JP2005122280A - Image list display support device and image list display support program - Google Patents

Abstract

<P>PROBLEM TO BE SOLVED: To allow image list display so as to facilitate comparison of images. <P>SOLUTION: A mail acquisition part 13 acquires an electronic mail with a specific mail address as a destination. An image extraction part 17 extracts an image from the electronic mail acquired by the mail acquisition part 13 and stored in a mail storage part 14. An image list production part 18 produces image list information for list-displaying the image extracted by the image extraction part 17. <P>COPYRIGHT: (C)2005,JPO&NCIPI

Description

  The present invention relates to an image list display support device and an image list display support program for supporting display of images representing work results of training and experiments, for example.

  Up to now, in order to immediately compare work results of practical training and experiments of multiple work groups, (1) the person who conducts the comparative study (hereinafter referred to as the “comparator”) looks around directly. (2) Techniques have been used in which results are photographed with a camera.

  That is, comparison of work results such as practical training and experiments is carried out by hand. Such prior art does not relate to a known literature invention.

  However, in the above (1), it takes a long time when there are a large number of work groups because the comparator must sequentially see the work results of the plurality of work groups. Further, in the above (1), comparison of work results has to rely on the memory of the comparator, and there is a risk that a reasonable comparison cannot be performed. Furthermore, in the above (1), the explanation of the comparison results is difficult to explain in detail because the comparator expresses the impression that each work result is seen in words.

  In the case of using a silver salt camera in the above (2), since development and printing are necessary, an immediate comparison operation cannot be performed. When a digital camera is used in (2) above, image data is taken into a personal computer or the like. For this purpose, a cable or memory card is used between a plurality of digital cameras and a personal computer. There has been a problem that the image data must be exchanged and the operation becomes complicated.

  The present invention has been made in consideration of such circumstances, and an object of the present invention is to enable image list display for easy comparison of images.

  In order to achieve the above object, the present invention provides an acquisition unit that acquires an email addressed to a specific email address, an extraction unit that extracts an image attached to the email acquired by the acquisition unit, And generating means for generating information for displaying a list of images extracted by the extracting means.

  By taking such means, images attached to the e-mail are collected, and information for displaying a list of these images is generated. Therefore, a list of images can be displayed based on the generated information.

  According to the present invention, images are collected using e-mail, and information for displaying a list of these images is displayed. Based on this information, an image list display for facilitating comparison of images. Is possible.

Hereinafter, an embodiment of the present invention will be described with reference to the drawings.
FIG. 1 is a diagram showing a configuration of a server apparatus 1 to which an image list display support apparatus according to the present invention is applied.
The server device 1 can communicate with the mail server 3 and the personal computer 4 via the LAN 2. The mail server 3 receives an electronic mail transmitted from the camera-equipped mail terminal 5 to a predetermined mail address via the Internet 6. The mail server 3 stores the received electronic mail. In response to a request from the server device 1, the mail server 3 transfers an email addressed to a mail address assigned to the server device 1 among the stored emails to the server device 1 via the LAN 2.

  The personal computer 4 is equipped with a web browser. The personal computer 4 can access the server device 1 via the LAN 2. When the personal computer 4 accesses the server device 1, the above-described web browser is used.

  The server device 1 includes a network interface 11, a user authentication unit 12, a mail acquisition unit 13, a mail storage unit 14, a subject list generation unit 15, a subject designation reception unit 16, an image extraction unit 17, and an image list generation unit 18.

The network interface 11 performs communication via the LAN 2.
When receiving access from the personal computer 4, the user authentication unit 12 authenticates a user who operates the personal computer 4 and accepts a new acquisition request from a user who has succeeded in authentication. The user authentication unit 12 notifies the mail acquisition unit 12 and the subject list generation unit 15 of the presence or absence of a new acquisition request.

  The mail acquisition unit 13 acquires an email addressed to the general-purpose mail address assigned to the server device 1 from the mail server 3 in response to a notification from the user authentication unit 12 that a new acquisition request has been made. The mail acquisition unit 13 notifies the subject list generation unit 15 of the subject of the acquired electronic mail. The mail acquisition unit 13 writes, in the mail storage unit 14, only the email whose subject matches the specified subject notified from the subject designation receiving unit 16 as described later. The mail storage unit 14 stores the electronic mail written by the mail acquisition unit 13.

  The subject list generation unit 15, when notified from the user authentication unit 12 that a new acquisition request has been made, includes information indicating a list image of the subject of the email notified from the mail acquisition unit 13 (hereinafter, subject list image) (Referred to as information). The subject list generation unit 15, when notified from the user authentication unit 12 that a new acquisition request has not been made, includes subject list image information indicating a list image of the subject of the email stored in the mail storage unit 14. Is generated. The subject list generation unit 15 transmits subject list image information to the personal computer 4.

  The subject designation accepting unit 16 accepts designation of a subject performed by the personal computer 4 based on the list image indicated by the subject list image information. The subject designation receiving unit 16 notifies the designated subject (hereinafter referred to as a designated subject) to the mail acquisition unit 13 and the image extraction unit 17. The image extraction unit 17 extracts from the mail storage unit 14 an image file attached to an email whose subject matches the specified subject. The image extraction unit 17 outputs the image indicated by the extracted image file to the image list generation unit 18. The image list generation unit 18 generates information indicating a list of images output from the image extraction unit 17 (hereinafter referred to as image list information). The image list generation unit 18 transmits the image list information to the personal computer 4.

  The server device 1 can use, for example, a general-purpose server computer device or a personal computer device as basic hardware. The user authentication unit 12, mail acquisition unit 13, subject list generation unit 15, subject designation reception unit 16, image extraction unit 17, and image list generation unit 18 are programmed (image list display) in a processor mounted on the computer device. This can be realized by executing a support program. At this time, the server device 1 may be realized by installing the image list display support program in the computer device in advance, or may be recorded on a removable recording medium such as a CD-ROM or a network. The image list display support program may be distributed via the above-mentioned image list, and the image list display support program may be appropriately installed in the computer device. As a description language of the image list display support program, for example, a PHP (Hypertext Preprocessor) script can be used. If described in PHP script, the computer apparatus may be of any type as long as the PHP script can be executed.

  The mail storage unit 14 includes a storage device such as a memory and a hard disk device built in the computer device, a storage device such as a memory and a hard disk device externally attached to the server device and the computer device, and a floppy (R). It can be realized by appropriately using a removable recording medium such as a disk.

Next, the operation of the server device 1 configured as described above will be described.
Here, a case where the server apparatus 1 is used by an instructor to compare and examine the results of practical training and experiments by students in an educational setting is taken as an example. In this case, the personal computer 4 becomes a terminal operated by the teacher. The camera-equipped mail terminal 5 is a terminal operated by the student. As the camera-equipped mail terminal 5 at this time, it is optimal to use a mobile phone with an e-mail function and a camera function owned by the student. However, the camera-equipped mail terminal 5 may be any type of device such as a PDA (Personal Digital Assistant) or a personal computer as long as it is a device that can shoot and send an e-mail with an attached image. Also good.

  Now, a student who conducts a practice or experiment photographs the work result using the camera function of the camera-equipped mail terminal 5. Then, the student transmits an e-mail attached with the image obtained by the photographing with the general-purpose mail address assigned to the server device 1 as a destination. On the other hand, when it is desired to compare the work results, the teacher activates the web browser of the personal computer 4 and accesses the server apparatus 1 through the web browser.

  The above e-mail transmitted from the camera-equipped mail terminal 5 is received by the mail server 3 via the Internet 6 and stored in the mail server 3. Since the mail server 3 also receives e-mails addressed to other e-mail addresses, e-mails of such various destinations are stored in the mail server 3.

FIG. 2 is a flowchart showing a processing procedure of the server apparatus 1.
The server apparatus 1 executes the processing shown in FIG. 2 based on the image list display support program in response to the request for execution of the image list display support program.

  In step ST1, the user authentication unit 12 waits for access from the personal computer 4. If the personal computer 4 accesses the server apparatus 1 under the operation of the teacher, the server apparatus 1 proceeds from step ST1 to step ST2. In step ST2, the user authentication unit 12 requests the user name and password from the personal computer 4. This is realized by, for example, receiving an input of a user name and password and transmitting an HTML (HyperText Markup Language) file describing processing for transmitting the input user name and password to the server device 1 to the personal computer 4. it can. In step ST <b> 3, if the user name and password are transmitted from the personal computer 4, the user authentication unit 12 acquires the user name and password. In step ST4, the user authentication unit 12 authenticates whether the operator of the personal computer 4 is a teacher permitted to access using the acquired user name and password, and whether or not the authentication is successful. Confirm. If the authentication fails, the user authentication unit 12 proceeds from step ST4 to step ST5. In step ST5, the user authentication unit 12 notifies the personal computer 4 that access is denied. And the server apparatus 1 returns to the standby state of step ST1.

  If the authentication is successful, the server apparatus 1 proceeds from step ST4 to step ST6. In step ST <b> 6, the user authentication unit 12 confirms whether or not the teacher requests acquisition of a new e-mail. When new acquisition is requested, the user authentication unit 12 notifies the mail acquisition unit 13 and the subject list generation unit 15 of this fact. Thereby, the server apparatus 1 progresses from step ST6 to step ST7.

  In step ST <b> 7, the mail acquisition unit 13 acquires an email addressed to the general-purpose mail address assigned to the server device 1 from the mail server 3. The mail acquisition unit 13 notifies the subject list generation unit 15 of the subject of the acquired electronic mail. In step ST <b> 8, the subject list generation unit 15 generates subject list image information indicating a list of subjects notified from the mail acquisition unit 13, i.e., a list image of subject names of e-mails newly acquired by the mail acquisition unit 13. . In step ST <b> 9, the subject list generation unit 15 transmits the generated subject list image information to the personal computer 4. The subject list image information can be realized by, for example, an HTML file. If a hyperlink is set in the character string indicating each subject, the subject can be identified when a desired subject in the list of subjects displayed by the web browser of the personal computer 4 is clicked by the teacher. It is possible to transmit various information from the personal computer 4.

  In step ST <b> 10, the subject designation receiving unit 16 acquires from the personal computer 4 a subject (designated subject) designated by an operation performed by the teacher on the personal computer 4. Then, the subject designation receiving unit 16 notifies the mail obtaining unit 13 of the designated subject. In step ST11, the mail acquisition unit 13 writes only the email whose subject matches the specified subject among the emails acquired in step ST7 to the mail storage unit 14. Thereafter, the server apparatus 1 proceeds to step ST15.

  When new acquisition is not requested, the user authentication unit 12 notifies the mail acquisition unit 13 and the subject list generation unit 15 of this fact. Thereby, the server apparatus 1 progresses from step ST6 to step ST12. In step ST <b> 12, the subject list generation unit 15 generates subject list image information indicating a list image of the subject of the email stored in the mail storage unit 14. In step ST <b> 13, the subject list generation unit 15 transmits the generated subject list image information to the personal computer 4. In step ST <b> 11, the subject designation receiving unit 16 acquires from the personal computer 4 a subject (designated subject) designated by an operation performed by the teacher on the personal computer 4. The subject designation receiving unit 16 notifies the email extracting unit 18 of the designated subject. Thereafter, the server apparatus 1 proceeds to step 15.

  In step ST15, the image extraction unit 17 extracts all the image files attached to the electronic mail whose subject matches the designated subject from the mail storage unit 14. The image extraction unit 17 outputs the image indicated by the extracted image file to the image list generation unit 18. Then, in step ST16, the image list generation unit 18 generates image list information for displaying a list of images output from the image extraction unit 17. FIG. 3 is a diagram showing an example of an image list, and shows a list of images obtained by photographing soldering work results. Such list information can be realized by, for example, an HTML file. In step ST <b> 17, the image list generation unit 18 transmits the generated image list information to the personal computer 4. After this, the server device 1 returns to the standby state of step ST1.

  In the personal computer 4, when the image list information transmitted from the server device 1 is received, the image list is displayed according to the image list information by the web browser. What display device is used to display the image list is arbitrary. That is, an image list can be presented only to a teacher who is operating the personal computer 4 by displaying it using a display built in or attached to the personal computer 4, or projected onto a screen or the like by a projector. An image list can be presented to a number of teachers or students.

  As described above, according to the present embodiment, it is possible to display a list of images showing work results sent from a plurality of camera-equipped mail terminals 5 attached to an electronic mail. Therefore, based on this list display, the teacher can simultaneously compare the work results of a plurality of students (or work groups to which the students belong). For this reason, the teacher can perform a quick and appropriate comparative study. In addition, the teacher can explain the comparison result while presenting the list display to the student, so that detailed explanation can be easily performed.

  In addition, according to the present embodiment, since an e-mail is used for collecting images, images can be collected immediately and without the need for troublesome work.

  Furthermore, according to the present embodiment, an image file is extracted from only an e-mail whose subject is a designated subject among e-mails sent to the general-purpose e-mail address assigned to the server apparatus 1, and the extracted image file is Image list information indicating a list of images to be displayed is generated. Therefore, it is possible to use a general-purpose mail address in common by changing the subject of the e-mail for each of a plurality of classes and a plurality of teachers. For this reason, it is not necessary to assign a large number of mail addresses to the server apparatus 1, and limited address resources can be used effectively. In addition, since the same e-mail address can be used in various classes, the student does not need to use a large number of e-mail addresses, and the operation for image transmission becomes simple.

  Further, according to the present embodiment, subject list information is given to the personal computer 4, and the subject selected from the subjects included in the subject list information is designated as the designated subject. There is no need to perform the operation, and the operation for inputting the designated subject is simplified.

  In addition, according to the present embodiment, when a new e-mail is acquired from the mail server 3, only the acquired e-mail whose subject matches the specified subject is stored in the mail storage unit 14. The mail storage unit 14 can be used more effectively than when all electronic mails are stored.

The present invention is not limited to the above embodiment. For example, the image list display support program may be described in a language other than a PHP script such as Perl (Practical Extraction and Report Language) or Java language.
The subject designation accepting unit 16 may accept the designated subject by another method such as accepting an operation for designating a character string. Further, the subject designation receiving unit 16 may receive an operation performed on a user interface provided in the server device 1.
The image extraction unit 17 may fix the subject to be extracted.
Image files may be extracted from all electronic mails sent to a predetermined mail address.
The server device 1 and the mail server 3 or the personal computer 4 may be connected via another communication network such as the Internet 6.
A display device for displaying the image list may be provided in the server apparatus 1.
The operation mode of the server device 1 is arbitrary, and any person who sends a comment (an operator of the camera-equipped mail terminal 5) or an operator of the personal computer 4 may be used.
That is, the present invention is not limited to the above-described embodiment as it is, and can be embodied by modifying the constituent elements without departing from the scope of the invention.

The figure which shows the structure of the server apparatus 1 to which the image list display assistance apparatus which concerns on this invention is applied. 4 is a flowchart showing a processing procedure of the server device 1. The figure which shows an example of an image list.

Explanation of symbols

  DESCRIPTION OF SYMBOLS 1 ... Server apparatus, 2 ... LAN, 3 ... Mail server, 4 ... Personal computer, 5 ... Mail terminal, 6 ... Internet, 11 ... Network interface, 12 ... User authentication part, 13 ... Mail acquisition part, 14 ... Mail storage part 15 ... Subject list generation unit, 16 ... Subject designation reception unit, 17 ... Image extraction unit, 18 ... Image list generation unit.

Claims (5)

An acquisition means for acquiring an e-mail addressed to a specific e-mail address;
Extracting means for extracting an image attached to the e-mail acquired by the acquiring means;
An image list display support apparatus comprising: generation means for generating information for displaying a list of images extracted by the extraction means. Computer
An acquisition means for acquiring an e-mail addressed to a specific e-mail address;
Extracting means for extracting an image attached to the e-mail acquired by the acquiring means;
An image list display support program that functions as a generation unit that generates information for displaying a list of images extracted by the extraction unit.   The said extraction means extracts the said image only from the email of the subject line which corresponds to the character string designated beforehand among all the emails acquired by the said acquisition means, The said image is characterized by the above-mentioned. Image list display support program. And further causing the computer to function as a receiving unit that accepts an artificial operation for designating one of the subject lines of the email acquired by the acquiring unit,
3. The image list display support program according to claim 2, wherein the extraction unit causes the image to be extracted only from an e-mail having a subject that matches a subject specified by an operation received by the receiving unit. And further causing the computer to function as means for generating second display information for displaying a list of subject names of e-mails acquired by the acquiring means,
5. The image list display support program according to claim 4, wherein the accepting unit is configured to accept an artificial operation for selecting and specifying one of the subjects displayed in a list based on the second display information.

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