JP2002342213A - Method of providing contents - Google Patents

Abstract

PROBLEM TO BE SOLVED: To provide a contents providing method, capable of easily constructing a Web server with small load. SOLUTION: This contents providing method for providing contents data to an internet terminal, by using a server computer comprises a classification specifying step for specifying the classification of the internet terminal which perform access; an item extracting step for extracting a contents item pertinent to the specified classification from among base contents data, described preliminarily with extension tags, capable of specifying items to be extracted according to the terminal classifications; a distribution contents data generating step for preparing contents data to be distributed, by using the contents item extracted by the item extracting step; and a distribution step for distributing the distribution contents data prepared by the distribution contents data generating step to the internet terminal.

Description

DETAILED DESCRIPTION OF THE INVENTION

[0001]

BACKGROUND OF THE INVENTION 1. Field of the Invention The present invention relates to a content providing method for delivering content data to an Internet terminal connectable to the Internet.

[0002]

2. Description of the Related Art In recent years, the Internet, which is an open network of computers, has been remarkably popularized, and the use of the Internet has been increasing as personal ownership of personal computers has increased. The number of users is increasing rapidly.

[0003] On the other hand, with the spread of mobile phones in recent years, an Internet connection service has been provided that enables these mobile phones to connect to the Internet. Even so, it is possible to obtain desired information, various contents such as music and images, and the number of users is increasing rapidly. In the future, these users will be able to access the Internet through wireless lines such as mobile phones. The number of mobile communication users who can access is expected to increase due to its convenience and quick access to information.

[0004] As described above, the Internet, which was owned by some people until several years ago, has become more and more popular with the spread of personal computers to homes and the spread of mobile phones having an Internet connection function. It has become an indispensable information tool (tool) for humans.

[0005] Therefore, when considering a corporate strategy, as a public relations and publicity and an EC (Electric Commerce) site, a Web is provided for a company to provide or transmit information and other contents.
It is becoming essential to install a server.

[0006]

However, as described above, it is relatively easy to set up a Web server for an ordinary personal computer or the like as an Internet terminal. However, these ordinary personal computers and the Internet connection function are provided. Setting up a Web server for mobile phones and PDA terminals, etc. that has a mobile phone or PDA terminal requires portability, so its display capability and processing capability are compared to ordinary personal computers. Therefore, if the content intended for the ordinary personal computer or the like is directly distributed to the mobile phone or the PDA terminal, there are problems that the display is incomplete or some types of content are not displayed. Therefore, in order to support these mobile phones and PDA terminals with an Internet connection function, It is necessary to provide a Web server having content data corresponding to a mobile phone or a PDA terminal in addition to the Web server for the Socon, etc., which causes a problem that a burden on a content provider and a content aggregator becomes large. Was.

[0007] Therefore, the present invention has been made in view of the above-mentioned problems, and a Web server for a mobile phone or a PDA terminal having the Internet connection function can be easily constructed with a small burden. The purpose of the present invention is to provide a content providing method capable of providing content.

[0008]

In order to solve the above-mentioned problems, a content providing method according to the present invention is provided for an Internet terminal connectable to an Internet network and a server computer connected to the Internet network. A content providing method for providing content data using the Internet terminal, wherein the server computer is mounted on the Internet terminal based on a request message transmitted from the Internet terminal. A type identification step for identifying the type by identifying or estimating the type of the browsing software and extracting the type information, and an extension tag for specifying in advance an item to be extracted according to the type of the Internet terminal are described. Is the source of the content requested to be delivered in the request message An item extracting step of extracting a content item corresponding to the type specified in the type specifying step from the source content data, and using the content item extracted in the item extracting step, A delivery content data generating step of creating content data to be delivered to the terminal; and a delivery step of delivering the delivery content data created in the delivery content data generating step to the Internet terminal. And According to this feature, by assigning the extension tag to each content item of the base content data in advance, it corresponds to the type of the accessing Internet terminal and the type of the browsing software installed in the Internet terminal. Since the content item to be extracted is extracted from the base content data and the content data to be distributed is created and distributed to the Internet terminal that has accessed the content item, the mobile phone or the PDA terminal having the Internet connection function may be used. The target Web server can be easily constructed with a small burden.

[0009] In the content providing method according to the present invention, the extension tag includes a description of an arrangement order in which the extracted content items are arranged in the distribution content data generation step. Preferably, content data in which items are arranged based on the order is generated. According to this configuration, based on the arrangement order described in the extension tag, the distribution content data in which the extracted content items are arranged is created, so that it is suitable for the capability of the Internet terminal that has accessed. The arrangement of the content items can be set as appropriate.

[0010] In the content providing method of the present invention, a judging step of judging whether or not the base content data includes a pre-registered content to be complemented; And generating a complementary content. In this way, if the content content that needs supplementation exists in the base content data, the supplementary content is automatically created and distributed. It is possible to improve the comprehension and recognition of the content on the side.

In the content providing method of the present invention, it is preferable that the content to be complemented is a content having a frame structure. With this configuration, when the content content has a frame structure, it is usually difficult to display the entire frame structure by the mobile phone or the PDA terminal having the Internet connection function. The terminal user can accurately recognize the entire image of the content having the frame configuration.

[0012] In the content providing method of the present invention, the server computer has a terminal information database in which a description format corresponding to an access method for each type specified in the type specifying step is registered. A description format specifying step of specifying the description format corresponding to the type specified in the step with reference to the terminal information database; and a description format converting the distribution content data into the description format specified in the description format specification step. And a distribution step, wherein the distribution content data converted in the description format conversion step is preferably distributed in the distribution step. According to this configuration, the base content data is registered in the file format of the predetermined format only in correspondence with the access method of the Internet terminal from which the distribution content created in the distribution content data generation step has accessed. It is not necessary to convert each element of a huge amount of content into each description format for each access method in advance because these components are converted to a description format and distributed. , The time and cost for updating these contents can be greatly reduced, and thus maintenance and development of these contents data can be easily performed.

[0013]

Embodiments of the present invention will be described below with reference to the drawings. (Embodiment) First, the content providing system of the present embodiment is configured as shown in FIG. 1, and a distribution center 5 that provides a content providing service is provided with a server computer 6 that is a computer that performs distribution of each content data. Is installed. The server computer 6 includes a computer terminal 1a connected to a carrier A that provides a normal telephone service via the Internet 4 and a carrier B that provides a mobile telephone service.
, Carrier C and carrier D central control stations 3b, 3
c, 3d. In addition, each mobile phone terminal 1b, mobile phone terminal 1c, and mobile phone terminal 1d that are wireless terminals subscribed to each of the mobile phone service companies, carrier B, carrier C, and carrier D, Carrier company base stations 2b, 2c, 2d
In addition, the central control stations 3b, 3c, and 3d can be connected to the Internet network 4 through a gateway server (not shown), and the server computer 6 of the distribution center 5 can be accessed via the Internet network 4. I have.

As the mobile phone used in the present embodiment, a normal mobile phone having an Internet connection function corresponding to a predetermined access method in each carrier company can be used. In the present embodiment, the wireless terminal is a mobile phone, but the present invention is not limited to this, and a simplified mobile phone (personal handy phone;
PHS) or a terminal such as MCA radio.

Further, in this practical example, the server computer 6 is connected to the central control stations 3b, 3c, 3d of each carrier company via the Internet network 4, but the present invention is not limited to this. No, these central control stations 3
It is optional to connect b, 3c, 3d and the server computer 6 with a dedicated line or the like.

A content terminal that transmits information and the like also has a computer terminal 7 connected to the server computer 6 installed in the distribution center 5 via the Internet network 4 so as to be able to perform data communication. The server computer 6 is accessed using these computer terminals 7, and the server computer 6 can update the content data provided to the access user.

In this embodiment, as shown in FIG. 7, terminal information of each carrier and a portable telephone terminal used in each carrier, information of a browser serving as viewing software, and the like are registered in the server computer 6. The terminal information table and the pictogram table in which conversion information such as pictograms used in each terminal and browser are registered are registered. Since new versions are released successively, it is necessary to add and update information successively in order to cope with them. An update computer terminal 8 for updating these terminal information tables and pictogram tables is installed in the management center. The server computer 6 is connected to the updating computer terminal 8 via the Internet 4. By periodically accessed, so as to update the terminal information table and pictogram table are registered.

As shown in FIG. 2, the server computer 6 used in this embodiment has a data bus 20 for transmitting and receiving data inside the server computer 6.
Based on a predetermined processing program, the operation control of the server computer 6, particularly the control for managing the status of data exchange (session) with the accessing computer terminal 1a and the mobile phone terminals 1b, 1c, 1d of the respective carriers is performed based on a predetermined processing program. A central processing unit that performs the process of editing and converting the content data into content data suitable for the terminal of the distribution destination based on the file conversion program “X-Gateway (trade name of Flex Farm)” A processing device (CPU) 21, a RAM 24 for temporarily storing processing data, a real-time clock (RTC) 26 capable of outputting time information such as an access time, and data communication with the Internet network 4. Communication interface 22 and display device such as a display 3, consists of a magnetic disk or a magneto-optical disc, the central processing unit (CPU) 21
The control program in which various control contents to be executed are described, the "X-Gateway" which is the file conversion program, and the information provided by the content provider are described in HTML which is a predetermined markup language. Content database (DB) in which registered base content data is registered as rich content
And a terminal information table in which terminal information of each carrier and a mobile phone terminal used in each carrier and information of a browser serving as browsing software are registered, and conversion of pictograms used in each terminal and the browser. A storage device 25 storing a pictogram table or the like in which information is registered
Are connected to a normal computer capable of performing relatively high-speed processing.

Further, an extension tag for extracting a content element according to the type of terminal is added to the base content data of the present embodiment, as described later. In the present embodiment, HTML mainly used in the computer terminal 1a or the like having a high processing capability as a terminal is used as a description language of the base content data, but the present invention is not limited to this. Not something.

Next, the server computer 6 of the present embodiment
An outline of the process of distributing content data to the computer terminal 1a and the mobile phone terminals 1b, 1c, and 1d of the carriers of each company will be described with reference to FIG. To access the server computer 6
Extracts, from the user agent information included in the header of the request message from the mobile phone terminal 1b, information capable of specifying the type of the carrier of the mobile phone terminal 1b, the model of the terminal, and the type of the installed browser. The terminal information such as the type of access method (markup language) of the carrier corresponding to this information, the display performance of the terminal, and the type of the device are obtained from the terminal information table, and the base content requested by the request message is obtained. Data is read from the content database.

The base content data read from the content database is H, which is the access method of the carrier company B of the mobile telephone terminal 1b that has accessed.
The file is converted into a file in the DML format and, in the file conversion, is appropriately modified in accordance with the display performance of the mobile phone terminal 1b based on the terminal information of the mobile phone terminal 1b obtained as described above. As shown in FIG. 3, if the accessing terminal is the computer terminal 1a of the carrier A, as shown in FIG. In the case of carrier C or carrier D, MML and C-
The content data is transmitted and distributed after being converted into the HTML file format. As a result, the same address (URL) can be used to distribute content to all mobile phones and computer terminals of different carriers, and these content data can be centrally managed in one file format. The time and cost required for updating work can be greatly reduced, and maintenance and development can be easily performed.

Hereinafter, the server computer 6 of the present embodiment will be described.
4 will be described in detail with reference to FIG.

First, a request message from the computer terminal 1a or the cellular phone / portable telephone terminal 1b, 1c, or 1d (hereinafter, these are collectively referred to as terminals) used by the user is activated in the server computer 6 The terminal type ID, session ID, and parameters that are received by the servlet engine and that can specify the type of carrier and terminal and the type of installed browser included in the request message are sent to the core program.

As a method of acquiring the terminal type ID, as shown in FIG. 5, the user agent information is included in the HTTP header transmitted at the beginning of the request message. As shown in FIG. 5, information specific to each carrier is described in the information, as well as the model of the terminal that transmitted the request message and the version information of the browser. Is matched with a terminal information table shown in FIG. 7 to identify a carrier and a model of a terminal.

The specific processing content of the terminal type identification processing for specifying the terminal type based on the extracted description data in the user agent information is as shown in FIG. Based on the acquisition of the data, a carrier name included in the description data and a word indicating the type (model) of the terminal are detected.

Next, the terminal information table is searched using the detected carrier name and terminal model name as search keywords. At this time, if there is no corresponding registration, the terminal information table is searched again with the model identification information as “default”. If this still does not apply, the carrier suggestion information is set to “default”. Registration information corresponding to the carrier suggestion information and the model identification information determined in this way, for example, a device type and a markup language format,
The maximum number of bytes of the content data, the number of lines on the display screen, the number of characters, and the like are acquired from the terminal information table and applied to the subsequent content editing processing, content conversion processing, and the like.

If the carrier name and the word indicating the terminal type (model) are not extracted or there is no corresponding word in the terminal information table search, the carrier registered in the terminal information table is not detected. A data input screen configured to allow the access user to select and input each information of each company and terminal model is returned to the terminal that transmitted the request message, and when the carrier company and the terminal model are selected by the access user Retrieves information on the selected carrier company and terminal model by searching the terminal information table.

As described above, in the case where the carrier company and the terminal model cannot be specified from the request message, the data input screen is returned to the user terminal to receive the information about the carrier company and the terminal model.
Since the carrier company and the terminal model are unspecified, it is preferable to avoid inconvenience that inappropriate conversion processing is performed in the subsequent content conversion processing and the like, but the present invention is not limited to this. .

The structure of the terminal information table used in the terminal type identification processing and the like is as shown in FIG. 7, and the carrier type (name of the carrier company) and the "terminal" device corresponding to the model Type (browser phone (mobile phone type terminal) = BP, personal digital assistant (PDA terminal, etc.) = PDA, personal computer (desktop personal computer, notebook personal computer, etc.) = P
C), “name” of the installed “browser”, information on receivable content data (“name” of “markup language”, character code, maximum number of bytes), information on the size of the terminal screen (“ "Number of horizontal characters" and "Number of vertical lines" in "Screen"), information on images that can be displayed ("Image"
Information such as “format”, “number of horizontal pixels”, “number of vertical pixels”, “aspect ratio”, “whether animation”, “color mode”, and “color / gradation number”) are registered. This terminal information table is regularly updated to the latest one by an update process described later.

Next, in the core program, FIG.
As shown in, session information acquisition processing is performed,
The specific processing contents of these session information are as shown in FIG. In other words, if the request message does not include the session ID, it recognizes that the session is a new session and creates a session ID. If the session is shorter than the reference lifetime, it is stored and managed in the G0 set, otherwise stored and managed in a set other than G (0ther).

Here, the G0 set is a set that manages all the sessions that have been accessed between a certain time and the reference life time (however, those whose lifespan is less than the reference life). When the current time has passed “the time obtained by adding the reference life time from a certain time”, the G0 set is managed by changing the name to the G1 set. Then, the G0 set is newly defined as “from the current time to the time obtained by adding the reference life time”. When the G0 set is changed to the G1 set, if the G1 set already exists, its contents are all discarded. As a result, an invalid session can be efficiently deleted.

Here, the request message includes the session ID.
Is included, the validity period of the session ID is checked, and if not valid, the session is discarded and a new session ID is acquired as described above.
If it is valid, the last access time of the session is updated and G0 set or other than G (0ther)
Store in a set.

The session is identified and the session is identified using the session ID as a key. After that, processing such as content acquisition, editing, conversion, etc. is performed, and before responding to the user with the processing result, if HTTP Cookie is available, set the session ID to Cookie and respond to the user with the content processing result. I do. When the Cookie cannot be used, the server responds to the user by adding session ID information to all link destination URLs included in the content. Note that even if the HTTP Cookie can be used, the HT
The TP Cookie may not be used.

Next, the pictograms and character codes contained in the request message are converted into the conversion contents registered in the pictogram table corresponding to the carrier company and terminal model information obtained in the terminal type identification processing. The corresponding pictograms and character codes are converted into predetermined ones based on these.

Based on the request message converted to the predetermined character code, the requested base content data is specified, and as shown in FIG. 9, the distribution generated from the base content data requested by the request message is specified. If the content data already exists in the cache, the page of the specified distribution content data is acquired from the cache and responds to the requesting terminal. If it does not exist in the cache, the application program on the server side is executed to acquire the base content data, and the content is edited, scripted, converted, etc., based on the terminal information, and obtained by these processes. The distribution content data is cached and a response is made for each page.

The content editing process in this embodiment is as shown in FIG. 10. First, when the device type based on the terminal information is PC, the base content data obtained from the content database (DB) is obtained. Is edited on the basis of an extension tag (a tag describing an element to be extracted and an attribute of an order) added to a content element (content item) to create a document object model (DOM). Also, if the device type based on the terminal information is BP (browser phone) or PDA
In the case of (portable information terminal), it is determined whether or not the acquired base content data is composed of a plurality of frames. Edit and create a document object model (DOM).
If the device type based on terminal information is BP or PD
A, and if the acquired base content data is composed of a plurality of frames, FIG.
As shown in, the base content data is divided for each frame, and a frame map indicating the frame configuration and a guide page (complementary page) which is a supplemental content to which a link to each frame page is added are generated. Based on the extended tag, the content data of each of the divided frame pages is edited to create each document object model (DOM).

As described above, in the present embodiment, when base content data requested by a terminal having a relatively small display area, such as a portable telephone terminal (BP) or a portable information terminal (PDA), has a frame structure, The base content data is divided for each frame, a guide page (complementary page) that can be linked to each frame is generated, and the guide page is first responded (distributed) to the user (access user). Is easy to grasp the page configuration, and this is preferable because the terminal user can accurately recognize the entire image of the content having the frame configuration. However, the present invention is not limited to this. Further, in the present embodiment, a guide page which is a complementary content is generated for base content data having a frame configuration. However, the present invention is not limited to this. For example, a plurality of items are included. In the case of long-form content, a title guide page that displays only the inherent items is generated, or if a table or the like is cited in the content, the table is displayed at the display position of the table. It is also possible to generate a simple page in which a link display is described, and to generate complementary content that makes it easy to view the underlying content even on a small display screen.

The procedure for extracting the content element (content item) based on the extension tag is as shown in FIG. 12. First, the first content element of the acquired base content data is acquired, and the acquired content element is acquired. If the device has the extended attribute “device” or “devicekeep”, the extended attribute “device” or “deviceke”
"ep" is set as the content element. If the acquired content element is text or does not include an extended attribute (not an extended tag), the extended attribute “device” or “devicekeep” in the parent Set the content element. Next, when the device type based on the terminal information is designated by the set extended attribute, the content element is extracted and the process proceeds to the next content element. Also,
Device type based on terminal information is extended attribute "device"
Or, if it is not specified in "devicekeep", the type of the extended attribute ("device" or "devicekeep") is determined, and if "device", it is shifted to the next content element. Extract only tags and move to the next content element. After repeating these processes and completing the extraction of the last content element,
The extended attribute "or" included in these extracted content elements
Based on "der", the content elements in the same hierarchy are rearranged in the specified order. Specifically, as shown in FIG. 13, only the content element whose device type based on the terminal information is specified by the extended attribute “device” or “devicekeep” included in the extended tag is extracted as shown in FIG. After that, as shown in FIG. 14, the content elements in the same hierarchy are rearranged in the order specified by the extension attribute “order” included in the extension tag.

As described above, in the present embodiment, from the acquired base content data, only the content element whose device type based on the terminal information is specified by the extended attribute “device” or “devicekeep” included in the extended tag is read. Extraction is performed to create distribution content data (DOM). Each content element suitable for the corresponding terminal is appropriately extracted and edited, so that optimized content can be distributed to each terminal. .

The extracted content elements are arranged in the order specified by the extension attribute “order” included in the extension tag, and the arrangement of the content elements according to the corresponding terminal is changed. Although it is preferable because it can be appropriately set and distributed, the present invention is not limited to this.

After the editing process of the base content data, a script process of the content is performed. This script execution process is as shown in FIG. 15. If the content data (DOM) created by the above-described editing process includes a script (a type of program processed on the terminal), Then, the script is executed on the server, the values of variables and the like are set, and the contents of the screen to be displayed are determined. Note that the script is used to change the values of variables and the like according to the operation of the user, and to change the display screen only by processing on the terminal. In the case of the present embodiment, the result of the user operation is , Is transmitted to the server as a request message, and the server performs this processing.

This not only makes it possible to provide content data to a terminal having no ability to process a script in a format included in the content data, but also greatly increases the processing load on the terminal accompanying the processing of these scripts. Although it is preferable because it can be reduced, the present invention is not limited to this.

After these script processes, the content data conversion process is performed. The content data conversion process is as shown in FIG. 16, and the content data (DOM) subjected to the editing process and the script process is converted into the corresponding markup language based on the terminal information. At this time, if the size after the conversion exceeds the content size that can be received by the terminal (specified in the terminal information table), the content data (DOM) is viewed from the end and a portion ( Then, the content data is converted again for the first divided part. This is repeated until the size of the content data becomes a size that can be received by the terminal, and one or both links of “previous page” and “next page” are added to each page, and each of the divided pages is Page that responds to
Then, for the unprocessed portion of the initial content data (DOM), the conversion and size check are repeated in the same manner, all the content data (DOM) are converted, all pages are created, and registered in the cache. After this,
The terminal responds to the specified page (the first page if no page is specified, or the guide page if a guide page is included).

The display situation by page division in the conversion processing of the content data will be described with reference to FIG. 17. If the size of the content data (DOM) exceeds the size (number of characters) that can be received (displayable) by the terminal. If the content data (DOM) is not divided into pages, a part of the content data (DOM) is not displayed or the entire content is not displayed as shown in FIG.

On the other hand, when the page division is performed as described above, as shown in FIG. 17, all the content data (D
OM) can be displayed without omission,
When moving these divided pages, one or both links of “previous page” and “next page” are provided as in the present embodiment, so that movement between pages can be easily performed. However, the present invention is not limited to this.

If a quoted image exists in the converted content data, a process of converting the quoted image into image data is performed. Specifically, as shown in FIG. 18, when an image is requested in the request message,
A cache is searched based on a specified image name (for example, a.gif) and terminal information. If the corresponding data exists in the cache, the digest value of the specified image a.gif is calculated and compared with the stored digest value.

If they match, it is determined that the designated image has not been changed, and the converted image data stored in the cache is output. Except in this case, when the size of the specified image a.gif is large, compression processing is performed when the size of the specified image a.gif is large, color reduction processing is performed when the number of colors is large, and format conversion is performed when the format is different. Do
Output the processing result. At this time, if the digest value for a.gif already exists in the cache and is different from the value calculated this time, all the cache contents for a.gif are discarded. Then, the digest value of a.gif and the converted image are stored in the cache using the image name a.gif and the terminal name N502i as keys.

As described above, when converting image data, it is determined whether or not the image data corresponding to the converted image data already exists in the cache, and if so, the conversion process is not performed. Although it is preferable because the processing load associated with these image conversion processes can be reduced, the present invention is not limited to this, and image data may be uniquely converted to update cache data.

In addition to the conversion of the image data,
A conversion process of pictograms and character codes in the converted content data is performed. These processing contents are as shown in FIG. 19, in which all pictogram codes included in the content data are converted into pictograph codes of the output terminal by searching a "pictograph table", Is converted to the character code of the output terminal.

The "pictogram table" and the "information terminal table" are updated periodically by executing the update process shown in FIG. 20 and accessing the computer terminal 8 of the management center for updating. It is updated to the latest data. More specifically, it accesses the computer terminal 8 of the management center at regular intervals, issues an inquiry, and acquires the update time of the “terminal information database” registered in the computer terminal 8. If the time is later than the time managed by the server computer 6, a request message is issued to the computer terminal 8, the “terminal information table” is downloaded from the computer terminal 8, and the Update the registered contents.

As described above, according to the present embodiment, by adding an extension tag to each content element of the content data in advance, the content element corresponding to the device type of the accessing terminal can be stored in the content element. Content data extracted from data and distributed (DO
M) is created and distributed to the accessing terminal, so that it is possible to easily construct a Web server for mobile phones and PDA terminals having the Internet connection function with a small burden. it can.

Although the embodiments of the present invention have been described in the above embodiments with reference to the drawings, the present invention is not limited to these embodiments, and changes and additions may be made without departing from the gist of the present invention. Needless to say, the present invention is included in the present invention.

For example, in the above embodiment, an example is shown in which the content providing method of the present invention is applied to a server computer 6 that provides content data based on an internal content database via the Internet 4. The present invention is not limited to this. For example, these provision methods are applied to gateway servers of carrier companies and web servers of portal sites, and content data obtained from other content providers is edited and converted by these servers. May be distributed to the user terminal.

In the above embodiment, the number of carrier companies is four.
However, the present invention is not limited to this, and may be four or more carrier companies,
Further, both the mobile phone company and the PHS service company may be connectable.

Further, in the above embodiment, the format of the conversion file converted from the content data registered in the content database is HDML format, C-HTM
Although the L format and the MML format have been exemplified, the present invention is not limited to these, and these file formats may be the XHTML format which is a next-generation file format.

In this embodiment, the content data registered in the content database is directly converted into each file format. However, the present invention is not limited to this. In the conversion to the intermediate file, the file may be once converted to an XML file as an intermediate file, and then may be converted to a file in each desired format.

[0057]

The present invention has the following effects. (A) According to the first aspect of the present invention, the extension tag is assigned in advance to each content item of the base content data, so that the type of the Internet terminal that has accessed and the Internet terminal is mounted on the Internet terminal. Since the content item corresponding to the type of the viewing software is extracted from the base content data, and the content data to be distributed is created and distributed to the Internet terminal that has accessed the content item, the mobile phone having the Internet connection function And a Web server for PDA terminals and the like can be easily constructed with a small burden.

(B) According to the second aspect of the present invention, distribution content data in which the extracted content items are arranged is created based on the arrangement order described in the extension tag. The arrangement of the content items suitable for the capability of the Internet terminal can be set as appropriate.

(C) According to the third aspect of the present invention, when the content content requiring complementation exists in the base content data, the supplemental content is automatically created and distributed. Therefore, it is possible to improve the degree of understanding and recognizability of the content on the Internet terminal side receiving the distribution of the content.

(D) According to the invention of claim 4, when the contents of the content have a frame structure, it is difficult for the portable telephone or the PDA terminal having the Internet connection function to display the entire frame structure. Since a certain case is normal, the terminal user can accurately recognize the entire image of the content having the frame configuration.

(E) According to the invention of claim 5, the distribution content created in the distribution content data generating step can be accessed only by registering the base content data in a file format of a predetermined format. Is converted to a description format corresponding to the access method of the Internet terminal that has been delivered, and it is not necessary to convert each element of huge content into each description format for each access method in advance. Content data can be centrally managed in a predetermined file format, and the time and cost for updating these contents can be significantly reduced, thus facilitating maintenance and development of these content data. become able to.

[Brief description of the drawings]

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

FIG. 2 is a block diagram illustrating a configuration of a server computer configuring a content providing system according to an embodiment of the present invention.

FIG. 3 is a file conversion program “X-Gateway” used in the embodiment of the present invention.
It is explanatory drawing which shows the content of a process in.

FIG. 4 is a file conversion program “X-Gateway” used in the embodiment of the present invention.
FIG. 4 is an overall flowchart showing the processing contents in.

FIG. 5 is a diagram showing a method of acquiring terminal information from a request message sent from an access user's Internet terminal in terminal type identification processing according to the embodiment of the present invention.

FIG. 6 is a flowchart showing processing contents in a terminal type identification processing in the embodiment of the present invention.

FIG. 7 is a diagram showing a configuration of a terminal information database used in the embodiment of the present invention.

FIG. 8 is a flowchart showing processing contents of session management in the embodiment of the present invention.

FIG. 9 is a flowchart showing the contents of content data distribution processing in the embodiment of the present invention.

FIG. 10 is a flowchart showing contents of content data editing processing in the embodiment of the present invention.

FIG. 11 shows how a guide page (complementary page) is generated in content data (frame-structured content) according to the embodiment of the present invention.

FIG. 12 is a flowchart showing a process of extracting and rearranging content elements from content data in the embodiment of the present invention.

FIG. 13 is a diagram showing an extraction state of content elements from content data in the embodiment of the present invention.

FIG. 14 is a diagram showing a state of rearranging content elements from content data in the embodiment of the present invention.

FIG. 15 is a flowchart showing processing contents of script processing in the embodiment of the present invention.

FIG. 16 is a flowchart showing the contents of a content data conversion process in the embodiment of the present invention.

FIG. 17 is a diagram illustrating an example of a screen divided into pages in the content data conversion processing according to the embodiment of the present invention.

FIG. 18 is a flowchart showing the content of a conversion process of image data of a quoted image according to the embodiment of the present invention.

FIG. 19 is a flowchart showing processing contents in pictogram / code conversion processing in the embodiment of the present invention.

FIG. 20 is a flowchart showing the contents of a process of updating a terminal information table and a pictographic table in the embodiment of the present invention.

[Explanation of symbols]

1a Computer terminal 1b, 1c, 1d Mobile phone terminal 2b, 2c, 2d Base station 3b, 3c, 3d Central control station 4 Internet network 5 Distribution center 6 Server computer 7 Computer terminal (content provider) 8 Computer terminal (management center) Reference Signs List 20 data bus 21 central processing unit (CPU) 22 communication interface 23 display device 24 RAM 25 storage device 26 real-time clock (RT
C)

Claims (5)

[Claims] 1. A content providing method for providing content data to an Internet terminal connectable to an Internet network using a server computer connected to the Internet network, the server computer comprising: From the request message transmitted from the Internet terminal, the type of the accessing Internet terminal and the type of browsing software installed in the Internet terminal can be identified or estimated, and type information that can be estimated is extracted to perform the type identification. A type specifying step and an extension tag for enabling an item to be extracted according to the type of the Internet terminal to be specified in advance are described, from among the base content data that is the source of the content requested to be distributed in the request message. Corresponds to the type specified in the type specifying step. An item extraction step of extracting a content item to be accessed; a distribution content data generating step of creating content data to be distributed to the accessing Internet terminal using the content item extracted in the item extraction step; A distribution step of distributing the distribution content data created in the content data generation step to the Internet terminal. 2. The extended tag includes a description of an arrangement order in which the extracted content items are arranged in the distribution content data generation step. In the distribution content data generation step, each item is described based on the arrangement order. The content providing method according to claim 1, wherein content data in which are arranged are generated. 3. A determining step of determining whether or not the base content data includes pre-registered content content to be complemented, and generating a supplemental content when the base content data includes the content content to be complemented. The content providing method according to claim 1 or 2, further comprising: 4. The content providing method according to claim 3, wherein the content to be complemented is a content having a frame configuration. 5. The server computer has a terminal information database in which a description format corresponding to an access method for each type specified in the type specifying step is registered, and the type specified in the type specifying step. And a description format converting step of converting the distribution content data into the description format specified in the description format specifying step. 5. The content providing method according to claim 1, wherein the distribution content data converted in the description format conversion step is distributed in the distribution step.