JP2002063214A - Method and device for providing map information and recording medium recording map information providing program - Google Patents

Abstract

PROBLEM TO BE SOLVED: To provide map information providing method and device capable of finding out various information related to records stored in a data base out of information distributed on a web from a network in cooperation with absolute minimum information managed by a data base when an information consumer tries to use a map information providing system and to provide also a recording medium recording a map information providing program. SOLUTION: When a user interface part 110 receives area information from a contents consumer via an application program(AP) 200, the map information of the area information is acquired from a map server 300 and displayed by the AP 200, a retrieving condition generation part 120 generates a retrieving request based on the area information and a DB retrieving part 130 retrieves a DB 400. The reference information of facility information being a retrieved result is displayed on the map as an icon by the AP 200, a web document 500 is retrieved on the basis of the ID information and URL information of the retrieved result and detailed information as the retrieved result is displayed by the AP 200.

Description

DETAILED DESCRIPTION OF THE INVENTION

[0001]

BACKGROUND OF THE INVENTION 1. Field of the Invention The present invention relates to area information input from an information consumer, retrieves, from a database, essential position information and ID information of facility information existing in the area, and provides the information. More specifically, the present invention relates to a map information providing method and apparatus for acquiring and providing detailed information from a Web document, and more particularly, to both a database in which only a manager can manage contents and a Web in which contents can be edited freely by a contents provider. A database administrator manages the minimum necessary information in a database in an information providing system including map information constructed in an environment accessible to the user, and obtains various information accompanying records on the database by item from the Web. Map information provision that provides map information that integrates the database and the Web that enables it Law and apparatus and a recording medium storing the map information providing program.

[0002]

2. Description of the Related Art In recent years, as personal computers have become more sophisticated and lower in price, map information providing systems have been widely used. By using the map information providing system, an environment in which various information can be easily obtained by an end user has been prepared. However, in a conventional map information providing system, attribute information linked to a map is managed in a database included in a map file or a database having a specific schema. In some cases, a URL is managed in order to provide information on the Web as content. However, if a user has such a simple URL, the user must obtain information by following each URL. .

[0003]

As described above, in the conventional method, it is difficult to collectively retrieve information from a table managed in a database and documents scattered on the Web. For this reason, end users can use a general information provider (ie, Web) via a map information system.
There is a problem that it takes time and effort to extract information from the above document information creator).

[0004] Also, for content providers,
Whenever it is desired to provide information, it is necessary to request the administrator of the facility information management server to newly create, update, delete, etc. the content, and there is a problem that it is difficult to provide the information in real time.

[0005] The present invention has been made in view of the above,
The purpose is to link information scattered on the Web with the minimum necessary information managed by the database when the information consumer uses the map information providing system, and to transmit various information related to records on the database to the network. It is an object of the present invention to provide a map information providing method and apparatus which can be obtained from a computer and a recording medium storing a map information providing program.

[0006]

In order to achieve the above-mentioned object, the present invention according to claim 1, according to the present invention, relates to area information input from an information consumer, and indispensable location information among facility information existing in the area. A map information providing method for searching and providing ID information from a database and obtaining arbitrary detailed information from documents scattered on a network, wherein the map information is stored in a map server; The essential position information, the facility ID, the URL information, and other basic information, which are the basic information, of the facility information are registered in the database, and the optional detailed information other than the basic information in the facility information is determined. Create a document on the network in the fixed format of
Upon receiving the area information input from the information consumer, the map information of the area specified by the area information is obtained from the map server and returned to the information consumer for display. Based on the received area information, a search request is issued. Generate
The database is searched with this search request, the basic information of the facility information received as a search result is returned to the information consumer, the facility information is displayed on the map with an icon, and among the basic information received as the search result, Facility I
The gist is to retrieve a document from the network based on the D information and the URL information, and return the detailed information received as a result of the retrieval to the information consumer for display.

According to the first aspect of the present invention, when area information is received from an information consumer, map information of the area is obtained from a map server and displayed on the information consumer, and a database is requested by a search request based on the area information. , The basic information of the facility information is returned to the information consumer, the facility information is displayed as an icon on a map, and a document is searched from the network based on the facility ID information and the URL information of the search result. In order to display the detailed information as a reply to the information consumer, the minimum necessary information is registered in the database, and documents scattered on the Web are linked with the minimum necessary information to manage the database,
Detailed information related to records on the database
, It is possible to easily register and update detailed information provided by an information provider.

[0008] The present invention according to claim 2 is based on claim 1.
In the invention described in the gist, after the facility information is first displayed as an icon on the map, the detailed information is obtained from a network.

According to the second aspect of the present invention, since the facility information is first displayed as an icon on the map and then the detailed information is obtained from the network, the speed at which the application can be sensed can be improved.

Further, according to the present invention, with respect to area information input from an information consumer, essential position information and ID information of facility information existing in the area are retrieved from a database and provided. A map information providing apparatus that obtains and provides arbitrary detailed information from documents scattered on a network, the map server storing the map information, and an essential position which is basic information among the facility information. A database for registering and storing information, facility ID, URL information and other basic information, and a document creating means for creating any detailed information of the facility information other than the basic information as a document on a network in a predetermined fixed format When the area information input from the information consumer is received, the map information of the area specified by the area information is stored in the area. Map display means for acquiring from the server and replying to the information consumer for display, generating a search request based on the received area information, searching the database with the search request, and searching for the facility information received as a search result. A search means for returning basic information to the information consumer and displaying the facility information on the map as an icon; and searching for a document from the network based on the facility ID information and the URL information among the basic information received as the search result. And a document search means for returning the detailed information received as the search result to the information consumer and displaying the same.

According to the third aspect of the present invention, when area information is received from an information consumer, map information of the area is obtained from a map server and displayed on the information consumer, and a database is requested by a search request based on the area information. , The basic information of the facility information is returned to the information consumer, the facility information is displayed as an icon on a map, and a document is searched from the network based on the facility ID information and the URL information of the search result. In order to display the detailed information as a reply to the information consumer, the minimum necessary information is registered in the database, and documents scattered on the Web are linked with the minimum necessary information to manage the database,
Detailed information related to records on the database
, It is possible to easily register and update detailed information provided by an information provider.

According to a fourth aspect of the present invention, in the invention of the third aspect, after the facility information is first displayed as an icon on the map, means for acquiring the detailed information from a network is provided. And

According to the present invention, since the facility information is first displayed as an icon on the map and then the detailed information is obtained from the network, the speed at which the application can be sensed can be improved.

According to the fifth aspect of the present invention, with respect to area information input from an information consumer, essential position information and ID information of facility information existing in the area are searched and provided from a database. A recording medium storing a map information providing program for acquiring and providing arbitrary detailed information from documents scattered on a network, wherein the map information is stored in a map server, and the basic information among the facility information is stored. Required location information,
The facility ID, URL information and other basic information are registered in a database, and any detailed information of the facility information other than the basic information is created as a document on a network in a predetermined fixed format, and Upon receiving the area information input from the consumer, the map information of the area specified by the area information is obtained from the map server, returned to the information consumer and displayed, and a search request is generated based on the received area information. Then, the database is searched by the search request, the basic information of the facility information received as the search result is returned to the information consumer, the facility information is displayed on the map with an icon, and the basic information received as the search result is displayed. Facility ID information and URL
The gist of the present invention is to record a map information providing program for retrieving a document from a network based on the information and returning the detailed information received as a result of the search to an information consumer and displaying the map information providing program on a recording medium.

According to the present invention, when area information is received from an information consumer, map information of the area is obtained from a map server and displayed on the information consumer, and a database is requested by a search request based on the area information. , The basic information of the facility information is returned to the information consumer, the facility information is displayed as an icon on a map, and a document is searched from the network based on the facility ID information and the URL information of the search result. Since the map information providing program for returning the detailed information to the information consumer and displaying the detailed information is recorded on the recording medium, the distribution of the information can be improved by using the recording medium.

Further, the present invention according to claim 6 provides the invention according to claim 5.
In the invention described above, after the facility information is first displayed as an icon on the map, a map information providing program for acquiring the detailed information from a network is recorded on a recording medium.

According to the sixth aspect of the present invention, since the facility information is first displayed on the map as an icon, the map information providing program for acquiring the detailed information from the network is recorded on the recording medium. By using the recording medium, its distribution can be improved.

[0018]

Embodiments of the present invention will be described below with reference to the drawings. FIG. 1 is a block diagram illustrating a configuration of a map information providing device according to an embodiment of the present invention. The map information providing apparatus 100 shown in FIG. 1 manages a Web document structure and a method of accessing facility information, generates a search condition in response to a request from a content consumer, and again generates a Web page based on a URL obtained as a search result. Search for documents,
A user interface unit 110 provided to a content consumer, to which an application program 200 operated by the content consumer is connected via a communication network and to which a map server 300 storing map information is connected; Search condition generation unit 120 for generating search conditions, DB (database) 400
, A Web document flexible search unit 141 that searches the Web document 500 via a communication network, a document structure specifying unit 142 that specifies the format of the Web document 500, and a meta data of the DB 400. It comprises a map information management unit 150 that manages information.

The user interface unit 110 receives input data consisting of area coordinate information input from an application program 200 operated by a content consumer, and transmits the input data to the map server 300.
And returns the corresponding map to the application program 200. Also, area coordinate information is transmitted to search condition generation section 120 as a search condition. Then, the search result from the DB search unit 130 and the Web document flexible search unit 1
The search result from the application program 20
Return to 0.

The search condition generation unit 120 generates a search request based on the area coordinate information received from the user interface unit 110 and transmits the search request to the DB search unit 130. Also, D
B for each record that is a search result from the B search unit 130
The URL information and the ID information of the document are obtained, a search request is generated based on the URL information and the ID information, and the search request is transmitted to the Web document flexible search unit 141. The DB search unit 130 receives a search request from the search condition generation unit 120, generates an SQL sentence based on the search request, and executes a search on the DB 400. As the search result, the basic information of the facility is acquired and returned to the user interface unit 110. Also, in the search results, UR
The L information and the ID information are also returned to the search condition generation unit 120.

The Web information flexible search unit 141 receives a search request from the search condition generation unit 120 and
A search condition sentence for the Web document 500 is generated based on the information of 42, and a search result is obtained. Document structure defining unit 142
Is referred to by the Web information flexible search unit 141, and defines the format in which the Web document 500 is created. The map information management unit 150
It manages meta information on what schema the facility information stored in the DB 400 has or how to access it.

The application program 200 is a program operated by a content consumer, and is capable of specifying an area and acquiring a search result. In addition, it has a map display function, an icon display function, and an information display function. The map server 300 receives the area coordinate information from the user interface unit 110, cuts out the corresponding map, and returns it. The DB 400 manages facility location information, facility ID, URL information, and other basic information (name, telephone number, etc.) related to the facility, which are basic information among the facility information. The SQL statement is received from the DB search unit 130, and the search result is returned. The Web document 500 is created by a content provider based on a fixed format described in the document structure definition unit 142. The search condition sentence is received from the Web document flexible search unit 141, and the result is returned.

Next, the operation of the map information providing apparatus configured as described above will be described. First, the preparation phase will be described with reference to the flowchart shown in FIG. In this preparation phase, the DB 40, which is an information source necessary for the search
0 and the Web document 500 are managed as meta information for the DB 400.
For example, access information and schema information for are set as shown in FIG. 3 (step S11 in FIG. 2). Then, W
The access information to the Web document 500 is set as the meta information of the Web document 500, for example, as shown in FIG. 4 (step S13).

Next, in the document structure defining unit 142, the We
A standard format described in the b document 500 is defined (step S15). In this standard format, a character string pattern for extracting a data item from a search target Web page by pattern matching is defined as a Web template. The pattern of the extracted location of the data item is extracted from the search target Web page, and is replaced with the location "{data item}" to be extracted as the data item. It should be noted that variable-length portions surrounded by fixed character strings and unnecessary for data extraction can be replaced with ellipses "..".

FIG. 5 shows an example of a Web template, and FIG. 6 shows an example of a Web document description for this fixed format.

When the preparation phase is completed as described above, the process of the execution phase when the content consumer searches for information on an area where the content consumer is located will be described with reference to the flowchart shown in FIG.

First, when area coordinate information is input from the content consumer via the application program 200, the area coordinate information is received by the user interface unit 110. The area coordinate information includes area coordinate values (X1, X1) indicating the coordinates of the start point and end point of the circumscribed rectangle of the area.
Y1)-(X2, Y2).

The user interface unit 110 accesses the map server 300 using the area coordinates, obtains the area specified by the circumscribed rectangle from the map server 300, and returns it to the application program 200 for display.

On the other hand, the user interface unit 110
The area coordinate value is supplied to the search condition generation unit 120. The search condition generation unit 120 refers to the map information management unit 150 and determines that the area coordinate value is the DB name db1 and the table name table.
The correspondence to the latitude (column name 2) and longitude (column name 3) of No. 1 is transmitted to the DB search unit 130. In this case, DB
The access information (server name, user name, password) to 400 is also transmitted at the same time.

The DB search unit 130 determines S
Create a SQL statement, search the DB 400 with this SQL statement,
Position information, facility ID, U which is basic information of facility information corresponding to the area coordinate value as a search result from DB 400
Acquire RL information and other basic information (step S1
1). This search result is transmitted from the DB search unit 130 to the application program 200 via the user interface unit 110, and the application program 20
At 0, the facility information is displayed on the map in an icon format.

The URL information and the ID information among the search results obtained from the DB 400 are returned to the search condition generation unit 120. Upon receiving the URL information and the ID information, the search condition generation unit 120 acquires Web meta information (proxy server name and port number) by referring to the map information management unit 150 (Step S13), and together with the Web meta information. The URL information and the ID information are supplied to the Web document flexible search unit 141.

Upon receiving the Web meta information, the URL information, and the ID information, the Web document flexible search unit 141 acquires the Web template from the document structure definition unit 142 (Step S15), and formulates an item extraction rule (Step S15).
17). Then, the Web document flexible search unit 141 stores
The Web page is acquired from the corresponding URL based on the b meta information (step S19), and detailed information of each item is extracted from the Web page (step S21). The detailed information of each extracted item is generated as a search result (step S23), and returned to the application program 200 via the user interface unit 110 together with the ID information (step S25).

In the application program 200,
As described above, detailed information is associated with each icon displayed on the map based on the ID. Then, when the icon is clicked, the corresponding detailed information is displayed.

As described above, in the present embodiment, the DB including map information in an open network environment including the information consumer, the information provider, the map server 300, and the DB 400 as the facility information management server.
Information on facilities that are necessary for providing information that integrates Internet and Web, facility ID, URL information, and other basic information (name, telephone number, etc.) related to facilities are individually set, and information related to these is set on the Web. By defining the content provided by the information provider as detailed information in a format related to the detailed information description, it is possible to provide information that integrates the DB including the map information and the Web.

That is, in the map information providing method of this embodiment, (1) an information provider provides basic information on facility information to a manager of a facility information management server, and (2) the basic information is provided to the facility information management server. (3) Perform the above processing in the preparation phase until the information provider creates detailed information on facility information in accordance with the format on the detailed information description, and then (4) the information consumer specifies a map area in a specific area Then, (5) the search result of the designated area is displayed in an icon format, and (6) when the icon is clicked, detailed information extracted from the Web document 500 is displayed. As described above, in the present embodiment, by acquiring the detailed information as another item, the Web including the map information is acquired.
Detailed information in a document can be provided collectively.

As a result, the format relating to the location information of the facility, the facility ID, other basic information related to the facility, and the detailed information description of the corresponding facility information necessary for displaying the facility information in the icon format on the map are individually defined. By simply storing the information, it is possible to provide information that combines the DB including the map information and the Web. Also, the content provider can easily update the detailed information.

The processing procedure of the map information providing method of the above embodiment is recorded as a program on a recording medium, and this recording medium is incorporated in a computer system.
Of course, by downloading or installing the program recorded on the recording medium into a computer system, and operating the computer system with the program, it is possible to function as a map information providing apparatus that performs a map information providing method. By using such a recording medium, its distribution can be enhanced.

[0038]

As described above, according to the present invention,
Upon receiving the area information from the information consumer, the map information is obtained from the map server and displayed on the information consumer, the database is searched by a search request based on the area information, and the basic information of the facility information is returned to the information consumer to obtain the map. The facility information is displayed as an icon on the top, documents are searched from the network based on the facility ID information and URL information of the search result, and detailed information as the search result is returned to the information consumer and displayed. Registers the minimum required information and works with the minimum required information that manages the database of documents scattered on the Web,
Detailed information related to records on the database
, It is possible to easily register and update detailed information provided by an information provider.

Further, according to the present invention, since the facility information is first displayed as an icon on the map and then the detailed information is acquired from the network, the speed of experiencing the application can be improved.

[Brief description of the drawings]

FIG. 1 is a block diagram illustrating a configuration of a map information providing apparatus according to an embodiment of the present invention.

FIG. 2 is a flowchart showing a processing procedure in a preparation phase of the map information providing apparatus of the embodiment shown in FIG. 1;

FIG. 3 is a diagram showing an example of setting access information and schema information as DB meta information in the map information providing apparatus of the embodiment shown in FIG. 1;

FIG. 4 is a diagram showing an example of setting access information to a Web document as meta information of the Web document in the map information providing apparatus of the embodiment shown in FIG. 1;

FIG. 5 is a diagram illustrating an example of a Web template in the map information providing apparatus according to the embodiment illustrated in FIG. 1;

FIG. 6 is a diagram showing an example of a Web document description for a fixed format in the map information providing apparatus of the embodiment shown in FIG. 1;

7 is a flowchart showing a processing procedure of an execution phase when the map information providing apparatus of the embodiment shown in FIG. 1 searches for information of an area where a content consumer is present.

[Explanation of symbols]

 REFERENCE SIGNS LIST 100 map information providing device 110 user interface unit 120 search condition generation unit 130 DB search unit 141 Web document flexible search unit 142 document structure definition unit 150 map information management unit 200 application program 300 map server 400 DB (database) 500 Web document

──────────────────────────────────────────────────続 き Continued on the front page (51) Int.Cl. ⁷ Identification symbol FI Theme coat ゛ (Reference) G09B 29/00 G09B 29/00 Z F term (Reference) 2C032 HB05 HB15 HB31 HC13 HC21 HC27 5B050 BA10 BA17 CA07 FA02 FA19 GA08 5B075 KK07 ND20 PP02 PP03 PP13 PP30 PQ02 PQ13 PQ32 PQ42 UU14

Claims (6)

[Claims] 1. A method for searching for and providing essential location information and ID information of facility information existing in an area from a database with respect to area information input from an information consumer, and providing arbitrary detailed information to a network. A map information providing method for obtaining and providing from a document scattered on the map information, wherein the map information is stored in a map server, and essential position information, facility ID, and URL information which are basic information among the facility information are provided. And other basic information are registered in a database, and any detailed information of the facility information other than the basic information is created as a document on a network in a predetermined fixed format, and is input from an information consumer. When the area information is received, map information of the area specified by the area information is obtained from the map server, and the information The search request is generated based on the received area information, the database is searched with the search request, and the basic information of the facility information received as a search result is returned to the information consumer, The facility information is displayed as an icon on a map, a document is searched from the network based on the facility ID information and the URL information among the basic information received as the search result, and the detailed information received as the search result is sent to the information consumer. A map information providing method, characterized by replying and displaying. 2. The map information providing method according to claim 1, wherein the detailed information is acquired from a network after the facility information is first displayed on the map as an icon. 3. An area information inputted from an information consumer is searched for and provided from a database for essential position information and ID information of facility information existing in the area, and optional detailed information is provided on a network. A map information providing apparatus that obtains and provides from a document scattered on the map information, a map server that stores map information, and essential position information, facility ID, URL information, and other basic information of the facility information. A database for registering and storing basic information of the facility information; document creation means for creating arbitrary detailed information other than the basic information in the facility information as a document on a network in a predetermined fixed format; and an area input from an information consumer When the information is received, the map information of the area specified by the area information is obtained from the map server, and the information code is obtained. Map display means for replying and displaying the information to the consumer, generating a search request based on the received area information, searching the database with the search request, and sending the basic information of the facility information received as the search result to the information consumer. A search means for replying and displaying facility information as icons on the map; and searching for a document from the network based on the facility ID information and URL information among the basic information received as the search result, and receiving the search result as a search result. And a document search means for displaying the detailed information returned to the information consumer for display. 4. The map information providing apparatus according to claim 3, further comprising means for acquiring the detailed information from a network after the facility information is first displayed on the map as an icon. 5. Searching and providing, from a database, essential location information and ID information of facility information existing in an area corresponding to area information input from an information consumer, and providing optional detailed information to a network. A recording medium recording a map information providing program to be obtained and provided from documents scattered on the storage medium, wherein the map information is stored in a map server, and essential location information, which is basic information among the facility information, The facility ID, URL information, and other basic information are registered in a database, and any detailed information of the facility information other than the basic information is created as a document on a network in a predetermined fixed format. Upon receiving the area information input from the consumer, the map server stores the map information of the area specified by the area information. And retrieves the information to the information consumer, displays it, generates a search request based on the received area information, searches the database with the search request, and returns the basic information of the facility information received as the search result to the information consumer. The facility information is displayed as an icon on the map in response to the above. A document is retrieved from the network based on the facility ID information and the URL information among the basic information received as the retrieval result, and the details received as the retrieval result A recording medium storing a map information providing program, wherein information is returned to an information consumer for display. 6. The recording medium according to claim 5, wherein the detailed information is obtained from a network after the facility information is first displayed as an icon on the map.