the data change storage information of the operation process stored in the storage means, analyzing the data change storage information of the operation process, detecting an abnormality in the data change, and notifying the client device of the detection result. I do.

Further, according to the present invention, in the above-mentioned communication-capable help system, when the client device is stuck during the operation of the client device, by performing a specific operation, the operation process storage information or the data change storage information up to that time is stored in the host device. It is characterized by transmitting.

Further, the present invention is characterized in that in the above-mentioned communication-compatible help system, when the same specific operation is continuously performed on the client device, the help system has a dialogue means for interacting with the host device.

Further, according to the present invention, in the above-mentioned communication-compatible help system, when the operation process storage information and the data change storage information from the client device do not reach the predicted amount, and when no abnormality is detected in the data change storage information, If there is no information to notify the client device,
It is characterized by having means for enabling interaction with the host device.

Further, according to the present invention, in the above-mentioned communication-compatible help system, when the operation process storage information and the data change storage information from the client device do not reach the predicted amounts, or when the information requested by the user of the client device is more correctly determined. When predicting, or when the user of the client device performs a specific operation, the client device further requests information required for prediction from the client device, and has means for performing a highly accurate prediction based on the information, and It is characterized in that information is reported to the client device.

Further, the present invention provides the above-mentioned communication-capable help system, further comprising means for determining whether or not the message of the information inferred and determined by the host device is the information required by the user of the client device. It is characterized in that the host device learns based on the judgment result and enables more accurate inference.

[0016]

Embodiments of the present invention will be described below. SUMMARY OF THE INVENTION The present invention has been made to solve the above-described problems. In a help system for assisting operation when using an information processing apparatus, a communication unit for communicating with a host and a past state change are recorded. A history buffer and, in response to a request from the user, transmit a help information request to the host and the contents of the history buffer by the communication means, convert the help information received from the host into an appropriate format, and At least one client-side information processing apparatus having a help control means capable of performing display on a display, communication means for communicating with the client side, and rules for storing inference rules for inferring information requested by the user A database, a message database for storing information to be displayed to the user, and requests and information from the client In response and a host information processing apparatus having a help control means capable of transmitting to the client side inference with reference to appropriate information the rule database.

Further, as one embodiment of the present invention, addition, deletion, and modification of inference rules are performed in order to analyze help requests and status change information from a plurality of clients and to infer help message selection with higher accuracy. And the like.

(Operation) The client-side help control means stores the new state in the information change history buffer when the state of the system has changed, and uses the communication line when receiving a help request from the user. The request contents and the contents of the state change history buffer are transmitted to the host device, and the information transmitted from the host side is displayed in an appropriate format.

The host-side help control means matches the inference rules in the rule database based on the help request and status change information from the client side, and transmits a help message deemed appropriate based on the result to the client side. I do. There is no need to prepare a database that stores inference rules and help messages on the client side, and a large-scale help system needs to be built only on the host side, which is a great cost advantage. In addition, even when the help system is changed due to some trouble or review of the inference rules, it is often necessary to change only the host side, and maintenance becomes easy.

After displaying the help message, the client-side help control means can prompt the user to display another message or to input information necessary for further inference in response to a request from the user.

The rule database stores inference rules for the host-side help control to select an appropriate help message based on information sent from the client, and the message database stores help messages for display to the user. Is stored.

The host-side help control means can change the inference rules in the rule database for the purpose of making a more precise inference for selecting a help message based on information from the client side. Even if a system designer prepares an incorrect inference rule at the time of design, information based on information gathered from multiple clients after system operation is learned and changed to a more appropriate inference rule to meet information required by the user. To provide

The present invention will be described with reference to the drawings.
FIG. 1 is a block diagram showing one embodiment of the present invention. The communication-compatible help control system according to the present embodiment includes one or more client devices 10 including an application program 11, a client-side help control unit 12, an information change history buffer 13, an input unit 14, an output unit 15, and a communication unit 16, A host device 20 including a communication unit 21, a host-side help control unit 22, a rule database 23, a message database 24, and an application program 25 is connected by a communication line T. The rule database 23 and the message database 24 can be realized with the same structure as that disclosed in the related art, for example, JP-A-2-216516.

The application program 11 receives an input from the input unit 14 and performs processing, passes the result to the output unit 15 for display, and performs various data processing. The client-side help control unit 12 stores the history of key input information and the history of information change in the apparatus in the information change history buffer 13 in accordance with the notification from the application program 11, and means a help request from the input unit 14. When a notification that a specific key operation (for example, a series of key input, a press of a dedicated key, a press of a plurality of keys) has been received is received, the information in the information change history buffer 13 is transmitted via the client side communication unit 16. , The details of the help request information notified from the input means 14, the current state of the apparatus, and the like are transmitted to the host 20 via the communication line T. Here, the communication line T indicates a communication path by a communication means capable of performing data communication regardless of wired or wireless such as a general telephone line, ISDN, LAN, and PHS.

The host device 20 receives the information sent from the client device 10 via the communication line T by the host communication unit 21 and sends the received information to the host help control unit 22. The host-side help control means 22 infers information requested by the user based on the transmitted information. At this time, a rule set used for estimating the requested information is stored in the rule database 23, and a group of information provided to the user is a message. Stored in the database 24, the host-side help control means 22 refers to the information and sends information assumed to be requested by the client-side user via the host-side communication unit 21, the communication line T, and the client-side communication unit 16 in this order. To the client-side help control means 12.

Based on this information, the client-side help control means 12 displays information to the user through the output means 15. If the information displayed at this time is not the information necessary for the user, the user instructs the display of the help information of the second candidate and the following to obtain the really necessary information.
It is possible to take measures such as an instruction to display item information related to the candidate and an input of a keyword related to the requested information. If the information of the guessed result is not the information necessary for the user, the host-side help control means 22 reviews the inference rules and the like of the rule database 23 from the information such as the help items referred to by the user and the entered keywords. , The rule database 23 is updated. This updating work may be performed sequentially each time a help request is made from the client side, or may be performed collectively. The review of the inference rules may be automated mechanical processing or manual operation. By providing feedback of help information from a plurality of clients, it is possible to improve the inference accuracy of the host.

FIG. 2 shows the client-side help control means 12.
6 is a flowchart of a process when a help request or a state change occurs. In step 21, client-side help control means 1
2 receives a notification from the application program 11 and then determines whether or not the notification received in step 22 is a help request.
If it is a help request, at step 23 the help request information and the information in the information change history buffer are transmitted to the host device 20 via the communication line T, and at step 24 the help message information received from the host device 20 is displayed. In step 22, if the request is not a help request, it is determined that a state change in the system may have occurred due to processing of the application program 11, and in step 25, system state change information is added to the head of the information change history buffer 13. I do. In the information change history buffer 13, system state changes are managed in chronological order.

FIG. 3 is a flowchart of a process performed by the host-side help control means 22 when a help request is generated. In step 31, the host-side help control means 22 receives the help request information and the information in the information change history buffer 13 from the client device 10 via the communication line T and the host-side communication section 21, and based on the received information, in step 32. And the rule database 23
Inference is performed using the inference rules in and the most appropriate help message is selected. Next, the help message determined in step 33 is transmitted to the client device 10 via the communication unit 21 and the communication line T.

FIG. 4 shows the client-side help control means 12.
4 is a flowchart of an embodiment of the learning process of FIG. In step 41, after the help display is performed from the series of help requests shown in FIG. 2, an input notification is received from the user, and in step 42, whether the help message currently displayed is the information desired by the user. Determine whether or not. If the information is the information desired by the user, information indicating that the inference of the host device 20 was correct and information necessary for learning are transmitted to the host device 20 in step 43. Step 24
In step S44, if the information is not the information desired by the user, information indicating that the inference of the host is incorrect and information necessary for learning are transmitted to the host device 20 in step 44, and the next candidate is determined in step 45. The help message information is received from the host device 20 and displayed. In this embodiment, when the help message is not the information desired by the user, the next candidate is displayed. However, in order to determine the help message, the second candidate and the following are displayed in a list to allow the user to select necessary information. The present invention can be realized by requesting a new keyword or the like.

FIG. 5 is a flowchart of one embodiment of the learning process of the host-side help control means 22. In step 51, FIG.
In the state after performing a series of help message inference and result transmission processing represented by, the learning result of this inference is received from the client side, and whether the information received in step 52 is the information when the inference is successful Determine whether or not. If the inference succeeds, the previous inference is correct based on the information from the client side, and the next inference will use the same inference conditions as the previous inference and the help sent last in the previous inference even if the inference process was the same. The inference rule in the rule database 23 is updated so that the message information, that is, the help message information that the user has determined that the inference has succeeded becomes the first candidate. If the inference has failed, the client device 1 sends a next candidate help message with reference to the previous inference result.
0, and based on the information from the client device 10, it is assumed that the previous inference was erroneous, and in the subsequent inferences, the same inference conditions and the inference process as in the previous inference were transmitted last in the previous inference. The help message information, that is, the help message information that the user has determined that the inference has failed, is first.
The inference rule in the rule database 23 is updated so as not to become a candidate. In this embodiment, if the previous inference is incorrect, a help message as a next candidate is transmitted to the client device 10, but it is not necessary to limit to this method.

FIG. 6 is a configuration diagram of the information change history buffer 13 for storing state changes inside the system and key input information of the user. The information change history buffer 13 includes n pairs of input information fields 131 and state change information fields 132. The input information field 131 stores user key input information, and the state change information field 132 stores system state change information generated as a result of key input. The input information field 131 and the state change information field 132 have the first value 131-1,
132-1 corresponds to the initial state of the system, and assuming that the latest information is the m-th value, the m-th values 131-m and 132-m correspond to the contents of the latest information. Information change history buffer 13
Is added to the (m + 1) th information if the latest information is the mth.

FIG. 7 is a flowchart showing the processing of the host-side help control means 22 in one embodiment of the processing for analyzing the client-side data change information on the host side and detecting a data change abnormality. When the client-side application program 11 detects that an unexpected system abnormality has occurred or that a specific operation has been performed by the user, the client application program 11 transmits the information in the information change history buffer 13 to the host device 20 via the communication line T. In step 71, the host-side help control means 22 receives the information in the information change history buffer 13 from the client device 10, and in step 72, defines the initial value of the variable i as 2. In step 73, the host-side application program 25 having the same function as the client-side application program 11 based on the i-th input information 131-i and the (i-1) -th state change information 132- (i-1). To obtain new state change information. In step 74, this information is compared with the i-th state change information 132-i. If the comparison results are different, it is determined in step 77 that there is some problem peculiar to the client side, and that it is abnormal. If the comparison results are equal, there is no problem, so it is determined in step 75 whether or not the input information and the state change information still remain. If not, in step 78, it is determined that no abnormality has been detected in this process. If it remains, the value of the variable i is increased by 1 in step 76, and the process proceeds to step 73. When an abnormality is detected in the host device 20, the detection result is transmitted to the client device 10 via the communication line T to notify the user of the abnormality, not limited to the case where the abnormality is not detected. Thereafter, the user performs a specific operation, so that the user can interact with the host device 20, that is, the service center, using the communication line T. The form of the dialogue is not limited to any of voice, e-mail, image, and the like, and is limited by input / output means and communication performance of the host device 20 and the client device 10. The person with whom the user interacts may be a person in charge at a service center or the like, or the host-side help control means 22 may mechanically interact with the user.

FIG. 8 is a flowchart showing the processing of the host-side help control means 22 in one embodiment of the processing for further requesting the user for information for predicting the help message. For example, in a state after performing a series of help message inference and result transmission processing shown in FIG. 3, the client-side help control unit 12 receives a specific operation from the user and the client-side help control unit 12 predicts a help message to the user. Request additional keywords. The client-side help control means 12 sends a keyword via the communication line T to the host device 20.
Send to The host-side help control means 22 executes step 8
In step 82, the keyword is received, and in step 82, all the help messages that are listed as candidates in the previous inference result are searched to extract those containing the keyword. In step 83, the extracted information is transmitted to the client device 10 via the communication line T. The client device 10 displays the received information to the user. Since only those that include the keyword specified by the user are selected from all the previous help message candidates, information closer to the user's request can be extracted. In this embodiment, the activation of this function is a specific operation by the user. However, the activation can be realized by another method, for example, when the number of help message candidates as an inference result is a certain number or more. In the present embodiment, the additional information is obtained by requesting the user to input a keyword. However, the additional information can be realized by other methods such as allowing the user to select from options.

[0034]

According to the present invention, a message database storing a help message using a communication line, a rule database storing an inference rule for selecting an appropriate help message, and an inference for performing inference by using them. Even if the engine is provided only in the host device, a help system that can provide help information to the client device can be realized, and the cost of the client device can be reduced. In recent years, as the application program becomes huge and complicated, a help system that consumes more resources, such as selecting a more detailed help message and selecting an appropriate help message with high-precision inference, is required. Is a very useful effect.

In the help system according to the present invention, the database of the help system and the inference engine are one.
Because it can be operated with a very small number of devices compared to client or client devices, it is easy to change and manage databases and the like.

Further, since the help system can learn from input information from the user and perform more accurate inference, there is a learning effect by using from a plurality of clients, and thus each user encounters for the first time. If the host learns even if the help message is requested, it is possible to select a help message based on more accurate inference.

[Brief description of the drawings]

FIG. 1 is a system configuration diagram of an embodiment of the present invention.

FIG. 2 is a flowchart of a process performed by a client-side help control unit when a help request or a state change occurs.

FIG. 3 is a flowchart of a process performed when a help request is generated by a host-side help control unit.

FIG. 4 is a flowchart of an embodiment of a learning process of a client-side help control unit.

FIG. 5 is a flowchart of an embodiment of a learning process of the host-side help control.

FIG. 6 is a configuration diagram of an information change history buffer.

FIG. 7 is a flowchart of host-side help control in one embodiment of processing for analyzing data change information on the client side on the host side and detecting a data change abnormality.

FIG. 8 is a flowchart of host-side help control in one embodiment of a process for further requesting a user for information for predicting a help message.

[Explanation of symbols]

10 client device, 11 application program, 12
... client-side help control means, 13 ... information change history buffer, 14 ... input means, 15 ... output means, 16 ... client-side communication unit, 20 ... host device, 21 ... host-side communication unit, 22 ... host-side help control means , 23 ... Rule database, 24 ... Message database, 25
... host side application program, T ... communication line.

Claims (8)

[Claims] 1. A client device having an operation process storage means for storing an operation process of an information processing device, a communication device for communicating with a host device, and a prediction for analyzing an operation process of the client device to predict an operation purpose. Means, an information storage means for storing information corresponding to the operation purpose, and a communication-compatible help system comprising a host device having communication means for communicating with the client device. When the operation process storage information stored in the operation process storage unit is received, the operation process storage information is analyzed to predict the operation purpose, search for information corresponding to the predicted operation purpose, and notify the client device. A communication-compatible help system characterized by: 2. A client device having an operation process storing means for storing a data change in an operation process of an information processing device, a communication device for communicating with a host device, and analyzing a data change in the operation process of the client device. In a communication-compatible help system comprising: a prediction unit that predicts an operation purpose by using a storage device that stores information corresponding to the operation purpose; and a host device that includes a communication unit that communicates with a client device. Receiving the data change storage information of the operation process stored in the operation process storage means from the client device, analyzing the data change storage information of the operation process, predicting the operation purpose, and determining the predicted operation purpose. A communication-compatible help system that searches for corresponding information and notifies the client device of the search. 3. A client device having an operation process storing means for storing a data change in an operation process of the information processing device, a communication device for communicating with a host device, and analyzing the data change in the operation process of the client device. A communication-capable help system including a host device having a detection unit for detecting an abnormality in data change and a communication unit for communicating with the client device, wherein the host device stores the operation process from the client device to the operation process storage unit. When receiving the stored data change storage information of the operation process, the data change storage information of the operation process is analyzed to detect an abnormality of the data change, and the detection result is reported to the client device. Help system. 4. The communication-enabled help system according to claim 1, wherein when the client device is stuck during the operation of the client device, a specific operation is performed to cause the host device to store the operation process storage information so far. Alternatively, a communication-compatible help system that transmits data change storage information. 5. The communication support system according to claim 4, further comprising an interactive means for interacting with the host device when the same specific operation is continuously performed on the client device. Help system. 6. The communication-compatible help system according to claim 1, wherein the operation process storage information and the data change storage information from the client device do not reach the predicted amounts, and the data change storage information includes A communication-compatible help system, comprising means for enabling dialogue with the host device when there is no information to notify the client device such as when no abnormality is detected. 7. The communication-based help system according to claim 1, wherein the operation process storage information and the data change storage information from the client device do not reach the predicted amounts, or a user of the client device does If the information to be requested is predicted more correctly, or if the user of the client device performs a specific operation, a means for further requesting the client device for information necessary for prediction and performing a highly accurate prediction based on the information is provided. A communication-compatible help system, comprising: notifying the client device of the predicted information. 8. The communication-compatible help system according to claim 4, further comprising: means for determining whether or not the message of the information determined and inferred by the host device is the information requested by the user of the client device, A communication-compatible help system characterized in that the host device learns based on the determination result and enables more precise inference.