JP2002175430A - Software improving system - Google Patents

Abstract

PROBLEM TO BE SOLVED: To provide a system valid for the small improvement of the specifications of software or the correction of a small bug which is impossible or difficult for the supply origin (maker) of the software to facilitate countermeasures to. SOLUTION: A source code is made into public to the normal user of software so that not only the software can be freely improved by the user, but also the improved version of software can be positively accepted from the user. A data manager evaluates the validity of the accepted improved version of software, and specially opens the valid software to the other users. Then, a bonus is paid to the provider of the improved version of software made into public.

Description

DETAILED DESCRIPTION OF THE INVENTION

[0001]

BACKGROUND OF THE INVENTION 1. Field of the Invention The present invention relates to a system useful for improving software and correcting bugs.

[0002]

2. Description of the Related Art In order to improve software, software developers (individuals, manufacturers, etc.) consider requests and proposals from users of the software as much as possible, It is hoped that it will be reflected in subsequent development. In reality, for example, when a user receives a serious bug report, the developer will respond quickly. However, with regard to suggesting small changes in the specification or reporting small bugs, developers often cannot promptly respond to such proposals or reports even if received from users, and as a result, Reports often end without any reflection on subsequent developments. As described above, in the conventional software development, there is a problem that it is not possible to quickly and precisely respond to a user's request or proposal.

[0003]

The software improvement system according to the present invention, which has been made to solve the above-mentioned problems, comprises:
A computer network system including a host computer capable of communicating with another terminal computer through a data communication network, wherein the host computer receives a request signal of software source code together with predetermined authentication information, Transmitting the data of the request signal to the terminal computer that is the source of the request signal. When data of the improved software obtained by modifying the source code is received together with predetermined authentication information, the data is stored in the storage means. Processing, when the decision result regarding whether to adopt each improved software is input from the outside, processing to record the decision result in the storage means, contents of the reward given to the provider of the adopted improved software, and Send the recipient to the Processing, and when a request signal for improved version software data is received together with predetermined authentication information, the requested improved version software data is read from the storage means, and the terminal that is the source of the request signal It is characterized in that a server program for executing processing for transmitting to a computer is running.

[0004]

DESCRIPTION OF THE PREFERRED EMBODIMENTS In a system according to the present invention,
The authentication information is information indicating that the user is an authorized user of the software (user ID, password, product serial number, etc.). A user who wants to improve the software uses his / her own terminal computer (hereinafter, referred to as a terminal) and transmits a request signal of a source code together with his / her authentication information to a server program (hereinafter, referred to as a host) of a host computer (hereinafter, referred to as a host). Server). The server that has received the request signal transmits source code data of the corresponding software to the terminal. The user
An improved version of the software can be created by appropriately modifying the source code.

[0005] When the user wants to publish the improved software created by the user, the user uses his / her own terminal to transmit the data of the improved software together with his / her authentication information to the server. The server receiving this data stores the data in the storage means.

[0006] The data manager evaluates and evaluates the improved software provided by the user, and determines whether or not to adopt the improved software, that is, whether or not to use the system to release the improved software to other users. The decision is made and the decision result is input to the system in a predetermined manner. The server that has received the determination result records the determination result in the storage unit.

[0007] When the result of a decision on a certain improved version of the software is "adopted", a reward (reward, prize, etc.) is given to the provider of the improved version of the software. When a predetermined event (for example, reception of a payment command from the outside) occurs, the server notifies the computer of the department in charge of reward processing of the content of the reward given to the provider of the adopted upgraded software and the destination. The department in charge of compensation processing is, for example, a department in charge of reward payment of a company that manages this system, a bank that has opened an account capable of online settlement, and the like.

[0008] The adopted improved software is released to the authorized user of the original software. That is, when the server receives a request signal for data of a certain improved software together with the authentication information of the user, the server reads the requested data of the improved software from the storage means,
The request signal is transmitted to the terminal that is the source.

[0009]

An embodiment of the present invention will be described with reference to the drawings. In the following description, the word "database" is abbreviated as "DB" as necessary. In the following description, it is assumed that software named “UVPC” is a target of improvement.

FIG. 1 shows a schematic configuration of a software improvement system according to this embodiment. 1 includes a host computer 10 (hereinafter, referred to as a host 10), a terminal computer 12 (hereinafter, referred to as a terminal 12), a bank computer 14, and a data communication network 1 connecting these.
6 is a computer network system. In the host 10, the Web server 20 and the data management server 2
2 (hereinafter, referred to as a management server 22), and a Web browser 24 (hereinafter, referred to as a browser 24) is operating on the terminal 12. Further, the host 10 includes a data storage unit 26. In the data storage unit 26, a user DB 30, a product DB 32, a posting DB 34, and a data library 36 are created.

[0011] User DB30, product DB32 and posting D
FIG. 2 shows the configuration (item, data type) of B34. The user DB 30 is a database that records information on users who have registered UVPC users, and “user ID” is a key item. Product DB32 is UVPC of each version
"Version" is a key item in the database that records information about In the “source file name” item of the product DB 32, the name of a file storing the source code of the UVPC is recorded. The post DB 34 is a database in which information on the improved UVPC posted by the user is recorded, and “post ID” is a key item. Post DB
An external reference item 34 includes a user ID and a version.

The procedure for improving the UVPC using the present system 1 will be described below.

[1] Acquisition of UVPC Source Code First, a purchaser of a UVPC becomes a regular user who has been given a user ID and a password by performing user registration by a predetermined method (the password can be changed later). Now, assume that a user wants to improve the UVPC. The user starts the browser 24 on the terminal 12 and obtains the UVPC
Improve service site (URL is http: //www.u
vpc-devel.com). The Web server 20 that has received the access request requests the management server 22 to perform a login process. Management server 22 receiving this request
Transmits a login page (not shown) for allowing the user to input a user ID and a password to the browser 24. This login page allows the user to enter their user ID
When the user inputs the password and the password and performs the transmission operation, the browser 24 transmits the user ID and the password to the management server 22. The management server 22 checks the received user ID and password based on the user DB 30.

After confirming that the user is an authorized user, the management server 22 sends the homepage 50 of the UVPC improvement service to the browser 24 (FIG. 3). Through this home page 50, the user can obtain detailed information (development environment,
You can get the necessary header files, libraries, development history, etc.) and download the source code itself.

[2] Creation and Submission of Improved UVPC Version After downloading a desired version of source code from homepage 50 to terminal 12 of the user, the user modifies the source code as needed and compiles it.
Create executable binary data. Hereinafter, the new binary data created by the user in this manner is referred to as an improved UVPC version.

A user who wants to publish the UVPC improved version opens the UVPC improved version posting page 52 using the browser 24. The posting page 52 can be opened from a hyperlink “improved version posting page” provided on the homepage 50. On the posting page 52, the user:
Original source version of improved version, UVP created by myself
C Specify or input the name of the file in which the improved version was saved and the description of the improved content. Further, the user designates the necessity of the reward, and further designates the payment method and the payee when the designation of the reward is "necessary". When the payment method is "cash", the bounty is sent to the payee specified by the user, and when the payment method is "bank transfer", the bounty is transferred to the bank account specified by the user. Become. As for the payee, the user designates “as registered” when designating an address or bank account registered in the user DB 30, and pays each column at the bottom of the posting page 52 when designating another address or bank account. Enter the above information. The data of the information input to post page 52 in this manner is hereinafter referred to as post data.

When the user performs a posting operation after completing input of necessary information, the browser 24
The data of the improved VPC is transmitted to the management server 22. The management server 22 having received this data stores the UVPC improved version data in the data library 36, adds a new post ID record to the post DB 34, and stores each data of the post data in each corresponding item of the record. Record. After the registration of the new post is completed in this way, the management server 22 transmits a page for notifying the post ID to the browser 24.

[3] Evaluation of Improved UVPC Version The improved UVPC version submitted by the user as described above is evaluated by the data manager. The data manager is a person designated in advance by the system manager (may be recruited from UVPC users), and is given a user ID and a password in the same manner as a UVPC purchaser. In the user DB 30, the “management qualification” item of the person appointed as the data manager is set to “Yes” (the general user is set to “No”). For the improved version of the UVPC, the data manager may, for example, (1) make sure that the basic functions that the UVPC should originally have can be used without problems in the improved version. (2) The improvement as described in “Improvement Details” is actually made. (3) Evaluate items such as whether the improvement is considered to be useful to the user, and decide whether to adopt or reject. Only those evaluated as “adopted” are released by the system 1 in the form described below.

The procedure for evaluating the improved UVPC will be described with reference to FIG. First, the data administrator operates the terminal 12
To start the browser 24 and access the UVPC management site (here, the URL is http://www.uvpc-devel.com/eval/). Web that received this access request
The server 20 requests the management server 22 to perform a login process. Upon receiving this request, the management server 22 transmits to the browser 24 a login page (not shown) for allowing the data administrator to enter a user ID and a password. When the data administrator inputs his / her user ID and password on this login page and performs a transmission operation, the browser 24
Transmits the user ID and the password to the management server 22. Based on the user DB 30, the management server 22 checks not only the validity of the received user ID and password, but also the management qualification of a person having the user ID. After confirming that the person having the user ID has valid management qualification, the management server 22 sets the management page 60
Is transmitted to the browser 24 (FIG. 4).

On the management page 60, the data manager obtains the UVPC improved version data to be evaluated in the following procedure. First, the data manager uses the browser 24 to open the improved version acquisition page from the hyperlink “obtain improved version” provided on the management page 60. On this page, unrated posts are listed as shown in FIG. From this list, the data manager selects a target post, and transmits a corresponding improved data acquisition request to the management server 22. Upon receiving this request, the management server 22 reads out the corresponding improved version of the data from the data library 36 and sends it to the browser 24. After the data transmission is completed, the management server 22 updates the posting DB 34. In the updating process, the “evaluation status” item of the record corresponding to the selected post is changed to “under evaluation”, and the user ID of the data manager is written in the “evaluator” item.

After obtaining the improved version of the UVPC data as described above, the data manager actually uses the improved version of the UVPC on his / her terminal 12 (or on another computer) as described above. Evaluate important items and decide whether to adopt or reject.

When the evaluation is determined, the data manager opens the management page 60 and performs an evaluation input process in the following procedure. First, the data manager uses the browser 24 to create a hyperlink “evaluation input” provided on the management page 60.
Open the evaluation input page from. On this page, as shown in FIG. 6, information on the post being evaluated is displayed, a radio button for deciding the evaluation (recruitment / non-recruitment), and a text area for inputting a comment on the evaluation are provided. Is displayed. On this page, when the data manager inputs the evaluation result and the comment and performs a transmission operation, the data included in the page is transmitted from the browser 24 to the management server 22. The management server 22 having received the data updates the posting DB 34. In the update process here, the date at that time is recorded in the “evaluation date” item of the record corresponding to the evaluated post, and the user ID of the data administrator who performed the evaluation is recorded in the “evaluator” item. , The evaluation result (“adopted” or “not adopted”) is recorded in the “evaluation status” item. In addition, the management server 22
Notify the submitter of the evaluation result by e-mail.

[4] Payment of Bounty to Adopted UVPC Modified Version A reward is paid in a manner specified by the contributor to a post determined to be “adopted” in the above evaluation. If the payment method specified by the poster is “bank transfer”, the reward can be paid online.

The incentive payment processing by bank transfer is performed in the following procedure. First, the accountant is in the browser 2
Using 4, the incentive payment page is opened from the hyperlink “incentive payment” provided on the management page 60. On this page, as shown in FIG. 7, a list of posts for which the reward has not been paid and whose payment method is “bank transfer” is displayed. In this list, the accountant checks the box for the post to be processed for payment and performs the action,
The data included in the page is transmitted from the browser 24 to the management server 22. The management server 22 receiving this data requests the bank computer 14 to perform a process of paying the reward amount to the payee account corresponding to the relevant posting (transfer process from the account for the present system to the payee account). Thereafter, upon receiving a notification of the completion of the process from the bank computer 14, the management server 22 updates the posting DB 34. In the update process here, the "payment status" item of the record corresponding to the relevant post is rewritten to "paid", the date at that time is recorded in the "payment date" item, and the "payment amount" The amount paid for the item is recorded, and the user ID of the accountant in charge of the processing is recorded in the “processor name”. In addition, the management server 22 notifies the poster of the payment completion by e-mail.

In some cases, for a post for which "bank transfer" is specified as the payment method, the management server 22 automatically executes the above-described reward payment at the same time as the evaluation by the data manager is completed. Processing may be performed.

[5] Release of Improved UVPC Version Adopted The improved UVPC version evaluated as “adopted” is released to other authorized users of the UVPC. An authorized user can obtain an improved version of the UVPC by the following procedure. First,
The user starts the browser 24 on the terminal 12 and opens the UVPC homepage 50 using his / her user ID and password. Next, the user uses the hyperlink “improved version public page” provided on the homepage 50 to set the UV.
The PC improved version public page 54 is opened. On the UVPC improved version public page, information such as the details of the improved version, the original version, and the name of the contributor are displayed. Then, the user can transmit a request to download the data of each improved version to the management server 22 through the hyperlink “download”. Upon receiving the download request, the management server 22
The requested improved data is read from the data library 36 and transmitted to the user terminal 12.

[6] Others This system 1 is used to support activities in which users submit improvement proposals, one user requests another user for improvement, and a plurality of users cooperate to make improvement.
May be provided with a function of providing an opinion exchange service (such as a bulletin board or a mailing list) between users.

[0028]

According to the system according to the present invention as described above, with the cooperation of a large number of users, small improvements and small bugs in specifications that are impossible or difficult for the software supplier (manufacturer) are impossible. Will also be fixed quickly.

[Brief description of the drawings]

FIG. 1 is a schematic configuration diagram of a software improvement system according to an embodiment of the present invention.

FIG. 2 shows a user DB, a product DB, and a post D according to the present embodiment.
FIG.

FIG. 3 is a site configuration diagram of a software improvement service by the system according to the embodiment.

FIG. 4 is a diagram showing a procedure of an evaluation process and a reward payment process of the improved version software by the system of the embodiment.

FIG. 5 is a configuration diagram of an improved version acquisition page of a software management site according to the system of the present embodiment.

FIG. 6 is a configuration diagram of an evaluation input page of the software management site.

FIG. 7 is a configuration diagram of a reward payment page of the software management site.

[Explanation of symbols]

 DESCRIPTION OF SYMBOLS 1 ... Software management system 10 ... Host computer 12 ... Terminal computer 14 ... Bank computer 16 ... Data communication network 20 ... Web server 22 ... Data management server 24 ... Browser 26 ... Data storage unit 36 ... Data library 30 ... User database 32 ... Product Database 34… Post database

Claims (1)

[Claims] 1. A computer network system including a host computer capable of communicating with another terminal computer via a data communication network, wherein the host computer receives a request signal of software source code together with predetermined authentication information, A process of transmitting the data of the requested source code to the terminal computer that is the source of the request signal.When the data of the improved software obtained by modifying the source code is received together with predetermined authentication information,
A process of storing the data in a storage means, a process of recording the decision result in a storage means when a decision result as to whether or not each of the improved software should be adopted is provided from an external source, and providing the adopted improved software. Notifying the computer of the department in charge of remuneration processing of the content and the destination of the reward to be given to the user, and when the request signal for the data of the improved software is received together with the predetermined authentication information, the requested data of the improved software is stored in the memory. A server program for executing processing for reading from the means and transmitting the request signal to the terminal computer which is the source of the request signal is running.