JP2003331169A - Configuration method, configuration system and configuration program - Google Patents

Abstract

<P>PROBLEM TO BE SOLVED: To check the compatibility of merchandise by adding and changing only merchandise information and a constraint condition, or the like without program modification even though addition, a change, or the like of merchandise of a combination object occurs and to reduce a data amount in a system in which a user combines a plurality of pieces of merchandise for purchase or the like about a configuration method, a configuration system and a configuration program for checking the compatibility of a combination of a plurality of pieces of merchandise. <P>SOLUTION: This configuration method is provided with merchandise information description in which merchandise attributes are described and constraint condition description in which a constraint condition on a merchandise combination is described and checks merchandise to be combined according to the constraint condition description when any merchandise among pieces of merchandise for combination which are to be selected or have already been selected from a merchandise list generated and displayed on the basis of the merchandise information description about merchandise to be combined, given from a user. <P>COPYRIGHT: (C)2004,JPO

Description

Detailed Description of the Invention

[0001]

BACKGROUND OF THE INVENTION 1. Field of the Invention The present invention relates to a configuration method, a configuration system and a configuration program for checking the suitability of a combination of a plurality of products.

[0002]

2. Description of the Related Art Conventionally, there is a system (referred to as a configuration system) for purchasing or ordering a plurality of products such as an information device such as a computer and an optional product for insurance. In this system, for example, when purchasing a computer, if you select a desired item (for example, white color) from each list of the main body, keyboard, mouse, etc., the system side program will combine for each of the selected products. I was trying to check if was appropriate.

[0003]

Therefore, when the user selects a product or changes the product, the program on the system side treats the selected product or the modified product with other products. We checked whether the combination is suitable and accepted the order when it was OK, to prevent mistakes in the arrangement, so when a product was added or changed, the check program on the system side was modified accordingly. There was a problem that a lot of work was done and it could not be easily corrected.

For this reason, it is desired to check a combination of a plurality of products and reduce the data amount without modifying the program even if a product is added or changed.

The present invention solves these problems.
In a system where a user purchases multiple products by combining them, even if the products to be combined are added or changed, the product information and constraints are added or changed without modifying the program, and the product conformity is achieved. The purpose is to enable checking and reduce the amount of data.

[0006]

[Means for Solving the Problems] Means for solving the problems will be described with reference to FIG.

In FIG. 1, the configuration engine 2 checks the suitability of a plurality of products selected by the user 7 based on the product information description 3 and the constraint condition description 4.

[0008] The product information description 3 describes the product attributes. The constraint condition description 4 describes the constraint condition of the attribute of the product.

Next, the operation will be described. The constraint is imposed when the configuration engine 2 selects a product to be combined from the user 7 based on the product information description 3 from the displayed product list, or when any of the already selected combined products is changed. According to the condition description 4, the product to be combined is checked.

In this case, when describing the product and the attribute of the product in the product information description 3, if the product has the same or more attributes than a predetermined number, the attributes of the product are grouped into one location or It is described at an arbitrary location, and a pointer to the attribute of the commodity described at the one location or at the arbitrary location is described at the position of the attribute of the relevant commodity.

Further, as the constraint condition description 4, a predetermined logical expression is described for one or more of the product attribute, the number of products, and the value of the product attribute, and is set or changed arbitrarily.

Further, when the pointer is described in the product information description, the path to the pointer is set together with the pointer.

Further, as the constraint condition description 4, the presence / absence of skipping of the constraint information description 4 is arbitrarily set or changed.

When the attribute of the product in the product information description is designated as the constraint condition description and the automatic generation of the constraint condition description is designated, another product having the designated attribute is searched for, The specified constraint condition is set to the specified attribute for the combination between the searched products, and the constraint condition description is automatically generated.

When any one of the combined products is changed, the combined product is checked in accordance with the constraint condition description 4, and when it is determined that the constraint condition is violated, the product information description 3 is added to the identified product. By referring to the product, the product is replaced or presented with another product of the same type satisfying the constraint condition, and when there is an OK response from the user, the product is replaced and the constraint condition violation is resolved.

Further, regarding a product found when it is found that the constraint condition is violated, when there are a plurality of other products of the same type that satisfy the constraint condition by referring to the product information description 3, based on a predetermined attribute of the product. I try to decide the product.

Therefore, in the system in which the user purchases a plurality of products in combination, even if the products to be combined are added or changed, only the product information description 3 and the constraint condition description 4 are added without modifying the program. ,
It is possible to check the suitability of the product by making changes and reduce the amount of data.

[0018]

BEST MODE FOR CARRYING OUT THE INVENTION Next, an embodiment and an operation of the present invention will be sequentially described in detail with reference to FIGS.

FIG. 1 shows a system configuration diagram of the present invention.
In FIG. 1, the electronic catalog engine 1 refers to the product information description (XML) 3, presents a product list to the user 7, and presents product candidates that satisfy the condition in response to input of product search conditions. It is something that you do.

The configuration engine 2 checks the suitability of a plurality of products selected by the user 7 based on the product information description 3 and the constraint condition description 4 (see FIGS. 2 to 12). See below).

The product information description 3 describes the attributes of the product (described later with reference to FIGS. 2 to 12).

The constraint condition description 4 describes the constraint condition of the attribute of the product (which will be described later with reference to FIGS. 2 to 12).

The application interface 5 is
Data is input to and output from the user application 6.

The user application 6 is a user 7
Are various application programs that achieve the purpose of.

User 7 is a user application 6
Various instructions, such as selecting a plurality of products, are performed here.

Next, the operation of the configuration of FIG. 1 will be described in detail according to the order of the flowchart of FIG.

FIG. 2 shows a flowchart (overall) for explaining the operation of the present invention. In FIG. 2, S1 searches for standard components. For example, a computer having a plurality of products (components) is searched for a product having a standard configuration (a product having a standard configuration including components such as a main body and a keyboard).

In step S2, standard components are selected. This is to select one from the list when there are a plurality of commodities composing the computer, for example, the main body (commodity) searched for in S1, or plural if necessary. Similarly, when there are a plurality of other keyboards (commodities) and the like, one is selected from the list, or a plurality is selected if necessary.

In step S3, it is determined whether or not the selection of standard components has been completed. In the case of YES, since the selection of the plurality of products has been completed, the process proceeds to S4. In the case of NO, the process returns to S1 and is repeated to select other products.

In step S4, the selected standard component is stored in the cart. This stores a plurality of products selected in YES in S1 to S3 in a cart (a container for storing products formed on a computer). As a result, the selected product (main body, keyboard) is stored in the cart as shown in, for example, FIG. 3B described later.

In step S5, the product to be changed is selected from the cart. This is one of the products stored in the cart in S4
Select the product you want to change.

In step S6, the changed product is searched. S7 is
Select the changed product.

In step S8, the selected changed product is added to the cart. In steps S6 to S8, the product to be changed selected in the cart in step S5 and the product in the same product category (for example, another "keyboard" when the product "keyboard" is changed and selected) are searched. A list is presented, the user selects a product to be changed from the list, and the selected product is placed in the cart instead of the product before the change.

In step S9, it is determined whether the product change is completed. YE
If S, go to S10. In the case of NO, the process returns to S5 and the next product is changed.

At S10, one product is taken out from the cart. In step S11, it is determined whether there is a constraint condition regarding the taken out product. This determines whether or not there is a constraint condition (constraint condition description 4) such as constraint condition 1 in (e) of FIG. 6 to be described later regarding the product taken out from the cart in S10. If YES, the process proceeds to S12. In the case of NO, it was found that there is no constraint condition for the product,
Proceed to S14.

In step S12, it is determined whether the constraint condition is satisfied.
This is because if the product satisfies the constraint condition, for example, if the constraint condition 1 of FIG. 6E described later is satisfied, the attribute “color” of the product “main body” and the attribute “color” of the product “keyboard” "
Determine if the constraint condition that and must be the same is satisfied. In the case of YES, it is found that the constraint condition is satisfied, so the process proceeds to S14. In the case of NO, since it is found that the constraint condition is violated, an error is displayed in S13, and the user is informed that the attribute of the product is in violation of the constraint condition.
After 5, the change of the product is urged.

In step S14, it is determined whether all the products in the cart have been checked. In the case of YES, an estimate sheet for all products in the cart is created in S15 and presented to the user, and sold in S16. On the other hand, in the case of NO in S14, the process returns to S10 and is repeated for the next product.

As described above, after storing a plurality of products selected by the user in the cart and changing the products in the cart as necessary, the constraint condition (constraint condition description) between the product in the cart and other products is stored. Check if 4) is satisfied, if it is NG, change the product that violates the restrictions in the cart to another product and repeat, and if it is found that all the products meet the restriction conditions, check OK and quote Can be created, presented, and sold to the user. The details will be sequentially described below.

FIG. 3 shows an explanatory view of the present invention. FIG. 3A shows an example of a product.

FIG. 3A-1 shows an example of product information (main body). Here, the attributes of the following products shown in the figure are registered.

-Product classification: -Product number: -Price: -Color: -CPU: -Disk (hard disk device):-Use: -Others: Here, the product classification is the classification of the relevant product, here the computer It is the main body. The product number, price, and color are the product number, price, and color (color of appearance) of the product "main body". The CPU and the disk are the contents of the CPU (processing device) and the disk (hard disk device) mounted on the product "main body". The purpose is the purpose of the product of the composition.

FIG. 3A-2 shows an example of product information (keyboard). Here, the attributes of the following products shown in the figure are registered.

-Product classification: -Product number: -Price: -Color: -Others: Here, the product classification is the classification of the product, which is a computer keyboard here. The product number, price, and color are the product number, price, and color (outline color) of the product "keyboard."

FIG. 3B shows an example of a cart (commodity structure). This is an example of the product configuration in which the products are respectively selected from (a-1) and (a-2) of FIG. 3 and stored in the cart, and the following products shown in the figure are stored in the cart (as described above). S4 of FIG. 2).

Product Classification Product Number Price Color CPU Disk Application Body A-01 110,000 Black 1 GHz 20 GB Byte Household Product Classification Product Number Price Color Keyboard B-01 1,000 Black (c) of FIG. 3 is product information description (XML) 3 For example: This is a product that constitutes a computer and is shown in FIG.
(A-1) product "main body" and Fig. 3 (a-2) product "keyboard" (actually more products, but for simplicity of explanation , And an example described in the XML language.

In FIG. 3 (c), the product code "A-01", the price "110,000", and the color "black" are described, and the "home spec" is indicated by an arrow. Point to the relevant CPU "1GH
“Z”, disk “20 GByte”, and usage “household” are described (the XML language equivalent to the product category “main body” in the top row of FIG. 3 (a-1) and product number “A-01”. Is a description by). Here, three attributes (CPU, disk, usage) are common to the two products “main body”, so one of these three attributes is described in a grouped position, and “household” from each relevant product is described. It is associated with a label (pointer) "specification for use", and the memory capacity for overlappingly storing these three attributes (CPU, disk, purpose) is reduced. In the same way, point to "Corporate specs" of and duplicate these three attributes (C
The memory capacity for storing PUs, disks, and applications) has been reduced.

As described above, according to the present invention, FIG.
As shown in, by describing the product information in the XML language, the product information can be described and modified independently of the program, and when multiple attributes of the product are common, And set the pointer to
It is possible to reduce the memory capacity by describing these multiple attributes only at one point at the point.
In the present invention, various kinds of processing are performed by referring to the product information described in XML of FIG. 3C, but in order to make the description easier to understand in the description of the present embodiment, FIG. 3A and FIG. Format.

FIG. 4 shows a flowchart (commodity information description) for explaining the operation of the present invention. FIG. 4A shows a flowchart.

In FIG. 4A, S21 reads the product information of the first main body. In S22, the product information of the next main body is read.

In step S23, it is determined whether N or more product attributes are the same. In S21, S22, and S23, for example, the product information of the first line and the second line of the product information (main body) of FIG. 4B is read, and the attributes of the two products are N or more (for example, 3 or more). Determine if they are the same. In the case of YES, the processing proceeds to S25. In the case of NO, it has been found that the product attributes are not grouped in N or less pieces, so the product attribute is set as the product information in S24, and the process proceeds to S27.

In S25, since it has been determined in S23 that the product attributes will be grouped by N or more, the product attribute group is created.

In S26, the pointers of the product attribute groups created as the product attributes of the first product information and the next product information are set. In S25 and S26, the three attributes (CPU, disk, purpose) of the above-mentioned FIG. 3C are grouped and described in one place as shown in FIG. Is set (the pointer is set instead of the three product attributes).

In step S27, it is determined whether or not the product information of the next main body exists. If it exists, the process returns to S22 and is repeated. If it does not exist, the process ends.

By the above-mentioned procedure, a pointer (for example, "home spec") is set in (c) of FIG. 3 described above, and the product attributes (in this example, attributes (CPU, disk) , Usage)) is described in one place, it is possible to reduce the description of duplicate product attributes and reduce the memory capacity.

FIG. 4B shows an example of product information (main body). This is the same as the product information (main body) of (a-1) in FIG. 3 described above.
(C) product code “A-01” to “A-02”,
It is equivalent to those of "B-01" and "B-02".

FIG. 5 shows an explanatory diagram (additional definition) of the present invention. FIG. 5A shows an example of a cart. Here, two products of the illustrated product categories “main body” and “keyboard” are stored in the cart.

FIG. 5B shows an example of a product, and FIGS. 5B-1 and 5B-2 show an example of product information (main body) and product information (keyboard). From these, the main body and the keyboard are selected and stored in the cart of FIG. 5A as shown.

FIG. 5C shows an example of an evaluation formula (a constraint condition evaluation formula) relating to the restriction of the total of product attributes. Here, “SUM” is newly defined as shown.

FIG. 5D shows an example of the constraint condition that the total price is 150,000 yen or less using the defined SUM. Here, by the description of the three lines following SUM,
As indicated by the arrow in the lower part, it means that the constraint condition that the price is 150,000 yen or less can be described. Even if the constraint conditions are applied to the product categories “main body” and “keyboard” in the cart of FIG.
If the total price is 150,000 yen or less, the constraint condition will be satisfied.

As described above, the evaluation formula relating to the limitation of the total of the product attributes is newly defined, and the evaluation according to the logical formula described about the total of the respective product attributes of a plurality of products (here, the total price of the products is calculated). It is possible to perform an evaluation under the described constraint condition that the value is 150,000 yen or less. It is also possible to define an evaluation expression that is limited by the number of products and the value of the attribute of the product, and perform evaluation according to a logical expression that describes a plurality of products or their product attributes.

FIG. 6 is an explanatory diagram of the present invention (processing when changing a product). FIG. 6A shows a flowchart.

In FIG. 6A, S31 determines whether or not there is a constraint condition regarding the keyboard. If YES, the process proceeds to S33. If NO, the candidate is added to the extraction candidate in S32, and the process proceeds to S37.

In step S33, the product information on the keyboard is read. In S34, it is determined whether the constraint condition (the same as the color of the main body) is satisfied. These S33 and S34 relate to the read product information of the keyboard, for example, the product information (color “black”) of the keyboard read from the cart of FIG. 6C described later (constraint condition 1 of FIG. 6E). "The" color "of the main body (here," black ")" indicated by the arrow shown in the figure
And the "color" (here, "black") of the keyboard must satisfy the constraint ". Since they are the same, it is determined that the constraint is satisfied and the determination is YES, and the process proceeds to S35. . On the other hand, in the case of NO in S34,
Proceed to S36.

In S35, since it is found that the constraint condition is satisfied in YES in S34, it is added to the extraction candidates and the process proceeds to S36.

In step S36, it is determined whether or not there is product information for the next keyboard. If it exists, the process returns to S33 and is repeated. If it does not exist, the process proceeds to S37.

In step S37, the product information of the keyboard that is a candidate is displayed. As a result, the keyboard displayed will be the products stored in the current cart (here,
A list of keyboards that satisfy the constraint conditions will be displayed in relation to the main body.

FIG. 6B shows an example of the displayed keyboard. This shows an example of the changeable keyboard displayed in S37 of FIG. 6A described above.

FIG. 6C shows a state where the cart is stored. Here, the illustrated product categories “main body” and “keyboard” are stored.

FIG. 6D shows an example of a product. (D-1) of FIG. 6 shows an example of product information (main body), and (d-1) of FIG.
-2) shows an example of a keyboard.

FIG. 6E shows an example of constraint condition 1.
Here, as indicated by the arrow in the figure, the constraint that "the" color "of the main body and the" color "of the keyboard must be the same""is described.

By describing the constraint conditions as shown in FIG. 6E, the keyboards satisfying the constraint conditions are candidates for changing the keyboard in the cart state of FIG. 6C. A candidate list is displayed as shown in FIG. 6B, and the user can select a keyboard from the candidate list to change it.

FIG. 7 shows an explanatory diagram (automatic configuration process) of the present invention. FIG. 7A shows a flowchart.

In FIG. 7A, in S41, the cart configuration is checked. This checks the products stored in the cart according to the constraint conditions.

In step S42, it is determined whether a configuration check error has occurred. If YES, the process proceeds to S43. If NO, the process ends.

In S43, if YES in S42, the product currently stored in the cart is checked according to the constraint condition and a configuration check error has occurred. Therefore, from the constraint information in which the error occurred, the product that needs to be changed is checked. .
For example, when the main body is changed from "A-01" to "A-02" as shown in (e) of FIG. 7 in the cart state of (b) of FIG. 7, (d) of FIG. Constraint condition
The "color" and the "color" of the keyboard must be the same)
When applying and checking, the color of the main body in the cart in (e) of FIG. 7 is changed to "white", the keyboard color is "black", and a configuration error occurs due to a violation of the constraint conditions. Turns out to need to be changed.

A step S44 decides whether or not another keyboard is present. Here, referring to the product information (keyboard) in (c-2) of FIG. 7, since another keyboard exists, one of the other keyboards is taken out and placed in the cart in S45 (instead of the original keyboard, the cart is used). Put in), S4
1 and subsequent steps are repeated, and here, the result in S42 is NO, and the processing ends (replacement with another keyboard causes the constraint condition to be satisfied, so the processing ends). On the other hand, if another keyboard does not exist, an error message indicating that the main body cannot be changed is displayed in S46.

As described above, when the product in the cart is changed, even if the constraint condition is not satisfied, the product that does not satisfy the constraint condition is replaced with another product and automatically corrected to satisfy the constraint condition. Alternatively, it is possible to select and correct after receiving the candidate presentation.

FIG. 7B shows an example of the products stored in the cart before the change. FIG. 7C shows an example of a product. Here, (c-1) and (c-2) of FIG. 7 show product information (main body) and product information (keyboard), respectively.

FIG. 7D shows the constraint condition 1 ("
The "color" and the "color" of the keyboard must be the same)
For example:

FIG. 7E shows the state of the cart (after being changed to a white body). FIG. 7F shows the state of the cart (after automatic configuration). Here, the keyboard color has been changed to "white" (Fig. 7).
(A) S45).

FIG. 8 is an explanatory diagram of the present invention (skip designation of constraint conditions). By adding the description shown in the third line in the figure, the constraint condition is skipped and not applied.

As described above, by defining (additional definition) the skip specification of the constraint condition, the user can additionally insert the third line shown in the description of the constraint condition as necessary to satisfy the relevant constraint condition. Can be skipped or deleted and applied.

FIG. 9 shows an explanatory diagram of the present invention. FIG. 9A shows a flowchart.

In FIG. 9A, S61 determines whether or not only one keyboard matches the constraint condition. Yes
In the case of, in S62, only one keyboard that meets the constraints is added to the cart. In the case of NO, since it is found that there are a plurality of keyboards that meet the constraint condition, the process proceeds to S63.

In step S63, it is determined whether or not the product attribute has a price. If YES, add the cheapest keyboard in S64 to the cart. In the case of NO, it is determined that there is no price in the product attribute, so the process proceeds to S64.

In step S64, it is determined whether the product attribute has a size. If YES, the smallest keyboard is added to the cart in S66. If NO, the process ends.

As described above, when there is only one product (here, keyboard) that meets the constraint condition, the product is put in the cart, while when there are multiple products, the price is added to the product attribute next. If there is a product with the cheapest price in the cart, if there is no price in the product attribute, and if the product attribute has a size, the smallest product is put in the cart. In some cases, it is possible to select one of the most suitable products according to the product attributes and add it to the cart.

FIG. 9B shows an example of a cart. Here, the main body and the keyboard are stored in the cart.

FIG. 9C shows an example of a product. 9C-1 and 9C-2 are product information (main body) and product information (keyboard), which are registered in advance as shown in the drawing.

FIG. 9D shows the state of the cart (after being changed to a white body). Here, the color of the main body is "black"
The state after changing to the "white" body is shown.

FIG. 9E shows the state of the cart (after automatic configuration). In this state, the product information (keyboard) of FIG. 9C-2 has two white keyboards (NO in S61 of FIG. 9A), and the product number “B” with a low product attribute price is “B”. "-03" was selected and added to the cart ("YE of S63 in (a) of FIG. 9".
S, S64).

As described above, when there are a plurality of products that satisfy the restriction condition for adding to the cart, the optimum product can be selected and added to the cart according to the product attributes (here, price, then size, etc.). Becomes

FIG. 10 is a flow chart for explaining another operation of the present invention (pass generation in mouse product information search).
Indicates. Here, FIG. 11B according to the present invention will be described below.

In FIG. 10, S71 initializes the path. In this state, the path is //.

At S72, the computer is added to the path. In this state, the path is: / computer.

In step S73, it is determined whether or not the mouse is under the computer. In the case of YES, the processing proceeds to S76. NO
In the case of, it progresses to S74.

At S74, the desktop personal computer is added to the path. In this state, the path is: / Computer / Desktop PC.

In step S75, it is determined whether the mouse is under the desktop personal computer. In the case of YES, the processing proceeds to S76. In the case of NO, similarly, the product in the direction toward the mouse under the desktop personal computer is repeated until it reaches the mouse.

S76 is added to the mouse path. In this state: / Computer / Desktop PC / Mouse

In step S77, a path is set in the product information of the mouse. For this, the path obtained in S76 is set in the point portion of the product information of the mouse in FIG.

By the above procedure, the path (: / computer / desktop personal computer / mouse) obtained in S76 in the portion of FIG.
, And the path (: /
Computer / notebook server / mouse) can be set. As a result, it becomes possible to easily discriminate which mouse is the mouse of FIG. 11B by the path set in the part.

FIG. 11 shows an explanatory diagram of the present invention. Figure 11
(A) schematically shows a description of a conventional product configuration. Here, the information (product attribute) of the product "mouse" is set redundantly (duplicated description) at each of two places, and a large memory capacity is required.

FIG. 11B schematically shows the description of the product structure according to the present invention. Here, the mouse information (product attribute) is described in one place, and a pointer is set at the position of the product configuration of the mouse to point to the mouse information (product attribute). At this time, since the mouse information (product attribute) is unknown, it is unknown what kind of mouse it is. Therefore, according to the flowchart of FIG. Set a path so that you can uniquely identify which product the mouse is associated with.

FIG. 12 shows an explanatory diagram (automatic generation of constraint conditions) of the present invention. FIG. 12A shows a flowchart.

In FIG. 12A, S81 specifies the product attribute for which the constraint condition is automatically generated.

In step S82, a product category having a product attribute for which a constraint condition is set is searched. In S83, the same constraint condition is set for all the retrieved product categories. These S8
In S1, S82, and S83, firstly, the user specifies "color" as a product attribute for which constraint conditions are automatically generated (S8).
1) and secondly, the designated product attribute (here,
A product classification having “color”) is searched from all the products and, for example, (b-1) product classification (main body) of (b) product in FIG.
(B-2) Commodity classification (keyboard), (b-3) Commodity classification (mouse) are respectively found, and thirdly, all combinations of these found commodities are created ((b-1) in FIG. 12, (Three combinations are created as indicated by the arrows between the attributes "colors" in (b-2) and (b-3).) Fourth, the fact that the colors are the same among the products created in the third By setting the conditions, the three constraint conditions 1, 2 and 3 in (c), (d) and (e) of FIG. 12 are created respectively.

FIG. 12B shows an example of a product having a product attribute “color”. 12 (b-1), (b-2),
(B-3) shows an example of a product classification (main body), a product classification (keyboard), and a product classification (mouse) that have color as a product attribute. Then, a combination of three products indicated by arrows is created.

FIG. 12C shows the XML of constraint condition 1 (the color of the main body and the color of the keyboard must be the same).
A description example in the language is shown.

FIG. 12D shows a description example of the constraint condition 2 (the color of the main body and the color of the mouse must be the same) in the XML language.

FIG. 12E shows the XM of the constraint condition 3 (the keyboard color and the mouse color must be the same).
A description example in the L language is shown.

As described above, a product attribute (for example, "color") for which constraint conditions are automatically generated is specified, all products having the product attribute are searched, a combination of these products is created, and the product attributes are the same. By setting the condition that is, it is possible to automatically generate the constraint condition (constraint condition description) that makes the designated product attribute the same only by designating the product attribute.

[0112]

As described above, according to the present invention,
In a system where a user purchases a combination of a plurality of products, even if a product to be combined is added or changed, only the product information description 3 and the constraint condition description 4 are added or changed without modifying the program. It becomes possible to check the compatibility of the product and the constraint condition description 4
It is possible to reduce the memory capacity by eliminating the duplicate description of the product attribute of.

When the selected product in the cart is changed, even if the constraint condition description 4 is not satisfied, the product that does not satisfy the constraint condition description 4 is replaced with another product and satisfies the constraint condition description 4. As described above, it is possible to make corrections automatically, or it is possible to select and correct after receiving a candidate presentation.

By defining (additional definition) the skip specification of the constraint condition description 4, the user can additionally insert, for example, the third line in FIG. 8 into the description of the constraint condition description 4. It is possible to arbitrarily skip the judgment by the constraint condition description 4 or delete it and apply it.

If there is only one product (for example, keyboard) that matches the constraint condition description 4, the product is put in the cart. On the other hand, if there are multiple products, the price is added to the product attribute next. If there is a product with the cheapest price in the cart, if there is no price in the product attribute, and if there is a size in the product attribute, then put the smallest product in the cart. When there are a plurality of items, it is possible to select one of the most suitable products according to the product attributes and add it to the cart.

Further, for example, the path (: / computer / desktop personal computer / mouse) found in S76 is set in the part (b) of FIG. 11, and the path (: / computer / notebook) similarly found in the part (). By setting "server / mouse", in this example, which "mouse" is selected for the product "mouse" of FIG.
However, it is possible to easily discriminate by the path set in the part.

Further, only by designating the product attribute (for example, “color”) to be automatically generated as the constraint condition description 4, the product having the designated product attribute is searched, and the constraint condition is set for each combination of the searched products. The constraint condition description 4 described above can be automatically generated.

[Brief description of drawings]

FIG. 1 is a system configuration diagram of the present invention.

FIG. 2 is a flowchart (overall) for explaining the operation of the present invention.

FIG. 3 is an explanatory diagram of the present invention.

FIG. 4 is a flowchart (product information description) for explaining the operation of the present invention.

FIG. 5 is an explanatory diagram (additional definition) of the present invention.

FIG. 6 is an explanatory diagram of the present invention (processing when a product is changed).

FIG. 7 is an explanatory diagram (automatic configuration process) of the present invention.

FIG. 8 is an explanatory diagram of the present invention (skip specification of constraint conditions).

FIG. 9 is an explanatory diagram of the present invention.

FIG. 10 is an explanatory diagram of the present invention (pass generation in mouse product information search).

FIG. 11 is an explanatory diagram of the present invention.

FIG. 12 is an explanatory diagram of the present invention (automatic generation of constraint conditions).

[Explanation of symbols]

1: Electronic catalog engine 2: Configuration engine 3: Product information description 4: Constraint condition description 5: Application interface 6: User application 7: User

   ─────────────────────────────────────────────────── ─── Continued front page    (72) Inventor Hidenori Yamamoto             At 98 Unoke-nu, Unoki-cho, Kawakita-gun, Ishikawa Prefecture             2 PF Active Lab Co., Ltd.             Within (72) Inventor Hitoshi Matsuo             At 98 Unoke-nu, Unoki-cho, Kawakita-gun, Ishikawa Prefecture             2 PF Active Lab Co., Ltd.             Within (72) Inventor Keisuke Kuramoto             At 98 Unoke-nu, Unoki-cho, Kawakita-gun, Ishikawa Prefecture             2 PF Active Lab Co., Ltd.             Within (72) Inventor Ryuji Takayama             At 98 Unoke-nu, Unoki-cho, Kawakita-gun, Ishikawa Prefecture             2 PF Active Lab Co., Ltd.             Within (72) Inventor Kimiko Hatada             At 98 Unoke-nu, Unoki-cho, Kawakita-gun, Ishikawa Prefecture             2 PF Active Lab Co., Ltd.             Within (72) Inventor Tomohisa Maeda             At 98 Unoke-nu, Unoki-cho, Kawakita-gun, Ishikawa Prefecture             2 PF Active Lab Co., Ltd.             Within

Claims (10)

[Claims] 1. A configuration method for checking the suitability of a combination of a plurality of products, wherein a product information description that describes product attributes and a constraint condition description that describes constraint conditions of a product combination are provided and combined by the user. For a product, if any of the products selected from the product list that is generated and displayed based on the product information description or already selected is changed, check the combination product according to the constraint condition description. How to configure. 2. When describing a product and an attribute of the product in the product information description, when there are products having a predetermined number or more of product attributes, the attributes of the product are grouped into 1
2. The configuration method according to claim 1, wherein the pointer is written at a location or at an arbitrary location, and a pointer to the attribute of the article described at the one location or at an arbitrary location is described at the attribute location of the relevant product. 3. The configuration method according to claim 2, wherein when the pointer is described in the product information description, a path to the pointer is set together with the pointer. 4. The constraint condition description is characterized by describing a predetermined logical expression for at least one of a product attribute, the number of products, and a value of a product attribute, and setting or changing it arbitrarily. The configuration method according to any one of claims 1 to 3. 5. The configuration method according to claim 1, wherein as the constraint condition description, the presence or absence of skipping of the constraint condition description is arbitrarily set or changed. 6. When the attribute of a product in the product information description is designated as the constraint condition description and automatic generation of the constraint condition description is designated, another product having the designated attribute is searched for. The config according to any one of claims 1 to 5, wherein a specified constraint condition is set to the specified attribute for the combination between the searched products, and the constraint condition description is automatically generated. Ration method. 7. When any one of the combined products is changed, the combined product is checked according to the constraint condition description, and when it is found that the constraint condition is violated, the found product information is described. Claim 1 is used to replace or present another product of the same type that satisfies the constraint condition, and when the user responds OK, the constraint condition violation is resolved.
7. The configuration method according to claim 6. 8. When a plurality of other products of the same type satisfying the constraint are referred to by referring to the product information description for the identified product when it is determined that the constraint condition is violated, a predetermined attribute of the product is set. The configuration method according to claim 7, wherein the product is determined based on the product. 9. A configuration system for checking the suitability of a combination of a plurality of products, which comprises a product information description for describing product attributes and a constraint condition description for describing constraint conditions for a combination of products, which are combined by a user. For a product, if any of the products selected from the product list that is generated and displayed based on the product information description or already selected is changed, check the combination product according to the constraint condition description. A configuration system comprising means for performing. 10. A configuration program for checking the suitability of a combination of a plurality of products is provided with a product information description that describes product attributes and a constraint condition description that describes constraint conditions for a product combination, which are combined by the user. For a product, if any of the products selected from the product list that is generated and displayed based on the product information description or already selected is changed, check the combination product according to the constraint condition description. A configuration program that causes a computer to function as a means to do this.