JP2006127173A - Automatic transaction apparatus - Google Patents

Abstract

<P>PROBLEM TO BE SOLVED: To solve a problem that in the case of switching picture display by operator's operation in picture display processing using browser, a picture on the way of display (plotting) may be looked by the operator and visual troubles may be generated. <P>SOLUTION: A display frame of the browser is constituted of double structure of a surface and a rear, one frame is used as a surface frame (visible) and the other is used as a rear frame (invisible). In the case of displaying a succeeding different picture by an input from the surface frame being displayed, communication with a server or the like is performed by the invisible rear frame, the plotting processing of the succeeding picture is executed by the rear frame, and at the completion of plotting, the parts of the surface frame and the rear frame are mutually reversed (namely the initial surface frame is turned to an invisible rear frame and the initial rear face is turned to a visible surface frame at the time of reversal) to switch the picture display of the browser. By repeating the reversal of frames in each picture switching, the picture can be instantaneously switched without showing the picture on the way of display (plotting) to the operator. <P>COPYRIGHT: (C)2006,JPO&NCIPI

Description

  The present invention relates to a screen display control method using a browser. In particular, the present invention relates to a screen display control method and a display device in a customer operation type device such as an automatic teller machine.

  As Web browsers, Microsoft's Internet Explorer (trademark) and Netscape Communications' Netscape Navigator (trademark) are well known. A Web browser (hereinafter referred to as a browser) is mounted on a client (client computer) which is a user terminal device in a client / server system represented by the Internet, and communicates with a server (server computer) via a communication network to display information. I do. Communication between the server and client (browser) is based on the HTTP (HyperText Transfer Protocol) communication protocol. A request message (HTTP request) is sent from the browser to the server, and when the server receives this, a response message ( HTTP response) and send data. Information received from the server is a document described in a markup language such as HTML (HyperText Markup Language). When the browser receives this document, it analyzes the received document and displays it on the screen. As a function of the browser, it is possible not only to display information received from the server but also to send client information to the server and receive results processed by an application operating on the server. In the browser display screen, Java (Sun Microsystems trademark) applet, Java script, and Flash (Macromedia trademark) are used for dynamic expressions that cannot be realized with HTML alone (for example, button display and cursor input / output field). And other objects such as Java scripts, Java applets, and other plug-ins can communicate with each other within the browser.

  In recent years, products and browser display methods using these browser functions have been proposed. For example, in the technology described in Patent Document 1, there is a system that incorporates a Web server function in a household electrical appliance to be controlled remotely, connects to a network, and performs remote operation using a client computer corresponding to a remote controller equipped with a Web browser. Proposed. In the system, in order to solve the problem that it is difficult to see visually regarding instantaneous switching of screen redrawing, the frame displayed on the browser screen is classified in advance, and the image before the redrawing screen is redrawn A technique is proposed in which a first classification that does not change is divided into a second classification that is different from the previous one, and a frame of only the second classification is redrawn at the time of redrawing (the frame of the first classification is not redrawn) Has been.

  Further, in the technique described in Patent Document 2, a layout frame having an object on the browser screen and a dummy frame that has no object and is set in a minimal area of the browser screen are used to wait for a response from the server using a dummy frame. A technique has been proposed in which the layout frame is updated and the dummy frame is redrawn only in a portion where the screen changes, thereby suppressing visual disturbance such as flickering of the screen due to the response.

JP 2002-123488 A JP 2004-240724 A

  However, in the technique of Patent Document 1, the effect is exhibited when the frame area belonging to the second classification is relatively small, but the transition is made like an automatic teller machine (hereinafter referred to as ATM) installed in a financial institution. The technology that adopts a screen configuration in which most of the screen area belongs to the second category different from the previous screen cannot be expected to be effective, and all the multiple screens are drawn before. Since there is a lot of screens, the transition between the screens is the same as the previous part (first classification) and the part different from the previous part (second classification). The more complicated (for example, in ATM, etc., the screen changes depending on the type of the selected key, the internal state of the device, etc., and the screen may return to the previous screen by pressing the “Back” key, etc.) Have a difficult problem Cormorant.

  Also in the technique of Patent Document 2, the dummy frame cannot exhibit the effect that can be assumed to update the entire area of the screen as in the problem of Patent Document 1 described above, and the setting becomes complicated. There is a problem.

  Furthermore, due to the nature of the browser displaying the received HTML document in the order in which it was analyzed, it takes time to display objects that use plug-ins such as Java applets and Flash, and to display large amounts of image data. Cost. For this reason, there is a visual problem that a state in the middle of display (for example, an X mark indicating that image data display processing is being performed) can be seen between the start of the update of the layout frame and the end of the update. appear. For this reason, when a browser is mounted on a customer-operated device such as an ATM, this visual obstacle may be a stress for the user.

  Therefore, in order to solve the above-mentioned problem, the present invention provides a visual obstacle to the browser screen display regardless of the content of the response returned from the server or the like to the browser and the performance (CPU performance, etc.) of the client computer equipped with the browser. An object of the present invention is to provide a method and an apparatus for suppressing the problem.

  In order to achieve the above object, in the present invention, the display frame of the browser has a double-sided structure, one side being a visible front frame and the other being an invisible back frame. When another next screen is displayed by inputting from the displayed front frame, it communicates with the server in the invisible back frame, executes the drawing processing of the next screen in the back frame, and when the drawing is completed , By reversing the roles of the front and back frames (that is, at this point, the first front frame becomes an invisible back frame and the first back frame becomes a visible front frame). This is repeated at each switching).

  According to the present invention, since the screen can be switched instantaneously when the drawing of the screen to be displayed next is completed, there is no visual obstacle such as the middle of the display being seen or the screen flickering when the screen is switched. It is possible to provide a screen control method and a device equipped with this technique.

  The best mode for carrying out the present invention will be described below in detail with reference to the drawings. In this embodiment, an example of a system in which an automatic transaction apparatus that is a client equipped with a browser function, a Web application server that includes an application that controls the automatic transaction apparatus, and a host computer are connected via a communication network. As shown. Needless to say, each computer constituting the system has hardware such as CPU, memory, storage means such as HDD.

FIG. 1 is a system configuration diagram of an embodiment. The automatic transaction apparatus 103 is an apparatus that is installed in a financial institution or the like and performs transactions such as cash deposits and withdrawals by customer operations. The browser 107 displays a customer operation screen 108 that configures items to be displayed to the customer, guidance, and the like, raises a request to the Web application server 102 according to the customer operation, and displays the next screen according to the response. I can do it. The communication control unit 110 plays a role of communicating with the business application 106 and requests the device control unit 109 to perform processing. The device control unit 109 issues processing requests to various devices. The device here refers to a hardware unit such as a card processing mechanism and a customer operation unit, which will be described later, and software for controlling the hardware unit.
The web application server 102 can generate a screen in response to a request from the browser 107 and display the customer operation screen 108 on the browser 107 by responding. The business application 106 is a program for realizing a transaction. The business application 106 performs a sequential process according to the type of transaction, and if it is necessary to process the device of the automatic transaction apparatus 103 in the process, the communication control unit 110 A processing request is made to the server. The customer operation screen generation unit 105 generates screen data to be displayed on the customer operation screen 107 using an image file or the like in the screen content 104 based on the execution result data of the business application 106. This is a system configuration in which the Web application server 102 having the above configuration can execute a transaction by communicating with the host computer 101.

  FIG. 2 is an explanatory diagram illustrating an example of a schematic configuration of the automatic transaction apparatus 103. As shown in the figure, the automatic transaction apparatus 103 of the main body includes the following units (devices). The customer operation unit 208 is used for selecting a transaction and confirming the content of the transaction when the customer conducts a transaction. The customer operation unit 208 detects a customer's selection item or displays various information, and includes an LCD screen, a touch panel, and the like. Is done. The card processing mechanism 211 performs inhalation and discharge of bank cards owned by customers and reading / writing of card magnetic stripe information (or IC information) in dealings. The passbook processing mechanism 210 performs suction and discharge of the passbook, reading / writing of the passbook magnetic stripe information, printing on the passbook, and the like. The bill deposit / withdrawal mechanism 209 stores bills inserted from the deposit / withdrawal port for each denomination in the storage unit inside the automatic transaction apparatus, discriminates bills, and withdraws bills specified by customers from the deposit / withdrawal port. Similarly, the coin deposit / withdrawal mechanism 213 is a unit having functions such as coin deposit / withdrawal and identification. The statement slip processing mechanism 212 has a function of printing and discharging the transaction details.

  The control unit 214 controls such a hardware unit, that is, each unit of the automatic transaction apparatus 103, so that information can be exchanged between the units. The automatic transaction apparatus 103 is connected to the web application server 102 via a communication network. The control unit 214 realizes a transaction while communicating with the Web application server 102. The control unit 214 in the figure is composed of a hardware configuration such as a CPU and a memory (not shown) and software functional blocks, and is controlled by the main control unit 201. The card control unit 205 controls the card processing mechanism 211, and the passbook control unit 206 controls the passbook processing mechanism 210. The instruction input / output unit 202 controls display of the customer operation unit 208 and the like. The cash control unit 203 controls the banknote deposit / withdrawal mechanism 208 and the coin deposit / withdrawal mechanism 213. The statement slip control unit 204 controls the statement slip processing mechanism 212. A communication control unit 207 controls communication with the Web application server 102.

  FIG. 3 is an example of a screen displayed on the customer operation unit 208 in FIG. 2 and its transition. When the customer stands in front of the automatic transaction apparatus 103, a menu screen 301 for selecting a transaction item is displayed as an initial screen. When the balance inquiry transaction key 305 is pressed from the transaction menu on the menu screen 301, the screen changes to the card insertion screen 302. The card insertion screen 302 has a moving image content display area 304 for guiding card insertion. When the bank card owned by the customer is inserted into the card processing mechanism 211 on the card insertion screen 302, the screen changes to a password input screen 303. The personal identification number input screen 303 has an input display field 306 with a cursor and a numeric keypad 307. When the customer inputs the password using the numeric keypad 307 on the password input screen 303, it is detected, and the display screen is subsequently changed according to the operation procedure, and the transaction on the automatic transaction apparatus is executed.

  FIG. 4 is a diagram showing the structure of the display screen that transitions as shown in FIG. 3, that is, the structure of the browser screen. The frame structure includes a front frame 401 that is visible to the customer, an invisible back frame 402 that is not visible to the customer, and an invisible control frame 403 that controls these frames. Each frame communicates information between frames by a program written in a script language such as a Java script and a hardware configuration such as a CPU.

  Based on the above contents, each function of the browser 107 will be described in detail. Needless to say, each function (means) of the browser 107 is executed by the control and processing of the control unit 214 including a CPU, a memory, and the like. In addition, this invention is not limited to the Example shown below, Of course, a deformation | transformation, improvement, etc. within the scope of the present invention are possible.

  FIG. 5 shows a flow of browser screen display control performed between the automatic transaction apparatus 103 and the Web application server 102 in the system configuration according to the present embodiment.

  When the customer operation in the visible table frame 401 displayed on the browser 107 is completed (for example, pressing the balance inquiry transaction key 305 on the menu screen 301 shown in FIG. 3), it is detected. In the table frame 401, information to be transmitted to the Web application server 102 including the pressed key information (transmission parameter) and the like is set in the control frame 403, and an HTTP request issuance request is made (S501). The control frame 403 generates a transmission form in the back frame 402 from the received transmission information (S502), and passes it to the back frame 403 (S503). The back frame 403 transmits the form data together with the HTTP request to the Web application server 102 (S504). The Web application server 102 executes a corresponding scene process based on the received form data and the like, collects information on a screen to be displayed next (such as the card insertion screen 302), and creates an HTML file (S505). Specifically, buttons and guidance necessary for screen generation are collected from the screen content 104 in FIG. 1, and a customer operation screen 108 is created by the customer operation screen generation unit 105.

  The Web application server issues the HTML file created in S505 to the back frame 403 as an HTTP response (S506). The back frame 402 performs drawing processing of a screen to be displayed next (such as the card insertion screen 302) based on the received HTTP response (S507). The back frame 402 reports the completion of drawing to the control frame 403 when drawing is completed (S508). Here, during S501 to S508, the table frame 401 is displayed on the browser 107 screen, and the screen of the table frame 401 is visible to the user. In response to the drawing completion report from the back frame 402, the control frame 403 reverses the roles of the front frame 401 and the back frame 403 (S509). In other words, at this time, the back frame 402 becomes the visible front frame 401, the screen drawn in S507 is displayed, and the visible front frame 401 displayed so far becomes the invisible back frame 402.

Next, a method for detecting the completion of the drawing process for the back frame 403 in S508 and a frame switching trigger will be described below.
The browser 107 displays an HTML document as a customer operation screen to be displayed next on the back frame 402, but the display completion is set in the attribute “onLoad” of the <body> tag described in the HTML file (HTML document). Detected by the event handler and the back frame 402 reports it to the control frame 403, so that the browser 107 detects the completion of drawing of the back frame 402.

  The completion detection of the back frame drawing process described above is effective when special drawing such as Java is not performed on the HTML file. However, the browser cannot detect the completion of the rendering process for the back frame that has been rendered inside the object, such as a Java applet or Flash. For this reason, “onLoad” is called when the object download is completed, and at this point, there is a case where drawing or internal initialization has not been completed yet. In order to solve this, for an object having an initialization process internally, a method of issuing a completion notification upon completion of its own initialization is effective, and an example will be described.

  A specific procedure will be described next. FIG. 6 is a flowchart showing an example of the above processing procedure. In this example, an HTML document having n Java applets 601 and m Flash 602 as objects is rendered by the back frame 402. This is a case where the balance inquiry transaction key 305, the input display field 306 with a cursor, the numeric keypad 307, etc. on the screen illustrated in FIG. 3 are created with objects such as the Java applet 601 and Flash 602.

  When the browser 107 detects an object of the Java applet 601 and Flash 602 during the analysis processing of the HTML document, the browser 107 starts an execution engine 603 (Java virtual machine for Java applet, Flash Player for Flash, etc.) for processing these objects. (S601). The activated execution engine 603 calls an initialization function (“init ()”, “on (load)”, etc.) of each object (S602). In response to this, each object performs drawing processing and initialization processing such as initialization of internal data, and notifies initialization completion to a Java script or the like described in the HTML document (calls initialization completion notification processing function 604). (S603). In this notification, a unique ID assigned to each object is added.

  In the initialization completion notification processing function 604, whether the back frame 402 holds the initialization completion list shown in FIG. 7 and whether each object has been initialized or not based on the ID notified by the initialization completion notification. Manage. Then, the object notified of initialization completion is added to the list in units of IDs (S604). Further, it is confirmed whether or not the initialization completion notification has been received from all objects pasted in the HTML document (S605). When it is confirmed that initialization completion notifications have been received from all objects, a display completion notification is issued to the control frame 403 (S606). With this display completion notification, the control frame 403 can recognize that the drawing of the back frame 402 has been completed.

  As described above, the browser 107 manages the visible front frame (first frame) and the invisible back frame (second frame), and the first frame remains visible until the drawing processing of the second frame is completed. And a switching function for making the second frame visible and the first frame invisible when the drawing processing of the second frame is completed. In FIG. 3, when the balance inquiry transaction key 305 is pressed while the initial screen 301 is displayed, the initial screen 301 corresponds to the first frame and the card insertion screen 302 corresponds to the second frame. When the screen is changed and a card is inserted in a state where the card insertion screen is displayed on the operation unit 208, the card insertion screen 302 corresponds to the first frame and the password input screen 303 corresponds to the second frame. To do.

  In this embodiment, an example of an automatic transaction apparatus installed in a financial institution has been shown. However, a transaction with a customer operation installed in a convenience store or a railway company is automatically executed, and a plurality of customer operation screens are changed. It can also be applied to automatic transaction equipment. Of course, the present invention can also be applied to an attendant operation unit provided in an automatic transaction apparatus operated by an attendant who maintains the apparatus, not a customer, or a maintainer.

Block diagram of automated trading system Configuration of automatic transaction equipment Transaction screen transition diagram Browser screen configuration diagram Flow chart of screen display switching process Flow chart of screen display completion detection process Structure diagram of initialization completion list

Explanation of symbols

DESCRIPTION OF SYMBOLS 101 ... Host computer, 102 ... Web application server, 103 ... Automatic transaction apparatus, 104 ... Screen content, 105 ... Customer operation screen production | generation part, 106 ... Business application, 107 ... Customer operation screen, 108 ... Browser, 109 ... Device control part , 110 ... communication control unit, 201 ... main control unit, 202 ... instruction input / output unit, 203 ... cash control unit, 204 ... statement slip control unit, 24 ... card control unit, 206 ... passbook control unit, 207 ... communication control unit 208, customer operation unit, 209, bill deposit / withdrawal mechanism, 210 ... bankbook processing mechanism, 211 ... card processing mechanism, 212 ... statement processing mechanism, 213 ... coin deposit / withdrawal mechanism, 214 ... control unit, 301 ... menu screen, 302 ... Card insertion screen, 303 ... Security code input screen, 304 ... Video content display area, 305 ... High inquiry transaction key, 306 ... input display field 307 ... numeric keypad, 401 ... table frame, 402 ... back frame, 403 ... control frame, 601 ... Java applets, 602 ... Flash

Claims (8)

In an automatic transaction apparatus that performs various transactions according to user operations,
An operation means for displaying a display screen related to the user's operation and detecting the operated content;
Control means,
The operation means is composed of a display frame by a browser and the display frame is composed of a visible first frame and an invisible second frame,
The automatic transaction apparatus according to claim 1, wherein the browser manages the drawing completion of the second frame by controlling the browser by the control means. The automatic transaction apparatus according to claim 1,
The automatic transaction apparatus according to claim 1, wherein the browser switches the first frame to an invisible state and the second frame to a visible state based on detection of completion of drawing of the second frame. The automatic transaction apparatus according to claim 1,
The automatic transaction apparatus, wherein the browser maintains the first frame in a visible state and the second frame in an invisible state until it detects completion of drawing of the second frame. In the automatic transaction apparatus according to any one of claims 1 to 3,
The display frame further includes a control frame,
The control frame receives a request issuance request from the first frame, generates a transmission form based on the reception, transmits the request to the second frame, and receives a drawing completion notification from the second frame. Automatic transaction equipment. In the automatic transaction device according to claims 1 to 4,
The automatic transaction apparatus, wherein the browser starts drawing the second frame based on screen information received from a server connected to the automatic transaction apparatus. The automatic transaction apparatus according to any one of claims 1 to 5,
When the second frame is accompanied by drawing having a rendering function, the browser manages drawing completion of the object in units of a plurality of objects constituting the second frame. The automatic transaction apparatus according to claim 6,
When the drawing of the object is completed, the object is added with a uniquely assigned ID and a completion notice is sent to the second frame. In a browser display control method for receiving information described in a markup language from a server via a communication network and performing a desired display by a control unit and a browser,
The browser is composed of a visible first frame and an invisible second frame,
A request issuance request is sent from the first frame to the second frame;
The second frame requests the server and starts a drawing process based on information received from the server.
A browser display control method comprising: switching the first frame to an invisible state and switching the second frame to a visible state based on completion of drawing by the second frame.

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