JP2007081700A - Client/server system and data distribution method - Google Patents

Abstract

<P>PROBLEM TO BE SOLVED: To provide a client/server system that is not susceptible to the effects of network state and can ensure immediate responsiveness of a UI display. <P>SOLUTION: The client/server system includes a server apparatus 12 and a client apparatus 14 connected to the server apparatus 12 via a network 13, and the server apparatus 12 groups language data, according to each characteristic and determines the distribution order of each of the language data groups depending on the characteristics of each group. The client apparatus 14 translates words on a UI menu and displays translated words, on the basis of the language data distributed by each group from the server apparatus 12. <P>COPYRIGHT: (C)2007,JPO&INPIT

Description

  The present invention relates to a technique for distributing data classified by language from a server to a client in a system configured by connecting a server device and a client device via a network.

A system for distributing various data from a server device to a client device via a network has been proposed. For example, in Patent Document 1, in a client / server system configured by connecting a server device and a client device via a network, the client device sequentially downloads an application execution file from the server device in units of modules. Are sequentially executed in accordance with a predetermined order. As a result, the maintenance of the application program in the client device is not required, the response during execution of the application is not reduced, and the load on the server device and the network system can be reduced.
Japanese Patent Laid-Open No. 10-21081

  By the way, with the recent multinationalization of office workers, for example, UI (user interface) screens of office equipment such as multifunction peripherals are required to be displayed in various languages. However, at the time of product shipment, it is difficult to mount all possible language data because of the manufacturing cost, shipment schedule, and the like. Therefore, it is sufficient if there is a mechanism in which desired language data is acquired from a server via a network on the device side, and words displayed on the UI screen are translated and displayed based on the language data. However, when a large amount of language data is distributed to a client device via a network, it may take a considerable amount of time depending on the network communication capability and traffic conditions, or in the worst case, the language data cannot be distributed due to a timeout. is there.

The present invention has been made in view of such problems, and an object of the present invention is to prevent a user who refers to the UI screen from having a problem as much as possible even if there is an influence of network communication capability or traffic. is there.

  In order to achieve the above object, the present invention provides a client / server system comprising a server device and a client device connected to the server device via a network, the server device being connected to the client device. A grouping means for grouping a plurality of language data to be distributed according to a determined standard; a distribution order determining means for determining a distribution order of each group grouped by the grouping means according to characteristics of each group; Distribution means for distributing the language data to the client device for each group in accordance with the distribution order determined by the distribution order determination means, and the client device has a display means and a display unit for displaying the language data in a certain language. The displayed word is the word delivered from the server device. Providing a client-server system and a control means for displaying by replacing the word in a different language based on the data. Thereby, when the grouping unit groups each language data, the distribution rank of each group of the language data grouped in this way is determined by the distribution rank determining unit according to the characteristics of each group. The UI screen display means performs UI screen display based on each language data distributed from the server device for each group. In this way, the group of language data grouped for each characteristic is sequentially distributed to the client device according to the distribution order for each group and displayed on the UI screen. Therefore, in comparison with the case of random distribution without considering the distribution order of language data, it is possible to suppress problems for the user even if the network communication capability and traffic are inferior.

  In this case, the server device includes a notification unit that notifies the client device of the distribution order determined by the distribution order determination unit, and the client device sends the notification to the server device according to the received distribution order. Requesting means for requesting delivery of the language data in units of groups, wherein the delivery means of the server device delivers the language data to the client device in response to a request from the client device. May be. As a result, when the server apparatus notifies the distribution order determined by the distribution order determining means, the client apparatus that has received this requests the distribution of each group of language data from the server apparatus in the received distribution order. Can be delivered smoothly.

  In addition, the client device includes an interval determination unit that determines a time interval for requesting the delivery of the language data in units of groups, and the request unit includes the language data for each group at the determined time interval. You may make it request | require delivery. For example, if the client device receives the distribution at a time interval corresponding to the processing load state of the own device, the distribution can be smoothly received. Further, the server device has a determining unit that determines a time interval for distributing the language data to the client device for each group based on the communication capability or traffic situation of the network, and the distributing unit includes: The language data may be delivered to the client device for each group at the determined time interval. As described above, if the server device determines the distribution interval for each group of language data in accordance with the state of the network, the distribution can be performed smoothly.

  The present invention is also a data distribution method for distributing data from a server apparatus to a client apparatus via a network, wherein the server apparatus groups a plurality of language data to be distributed to the client apparatus according to a predetermined standard. The server device determines the distribution order of each grouped group according to the characteristics of each group, and the server device determines the distribution order for each group according to the determined distribution order. Delivering language data to the client device; and the client device replaces a word displayed on the display means in a certain language with a word in another language based on the language data delivered from the server device. Providing a data distribution method. Thereby, compared with the case where it distributes at random without considering the distribution order of language data, even if the communication capability and traffic of a network are inferior, the malfunction for a user can be suppressed.

Next, the best mode for carrying out the invention will be described.
As shown in FIG. 1, a client / server system 11 according to this embodiment includes a server device 12 and a client device connected to the server device 12 via a network 13 such as the Internet or a LAN (Local Area Network). have. In the present embodiment, a multifunction device 14 having a scan function, a print function, a copy function, and the like is assumed as a client device. Although not shown, a plurality of multifunction devices 14 are connected to one server device 12 via a network 13.

  The multifunction device 14 reads a document and generates image data, a scanner driver 21 that drives the scanner 20, image data supplied from the scanner 20, and image data received by the network I / F 29. An image forming engine unit 22 for printing, and an image forming engine control unit 23 for controlling the image forming engine unit 22.

  The multifunction machine 14 includes a touch panel 25, a display driver 26 that drives the touch panel 25, and a screen display control unit 27 that supplies image data to be displayed on the touch panel 15 to the display driver 26. The touch panel 25 displays a UI screen for various users while an operation input is performed by the user. An operation input to the touch panel 25 is detected by the operation input detection unit 28.

  Further, the multifunction device 14 stores a network interface (I / F) unit 29 for connecting to the network 13, a database 30 for each language, a CPU 31 for controlling the multifunction device 14, an application program read by the CPU 31, and the like. A ROM 32 and a RAM 33 for temporarily storing data during operation of the CPU 31 are provided.

  On the other hand, the server device 12 includes a network interface (I / F) unit 35 for connection to the network 13, a database 36 for storing various language data, application programs for updating, and the like, a CPU 37 for controlling these, A ROM 38 storing a control program of the CPU 37 and a RAM 39 for temporarily storing data during operation of the CPU 37 are provided.

  In the present embodiment, the application program for executing each function stored in the ROM 32 of the MFP 14 can be updated to the updated version downloaded from the database 36 of the server device 12 (that is, the application program can be upgraded). ing.

  Here, the database 36 of the server device 12 stores an update application program set to display a UI screen in a reference language. Further, the database 36 is provided with language data for changing and displaying the UI screen displayed by the application program for updating to other languages. In other words, in the client / server system 11 of the present embodiment, when the application program is updated, the update application program formed to display the UI screen in the reference language is temporarily stored in the multifunction device 14 from the database 36 of the server device 12. After that, language data for changing the reference language (for example, English) of the application program for update to a desired language (for example, Japanese) is transferred from the database 36 of the server device 12 to the requesting multifunction device 14. It is downloaded.

  In the server device 12 and the multifunction device 14, a common MessageID (message ID) is assigned to words having the same meaning in a plurality of languages. For example, as shown in FIG. 2, the word “resolution” in Japanese and the word “resolution” in English have the same meaning, and thus a common Message ID “00001” is assigned to these words.

  The database 36 of the server device 12 stores a language data format for each language in advance. As shown in FIG. 3, the language data format includes Message ID, Application ID indicating which application program of the multifunction device 14 uses the word indicated by the Message ID, and which word indicated by the Message ID is displayed on the UI screen. A PageID indicating whether it is used on the screen page, a Tag attached to a particularly important word, and a content character string indicating the meaning of the word indicated by the MessageID are stored in association with each other.

  In FIG. 3, for example, the word “MessageID“ 00001 ”is used in the copy application indicated by the application ID“ CopyApp ”and is used in the standard / basic function setting page indicated by the page ID“ BasicSetting ”. . Further, Tag is not particularly attached to the word of MessageID “00001”. And the Japanese meaning of this word is “resolution”.

  Next, the message ID “00002” is used in the login application indicated by the application ID “LoginApp”, and is used in the login page indicated by the page ID “Login”. Further, Tag is not particularly attached to the word of MessageID “00001”. And the Japanese meaning of this word is “user name”.

  In addition, the term “Message ID“ 00003 ”is an application ID“ Null ”and Page ID“ Null ”, that is, it is not limited to a specific application, and is not limited to a specific page of a UI screen. Not shown. The word “Message ID“ 00003 ”is attached with a tag“ W (Warning) ”which means that attention is required. The Japanese meaning of this word is “caution: high temperature”.

  Next, the message ID “00004” has an Application ID “Null” and a Page ID “Null”. The word “Message ID“ 00004 ”is attached with a tag“ A (Account) ”indicating that the message ID is related. And the Japanese meaning of this word is “billing”.

  The word “Message ID“ 00005 ”is used in the copy application indicated by the application ID“ CopyApp ”, and is used in the option function setting page indicated by the page ID“ OptionSetting ”. Tag of MessageID “00005” is not attached, and its Japanese meaning is “finisher selection”.

  When there is a request for language data from the multi-function device 14, the CPU 37 of the server device 12 groups each word defined in the language data format as described above according to a predetermined standard. The CPU 37 determines the distribution order of each group according to the characteristics of each group, and distributes the language data of the words included in each group to the multi-function device 14 in the determined distribution order. Here, the language data to be distributed is the above-mentioned “MessageID” and “content character string”. The multifunction device 14 can specify the MessageID of the word before translation displayed on the UI screen by referring to the contents of the database 30 for each language. Therefore, the decryptor 14 converts the pre-translation word assigned with the same Message ID as the Message ID distributed from the server device 12 into the “content character string” (translated word) distributed from the server device 12. Replace and display.

The grouping and distribution order are specifically as follows.
First, the CPU 37 groups language data with a tag “W” and language data with a tag “A”, and sets the distribution order of this group first. This is because information that requires attention and information related to billing is highly important for the user who uses the multifunction device 14. Next, the CPU 37 groups language data related to applications that are used at a relatively early stage after the MFP is started up or applications that are frequently used, such as Application ID “LoginApp”. The delivery order of is second.

  Next, the CPU 37 groups the language data of the applications currently used in the multifunction machine 14 that requested the language data, and sets the distribution order of this group to the third. For this reason, when requesting language data, the multifunction device 14 needs to notify the server device 12 of the application name used at that time. The language data of the application that is not currently used in the multifunction device 14 is the subsequent distribution order. This is because translating UI screens of currently used applications should have priority over translating other UI screens. At this time, language data “BasicSetting” indicating that the PageID is related to the standard / basic function setting page among the currently used applications is grouped. Separately, the PageID is an optional function. Language data with “OptionSetting” indicating that it is related to the setting page is grouped, and the distribution order of the group of language data with Page ID “BasicSetting” is set first. This is because the UI screen should be quickly translated into the standard / basic function setting page. In addition, language data whose content string length is less than or equal to a predetermined number of characters (for example, 2 characters) are grouped among currently used applications, and apart from these, the string length of the content string is a predetermined number of characters. The language data exceeding the above are grouped, and the distribution order of the language data group having a short character string length is preceded by the distribution order of the language data group having a short character string length. This is because language data with a short character length can be delivered to more words in a short time.

  This will be described more specifically with reference to FIG. The CPU 37 uses language data with a MessageID “00003” with a tag “W” and a content string “Caution: High Temperature”, a MessageID with a tag “A” “00004”, and a content string “ Grouped with the language data of “Billing”. Then, GroupNo is set to “G001” and the distribution order is set to “1”.

  Next, the CPU 37 uses the MessageID of the word used in the application whose ApplicationID is “LoginApp”, for example, the language data whose MessageID is “00002” and the content character string is “user name”, and the content whose MessageID is “00006”. Group the language data whose character string is “registered”. Then, GroupNo is set to “G002” and the distribution order is set to “2”.

  Next, among the applications currently used by the requesting multifunction device 14, the CPU 37 uses the language data whose Page ID is “00001” and the content character string is “Resolution” used on the standard / basic function setting page. And language data whose MessageID is “00007” and whose content character string is “paper selection” are grouped. Then, GroupNo is set to “G003” and the distribution order is set to “3”.

  Next, the CPU 37 has a content ID “00008” in which the content string length is 2 characters or less among the language data of the words used in the application currently used in the requesting multifunction peripheral 14 and the content is “00008”. Language data whose character string is “determined” and language data whose message ID is “00009” and whose content character string is “next” are grouped. Then, GroupNo is set to “G004” and the distribution order is set to “4”.

  Finally, the CPU 37 has a MessageID “00005” used in the option function setting page and a content character string “ Group the finisher language data. Then, GroupNo is set to “G005” and the distribution order is set to “5”.

  Although not shown in the drawing, among the language data of the words currently used in the application currently used by the requesting multifunction device 14, the language data whose character string length is longer than two characters is grouped. Further, the lower delivery order is set. Further, in the lower level, grouping and distribution order setting are performed for the applications that are not currently used by the requesting MFP 14 according to the same criteria as described above.

  In the client / server system 11 according to the present embodiment, the CPU 31 of the server device 12 requests language data of a predetermined language (for example, Japanese) from the multi-function device 14 as shown in FIG. 5 (step SA1). ; Yes), the language data of the requested language is grouped as described above to determine the distribution order (step SA2). Then, using the network I / F unit 35, the CPU 37 sequentially transmits the language data of each group to the multi-function device 14 in the determined distribution order (step SA3). When the language data transmission process is completed for all the groups (step SA4; Yes), the process ends.

  On the other hand, as shown in FIG. 6, the CPU 31 of the multifunction device 14 first requests language data of a desired language (for example, Japanese) from the server device 12 (step SB1). Next, when the CPU 31 receives, that is, downloads this language data (step SB2; Yes), the language data of the reference language (language before translation, for example, English) stored in the language database 30 is based on the MessageID. The requested language data of the desired language (language after translation, for example, Japanese) is associated (step SB3). When the received language data is associated (step SB4; Yes), the CPU 31 ends the process.

  In the above, the multifunction device 14 replaces the words displayed on the touch panel 25 via the screen display control unit 27 with the words after translation based on the language data after translation associated with the language data before translation. To display. As a result, for example, as shown in FIG. 7A, the above-described language data is replaced with the initial screen of the copy function displayed in English as the reference language, as shown in FIG. 7B. , Even if the download is in progress, the word that has been replaced can be translated and displayed. In FIG. 7, “OK” is replaced with “Confirmed”, “Cancel” is replaced with “Cancel”, “Resolution” is replaced with “Resolution”, “Density” is replaced with “Density”, and “High” "Is replaced with" High "," Middle "is replaced with" Medium ", and" Low "is replaced with" Low ". On the other hand, “Paper Size” that has not yet been downloaded, that is, whose replacement has not been completed, is displayed in the reference language as it is.

  According to the client / server system 11 according to the present embodiment described above, the server device 12 groups each language data according to a predetermined condition, and the distribution order of each group of the language data grouped in this way is determined. Decide according to the characteristics of each group. In the multi-function device 14, the screen display control unit 27 performs UI screen display on the touch panel 25 based on each language data distributed from the server device 12 by group. As described above, the language data is distributed by the user to the multi-function device 14 in an important order, and the UI screen is translated and displayed. Therefore, in comparison with the case of random distribution without considering the distribution order of language data, it is possible to suppress problems for the user even if the network communication capability and traffic are inferior. In addition, since the CPU 37 of the server device 12 groups those with a short character string length and distributes them first, more language data can be displayed on the UI screen.

  Note that the server device 12 precedes the group list of the distribution order determined by the CPU 37 and transmits the group list to the request source multifunction device 14, and the request source multifunction device 14 transmits the language from the server device 12 according to the received group list. You may make it request | require distribution of each group of data. In this way, when the server device 12 transmits the group list of the determined distribution order, the multifunction device 14 that has received the request requests distribution of each group of language data from the server device 12 according to the received group list. Therefore, distribution can be performed smoothly. At this time, the multifunction device 14 may determine the distribution request interval according to the state of the own device. In this way, delivery can be received smoothly. Further, the server device 12 may determine the distribution interval for each group of language data according to the network load. In this way, distribution can be performed smoothly.

  In addition, the CPU 37 of the server apparatus 12 may perform grouping of language data and determine the distribution order based on the page displayed on the UI screen displayed on the request source multifunction device 14. Good. In this way, the CPU 37 of the server device 12 can estimate which page is displayed next, for example, and can preferentially distribute the language data corresponding to the estimation result to the multifunction device.

It is a block diagram which shows the client server system which concerns on one Embodiment of this invention. It is a figure which shows the example where common MessageID is provided to the word of the same meaning in several languages. It is a figure which shows an example of the language data of the client server system which concerns on one Embodiment of this invention. It is a figure which shows an example of grouping of the language data of the client server system which concerns on one Embodiment of this invention. It is a flowchart which shows the control content of the server apparatus of the client server system which concerns on one Embodiment of this invention. It is a flowchart which shows the control content of the multifunction machine of the client server system which concerns on one Embodiment of this invention. It is a figure which shows the display state (a) of the touch panel before replacement of the language data by the client server system which concerns on one Embodiment of this invention, and the display state (b) of the touch panel in the middle of replacement.

Explanation of symbols

  DESCRIPTION OF SYMBOLS 11 ... Client server system, 12 ... Server apparatus, 13 ... Network, 14 ... Multifunction machine (client apparatus), 25 ... Touch panel, 37 ... CPU.

Claims (8)

A client / server system comprising a server device and a client device connected to the server device via a network,
The server device
Grouping means for grouping a plurality of language data to be distributed to the client device according to a predetermined standard;
Distribution order determining means for determining the distribution order of each group grouped by the grouping means according to the characteristics of each group;
Distribution means for distributing the language data to the client device for each group according to the distribution order determined by the distribution order determination means;
The client device is
Display means;
Control means for displaying a word displayed on the display means in a certain language by replacing it with a word of another language based on language data distributed from the server device; Server system. The server device includes a notification unit that notifies the client device of the distribution order determined by the distribution order determination unit;
The client device has request means for requesting the server device to distribute the language data in units of groups according to the distribution order received.
The client / server system according to claim 1, wherein the distribution unit of the server device distributes the language data to the client device according to the distribution order in response to a request from the client device. The client device is
An interval determination means for determining a time interval for requesting delivery of the language data in units of groups;
3. The client / server system according to claim 2, wherein the requesting unit requests distribution of the language data for each group at a determined time interval. The server device includes a determining unit that determines a time interval for delivering the language data to the client device for each group based on communication capacity or traffic conditions of the network.
The client / server system according to claim 1, wherein the distribution unit distributes the language data to the client device for each of the groups at a determined time interval.   The client / server system according to claim 1, wherein the grouping unit groups the language data based on a word attribute represented by each language data.   2. The grouping unit according to claim 1, wherein the grouping unit groups the language data depending on whether a word represented by each language data is used by an application used in the client device. The client / server system described.   2. The client / server system according to claim 1, wherein the grouping unit groups the language data depending on whether a length of a word represented by each language data exceeds a predetermined length. 3. A data delivery method for delivering data from a server device to a client device via a network,
The server device grouping a plurality of language data to be distributed to the client device according to a determined standard;
The server device determines the distribution order of each grouped group according to the characteristics of each group;
The server device distributing the language data to the client device for each group according to the determined distribution order;
The client device comprising: replacing a word displayed on the display means in a certain language with a word in another language based on the language data distributed from the server device, and displaying it. Data distribution method.

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