JP2004171264A - Information processor, information processing method and program recording medium - Google Patents

Abstract

<P>PROBLEM TO BE SOLVED: To provide an information processor, an information processing method and a program recording medium capable of efficiently browsing a Web page within a limited time. <P>SOLUTION: A retrieval table management part 180 gives priority to each Web page information stored in a retrieval table 160 based on significance designated by a user and the past browsing history, and rearranges the retrieval table 160 in the order of retrieval according to the given priority. A data look-ahead part 130 looks ahead data from the Web page designated by the URL of a retrieval table 160 as much as possible according to the order of retrieval of the retrieval table 160 within a designated communication time designated by the user. Then, the data looked ahead by the data look-ahead part 130 are stored in an external storage device 230. Also, when the selection of the Web page is executed, the contents of the retrieval table 160 are updated by the retrieval table management part 180. <P>COPYRIGHT: (C)2004,JPO

Description

[0001]
TECHNICAL FIELD OF THE INVENTION
The present invention relates to an information processing apparatus, an information processing method, and a program recording medium, and more particularly to an information processing apparatus, an information processing method, and a program recording medium that stores a program suitable for automatically obtaining information from the Internet.
[0002]
[Prior art]
In recent years, with the expansion of the Internet (Internet), it has become possible to obtain a lot of information via the Internet. To obtain information from the Internet, software called "browser" is usually used. By using this browser, it is possible to visually display the obtained data. Further, the user can obtain new data by giving an instruction such as clicking with a mouse the link information existing on the displayed data.
[0003]
In order to efficiently obtain this information, a location of the information to be obtained (hereinafter referred to as a URL (Uniform Resource Locator)) is given, the URL is searched to obtain the information, and a Web prefetching device for storing the information in a local storage device Also, an autopilot device has been proposed.
[0004]
In order to solve the above problem, a Web page prefetching method is used in displaying a hyper document such as a Web (Web) page in order to improve the responsiveness of a display device. As an information processing apparatus using such a Web page prefetching method, there is a hyper document display terminal (for example, see Patent Document 1). In this hyper document display terminal, a history of button / link selections is retained, and the pre-transfer scene determination unit of the hyper document server uses the selection probability obtained from the history and the distance from the scene requested to be displayed. The degree of relevance is calculated, and a hyper-document with a higher degree of relevance is transferred in advance to the memory of the display terminal, thereby improving the responsiveness of the display terminal.
[0005]
[Patent Document 1]
JP-A-8-87526
[0006]
[Problems to be solved by the invention]
By the way, in the hyper document display terminal as the information processing device, data obtained from the Internet includes data having a large data size such as an image or a moving image, and it takes time to transfer the data. There is a tendency for the waiting time to be longer. In particular, for a dial-up user who uses a telephone line, there is a problem that the cost is increased because the time for reading data is also charged.
[0007]
Therefore, an object of the present invention is to provide an information processing apparatus, an information processing method, and a program recording medium that can efficiently browse a Web page within a limited time.
[0008]
[Means for Solving the Problems]
In order to achieve the above object, an information processing apparatus according to the present invention provides a Web page information including at least a URL (Uniform Resource Locator) in an information processing apparatus having a WWW (World Wide Web) browser function of downloading and displaying a Web page. And a priority assigning means for assigning a priority to the Web page information held in the search table based on at least the importance specified by the user and the past browsing history. Search table rearranging means for rearranging the search tables in search order according to the priority given to each Web page information of the search table by the provision means; and search order of the search tables within a designated communication time designated by a user. According to the above search table Data prefetching means for prefetching data from a webpage specified by a URL as much as possible, storage means for storing webpage data prefetched by the data prefetching means, and when a webpage is selected And a table updating means for updating the contents of the search table.
[0009]
According to the information processing apparatus having the above configuration, in an information processing apparatus having a WWW browser function of downloading and displaying Web page data from a server via a dial-up network of a pay-as-you-go basis, Web page information held in a search table Each time, the priority is assigned by the priority assigning means based on at least the importance specified from the user's preference and the past browsing history. The contents of the search table are rearranged by the search table rearranging unit according to the priority in the search order, and the data prefetching unit specifies the prefetching of data from the Web page specified by the URL of the search table according to the search table search order. Perform as much as possible within the specified communication time. Then, the data pre-read by the data pre-reading means is written to the storage means. Also, when a new Web page is selected and data is downloaded, or when the contents of a pre-read Web page are updated and re-downloaded because they are new, the contents of the search table are updated by a table updating means. Update by
[0010]
As described above, when acquiring Web page data from the Internet or the like, it is possible to determine the prefetch order at least from the importance specified from the user's preference and the user's browsing history, and prefetch the Web page in a short time. It is possible to browse the Web page efficiently within a limited time.
[0011]
In one embodiment, in the information processing apparatus, the priority assigning means includes, for each Web page information held in the search table, at least the importance specified by the user, the past browsing history, and the Web page information. The priority is given based on the time for downloading data from the server.
[0012]
According to the information processing apparatus of the above embodiment, the prefetching order can be more accurately determined by using the time for downloading data from the Web page for determining the priority to be assigned to the Web page information in the search table. .
[0013]
In addition, the information processing apparatus according to the embodiment determines the time required to download the test data from a predetermined Web page in a plurality of time zones, and determines the same time based on the results obtained in the plurality of time zones. A prefetch control means for controlling a time at which the prefetching of the data of the Web page by the data prefetch means is started so that more data can be prefetched in the communication time.
[0014]
According to the information processing apparatus of the above embodiment, prefetching of data is performed in a time zone in which the download time of test data from a predetermined Web page is the shortest, so that more information can be downloaded more efficiently with a limited communication fee. can do.
[0015]
In the information processing method according to the present invention, in the information processing method using a WWW browser function of downloading and displaying a Web page, a step of storing Web page information including at least a URL in a search table; Assigning a priority based on at least the degree of importance specified by the user and a past browsing history for each of the web page information, and searching the search table according to the priority assigned to each web page information in the search table. Sorting the data in the search order, and performing as much prefetching of data from the Web page specified by the URL of the search table as possible according to the search order of the search table within the designated communication time specified by the user; The data prefetched by the step of prefetching the above data And storing in the storage means, characterized by a step of updating the contents of the lookup table when the selection of the Web page is performed.
[0016]
According to the above information processing method, a WWW browser that operates on a computer system having a display device and an input device and downloads and displays a Web page from a server via a pay-per-use dial-up network and holds the Web page is stored in a search table. For each Web page information, a priority is given based on at least the importance specified from the user's preference and the past browsing history. The search tables are rearranged in the search order according to the priorities, and the prefetching of data from the Web page specified by the URL of the search table is performed as much as possible within the specified communication time specified by the user according to the search table search order. Then, the pre-read data is written in the storage means. The content of the search table is updated when a new web page is selected and data is downloaded, or when the content of the pre-read web page is updated and updated and re-downloaded, the content of the search table is updated.
[0017]
As described above, when acquiring Web page data from the Internet or the like, it is possible to determine the prefetch order at least from the importance specified from the user's preference and the user's browsing history, and prefetch the Web page in a short time. It is possible to browse the Web page efficiently within a limited time.
[0018]
Further, a program storage medium of the present invention is characterized in that a program for causing the information processing device to function or a program for executing the information processing method is recorded.
[0019]
According to the above program storage medium, when the stored program is read into an information processing device such as a microcomputer and the program is executed, at least the user's preference is obtained when acquiring Web page data from the Internet or the like. , The prefetching order is determined from the importance specified by the user and the browsing history of the user, the prefetching of the Web page can be performed in a short time, and the Web page can be browsed efficiently within a limited time.
[0020]
BEST MODE FOR CARRYING OUT THE INVENTION
Hereinafter, an information processing apparatus, an information processing method, and a program recording medium according to the present invention will be described in detail with reference to the illustrated embodiments.
[0021]
(1st Embodiment)
FIG. 1 is a block diagram showing the configuration of the information processing apparatus according to the first embodiment of the present invention. As shown in FIG. 1, the information processing apparatus according to the first embodiment includes an input device 210 such as a mouse and a keyboard, a communication device 220 such as a modem, a data processing device 100 that operates under program control, a magnetic disk and the like. And an external storage device 230 as an example of the storage means, and a display device 240 such as a display.
[0022]
The data processing apparatus 100 includes an input processing unit 110 that processes an input from an input device 210 that forms a Web page, and a prefetch control unit that performs prefetch control of HTML (Hyper Text Markup Language) data that forms a Web page. A prefetch control unit 120 as an example, a data prefetch unit 130 as an example of data prefetch means for executing prefetch of HTML data constituting a Web page, an input / output unit 140 for controlling the external storage device 230, and a Web. A data loading unit 150 for downloading HTML data constituting the page, a search table 160 describing a registration name, URL, importance, access count, average download time, search order, and cache address of HTML data after download; Download Having a data display unit 170 for displaying HTML data on a screen, and a search table management unit 180 as an example of a search table updating means and the priority assigning means and the search table rearranging unit. The search table management unit 180 updates the contents of the search table 160 with respect to the data of the pre-read Web page, and, for each Web page information stored in the search table 160, at least the importance specified by the user and the past , And the search table 160 is rearranged in the search order according to the assigned priority.
[0023]
FIG. 2 is a diagram showing the contents described in the search table 160. As shown in FIG. 2, the search table 160 holds information on a search order, a registered name, a URL, a degree of importance specified by a user, an access count, an average download time, a priority, a creation date, and a cache address.
[0024]
FIG. 3 is a diagram showing the processing of the data processing device 100.
[0025]
This processing includes a step S1 for determining the search order, a step S2 for initializing the search number N to 1, and a comparison between the creation date of the Nth URL of the search number 160 in the search table 160 and the date when the HTML data was read during the search. Step S3 to determine whether the creation date is different. If the creation date is different, proceed to step S5. If the creation date is the same, return to step S3. Step S4, and store the read HTML data in external storage. Step S5 of saving in the device 230, step S6 of updating the contents of the search table 160 by reading HTML data, communication time since starting communication such as dial-up, and the next time described in the search table 160. The time required to check the creation date and time of the file in the search order URL, and the average download time of that file Step S7 of calculating the predicted communication time as the sum of the above, and comparing the predicted communication time obtained in step S7 with the specified communication time specified by the user. If the predicted communication time exceeds the specified communication time, the process ends. Otherwise, step S8 of performing the process of step S9, and if all the contents described in the search table 160 have been searched, the process is terminated. Otherwise, the process proceeds to step S10, step S9. A step S10 of incrementing the number N by 1 and returning to the step S3.
[0026]
FIG. 4 is a flowchart showing the processing for determining the search order shown in step S1 shown in FIG.
[0027]
In step S11, the search table 160 is input. That is, the user uses the input device 210 (shown in FIG. 1) to input Web page information (for example, a registered name, a URL, and a degree of importance specified by the user).
[0028]
Next, the process proceeds to step S12, where the importance, the maximum value of the importance, the maximum value of the number of access times, and the number of access times described in the search table 160 are used.
Priority = Importance / Maximum Importance x Access Count + Access Count
Thus, a priority is obtained and assigned to each Web page information, and the search table 160 is sorted in descending order of priority.
[0029]
Next, the process proceeds to step S13, and for the same priority, the search tables 160 are sorted in ascending order of the average reading time.
[0030]
The data prefetch function of the information processing apparatus according to the first embodiment will be described in more detail with reference to FIG. FIG. 7 shows an example of the contents of the search table 160 in the flowchart shown in FIG.
[0031]
In the step S11, the search table 160 shown in FIG. 7 and the designated communication time of the telephone designated by the user, that is, the time limit of 3 minutes are inputted. In the search table 160, it is assumed that the stock information is given 100 importance and the WEB newspaper is given 10 importance according to the user's preference.
[0032]
The registered name of FIG. 7 is related to supermarket, hobby information, stock information, weather forecast, and each web page information of WEB newspaper.
Priority = Importance / Maximum Importance * Access Count + Access Count
When seeking priority,
Super: 200
Hobby information: 200
Stock Information: 500
Weather forecast: 300
WEB Newspaper: 330
Priority. And, as a result of sorting in order of priority, the search order is
Number 1: Stock Information
Number 2: Web newspaper
Number 3: Weather forecast
Number 4: Super
Number 5: Hobby information
become.
[0033]
Next, in step S13, since the supermarket and the hobby information have the same priority, the download time is compared. Since the download time of the supermarket is 30 seconds and the download time of the hobby information is 15 seconds, the search order is
Number 1: Stock Information
Number 2: Web newspaper
Number 3: Weather forecast
No. 4: Hobby information
Number 5: Super
become.
[0034]
Next, in step S2 shown in FIG. 3, the search number N is initially set to 1, and the following processing is repeated in the order of the search number N.
[0035]
In step S3, first, an address described in the URL column of the stock price information in the first search order is accessed, and the previous creation date of the URL in the search table 160 is compared with the file creation date of the accessed URL. According to the condition determination in S4, the processing after step S5 is not performed, and the WEB newspaper whose search order is the second is set as the search target. In step S3, an address described in the URL of the WEB newspaper whose search order is the second is accessed, and the previous creation date of the URL in the search table 160 is compared with the file creation date of the accessed URL.
[0036]
In the condition determination in step S4, since the creation date described in the search table 160 and the creation date of the file searched this time are different, the processing from step S5 is performed.
[0037]
In step S5, an HTML (HyperText Markup Language) file of the designated URL is stored in the external storage device 230.
[0038]
In step S6, the number of accesses to the search table 160, the average download time, and the creation date are updated. Assuming that the number of accesses is 301 times and the time of the current download is the same as the average value, the date of creation is 30 seconds and the date of creation is March 10.
[0039]
In step S7, the communication time from when the communication device 220 such as a modem was started up to the present, the time required to obtain the date and time of the HTML file of the third weather forecast to be searched next, and the search table 160 are described. A predicted communication time, which is the sum of the average download times of the received weather forecast, is obtained.
[0040]
In step S8, assuming that the predicted communication time is 2 minutes, step S9 is executed because it is shorter than the specified communication time of 3 minutes.
[0041]
In step S9, since all the data have not been searched, the search number N is incremented by one in step S10, and the weather forecast in the third search order is set as the next search target, and the processing in step S3 and thereafter is performed.
[0042]
In step S3, an address described in the URL of the weather forecast whose search order is the third is accessed, and the previous creation date of the URL in the search table 160 is compared with the file creation date of the accessed URL.
[0043]
In the condition determination in step S4, since the creation date described in the search table 160 and the creation date of the file searched this time are different, the processing from step S5 is performed.
[0044]
In step S5, the HTML file of the designated URL is stored in the external storage device 230.
[0045]
In step S6, the number of accesses, the average download time, and the creation date of the search table 160 are updated. Assuming that the number of accesses is 301 times and the time of this download is the same as the average value, the date of creation is 20 seconds and the creation date is March 10.
[0046]
In step S7, the communication time until the communication device 220 such as a modem is started, the time required for obtaining the date of the HTML file of the fourth hobby information to be searched next, and the average download time of the hobby information The estimated communication time, which is the sum of the times, is obtained.
[0047]
In step S8, assuming that the estimated communication time is 2 minutes and 20 seconds, step S9 is executed because it is shorter than the specified communication time of 3 minutes.
[0048]
In step S9, since all the data have not been searched, the search number N is incremented by one in step S10, and the hobby information whose search order is No. 4 is set as the next search target, and the processing from step S3 is performed.
[0049]
In step S3, an address described in the URL of the hobby information whose search order is No. 4 is accessed, and the creation date of the previous URL in the search table 160 is compared with the file creation date of the accessed URL.
[0050]
In the condition determination in step S4, since the creation date described in the search table 160 and the creation date of the file searched this time are different, the process from step S5 is performed.
[0051]
In step S5, the HTML file of the designated URL is stored in the external storage device 230.
[0052]
In step S6, the number of accesses, the average download time, and the creation date of the search table 160 are updated. Assuming that the number of accesses is 201 times and the time of the current download is the same as the average value, the date of creation is 15 seconds and the creation date is March 10.
[0053]
In step S7, the communication time up to when the communication device 220 such as a modem is started, the time required to obtain the date of the HTML file of the fifth hobby information to be searched next, and the average download time of the hobby information The estimated communication time, which is the sum of the times, is obtained.
[0054]
In step S8, assuming that the predicted communication time is 2 minutes and 55 seconds, step S9 is executed because it is shorter than the specified communication time of 3 minutes.
[0055]
In step S9, since all the data have not been searched, the search number N is incremented by one in step S10, and the supermarket whose search order is No. 5 is set as the next search target, and the processing from step S3 is performed.
[0056]
In step S3, an address described in the URL of the supermarket whose search order is the fifth is accessed, and the date of creation of the previous URL in the search table 160 is compared with the file creation date of the accessed URL.
[0057]
In the condition determination in step S4, since the creation date described in the search table 160 and the creation date of the file searched this time are the same, the processing after step S5 is not performed, and the entire search table 160 is searched. To end the process.
[0058]
Then, when browsing the Web page designated by the URL described in the search table 160, the pre-read data stored in the external storage device 230 is displayed on the data display unit 170 based on the information in the search table 160. be able to.
[0059]
When a new URL not described in the search table 160 is accessed by browsing software called a browser, the data loading unit 150 downloads the HTML data, and the search table updating unit 180 registers the registered name, URL, and important information. Automatically generate items such as degree, number of accesses, average download time, and creation date. Further, when the URL described in the search table 160 is accessed by browsing software called a browser, the items of the number of accesses, the average download time, and the creation date are updated.
[0060]
As described above, when acquiring Web page data from the Internet, the prefetching order is determined from the importance specified from the user's preference, the user's browsing history, and the download time, and the Web page is prefetched in a short time. It is possible to efficiently browse Web pages within a limited time.
[0061]
(2nd Embodiment)
FIG. 5 is a block diagram showing the configuration of the information processing apparatus according to the second embodiment of the present invention. The information processing apparatus according to the second embodiment has the same configuration as the information processing apparatus shown in FIG. 1 of the first embodiment except for a prefetch control table 190, and the same components are denoted by the same reference numerals and will be described. Omitted. FIG. 6 shows the look-ahead control table 190, which stores the search start time and the access time at that time.
[0062]
The data prefetch control function of the information processing apparatus according to the second embodiment will be described below in detail with reference to FIG.
[0063]
As shown in FIG. 8, the user creates a prefetch control table 190 that describes a search start time for executing the data prefetch unit 130 as an example of a data prefetch unit and an access time required until data is read. Enter the time zone in which you want to perform the search in the time field
[0064]
The prefetch control unit 120 shown in FIG. 5 downloads test data by accessing a specified URL of a predetermined Web page at the search start time shown in FIG. 8 and obtains the access time. For all search start times described in the look-ahead control table 190, a process of obtaining an access time by test data is performed. Note that the processing for obtaining the time zone with the shortest access time based on the test data enables the user to execute the function when the system is first started or the user intentionally executes the function.
[0065]
Based on the result of the access time obtained from the test data shown in FIG. 9, the data prefetch unit 130 executes the data prefetch at 3:00 PM in the time zone where the access time of the prefetch control table 190 is a minimum of 40 seconds. Will be. It should be noted that when the creation of the prefetch control table 190 is not completed, the data is prefetched at the retrieval time of the system initial value, so that the data prefetch is always performed.
[0066]
As described above, the prefetching of the data by the search table 160 is performed in the time zone where the download time of the test data from the predetermined Web page is the shortest, so that more information can be downloaded more efficiently with a limited communication fee. Can be.
[0067]
By the way, the function of the information processing apparatus in each of the above embodiments is realized by a program recorded on a program recording medium. The program recording medium in the above embodiment is a program medium composed of a ROM (Read Only Memory). Alternatively, it may be a program medium that is mounted on and read from an external auxiliary storage device. In any case, the program reading means for reading a program from the program medium may have a configuration of directly accessing and reading the program medium, or a RAM (random access memory) (not shown). ) May be configured to be downloaded to the program storage area provided and accessed and read from the program storage area. It is assumed that a download program for downloading from the program medium to the program storage area of the RAM is stored in the main device in advance.
[0068]
Here, the above-mentioned program medium is configured to be separable from the main body side, and is a tape system such as a magnetic tape or a cassette tape; a magnetic disk such as a floppy disk or a hard disk; a CD (compact disk) -ROM; Disk system of optical disks such as disk, MD (mini disk), DVD (digital versatile disk), card system such as IC (integrated circuit) card and optical card, mask ROM, EPROM (ultraviolet erasable ROM), EEPROM ( It is a medium for fixedly carrying a program, including a semiconductor memory system such as an electrically erasable ROM and a flash ROM.
[0069]
Further, the program medium may be a medium that carries the program fluidly by downloading from a communication network or the like. In this case, the download program for downloading from the communication network is stored in the main device in advance. Alternatively, it shall be installed from another recording medium.
[0070]
Note that what is recorded on the recording medium is not limited to only the program, but can also record data.
[0071]
【The invention's effect】
As is apparent from the above description, according to the information processing apparatus of the present invention, at least the comparison factor between the importance indicated by the user and the number of accesses is unified, and the search order is assigned according to the priority, and the Web page is designated within the designated communication time. By accessing the web page and saving and using the web page data in the storage unit, the user can browse the web page that meets the user's preference at a limited communication fee.
[Brief description of the drawings]
FIG. 1 is a block diagram showing a configuration of an information processing apparatus according to a first embodiment of the present invention.
FIG. 2 is a diagram showing contents of a search table of the information processing apparatus.
FIG. 3 is a flowchart showing a prefetch process of the information processing apparatus.
FIG. 4 is a flowchart showing a search order determination of the information processing apparatus.
FIG. 5 is a block diagram showing a configuration of an information processing apparatus according to a second embodiment of the present invention.
FIG. 6 is a diagram showing contents of a prefetch control table of the information processing apparatus.
FIG. 7 is a diagram showing contents of a search table of the information processing apparatus.
FIG. 8 is a diagram showing contents of a prefetch control table of the information processing apparatus.
FIG. 9 is a diagram showing contents of a prefetch control table of the information processing apparatus.
[Explanation of symbols]
110 ... input processing unit,
120... Prefetch control unit
130 ... data prefetch unit
130 ... input / output unit,
150: Data loading unit,
160 ... search table,
170 ... data display part,
180 ... search table management unit,
190 ... look-ahead control table
210 input device,
220 communication device,
230: external storage device.

Claims (5)

In an information processing apparatus having a WWW browser function of downloading and displaying a Web page,
A search table that holds Web page information including at least a URL,
Priority assigning means for assigning a priority based on at least the importance specified by the user and the past browsing history for each Web page information held in the search table;
Search table rearranging means for rearranging the search tables in a search order according to the priority given to each Web page information of the search table by the priority giving means;
Data prefetch means for prefetching data from a Web page specified by a URL of the search table as much as possible according to a search order of the search table within a specified communication time specified by a user;
Storage means for storing data of a Web page prefetched by the data prefetch means;
An information processing apparatus, comprising: table updating means for updating the contents of the search table when a Web page is selected. The information processing device according to claim 1,
The priority assigning means assigns a priority to each Web page information held in the search table based on at least the importance specified by the user, the past browsing history, and the time for downloading data from the Web page. An information processing apparatus characterized by giving a degree. The information processing device according to claim 1,
The time required to download test data from a predetermined Web page is obtained in a plurality of time zones, and based on the results obtained in the plurality of time zones, more data can be read ahead in the same communication time. An information processing apparatus comprising: a prefetch control unit that controls a time at which prefetching of Web page data by the data prefetch unit starts. In an information processing method using a WWW browser function of downloading and displaying a Web page,
Holding Web page information including at least a URL in a search table;
Assigning a priority based on at least the importance specified by the user and the past browsing history for each Web page information held in the search table;
Rearranging the search table in the search order according to the priority given to each Web page information of the search table;
Performing prefetching of data from a Web page specified by a URL of the search table as much as possible according to a search order of the search table within a specified communication time specified by a user;
Storing in the storage means the data prefetched by the step of prefetching the data;
Updating the contents of the search table when a Web page is selected. A program recording medium on which a program for causing the information processing apparatus according to any one of claims 1 to 3 to function or a program for executing the information processing method according to claim 4 is recorded.

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