JP2002024225A - System and method for providing information, and storage medium stored with computer program implementing the same information providing method - Google Patents

Abstract

PROBLEM TO BE SOLVED: To easily and securely provide necessary information for a specific information acquisition wisher and to enable the wisher to obtain the information without any large cost load. SOLUTION: When a selling agent a1 and a user a2 obtain information from a server 10, a maker A as a direct dealer gives a password to the selling agent a1 which serves as a direct dealer to give the password to the user a2. Consequently, it can be made easy to give the password to the selling agent a1 and user a2, and the password is given to only a specific information acquisition wisher, so detailed information can securely be provided. Further, the user a2 can obtain the information directly from the maker A to eliminate the cost load of the structuring of a database, etc., to the selling agent a1.

Description

DETAILED DESCRIPTION OF THE INVENTION

[0001]

The present invention relates to an information providing system, an information providing method, and a storage medium storing a computer program for executing the information providing method.

[0002]

BACKGROUND ART In recent years, it has become possible to freely obtain information on various products via a network terminal connected to the Internet or the like. The website that provides such information introduces the homepages (URLs) of multiple companies (company) that handle the same type of products, and by accessing the homepages of each company from a network terminal, information on the necessary products can be obtained. It can be obtained easily and quickly.

[0003]

However, since the home page of such a company can be freely accessed by anyone from a terminal on the network, the information provided on the company side is limited to a level desired by ordinary customers. It was limited to information and was not sufficient as information for more closely related customers and the like.

Incidentally, there are cases where the customers of the company have more customers. For example, the company is a product maker, the direct customer is a sales agent, and the sales agent customer is a user (end user) of the product. In such a case, the end user generally visits a sales agent to obtain information on the manufacturer side. Although it is possible for the end user to directly access the manufacturer via the Internet or the like, as described above, the information obtained is limited.

[0005] On the other hand, a membership-based information providing system (service) using a network is known. This system provides detailed information only to members authorized by the information provider. If such a system is constructed on the maker side and a sales agent or an end user is permitted as a member, necessary information can be acquired in detail.

However, in this membership-based information providing system, the end user who is not a direct customer is given a permission as a member by the manufacturer, so that the end user is suitable as a destination for providing detailed information of the company. In some cases, it is not easy to determine whether or not this is the case. This is particularly problematic because there is a possibility that a response cannot be made instantaneously, for example, when permission work is performed between terminals connected to the network.

[0007] It is conceivable that the end user directly accesses a dealer who has a transaction and obtains the manufacturer information stored in the dealer. In such a case, the end user may access the dealer. Need to build a huge database and maintain it,
There is a problem that the cost of the sales agent is large.

An object of the present invention is to provide an information providing system, an information providing method, and an information providing method capable of easily and surely providing necessary information to a specific information acquisition applicant and acquiring information without imposing a large cost burden. An object of the present invention is to provide a storage medium storing a computer program for executing an information providing method.

[0009]

An information providing system according to the present invention is an information providing system for providing information of a plurality of information providers stored in a network server to a person who wants to acquire information via a network. The network server assigns a security key to a plurality of storage units in which the information for each of the plurality of information providers is stored, and a first information acquisition applicant to whom the information provider has permitted disclosure of its own information. In addition, when the first information acquisition applicant permits the second information acquisition applicant to directly acquire the information from the information provider, another security is given to the second information acquisition applicant. A key assigning means for assigning a key; and a key for confirming security keys input from the first and second information acquisition applicants and determining whether or not to provide information to the information acquisition applicants. And determining means, characterized in that it and a first information retrieval and acquisition means for invoking the requested information of the second information acquisition seekers from the storage unit corresponding to the security key.

[0010] According to such a configuration, the information provider gives the security key only to the specific first information acquisition applicant selected by the information provider, so that the selected first information is obtained. More detailed information can be provided to those who wish to acquire information than information that is generally made public. Also,
Since the first information acquisition applicant gives the second information acquisition applicant permission for information acquisition on behalf of the information provider,
As long as the information provider has a trust relationship with the first information acquisition applicant, the information provider does not have a direct relationship with the second information acquisition applicant. The information can be provided to the second information acquisition applicant by trusting the permission act. As a result, the information provider can omit troublesome permission work with the second information acquisition applicant, and can easily provide the same detailed information to the second information acquisition applicant. Become. At this time, since the security key is given to the second information acquisition applicant so that the information acquisition from the information provider can be performed directly, there is no need to acquire the information from the first information acquisition applicant, and the second information acquisition applicant does not need to acquire the information. The cost burden of constructing a database on the information acquisition applicant side can be avoided.

[0011] In the information providing system according to the present invention, the storage section is provided with a plurality of storage areas, and the first and second information acquisition applicants are provided with the information provision information of the plurality of storage areas. It is desirable that only the storage area selected by the user can be accessed. In such a configuration, it is possible to make a difference in the confidential level of the information that can be disclosed between the first and second information acquisition applicants. For example, a plurality of storages accessible by the first information acquisition applicant can be provided. Of the areas, only the information of the storage area which is further limited can be disclosed to the second information acquisition applicant. The second
The limitation of the storage area for the information acquisition applicant may be performed by the information provider side or may be performed by the first information provider side.

In the information providing system according to the present invention, the information may include at least image information and character information associated with characters in the image information. The image information includes, for example, drawings or images of products and parts handled by the information provider, and the character information includes, for example, the names of products and parts, the number of units used, unit prices, and the like. And character information related to the character in the drawing can be simultaneously displayed on the terminal of each information acquisition applicant.

An information providing method according to the present invention is an information providing method for providing information of a plurality of information providers stored in a network server to a person who wants to acquire information via a network. Storing the information in the network server, the information provider assigns a security key to the information acquisition applicant who has permitted disclosure of his / her information, and the first information acquisition applicant A procedure for granting another security key to the second information acquisition applicant when permitting the information acquisition applicant to directly acquire the information from the information provider; A procedure for confirming the security key input from the acquisition applicant and determining whether or not to provide information to the information acquisition applicant; and, when it is determined that the information can be provided, First from the storage unit corresponding to Kyuritiki, characterized in that Hm and procedures for calling the request for information of the second information acquisition seekers. Such an information providing method can be realized by using the system or the like according to claim 1, and the object of the present invention is achieved.

[0014] The storage medium of the present invention is characterized by storing a computer program for executing the information providing method. The object of the present invention is achieved by executing the system of claim 1 using such a computer program.

[0015]

DESCRIPTION OF THE PREFERRED EMBODIMENTS One embodiment of the present invention will be described below with reference to the drawings. FIG. 1 is a schematic diagram illustrating an outline of an information providing system 1 according to the present embodiment. In FIG. 1, an information providing system 1 is realized using a network computer technology. For example, a product maker (company) A, B, C is provided to a network server 10 on a network 2 such as the Internet. The information of each product handled in ... is stored in a database, and this information is stored in the sales agents a1, b1, and c.
1, d1... Or a product user (end user) a
2, b2, c2, d2,... Are provided directly from the network server 10.

At this time, the maker A as an information provider
C has previously assigned a user ID and a password as a security key to the sales agents a1 to d1 as first information acquisition applicants, and the sales agent a1
In the case of .about.d1, a user ID and another password are given in advance to the users a2 to d2 as second information acquisition applicants in place of the manufacturers A to C. And sales agent a
1 to d1 and users a2 to d2 can acquire only the information of the maker related to the password among the maker A to C.

As shown in FIG. 2, the network server 10 includes a control unit 11 composed of a CPU and a memory, and a storage unit 12 composed of a hard disk as one storage medium, and the manufacturers A, B, and C shown in FIG. Via the network 2 to the maker terminal 20 of the..., The agent terminal 30 of the sales agents a1, b1, c1, d1,... And the user terminals 50 of the users a2, b2, c2, d2. Communication is possible. In addition, such each terminal 20, 30,
As the 50, various wireless mobile tools such as a mobile phone, a PHS, and a personal computer having a wireless communication function can be applied, in addition to those connected to the network 2 in a wired format.

Control means 11 of network server 10
Are ID / password assigning means 111, ID / password writing means 112, ID / password determining means 11
3. It is configured to include information search / acquisition means 114. The storage means 12 includes a storage unit 121 for manufacturer A, a storage unit 122 for manufacturer B, a storage unit 123 for manufacturer C,.
It is configured to include a common storage unit 124.

The ID / password assigning means 111 of the control means 11 determines whether the sales agents a1 to d1 and the users a2 to d2 who have opened the homepage or the like of the system 1 have any of the manufacturers A to C ( When it is desired to acquire information from all manufacturers), the sales agent a1 to d1 and the user a2 to d2 have a function of confirming whether access is the first time.

Further, ID / password assigning means 111
When the access of the sales agents a1 to d1 is made for the first time, the manufacturers A to C determine whether or not to approve the sales agents a1 to d1 as the information provision destinations.
When the first access is made, the sales agents a1 to d1 determine whether or not to approve the users a2 to d2 as the information providing destinations.
And a user ID and a password are given only to the approved distributors a1 to d1 and users a2 to d2 so that the information can be obtained directly from the manufacturers A to C.

The ID / password writing means 112 includes a user ID and a password which are given when the sales agents a1 to d1 and the users a2 to d2 are approved as the information providing destinations. Is stored in the common storage unit 124 of the storage unit 12 in a state where the information is associated with each other.

The ID / password judging means 113 is provided when the sales agents a1 to d1 and the users a2 to d2 who already have the user ID and the password open a homepage or the like for acquiring information. a1 to d
1. It has a function of collating the user ID, password, and maker name of the access destination (such as the maker ID) input by the users a2 to d2 with the contents stored in the common storage unit 124 in advance.

The information search / acquisition means 114 includes the user IDs entered by the sales agents a1 to d1 and the users a2 to d2,
If the password and the manufacturer name of the access destination are determined to be appropriate, the sales agents a1 to d1 and the user a
2 to d2 have a function of retrieving desired information from the maker storage sections 121 to 123 of the corresponding manufacturers A to C and calling them.

Each manufacturer storage section 121 of the storage means 12
123 stores information that the manufacturers A to C want to disclose. Specifically, each manufacturer storage unit 121
To 123 include, for example, A of a manufacturer A that handles construction machinery.
When the maker storage unit 121 is shown as a representative in FIG. 3, information on a clay, a bulldozer, a wheel loader, a hydraulic shovel, etc. is stored in each storage area A1-1, A1-
2, A1-3, A1-4,..., And information on a part name, a part number, a part unit price, a part image information, etc. are stored as storage parts A2-1, A2-
2, A2-3, A2-4, etc., and information on product instruction manuals, maintenance work standard manuals, service management manuals, complaint handling reports, etc. are stored as document information in storage areas A3-1, A3. -2, A3-3, A3-4 ... Storage units 122 and 123 for other B and C manufacturers
However, although the content of the stored information differs depending on the type of business of each of the manufacturers B and C, the information is also stored in a storage area divided into a plurality.

As described above, the common storage unit 124 stores the user IDs and passwords owned by the sales agents a1 to d1 and the users a2 to d2, and the IDs of the manufacturers associated with the passwords. I have. Various software executed by the control unit 11 are also stored in the common storage unit 124.

The passwords provided by the manufacturers A to C directly to the sales agents a1 to d1 with which the transactions are made include information as to which information can be acquired.
123 storage areas are set as a unit. According to this, for example, the manufacturer A requests the sales agent a1 to store all the storage areas A1-1, A1-2, A1-3, A1-4, A3-1, as product information and document information. A3-2, A3-3, A3
-4 is provided so that the storage area A2-1, A2-2, and storage area excluding information on the unit price of the confidential part (that is, the information of the storage area A2-3) can be provided.
Configurable to provide A2-4 information.

On the other hand, the passwords given by the sales agents a1 to d1 to the users a2 to d2 who do business directly are also
Which information can be acquired is set in units of the storage area of each of the maker storage units 121 to 123. According to this, for example, the sales agent a1 is the user a
In contrast, the product information and component information include all storage areas for which access from manufacturer A is already permitted.
A1-1, A1-2, A1-3, A1-4, A3-1, A2-1, A2-2, and A2-4 are set to provide information. Storage areas A3-1 and A3-1, excluding information on highly confidential complaint handling reports that can only be disclosed with the sales agent a1 (that is, information in the storage area A3-4)
It is possible to set to provide the information of A3-2 and A3-3.

In such a setting, if the sales agent a1 tries to obtain information using the password given by the manufacturer A, it is impossible to obtain information on the unit price of parts. However, such highly confidential information in the storage area A2-3 can be accessed from a plurality of terminals or the like in the maker A, and the information is shared between different departments in the company. In addition, the user a2 is a sales agent a1
If you attempt to obtain information directly from Maker A using the password given by
No information on complaint handling reports is available.
Then, a table in which the password is associated with the accessible storage area is stored in the common storage unit 124.

In the following, referring to the flow chart of FIG. 4 and the display screen on the agency terminal 30 side shown in FIGS. 5 to 10, first, information provision between the maker and the sales agency by the present system 1 will be described. The flow will be described. In addition,
For convenience of explanation, the source of information is maker A, a construction machinery manufacturer, and the distributor is a sales agent a, who undertakes sales.
Explanation is made as 1. Also, it is assumed that the information storage work in each of the maker storage units 121 to 123 of the server 10 has already been completed.

In ST (step) 1 of FIG. 4, when the sales agent a1 accesses the home page of the present system 1 via the Internet or the like, the network server 1
0 displays a homepage screen 41 shown in FIG. 5 on the agency terminal 30 of the sales agency a1. Next, the sales agent a1 thinks that the necessary information can be obtained from the maker A that provides the information on the construction machine, and selects the "maker A" by clicking with a mouse or the like. In addition, actually, the screen 41
(Display data) is called from the common storage unit 124 or the like and temporarily stored in a memory in the server 10, and is stored in the terminal 3.
0 is to be viewed on the viewer software via the network 2. The same applies to the following screens and the like. The storage medium of the present invention also includes a hard disk on the terminal 30 side that stores such viewer software, and a distribution CD ROM that also stores the viewer software.

In ST2, the network server 10
ID / password assigning means 111 of the agent terminal 30
Next, an ID / password input screen 42 shown in FIG. 6 is displayed. When the sales agent a1 attempts to access the manufacturer A for the first time, since the sales agent a1 does not have his own user ID and password, he gives up the information acquisition and returns to the homepage screen 41 or performs user registration. To have the manufacturer and A give the ID and password. If the maker A has already given the ID and the password to the sales agent a1, enter them.

In ST3, when the sales agent a1 desires user registration by the manufacturer A, that is, the input screen 42
This is the case where "user registration" is selected. Where ID
The password assignment unit 111 displays the ID / password assignment application screen 43 shown in FIG. The sales agent a1 inputs an address and a telephone number in addition to the user ID and password to be applied in the applicant input field of the application screen 43, checks the item of the sales agent, and selects "OK". . Then, as shown in FIG. 8, the ID / password providing unit 111 displays an ID / password approval and storage area setting screen 44 including the same contents as the contents input on the application screen 43 on the terminal 20 on the manufacturer A side.

In ST4, the maker A determines whether to approve the provision of information to the sales agent a1 based on the contents displayed on the setting screen 44. If not approved, the manufacturer A selects "not approved". As a result, the ID / password assigning means 111 transmits to the sales agent a
The screen display of the first terminal 30 is returned to the homepage screen 41, and a message notifying the approval is displayed. On the other hand, when approving the provision of information to the sales agent a1,
The maker A continues to select storage areas A1-1, A1-2, etc. that can be accessed by the sales agent a1, and input them on the setting screen 44. It should be noted that whether or not the approval of the information provision is permitted is determined in advance by storing a table of the sales agent as the trading partner in the maker terminal 20 and determining whether or not the sales agent a1 exists in the table as an actual trading partner. It is performed by confirming the above.

ST5 is a case where the provision of information to the sales agent a1 has been approved. Here, the ID / password writing unit 112 stores the approved user ID and password of the sales agent a1 in the common storage unit 124 as those used for obtaining information from the manufacturer A. Also,
The ID / password writing unit 112 stores the user I
The fact that D and the password have been approved by the manufacturer A and registered are displayed on the terminal 30. Thus, the assignment of the user ID and the password from the manufacturer A to the sales agent a1 is completed. Thereafter, the process proceeds to ST7.

Returning to ST2, if the maker A has already given the ID and password to the sales agent a1,
The sales agent a1 inputs them on the ID / password input screen 42 in FIG.

In ST6, the ID / password determining means 113 determines whether the input ID and password are appropriate for obtaining information from the maker A by checking the contents stored in the common storage section 124 in advance. Determine by collating. If it is determined to be inappropriate, a message to that effect is displayed on the screen of the terminal 30 to prompt the user to re-enter. If judged appropriate, S
Proceed to T7.

In ST7, the information retrieval /
The acquiring means 114 stores the information in the terminal 30 of the sales agent a1 in FIG.
Is displayed on the menu screen 45 shown in FIG. Sales agent a1
Selects the information to be obtained from the product information, component information, and document information provided by the manufacturer A. In the present embodiment, it is assumed that “component information” is selected. Then, the information search / acquisition unit 114 displays a search item input screen (not shown) or the like, and prompts the sales agent a1 to input a part name, a part number, and the like related to the information to be acquired.

In step ST8, when the sales agent a1 stops obtaining information, the user only has to select "cancel" on the menu screen 45.
The screen display of the terminal 30 is returned to the homepage screen 41.

In ST9, the information search / acquisition means 11
4, when there is an input from the sales agent a1 to the search item input screen, the information based on the input content is searched from the storage unit 121 for the A maker, and the searched information is displayed on the terminal 30. FIG. 10 shows “201-30-72140” as a part number on such a search item input screen, and the search result is shown as a search result display screen 46.

As shown in the search result display screen 46 in FIG. 10, in the present embodiment, when a part number is input, a drawing 461 including the part having this part number is drawn, and a drawing 4
The parts list 462 of all the parts drawn in 61 is displayed on the terminal 30 at the same time.

Here, the drawing 461 is made up of image information such as a bitmap file. The characters in this image information, that is, the part codes displayed in the drawing 461 are index (IDX) numbers of the part list 462. , For example, the part code “2” in the drawing 461.
Is selected with the mouse pointer, the part code is "2"
From "" to "", and in the parts list 462, the same index number "2" as this part code "2"
The component information of the component marked with is automatically highlighted by a change in the character color or the like. Conversely, in the component list 462, the component information of the component with the index number “2” is selected first and highlighted, and the component code of the drawing 461 is changed from “2” to “” in conjunction with this. It is also possible to make it.

Such a function is provided by image information (FIG. 4).
61) is replaced by the OCR (optical ch
After reading with an aracter reader), this can be realized by associating the read part codes, index numbers, and character information such as the part numbers, part names, used quantities, and unit prices for each index number with each other. The software for realizing is stored in the storage means 12 and executed by the control means 11.

As described above, after acquiring necessary information such as parts information from the search result display screen 46, the sales agent a1 returns to the search item input screen (not shown) by clicking the X mark at the upper right of the screen, and as necessary. The next search is performed, or the search ends and the screen returns to the homepage screen 41. Although not described, the sales agent a1 can try to obtain information with respect to the manufacturers B and C by a similar operation, for example, when there is a transaction with the manufacturers B and C in addition to the manufacturer A. The same applies to the sales agents b1 to d1.

Next, the flow of information provision between the maker and the user by the present system 1 will be described.
Only the flow corresponding to ST2 to ST5 among the above ST1 to ST9 will be described. Other ST1, ST6-ST9
This is because it can be easily understood by replacing the items related to the sales agent a1 with the user a2.

That is, in ST2 of FIG. 4, the ID / password assigning means 111 of the network server 10
Displays an ID / password input screen 42 on the user terminal 50.
(FIG. 6) is displayed. When the user a2 does not have his or her own user ID and password, such as when the user a2 tries to access the maker A for the first time, the user abandons the information acquisition and returns to the homepage screen 41 or performs user registration. ID and password from the sales agent a1. When the sales agent a1 has already given the ID and the password to the user a2, the user inputs the ID and the password.

In the step ST3, when the user a2 desires the user registration by the sales agent a1, that is, when "user registration" is selected on the input screen 42, the ID / password assigning means 111 returns to FIG. The displayed ID / password application screen 63 is displayed on the user terminal 50. The user a2 inputs an address and a telephone number in addition to a user ID and a password to be applied for in the applicant input field of the application screen 63, puts a check mark in the item of the user of the product, and sets “O”.
Select "K". Then, ID / password assigning means 1
In response to a check mark on the item of the user of the product, an ID / password approval and storage area setting screen 64 shown in FIG.
Display at 0.

In ST4, the sales agent a1 determines whether or not to approve the provision of information to the user a2 based on the display contents of the setting screen 64. When not approving, the sales agent a1 selects “do not approve”. As a result, the ID / password providing unit 111 returns the screen display of the terminal 50 of the user a2 to the homepage screen 41 and displays a message notifying the approval. On the other hand, when approving the provision of information to the user a2, the sales agent a1 continues to select the storage areas A1-1, A1-2,... I do. It should be noted that whether or not the approval of the information provision is permitted is stored in advance in the agent terminal 30 by storing a table of the user as the trading partner, and whether or not the user a2 exists as an actual trading partner in this table. It is done by confirming. The storage areas A1-1, A1-2, etc. that can be accessed are selected from the storage areas in which the sales agent a1 is permitted by the manufacturer A.

ST5 is a case where the provision of information to the user a2 is approved. Here, ID / password writing means 1
Numeral 12 stores the user ID and password of the approved user a2 in the common storage unit 124 as those used for directly obtaining information from the manufacturer A. Further, the ID / password writing means 112 displays on the terminal 50 that the user ID and the password applied for have been approved and registered by the sales agent a1. Thus, the assignment of the user ID and the password from the sales agent a1 to the user a2 is completed. Thereafter, the process proceeds to ST7.

Returning to ST2, if the sales agent a1 has already given the ID and password to the user a2,
The user a2 displays them on the ID / password input screen 42.
What is necessary is just to input above (FIG. 6). Although the description is omitted, the user a2 is a sales agent b1 in addition to the sales agent a1.
~ D1 to give a user ID and a password by the same operation, and directly try to obtain information from the manufacturers B and C which have business with these sales agents b1 to d1. The same applies to the users b2 to d2.

According to the present embodiment, the following effects can be obtained. (1) In the information providing system 1, from the manufacturers A to C,
Specific sales agents a1 to d selected by manufacturers A to C
1 is assigned a password as a security key, so that for the selected sales agents a1 to d1,
It is possible to provide more detailed information than information that is generally disclosed to the general public, and it is possible to greatly improve the satisfaction of the sales agents a1 to d1.

(2) Also, from the sales agents a1 to d1,
Since permission for information acquisition, that is, a password is given to the selected users a2 to d2 on behalf of the manufacturers A to C, the manufacturers A to C have a business trust relationship with the sales agents a1 to d1. The user a
Even if there is no direct transaction between the sales agents a2 and d2, the information can be provided to the users a2 and d2 while relying on the permission of the sales agents a1 and d1. As a result, the manufacturer A
~ C, it is possible to omit the troublesome permission work between the users a2 and d2 who do not directly deal with each other.
It is possible to easily provide similar detailed information to 2 to d2.

(3) At this time, a password is given to the users a2 to d2 so that the information can be directly obtained from the manufacturers A to C. Therefore, it is necessary to obtain the information from the sales agents a1 to d1. In addition, the burden of constructing a database on the side of the sales agents a1 to d1 can be avoided.

(4) When a plurality of sales agents a1 to d1 and users a2 to d2 acquire information from a plurality of manufacturers A to C via the network 2, each manufacturer storage unit 121 of the manufacturers A to C Can be called up by the information search / acquisition means 114 composed of the same software, and the distributors a1 to d1 and the users a2 to d2 can use information from different manufacturers A to C. It can be obtained by a similar terminal operation. Therefore, terminal 3
Information can be acquired more quickly and easily by eliminating the complexity of the operations of 0 and 50.

(5) Maker storage unit 12 of server 10
A plurality of storage areas (for example, storage areas A1-1, A1-2, A1 represented by the storage unit 121 for manufacturer A)
-3, A1-4 ..., A2-1, A2-2, A2-3, A2-4 ..., A3-1, A3-2,
A3-3, A3-4 ...) are provided, and among the plurality of storage areas,
The sales agents a1 to d1 are stored only in the storage areas selected by the manufacturers A to C, and the users a2 to d2 are sales agents a.
Since only the storage areas selected by the users 1 to d1 can be accessed, the manufacturer A sets a difference in the confidential level of the information that can be provided between the sales agents a1 to d1 and the users a2 to d2. it can. For example, in the present embodiment, it is possible to provide information on a complaint handling report to the sales agents a1 to d1, but not to provide it to the users a2 to d2.

(6) Then, a plurality of storage areas A1-1, A1-
2, A1-3, A1-4 ..., A2-1, A2-2, A2-3, A2-4 ..., A3-1, A
By setting 3-2, A3-3, and A3-4, manufacturers A to C store information such as complaint processing reports with high confidential levels and unit prices of parts in storage areas that are not accessed. Can be kept, the selected sales agent a1
To d1 and users a2 to d2 can be prevented from leaking the information.

(7) Even if highly confidential information is stored in the maker storage sections 121 to 123, for example, the confidential information of the maker A can be transmitted from the terminals 20 in different departments of the maker A. It allows access and promotes information sharing within a single manufacturer.

(8) The component information includes image information of the drawing 461 in which a large number of components are drawn, and component information such as a component number, a component name, and a used number associated with the component code in the image information. Because it is configured, the drawing 46
1 and the component information of the component related to the component code in the drawing 461 can be displayed at the same time, and more accurate information on the component can be displayed on the sales agents a1 to d1 and the user a.
2 to d2.

(9) Since the management of the information stored in the network server 10 can be performed collectively on the server 10 side, there is no need to perform each of the manufacturers A to C individually.
Expenses for information management in C can be significantly reduced. Further, since all the information is converted into data, for example, compared with the case where the information is managed as paper materials, the printing costs of the materials and the sales agents a1 to d1 of the materials and the users a2 to d2 are compared.
Transportation costs, etc., can be reduced, and from this point, cost reduction can be promoted.

It should be noted that the present invention is not limited to the above-described embodiment, but includes other configurations that can achieve the object of the present invention, and the following modifications are also included in the present invention.
For example, in the above embodiment, the maker A is the sales agent a
1. An example in which information provision is approved only to the user a2 has been described. However, one manufacturer has approved information provision to a plurality of sales agents and users, and one sales agent and user has received information from a plurality of manufacturers. May be obtained.

In the above embodiment, each manufacturer storage unit 1
21 to 123 were divided into a plurality of storage areas,
Even when there is no such clearly divided storage area, the present invention is included in the present invention. However, the presence of the storage area as in the embodiment is preferable because the effects (5) and (6) described above can be obtained.

Other information providers, first information acquisition applicants, and second information acquisition applicants are manufacturers, sales agents,
It is not limited to the user, and may be any other legal entity or individual. Further, the type of information to be provided is arbitrary, and is not limited to the construction machine as in the above embodiment.
Further, the style of the display screen on the terminal may be arbitrarily determined in consideration of the ease of viewing and input, and is not limited to those shown in FIGS.

[0062]

As described above, according to the present invention,
It is possible to easily and surely provide necessary information to a specific information acquisition applicant, and to acquire information without imposing a large cost burden.

[Brief description of the drawings]

FIG. 1 is a schematic diagram showing an outline of an information providing system according to an embodiment of the present invention.

FIG. 2 is a block diagram showing a network server of the embodiment.

FIG. 3 is a schematic diagram showing one storage unit of the embodiment.

FIG. 4 is a flowchart showing a process up to information acquisition.

FIG. 5 is a diagram showing a homepage screen.

FIG. 6 is a diagram showing an ID / password input screen.

FIG. 7 is a diagram showing an ID / password assignment request screen on a first information acquisition applicant side.

FIG. 8 is a diagram showing an ID / password approval and storage area setting screen on the information provider side.

FIG. 9 is a diagram showing a menu screen.

FIG. 10 is a diagram showing a search result display screen.

FIG. 11 is a diagram showing an ID / password assignment request screen on the second information acquisition applicant side.

FIG. 12 is a diagram showing an ID / password approval and storage area setting screen on a first information acquisition applicant side.

[Explanation of symbols]

DESCRIPTION OF SYMBOLS 1 ... Information provision system 2 ... Network 10 ... Network server 12 ... Storage means which is one storage medium 20 ... Maker terminal 30 ... Agent terminal 50 ... User terminal 111 ... ID / password provision means which is key provision means 113 ... Key ID / Password judging means 114 which is a judging means 114 ... information searching / acquiring means 121 ... A maker storage section 122 ... B maker storage section 123 ... C maker storage section 124 ... common storage sections A to C ... Certain manufacturers a1 to d1 ... Sales agents who are the first information acquisition applicants a2 to d2 ... Product users who are the second information acquisition applicants (end users) A1-1, A1-2, A1-3 , A1-4, A2-1, A2-2, A2-3, A2-4, A3
-1, A3-2, A3-3, A3-4 ... storage area

──────────────────────────────────────────────────の Continued on the front page (51) Int.Cl. ⁷ Identification symbol FI Theme coat ゛ (Reference) G06F 15/00 310 G06F 15/00 310A (72) Inventor Sayako Iwaya 2-3-6 Akasaka, Minato-ku, Tokyo F-term (reference) in Komatsu Ltd. 5B017 AA03 BA05 CA16 5B075 KK07 KK43 KK54 KK63 5B082 EA12 HA08 5B085 BG07

Claims (5)

[Claims] 1. An information providing system for providing information of an information provider stored in a network server to a person who wants to obtain information via a network, wherein the network server stores the information of the information provider. A storage unit, the information provider assigns a security key to a first information acquisition applicant who has permitted disclosure of his / her own information, and the first information acquisition applicant becomes a second information acquisition applicant; Key granting means for granting another security key to the second information acquisition applicant when permitting the information to be acquired directly from the information provider; and first and second information acquisition applicants. Key determining means for confirming the security key input from the server and determining whether or not to provide information to the information acquisition applicant; 2
Information retrieval / calling information requested by applicants
An information providing system comprising: an obtaining unit; 2. The information providing system according to claim 1, wherein the storage unit is provided with a plurality of storage areas, and the first and second information acquisition applicants are provided with the plurality of storage areas. An information providing system wherein only the storage area selected by the information provider is accessible. 3. The information providing system according to claim 1, wherein the information includes at least image information and character information associated with characters in the image information. Information providing system. 4. An information providing method for providing information of an information provider stored in a network server to a person who wants to obtain information via a network, comprising: a step of storing the information of the information provider in the network server; The information provider assigns a security key to an information acquisition applicant who has permitted disclosure of his / her information, and the first information acquisition applicant transmits the information to a second information acquisition applicant. A step of assigning another security key to the second information acquisition applicant when permitting direct acquisition from the information provider, and confirming the security keys input by the first and second information acquisition applicants And a procedure for determining whether information can be provided to the information acquisition applicant, and when it is determined that the information can be provided, the information is stored in the storage unit corresponding to the security key. 1, an information providing method characterized by Hm and a procedure to call the requested information of the second information acquisition seekers. 5. A storage medium storing a computer program for executing the information providing method according to claim 4.