JP2003005977A - System for supplying software - Google Patents

Abstract

PROBLEM TO BE SOLVED: To dynamically complete and supply software from software components equipped with functions to be executed by a user and user interfaces to be used by the user. SOLUTION: A system terminal equipment 20 is composed of a customer request item inputting part 1 for allowing a customer to input data and a preview part 3 for performing software. A component server device 30 is composed of a retrieval condition deciding part 4 for deciding a conditional formula for retrieving software components, a component database part 7 having order information at the time of building a plurality of software components, a component retrieving part 5 for retrieving the software components, and for preparing build procedure information, and a component shipping part 6 for shipping the software components and the build procedure information. A build server device 40 is composed of a build part 8 for building the software, an performing part 9 for confirming the operation of the software before distributing the software to the customer, a software distributing part 10 for distributing the software to the customer, and peripheral equipment 11 necessary for the purpose of confirming the operation of the software.

Description

Detailed Description of the Invention

[0001]

BACKGROUND OF THE INVENTION 1. Field of the Invention The present invention relates to a software supply system, and more particularly to a technology for supplying software or contents using an information processing device and a network environment.

[0002]

2. Description of the Related Art In recent years, IT-related hardware and software technologies have made rapid progress, and services for distributing software or contents to information processing devices such as personal computers using the Internet have become widespread. For example, there are many WEB sites in operation where servers that use WEB technology can be built and software can be downloaded. This service aims to provide individual services to users by using the Internet. The individual service referred to here is that the user interface has a function that the user wants to implement and the user interface that the user wants to use is made to order and supplied. In recent years, componentization technology has advanced in software development.
VA (architecture neutral programming language developed by Sun Microsystems, Inc. in the US) Develops software for each function and purpose by using an object-oriented development method that uses technology, etc., and completes the software by combining multiple software components. It has become possible.

[0003]

However, in the current service, the function provided by the user and the name of the software having the user interface for realizing the function are known in advance, and the search provided by the WEB site is provided. You need to search by function and download the desired software. In addition, although the current WEB site offers a selection of software,
It is provided as a finished product to the last, a function unnecessary for the user is added, and a user interface imaged by the user is not necessarily provided. That is, there is currently no system that dynamically generates and supplies software as an individual service. The present invention has been made in view of the current state of the art, and an object of the present invention is to dynamically complete and supply software from a software component in which a function desired by a user and a user interface desired by a user are provided. Another purpose is to accurately grasp the user's request, provide an operation that matches the request, and improve the efficiency of the system.

[0004]

In order to solve the above problems, the present invention provides a software supply system utilizing an information processing apparatus and a network environment, wherein a customer inputs a request item data request. A system terminal device having item input means, customer information input means for inputting the customer name and availability of software distribution, and software receiving means for receiving software requested by the customer, the requested item input means, and the customer Data receiving means for receiving data input from the information input means, a component database unit having a plurality of software components and order information for constructing the plurality of software components into one software, and a component database unit obtained from the component database unit Build procedure information is created based on the acquired software components and the order information. Parts search means, a customer information management database part for storing and managing data input from the customer information input means, a parts dispatch for sending the acquired software parts, the build procedure information and information of the customer information management database part A part server device having means, a build means for building one piece of software based on the data from the part sending means, and a software distribution section for distributing the software constructed by the build means to the software receiving means. And a build server device. In order to accept a user's request and dynamically complete the software from the user's request, a means for the user to input a request item, a user name, and information as to whether or not the user wants to deliver the software are required. Specifically, it is a keyboard or mouse of a PC (personal computer). Finally, a means for the user to check the software is also necessary. It is a CRT or liquid crystal display device that can be visually confirmed. Further, the server side receives the input information of the request item and searches for the optimum software component based on the information.
This software component consists of multiple parts, so it cannot be used by the user without building them into one piece of software. The present invention is characterized by this build means (details will be described later). Then, it is built as one piece of software and distributed to users. According to such an invention, the result can be dynamically confirmed on the user's own display device from the software component in which the function desired by the user and the user interface desired by the user are provided, and the result can be dynamically confirmed on the display device. Software can be completed in a physical way.

Further, the invention of claim 2 is also effective means of the present invention, wherein the component searching means creates a procedure for building demo software or limited-time software for the customer to preview the software. Is. The software created by the user at his request is still incomplete at that time. In other words, there are cases where there are misunderstandings at the software design stage, bugs, and multiple options. Do it as quickly as possible,
Moreover, it is necessary to confirm surely. Here, the user software to be previewed is called demo software to distinguish it from this software. According to such technical means,
Since the preview is made by the software receiving means on the user side before the completed software is supplied, the efficiency of software creation can be improved. Further, in the invention of claim 3, the data receiving unit determines a conditional expression for searching a software component based on the data input from the request item inputting unit, and the component searching unit,
Retrieving the acquired software component based on the conditional expression determined by the data receiving means is also an effective means of the present invention. The conditional expression is an expression of a condition for combining a plurality of items from the request item input means. For example, when there are a plurality of search items on the WEB, AN
A search is performed using a logical expression such as D or OR, and data that matches the logical condition is output as a search result. Therefore,
Once this conditional expression is determined, it is easy to search for a matching software component based on that expression. According to such a technical means, the request item from the customer is regarded as the predetermined data, and the combination of the data selected from the data is converted into the formula, whereby the search operation is performed quickly and accurately.

Further, the invention of claim 4 is an effective means of the present invention, wherein the build means builds software based on the acquired software component and the build procedure information sent from the component sending means. is there. The software component sent from the component delivery means is a component retrieved from the user's request and should include at least the content desired by the user. In order to build one piece of software from these plural parts, the build procedure must be clear. It is the build procedure information that provides it. According to such a technical means, since all the information necessary for the build is gathered, it is possible to surely build the software requested by the user without requiring a complicated operation. The invention of claim 5 is
It is also an effective means of the present invention that the operation of the present software constructed by the build means is confirmed by the confirmation executing means before being distributed by the software distributing section. According to such technical means, the software built by the build means does not always satisfy the user's request as it is. Therefore, in the present invention, an environment is built in which the produced software is operated in advance in the build server device and the result can be confirmed by an external peripheral device. By doing this, it is possible to prevent unnecessary distribution by checking in advance before distribution to the user. Also, in the invention of claim 6, the software distribution unit supplies the demo software or the limited-time software created by the component search means based on the information of the customer information management database unit to the main software. It is also an effective means of the present invention to determine whether or not to deliver to the software receiving means previously. In claim 5, the produced software is operated in advance, and the result is confirmed by an external peripheral device. At this point, the operation is confirmed, but it does not always satisfy the customer's request. I'm not sure.
Therefore, it is a method of distributing the software to the customer as demo software so that the customer can evaluate it. This is in accordance with the concept of CS (Customer Satisfaction). In addition, the user may not want to deliver the software, so that determination means is necessary. According to such a technical means, since the customer himself / herself evaluates the evaluation criteria, there is no variation, and the result can be obtained quickly, and the customer satisfaction can be further improved.

Further, in the invention of claim 7, when the information in the customer information management database section does not want to deliver the demo software or the limited-time software, or the same customer makes the same request a plurality of times. In this case, it is also an effective means of the present invention that the software distribution unit distributes the execution result whose operation has been confirmed by the confirmation executing means to the software receiving means. The reason why the user does not want to deliver the software is that the user does not need the software itself due to some mistake or change. Further, when the same user makes the same request a plurality of times, supplying the software every time is a waste of communication cost. Therefore, since the operation confirmation of the software has already been executed on the server side,
It is suitable for CS to deliver only the execution result. According to such a technical means, the result of the operation confirmation of the software has been obtained in the execution unit, so that it can be distributed, and the user can accurately make the next judgment from the result.

[0008]

BEST MODE FOR CARRYING OUT THE INVENTION The present invention will be described in detail below with reference to the embodiments shown in the drawings. However, the constituent elements, types, combinations, shapes, relative arrangements, and the like described in this embodiment are merely explanatory examples, not the gist of limiting the scope of the present invention thereto, unless specifically stated. .. FIG. 1 is a block diagram showing a configuration of an embodiment of the present invention. The system terminal device 20 is a device operated by the customer, and inputs the customer request item input unit 1 (request item input means) to which the customer inputs data, and the customer name and information indicating whether or not to request software distribution. Customer information input section 2
(Customer information input means) and a preview unit 3 (software receiving means) that executes demo software or limited-time software before supplying software to the customer. Based on the data input in the customer request item input unit 1 and the customer information input unit 2, the parts server device 30
A device for processing the data, which includes a search condition determining unit 4 (data receiving means) for determining a conditional expression for searching a software component forming software that satisfies a customer requirement item, a software component and a software component. A software component in the component database unit 7 is searched based on the component database unit 7 having order information and software components for building, and the conditional expression of the condition determination unit 4,
A component search unit 5 (component search means) that creates build procedure information based on the software component and build order information;
A customer information management database unit 12 that stores and manages the data input from the customer information input unit 2, and a parts sending unit 6 (parts sending means) to a build server that sends software parts, build procedure information, and customer information to a build server. )
Composed of. Also, when creating the build procedure information, the component search unit 5 builds software that satisfies the customer's requirements, demo software for the customer to preview before sending this software to the customer, and limited-time software. Also create procedure and build procedure information. Further, since there may be a plurality of pieces of software that satisfy customer requirements, a plurality of pieces of software component build procedure information may be created for each piece of software. The build server device 40 builds the software based on the software parts of the software satisfying the customer's request, the build procedure information, and the customer information from the parts sending section 6 to the build server of the parts server device 30 ( (Building means), an execution unit 9 for confirming the operation after the build and before distributing the software to the customer, a software distributing unit 10 for distributing the software to the customer, and a peripheral device 11 required for confirming the operation of the software. It Here, the execution unit 9 may be omitted and the build unit 8 and the software distribution unit 10 may be directly connected. In addition, peripheral device 1
Reference numeral 1 is an apparatus capable of actually recording and reproducing data on a CD.

FIG. 2 is a flowchart showing the operation of the embodiment of the present invention. The operation will be described in detail with reference to FIG. First, the system terminal device 2
In the customer request item input unit 0 of 0, the customer inputs information indicating whether or not to request the customer name and software distribution (step S1). Next, the item (see FIG. 3) that the user wants to implement is selected (step S2). Details will be described later,
By checking the item desired by the customer, the data is sent to the parts server device 30 through a network (not shown). Next, desired software is searched from the parts database unit 7 and the customer information management database unit 12 (step S3). Then, it is checked from the search result whether the same customer makes the same request a plurality of times (step S4). If YES, the process proceeds to step S10. N
If it is O, the data sent from the system terminal device 20 is received by the search condition determination unit 4 in the component server device 30 to search for the software component forming the software that satisfies the customer requirement item. A search condition expression is determined (step S5). Here, the conditional expression is an expression of a condition for combining a plurality of items from the request item input means. For example, when there are a plurality of search items on the WEB, logical expressions such as AND and OR are used. The data is searched by an expression and the data matching the logical condition is output as the search result. Therefore, if this conditional expression is determined, it is easy to search for a matching software component based on the expression.

Next, the customer information is passed to the customer information management database unit 12 (step S6). Next, the determined search condition formula is sent to the component search unit 5, and the component search unit 5 starts the operation for searching the software component from the component database unit 7 based on this search condition formula. (Step S7).
Here, it is determined whether or not there is a component that satisfies the search condition formula determined by the search condition determination unit 4 (step S8).
At this time, a plurality of software components corresponding to the search condition expression are searched. If it exists, the component search unit 5 creates build procedure information based on the software components that compose the software, the demo software, and the limited-time software obtained from the component database unit 7 and the build order information, and sends the component to the build server. Output to the unit 6 (step S
9). Here, in order to distinguish the retrieved software component, it is called an acquired software component. Next, the build unit 8 in the build server device 40 builds a plurality of acquired software components from the data from the component sending unit 6 based on the build order information (step S10). Then, step S10 is looped until the build is completed, and when the build is completed, the process proceeds to the next step (step S11). Next, when the build is completed, the software is sent to the execution unit 9 that confirms the operation before distributing the software to the customer (step S
12). Next, the execution unit 9 executes the software to confirm the operation of the software sent from the build unit 8 (step S13), and continues until the operation confirmation is completed (step S14). Here, the external peripheral device 11 is used for operation confirmation. When the confirmation operation is completed, the customer information is checked from the information sent from the customer information management database unit 12 whether the customer wants to deliver the software (step S15). If NO, the execution result of the execution unit 9 is distributed from the software distribution unit 10 (step S
16). If YES, the software distribution unit 10
The demo software and the limited-time software are distributed to the preview unit 3 in the system terminal device 20 (step S17). Next, the demo software and the limited-time software received by the preview unit 3 in the system terminal device 20 are executed, and it is actually confirmed whether or not the software is desired by the customer (step S18). If there is no problem, a software distribution request is sent from the system terminal device 20 to have the build server device 4 distribute the software.
0 (step S19), and the build server device 40 is requested.
Software distribution unit 10 distributes the software to the preview unit 3 in the system terminal device 20 (step S20), and proceeds to another processing routine (step S21).
finish. Here, (step S8), (step S1
The 9) NO routine proceeds to another processing routine (step S21) and ends.

FIG. 3 shows an embodiment of the customer request item input section, which is configured so that the customer can select the item he or she wants to carry out. Specifically, the user can freely select from the 14 items 1) to 14). Then, after selection, a button (not shown) is clicked to select software that meets the user's request. 1) I want to save the contents of the hard disk to a CD. this is,
The data, images, files, etc. on the hard disk are recorded on a CD, and it functions as a backup of the hard disk and as a portable memory. 2) I want to make a copy of a CD. This is just a backup and copy of the CD. 3) I want to listen to the music as a CD. This is to record music information downloaded from a network on a CD and use it as a music medium. 4) I want to show you the CD as a photo. It records the image information from the scanner or the digital camera on a CD and serves as a portable memory. 5) I want to show the video as a CD. This is because moving image information such as a video image has a large amount of data, and therefore transmitting it from the network increases the occupied time of the network and also increases the memory capacity for downloading the information. If you record it on a CD, you can see it at any time by batch repair and it is portable.

6) Save periodically. 7) I haven't decided. This determines whether to save the memory contents at a certain fixed time or save the information based on the user's intention. 8) I don't want others to see the finished CD. This is a confidentiality function, and an unspecified number of clients are operating on the network in particular. In addition, since the terminal can be freely viewed by other people, a request for concealing information that the other person does not want to see comes out. Therefore,
Provide a password etc. to prevent others from seeing it. 9) Mostly used media is cheap CD-R. 10) I haven't decided. This is sufficient if the CD-R, which can write data only once, has a restriction on the writing, but since the price is low and the recorded contents are almost unchanged. 11) Mainly used media is a reusable CD-RW. It is used for records intended for temporary or short-term storage, as opposed to 9). For example, it is unnecessary information if the contents are confirmed or printed. 12) I want to make a CD interactively. This is a CD for beginners
You may not know how to do it during the creation process. In such a case, the server side will tell you what to do next if it is interactive, so you will not be frustrated on the way. 13) I want to operate with Explorer. This is an integration of a program manager that manages programs and a file manager that manages files. By using this, you can proceed with operations without having to worry about managing programs and files. 14) I want to make a CD as easily as printing it on a printer. When you print to a printer, you can display its properties, set its contents, and click a button to print within the range of the functions of the printer driver. In particular, the screen displayed on the display screen is printed as it is, unless the print range is designated. If the CD can be operated in the same manner as the operation of the printer, the operability will be greatly improved.

[0013]

As described above, according to the present invention, according to claim 1, the result is obtained from a software component in which a function desired to be executed by the user and a user interface desired to be used are prepared, with respect to a request item desired by the user. Can be dynamically confirmed on its own display device, so that the software can be completed dynamically. Further, in claim 2, since the preview is made by the software receiving means on the user side before the completed software is supplied, the efficiency of the software creation can be improved. According to the third aspect, the request item from the customer is regarded as the predetermined data, and the combination of the data selected from the data is converted into the formula, so that the search operation can be performed quickly and accurately. Further, according to claim 4, since all the information necessary for the build is gathered, it is possible to surely build the software requested by the user without requiring a complicated operation. In addition, claim 5
Can prevent unnecessary distribution by checking in advance before distribution to the user. Further, according to claim 6, since the customer himself / herself evaluates the evaluation criteria, there is no variation, and the result is promptly obtained, and the customer satisfaction can be further improved. Further, in claim 7, since the result of the operation check of the software is obtained by the execution unit, the result can be distributed, and the user can accurately make the next judgment from the result.

[Brief description of drawings]

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

FIG. 2 is a flowchart showing the operation of the embodiment of the present invention.

FIG. 3 is a diagram showing an embodiment of a customer requirement item input unit of the present invention.

[Explanation of symbols]

1 Customer request item input section 3 preview section 4 Search condition determination section 5 Parts search section 6 Parts dispatch to build server 7 Parts database section 8 build department 9 executive department 10 Software Distribution Department 11 peripheral devices 20 system terminal 30 parts server device 40 Build server device

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Claims (7)

[Claims] 1. In a software supply system using an information processing device and a network environment, a request item input means for a customer to input request item data,
A system terminal device having customer information input means for inputting the customer name and availability of software distribution, software receiving means for receiving software requested by the customer, and input from the request item input means and the customer information input means Data receiving means for receiving the generated data, a plurality of software components and a component database unit having order information for constructing the plurality of software components into one software, and an acquired software component obtained from the component database unit. Parts search means for creating build procedure information based on the order information, a customer information management database section for storing and managing data input from the customer information input means, the acquired software parts, the build procedure information and the customer. Parts dispatch that dispatches information from the information management database A parts server device having means, a build means for building one piece of software based on the data from the parts sending means, and a software distribution section for distributing the software constructed by the build means to the software receiving means. A build server device, and a software supply system characterized by the above. 2. The software supply system according to claim 1, wherein the component search means creates a procedure for building demo software or limited-time software for the customer to preview the software. 3. The data receiving means determines a conditional expression for searching a software component based on the data input from the request item inputting means, and the component searching means determines the data receiving means. 2. The software supply system according to claim 1, wherein the acquired software component is searched based on the conditional expression that has been obtained. 4. The software supply system according to claim 1, wherein the build means builds software based on the acquired software component and the build procedure information sent from the component sending means. 5. The software supply according to claim 1, wherein the software constructed by the build means is confirmed by the confirmation execution means before being distributed from the software distribution section. system. 6. The software distribution unit, prior to supplying the main software, the demo software or the limited-time software created by the component search means based on information in the customer information management database unit. The software supply system according to claim 1, wherein it is determined whether or not to deliver to the receiving means. 7. If the information in the customer information management database unit does not want to deliver the demo software or the limited-time software, or if the same customer makes the same request a plurality of times, the software delivery unit is 7. The software supply system according to claim 1, wherein the execution result of which the operation is confirmed by the confirmation executing means is distributed to the software receiving means.