JP2003248677A - Computer readable medium recording maintenance manual related data, maintenance manual related data delivery system, selective delivery program used for same system, and selective download program - Google Patents

Abstract

<P>PROBLEM TO BE SOLVED: To facilitate carrying of a maintenance manual, save a space for placing the maintenance manual, quickly search target maintenance information, and quickly maintain it. <P>SOLUTION: Maintenance manual page display data 1 comprising an electronized maintenance manual page are related to jump command data 2 commanding a jump to another page to a computer based on the operation of input means. The jump command data 2 are related to page index data 3 indexing a jump target page. The page index data 3 are related to supplementary information page display data 4, or indexing target data. The supplementary information page display data 4 are data comprising a supplementary information page related to the contents of the maintenance manual page and interrelations of respective data are performed via a pointer on a recording medium. <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 computer-readable medium storing maintenance manual-related data and a maintenance manual-related data distribution system, and more particularly to electronic manuals for hardware maintenance and software maintenance of equipment. The present invention relates to a computer-readable medium in which data related to a maintenance manual to be handled is recorded and a maintenance manual related data distribution system.

[0002]

2. Description of the Related Art When a device provider such as a maker or a trading company delivers a device to a customer, it is general to conclude not only a sales contract or a lease contract for the device but also a maintenance contract for the device. The equipment provider has trained maintenance personnel, who regularly visit customers at spots or spots to perform equipment maintenance work based on contracts.

Further, one maintenance person is not in charge of maintaining only a specific device, but is in charge of maintaining various devices provided by the company. However, it is extremely difficult to remember all the information required for maintenance, and in practice, it is normal to bring maintenance manuals for each device to the site of maintenance and refer to them as necessary. It was

[0004]

However, in the above-mentioned conventional example, the maintenance manual is a thick paper file, so that it is inconvenient to carry. Further, there is an inconvenience of occupying a large physical space as a storage place. Also, the pages had to be turned before the desired maintenance information was found, which was a cause of hindering quick maintenance. In addition, if a technical matter was added after the maintenance manual was issued once, pages for the maintenance manual were added or pages were replaced, which took time to manage. Also, if the customer opens a thick manual, the maintenance staff might give the impression that the maintenance staff is inexperienced. In addition, even in the maintenance of one device, related items may be recorded by skipping pages, or related items may be divided into separate booklets,
We could not confirm the related matters promptly. In addition, even if new information useful for maintenance occurs, it takes time for it to be printed and distributed to the maintenance base before it is reflected in the maintenance manual, so maintenance personnel can The maintenance information could not be utilized immediately at the site. In addition, such inconveniences associated with maintenance manuals were duplicated by individual maintenance personnel on a nationwide scale.

[0005]

SUMMARY OF THE INVENTION It is an object of the present invention to improve the inconvenience of the conventional example, and particularly to facilitate the carrying of a maintenance manual. It also aims to save space for the maintenance manual. Moreover, it is also an object to promptly find desired maintenance information so that quick maintenance can be performed. It also aims to enable maintenance personnel to quickly know the revision of maintenance manuals and newly generated maintenance information. Another object is to enable maintenance work to be performed without making customers feel uneasy. It also aims to help you find relevant items quickly. The purpose of this is to provide an environment in which all maintenance personnel can easily perform maintenance work.

[0006]

In order to achieve the above object, the data structure medium according to claim 1 is based on maintenance manual page display data forming a computerized maintenance manual page and operation of an input means. And the jump instruction data for instructing the computer to jump to another page. Furthermore, this jump command data is associated with page index data that indexes the page of the jump destination. Further, the page index data is associated with the supplemental information page display data that is the index destination data. Here, the supplemental information page display data is data that constitutes a page of supplemental information regarding the content of the pages of the maintenance manual. The data is associated with each other through a pointer on the recording medium.

According to a second aspect of the data structure medium, in the medium of the first aspect, the computer is instructed to jump to another page based on the supplemental information page display data and the operation of the input means. Associate with jump command data. Furthermore, this jump command data is associated with page index data that indexes the page of the jump destination. Further, the page index data is associated with the maintenance manual page display data which is the index destination data. The data is associated with each other through a pointer on the recording medium.

The data structure medium according to claim 3 is the medium according to claim 1 or 2, further comprising a tree structure database of product classification, and at least the maintenance manual page display data corresponds to the maintenance manual. The product is classified and recorded in the product classification.

A system according to a fourth aspect stores a computer terminal equipped with the medium according to the third aspect, a tree structure of product categories, maintenance manual page display data or supplementary information page display data that is updated at any time. The system includes a maintenance manual update system and a relay system that receives the latest tree structure of product classifications stored in the maintenance manual update system, maintenance manual page display data or supplemental information page display data and stores the received data in storage means. Of these, when the relay system receives from the computer terminal the designation of the classification included in the tree structure of the product classification and the distribution request for the update data, the tree structure of the latest product classification accumulated in the storage means and the maintenance manual page display Select the tree structure, maintenance manual page display data or supplementary information page display data that is lower than the classification specified from the data or supplementary information page display data,
A selective distribution function is provided for transmitting the selected tree structure, maintenance manual page display data, or supplementary information page display data to a computer terminal. On the other hand, when the computer terminal receives an update request designating the product category for the tree structure of the product category, maintenance manual page display data, or supplementary information page display data stored in the medium, the computer terminal receives the product category. Is sent to the relay system and the tree structure, maintenance manual page display data or supplementary information page display data under the specified product category is received from the relay system, each received data is updated with respect to the medium data. It has a configuration that it has a selective download function.

Further, a program according to a fifth aspect causes a computer forming a relay system to execute the following steps. That is, a step of receiving a distribution request for update data together with designation of a category included in a tree structure of a product category from an external computer terminal, a tree structure of the latest product category accumulated in a storage unit, maintenance manual page display data, or From the supplementary information page display data, a tree structure, maintenance manual page display data or supplementary information page display data lower than the specified classification is selected, and the selected tree structure, maintenance manual page display data or supplementary information page display data is selected. Is transmitted to a computer terminal.

Further, a program according to claim 6 causes a computer terminal to execute the following steps. That is,
A step of accepting an update request designating the product classification from the terminal user for the tree structure of the product classification, maintenance manual page display data, or supplementary information page display data stored in the medium according to claim 3, and the product classification. Is transmitted to the relay system, and the subordinate tree structure of the designated product classification, maintenance manual page display data or supplementary information page display data is received from the relay system, and each received data is stored in the medium. The configuration is such that the step of updating the data is executed.

This is intended to achieve the above-mentioned object.

[0013]

BEST MODE FOR CARRYING OUT THE INVENTION An embodiment of the present invention will be described below with reference to FIG.
It will be described with reference to FIG. In the present embodiment, the maintenance manual is intended to be converted into electronic data, recorded in a computer-readable recording medium such as a CDROM, and arranged in a parts center as a part that can be ordered at the maintenance base. Here, the maintenance manual is not limited to simply storing its contents in the recording medium, but the electronic data of the maintenance manual has a specific data structure, and the maintenance manual having this data structure is stored in the recording medium.

FIG. 1 shows the data structure of a maintenance manual which is converted into electronic data and stored in a computer-readable recording medium. In FIG. 1, the maintenance manual page display data 1 is associated with the jump command data 2. The jump command data 2 is associated with the page index data 3. The page index data 3 is associated with the supplemental information page display data 4. Further, the supplemental information page display data 4 is associated with the jump command data 5. Also, the jump command data 5 is associated with the page index data 6. The page index data 6 is associated with the maintenance manual page display data 1.

Of these, the maintenance manual page display data 1 is display data for displaying a predetermined page included in the computerized maintenance manual on a computer display by a dedicated viewer. The jump instruction data 2 is instruction data for jumping from a predetermined page of the maintenance manual page display data 1 to a page of supplementary information related to the items described on the predetermined page. The page index data 3 is data for indexing the pointer of the supplemental information page display data 4 on the recording medium. On the other hand, the supplemental information page display data 4 is display data for displaying a computerized page of supplementary information on a computer display by a dedicated viewer.
The jump command data 5 is the supplemental information page display data 4
This is instruction data for jumping from the page to the page of the maintenance manual related to the items described on this page. The page index data 6 is data for indexing the pointer of the maintenance manual page display data 1 on the recording medium. The association 7 between each data is performed by the pointer on the recording medium in which each data is stored.

In this embodiment, the maintenance manual page display data 1 is described in a file of a specific structure handled by the computer. Jump command data 2
Is embedded in a part of the maintenance manual page display data 1. The page index data 3 is embedded in a part of the maintenance manual page display data 1 as an argument of the jump instruction data 2. Further, in the present embodiment, the supplementary information page display data 4 is described in a file having a specific structure different from the file of the maintenance manual page display data 1. The jump command data 5 is embedded in a part of the supplementary information page display data. The page index data 6 is embedded in a part of the supplementary information page display data as an argument of the jump instruction data 5.

In this embodiment, the computerized maintenance manual includes a service manual referred to by a maintenance person, an exploded view and a parts list for each product, an instruction manual for each product, and a parts price list. Has been done. Further, the computerized supplementary information includes correction information and technical supplementary information for the contents of the issued maintenance manual.

FIG. 2 shows a data structure in which the maintenance manual shown in FIG. 1 and the supplementary information are associated with each other, and the data structure is further classified into a tree structure for each product classification. In FIG. 2, the upper classification (folder) that collects each product group is the color P as the first-level classification of the product group.
Associated are PC classification, analog PPC classification, press classification, and option / other classification. here,
“PPC” is an abbreviation that indicates an electrostatic printing type copying machine. Further, in parallel with the first-level classification of these product groups, the failure code classification and the parts charge table classification are associated with the upper classification. Further, each product category is provided with a specific product category. For example, the color PPC classification includes a manual 1 classification that stores a manual of a first specific color PPC product and a manual 2 that stores a manual of a second specific color PPC product.
Is associated with the classification. However, more product categories may be associated. Further, in the classification of a specific product, a configuration file of manuals related to the product is stored. The configuration file includes a data file including the above-mentioned maintenance manual page display data, a data file including supplementary information page display data, and the like. For example, for the first specific product belonging to the color PPC, the
The configuration file 1 and the second configuration file 2 are stored. However, more configuration files may be stored. A data structure associating the maintenance manual shown in FIG. 1 with the supplementary information is constructed by these configuration files. That is, a large number of data structures for associating the maintenance manual with the supplementary information shown in FIG. 1 are stored in the tree structure of the product classification shown in FIG.

The data structure for associating the maintenance manual with the supplementary information shown in FIG. 1 is stored in a computer-readable recording medium in a state of being classified into a tree structure for each product shown in FIG. The recording medium is
For example, it is a CDROM, and this CDROM is placed as a part in the parts center so that the maintenance staff at the maintenance base can
This CDROM can be ordered from the parts center and ordered as parts.

A maintenance person copies the above-mentioned CDROM to a built-in hard disk drive (hereinafter referred to as HDD) of a notebook personal computer (hereinafter referred to as notebook PC) and uses it. In order to browse the maintenance manual and the supplementary information that are data-copied to the HDD, a viewer application program (hereinafter abbreviated as viewer application) corresponding to the data structure of the configuration file shown in FIG. 1 is used. The main body of this viewer application and its installer program are the above CD
It may be recorded in the ROM together with data such as a maintenance manual.

FIG. 3 is a block diagram of a notebook PC that executes a viewer application. The laptop is
Input means 11 such as a keyboard, display means 12 such as a liquid crystal monitor, communication means 13 such as a modem, RAM, RO
Storage means 14 including M, HDD and the like, external storage 15 such as a CDROM drive, and control means 16 including a CPU
It has and.

More specifically, in the present embodiment, the external storage 15 is a CDROM drive, and a CDROM storing the above-mentioned computerized maintenance manual is set therein. Then, each file included in the tree structure 15a in the CDROM and the folder forming the tree structure is copied to the storage unit 14, particularly the HDD. Therefore, the tree structure database 14a (tree structure D) copied from the external storage 15 is stored in the storage unit 14.
B14a) and the association between the maintenance manual page display data 1 and the supplementary information page display data 4 included therein are copied.

The control means 16 executes the predetermined program to display the display control function 16a of the viewer application, the page jump control function 16b (JP control function 16b) in the viewer application, and the tree structure DB 14a of the storage means 14. On the other hand, the selected download function 16c (selected DL function 1) which downloads the selected specific file from the server and adds or replaces it
6c) and are realized.

Of these, the display control function 16b has a function of displaying a page based on the maintenance manual page display data 1 or the supplemental information page display data 4 on the display means 12, and a page designated by the input means 11 as the maintenance manual. The function of selecting from the page display data 1 or the supplementary information page display data 4 and displaying the selected page on the display means 12, and the maintenance manual page display data 1 or the supplementary information page display data 4 to be displayed are shown in FIG. When the jump instruction data 2 and 5 shown are found, the control means 16 is caused to execute the function of visually indicating that the jump instruction data 2 and 5 are present on the display means 12.

The JP control function 16b is provided in the display means 1
When the jump instruction data 2 and 5 visualized in 2 are selected from the input means 11, the page index data 3 or 6 associated with the selected jump instruction data 2 or 5 is stored in the maintenance manual page of the storage means 14. Display data 1
Alternatively, the display control function 16a is provided so that the supplemental information page display data 4 is extracted and other supplementary information page display data 4 or maintenance manual page display data 1 indexed by the page index data 3 or 6 is displayed on the display means 12. Instruct. Here, the operation of the selection DL function 16c will be described later.

FIG. 4 is an example of a maintenance manual page displayed on the display means 12 by the viewer application based on the maintenance manual page display data 1. In this example, a device configuration diagram or an exploded view 21 is displayed in the upper part of the page, and a drawing number is assigned to each part in the drawing. Further, a list of parts included in the configuration diagram or the exploded view is displayed in the lower part. In the parts list, a drawing number, a part number, and a part name are displayed for each part. Especially for parts for which technical supplementary information is prepared, the jump command data is visualized in the part number part. The first link 22 is displayed. In FIG. 4, the first link 22 is visualized as a quadrangle surrounding the part number. Also, depending on the part, the second link 23 that visualizes the jump command data is displayed at the front of the drawing number.
Is also available. Here, in the supplementary information of the link destination, for example, the first link 22 is a link to technical supplementary information regarding a specific part, and the second link 23 is a link to a memo regarding the technical supplementary information. Is.

In FIG. 5, the first link 22 is connected to the input means 11
It is an example of a supplementary information page that jumps when selected by the operation of. This supplementary information is manual and other revision information that is issued whenever the contents of the maintenance manual are revised after the main edition of the maintenance manual is issued, and is called technical information. In the example of FIG. 5, regarding the parts list shown in FIG. 4, when the parts are changed after the fact, change information of the parts number is shown. The part number before the change and the part number after the change are displayed. For the part number before the change, that is, the part number common to the part number displayed in FIG. 4, the link 24 that visualizes the jump command data 5 is set. Has been done. The page index data 6 corresponding to the jump instruction data 5 is associated with the page index data 6 indexing the pages of the maintenance manual shown in FIG. 4, and when the link 24 is selected from the input means 11, the page index data 6 shown in FIG. The display is controlled so as to return to the display of the configuration diagram or exploded view and the parts list shown.

Here, to summarize the operations of the viewer application for realizing the above display control operation, the maintenance staff operates the input means 11 and the maintenance manual page display data 1 (including it) stored in the storage means 14 is included. A data file) is selected, and the control means 16 is instructed to display the data on the display means 12. The control means 16 has a display control function 16a.
Is executed and the page based on the instructed maintenance manual page display data 1 is displayed on the display means 12. that time,
The display control function 16 a reads the relevant maintenance manual page display data 1 from the storage means 14, specifies the jump command data 2 included in the read page display data 1, and displays the jump command data 2 on the display means 12 as a link. Visualize as 22 and 23. Here, it is assumed that the configuration diagram or exploded view of FIG. 4 and the parts list are displayed. The maintenance staff operates the input means 11 to select and operate the first link 22 to the supplementary information or the second link 23 related to the supplementary information from the parts list displayed on the display means 12. The control means 16 that has received the selection operation of these links 22 and 23 executes the JP control function 16b. The JP control function 16b specifies the jump command data 2 corresponding to the selected and operated link, the page index data 3 associated with the jump command data 2, and the supplementary information page indexed by the page index data 3 The display data 4 is read from the storage means 14, and the display control of the supplementary information page is transferred to the display control function 16a.
The display control function 16a displays a page based on the supplemental information page display data 4 on the display means 12 and also includes the jump command data 5 included in the page display data 4.
Is visualized on the display means 12 as a link 24 to the maintenance manual page display data 1. Here, it is assumed that the technical information shown in FIG. 5 is displayed. When the maintenance staff selects and operates the link 24 visualized in the technical information, the JP control function 1
6b identifies the jump instruction data 5 corresponding to the link 24, identifies the page index data 6 associated with the jump instruction data 5, and displays the maintenance manual page display data 1 indexed by the page index data 6. The display control is passed to the display control function 16a. This allows
It is possible to alternately browse a specific page of the maintenance manual and supplementary information related to the content of the specific page.

According to the present embodiment described above, the maintenance manual and its supplementary information are stored in a storage medium such as a CDROM, so that the maintenance manual, etc. can be stored in comparison with the case where a lot of paper manuals are conventionally carried. Can be easily carried. In addition, the space for storing the maintenance manual can be reduced. Furthermore, maintenance work can be performed without making customers feel uneasy as compared with the conventional method in which a paper manual is opened at the site. Further, since the maintenance manual and the supplementary information are associated with each other so that the related information can be called up by a simple operation, it is possible to quickly find the desired maintenance information and quickly respond to the maintenance. This allows
It is possible to provide an environment in which all maintenance personnel can easily perform maintenance work.

Next, the operation of adding, updating and deleting the maintenance manual page display data and the supplementary information page display data will be described with reference to FIG.

FIG. 6 is a block diagram of a maintenance manual related data distribution system including the notebook PC shown in FIG. The system is a maintenance manual update system 100 for updating manual related data,
A relay system 200 that accumulates the manual-related data updated by the update system 100 and distributes it to the terminal 10 such as a notebook PC of a maintenance staff, and the manual-related data distributed from this relay system 200 is updated and stored in the storage means 14. It is configured by a terminal 10 such as a notebook PC for storing.
Here, the maintenance manual update system 100, the relay system 200, and the notebook PCLO are provided so as to be communicable via a computer network using a public line or a dedicated line.

Of these, maintenance manual update system 1
Reference numeral 00 includes an input unit 101 such as a keyboard and a pointing device, a display unit 102 which is a computer display, a communication unit 103 such as a modem, a storage unit 104 including an HDD, and a control unit 106 including a CPU. . Among these, the storage unit 104 stores the same tree structure DB as in FIG. 2 or a tree structure DB in which any hierarchical element is added, changed or deleted in the tree structure DB in FIG. Further, maintenance manual page display data 1 and supplementary information page display data 4 including the same association as the data structure shown in FIG. 1 are stored for each product in each lowest hierarchy of the tree structure DB.

Further, the relay system 200 comprises a communication means 203 such as a modem for communicating with the maintenance manual update system 100 and the notebook PC 10, a storage means 204 including an HDD, and a control means 206 including a CPU. . The storage means 204 has the same tree structure D as that stored in the storage means 104 of the maintenance manual update system.
The association between the B and maintenance manual page display data 1 and the supplementary information page display data 4 is stored. The control unit 206 has a function of copying the contents of the tree structure DB stored in the storage unit 104 of the maintenance manual update system 100 to the storage unit 204 of the relay system 200,
A selective delivery function 206c is provided for selectively reading out only a part of the contents of the tree structure DB stored in the storage unit 204, which is requested to be delivered by the notebook PCLO, and delivering it to the notebook PC.

Since the notebook PCLO has the same configuration as that shown in FIG. 3, a duplicate description is omitted, but a selective download function 16c (selected DL function 16c) is mounted as one function of the control means 16. (A part of the configuration shown in FIG. 3 is omitted in FIG. 6). The selection DL function 16c receives the step of accepting the designation of a part of the hierarchy included in the tree structure DB of FIG. 2 from the input means 11 and an identifier for identifying the accepted part of the hierarchy (for example, of the specified hierarchy). Path) to the relay system 200 via the communication means 13 to make a distribution request for update data, and a tree structure and a data file in the partial hierarchy transmitted from the relay system 200 in response to this distribution request. Is stored in the storage means 14, and a step of updating the tree structure and data files in the partial hierarchy stored in the storage means 14 into the tree structure DB in the storage means 14.

FIG. 7 shows a selection distribution function 206c and a selection D.
It is a flow chart which shows a processing procedure with L function 16c.

When the maintenance staff wants to obtain the updated maintenance manual page display data 1 or the updated supplementary information page display data 4, he / she operates the input means 11 to activate the selection DL function 16c and, at the same time, as shown in FIG. In the tree structure DB shown in (1), the designation of the hierarchy desired to be updated is input from the input means 11. For example, in FIG. 2, the color P
When it is desired to specify the tree structure and the configuration file below the PC hierarchy, the color PPC hierarchy is specified. Upon receipt of this input, the selected DL function 16c (S1) uses the path of the specified layer as the identifier of the layer and the relay system 2
00 through the communication means 13 to request an update (S2).

On the other hand, the maintenance manual update system 100
Then, the tree structure D stored in the storage unit 104 at any time.
When the structure of B is reviewed and new maintenance manual page display data 1 and supplementary information page display data 4 etc. are generated, the work of storing them in an appropriate hierarchy of the tree structure DB in the storage means 104 is performed. ing. Then, the latest tree structure DB in the storage means 104 and the configuration files included therein are periodically copied to the storage means 204 of the relay system 200 to create a duplicate. Therefore, the storage unit 204 of the relay system always stores the most recently maintained tree structure DB and the configuration files included therein.

Then, the control means 2 of the relay system 200
Upon receiving the above-mentioned update request from the note PCLO, 06 activates the selective distribution function 206c, and based on the identifier of the hierarchy accompanying the update request, the latest tree structure below the specified hierarchy and the configuration included therein. The file is read from the storage unit 204 and transmitted to the notebook PCLO via the communication unit 203 (S3 to S5).

On the other hand, in the notebook PCLO, the selected DL
The function 16c receives from the relay system 200 the latest tree structure below the specified hierarchy and the configuration file included therein, and stores it in the storage means 204. Then, these pieces of information are updated by replacing the existing tree structure and the configuration file included therein (S6, S7).

According to this, since the revision of the maintenance manual, the fact that the manual of the new model is issued, the addition of supplementary information, etc. can be promptly acquired by the online update process, the information useful for the newly generated maintenance can be obtained. Maintenance personnel can know promptly. Further, since the update processing can be performed by designating only the specific classification of the tree structure that constitutes the product classification, it is possible to perform the quick update processing within the necessary range and avoid unnecessary update processing. It becomes possible and is suitable for a mobile terminal having a limited storage capacity.

Here, in the above update operation, the tree structure below the hierarchy in which the selected DL function 16c is specified and the configuration files included therein are collectively acquired from the relay system 200 and updated. Instead of acquiring all the configuration files in the specified hierarchy, only the updated difference may be downloaded and acquired. There are several possible methods of downloading only the updated differences. For example, the relay system side manages a table of distributed files and undistributed files for each notebook PC (terminal), and a selective distribution function. When the 206c receives the update request from the notebook PC (terminal), the notebook PC that has made the update request is specified by acquiring the identifier of the notebook PC, and the undelivered file is stored in the table in the notebook PC. The notebook PC is identified by referring to and reads only the undelivered file from the storage means 204.
It may be transmitted to.

Alternatively, the relay system 200 is a notebook PC.
For each time, the latest update time is managed in a table, and the time when a file copy is received from the maintenance manual update system 100 is managed for each file, and the selective distribution function 206
When c receives the update request from the notebook PC (terminal),
The notebook PC that has made the update request is specified by obtaining the identifier of the notebook PC, the latest update time of the notebook PC is specified by referring to the identifier and the table, and the update time is specified rather than the specified update time. Only the files that have received a file copy from the maintenance manual update system 100 are read out from the storage means 204,
You may make it transmit only the read file to a notebook PC.

Alternatively, a notebook PC (terminal) that makes an update request
Relay system 2
00, and the selective distribution function 206 reads out from the storage means 204 only the file when the file copy was received from the maintenance manual update system 100 later than the latest update time notified from the notebook PC. You may make it transmit only a file to a notebook PC. Furthermore, the relay system 200 may use both the distribution method by the collective download and the distribution method by the differential download. For example, the relay system 2
00 manages for each file to be distributed, a batch download target or a differential download target in a table. When an update request is issued from a notebook PC (terminal), first, the batch download The file to be distributed may be specified by the method, and only the file to be distributed may be read from the storage means and transmitted to the notebook PC by the differential download method for the files in the specified range. For example, a method including making the file containing the maintenance manual page display data the target of the batch download and making the file containing the supplementary information page display data the target of the differential download can be considered. This differential download method can reduce the amount of data transmitted and received in the update process, and has the effects of speeding up the update process, reducing the data traffic, and improving the reliability of the update process by reducing the amount of update data.

[0044]

Since the present invention is constructed and functions as described above, according to this, the maintenance manuals and the supplementary information are digitized, and the pages of the digitized maintenance manual and the digitized supplementary information are stored. Pages are associated with a specific data structure and stored in a storage medium, and related supplementary information can be referenced from pages of maintenance manuals, so compared to the case of carrying many paper manuals as in the past, This makes it easy to carry maintenance manuals. In addition, the space for storing the maintenance manual can be reduced. Furthermore, maintenance work can be performed without making customers feel uneasy as compared with the conventional method in which a paper manual is opened at the site. Further, since the maintenance manual and the supplementary information are associated with each other so that the related information can be called up by a simple operation, it is possible to quickly find the desired maintenance information and quickly respond to the maintenance. This makes it possible to provide an environment in which all maintenance personnel can easily perform maintenance work.

[Brief description of drawings]

FIG. 1 is a data structure diagram between a maintenance manual and supplementary information showing an embodiment of the present invention.

FIG. 2 is a tree structure diagram for storing the data structure of FIG. 1 by product classification.

[Fig. 3] Note P executing a viewer application
It is a block block diagram of C (terminal).

FIG. 4 is a screen configuration diagram showing an example of a computerized maintenance manual page.

FIG. 5 is a screen configuration diagram showing an example of a computerized page of supplementary information.

FIG. 6 is a block configuration diagram of a maintenance manual-related data distribution system showing an embodiment of the present invention.

FIG. 7 is a flowchart of a selective distribution function and a selective download function shown in FIG.

[Explanation of symbols]

1 Maintenance Manual Page Display Data 2, 5 Jump Command Data 3, 6 Page Index Data 4 Supplementary Information Page Display Data 7 Association 10 Notebook PC (Computer Terminal) 16c Selective Download Function (Selective Download Program) 100 Maintenance Manual Update System 200 Relay System 206c Selective distribution function (selective distribution program)

   ─────────────────────────────────────────────────── ─── Continued front page    (54) [Title of Invention] Computer-readable medium storing maintenance manual-related data and maintenance manual-related data.                     Data distribution system, selective distribution program and selective download program used in this system                     Mu

Claims (6)

[Claims] 1. A maintenance manual page display data forming a computerized maintenance manual page is associated with jump command data for instructing a computer to jump to another page based on an operation of an input means. This jump command data is associated with page index data for indexing the page of the jump destination, and further, this page index data is associated with the supplemental information page display data that is the data of the index destination, and the supplemental information page display data is A computer that records maintenance manual-related data, characterized in that it is data that forms a page of supplementary information related to the contents of the maintenance manual page, and that the association of each data is performed through a pointer on a recording medium. Readable medium. 2. The medium according to claim 1, wherein the supplementary information page display data is associated with jump command data for instructing a computer to jump to another page based on an operation of the input means. This jump command data and page index data for indexing the page of the jump destination are associated with each other, and further, this page index data and the maintenance manual page display data that is the data of the index destination are associated with each other. A computer-readable medium in which data related to a maintenance manual is recorded, which is characterized by being performed via a pointer on the recording medium. 3. The medium according to claim 1 or 2, further comprising a tree structure database of product classifications, wherein at least the maintenance manual page display data is classified and recorded in the corresponding product classification of the maintenance manual. A computer-readable medium on which data related to a maintenance manual is recorded. 4. A computer terminal provided with the medium according to claim 3, a maintenance manual update system for storing a product classification tree structure, maintenance manual page display data or supplementary information page display data which is updated at any time, and And a relay system that receives the latest product classification tree structure stored in the maintenance manual update system, maintenance manual page display data, or supplemental information page display data and accumulates the storage data in a storage means. From the above, when a request for distribution of update data is received together with the designation of the classification included in the tree structure of the product classification, the tree structure of the latest product classification accumulated in the storage means, maintenance manual page display data or supplemental information page display data To the tree structure below the specified classification from An al page display data or supplemental information page display data is selected, and the selected tree structure, a maintenance manual page display data or a supplemental information page display data is transmitted to the computer terminal, and a selection distribution function is provided, wherein the computer terminal is a terminal. From the user, regarding the tree structure of the product classification, maintenance manual page display data or supplementary information page display data stored in the medium,
When an update request specifying the product category is received, the specification of the product category is transmitted to the relay system, and the tree system under the specified product category, maintenance manual page display data, or supplementary information page is transmitted from the relay system. A maintenance manual-related data distribution system having a selective download function of updating each received data with respect to the data of the medium when the display data is received. 5. A computer forming a relay system, from an external computer terminal, specifying a classification included in a tree structure of product classification and receiving a distribution request of update data, and the latest product classification accumulated in a storage means. Tree structure of the maintenance manual page display data or supplementary information page display data, a tree structure lower than the specified classification,
A step of selecting maintenance manual page display data or supplemental information page display data and transmitting the selected tree structure, maintenance manual page display data or supplemental information page display data to the computer terminal; . 6. The computer user updates the tree structure of the product classification, maintenance manual page display data, or supplementary information page display data stored in the medium according to claim 3 to the computer terminal by designating the product classification. A step of accepting the request, a step of transmitting the designation of the product category to the relay system, and receiving a tree structure, maintenance manual page display data, or supplementary information page display data of a lower level of the designated product category from the relay system. A step of updating each of the received data with respect to the data of the medium, and a selective download program for executing.