JP2003173224A - Network information displaying method, network information displaying program and information processing terminal - Google Patents

Abstract

<P>PROBLEM TO BE SOLVED: To improve visibility and operability of network information and a service provided on the network. <P>SOLUTION: An image plane of an information processor comprises a network information displaying area G1, one's service displaying area G2, a shortcut displaying area G3 and a registration canceling area G4. Servers on the network and services of the servers or the like are displayed in the network information displaying area G1. A shortcut for a service with a high frequency of usage is made in the shortcut displaying area G3. A service of the one's service displaying area G2 is registered on the network by a drag and drop operation to the network information displaying area G1. Registration of the service registered on the network is canceled by a drag and drop operation to the registration canceling area G4. <P>COPYRIGHT: (C)2003,JPO

Description

Detailed Description of the Invention

[0001]

BACKGROUND OF THE INVENTION 1. Field of the Invention The present invention relates to a network information display method, a network information display program, and an information processing terminal for displaying information about the network on a display means of a device connectable to the network.

[0002]

2. Description of the Related Art Conventionally, in a GUI or the like capable of displaying information on a network, a specification for displaying the information on the entire network in one of two windows and the internal information of one device selected from the information on the entire network in the other window, When a device is selected from a window displaying the entire network, the inside of the new window is generally displayed.

[0003]

By the way, in recent years, Jini (Java (registered trademark) 2-based distributed object environment) has been proposed as a technology for sharing and using services on a network among network users, and it has come to a practical stage. There is. In this technique, the services available to the user are registered in Jini's server on the network.

The Jini server on the network declares the group to which it belongs when it is started. If the group already exists on the network,
It belongs to the group, and if it does not exist, a new group is provided. Like this, Jini
In, the network is divided into groups / servers, and each service is registered therein. The user will search the group / server to find and use the service he needs.

Considering such a network configuration, in the prior art, when a service registered in a certain group / server on the network is displayed in the same window, the services of other groups / servers are displayed. When it is not displayed and it is displayed in another window,
As many windows as the number of groups / servers displaying the service content are opened. In such a state, when a plurality of frequently used services are registered across a plurality of groups / servers, there is a problem that the procedure for using them becomes complicated.

In the Jini device, although the device itself does not have a network connection function, other users on the network can use the service by connecting to the computer and using the network function of the computer. It is possible that you can. At present, there has been a problem that a method capable of collectively and easily performing network registration / deregistration for such a Jini device is not provided.

Therefore, an object of the present invention is to provide a network information display method, a network information display program, and an information processing terminal capable of improving the visibility and operability of network information and services provided on the network. To do.

[0008]

In order to achieve the above object, a network information display method according to the invention of claim 1 comprises:
In a network information display method for displaying information related to a network on a display means included in a device connectable to the network, a list of groups including at least one server connected to the network and a service registered in the server. And a list of the services are switchably displayed on a network information display area allocated on the screen of the display unit, and a copy of the services listed on the information display area is allocated on the screen of the display unit. It is characterized in that a list is displayed on the created shortcut display area.

As a preferred mode, for example, as described in claim 2, in the network information display method according to claim 1, a group of services displayed in the network information display area and the shortcut display area is virtualized. Alternatively, they may be regarded as one group and can be handled.

In a preferred aspect, for example, as described in claim 3, in the network information display method according to claim 1 or 2, there is provided a service available via the network, which is possessed by a client connected to the network. The list is displayed in the self-information display area allocated on the screen of the display means, and when the service displayed in the self-information display area is dragged and dropped into the network information display area, the network is displayed. It may be registered as the above shared service.

As a preferred aspect, for example, as in claim 4, in the network information display method according to any one of claims 1 to 3, the shared service on the network is displayed in the network information display area. When the service registered as is dragged and dropped into the registration cancellation area allocated on the screen of the display means, the registration as a shared service on the network may be canceled.

[0012] In a preferred aspect, for example, as described in claim 5, in the network information display method according to any one of claims 1 to 4, it is displayed in the network information display area and is displayed as a shared service on the network. The usage right of the registered service may be set for each client on the network.

In order to achieve the above object, a network information display program according to the invention of claim 6 is a network information display program for displaying information about the network on a display means of a device connectable to the network. A list of groups of at least one connected server,
A step of switchably displaying a list of services registered in the server in a network information display area allocated on the screen of the display means; and a duplication of the services listed in the information display area. A step of displaying a list in a shortcut display area allocated on the screen of the display means is executed by the computer.

In order to achieve the above object, the information processing terminal according to the invention of claim 7 is an information processing terminal connected to a network to which at least one or more servers are connected. A network information display area for switchably displaying a list and a list of services registered in the server, and a shortcut display area for displaying a duplicate of the services listed in the information display area A display means is provided.

Further, as a preferred mode, for example, in the information processing terminal according to claim 7 as in claim 8, the display means can be used via the network, which is included in a client connected to the network. A self-information display area for displaying a list of various services, and when a service displayed in the self-information display area is dragged and dropped into the network information display area, the service is registered as a shared service on the network. You may make it equip with the registration means to do.

As a preferred mode, for example, in the information processing terminal according to claim 7 or 8, as in claim 9, the display means is displayed in the network information display area, and the shared service on the network is displayed. Has a deregistration area for deregistering a service registered as, and when a service registered as a shared service on the network is dragged and dropped into the deregistration area, the shared service on the network A registration canceling unit for canceling the registration may be provided.

As a preferred aspect, for example, as in claim 10, in the information processing terminal according to any one of claims 7 to 9, the information is displayed in the network information display area and is displayed as a shared service on the network. You may make it provide the use authority setting means which can set the use authority of the registered service for every client on a network.

[0018]

BEST MODE FOR CARRYING OUT THE INVENTION Embodiments of the present invention will be described below with reference to the drawings. A. Configuration of Embodiment FIG. 1 is a block diagram showing a configuration of a network according to an embodiment of the present invention. In the figure, the server 1 is one of the servers existing on the network 10 in which the server name "pochi" is set. The server 2 is one of the servers existing on the network 10 in which the server name “wat_lab” is set. The information processing terminal 3 is a client terminal that is registered in the server 2 (wat_lab) and includes a laptop computer, etc., and is connected to the digital still camera 4, and is a driver for exchanging information with the digital still camera. And application software. The information processing terminal 5 is a client terminal that is registered in the server 1 (pochi) and includes a laptop computer, etc., and is connected to a modem 6, and is a driver or application for exchanging information with the modem. It is equipped with software.

Next, FIG. 2 is a schematic diagram showing a display screen of the above-mentioned information processing terminal. In the information processing terminal, when software for displaying network information or service information, or registering / deregistering service is started, the network is searched, and the screen shown in FIG. 2 is displayed. The screen is divided into four areas. The upper left portion is a network information display area G1 (a server on the network is displayed as an icon), and the upper right portion is a self-service display area G2 (in the information processing terminal of the user). A connected service is displayed.), A lower left portion is a shortcut display area G3 (shortcut service display), and a lower right portion is a registration cancellation area G4 (network registered service is canceled). Each area G1 to G4
In the area, icons indicating network information and services are displayed. The user double-clicks the icon displayed in each area, and performs operations such as drag and drop to display the desired network information or service, activate the service, or cancel the service. To do.

B. Operation of Embodiment Next, the operation of the above-described embodiment will be described. Here, FIGS. 3 to 10 are schematic diagrams showing GUI display screens in various operations. When the software is activated and the network is searched, an icon of a group or a server on the network 10 is displayed in the network information display area G1 as shown in FIG. A user who wants to use the Jini service will search for client terminals and services registered in these groups or servers. For example, the server "po shown in FIG.
Double-clicking on the "chi" icon (pochi), as shown in FIG.
1, icons of client terminals and services registered in the server "pochi" (Suzuki, Mode
m) is displayed. If there is a service that the user wants to use, a user can double-click the icon, download a movable Java (registered trademark) object from the information of the service, and start it as a new thread.

In this embodiment, as shown in FIG.
Information regarding the configuration of the entire Jini network including servers and groups is held in the dedicated net information database 30, and information regarding the service itself is held in the icon itself of the service, that is, the GUI. That is, when the service is activated by the GUI 31, the net information database 30 of the entire network is accessed based on the information held by the icon, and the J information is transmitted via the Jini server 32 on the network based on the access.
The information and the activatable object are downloaded from the ini service provider 33, and the service is activated.

To activate the service, therefore, a shortcut for the service displayed in the network information display area G1 may be created and the shortcut may be displayed in the shortcut display area. The specific method is to select an icon for creating a shortcut from the icons in the network information display area G1 and select shortcut creation from a menu screen (not shown).
As shown in FIG. 6, the icon in the network information display area G1 is dragged and dropped onto the shortcut display area G3. At this time, the information on the service held by the icon in the network information display area G1 is also copied, and the information is assigned to the icon in the shortcut display area G3. As a result, the shortcut display area G3
The information on the service of the icon dragged and dropped to is not erased as long as the shortcut (icon) exists.

Next, a case will be described in which services registered in a server different from those in the past are displayed in the network information display area G1. In the example shown in FIG. 7, in the network information display area G1, the server “poch
It shows a state in which the display of "i" was switched to the display of the server "wat_lab". Only one server can register Jini service at one time (servers can be registered in multiple groups, so services may be registered in multiple groups at once), so display of server "wat_lab" Even if the mode is switched to, the service (Modem) for which the shortcut has been created is not displayed in the network information display area G1.
However, the service information is left in the icon (Modem) of the shortcut display area G3, and, of course, since the net information database 30 also exists, this service is displayed in the icon (Modem) of the shortcut display area G3. Can be started from.

As described above, a plurality of Ji that are frequently used
Even when the ni server is registered over a plurality of groups / servers, if a shortcut is created with a GUI having a shortcut display area G3 as in the present embodiment, the network can be used every time it is used. It is not necessary to switch the display of the information display area G1. Also,
If a group / server that is used steadily exists, the group / server in the network information display area G1
If a server is displayed and a shortcut for a service registered in another server / group is created in the shortcut display area G3, is a virtual group / server suitable for each user's use formed? As described above, the Jini service of the network can be efficiently used.

Next, the self-service network registration will be described. A computer whose GUI of this embodiment has a network function, for example, an information processing terminal (Yamada) 3
It is assumed that the service is running on the computer, and the service built in or connected to the computer can be used as a Jini service by the user on the network by utilizing the network function of the computer.

With the GUI according to the present embodiment, as shown in FIG. 3, in the self-service display area G2, icons of services built in or connected to the computer are displayed. In the example shown in FIG. 3, an icon (Yamada) of the terminal itself and an icon (DSC) of the digital still camera 4 connected to the terminal are displayed as services built in or connected to the information processing terminal 3. . These icons hold the service startup object name as a character string.

Here, the icon (DS) of the digital still camera displayed in the self-service display area G2 is displayed.
As shown in FIG. 8, C) is dragged and dropped onto the server “wat_lab” in the network information display area G1 to be registered in the server. Network information display area G
If the entire network is displayed at 1, drag and drop into the area to register.

Since it is not possible to directly register to the group, when dragging and dropping to the group, the server operating in the group is determined from the net information database 30 and registered in the server. It will be.

By the above operation, the class is instantiated from the character string of the class name of the activation object registered in the self service icon, the information of the server to be registered is received from the net information database 30, and the registration processing is performed according to the information. To do. In Jini, when this registration process is performed, the ID on the network 10 can be obtained. Therefore, information of this ID is registered for the icon of the service for which the registration process has been performed. The ID
This information is used at the time of canceling registration, which will be described later.

Since the GUI has the self-service display area G2 as described above, it can be used by connecting to a device having a network function such as a computer.
Services can also be registered on the network with simple operations such as drag and drop.

Next, a setting method in the case where the Jini service registered in the network has a function of determining the usage right of the user on the network 10 will be described. Here, Ji registered in the network 10
It is assumed that the ni service has a function of defining usage authority. The usage authorization at this time is unlimited usage permission,
It is possible that the user requests to enter a password at the time of use, or the use is prohibited. Until this setting is made, it is assumed that all users are set to have a password request and use prohibition use authority.

When the icon of the service registered in the network is selected in the self-service information display area G2 and, for example, the setting of usage authority is selected from the menu, the setting screen 40 shown in FIG. 9 is displayed. In the setting screen 40, the network information display area G1 and the shortcut display area G
The user whose icon is displayed at 3 can set the usage authority. Further, for the users not displayed here, the level of the usage authority automatically given to all the users at the time of registration is maintained as it is.

In FIG. 9, the right to use the DSC of the self service is set. Here the user "Sato"
The client terminal of is registered in the server “wat_lab”. There are four levels, and settings are made for the users "Yamada" and "Sato" in the network information display area G1 and the user "Suzuki" in the shortcut area G3. Since the user “Yamada” set to level 4 is his / her own service (DSC), unlimited use permission is required, and the users “Sato” and “Suzuki” set to level 2 need to enter a password when using. Level 1
Is forbidden to use, level 3 is a simple password shorter than level 2. On the setting screen 40, the level of usage authority is set for each client. If there are other users on the network 10, those users will be given the strictest usage authority.
Therefore, if the network information display area G1 and the shortcut display area G3 are provided as in the GUI of the present embodiment, users registered in various groups / servers displayed in these two areas can be identified. , It is regarded as a virtual service user group, and a strict level of usage authority is automatically given to other users, and the usage authority can be easily set for each user of the user group.

In addition, a virtual user as shown in FIG.
For the group, for example, a usage method such as exchanging messages within the group can be considered.

Next, the deregistration of the self service registered in the network will be described. It is assumed that the self-service registered in the network is displayed in the network information display area G1. The user of the GUI of the present embodiment can easily determine that it is the service that he / she has registered (however, if other services are registered with the same registration name), In the present embodiment, the determination is made based on the ID confirmed when registered in the network described above.

If an icon of a service having the same ID as the ID registered for the selected icon of the service in the network information display area G1 is present in the self-service display area, that network information display area is displayed. It can be said that the selected service of G1 is a self service.

When the icon in the network information display area G1 is dragged and dropped in the registration cancellation area G4 as shown in FIG. 10, registration cancellation processing is performed. In FIG. 10, services registered as a network (icon DS
C) is deregistered. First, if there is an icon holding the same ID in the shortcut display area G3, this display is deleted. Next, from the icon having the same ID in the service of the self-service display area G2,
Delete the information of D. As a result, the service (icon DSC) is unregistered from the network 10.

When the registration cancellation processing from the network is performed, the registration is canceled from the network and the net information database 30 is also updated. Further, if the service registration display of the displayed group / server is updated according to the updated database, the service that has been deregistered from the network information display area G1 is deleted. In this way, by having the registration cancellation area G4, it is possible to easily cancel the registration of the self service.

In the above-mentioned embodiment, the network information is displayed on the information display / management GUI for the network in which each server is divided into groups or a group of a plurality of servers and each service is registered therein. In addition to the network information display area G1 that is provided, a shortcut display area G3 that can register and display the services displayed in the area is provided, so that the display of the network information display area G1 can be switched to another group / server. You can also start and use the service registered as a shortcut. In addition, the services displayed in the network information display area G1 and the services displayed in the shortcut display area G3 can be combined to be handled as a virtual group according to the individual use of the user.

When the user has a service that can use the network as an automatic addition function, a self-service display area G2 for displaying the service and a deregistration area G4 for deregistering the self-service registered in the network. By providing the, the network registration / deregistration can be performed by an easy operation such as drag and drop.

[0041]

According to the first aspect of the present invention, a list of groups including at least one server connected to the network and a list of services registered in the server are displayed on the screen of the display means. It is switchably displayed on the network information display area allocated above, and a list of duplicates of the services listed on the information display area is displayed on the shortcut display area allocated on the screen of the display means. By doing so, there is an advantage that the visibility and operability of network information and services provided on the network can be improved.

According to the second aspect of the invention, since a group of services displayed in the network information display area and the shortcut display area can be regarded as one virtual group and handled, It is possible to handle as a virtual group according to the individual use of the user, and there is an advantage that the visibility and operability of network information and services provided on the network can be improved.

According to the third aspect of the present invention, a list of services that the client connected to the network can use via the network is displayed on the screen of the display means, and the self-information is displayed. When the service displayed in the area and displayed in the self-information display area is dragged and dropped into the network information display area, the service is registered as a shared service on the network. This has the advantage that registration can be performed, and the visibility and operability of network information and services provided on the network can be improved.

According to the invention described in claim 4, the service displayed in the network information display area and registered as a shared service on the network is:
Since the registration as a shared service on the network is canceled when a drag & drop operation is performed on the registration cancellation area allocated on the screen of the display means, the registration of the service can be easily performed. An advantage is that the visibility and operability of the service provided on the network can be improved.

According to the fifth aspect of the invention, the use authority of the service displayed in the network information display area and registered as the shared service on the network can be set for each client on the network. Therefore, there is an advantage that the visibility and operability of the network information and the service provided on the network can be improved.

According to the invention of claim 6, a list of groups consisting of at least one or more servers connected to the network and a list of services registered in the server are displayed on the display means. A step of switchably displaying on a network information display area allocated on the screen, and a copy of the service listed in the information display area on a shortcut display area allocated on the screen of the display means. Since the computer is made to execute the step of displaying the list and the step of displaying the list, there is an advantage that the visibility and operability of the network information and the service provided on the network can be improved.

Further, according to the invention of claim 7, a list of groups consisting of the server and a list of services registered in the server are switchably displayed in the network information display area of the display means, Since the duplications of the services listed in the information display area are listed in the shortcut display area of the display unit, the visibility and operability of the network information and the services provided on the network are improved. The advantage is that it can.

[0048] According to the invention described in claim 8, in the self-information display area of the display means, a list of services available through the network that the client connected to the network has is displayed. When the service displayed in the self-information display area is dragged and dropped into the network information display area, the registration means registers it as a shared service on the network. There is an advantage that the visibility and operability of the service provided by can be improved.

According to the invention described in claim 9, the services displayed in the network information display area and registered as shared services on the network are:
When the drag and drop operation is performed on the registration cancellation area allocated on the display screen, the registration cancellation means cancels the registration as the shared service on the network, so that the network information and the network information are provided. The advantage is that the visibility and operability of the service can be improved.

Further, according to the invention of claim 10, the use authority of the service displayed on the network information display area and registered as the shared service on the network is changed by the use authority setting means on the network. Since the setting is made for each client, there is an advantage that the visibility and operability of network information and services provided on the network can be improved.

[Brief description of drawings]

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

FIG. 2 is a schematic diagram showing a display screen of an information processing terminal.

FIG. 3 is a schematic diagram showing an example of a GUI display screen at startup.

FIG. 4 is a schematic diagram showing an example of a GUI display screen when switching servers.

FIG. 5 is a block diagram illustrating a method of activating a service in a Jini network.

[Fig. 6] GU when creating a service shortcut
It is a schematic diagram which shows an example of an I display screen.

FIG. 7 is a schematic diagram showing an example of a GUI display screen when switching servers after creating a shortcut.

FIG. 8 is a schematic diagram showing an example of a GUI display screen when registering a self-service server.

FIG. 9 is a schematic diagram showing an example of a GUI display screen at the time of registration of usage authority.

FIG. 10 is a schematic diagram showing an example of a GUI display screen when the self-service registration is released.

[Explanation of symbols]

1, 2 Servers 3, 5 Information processing terminals (registration means, deregistration means, usage authority setting means) 4 Digital camera 6 Modem 10 Network G1 Network information display area G2 Self service display area (self information display area) G3 Shortcut display area G4 registration cancellation area

Claims (10)

[Claims] 1. A network information display method for displaying information about a network on a display means included in a device connectable to the network, the list of groups including at least one server connected to the network, and the server. And a list of services registered in the display means are switchably displayed on a network information display area allocated on the screen of the display means, and a copy of the services listed in the information display area is displayed on the display means. A method for displaying network information, characterized by displaying a list in a shortcut display area allocated on the screen. 2. The network information according to claim 1, wherein a group of services displayed in the network information display area and the shortcut display area is regarded as one virtual group and can be handled. Display method. 3. A self-information display area allocated on the screen of the display means displays a list of services available through the network that the client connected to the network has, and the self-information display area. 3. The network information display method according to claim 1, wherein when the service displayed in <1> is dragged and dropped into the network information display area, the service is registered as a shared service on the network. 4. When a service displayed in the network information display area and registered as a shared service on the network is dragged and dropped into a deregistration area allocated on the screen of the display means,
4. The network information display method according to claim 1, wherein registration as a shared service on the network is canceled. 5. The use authority of a service displayed in the network information display area and registered as a shared service on the network can be set for each client on the network. The network information display method described in any of 1. 6. A network information display program for displaying information about a network on a display means included in a device connectable to the network, the list of groups including at least one server connected to the network, and the server. A switchable display of a list of services registered in a network information display area allocated on the screen of the display means, and a duplication of the services listed in the information display area, A network information display program for causing a computer to execute a step of displaying a list in a shortcut display area allocated on the screen of the display means. 7. An information processing terminal connected to a network to which at least one or more servers are connected, switchably displaying a list of groups including the servers and a list of services registered in the servers. An information processing terminal, comprising: a network information display area, and a display unit having a shortcut display area for displaying a list of copies of the services listed in the information display area. 8. The display unit has a client connected to the network,
When a service displayed in the self-information display area is dragged and dropped into the network information display area, the self-information display area displays a list of services available via the network. The information processing terminal according to claim 7, further comprising registration means for registering as a shared service on a network. 9. The shared service on the network, wherein the display means has a deregistration area for deregistering a service displayed in the network information display area and registered as a shared service on the network. 9. The information according to claim 7, further comprising a registration cancellation unit for canceling registration as a shared service on the network when a service registered as is dragged and dropped into the registration cancellation area. Processing terminal. 10. A use authority setting unit configured to set the use authority of a service displayed in the network information display area and registered as a shared service on the network for each client on the network. The information processing terminal according to any one of claims 7 to 9, which is characterized in that.