JP2003044419A - Chat server device, chat program, and chat method - Google Patents

Abstract

PROBLEM TO BE SOLVED: To enable participants to converse with each other by using a plurality of languages through a chat system for character-based conversation through a computer network. SOLUTION: The system is equipped with a user managing means 12 which stores and manages user identification information for identifying respective users and connection information showing the connection states of the users in DB 11, a connection information transmitting means 13 which transmits connection information on the respective users to client devices 2a to 2c of the respective users as data which can be displayed, a data recording means 14 which specifies users and languages and stores character data sent from the client devices 2a to 2c in DB 11 together with information regarding the specified languages while relating them to the specified users, and a data transfer means 15 which performs retrieval from DB 11 at requests from the client devices 2a to 2c and transfers the character data stored while related to the users as data which can be displayed in the specified languages.

Description

Detailed Description of the Invention

[0001]

BACKGROUND OF THE INVENTION 1. Field of the Invention The present invention relates to a chat server device, a chat program, and a chat method for carrying out a conversation with characters through a computer network.

[0002]

2. Description of the Related Art There is a chat system in which participants conduct a character-based conversation in real time through a computer network. The chat system allows multiple participants to talk at the same time, and one utterance is monitored by all participants. Recently, IRC (In
Some are available over the Internet, such as the Internet Relay Chat), where participants can enter one chat room provided on the web,
It is possible to talk to an unspecified number of people all over the world.

Also, as a person who can talk to a specific person on a specific computer, it is checked whether or not a friend who uses the same software on the Internet is online.
There is known an instant messaging system capable of chatting online. Application software that realizes this is called an IM client.

[0004]

By the way, when using these chat systems to talk with people all over the world, the biggest problem is that the participants usually use different languages. However, in the conventional chat system provided by the web such as IRC, it is usually 1
Only one language can be used in one chat room and all participants must speak in the same language.

Further, in the case of the IM client, since software having different specifications is prepared for each language, the participant needs to install the software having the specification corresponding to each language used in the computer. That is, participants must select one language to install the software and cannot speak in multiple languages.

[0006] Therefore, an object of the present invention is to enable a conversation between participants in a plurality of languages in a chat system for conducting a character-based conversation through a computer network.

[0007]

A chat server device according to the present invention transmits / receives character data to / from a plurality of client devices connected via a computer network to allow users of the plurality of client devices to communicate with each other. A chat server device for realizing a chat, a means for accumulating and managing user identification information for identifying each user and connection information indicating a connection status of each user in a database, and connection information for each user Means for transmitting as displayable data to the user's client device, and storing the character data transmitted from the client device by designating the user and the language in association with the user designated in the database together with information regarding the designated language. Method and the data requested by each client device. Searches for the base is obtained and a means for transferring the data displayable by the specified language character data stored in association with each user.

According to the present invention, when chatting with the user of each client device connected to the chat server device, in addition to the designation of the user, the language used for the conversation with each user is designated and the character data is transmitted. By doing so, the chat server device transfers the data to the client device of the user specified by the user in the specified language, and the user can have a conversation in the specified language.

Here, when connecting from the client device to the chat server device, it is desirable that the connection information of each user be transmitted to the client device as data that can be displayed in a designated language. If each user specifies a language such as a native language that is easy to understand and connects to the chat server device by the client device, the user identification information and connection information are transmitted from the chat server device in the specified language and displayed on the client device. To be done.

The chat program of the present invention is a chat server device for realizing chat between users by exchanging character data with a plurality of client devices connected via a computer network. A chat program for operating a computer, a means for accumulating and managing user identification information for identifying each user and connection information indicating the connection status of each user in a database, and connection information for each user for each user Means for transmitting as displayable data to the client device, means for specifying the user and language, and means for accumulating the character data transmitted from the client device together with information on the specified language in the database in association with the specified user, client Searches the database based on the placed these requirements is intended to function as a means for transferring the data displayable by the specified language character data stored in association with each user.

The chat program of the present invention is supplied to the computer via a communication line or a recording medium, or is recorded in a memory in the computer in advance and is executed by the computer, whereby the chat server device of the present invention is described. You can operate this computer as well.

The chat method using the chat server device of the present invention is a computer network for a chat server device provided with a database for accumulating user identification information for identifying each user and connection information indicating the connection status of each user. A chat method for realizing a chat between users between a plurality of client devices by transmitting and receiving character data to and from a plurality of client devices connected through the client device by specifying user identification information. The first step of requesting connection to the chat server device, and the chat server device authenticates the connection request from the client device by searching the database in response to the connection request, and connects the database corresponding to the user to the authenticated client device. Second to update information And the step, chat server device,
The third step of transmitting the connection information of each user to the client device of each user as displayable data, the fourth step of the client device displaying the transmitted connection information of each user, and the client device are displayed. For the user specified based on the connection information of each user,
The fifth step of transmitting character data to be designated and transmitted to the chat server device, and the chat server device,
A sixth step of associating and accumulating the character data transmitted from the client device by designating the user and language in association with the user designated in the database together with information on the designated language, and the chat server device requesting from each client device. The database device is searched based on the step S7, and the seventh step of transferring the character data stored in association with each user as displayable data in the specified language, and the client device is specified the character data transferred by the chat server device. And an eighth step of displaying in different languages.

[0013]

1 is a schematic configuration diagram of a chat system according to an embodiment of the present invention. In FIG. 1, a chat server device 1 in the present embodiment is a WWW (World Wide Web) server connected to the Internet N as a computer network, and each of the client devices 2a, 2b, 2c, etc. connected via the Internet N. A database (DB) 11 that stores user information is provided. The client devices 2a to 2c are WW such as personal computers, personal digital assistants, mobile phone terminals, etc. that can be connected to the Internet N.
It is a W client.

FIG. 2 is a functional block diagram of the chat system of FIG. As shown in FIG. 2, the chat server device 1 includes a user management unit 12 that manages user information stored in the DB 11, a connection information transmission unit 13 that transmits user information stored in the DB 11 to a client device, and client devices 2a to 2c. Character data sent from DB1
The data recording unit 14 that stores the data in association with the user designated as No. 1 and the data transfer unit 15 that searches the DB 11 based on a request from each of the client devices 2a to 2c and transfers the stored character data in association with each user. Have.

The user information stored in the DB 11 is user identification information for identifying each user and connection information indicating the connection status of each user. FIG. 3 shows an example of user information stored in the DB 11. As shown in FIG.
In B11, a member name and password as user identification information, and a logon status (On / Of) as connection information.
f) is recorded.

FIG. 4 shows an example of a logon window 20 which is transmitted from the chat server device 1 to the client device 2a and is displayed when the client device 2a makes a connection request to the chat server device 1, for example. This logon window 20 is data that can be displayed on the client device 2a by the chat server device 1, that is, W.
For example, HTML that can be displayed by a WW client
(HyperText Markup Languag
e) Sent as a document.

The logon window 20 shown in FIG.
Member name and password input fields 21 and 22, respectively
And a language selection tab 23 are provided. The client devices 2a to 2c enter the member names and passwords in the input fields 21 and 22, respectively, and the language selection tab 23
By specifying an arbitrary language and pressing the login button 24, a connection request is made by transmitting the member name, the password, and the data related to the specified language from the client device 2a to the chat server device 1.

When a connection request is made from the client devices 2a to 2c by designating a member name and a password, the user management means 12 searches the DB 11 in response to the connection request to make a connection request from the client devices 2a to 2c. And the authenticated client device 2a
Update the logon status (On / Off) of the DB 11 corresponding to the user for ~ 2c.

The connection information transmission means 13 transmits a logon status display window showing the logon status of each user as data (HTML document) that can be displayed by the client devices 2a to 2c of each user. FIG. 5 shows the client devices 2a to 2 by the connection information transmitting means 13.
7 shows an example of the logon status display window 25 that is transmitted to c and displayed by the client devices 2a to 2c. In the logon status display window 25 shown in FIG. 5, the member names of the logged-on user (online friend) and the logged-off user (offline friend) are displayed according to the logon status recorded in the DB 11.

The logged-on users or logged-off users displayed on each of the client devices 2a to 2c are only users who are registered as friends in advance. The language used in the logon status display window 25 is the language specified by the language selection tab 23 (Japanese in the example of FIG. 5). Connection information transmitting means 13
Transmits to each of the client devices 2a to 2c as data that can be displayed in the specified language according to the language specified at the time of connection from the client devices 2a to 2c.

FIG. 6 shows the chat server device 1 when traditional Chinese is designated by the logon window 20.
7 shows an example of the logon status display window 27 transmitted from the client device 2a to the client device 2a and displayed by the client device 2a. As shown in FIG. 6, the language used in the logon status display window 27 is the Traditional Chinese designated by the logon window 20 from the client device 2a.

The data recording means 14 records the character data transmitted from the client devices 2a to 2c by designating the user and the language in the DB 11 in association with the designated user together with the information about the designated language, and stores the data. . The designation of the user by the client devices 2a to 2c is performed by selecting from the online friends in the logon status display window 25 shown in FIG. 5, and the language is designated by pressing the language designation button 26 of the logon status display window 25. It is done by doing.

For example, when a user who wants to have a conversation is selected from online friends while the language is designated by the language designation button 26 of the logon status display window 25 by the client device 2a, a message transmission window 28 shown in FIG. 7 is displayed on the chat server. It is transmitted from the device 1 to the client device 2a and displayed on the client device 2a. The language used in the message transmission window 28 is the language designated by the language designation button 26 (Japanese in the example of FIG. 7). When the user inputs character data in the message input field 29 of the message transmission window 28 and presses the send button 30, the character data specifying the user and language is transmitted from the client device 2a to the chat server device 1.

The data transfer means 15 searches the DB 11 based on a request from each of the client devices 2a to 2c, and displays the character data accumulated in association with each user in a designated language (HTML document).
To transfer as. For example, when there is a request from the client device 2b, the data transfer means 15 acquires from the DB 11 the character data accumulated in association with the user of this client device 2b and displays it in the language specified for this character data. Transfer as possible data (HTML document).

FIG. 8 shows an example of the message display window 32 transmitted by the data transfer means 15 to the client device 2b and displayed by the client device 2b. As shown in FIG. 8, character data is displayed in the message display window 32 of the client device 2b in the language specified by the client device 2a that is the transmission source.

Further, when there is a request for conversation history data from each of the client devices 2a to 2c, the data transfer means 15 acquires the conversation history data between each user from the DB 11 and each of the client devices 2a to 2c. The character data of the conversation history is transferred as data (HTML document) that can be displayed in the designated language. FIG. 9 shows an example of the conversation history window 33 in which this data is received and displayed by the client device 2a. As shown in FIG. 9, in the conversation history window 33,
The conversation history is displayed in the language specified when the character data was transmitted by the message transmission window 28. Requests for conversation history data from each of the client devices 2a to 2c are instructed by pressing the history button 31 of the message transmission window 28 shown in FIG.

A chat method using the chat system having the above configuration will be described below with reference to the flow charts of FIGS. 10 and 11. In the following, a process of transmitting a message from the client device 2a to the client device 2b with the users of the client devices 2a and 2b as users A and B, respectively, will be described.

FIG. 10 is a flow chart showing processing between the client apparatus 2a and the chat server apparatus 1, and FIG. 11 is a flow chart showing processing between the client apparatus 2b and the chat server apparatus 1.

In step S101 of FIG. 10, the URL (Un
Specify "iform Resource Locator" to access the chat server device 1. In step S102, the chat server device 1 transmits the data of the logon window to the accessing client device 2a. In step S103, the client device 2a receives the logon window data transmitted from the chat server device 1 and displays the logon window 20 as shown in FIG.

In step S104, the client device 2a stores the member name and password data entered by the user A in the input fields 21 and 22 of the logon window 20 and the data related to the language specified by the language selection tab 23. It transmits to the chat server device 1 and makes a connection request. In step S105, the chat server device 1 searches the DB 11 by the user management means 12 for the connection request from the client device 2a, and determines whether or not the user is the registered user A based on the member name and password. If you are a registered user A,
The connection request is authenticated, and if it is not the registered user A, the connection request is rejected. In step S106, the chat server device 1 updates the logon status of the DB 11 for the authenticated user A to “On (online)” by the user management unit 12.

In step S107, the chat server device 1 uses the connection information transmitting means 13 to authenticate the logon status display window data, and the client device 2a.
Send to. The logon status display window data transmitted here is data that can be displayed on the client device 2a in the language designated by the language selection tab 23 when a connection request is made from the client device 2a. In step S108, the client device 2a receives the data of the logon status display window transmitted by the chat server device 1, and displays the logon status display window 25 as shown in FIG. Note that the above step S
The processing of 107 and S108 is repeatedly performed at preset time intervals (for example, every 10 seconds).

In step S109, the client device 2a designates the language by the user A using the language designation button 26 of the logon status display window 25 and the user B who is logged on and is displayed as an online friend in the logon status display window 25. When done,
These designated contents are transmitted to the chat server device 1.
In step S110, the chat server device 1 sends the message transmission window data that can be displayed on the client device 2a in the designated language to the client device 2a.
Send to. In step S111, the client device 2a receives the message transmission window data transmitted by the chat server device 1 and displays the message transmission window 28 as shown in FIG.

In step S112, the user A inputs character data in the message input field 29 of the message transmission window 28 and presses the transmission button 30. Here, in the column of the member name of the user B who is the destination of the message,
The member name of the user B designated in step S109 is automatically input. In step S113, the client device 2a transmits the character data input in the message input field 29 to the chat server device 1 together with the message transmission destination user B and the data regarding the language specified in step S109.

In step S114, the chat server device 1 receives these data transmitted from the client device 2a, and the data recording means 14 records the received character data in the DB 11 in association with the user B with the language information. To do. That is, the data recording means 14 stores the character data as data for the user A to the user B in the DB 11 together with information on the language designated for the character data.

On the other hand, as shown in FIG. 11, step S1 between the client device 2b and the chat server device 1 is performed.
The processing from 21 to step S128 is the same as the processing from step S101 to step S108 in FIG. Then, in step S129, the client device 2b requests the chat server device 1 for the character data for the user B.

In step S130, the chat server device 1 searches the DB 11 by the data transfer means 15 based on the request from the client device 2b, and acquires the character data accumulated in association with the user B together with the information about the language. . In step S131, the chat server device 1 can display the character data acquired by the data transfer means 15 on the client device 2b in the language specified for the character data in the message display window 32 as shown in FIG. To transfer as.

In step S132, the client device 2b receives the data transferred by the chat server device 1 and displays the message display window 32 as shown in FIG. As shown in FIG. 8, the message display window 32 displays character data in the language specified in step S109 of FIG.

The steps S127 to S132 are performed at preset time intervals (for example, every 10 seconds).
It is repeated every time. Further, steps S129 to S132 shown in FIG. 11 are similarly performed in all the client devices such as the client device 2a that are currently logged on to the chat server device 1. The same applies to steps S109 to S114 shown in FIG.

The past data recorded in the DB 11 in step S114 of FIG. 10 is used as conversation history data when the history button 31 of the message transmission window 28 shown in FIG. 7 displayed on the client device 2a is pressed. It is searched by the chat server device 1. Then, the chat server device 1 acquires the data of the conversation history conducted between these users from the DB 11, and based on the information about the language, the client device 2
It is transferred to a as data that can be displayed in that language and is displayed as a conversation history window 33 as shown in FIG. As shown in FIG. 9, the conversation history window 3
In 3, the conversation history is displayed in the language specified when the character data was transmitted by the message transmission window 28.

As described above, according to the chat system of this embodiment, when chatting with each user who is connected to the chat server device 1, in addition to the designation of each user, the character data to be transmitted to each user is specified. By specifying the language, the chat server device 1 transfers the data to the user's client device specified by the specified language as displayable data, and the user can have a conversation in the specified language. Becomes

That is, in the case of wanting to chat with a plurality of users in different languages, the user selects the language of the character data to be sent to each user from the language selection tab 23 of the logon status display window 25 shown in FIG. If the character data of the message for each user is input by the message transmission window 28 and transmitted from the client device 2a to the chat server device 1, the character data of the message for each user is transmitted to the chat server device 1.
2c is transferred as data that can be displayed in each designated language and is displayed in a language that is easy for each user to understand. Therefore, each user can have conversations between participants in multiple languages. It is possible.

[0042]

According to the present invention, when chatting with the user of each client device connected to the chat server device, in addition to the designation of each user, the language used for the conversation with each user is designated and characters are written. By transmitting the data, the character data is displayed in the language specified for each user's client device, so that each user can individually talk in a plurality of languages.

Further, the user identification information and the connection information are displayed on the client device according to the language specified when connecting to the chat server device, so that each user specifies a language such as a native language that is easy to understand. The user can specify the language and the language based on the user identification information and the connection information displayed in the designated language, and the conversation can be easily proceeded.

[Brief description of drawings]

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

FIG. 2 is a functional block diagram of the chat system in FIG.

FIG. 3 is a diagram showing an example of user information accumulated in a database.

FIG. 4 is a diagram showing an example of a logon window displayed on the client device.

FIG. 5 is a diagram showing an example of a logon status display window displayed in Japanese on the client device.

FIG. 6 is a diagram showing an example of a logon status display window displayed on a client device in Traditional Chinese.

FIG. 7 is a diagram showing an example of a message transmission window displayed on a client device.

FIG. 8 is a diagram showing an example of a message display window displayed on the client device.

FIG. 9 is a diagram showing an example of a conversation history window displayed on a client device.

FIG. 10 is a flowchart showing processing between the client device and the chat server device.

FIG. 11 is a flowchart showing processing between the client device and the chat server device.

[Explanation of symbols]

1 Chat server device 2a, 2b, 2c Client device N Internet 11 Database (DB) 12 User management means 13 Connection information transmission means 14 Data recording means 15 Data transfer means 20 Logon window 21 Member name input field 22 Password input field 23 Language Selection Tab 24 Login button 25 Logon status display window 26 Language selection button 27 Logon status display window 28 Message transmission window 29 Message input field 30 Send button 31 History button 32 Message display window

Claims (3)

[Claims] 1. A chat server device for realizing chat between users by exchanging character data with a plurality of client devices connected via a computer network, the chat server device comprising: Means for accumulating and managing user identification information for identifying users and connection information indicating the connection status of each user in a database, and transmitting the connection information of each user as data that can be displayed to the client device of each user. Means, means for storing character data transmitted from the client device by designating a user and a language in the database in association with the designated user together with information on the designated language, and a request from each client device Search the database based on Give Chat server and means for transferring the data displayable by language accumulated character data is being said specified. 2. A computer is made to function as a chat server device for realizing chat between users by exchanging character data with a plurality of client devices connected via a computer network. A chat program, wherein the computer stores and manages user identification information for identifying each user and connection information indicating the connection status of each user in a database, and connection information of each user for each user. Means for transmitting as data that can be displayed to the client device, character data transmitted from the client device by designating a user and a language, and information relating to the designated language is stored in the database in association with the designated user. Means, each clear Chat a program that causes a character data by searching the database stored in association with each user based on a request from the winding device as a means for transferring the data displayable by the specified language. 3. A chat server device having a database for accumulating user identification information for identifying each user and connection information indicating a connection status of each user, and a chat server device between a plurality of client devices connected through a computer network. By sending and receiving character data,
A chat method for realizing a chat between users among a plurality of client devices, the first step of requesting a connection from the client device to the chat server device by specifying user identification information, and the chat server device. A second step of authenticating a connection request from the client device by searching the database according to the connection request and updating connection information of the database corresponding to the user for the authenticated client device; A third step in which the server device transmits the connection information of each user to the client device of each user as displayable data, and a fourth step in which the client device displays the transmitted connection information of each user. And the client device displays each of the displayed A fifth step of transmitting character data to the chat server device by designating a language to the user designated based on the connection information of the user; and the chat server device from the client device to the user and the language. A step of accumulating the character data transmitted by designating it in the database in association with the information on the designated language in association with the designated user, and the chat server device based on a request from each client device. A seventh step of searching the database and transferring the character data accumulated in association with each user as data that can be displayed in the designated language, and the client device stores the character data transferred by the chat server device. An eighth step of displaying in the designated language, No chat method.