JP2003015919A - Data file management device, data file management method, program and storage medium - Google Patents

Abstract

PROBLEM TO BE SOLVED: To provide a data file management device by which pieces of data in a plurality of address books can be referred to simultaneously, and the pieces of data existing in a plurality of the address books can be easily referred to and edited on the same interface. SOLUTION: The data file management device converts the data in every address book for reference into the data of a predetermined format to store the converted data in a memory. An application 9, using the data converted into the predetermined format, refers to information. For editing the data, the data converted into the predetermined format are edited, at the time point when modification is determined, the data are again converted into the data of a format suitable for each address book, and the converted data are written into each address book file 3.

Description

Detailed Description of the Invention

[0001]

BACKGROUND OF THE INVENTION 1. Field of the Invention The present invention relates to a data file management device, a data file management method, a program and a storage medium for managing an address book used in applications such as electronic mail.

[0002]

2. Description of the Related Art Conventionally, in an information processing device such as a personal computer, when an address book file is referred to by an application such as electronic mail software, only one address book file of a predetermined data format is simultaneously referred to by one application. And can be edited.

In this case, it is general that the address book file to be referred to is fixed and the data of different address books cannot be referred to or edited.

When the data of a plurality of address books are used simultaneously, the data of one of the address books is converted into the data format of the other address book,
After that, the method of combining data was performed.

[0005]

However, in the conventional method, since the data of only one address book can be referred to and edited at the same time, when two data existing in different address books are used at the same time, one of It was necessary to convert the data into the other data format and combine them.

Further, in this case, when the data of one address book is updated, there is a problem that the contents of the data of other address books combined with this address book do not match.

Therefore, in order to solve the above problem, the present invention refers to the data of a plurality of address books at the same time,
An object of the present invention is to provide a data file management device, a data file management method, a program, and a storage medium that can easily refer to and edit data existing in a plurality of address books on the same user interface.

[0008]

To achieve the above object, a data file management device of the present invention is a data file management device for managing data of a plurality of files, wherein the plurality of files are described in different formats. A conversion unit for converting the converted data into data of a uniform predetermined format, a storage unit for storing the data converted into the predetermined format in a recording medium, and a reference unit for referring to the stored data. It is characterized by having.

Re-conversion means for re-converting the data converted into the predetermined format into data of a format suitable for each file, and updating means for updating each file with the re-converted data. It is characterized by having.

Further, it is characterized by further comprising display means for displaying the referenced data on the same user interface.

Further, the re-converting means is provided with editing means for editing the data displayed on the user interface, and the re-converting means re-converts the data into data of a format suitable for each file after the editing of the data is confirmed. It is characterized by converting.

The data file management method of the present invention is a data file management method for managing data of a plurality of files, wherein data described in different formats in the plurality of files is converted into data of a uniform predetermined format. And a step of storing the data converted into the predetermined format in a recording medium, and a step of referring to the stored data.

The method further comprises the steps of re-converting the data converted into the predetermined format into data of a format suitable for each file, and updating each file with the re-converted data. Is characterized by.

Further, the method is characterized by including the step of displaying the referenced data on the same user interface.

Further, the method further comprises a step of editing the data displayed on the user interface, and in the step of re-converting, after the editing of the data is confirmed, the data is converted into data of a format suitable for each file. It is characterized by re-converting.

[0016]

BEST MODE FOR CARRYING OUT THE INVENTION Embodiments of a data file management device, a data file management method, a program and a storage medium of the present invention will be described with reference to the drawings.

[First Embodiment] FIG. 1 is a block diagram showing the arrangement of a file management system according to the first embodiment. The file management system 1 includes a plurality of address book files 3 each holding data described in different formats, and each address book file 3
A plurality of libraries (hereinafter, referred to as service providers) 5 that convert the data stored in the storage device into a predetermined format and that collectively manage the service provider 5, and a host application that uses the address book It is composed of a library (hereinafter, referred to as an address book management library) 7 for mediating the above, and an application 9 that uses an address book file (also simply referred to as an address book) 3.

The file management system 1 is composed of an ordinary information processing apparatus, for example, a personal computer having a computer main body having a CPU, ROM, RAM and the like built therein, a display device, and an external storage device such as a hard disk. The functions of the service provider 5 and the address book management library 7 are realized by the CPU executing the programs stored in the ROM.

FIG. 2 is a flow chart showing an address book management processing procedure. This processing program is stored in the storage medium in the above-mentioned information processing apparatus and is executed by the CPU. Here, it is assumed that all the address books 3 to be referred to or edited are registered in the address book management library 7 by the user in advance.
FIG. 3 is a diagram showing a format of information about the address book registered in the address book management library 7. The address book management library 7 is provided with a list 11 of address books, and data 13 of each address book shown in this list is registered. Specifically, the address book list 11 shows the number L of registered address books and the information of each address book, and the corresponding address book data 13 is registered as the information of each address book. There is.

When the address book management process of FIG. 2 is started, first, it is determined whether or not the registered address book 3 exists in the address book management library 7 (step S1). If the registered address book 3 does not exist, this process ends. On the other hand, if the registered address book 3 exists, it is determined whether or not data exists in the registered address book (step S2). If there is no data in the registered address book, this process ends.

On the other hand, when the data exists in the registered address book, the data in the registered address book is read, converted into the data of a predetermined format, and stored in the memory (RAM) (step. S
3).

Here, since the data in the address book are all converted into the data of the same format by each service provider 5, the upper application 9 is set to 1
All address books 3 can be referred to only by grasping one data format. FIG. 4 is a diagram showing a predetermined data format. This data format has address book information 21, member information 22 and item information 2
It is divided into three layers of 3 and has a variable length structure so that each layer can be easily added. In particular, in the hierarchy of the item information 23, the number of items in a general address book is fixed, and thus it may have a fixed length. However, since the number of items differs depending on the address book, it is possible to store multiple items in the address book. The length is variable so that it can be handled.

Then, the data converted into the predetermined data format in step S3 is acquired from the memory (RAM), the list is displayed on the user interface screen of the display device, and the editing function is provided to the user (step S).
4).

It is determined whether or not the user has edited the data (step S5). If the data has not been edited, the process directly proceeds to step S7. On the other hand, when the data editing work is performed, the data held in the memory (RAM) is edited (step S6).

Further, it is determined whether or not the data on the memory (RAM) has been added / changed / deleted (step S).
7). If the data has not been added, changed, or deleted, this process ends. On the other hand, when data is added / changed / deleted, the data in the memory (RAM) is converted into data of a format suitable for each address book 3, and the converted data is written in the address book file 3 Is updated (step S8). After that, the processing is ended.

As described above, when the application 9 calls the address book management library 7, the address management library 7 sequentially calls the registered service providers 5, if any. Then, each called service provider 5 reads the data when the data exists in the respective address book, and all the read data is data in a predetermined data format (see FIG. 4).
Reference) and hold it in the memory (RAM).

Further, the application 9 acquires data in a predetermined format via the address book management library 7 and displays a list of all the address book data to be referenced on the user interface of the display device. It also provides a user interface for performing editing work such as adding, changing, and deleting the data of all address books to be referred to.

When data is added, changed or deleted, the application 9 changes the data held in the memory by the service provider 5 via the address book management library 7. When the change is confirmed, the service provider 5 whose data has been changed converts the data held in the predetermined format into the data of the format suitable for each address book, and writes it in the address book file 3.

Therefore, the user can simultaneously refer to the data registered in a plurality of address books on one user interface. Therefore, it is possible to refer to a plurality of address books from an application using the address book and simultaneously use data registered only in each address book. Moreover,
Even if the address book data is updated by another application, the latest information that is always synchronized can be used.

Further, since it is possible to edit a plurality of address books on one application, the application corresponding to the address book to be edited can be started up or the address book file referred to by the application can be set. The work of changing can be omitted.

As described above, the data of a plurality of address books can be referred to at the same time, and the data existing in a plurality of address books can be easily referred to and edited on the same user interface.

[Second Embodiment] In the first embodiment, the case where the converted data is held in the memory is shown, but in the second embodiment, a temporary file is stored on the hard disk which is an external storage device. The following shows a case in which the data converted into a predetermined format is written on the temporary file.

FIG. 5 is a flow chart showing the address book management processing procedure in the second embodiment. This processing program is stored in the storage medium in the information processing apparatus and executed by the CPU, as in the first embodiment.

First, in the address book management library,
It is determined whether or not there is a registered address book (step S11). If the registered address book exists, it is determined whether or not data exists in the address book (step S12).

When the data exists in the registered address book, the data in the registered address book is read and converted into a predetermined data format,
It is held in a temporary file on the hard disk (step S13). The data converted into a predetermined data format is acquired, the list is displayed on the user interface, and the editing function is provided to the user (step S
14). On the other hand, if there is no address book registered in step S11, or if there is no data in the address book registered in step S12, this process ends.

After that, it is judged whether or not the data editing work is performed (step S15), and when the data editing work is performed, the data held in the temporary file on the hard disk is edited (step S15). S16). on the other hand,
If no data editing work is performed in step S15,
The process directly proceeds to step S17. Then, the data of the temporary file on the hard disk is added / changed /
It is determined whether or not it has been deleted (step S17). When the data of the temporary file on the hard disk is added / changed / deleted, the data of the temporary file is converted into the data of the format suitable for each address book, and written in the address book file 3 (step S18), and the process is ended. . On the other hand, if the data of the temporary file on the hard disk is not added / changed / deleted in step S17, the process is terminated.

In this way, a temporary file is created on the hard disk, and the data converted into a predetermined format is written on the created temporary file. Then, the higher-level application 9 accesses the temporary file and refers to or edits it. The second embodiment is the same as the first embodiment except that a memory is changed to a temporary file on a hard disk as a recording medium that temporarily holds data converted into a predetermined format. The same effect as the first embodiment is obtained.

Although the embodiments of the present invention have been described above, the present invention is not limited to the configurations of these embodiments, and the functions shown in the claims or the configurations of the embodiments are not limited thereto. Any structure can be applied as long as it can achieve the function it has.

Further, it goes without saying that the present invention can also be applied to the case where it is achieved by supplying a program to an apparatus using a recording medium storing a program code of software for realizing the functions of the above-described embodiments. Nor. In this case, the program code itself read from the storage medium realizes the novel function of the present invention, and the program itself and the storage medium storing the program constitute the present invention.

In the above embodiment, the program code shown in the flow charts of FIGS. 2 and 5 is a ROM which is a storage medium.
It is stored in. The storage medium for supplying the program code is not limited to the ROM, but may be, for example, a floppy (registered trademark) disk, a hard disk, a CD-ROM, a CD.
-R, DVD, magnetic tape, non-volatile memory card, etc. can be used.

[0041]

According to the present invention, the user can simultaneously refer to the data registered in a plurality of address books on one user interface. Therefore, it is possible to refer to a plurality of address books from an application using the address book and simultaneously use data registered only in each address book. Moreover, even if the data in the address book is updated by another application, the latest information that is always synchronized can be used.

Further, since it is possible to edit a plurality of address books on one application, an application corresponding to the address book to be edited is started up, or an address book file referenced by the application is set. It is possible to omit the work of changing the.

As described above, it is possible to simultaneously refer to the data of a plurality of address books and easily refer to and edit the data existing in a plurality of address books on the same user interface.

[Brief description of drawings]

FIG. 1 is a block diagram showing a configuration of a file management system according to a first embodiment.

FIG. 2 is a flowchart showing an address book management processing procedure.

FIG. 3 is a diagram showing a format of information about an address book registered in an address book management library 7.

FIG. 4 is a diagram showing a predetermined data format.

FIG. 5 is a flowchart showing an address book management processing procedure in the second embodiment.

[Explanation of symbols]

1 File management system 3 Address book file 5 service providers 7 Address Book Management Library 9 applications List of 11 address books 13 Address book data 21 Address Book Information 22 Member information 23 item information

Claims (10)

[Claims] 1. A data file management device for managing data of a plurality of files, and a conversion means for converting data described in the plurality of files in different formats into data of a uniform predetermined format; A data file management device, comprising: a storage unit that stores data converted into the above format in a recording medium; and a reference unit that refers to the stored data. 2. Re-converting means for re-converting the data converted into the predetermined format into data of a format suitable for each file, and updating means for updating each file with the re-converted data. The data file management device according to claim 1, further comprising: 3. The data file management apparatus according to claim 1, further comprising display means for displaying the referenced data on the same user interface. 4. An editing unit for editing the data displayed on the user interface, wherein the re-converting unit re-converts the data into data in a format suitable for each file after the editing of the data is confirmed. The data file management device according to claim 3, wherein the data file management device performs conversion. 5. A data file management method for managing data of a plurality of files, the step of converting data described in different formats in the plurality of files into data of a uniform predetermined format; A data file management method comprising: a step of storing data converted into a format in a recording medium; and a step of referring to the stored data. 6. A step of reconverting the data converted into the predetermined format into data of a format suitable for each file, and a step of updating each file with the reconverted data. The data file management method according to claim 5, wherein 7. The data file management method according to claim 5, further comprising the step of displaying the referenced data on the same user interface. 8. The method comprises the step of editing the data displayed on the user interface, wherein in the step of re-converting, after the editing of the data is confirmed, the data is converted into data of a format suitable for each file. The data file management method according to claim 7, wherein the data file is converted again. 9. A storage medium holding a program code for realizing the data file management method according to claim 5. Description: 10. A program having a program code for implementing the data file management method according to claim 5.