JP2006236323A - Application providing system, server, client and application providing method - Google Patents

Abstract

<P>PROBLEM TO BE SOLVED: To provide an appropriate GUI in execution of an application by absorbing difference in graphical performance of each piece of equipment. <P>SOLUTION: The client 17 transmits, upon starting an application, the application ID of the application and profile data of the client 17 to the server 10. The server 10 retrieves, upon receiving the application ID and the profile data, an application program corresponding to the application ID and resource data and image data associated with the program, and converts the resource data and image data based on the profile data. The converted resource data and image data are provided to the client 17 with the application program. <P>COPYRIGHT: (C)2006,JPO&NCIPI

Description

  The present invention relates to a system for managing execution of a GUI application, and more specifically, an application providing system, a server, and a client that provide data necessary for execution from the server to the client based on a request from the client. And an application providing method.

  In recent years, with the development of information processing technology and wireless communication technology, computer devices such as personal computers, communication terminals such as mobile phones and PDAs (Personal Digital Assistance), and devices such as information appliances have been popularized in the home. . These devices usually include a display device such as an LCD (Liquid Crystal Display), thereby realizing a GUI (Graphical User Interface) with the user. For example, the user performs a predetermined operation on a graphic display such as a menu or an input button displayed on the display device by using an input unit such as a mouse, a pen, or a remote control commander, so that a predetermined operation is performed on the device. Give instructions.

  Conventionally, when a new application is added to a CE (Consumer Electronics) device that is a form of the above-described device, or when a client application corresponding to the service is added as a new service starts, the application Many GUIs have specifications that display an instruction screen on a WEB browser and exchange data with a server using a protocol such as HTTP (HyperText Transfer Protocol). When a WEB browser is used, GUI components such as buttons and input areas are automatically laid out. Even if these components are placed beyond a predetermined display area, the user can display the GUI components by scrolling. Thus, the display contents can be confirmed and input operations can be performed, and the GUI can be easily configured.

Patent Document 1 discloses an extended graphical user interface architecture that schedules a device platform independent application graphical user interface to be displayed on a plurality of heterogeneous device platforms.
JP 2003-186665 A

  Using the GUI using the WEB browser as described above has the advantage that the same application can be used for any model on the development side, but there is a certain limit in terms of usability. . In other words, WEB browsers are limited to display forms that can be realized by provisions such as HTML (Hyper Text Markup Language), and it is therefore difficult to adopt a characteristic design for each device. It was.

  That is, it is preferable that the GUI screen of the application activated by the user's service selection has the same design and usability (look and feel) of the application incorporated in the original device. However, the WEB browser has a problem that it is extremely difficult to achieve a unified look and feel.

  In addition, a GUI using a WEB browser has an advantage that image data such as a GIF (Graphics Interchange Format) file and data related to display expressed in HTML can be used in common among different models. However, the WEB browser has a problem that it is difficult to realize a user interface suitable for each characteristic of the CE device.

  For example, when an input screen or the like is displayed using a WEB browser, when the colors and screen sizes that can be used differ depending on the display device of the CE device, these differences cannot be automatically handled. Furthermore, some CE devices have a touch panel and others use a remote control (remote control commander), but it is difficult for a WEB browser to optimally support these functions.

  On the other hand, Patent Document 1 discloses an architecture for providing a graphical user interface on a heterogeneous device platform, but this technology displays a device-independent intermediate display according to the characteristics of a device on which an application is activated. It only transforms dynamically. The GUI component may be replaced with another component having a similar function by converting the intermediate display (FIG. 5).

  Therefore, an object of the present invention is to provide an application providing system, a server, a client, and an application providing method for providing an appropriate GUI according to a function related to display of each device when an application is executed on various types of devices. There is to do.

  A further object of the present invention is that, when a request for starting an application is issued from a device, the server sends data for realizing the GUI of the specified application according to the function related to the display of the device. An object is to provide an application providing system, a server, a client, and an application providing method configured to determine and transmit data determined in this manner to the device.

  In order to solve the above-described problem, a first invention includes a server and a client connected to each other via a network, and the server includes at least an application program and resource data, a storage unit storing an application ID and a profile from the client. Based on profile data, a receiving unit that receives data, a search unit that searches an application program corresponding to an application ID from the storage unit, searches a storage unit for resource data that is referred to by the searched application program, A conversion unit that converts the retrieved resource data, an application program searched by the search unit, and a data providing unit that provides the client with the resource data converted by the conversion unit. When an application is selected, the transmission unit transmits the application ID corresponding to the selected application and the profile data indicating the client characteristics to the server via the network, and the application ID and profile data of the transmission unit are transmitted. A data acquisition unit that acquires the application program and resource data provided by the server in response to the transmission, and the application program acquired by the data acquisition unit is executed on the client with reference to the resource data acquired by the data acquisition unit An application providing system comprising an execution control unit for controlling.

  According to a second aspect of the present invention, there is provided a storage unit that stores at least an application program and resource data, a reception unit that receives an application ID and profile data representing client characteristics from a client connected via a network, and an application ID A search unit that searches the storage unit for resource data referred to by the searched application program, and a conversion unit that converts the searched resource data based on the profile data. And a data providing unit that provides the client with the application program searched by the search unit and the resource data converted by the conversion unit.

  Further, the third invention, when an application is selected, a transmission unit that transmits an application ID corresponding to the selected application and profile data representing its characteristics to a server connected via a network; A data acquisition unit that acquires the application program and resource data provided by the server in response to the transmission of the application ID and profile data by the transmission unit, and the resource data acquired by the data acquisition unit for the application program acquired by the data acquisition unit It is a client characterized by having an execution control part which controls to execute with reference.

  According to a fourth aspect of the present invention, when an application is selected on the client, the application ID corresponding to the selected application and profile data representing the characteristics of the client are transmitted to a server connected via the network. A transmission step; a reception step of receiving an application ID and profile data transmitted from a client on the server; a search for an application program corresponding to the application ID from the storage unit on the server; and the searched application program A search step for searching resource data to be referenced from the storage unit, a conversion step for converting the searched resource data based on profile data on the server, and a search step on the server Data providing step for providing the client with the application program and the resource data converted by the converting step, and a data obtaining step for obtaining the application program and resource data provided from the server by the data providing step on the client And an execution control step for controlling the application program acquired in the data acquisition step on the client so as to execute with reference to the resource data acquired in the data acquisition step. .

  As described above, in the first and fourth inventions, when an application is selected on the client, the application ID corresponding to the selected application and the profile data representing the characteristics of the client are connected via the network. When the server receives the application ID and profile data transmitted from the client, the server retrieves the application program corresponding to the application ID from the storage unit and refers to the retrieved application program. Search the resource data from the storage unit, convert the searched resource data based on the profile data, provide the searched application program and the converted resource data to the client, and When the client acquires the application program and resource data provided from the server, the client controls the acquired application program with reference to the acquired resource data. Can be obtained from the server.

  In the second invention, at least an application program and resource data are stored in the storage unit, and an application ID and profile data representing the characteristics of the client are received from a client connected via a network, and the application ID corresponds to the application ID. The application program is searched from the storage unit, the resource data referred to by the searched application program is searched from the storage unit, the searched resource data is converted based on the profile data, and converted into the searched application program. Since resource data is provided to a client, the client can be adapted to the client or provided with source data.

  According to a third aspect of the present invention, when an application is selected, the application ID corresponding to the selected application and profile data representing its characteristics are transmitted to a server connected via the network, and the application ID and profile are transmitted. The client adapts itself because it acquires the application program and resource data provided by the server in response to the data transmission, and controls the acquired application program to execute referring to the acquired resource data. Resource data can be obtained from the server.

  When the application providing system according to the present invention instructs execution of an application from each device, GUI-related data (resource data and image data) is transmitted from the server according to the GUI function of the device. There is an effect that a suitable GUI is realized. For example, GUI related data is generated according to the screen size, image processing capability, color display capability, etc. of the device that is instructed to execute the application, and transmitted to the device. The device refers to the GUI related data. The application is executed.

  A first embodiment of the present invention will be described below with reference to the drawings. FIG. 1 shows an outline of an application providing system 1 according to the first embodiment of the present invention. The application providing system 1 includes a server 10 and at least one client 17. The client 17 is, for example, an AV (Audio Visual) device 20 that provides a user with music, video, and Internet information, respectively, or a base station, and a base station. Broadcasting server device that has a portable television device 30 that can watch a television broadcast at an arbitrary location by receiving radio waves from the mobile phone and a large-capacity hard disk device, and that plays back and distributes the recorded television broadcast 40, a PDA (Personal Digital Assistanc) device 50, which is a personal portable information terminal.

  Each of the clients 17 is often configured by combining a plurality of devices such as a display monitor device, a speaker, and a control device having an Internet connection function, such as the AV device 20, for example. A device including at least a component that controls display on the display device (or display unit) is referred to as a client 17. Therefore, in the example of the broadcast server device 40, a device composed of a television monitor device and a server device that controls display on the television monitor device, or a device composed only of such a server device is a client in the present invention. However, a device composed only of a television monitor device does not correspond to the client 17.

  The server 10 is connected to a client 17 such as the AV device 20, the television device 30, the broadcast server device 40, and the PDA device 50 via the network 15. Here, the network 15 is a transmission medium capable of performing data communication according to a predetermined protocol. For example, the Internet, an intranet, an extranet, a LAN (Local Area Network), a WAN (Wide Area Network), a MAN (Metropolitan Area Network), and the like. It is. Further, at least a part may be configured by a wireless network.

  In the AV device 20, when the user selects a predetermined application such as “photo viewer” from the menu displayed on the display monitor device of the AV device 20, an application ID (application ID) 21 corresponding to the application, Profile data (profile) 22 including data related to the display function of the AV device 20 is transmitted to the server 10 via the network 15.

  Here, the profile data 22 includes information related to the characteristics of the client 17, and particularly includes information related to the GUI of the client 17. Information related to the GUI includes items related to a display function and an input function for realizing the GUI. In addition, the display function and input function information for realizing the GUI can be related not only to hardware but also to software.

  When the server 10 receives the application ID 21 and the profile data 22 from the AV device 20, the server 10 is necessary for the application program corresponding to the application ID 21 and the application program to display the GUI screen on the display monitor device of the AV device 20. The data is packed together and transmitted as pack data 23 to the AV device 20 via the network 15.

  Here, the data necessary for realizing the GUI on the display monitor device of the AV device 20 includes image data (image A) composed of image data used for displaying on the GUI screen, and GUI components such as menus and buttons. Data related to display and input to the display monitor device of the AV device 20, that is, resource data related to the GUI (resource A). Further, the image data and the resource data are data that are referred to in order to realize a GUI by an application program executed on the client 17.

  On the other hand, when the user selects a predetermined application from the menu displayed on the display monitor unit of the television device 30, the television device 30 relates to the application ID 31 corresponding to the application and the GUI of the television device 30. Profile data 32 including data to be transmitted is transmitted to the server 10 via the network 15.

  When the server 10 receives the application ID 31 and the profile data 32 from the television device 30, the server 10 is necessary for the application program corresponding to the application ID 31 and the application program to realize the GUI on the display monitor unit of the television device 30. Data are packed together and transmitted as pack data 33 to the television device 30 via the network 15.

  Here, the data necessary for realizing the GUI on the display monitor unit includes image data (image B) composed of image data to be displayed on the GUI screen, and arrangement information of GUI components such as menus and buttons. This is resource data (resource B) related to display and input to the display monitor device of the television device 30. The image data and the resource data are data that is referred to in order to realize a GUI by an application program executed by the client 17.

  Thereafter, similarly, other devices such as the broadcast server device 40 and the PDA device 50 perform the same exchanges as described above to the server 10, and a suitable GUI is realized in each application.

  Note that image data used to display a GUI component can be included in the image data. For example, menu image data for displaying a menu and button image data for displaying a button can be included in the image data. Hereinafter, in the description of the first embodiment, it is assumed that the image data includes image data used for displaying these GUI components.

  The image A and the resource A provided to the AV device 20 are data for realizing a GUI component displayed on a relatively large screen such as the screen of the display monitor device of the AV device 20. Is image data having a large resolution, and the arrangement information included in the resource A includes contents for arranging the image data at wide intervals according to the resolution of the image data of the image A.

  On the other hand, the display monitor unit of the television device 30 has a smaller display area than the display monitor device of the AV device 20, so that the image data of the image B provided from the server 10 is relatively small. Small resolution. Further, the arrangement information included in the resource B is relatively narrow in accordance with the resolution of the image data of the image B.

  An application that is executed by each client 17 and provides a GUI to the user is, for example, a Java application (“JAVA” is a registered trademark). In the Java architecture, when a source file described by program development is compiled by a Java compiler, an intermediate code is generated, and the generated intermediate code is usually generated by a Java virtual machine (Java VM). Interpreted and executed. Thus, the Java virtual machine is a program that understands and executes intermediate code as if it were an execution code. Therefore, if this Java virtual machine is prepared for each type of CPU (Central Processing Unit) and OS (Operating System), a program having the same contents can be executed with the same intermediate code regardless of the type of device.

  Java applications can be created using many existing components, which enables efficient program development. In the Java architecture, when executing a Java application, the GUI application is executed by interpreting both the source file of the GUI application created by program development and the source file of the parts included in the execution environment of Java. However, since it is not efficient to compile each part source file at the time of execution, it is usually converted into intermediate code in advance. For this reason, the Java virtual machine interprets both the intermediate code of the GUI application generated by the compiler and the intermediate code of the parts prepared in advance, and executes the program. Shortened to

  Further, intermediate code, resource data, image data, and the like of the Java application are stored in a Jar file, and the Java virtual machine extracts (unpacks) data necessary for executing the Java application from the Jar file. Here, Jar is an abbreviation of “Java archive” and is actually a compressed file in the Zip format.

  Here, CE devices such as the AV device 20 are cited as examples of the client 17, but the client 17 of the application providing system 1 according to the present invention is not limited to these devices. As long as the GUI is realized in the device and the device can be configured to transmit the profile data related to the function for realizing the GUI to the server and receive the resource data and the image data corresponding to the profile data from the server, Any device can be the client 17 of the application providing system 1 according to the present invention. In that sense, a personal computer (PC) can also be the client 17.

  Next, each part of the application providing system 1 will be described with reference to the functional block diagram of FIG. The client 17 includes a transmission unit 17A, a data acquisition unit 17B, and an execution control unit 17C, and the server 10 includes a reception unit 10A, a search unit 10B, a conversion unit 10C, and a data provision unit 10D. The client 17 and the server 10 are connected via the network 15, and the client 17 includes an application data table 11.

  The transmission unit 17A of the client 17 detects that one application has been selected from the application list by the user, and transmits an application ID corresponding to the application to the server 10 via the network 15. At the time of this transmission, profile data including data related to the GUI of the client 17 is also transmitted to the server 10 in the same manner.

  The application list is displayed on the display device or the display unit of the client 17, and the user selects one of the displayed applications using an input unit such as a remote controller. The application list is acquired in advance by the client 17 from the server 10 via the network 15.

  The data acquisition unit 17B acquires application programs, resource data, and image data provided from the server 10. The data acquisition by the data acquisition unit 17B is a data transfer in which data is directly received from the server 10 via the network 15, or an address of the data is received from the server 10 via the network 15, and the data is again transmitted to the address on the client 17 side There is a method such as address passing to get.

  The execution control unit 17C controls the application program provided from the server 10 to be executed with reference to the resource data and image data provided from the server 10 in the same manner. The resource data and the image data are data necessary for the application program to realize the GUI on the client 17.

  The receiving unit 10A of the server 10 receives the application ID and profile data transmitted by the transmitting unit 17A of the client 17, and the searching unit 10B retrieves an application program corresponding to the application ID received by the receiving unit 10A from the application data table 11. Further, the resource data and the image data referred to by the application program are retrieved from the application data table 11. In the application data table 11, the application program, the resource data, and the image data do not have to correspond one-to-one. Different application programs may use the same image data and resource data.

  The conversion unit 10C converts the contents of the image data and resource data searched by the search unit 10B in accordance with the profile data transmitted by the transmission unit 17A of the client 17.

  The data providing unit 10D provides the client 17 with the image data and resource data converted by the conversion unit 10C and the application program searched by the search unit 10B by a method such as data transfer or address transfer.

  As described above, in the application providing system 1 of the present invention, the client 17 sequentially downloads data such as application programs from the server 10 as necessary. This is because the capacity of the storage device of the client 17 is limited. This is done in consideration of the version control.

  Next, the concept that the server 10 generates image data and resource data corresponding to each device will be described with reference to FIG. 3, the application ID 21 and profile data 22 from the AV device 20, the application ID 31 and profile data 32 from the television device 30, the application ID 41 and profile data 42 from the broadcast server device 40, and the application from the PDA device 50. The situation where the ID 51 and the profile data 52 are transmitted to the server 10 is shown. This is processing when a predetermined application is selected by each client 17 (AV device 20 to PDA device 50), and this point is as described with reference to FIGS.

  On the other hand, the server 10 stores an application program 12 in the application data table 11, and resource data 13 and image data 14 for the application program 12 to realize a standard GUI in the client 17. The application program selected in the client 17 is basically common among the various clients 17, but there may be an application program unique to some clients 17. The application data table 11 stores all of these application programs.

  Here, the description will proceed on the assumption that the application selected by the client 17 corresponds to the application program 12 common among the clients 17.

  Upon receiving the application ID from each client 17, the server 10 searches for the application program 12 corresponding to the application ID, and searches for the resource data 13 and the image data 14 associated with the application program 12. Thereafter, as shown in the lower part of FIG. 3, the server 10 converts the resource data 13 and the image data 14 based on the profile data received from the client 17 and provides the converted data to the client 17.

  For example, the profile data may include the screen size (resolution information) of the client 17, but the layout of the GUI component of the input screen displayed by the application program 12 is determined so as to fit within the screen size. Further, the size of the GUI component is determined as necessary. The arrangement of the GUI component is adjusted by converting the resource data, and the size of the GUI component is adjusted by converting the image data.

  When the server 10 completes the conversion of the resource data 13 and the image data 14, the client 17 that has received the application ID and the like collects the application program, the converted resource data, and the converted image data (for example, a Jar file). Send). The application program, the converted resource data, and the converted image data are grouped together to facilitate the handling and access of the data, and can be individually transmitted as necessary.

  In addition, the server 10 places the data thus collected at an address (for example, a predetermined storage location on the Internet) accessible by the client 17, and the client 17 accesses the address to store the data. You may make it take out. When the data is placed at a predetermined storage location on the Internet, the client 17 can take in the data by specifying a URL (Uniform Resource Locator), for example. The server 10 may store the data on a storage device on the Internet different from the server 10 and inform the client 17 of the address of the device. With this configuration, it is possible to prevent the access from various clients 17 from being concentrated on the server 10.

  In the example of FIG. 3, when the application ID 21 and the profile data 22 are provided from the AV device 20, the server 10 converts the resource data 13 and the image data 14 associated with the application program 12 corresponding to the application ID 21 into the profile data 22. The resource A and the image A are generated respectively based on the above, and the pack data 23 is generated by grouping them with the application. Here, the application program included in the pack data 23 is substantially the same as the application program 12 and is an executable program file.

  Here, the program includes a concept such as an intermediate code of Java, and further, a program such as a script that is substantially text data but has an action similar to that of an executable file by an interpreter. It is a concept that also includes

  Next, with reference to FIG. 4, a more specific mode of conversion relating to resource data and image data according to the first embodiment of the present invention will be described. Here, an example is shown in which a GUI suitable for each of the television device 30 and the broadcast server device 40 is realized by converting resource data and image data in the server 10.

  The server 10 detects from the profile data received from the television device 30 that the resolution (number of pixels) of the display monitor unit included in the television device 30 is 600 × 480. In the first embodiment, the server 10 converts the resource data and image data corresponding to the application so as to be suitable for display at a resolution of 600 × 480 based on the detection result. More specifically, the resource data is converted to adjust the display position of the GUI component such as a button, the image data is converted as necessary to reduce the size of the GUI component such as the button, and the image is displayed. The size and position of the area are adjusted according to the resolution.

  Also, the server 10 performs the same processing as described above when receiving profile data from the broadcast server device 40. However, since the resolution of the display monitor device of the broadcast server device 40 is 1024 × 768 in this example, the GUI component such as a button is adjusted to have a larger size, and at the same time, the display position of the GUI component is somewhat Adjustments are made at intervals, and the image display area is also adjusted to a large size in accordance with the resolution.

  Here, another variation of the conversion will be described. In relation to the resource data, for example, the font size is changed depending on the size (resolution) of the display monitor unit or the display monitor device. In addition, when the color model is different in the client 17 that is the transmission destination of the application, conversion is performed to cope with this difference.

  In relation to the image data, for example, image color reduction processing is performed according to the display characteristics of the display monitor unit or the display monitor device. Further, depending on the graphic processing capability of the client 17 that is the application transmission destination and the presence or absence of software, the display of animation, the use of flash (trademark of Macromedia Incorporated) files and SVG (Scalable Vector Graphics) are restricted. Here, flash is a global standard technology for creating and playing back WEB content by combining digital media such as graphics, audio, text, and video. On the other hand, SVG is one of the standard graphic standards, and the main feature is that it realizes rich and scalable graphic expressions and can construct visual XML (eXtensible Markup Language) from the design.

  FIG. 5 shows an outline of an application execution environment and a development environment used in connection with the application providing system 1 according to the present invention.

  On the left side of FIG. 5, an example of an application execution environment in the client 17 is shown. Here, a television device 30 is shown as an example of the client 17. On the right side, an example of an environment in which the application is developed (created) in the development host machine 70 is shown.

  In the example of the execution environment, a Personal Java 61 is running on a predetermined OS of the television device 30, and this includes a Java virtual machine. In addition, a GUI application framework 62 for CE devices is further operated, which provides a mechanism for defining an application life cycle, an interface between applications, event distribution, and the like.

  The GUI application framework 62 further includes a GUI toolkit 63 and an animation engine 64. The GUI tool kit 63 includes a set of GUI components designed for CE devices, and supports remote control operations and Japanese input functions. The animation engine 64 provides an API (Application Program Interface) that easily realizes animation expression, and performs rendering and scheduling of graphics objects.

  The application 66 is executed on the Personal Java 61 and implements the GUI application on the television device 30 with reference to the resource data / image data 65 and the GUI component of the GUI tool kit 63.

  That is, the Personal Java 61 converts the command and data passed from the application 66 into a format that can be interpreted by the predetermined OS of the television device 30 and passes the converted data to the OS. The predetermined OS of the television device 30 controls each part of the television device 30 based on the converted command and data, and executes the GUI application on the television device 30.

  On the other hand, the example of the application development environment shown on the right side of FIG. 5 is constructed on the development host machine 70 constituted by a personal computer or the like. In this example, a J2SE (Java 2 Platform, Standard Edition) 71 runs on a predetermined OS of the development host machine 70, which includes a Java virtual machine. Furthermore, a GUI authoring environment 72, that is, a development environment for a Java application equipped with an editor is provided. The GUI authoring environment 72 further includes a GUI toolkit 73 and an animation engine 74. The GUI tool kit 73 corresponds to the GUI tool kit 63 described above, and the animation engine 74 corresponds to the animation engine 64 described above.

  The application developer uses the functions of the GUI authoring environment 72 to arrange GUI components and the like, edit properties, methods, events, and the like for each component, and further refer to the resource data / image data 75 to apply the application 76. Build up. The application 76 is executed as the application 66 on the television device 30 and realizes a predetermined GUI on the display monitor unit of the television device 30. Further, the resource data / image data 75 is substantially the same as that represented as the resource data / image data 65 in the television device 30.

  FIG. 5 only shows an example of an execution environment and a development environment for a GUI application using the Java platform. Various other known methods can be used to develop and execute such GUI applications.

  Next, an example of a GUI realized by the client 17 will be described with reference to FIG. The two menus shown in FIG. 6 are displayed on the display monitor device of the AV device 20 that is the client 17, for example. As described above, when these menus are displayed on the display monitor unit of the television device 30, they are displayed in a smaller size (smaller resolution) than when displayed on the AV device 20.

  In the main menu 80, several menus are displayed, from which the user selects one menu. In this example, the menu item 81 corresponding to “Menu 4” is selected. Such a selection operation by the user is usually performed by an input unit such as a remote controller, a touch pen, or a keyboard in the client 17 of the type described above. For example, on the remote control, the arrow button or the like is pressed several times to move the cursor (in some cases highlighted or highlighted) to “Menu 4”, and the “Select” button is pressed to select “Menu 4”. decide.

  When “Menu 4” is selected in the main menu 80, a sub menu 85 is displayed as a pop-up screen. Therefore, as in the case of the main menu 80, the user operates the remote controller or the like to select the sub menu item 86 corresponding to “photo viewer”. By this user operation, an application called “photo viewer” is selected. At this time, the client 17 transmits to the server 10 an application ID corresponding to the “photo viewer” and profile data regarding its own device.

  The display contents of the main menu 80 and the sub menu 85 are provided from the server 10 to the client 17 in advance.

  Here, with reference to the flowchart of FIG. 7, a series of processing procedures in the application providing system 1 according to the present invention will be described. The processing of the client 17 is shown on the left side of FIG. 7, and the processing of the server 10 is shown on the right side. Data exchange between the client 17 and the server 10 is performed via the network 15 as described above with reference to FIG.

  First, in step S10, the client 17 (for example, the AV device 20) requests the server 10 for a list of applications. This is to display a list of applications corresponding to services that can be provided by the client 17, and by providing this list from the server 10, a list of applications that can be serviced at that time is displayed to the client 17. Can be provided. Also, when a new service is newly added, the added application is immediately added to the application list.

  The timing at which the client 17 requests the application list from the server 10 in this way is as follows. For example, as shown in FIG. 6, a desired menu item (for example, “menu 4”) is selected in the main menu 80. This is the case.

  Next, in step S <b> 12, the server 10 determines an application that can be executed by the corresponding client 17 based on the type of device of the client 17 and the contract / registration contents, and transmits the application to the client 17. In step S14, the client 17 receives the application list transmitted from the server 10 and displays it on the display monitor device. The list displayed in this way is, for example, a pop-up screen such as the submenu 85 shown in FIG.

  In step S16, it is determined whether or not the user has selected one of the listed applications. This determination is repeatedly performed for a predetermined period until selection by the user is performed. When the selection is performed by the user, the client 17 transmits profile data indicating the characteristics of the client 17 itself and an application ID used to identify the selected application to the server 10 in step S18.

  The server 10 receives the profile data and application ID sent from the client 17 in step S20, searches for an application program corresponding to the application ID in step S22, and is used by the searched application program. The resource data and the image data are searched, and the resource data and the image data are converted in the manner described above according to the profile data received from the client 17.

  Next, in step S24, the server 10 packs together the application program corresponding to the application ID, the resource data and the image data converted in step S22, and arranges them at a predetermined address. Here, the application program, the resource data, and the image data are packed into one file in an arbitrary format such as a jar file, but may be held individually.

  In step S <b> 26, the server 10 transmits the address information of the packed file to the client 17. Here, the address information is, for example, a predetermined storage area of the server 10 accessible from the Internet, and is represented by a URL. In this example, the URL includes an address of the server 10 on the Internet and a file storage directory in the server 10.

  Thereafter, when the client 17 receives the address information from the server 10 in step S28, the client 17 accesses the file of the server 10 using the URL in step S30, downloads it, and then decompresses (unpacks) the file. The application program is executed using the received resource data and image data.

  Here, the packed data is downloaded from the server 10 by the client 17. However, the packed data may be directly transmitted from the server 10 to the client 17.

  In this example, the server 10 converts the resource data and the image data every time the profile data is received from the client 17, but this is not limited to this example. For example, when it is known in advance that the device type of the client 17 accessing the server 10 is within a predetermined range, resource data and image data are preliminarily determined according to the assumed profile data. It can also be configured to be converted. When configured in this manner, more hardware resources of the server 10 are required, but resource data and image data can be provided to the client 17 earlier. In this case, the server 10 needs a table in which necessary resource data and image data are recorded for each device and for each application.

  Alternatively, a plurality of servers 10 may be provided, and the corresponding client 17 may be separated for each server 10 by model, so that a single server 10 can be requested only from a certain range of models.

  Furthermore, when the profile data is almost fixed depending on the model of the client 17, the server 10 has the profile data of each device in advance so that each client 17 can select a predetermined application from the user. In such a case, only the application ID corresponding to the application needs to be transmitted to the server 10. In this case, the server 10 needs a table for storing profile data for each device.

  FIG. 8 shows an example of profile data transmitted from the client 17 to the server 10. In this example, the client 17 has six types of devices A to E. The profile data includes items of device name, resolution, output device, color, CPU, memory, and input means for each model.

  The resolution represents the resolution (number of pixels) of the display monitor unit included in the device or the display monitor device connected to the device, and the larger this value, the larger the GUI can be expressed. In the example of FIG. 8, the resolution is described in the format of “the number of display pixels in the horizontal direction × the number of display pixels in the vertical direction”. The aspect ratio can be obtained by dividing the number of display pixels in the horizontal direction and the number of display pixels in the vertical direction by the greatest common divisor.

  The output device includes identification of a display device such as CRT (Cathode Ray Tube), liquid crystal, TV (television). This identification information can be used when it is necessary to adjust the content of the GUI according to the response speed of the pixel.

  The color item includes the number of colors that can be output by the display monitor unit or the display monitor device of the device in terms of the number of bits. This depends not only on the capabilities of the output device, but also on the characteristics and settings of the graphic chip and graphic memory. For example, “16” in the color item means that a color display that can be expressed by 16 bits can be performed. Specifically, 65536 colors can be displayed.

  The item of CPU includes information indicating the processing capability of the CPU or GPU (Graphics Processing Unit) included in the device. The processing capability of the CPU or GPU is indicated by the operating frequency of the CPU or GPU, for example. The unit is MHz (megahertz). Since the true capability of the CPU is grasped from information such as the manufacturer, model, and chipset of the CPU, it is possible to include such information in the profile data. The memory item includes the capacity of the main memory and graphic memory used for graphic drawing. The unit is MB (megabyte). When the GUI component includes a component that requires a relatively large CPU power and a large storage capacity, such as an animation, the CPU item and the memory item are referred to, and it is determined whether or not the animation expression is adopted. Can be made comprehensively.

  The item of input means includes the type of input interface provided in the device. In the CE equipment, those using a remote control commander or a touch pen as input means are the mainstream. Due to the difference in the input interface, it is necessary to adapt the GUI component and resource data related thereto.

  The client 17 indicated by the device E and the device F has a display monitor unit (display monitor device) having two resolutions, and the profile data is also configured so that the two pieces of information can be transmitted to the server 10. . Further, the client 17 indicated by the device E has a different number of display colors for each resolution. Such a situation can be transmitted to the server 10 in the profile data.

  In addition, as profile data items, for example, whether the remote control of the client 17 has information related to input, such as whether or not it has a function of selecting by dialing, or whether it has a three-dimensional (3D) graphics function. Information about software or a combination of hardware and software can be included.

  Next, an example of the hardware configuration of the client 17 will be described with reference to FIG. The client 17 described so far has, for example, a configuration equivalent to a computer as shown in FIG. Recent CE devices and the like have various variations in configuration. FIG. 9 illustrates a typical configuration thereof. In the following description, it is assumed that the client 17 is the computer 100.

  The computer 100 includes a CPU 101, a memory 102, a GPU 103, a network interface 104, a display controller 105, a display 106, an input device interface 107, an external device interface 108, an external storage device 109, an external recording medium drive device 110, and components thereof. A bus 111 connected to each other is included.

  The CPU 101 controls the operation of each component, and enables execution of Java applications under the control of the OS and Java virtual machine. The computer 100 is not premised on the operation of a Java virtual machine, but preferably has an environment in which the same application can operate in each device.

  The memory 102 is generally composed of a ROM (Read Only Memory) that is a nonvolatile memory and a RAM (Random Access Memory) that is a volatile memory. The ROM stores a program executed when the computer 100 is activated. The RAM temporarily stores a program such as a Java application executed by the CPU 101 and data used during the execution of the program.

  The GPU 103 is a processor dedicated to graphic processing that performs color arrangement processing of GUI components. Some devices execute graphic processing by the CPU 101 without having a GPU. The drawing processing capability and speed are also affected by the capacity of the graphic memory. For example, the graphic memory is arranged in a display controller 105 described later.

  The network interface 104 is an interface for connecting to the network 120. The network 120 corresponds to the network 15 such as the Internet or an intranet shown in FIG. In addition, the data exchange between the client 17 and the server 10 as described above is performed based on, for example, a protocol called SOAP (Simple Object Access Protocol), and in actual communication processing, such as Apache-SOAP. A library for using SOAP in Java is used.

  The display controller 105 is a dedicated controller for actually processing a drawing command issued by the CPU 101. The drawing data processed by the display controller 105 is once written in the graphic memory and then output to the display 106. The display 106 corresponds to, for example, a display monitor device of the AV device 20 or a display monitor unit of the television device 30.

  The display 106 is a display device composed of an LCD or a CRT, and is connected to the display controller 105 to provide image information as described above. However, the display 106 itself can be configured as another device connected to the computer 100, that is, an external device connected to the client 17. For example, in the AV device 20 and the broadcast server device 40 shown in FIG. 1, the main body and the display device are separate casings, and such a configuration is possible.

  The input device interface 107 receives an infrared signal irradiated from the remote controller 140 and transmits a predetermined command to the CPU 101 according to the signal pattern. Thus, the user can instruct the operation of the computer 100 with the remote controller 140. In this example, only the remote controller is shown as the input means, but an input means such as a touch pen (touch panel) or a key may be used. Further, like a personal computer, it is possible to employ a mouse or a keyboard as input means.

  When a touch panel is used as the input means, the user can obtain a feeling that the GUI component displayed on the display 106 is actually operated by integrally configuring the touch panel and the display 106. In this case, it is conceivable to configure the application program so that when the position of the GUI component displayed on the display 106 is touched with a touch pen or a finger, the function assigned to the GUI component is activated.

  An external storage device 109 and an external recording medium driving device 110 are connected to the external device interface 108, and data provided from the external storage device 109 and the external recording medium driving device 110 is transmitted to the memory 102 and the like. The external storage device 109 is, for example, a storage device such as a hard disk drive (HDD), in which programs and data are recorded, and are loaded from there into the RAM of the memory 102 as necessary at the time of execution. . In addition, a Java application program, resource data, and image data obtained by accessing an address given from the server 10 can also be stored in the external storage device 109.

  However, at least the external device interface 108, the external storage device 109, and the external recording medium driving device 110 are not indispensable constituent requirements in the client 17 of the application providing system 1 of the present invention. When a program for realizing the application providing system 1 and a flash memory having a capacity necessary for storing data such as a Java application obtained from an address provided from the server 10 are provided, the external storage device 109 It is not necessary to have. Also, the external recording medium driving device 110 need not be provided when it is not necessary to read data from the external recording medium 130 described later.

  The external recording medium driving device 110 accesses a recording surface of a portable external recording medium 130 such as a CD (Compact Disc), an MO (Magneto-Optical Disc), a DVD (Digital Versatile Disc), etc., and is recorded there. It is a device that reads data. The external recording medium 130 can also record a program for realizing the mechanism of the application providing system 1 according to the present invention. Data recorded on the external recording medium 130 is stored in the external storage device 109 via the external recording medium driving device 110 and the external device interface 108, and can be loaded into the RAM of the memory 102 at the time of execution if it is a program.

  As another distribution form of the program for realizing the application providing system 1 according to the present invention, it can be stored in the external storage device 109 via a network 120 and a network interface 104 from a predetermined server on the network. The program stored in this way is loaded into the RAM of the memory 102 at the time of execution in the same manner as described above, and the mechanism of the application providing system 1 according to the present invention is realized.

  With respect to the server 10 of the application providing system 1 according to the present invention, basically the same configuration as that of the computer 100 shown in FIG. 9 can be used. However, since the server 10 performs data communication with the client 17 via the network and converts original resource data and image data based on the received profile data, generally, the CPU 101, the memory 102, A configuration including at least the network interface 104, the external device interface 108, and the external storage device 109 is preferable.

  Next, a second embodiment of the present invention will be described. In the first embodiment described above, the server 10 determines the size and arrangement of the GUI component based on the profile data transmitted from the client 17.

  In contrast, in the second embodiment, a GUI screen design is prepared in advance for each of several typical aspect ratios on the server 10 side. A GUI screen design corresponding to the aspect ratio is selected based on the profile data transmitted from the client 17, and resource data and image data are converted based on the selected screen design and transmitted to the client 17. Yes.

  According to the second embodiment, a GUI screen that reflects the designer's intention can be configured for each of different aspect ratios.

  As an example, for a screen with an aspect ratio of 16: 9 (for example, a television set compatible with HDTV (High Definition Television) broadcasting) and a screen with an aspect ratio of 1: 1 (for example, a screen of a PDA or a mobile phone terminal). Consider the case of providing GUI screen designs by the same application.

  In such a case, the screen design designed to fit the screen with an aspect ratio of 16: 9 is applied to the screen with an aspect ratio of 1: 1 without changing the positional relationship of the GUI components in the screen. It is not always possible. Therefore, when a screen design designed to fit a screen with an aspect ratio of 16: 9 is applied to a screen with an aspect ratio of 1: 1, it is necessary to change the screen design by some method.

  Here, consider a case where the screen design is changed by automatic conversion by software processing on the server 10 side or the client 17 side. In this case, it is necessary to perform processing such as reducing the design in the horizontal direction, or automatically rearranging parts used for the GUI such as buttons to fit on a screen having an aspect ratio of 1: 1 by a predetermined algorithm. It is possible to become.

  However, the screen design automatically generated in this way is not necessarily excellent in operability and visibility as a GUI, and may be a design that is far from the original designer's intention. . That is, changing the original screen design by automatic generation by software processing based on the resolution information of the profile data sent from the client 17 may lose usability.

  In this second embodiment, the resource data and the image data are converted based on the screen design prepared and prepared in advance for each aspect ratio by the designer, so that the GUI screen design has better operability and better appearance. To be able to provide.

  In the second embodiment, since the system of the first embodiment described above can be applied as it is, description of the system configuration, architecture, and the like is omitted to avoid complexity.

  FIG. 10 conceptually shows a second embodiment of the present invention. As shown in FIG. 10A, the server 10 side has resource data 201 and image data 202 for a certain application program 200, and the resource data 201 is GUI component placement information with respect to a GUI screen. A plurality of layout data (layout data 201A, 201B and 201C).

  In the example of FIG. 10A, the resource data 201 includes layout data 201A, 201B, and 201C corresponding to aspect ratios 4: 3, 16: 9, and 1: 1, which are typical aspect ratios, respectively. Each of the layout data 201A, 201B, and 201C is designed in advance by a designer.

  Note that the layout data included in the resource data 201 is not limited to this example, and may be prepared corresponding to various types of aspect ratios, or prepared for the aspect ratios of 4: 3 and 1: 1. May be. Examples of the aspect ratio are not limited to 4: 3, 16: 9, and 1: 1. It is also conceivable to include layout data having a special aspect ratio such as extremely long and very long, along with typical aspect ratio data.

  Further, in FIG. 10, the resource data 201 and the image data 202 are shown as separate data, but this is not limited to this example, and the image data 202 can also be included in the resource data 201.

  Based on the profile data transmitted from the client 17, the server 10 obtains layout data corresponding to the aspect ratio of the display monitor unit included in the client 17 or the display monitor device connected to the client 17 from the layout data 201A, 201B, and 201C. select. Then, the selected layout data is converted into a predetermined one, and is transmitted to the client 17 via the network 15 as the pack data 23 together with the image data 202 and the application program 200 as shown in FIG. 10B.

  As described above, the delivery method of the pack data 23 from the server 10 to the client 17 includes a data delivery method in which the pack data 23 is directly transmitted from the server 10 to the client 17, and a pack to the client 17. There is an address passing method for transmitting the address of the data 23. In the following, these two types of delivery methods will be described by representing the data delivery method.

  On the client 17 side, the received pack data 23 is unpacked in a predetermined manner, the retrieved application program 200 is executed, and a GUI screen is drawn on the display monitor unit or display monitor device based on the resource data 201 and the image data 202. The

  A more specific example of a GUI screen corresponding to each different aspect ratio will be described with reference to FIG. 11A is an example of a GUI screen corresponding to an aspect ratio of 4: 3, FIG. 11B is an example of a GUI screen corresponding to an aspect ratio of 16: 9, and FIG. 11C is a GUI corresponding to an aspect ratio of 1: 1. An example of each screen is shown. The GUI screens shown in FIGS. 11A to 11C correspond to the same application program. In the example of FIG. 11, the GUI screen has four menu items (menu items # 1 to # 4) and five buttons. (Buttons # 1 to 5 #).

  Initially, this GUI screen is designed to have a layout designed for a screen with an aspect ratio of 4: 3 (see FIG. 11A). In the layout of FIG. 11A, menu item blocks and button blocks are arranged side by side. On the other hand, when a layout for a screen with an aspect ratio of 16: 9 is further requested, the designer can create a layout for a screen with an aspect ratio of 4: 3 as shown in FIG. 11B, for example. It is determined that a layout expanded in the direction is appropriate, and layout data is created.

  On the other hand, when a layout for a screen with an aspect ratio of 1: 1 is requested, the designer can use a block of menu items and a block of buttons as with layouts for screens with an aspect ratio of 4: 3 or 16: 9. Are arranged side by side in the horizontal direction, it is determined that there is a problem in operability and appearance, and as shown in an example in FIG. 11C, a layout in which a block of menu items and a block of buttons are arranged in the vertical direction is appropriate. The layout data is created.

  The created layout data corresponding to the aspect ratio 4: 3, layout data corresponding to the aspect ratio 16: 9, and layout data corresponding to the aspect ratio 1: 1 correspond to, for example, the application data table 11 of the server 10. Stored in association with application programs and image data.

  In the example of FIG. 11, the layouts corresponding to the aspect ratios of 4: 3, 16: 9, and 1: 1 have been described as being different from each other. However, this is not limited to this example, and a plurality of different aspect ratios are used. On the other hand, a common layout can be used. Further, in the example of FIG. 11, the layouts with aspect ratios of 4: 3 and 16: 9, which are both horizontally long screens, are common, but this is not limited to this example, and both are completely different layouts. You can also.

  FIG. 12 shows an example of layout data. For GUI components such as buttons displayed on the GUI screen, actually, a button image or the like previously stored on the client 17 side is often used. For example, each of the clients 17 has GUI components corresponding to the size, appearance, usage, and the like of the device in advance, and selects and arranges these GUI components on the screen based on the layout data.

Therefore, the server 10 may hold the coordinate data (x _n , y _n ) for arranging GUI components such as buttons as layout data, as shown in an example in FIG. If the layout data is normalized with respect to the resolution, it is preferable to deal with various resolutions. In addition, the button may be used as a variable button whose size is variable, and information on whether or not the button is a variable button and information indicating the size of the button if the button is variable. Further, it is added to the layout data.

In the example of FIG. 12, three buttons are arranged on the GUI screen by the button image # 1, the button image # 2, and the button image # 3, and the arrangement positions of the button images #n are the coordinates (x _n , y _n ). The button image # 1, the button image # 2, and the button image # 3 are variable buttons, and the size of the button is indicated by the length l _n .

  When the layout data is normalized, when actually used in the client 17, the data is converted according to the resolution of the display monitor unit or display monitor device on the client 17 side. Data conversion may be performed on the server 10 side or on the client 17 side.

  Note that the GUI screen is not limited to using the GUI components that the client 17 has, and graphics data prepared in advance on the server 10 side can also be used. For example, a logo mark image of the application program can be prepared in advance on the server 10 side and transmitted to the client 17 as the image data 202. Also, image data for displaying the GUI component can be prepared on the server 10 side, packed as image data, and transmitted to the client 17.

  FIG. 13 is a flowchart showing conversion processing of an example of resource data and image data according to the second embodiment. The process shown in the flowchart of FIG. 13 corresponds to the process of step S22 in the flowchart shown in FIG. 7 described in the first embodiment.

  First, in step S40, profile data sent from the client 17 is acquired, and an application program is searched based on the profile data and the application ID. Then, the resource data 201 and the image data 202 used in the searched application program are searched.

  In the next step S41, applicable layout data is determined based on the resolution information included in the acquired profile data. In this example, it is assumed that layout data corresponding to three types of aspect ratios of 16: 9, 4: 3, and 1: 1 are prepared and prepared in advance. The layout data having the closest aspect ratio to the aspect ratio calculated from the resolution information included in the profile data is selected from the plurality of corresponding layout data having different aspect ratios. For example, the server 10 determines layout data to be applied by threshold determination based on resolution information in the profile data.

  The threshold determination is performed based on, for example, an aspect ratio obtained by calculating from resolution information in profile data. The aspect ratio is 1: 1, the ratio of 4: 3 is 1.333, the ratio of 16: 9 is 1.777, and so on. .15 and 1.5. That is, the case ratio is determined when the aspect ratio value obtained from the resolution information included in the profile data is less than 1.15, 1.15 or more and less than 1.5, or 1.5 or more (step S41). If it is less than 15, layout data for an aspect ratio of 1: 1 (step S42), if the value is 1.15 or more and less than 1.5, layout data for an aspect ratio of 4: 3 (step S43), value Is 1.5 or more, layout data for an aspect ratio of 16: 9 is selected as layout data to be used for the GUI screen of the client 17 (step S44).

  Note that the threshold for determining layout data is not limited to the above-described values. The threshold value can be set according to the corresponding application program. The threshold is set by a designer or the like based on various conditions such as operability and appearance required for the application program.

  If layout data is selected, the process proceeds to step S45. In step S45, resource data conversion processing is performed.

  For example, when the layout data is created by normalizing with respect to the resolution, a process of converting the normalized layout data so as to correspond to the resolution indicated in the profile data is performed. For example, the server 10 converts the normalized layout data into coordinate data corresponding to the resolution information based on the resolution information included in the profile data sent from the client 17, and converts the obtained layout data after conversion As part of the resource data.

  Further, enlargement / reduction processing is also performed on the layout data as necessary. For example, as illustrated in FIG. 14, if the resolution indicated in the profile data sent from the client 17 is 800 pixels × 600 pixels, the aspect ratio is 4: 3, so the aspect ratio is 4: 3. The layout data can be used as it is. On the other hand, the aspect ratio of the resolution shown in the profile data sent from the client 17 is 800 pixels × 650 pixels, for example, within the threshold range in step S41 described above, and the aspect ratio of the layout data It is also possible that this is different from 4: 3. In such a case, the server 10 performs an enlargement or reduction process on the selected layout data based on the resolution information indicated in the profile data. The enlargement or reduction process may be performed after the conversion to the coordinate data described above.

  In the conversion process in step S45, conversion that changes the positional relationship of the GUI components on the layout data is not performed.

  Here, the conversion process and the enlargement / reduction process for the layout data have been described, but the same process can be applied to the image data. The image data is subjected to conversion processing based on other information included in the profile data, for example, information such as the number of colors that can be output (see FIG. 8).

  The source data and the image data formed in this way are used as pack data together with the application program searched in step S40 (step S47). The pack data is arranged at a predetermined address as described in step S24 of FIG.

  Thereafter, the server 10 transmits the address information of the packed file to the client 17 (step S26) according to the processing after step S26 of FIG. 7 described above, and the client 17 side receives the address information transmitted from the server 10. Receiving (step S28), accessing the file of the server 10 based on the address information, downloading and unpacking the packed file, extracting from the unpacked data, and executing the application program using the source data and image data (Step S30).

  As described above, according to the second embodiment of the present invention, the GUI screen displayed on the display monitor unit or the display monitor device of the client 17 by the application program is among the plurality of layout data designed and created in advance by the designer. From the above, rendering is performed using the layout data selected based on the resolution information included in the profile data transmitted from the client 17. Therefore, a GUI screen reflecting the designer's intention can be realized regardless of the display aspect ratio or resolution of the display monitor unit or display monitor device on the client 17 side.

It is a basic diagram showing the outline | summary of the application provision system which concerns on 1st Embodiment of this invention. It is a functional block diagram about the application provision system which concerns on the 1st Embodiment of this invention. It is a basic diagram which represents notionally the aspect of conversion of the resource data and image data in the application provision system which concerns on the 1st Embodiment of this invention. It is an approximate line figure showing more concretely a mode of conversion of resource data and image data in an application providing system concerning a 1st embodiment of this invention. It is an approximate line figure showing the example of the execution environment and development environment of the application in the application providing system concerning a 1st embodiment of this invention. It is a basic diagram showing the example of GUI displayed on the monitor apparatus or monitor part of the client of the application provision system which concerns on 1st Embodiment of this invention. It is a flowchart showing the process sequence of the application provision system which concerns on the 1st Embodiment of this invention. It is a basic diagram showing the example of the profile data in the application provision system which concerns on 1st Embodiment of this invention. It is a basic diagram showing the example of the hardware constitutions of the client of the application provision system which concerns on 1st Embodiment of this invention. It is a basic diagram which shows notionally the 2nd Embodiment of this invention. It is a basic diagram which shows the more specific example of the screen of GUI corresponding to each different aspect ratio. It is a basic diagram which shows an example of layout data. It is a flowchart which shows the conversion process of an example of the resource data and image data by this 2nd Embodiment. It is a basic diagram for demonstrating the conversion process of an example of layout data.

Explanation of symbols

DESCRIPTION OF SYMBOLS 1 Application provision system 10 Server 10A Reception part 10B Search part 10C Conversion part 10D Data provision part 11 Application data table 12, 200 Application program 13, 201 Resource data 14, 202 Image data 15 Network 17 Client 17A Transmission part 17B Data acquisition part 17C Execution control unit 20 AV equipment 30 Television equipment 40 Broadcast server equipment 50 PDA equipment 21, 31, 41, 51 Application ID
22, 32, 42, 52 Profile data 23, 33, 43, 53 Pack data 70 Development host machine 100 Computer 101 CPU
102 Memory 103 GPU
104 network interface 105 display controller 106 display 107 input device interface 108 external device interface 109 external storage device 110 external recording medium driving device 111 bus 120 network 130 external recording medium 140 remote control 201A, 201B, 201C layout data

Claims (19)

Includes a server and a client connected to each other via a network,
The server
A storage unit for storing at least an application program and resource data;
A receiving unit for receiving an application ID and profile data from the client;
A search unit that searches the storage unit for resource data referred to by the searched application program, while searching for the application program corresponding to the application ID from the storage unit;
A conversion unit that converts the retrieved resource data based on the profile data;
A data providing unit that provides the client with the application program searched by the search unit and the resource data converted by the conversion unit;
The above client
A transmission unit that transmits the application ID corresponding to the selected application and the profile data representing the characteristics of the client to the server via the network when an application is selected;
A data acquisition unit for acquiring the application program and the resource data provided by the server in response to the transmission of the application ID and the profile data by the transmission unit;
An application providing system comprising: an execution control unit that controls the application program acquired by the data acquisition unit to be executed on the client with reference to the resource data acquired by the data acquisition unit. The application providing system according to claim 1,
The application providing system, wherein the profile data includes items related to a graphical user interface of the client. The application providing system according to claim 2,
The application providing system, wherein the conversion unit converts the resource data so that the application program can realize a graphical user interface suitable for the client. The application providing system according to claim 1,
The profile data includes information indicating at least the display resolution of the client,
An application providing system, wherein the resource data includes at least arrangement information of a GUI component. The application providing system according to claim 4,
The conversion unit is
An application providing system, wherein the arrangement information included in the resource data is changed based on information indicating the display resolution included in the profile data. The application providing system according to claim 4,
The resource data stored in the storage unit includes a plurality of pieces of arrangement information corresponding to a plurality of different aspect ratios created in advance,
The conversion unit is
An application providing system, wherein one of the plurality of pieces of arrangement information included in the resource data is selected based on information indicating the display resolution included in the profile data. The application providing system according to claim 6,
The conversion unit compares each of the aspect ratios corresponding to the plurality of pieces of arrangement information included in the resource data with an aspect ratio calculated from information indicating the display resolution, and compares the plurality of pieces of arrangement information. An application providing system characterized by selecting arrangement information corresponding to the closest aspect ratio. The application providing system according to claim 6,
The conversion unit determines an aspect ratio calculated from information indicating the display resolution based on a threshold value, and selects one of the plurality of pieces of arrangement information. The application providing system according to claim 1,
The data providing unit of the server is
Information on the location where the application program searched by the search unit is stored and information on the location where the resource data converted by the conversion unit is stored are transmitted to the client via the network. By doing so, the data acquisition unit of the client can acquire the application program and the resource data. A storage unit for storing at least an application program and resource data;
A receiving unit that receives an application ID and profile data representing the characteristics of the client from a client connected via a network;
A search unit that searches the storage unit for resource data referred to by the searched application program, while searching for the application program corresponding to the application ID from the storage unit;
A conversion unit that converts the retrieved resource data based on the profile data;
A server comprising: a data providing unit that provides the client with the application program searched by the search unit and the resource data converted by the conversion unit. The server according to claim 10,
The server characterized in that the profile data includes items related to the graphical user interface of the client. The server according to claim 10,
The profile data includes information indicating at least the display resolution of the client,
The server is characterized in that the resource data includes at least GUI component arrangement information. The server according to claim 12, wherein
The conversion unit is
A server that changes the arrangement information included in the resource data based on information indicating the display resolution included in the profile data. The server according to claim 12, wherein
The resource data stored in the storage unit includes a plurality of pieces of arrangement information corresponding to a plurality of different aspect ratios created in advance,
The conversion unit is
A server that selects one of the plurality of pieces of arrangement information included in the resource data based on information indicating the display resolution included in the profile data. The server according to claim 14, wherein
The conversion unit compares each of the aspect ratios corresponding to the plurality of pieces of arrangement information included in the resource data with an aspect ratio calculated from information indicating the display resolution, and compares the plurality of pieces of arrangement information. A server characterized by selecting arrangement information corresponding to the closest aspect ratio. The server according to claim 14, wherein
The server, wherein the conversion unit determines an aspect ratio calculated from information indicating the display resolution based on a threshold, and selects one of the plurality of pieces of arrangement information. A transmission unit that, when an application is selected, transmits an application ID corresponding to the selected application and the profile data representing its characteristics to a server connected via a network;
A data acquisition unit for acquiring the application program and resource data provided by the server in response to the transmission of the application ID and the profile data by the transmission unit;
A client comprising: an execution control unit configured to control the application program acquired by the data acquisition unit with reference to the resource data acquired by the data acquisition unit. The client of claim 17, wherein
The profile data includes an item related to the graphical user interface of the client. A transmission step of transmitting an application ID corresponding to the selected application and profile data representing the characteristics of the client to a server connected via a network when an application is selected on the client;
A receiving step for receiving the application ID and the profile data transmitted from the client on the server;
On the server, a search step for searching an application program corresponding to the application ID from the storage unit, and searching the storage unit for resource data referred to by the searched application program,
A conversion step of converting the retrieved resource data on the server based on the profile data;
A data providing step for providing the client with the application program searched by the search step and the resource data converted by the conversion step on the server;
On the client, a data acquisition step for acquiring the application program and the resource data provided from the server by the data provision step;
An application providing method comprising: an execution control step for controlling the application program acquired in the data acquisition step on the client with reference to the resource data acquired in the data acquisition step. .

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