JP2001331406A - Display conversion method for table information - Google Patents

Abstract

PROBLEM TO BE SOLVED: To easily understandably provide table information even to a terminal incapable of displaying a table by converting the table information in accordance with the kind of the table, because of that conversion is not always performed by a format for understanding the contents of original table information in the case that the tables of all kinds are converted into a list format by the same method since there are plural kinds of the tables depending on relation among the elements of the tables. SOLUTION: The table information such as the number of the rows of the table, the number of the columns, the feature of the display of table items, the kind of values and the regularity of arrangements is taken out (300) and the kind of the terminal for displaying the table is taken out (301). The kind of the table is classified on the basis of the table information (303) and the table information is converted by using a conversion method preset in accordance with the classified kind of the table (309).

Description

DETAILED DESCRIPTION OF THE INVENTION

[0001]

BACKGROUND OF THE INVENTION 1. Field of the Invention The present invention dynamically converts a Web page published on the Internet when various terminals request display of table information, and converts a Web page suitable for each terminal. The present invention relates to a display conversion method for automatically generated table information, and particularly to a display conversion method for table information characterized by classifying a table and converting the table information using a conversion method according to the type of the classified table.

[0002]

2. Description of the Related Art In recent years, personal computers (PCs)
Not only car navigation system, PDA (P
personal Digital (Data) Ass
information services are provided from various terminals such as mobile phones and the like using the Internet. Much of the information used for providing information services using the Internet is created for PCs. This information is sent to the car navigation system, PD
A. Displaying on a terminal such as a mobile phone is difficult because the display function and screen size are limited. In addition, creating and maintaining a Web page of the same information in a different file format and a different expression method for each type of terminal imposes a very heavy burden on an information provider.

[0003] Various systems have been proposed for automatically converting a Web page in HTML format when a display request of information is received from various terminals and automatically generating a Web page according to terminal restrictions. For example, JP 2000-
As described in Japanese Patent No. 90001, conversion into a Web page of another format is performed based on definition information set in advance. The definition information includes information relating to an image, information relating to a table, information relating to a color, information relating to a size, and the like.

[0004]

In the conventional system,
Regarding tables, when displaying table information on a terminal that cannot display tables, it is only defined that the table information is converted to a list format in advance, and all tables are converted in the same way based on the preset conversion method I do. However, since there are multiple types of tables due to the relationship between the table elements, if all types of tables are converted to the list format by the same method, the contents of the original table information will be in a format that can be understood. There is a problem that it is not always converted. In addition, if a conversion is made to a format in which the contents of the table information can be understood, the conventional system has a problem that the conversion method must be redefined for each site and each page and corresponding. Therefore, it is desirable to set a conversion method for each type of table.

It is an object of the present invention to convert table information according to the type of table, and to provide a terminal that cannot display the table to easily understand the table information.

[0006]

In order to achieve the above object, the present invention classifies a table and converts the table information using a conversion method preset according to the type of the classified table. And

[0007]

Embodiments of the present invention will be described below in detail with reference to the drawings. First, a first embodiment of the present invention will be described. FIG. 1 is a block diagram showing a system configuration of a table information display conversion system according to a first embodiment of the present invention. FIG. 1 shows a PC (personal computer) 100, an Internet-compatible mobile phone 101, a car navigation system 102, and a PDA (Person).
al Digital (Data) Assistan
ts) 103, Internet service provider 11
0, service center server 120, display conversion server 12
1. Each company service system 130, 140, each company database 131, 141, the wired communication path 150, the wireless communication path 160, and the Internet 170, 180. PC 100 as various terminals, mobile phone 101 for Internet, car navigation system 102,
Wired communication path 150 or wireless communication path 160 from PDA 103
Connect to the Internet service provider 110 via. Internet Service Provider 11
From 0, the service center server 120 is accessed via the Internet 170, and various terminals can receive services. Here, the service center server 120
May have the function of an Internet service provider. The service center server 120 provides services using the services of the company service systems 130 and 140 and the company databases 131 and 141. Here, the service system may be on the service center server 120. When a service is provided to various terminals, information is displayed on the terminal. The service center server 120 converts the information into an expression corresponding to the display restriction of the terminal in the display conversion server 121 and displays the converted information.

FIG. 2 is a block diagram showing the configuration of the display conversion server 121. The display conversion server 121 includes a conversion engine 200, a terminal constraint database 210, and a conversion rule database 220. Conversion engine 200
Converts information to be output to various terminals into an expression that matches the restrictions of the terminal. At this time, the terminal restriction database 21
0, the information of the conversion rule database 220 is used.
The terminal restriction database 210 stores display restrictions for each terminal. The data configuration example of this terminal restriction database is the same as that in FIG. Details will be described later. The conversion rule database 220 stores various information conversion methods. Here, the various information means a conversion method for each image format, a conversion method for each type of table, and the like. An example of the conversion method is the same as in FIG. Details will be described later. The present invention is a method of converting a table into information by type.

Next, a display conversion method of the table information will be described with reference to a flowchart of FIG. The processing of the table information display conversion method is roughly divided into four steps. (1)
Step 1 of extracting table information to be displayed on the terminal, (2) Step 2 of classifying the type of the extracted table, and (3) Display conversion method of table information corresponding to the type of the pre-registered table. An extraction step 3 and (4) a step 4 of converting table information on the server side based on the extracted conversion method. FIG.
2 shows the flow of processing in the server.

In the conversion engine 200 shown in FIG. 2, when there is an information conversion request, table information is extracted from the information to be displayed (step 300). When receiving the information conversion request, the conversion engine 200 also receives the terminal information to be displayed. Then, the terminal type to be displayed is extracted (step 301), and the terminal restriction database 2
10 to retrieve the corresponding terminal restriction information (step 3
02).

FIG. 4 shows an example of the data structure of the terminal restriction information extracted at this time. The configuration of the data 400 includes a terminal type ID 401, an image 402, a voice 403, a program module 404, a text display 405, a table 406, a display size 407, and the number of display colors 408. Terminal type ID
An ID 401 identifies the type of terminal, and is used as an identifier of a terminal to be displayed or a terminal type created for display. The terminal restrictions of terminal type ID1 are listed in the second row 410. The same applies to 420, 430, and 440. The image 402 stores a displayable image format. The voice 403 stores whether the voice file can be executed. Program module 404
Is a bytecode that functions on a Web page and is executed after downloading. Stores whether this program module can be displayed. In the text display, a displayable text format name is stored. The table 406 stores whether the table can be expressed. The display size 407 stores the display size of the screen. The number of display colors 408 stores the number of colors that can be displayed.

Next, the table is classified according to the display characteristics of the table items (step 303). Here, the display characteristics of the table items refer to the character color, thickness, size, background color, blinking, and the like. For example, if all the table items on the first line are bold and the characters on the second and subsequent lines are thin, each line represents an object, and each line can be regarded as a lump. Similarly, when the background color of the table items in the first column is light blue and the background color of the table items in the second and subsequent columns is white, each column represents an object, and 1
One column can be considered as a lump. In these two types of tables, when the table information is expressed by a terminal that cannot display the table, it is desired to deal with the individual conversion methods. In some cases, the classification of the table cannot be performed only by the display characteristics of the table items. Therefore, the table is further classified according to the characteristics of the table (step 304). Here, the characteristics of the table mean that the number of rows (columns), the same values are arranged in the same row (column), the same values are arranged at equal intervals in the row (column), and the like. The type of table is determined based on the results of steps 303 and 304 (step 305). Here, it is checked whether or not the table type can be determined (step 306). If the table type cannot be determined, the table type is set to a preset initial value (default value) (step 30).
7). When the table type is determined, the conversion rule of the table information corresponding to the table type is converted to the conversion rule database 220.
(Step 308). Then, the table information is converted according to the conversion method (step 309).

An example of a conversion rule used at this time is shown in a flowchart of FIG. It is assumed that the table to be converted has m rows and n columns. First, a dividing line "---" is drawn (step 501). Next, the value of the variable i is set to 1 (step 502). The following steps are repeated while the value of the variable i is equal to or less than m (step 503). Set the value of variable j to 1. (Step 504). Steps 506 and 507 are repeated while the value of the variable j is equal to or less than n (step 505). Output the value of the i-th row and the j-th column (step 506),
The value of j is increased by 1 (step 507). If the value of variable j is n
Is exceeded, the value of the variable i is increased by 1 (step 508),
A dividing line "---" is drawn (step 509).

Next, FIGS. 6 and 7 show examples of screens before and after display conversion in the table information display conversion method. FIG. 6 shows table information before display conversion. Table 600 is a table expressing train transit timetable information, including departure / arrival time 601, required time 602, transfer time 603, station / route name 604, fare subtotal 605, ticket 606, designated ticket 607, timetable 608, and the like. Become. FIG. 6 shows the result of converting this table by the conversion rule in FIG. Screen 700 assumes a terminal that cannot display a table. It can be seen from the screen 700 that the contents of the train connection diagram information can be understood.

In the first embodiment of the present invention, the table classification method is based on the display characteristics of table items such as character color, thickness, size, background color, and blinking, and the number of rows (columns) and the same value. The classification was performed according to the features of the table, such as being arranged in the same row (column) and the same value being arranged at equal intervals with respect to the row (column).
This may be performed based on the presence or absence of the L tag and the presence or absence of the XML tag.
In addition, linguistic processing may be performed on the values of the table items to classify them. The linguistic processing referred to here refers to processing such as discriminating whether it is a numerical value or a kanji and determining whether each line represents a target or each column represents a target.

As described above, according to the first embodiment, by preparing a conversion method for each type of table, the information after conversion of the table information is viewed, and the contents of the original information are changed. Be able to understand at any time. In addition, since the table can be automatically classified according to the characteristics of the table items and the characteristics of the table, there is no need to set a conversion method for each site or each page.

Next, a modification of the first embodiment of the present invention will be described.

A modification of the first embodiment of the present invention is as follows.
After the step 4 of converting table information on the server side on the basis of the extracted conversion method, when a re-conversion request button of the table information displayed on the output terminal together with the converted table is selected, the corresponding table is converted differently. It differs from the first embodiment in that it has a step 5 of re-converting by the method and displaying it on the output terminal. Further, only by selecting the table information re-conversion request button once, the corresponding table is converted again by a different conversion method and displayed on the output terminal.

FIG. 8 is a block diagram of a system configuration of the display conversion server 121 in a modified example of the first embodiment of the present invention. The conversion engine 200 performs conversion of display information using the conversion history database 800 in addition to the terminal constraint database 210 and the conversion rule database 220. The conversion history database 800 includes data before and after conversion of table information converted in the past, a URL where the converted table information exists, and identification I of a conversion method used for conversion.
D and an ID indicating the type of table are included. Note that the items included in the database are not limited to the above, and may include the converted time and the like.

FIG. 9 shows the flow of the process in step 5. Note that the flow of the processing in steps 1 to 4 is the same as that in FIG. Also,
As an example of an output terminal in this case, FIG. 10 shows a conversion example of table information displayed on the Internet-compatible mobile phone 101.

A screen 1000 shown in FIG. 10 is obtained by converting and displaying the table information shown in FIG. Here, if the contents of the table information are difficult to understand, the user selects the “Redisplay” button 1001 on the screen 1000 to re-convert the table information by another conversion method. Then, the display conversion server 121
Detects a redisplay conversion request (step 900). Then, the conversion engine 200 converts the conversion history database 80
The table information and the conversion rule before conversion are extracted from 0 (step 901). Then, the type of the table is reset to a predetermined value based on a predetermined resetting method (step 902). Then, the conversion rule of the table information corresponding to the classified table type is extracted from the conversion rule database 220 (Step 308). Then, the table information is converted (step 309) and output again. A screen example of the re-outputted table information is as shown in a screen 1010. On the screen 1000, the contents of the table information could not be understood.
At 0, the table information is converted by a different conversion method, and it can be seen that the contents of the table information can be understood.

As described above, according to the modification of the first embodiment, by displaying the re-conversion request button together with the converted table information, the user can perform the conversion if the table information conversion method is not appropriate. Also, when it is difficult to understand the converted contents of the table information according to personal preference, it can be dealt with by re-converting and displaying the converted table information.

Also, when a request for reconversion is made, each user can easily perform reconversion with a single button operation, and the user can obtain easily understandable table information. Become.

Next, a second embodiment of the present invention will be described.

In the second embodiment of the present invention, in step 4 of converting table information on the server side based on the extracted conversion method, each element of the table is determined by the number of rows and columns of the table and the display characteristics of the table items. The first embodiment is different from the first embodiment in that a priority is set for each element of the table, and whether or not each element of the table can be displayed is determined based on the priority set at the time of display conversion.

When displaying the contents of the table information on a screen having a small display screen such as a screen of a mobile phone, it is difficult to understand the contents of the table if all the table items of the table information are listed. Therefore, for example, in all rows, the transition to the fifth column of the table is reduced in priority and is not displayed.

An example of the conversion rule used at this time is shown in the flowchart of FIG. It is assumed that the table to be converted has m rows and n columns. First, a dividing line "---" is drawn (step 501). Next, the value of the variable i is set to 1 (step 502). The following steps are repeated while the value of the variable i is equal to or less than m (step 503). Set the value of variable j to 1. (Step 504). The value of variable j is 5
Steps 506 and 507 are repeated during the following (step 1100). Output the value of the i-th row and the j-th column (step 5
06), the value of j is increased by 1 (step 507). Variable j
If the value of the variable i exceeds 5, "・ Detailed display" is output (step 1101), and the value of the variable i is increased by 1 (step 50).
8) Draw a dividing line “――――――” (Step 50)
9). The conversion is performed as described above, and the table information in the fifth and subsequent columns of the table is also displayed when "Detailed display" is pressed.

FIG. 12 shows an example of conversion of table information displayed on the Internet-compatible mobile phone 101 as an example of an output terminal in this case. The table information 1200 in FIG. 12 is obtained by converting the table information 600 in FIG. Table information 120 of FIG.
At 0, it can be seen that only the first to fifth columns of each row in the table information 600 of FIG. 6 are displayed.
When "Detailed display" 1201 is selected, the remaining information not displayed is also output.

Further, a button for requesting redisplay of table information is displayed on the output terminal together with the converted table information, and the amount of table information is increased or decreased based on the priority by simply selecting the button once again. You may make it re-displayable on a terminal.

As described above, according to the second embodiment, the contents of the table information can be easily understood even when displaying the entire table information makes it difficult to understand the contents because the screen size of the output terminal is small. Can be displayed.

Next, a third embodiment of the present invention will be described.

In a third embodiment of the present invention, a table information conversion history is used to extract a table information to be displayed on a terminal and a step 2 for classifying the type of the extracted table. The third embodiment is different from the first embodiment in that a step 5 for searching whether the corresponding table is converted and displayed is provided.

In the third embodiment, the display conversion server 1
Since the system configuration of 21 is the same as that of FIG. 8, the description is omitted here.

FIG. 13 is a flowchart showing the procedure of display conversion of table information according to the third embodiment of the present invention. In the conversion engine 200, when there is an information conversion request, table information is extracted from the information to be displayed (step 300). When receiving the information conversion request, the conversion engine 200 also receives the terminal information to be displayed. Then, the terminal type to be displayed is taken out (step 3
01). Here, it is searched whether or not there is a history of conversion of the corresponding table information in the conversion history database 800 for the corresponding terminal type (step 1300). If it is in the history, the corresponding table information is extracted from the conversion history database and output. If there are multiple histories, take out the table information converted using the conversion method that was used most frequently among the conversion patterns used when the relevant table information was output for the corresponding terminal. It may be. If it is not in the history, the corresponding terminal information is extracted from the terminal restriction database 210 (step 302). Next, the tables are classified according to the display characteristics of the table items (step 30).
3). Here, the characteristics of the display of the table items are character color, thickness,
It refers to size, background color, blinking, etc. For example, if all the table items on the first line are bold and the characters on the second and subsequent lines are thin, each line represents an object, and each line can be regarded as a lump. Similarly, if the background color of the table items in the first column is light blue and the background colors of the table items in the second and subsequent columns are white,
Each column represents an object, and one column and one column can be regarded as a lump. In these two tables, the table information is
When a table is displayed on a terminal that cannot display the data, it is desired to deal with the data by an individual conversion method. In some cases, the classification of the table cannot be performed only by the display characteristics of the table items. Therefore, the table is further classified by the characteristics of the table (step 30).
4). Here, the characteristics of the table mean that the number of rows (columns), the same values are arranged in the same row (column), the same values are arranged at equal intervals in the row (column), and the like. These steps 30
The type of table is determined based on the results of steps 3 and 304 (step 305). Here, it is determined whether or not the type of table has been determined (step 306). If the type of table cannot be determined, the type of table is set to a preset initial value (default value) (step 307). When the table type is determined, the conversion rule of the table information corresponding to the table type is extracted from the conversion rule database 220 (step 30).
8). Then, the table information is converted according to the conversion method (step 309).

As described above, according to the third embodiment, the load on the conversion processing of the conversion engine 200 can be reduced by retrieving the history and making effective use of the table information converted in the past. .

Further, by using the table information converted by the conversion method of the table information by the conversion method most frequently used by the user, the most easily understandable table information can be obtained.

[0037]

According to the present invention, a table is classified without changing any type of table information which exists on the Internet, and a conversion method according to the type of the classified table is provided. Utilizing it, it is possible to automatically generate table information suitable for each terminal.

[Brief description of the drawings]

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

FIG. 2 is a system configuration block diagram of a display conversion server in FIG. 1;

FIG. 3 is a flowchart showing a procedure of display conversion of table information according to the embodiment of the present invention.

FIG. 4 shows terminal restriction data items according to the embodiment of the present invention.

FIG. 5 is a flowchart illustrating an example of a procedure for converting table information according to the embodiment of the present invention.

FIG. 6 is an example of table information according to the embodiment of the present invention.

FIG. 7 is an example of converted table information according to the embodiment of the present invention.

FIG. 8 is a system configuration block diagram of a display conversion server according to a modification of the first embodiment.

FIG. 9 is a flowchart showing the procedure of redisplay conversion in a modification of the first embodiment.

FIG. 10 is an example of table information before and after redisplay conversion in a modification of the first embodiment.

FIG. 11 is a flowchart illustrating an example of a procedure for converting table information according to the second embodiment;

FIG. 12 is an example of table information after conversion in the second embodiment.

FIG. 13 is a flowchart illustrating a procedure of table information display conversion according to the third embodiment.

[Explanation of symbols]

Reference Signs List 100: personal computer, 101: Internet-compatible mobile phone, 102 car navigation system, 103: PDA terminal, 110: Internet service provider, 120: service center server, 1
21 ... display conversion server, 130, 140 ... service system of each company, 131, 141 ... database of each company, 150
... wired communication path, 160 ... wireless communication path, 170, 180 ...
the Internet

 ──────────────────────────────────────────────────の Continuing on the front page (72) Inventor Makoto Shioya 1099 Ozenji Temple, Aso-ku, Kawasaki City, Kanagawa Prefecture Inside Hitachi, Ltd.System Development Laboratory (72) Inventor Koichi Sano 1099 Ozenji Temple, Aso-ku, Kawasaki City, Kanagawa Prefecture F term in Hitachi, Ltd. System Development Laboratory (reference) 5B069 AA01 BA04 CA06 FA04 LA03 5B082 GA02 5B085 BE07 5C025 BA14 BA25 BA28 CA09 CA16 CB03 DA01 DA05 DA07

Claims (5)

[Claims] A step of extracting table information to be displayed on a terminal;
Classifying the extracted table type; extracting a pre-registered table information display conversion method corresponding to the classified table type; and converting the table information on the server side based on the extracted conversion method Display conversion method for tabular information. 2. The table information display conversion method according to claim 1, wherein the contents of the conversion step are changed according to the display restrictions of the terminal to which the table information is output. 3. The table information display conversion method according to claim 1, wherein the types of the table are classified according to the number of rows and columns of the table, the display characteristics of the table items, and the regularity of values and arrangement. And a display conversion method for table information. 4. The table information display conversion method according to claim 3, wherein the table type is classified by using HTML tags and combinations thereof. Method. 5. The table information display conversion method according to claim 1, wherein the type of the table is classified by analyzing the table by natural language recognition for each value of the table item. Display conversion method of table information.