JP2007179396A - Electronic conference system and document sharing method - Google Patents

Abstract

<P>PROBLEM TO BE SOLVED: To add or delete documents in a short time while reducing the amount of traffic. <P>SOLUTION: In an electronic conference system wherein a plurality of client terminals are connected to a document sharing server, each of the client terminals includes a document storage part for storing documents, a status storage part for storing the display status information of the documents, and a time stamp storage part for storing the time stamps of the documents. When the document display status of any of the client terminals is changed, the display status information of a document stored in the status storage part of that client terminal is sent to the document sharing server; the document sharing server in turn stores the display status information received from one client terminal in the status storage part. When a synchronous timer measures the elapse of a predetermined period of time, the display status information stored in the status storage part is transferred to the other client terminal. <P>COPYRIGHT: (C)2007,JPO&INPIT

Description

  The present invention relates to an electronic conference system and a document sharing method for holding an electronic conference between users via an IP (Internet Protocol) network, and more particularly to efficiently transfer and share documents used in an electronic conference. The present invention relates to an electronic conference system and a document sharing method.

  In recent years, an electronic conference system that can hold an electronic conference between remote locations via an IP network or the Internet has been operated. In this electronic conference system, conference participants often proceed with a conference while referring to a document. As a method for sharing the document data according to the prior art, a method in which each document is embedded in a container document such as an HTML format and browsed using a browser is often used. Further, a method is used in which the screen itself displayed on the display device is transferred as image data, and can be shared without depending on the file format of the document.

In addition, as a document in which the technique regarding the data sharing method mentioned above was described, the following patent documents are mentioned, for example.
JP 2003-30121 A Japanese Patent Laid-Open No. 09-101767

  However, the method of embedding a document according to the above-described prior art in a container document such as an HTML format and browsing using a browser involves HTML conversion, so that the time until data is shared becomes redundant, and therefore, during a meeting When trying to add a document to, there was a problem that the conversation flow was interrupted.

  Also, the method of transferring the screen itself as image data transfers the image data as it is, so the amount of traffic is large, and the traffic amount is proportional to the number of terminals in a large-scale meeting with many client terminals. Therefore, there is a problem that it adversely affects other communications such as voice and video.

  A first object of the present invention is to provide a teleconferencing system and a document sharing method capable of adding / deleting a document in a short time, in order to reject the problem caused by the conventional technique. An object of the present invention is to provide an electronic conference system and a document sharing method that can synchronize documents by reducing traffic.

In order to achieve the above object, the present invention provides an electronic conference system that connects a plurality of client terminals and a document sharing server via an IP network.
The client terminal includes a document storage unit that stores a document, a state storage unit that stores display state information of the document stored in the document storage unit, and a time stamp storage unit that stores a time stamp of the document,
The document sharing server stores a document storage unit that stores a document transmitted from the client terminal, a state storage unit that stores display state information of the document, and a document or display state in the document storage unit or the state storage unit. Including a synchronous timer unit that starts counting time from the time of storage,
When the document display state of one client terminal is changed, the one client terminal transmits the document display state information stored in the state storage unit to the document sharing server,
The document sharing server stores the display state information received from one client terminal in the state storage unit, and when the synchronization timer counts that a predetermined time has elapsed since the storage, the other client terminal The display state information stored in the state storage unit is transferred to another client terminal,
The document sharing server stores the display state information received from one client terminal in the state storage unit, transfers the display state information stored in the state storage unit to another client terminal to another client terminal,
When the document of one client terminal is changed, the one client terminal transmits the document stored in the document storage unit to the document sharing server,
The document sharing server stores a document received from one client terminal in a document storage unit, and transfers the document stored in the document storage unit to another client terminal to another client terminal. And

  Further, the present invention provides the electronic conference system, wherein the other client terminal compares the document display state information transferred from the document sharing server or the time stamp of the document with the time stamp stored in the time stamp storage unit. The second feature is that the document display of a plurality of client terminals is linked by updating the display state information or document stored in the document storage unit or the state storage unit.

  The present invention also relates to any one of the electronic conference systems, wherein the display state information includes a scroll position and a cursor position on the application in which the display state of the document of the one client terminal is changed, and a display at the time of browsing and editing. A third feature is that information is included, and in any one of the electronic conference systems, a SIP server is provided on an IP network of the electronic conference system, and a client terminal participating in the electronic conference receives the document via the SIP server. A fourth feature is that the IP address and port number of the shared server are acquired. In the electronic conference system, after the client terminal acquires the IP address and port number of the document sharing server via the SIP server. Document storage unit of document sharing server In the electronic conference system according to any one of the fifth aspect, the document and the display state information of the document are acquired from the state storage unit and stored in the document storage unit and the state storage unit of the client terminal. The device displays an operation screen icon that includes a document add button, a document sharing pause button, and a document update button, an add function that adds a document, a pause function that pauses document sharing, and an update that updates the document. The sixth feature is to provide a function.

Further, the present invention provides the client terminal including a document storage unit that stores a document, a state storage unit that stores display state information of the document stored in the document storage unit, and a time stamp storage unit that stores a time stamp of the document. A document storage unit that stores a document transmitted from the client terminal, a state storage unit that stores display state information of the document, and a time period from when the document or the display state is stored in the document storage unit or the state storage unit. In a document sharing method of an electronic conference system comprising a document sharing server including a synchronization timer unit for starting counting, and connecting a plurality of client terminals and the document sharing server via an IP network,
When the display state of the document of one client terminal is changed, transmitting the display state information of the document stored in the state storage unit by the one client terminal to the document sharing server;
The document sharing server storing the display state information received from one client terminal in the state storage unit and transferring the display state information stored in the state storage unit to another client terminal to another client terminal; Run
When the document of one client terminal is changed, the one client terminal transmits the document stored in the document storage unit to the document sharing server;
The document sharing server stores a document received from one client terminal in a document storage unit, and transfers the document stored in the document storage unit to another client terminal to another client terminal. Is the seventh feature.

  According to the present invention, in the document sharing method, the document sharing server stores the display state information received from one of the client terminals in the state storage unit, and a synchronization timer indicates that a predetermined time has elapsed since the storage. When the counts are counted, the display state information stored in the state storage unit is transferred to another client terminal to another client terminal, thereby coordinating the display of the documents of the plurality of client terminals. The eighth feature.

  Further, the present invention relates to any one of the document sharing methods, wherein the display state information includes a scroll position and a cursor position on the application in which the display state of the document of the one client terminal is changed, and a display at the time of viewing and editing. It is a ninth feature that information is included, and in any one of the document sharing methods, a SIP server is provided on an IP network of the electronic conference system, and a client terminal participating in the electronic conference is configured to transmit the SIP server via the SIP server. A tenth feature includes the step of obtaining an IP address and a port number of a document sharing server. In this document sharing method, the client terminal sends an IP address and a port number of the document sharing server via the SIP server. Step to get the An eleventh feature comprising: obtaining a document and display state information of the document from the document storage unit and state storage unit of the document sharing server; and storing the document in the document storage unit and state storage unit of the client terminal. In any one of the document sharing methods, the client terminal displays a screen with an operation screen icon including a document addition button, a document sharing pause button, and a document update button, and the document addition button is operated. Adding a document when the document sharing is paused, pausing document sharing when the document sharing pause button is operated, and updating the document when the document update button is operated And twelfth features to include.

  As described above, according to the present invention, since the document is transferred without being converted into a format such as a container document, the time until the document is opened on the terminal of the conference participant can be relatively shortened. Furthermore, since the present invention transmits only the display state of the document as a parameter, the necessary traffic can be reduced. Further, since the document itself is transferred and shared, the updated document has a document format before sharing. It can be kept and reused easily.

Hereinafter, an embodiment of an electronic conference system to which a document sharing method according to the present invention is applied will be described in detail with reference to the drawings. FIG. 1 is a diagram for explaining an overall configuration of an electronic conference system according to an embodiment of the present invention, FIG. 2 is a diagram illustrating a document sharing client configuration according to the present embodiment, and FIG. 3 is a document sharing according to the present embodiment. FIG. 4 is a sequence diagram illustrating a procedure from the start of document sharing to the end of sharing according to the present embodiment, FIG. 5 is a sequence diagram illustrating a procedure for address resolution by SIP according to the present embodiment, and FIG. FIG. 7 is a sequence diagram showing a log-in procedure to the document sharing server according to the present embodiment. FIG. 8 is a log-out procedure from the document sharing server according to the present embodiment. FIG. 9 is a sequence diagram showing a document display state update and synchronization procedure according to the present embodiment. FIG. 10 is a sequence diagram showing a plurality of document display state update and conflict resolution / synchronization procedures according to this embodiment. FIG. 11 is a diagram showing a document display state transmission procedure according to this embodiment. FIG. 13 is a sequence diagram showing a document addition procedure according to this embodiment. FIG. 14 is a sequence diagram showing a document update procedure according to this embodiment. FIG. 15 is this sequence diagram. FIG. 16 is a diagram showing a document sharing client operation screen according to this embodiment.
<Description of configuration>

  As shown in FIG. 1, the electronic conference system according to the present embodiment temporarily stores a plurality of client terminals 120 to 124 operated by each client participating in the electronic conference and documents used by the client terminals 120 to 124 in the electronic conference. The document sharing server 110 that stores the data, a SIP (Session Initiation Protocol) server 100 that controls a session initiation protocol between the client terminals 120 to 124 and the document sharing server 110, and an IP network 130 that connects the servers. ing.

  The client terminals 120 to 124 have a function of storing a shared document 140 that is document data to be displayed on other client terminals, and a shared document display state 150 indicating a state in which the shared document 140 is displayed on a display device. Prepare. The “display state” described in the present embodiment is information for specifying the display state of the document on the screen, such as the document name, the document type, the scroll display percentage of the document, and the number of pages.

  The document sharing server 110 has a function of storing a shared document 141 that is document data transmitted from an arbitrary client terminal and a document display state 151 of the shared document 141. Here, the shared document 141 and the document display state 151 will be described. However, the hardware configuration includes a shared document storage unit that stores the shared document 141 and a document display state storage unit that stores the document display state 151.

This electronic conference system assumes a state in which the client terminals 120 to 123 participate in the same conference and the client terminal 124 participates in another conference, and in the conference room 1 only between the client terminals 120 to 123. It is assumed that the document 141 to be used and the document display state 151 are shared and are not transferred to the client terminal 124.
<Description of client terminal>

  As shown in FIG. 2, the client terminal 120 includes at least one document sharing client 210. The document sharing client 210 includes a mouse hook unit 215 and a keyboard hook unit 216 for acquiring a user's document operation, and a document. 200 receives a display state 151 of 200, an event transmission unit 213 that transmits the acquired display state 151 to the document sharing server 110, and receives document display states of other client terminals from the document sharing server 110. Event receiving unit 214, state setting unit 212 that reflects the received document display state in document 200, state storage unit 224 that temporarily stores the document display state, and document addition or update The document sending unit 218 for sending the document 200 to the document sharing server 110, the document receiving unit 219 for receiving a document added or updated by another client terminal from the document server, and the time when the document 200 is displayed (opened). The time stamp storage unit 221 for copying and saving the stamp (date / time) 222 is compared with the time stamp 222 of the document received when the document receiving unit 219 receives the time stamp 222. 222 and the time stamp comparison unit 220 that compares the time stamps stored in the time stamp storage unit 221, and communicates with the SIP server 100 to obtain the IP address and port number of the document sharing server 110. That consists SIP unit 217. In this example, the time stamp 222 of one or more documents 200 and document 200 is shared in a state of being stored in a shared folder 223. Reference numeral 151 denotes a format image of the document display state, and the document 200 is stored in a document storage unit (not shown).

  The client terminal 120 configured in this manner displays the document 200 to which the displayed time is given as the time stamp 222, and performs this operation when a state change such as a screen scroll is performed by a mouse or keyboard operation by an operator operation. When the mouse hook unit 215 or the keyboard hook unit 216 detects, and the detected display state information is acquired by the state acquisition unit 211 and stored in the state storage unit 224 and transferred to the event transmission unit 213, the event transmission unit 213 A function of transferring the display state information to the document sharing server 110 via the socket unit 230 and the IP network 130 is provided.

  In addition, when the displayed document 200 is changed (deletion / insertion of characters, etc.) by the mouse or keyboard operation by the operator, the client transmission unit 218 sends the changed document 200 to the socket unit 230 and the IP network. A function of transferring to the document sharing server 110 via 130.

Further, the client terminal 120 receives the display state information and the changed document from the other client terminals from the document sharing server 110 via the IP network 130 and the socket unit 230, and the event reception unit 214 and the document reception unit 219 receive the display state information. The time stamp (date and time) stored in the time stamp storage unit 221 is compared with the received display state information and the time stamp of the document by the time stamp comparison unit 220, and has a function of displaying the display state and document with the new time stamp. Yes. The other client terminals have the same configuration and operation.
<Description of document sharing server>

  The document sharing server 110 has one or a plurality of conferences, and the document 141 and the document display state 151 are stored in different directories for each conference. Each conference is assigned an identifier 300 called a conference ID, and participates in the conference. One document sharing server 310 is always present on the document sharing server 110.

  On the premise of the state, the document sharing server 310 includes a document 141 shared in each conference, a document display state 151 of the document 141, a conference management unit 320 that manages the identifier 301 of the participant terminal, and the client terminal 120. The event receiving unit 322 for acquiring the document display state from the conference, and acquiring the IP addresses of other participants (121 to 123 in this embodiment) of the conference in which the client terminal 120 is participating from the conference management unit 320, An event transmission unit 321 that transmits a document display state, a document reception unit 324 that receives a document added or updated by the client terminal 120, and other participations in the conference in which the client terminal 120 is participating from the conference management unit 320 (121 to 12 in this embodiment) ) And a synchronization timer for transmitting the document display state 151 and the like to all the participant terminals in the same conference after a predetermined time after receiving the document display state 151. Part 325. The synchronization timer unit 325 has a function of instructing the event transmission unit 321 or the document transmission unit 323 to transmit an instruction to transmit the last received document display state to all conference participants when a predetermined time has elapsed.

  The document sharing server 310 configured as described above receives the display state information and the changed document transmitted from the client terminal via the IP network 130 and the socket unit 230, and receives the event reception unit 322 and the document reception unit 324. The document display state of each conference room is reported to the synchronization timer unit 325, the document and document display state of each conference room are changed, and the document display state of each conference room is changed to the socket unit 230 and the IP network 130. To the other client terminal via the socket, and according to the synchronization timing (counting time) from the synchronization timer unit 325, the event transmission unit 321 has a function of transmitting to the other client terminal via the socket unit 230 and the IP network 130. Prepare.

5, the document sharing client 210 on the client terminal 120 negotiates between the SIP unit 217 on the document sharing client 210 and the SIP server 100 at the time of activation, as shown in FIG. The first function for executing the procedure of acquiring the address, the port number, and the conference ID, and the SIP function installed in the video conference client when participating in the conference by the video conference client, the IP of the document sharing server And a second function for executing a procedure for acquiring an address, a port number, and a conference ID.
<Description of operation>

Next, the operation of the electronic conference system according to the present embodiment will be described. FIG. 4 is a diagram showing a procedure outline from the start to the end of document sharing by the electronic conference system, and FIG. 5 is a procedure 400 of a session start protocol between the client terminals 120 to 124 and the document sharing server 110 by the SIP server 100 in FIG. FIG. 7 is a diagram showing details of the logon operation procedure 410 for the document sharing server 210 to the document sharing server 310.
<Outline of procedure from document sharing start to end>

  First, in the procedure from the start to the end of document sharing, as shown in FIG. 4, the document sharing client 210 on the client terminal executes a procedure 400 for acquiring the IP address and port number of the document sharing server 110. In this procedure 400, as shown in FIG. 5, the document sharing client 210 issues a request INVITE to the document sharing server 310 via the SIP server 100, and the document sharing server 310 that receives the request sends a RINGING (call) via the SIP server 100. The document sharing client 210 that has acquired the IP address and port number of the document sharing server 310 operates to start a session.

  Next, the system executes a procedure 410 for logging in to the document sharing server 310 based on the conference ID. As shown in FIG. 7, the procedure 410 is performed when the document sharing client 210 issues a login 700 to the document sharing server 310, and the document sharing server 310 that receives the login 700 receives the login response 701.

  Next, in the present system, the document sharing server 310 transmits all documents currently shared in the conference corresponding to the conference ID to the document sharing client 210 that has successfully logged in, and the document sharing server 310. Step 461 for transmitting the latest document display state to the document sharing client 210 after the transmission of all the documents according to the method is performed, and the received document display state after all the documents received by the document sharing client 210 are displayed. Can be shared by executing the procedure 462 for reflecting the above in the display state of the document.

  Furthermore, this system, for example, when an operation for changing the display position of a document is performed, the procedure 420 for updating the display state of the document and synchronizing the display state, and the contents of the document are changed (inserted, deleted, moved). At this time, by executing the procedure 430 for updating / adding the document itself, it is possible to synchronize the displayed document between the client terminals.

  The system further includes a procedure 440 for the document sharing client 210 on the client terminal to log out from the document sharing server 310 and a procedure 450 for terminating the session when the client terminal disconnects / leaves the conference P2P (PeerToPeer) call or conference. When the session with the document sharing server 310 is ended, a procedure 453 for confirming whether or not to save the document 200 that has been shared with the user, and when the user selects save, the document 200 is moved to the user's designated location. By sequentially executing the copying procedure 454 and the deleting procedure 455, the shared document itself can be saved in a reusable form.

  In other words, the electronic conference system according to the present embodiment reduces the traffic volume by transferring only the display state information when the display state of the document whose contents are not changed is changed by moving with a cursor or the like. The display state of the document can be changed over time. In this electronic conference system, during a PeerToPeer (hereinafter referred to as P2P) call, a document to be shared is selected, the document is copied to a temporary folder, and the document is transferred to a conference participant or the document sharing server. Documents can be opened and displayed on other client terminals.

The outline of the document synchronization procedure according to the present embodiment is as described above, and the details of the procedure will be described below.
<Procedure 1 for sending document display status of client terminal>
The details of the procedure 461 for transferring the document display state of the client terminal will be described with reference to FIG. 11. As a premise, the client terminals 120 to 123 have already participated in the same conference, It is assumed that any one participant (here, the client terminal 120) among a plurality of participants who share the same document while watching the operation of the document 200 using a mouse or a keyboard. Further, it is assumed that the document 200 is one or plural and can be displayed by a general-purpose application without using a special application.

  Now, as shown in FIG. 11, the transmission procedure (procedure 461) of the document display state of the client terminal according to the present embodiment is a procedure 1101 in which the mouse hook unit 215 and the keyboard hook unit 216 hook the user's mouse or keyboard operation. The status acquisition unit 211 executes the procedure 1102 for acquiring the identifier of the window that currently accepts the mouse or keyboard operation and the identifier of each window of the document 200 and the procedure 1103 for determining which document the operation is for. To notify.

  Next, in this procedure, the status acquisition unit 211 has information on parts related to screen display when the file 200 is browsed / edited in the document 200 (for example, scroll position, cursor position, window position / size, etc.). Is acquired using the identifier of the window of the document 200. In this embodiment, as such a technique, for example, using the Object Linking and Editing (hereinafter referred to as OLE) technique of Microsoft (registered trademark), the page or sheet that is currently displayed by the document that is the target of the determined operation is displayed. / The display status of slide / slide show is acquired.

  Next, in this procedure, the state acquisition unit 211 acquires the document display state, passes it to the event transmission unit 213, and the event transmission unit 213 that receives the document display state transmits the document display state to the document sharing server 110, The document sharing server 310 on the document sharing server 110 that has received the display state makes a procedure 1106 in which the event receiving unit 322 receives the document display state from the client terminal 120, and makes an inquiry to the conference management unit 320. A procedure 1107 for acquiring a list of IP addresses of participants (here, client terminals 121 to 123), a procedure 1108 in which the event transmission unit 321 transmits the document display state to the participants, and a client terminal that receives the procedure 1108 12 The above document sharing client 210 passes the procedure 1109 for receiving the document display state at the event receiving unit 214 and the state setting unit 212, and the state setting unit 212 receives the document using the OLE as the display state of the document 200. The procedure 1110 to be set is executed.

  According to the procedure 461 for executing the above procedure, the electronic conference system allows the conference participant who is logged in to the document sharing server when any one participant in the conference operates the document using the mouse or the keyboard. The display state is transmitted to all members, and the document display state can be matched.

<When multiple document display status updates are made simultaneously>
<Transmission procedure 1>
Next, a synchronization procedure in the case where the document display state update in the procedure 461 is performed almost simultaneously by a plurality of clients will be described with reference to FIG.
When the procedure 906 (transfer of the display state B) is performed following the procedure 901 (transfer of the display state A) in which the plurality of client terminals respectively transfer the document display state, the system, as shown in FIG. The shared server 310 receives the document display state A (procedure 902), transfers the document display state A to all conference participants other than the client terminal that transferred the document display state A (procedure 905), and then counts the synchronization timer unit 325 by the reception. Is started (procedure 903), but the count (time count) of the synchronization timer section 325 is reset by receiving the document display state B (procedure 910) before the set time of the synchronization timer section 325 passes by the procedure 906, Transfer the document display state B to all conference participants other than the client terminal that transferred the document display state B ( 911), the counting (time counting) of the synchronization timer unit 325 is restarted at the timing when the document display state B is received, and then a synchronization signal is issued to the document sharing server 310 when the synchronization timer unit 325 has passed a certain time. (Step 913), and the document sharing server 310 that has received this operates to transfer the document display state (document display state B in the case of FIG. 9) last received by the synchronization signal to all conference participants.
That is, the system operates to transfer the last received document display state to the client terminal of the conference participant.

<Transmission procedure 2>
Further, as shown in FIG. 10, even when a plurality of document display states are transferred to the document sharing server 310 almost simultaneously, the document sharing server 310 receives the document display states one by one at the same time. The operation is the same as in the synchronization procedure 1.

  In this procedure 1000, in the case of FIG. 10, the display state A and the display state B are transferred almost at the same time. However, since the reception process is performed in the order of state B and state A, the state of the shared document 200 is state A. Match. As described above, when a plurality of client terminals transmit the document display state at the same time, the document display state received last by the document sharing server 310 matches all terminals participating in the conference. That is, a plurality of users may operate a document at the same time.

  In addition, since the document is frequently scrolled and moved frequently when browsing or editing, when multiple users operate the document at the same time as described above, the transfer is frequently performed in both directions. Although it is necessary to exchange at multiple points, according to the present embodiment, since the amount of information to be exchanged is small in the display state information amount, the document display state synchronization is compared with the conventional method of exchanging the image of the document to be shared. It is possible to reduce the timing error, the time until the start of sharing, and the influence (video, audio, etc.) on the ongoing conference.

<Description of document addition procedure>
The document adding operation (procedure 430 in FIG. 4) in the electronic conference system according to the present embodiment will be described with reference to FIGS. FIG. 12 is a sequence diagram of the document addition procedure, and FIG. 13 is a sequence diagram of the document addition sequence. In this description, it is assumed that the client terminals 120 to 123 have already participated in the same conference.

  The document adding process includes a procedure 1200 in which a user adds a document to the document sharing client 210 on the client terminal 120, a procedure 1201 in which the document sharing client 210 copies the document to a shared folder, and a document sharing server 310. Next, a procedure 1202 for requesting the transmission right of the document, a procedure 1203 for receiving a request response from the document sharing server 310, a procedure 1204 for determining the request response, and the shared document to the document sharing server 310 if possible. For sending the shared document to the participant terminals 121 to 123 of the same conference, and a procedure 1206 for returning a response that the document sharing server 310 received the shared document. 1208, a procedure 1209 in which the participant terminal of the same conference copies the received shared document to the shared folder, a procedure 1210 to display the copied document, and the document sharing client 210 to which the document has been added is the document sharing server 310. The shared document reception response is received, and the procedure for displaying the shared document is sequentially executed.

  This processing procedure will be described with reference to FIG. 13. This processing procedure includes a procedure 1300 to 1301 in which the participant A adds a document following the start of operation on the client terminal 120, and the participant A's client. A procedure 1302 in which the document sharing client on the terminal copies the document to the shared folder, a procedure 1303 in which the document sharing client of the participant A inquires the document sharing server whether the document can be transmitted, a procedure 1304 for determining the inquiry result, When it is determined in the procedure 1304 that transmission is possible, the participant A sequentially executes a procedure 1306 for transmitting the document to the document sharing server.

  Next, in this processing procedure, on the document sharing server 110, the document sharing server receives a document 1309 received by the procedure 1306, a procedure 1310 for notifying the participant A of the document reception, and the received document. A procedure 1311 for saving, a procedure 1312 for acquiring information of all conference participants in which the participant A participates, and a procedure 1313 for transmitting the document to all participants other than the participant A are executed.

  Next, this processing procedure includes a procedure 1314 in which the document sharing client 121 etc. other than the participant A receives the transmitted document, a procedure 1315 in which the document sharing client 121 etc. stores the document, and a procedure in which the document is displayed. By sequentially executing the procedure for displaying 1316, the shared document corrected by the participant A can be displayed on each client terminal, and a new shared document is added during document sharing by the above method. be able to.

<Description of document update procedure>
The document update operation in the electronic conference system according to the present embodiment will be described with reference to FIGS. FIG. 14 is a diagram showing a document update procedure, and FIG. 15 is a sequence diagram of the document update procedure.

  As shown in FIG. 14, the document update procedure is performed by pressing the update button of the document sharing client 210 on the client terminal 120 in a state where the document 200 is overwritten and saved after the document 200 is changed on the client terminal 120. A procedure 1400, a procedure 1401 in which the document transmission unit 218 checks whether the time stamp of the document 200 is new compared to the sharing start time, and a procedure 1402 that determines that the file 200 is an updated file if it is new. Procedures 1403 and 1404 for confirming the transmission right; Procedure 1405 for transferring an update file to the document sharing server 310 if transmission is possible; Procedure 1407 for receiving a transfer response from the document sharing server 310; Procedure for displaying the update file 14 9, a procedure 1412 for closing the document 200 before update, and a procedure 1413 for transferring the document display state that the document 200 before update has been closed to the document sharing server 310 are sequentially updated. It can be carried out.

<Description of operation screen of document sharing client>
The operation screen of the document sharing client described in the embodiment is operated by icon display as shown in FIG. 16, for example. As shown in FIG. 16, the document sharing client operation screen 1600 includes a document addition button 1601, a document sharing pause button 1602, and a document update button 1603. The user can operate from the document sharing client operation screen. By performing the above, the operation screen can be automatically displayed on the entire surface when sharing is started.

  The details of this operation will be described. In the electronic conference system, when the document sharing pause button 1602 is pressed on the document sharing client operation screen 1600, the document sharing client 210 receives the document display state from the event receiving unit 214. The document display state is held, and thereafter, the setting of the document display state is prohibited by the state setting unit 212 and the function of not transmitting the document display state from the event transmission unit 213 and the document sharing pause button 1602 are pressed. The document display state of the client terminal that has pressed the document sharing pause button is the document display state between the conference participants who are logged in to the document sharing server other than the client terminal. The event reception unit 214 receives and holds the document sharing pause operation button 1602 on the document sharing client operation screen 1600 and the document sharing pause button 1602 again. In the document display state, the document sharing client 210 has a function of acquiring the closest received time when the document sharing pause button is pressed and reflecting it in the document 200 from the state setting unit 212. By reflecting the document display state from the state setting unit to the document, acquiring the document display state in the state acquisition unit 211, and transmitting the document display state from the event transmission unit 213, a document other than the client terminal is started. It is possible to resume the synchronization of the document display state between the conference participants who are logged in to the instrument shared server.

  As described above, the electronic conference system and the document sharing method according to the present embodiment reduce the traffic volume by transferring only the display state information when the display of a document whose contents are not changed is moved by a cursor or the like. You can add and delete documents in time. That is, the present invention distributes the same document to a plurality of participants participating in the conference without converting it into a file of another format, and then all the participants view the same part of the same document, When one of the above operates the document or switches the document, the operation status can be immediately reflected on all the participants.

1 is an overall configuration diagram of an electronic conference system according to an embodiment of the present invention. The figure which shows the document sharing client structure by this embodiment. The figure which shows the document sharing server structure by this embodiment. FIG. 5 is a sequence diagram showing a procedure from the start of document sharing to the end of sharing according to the present embodiment. The sequence diagram which shows the address resolution procedure by SIP by this embodiment. The sequence diagram which shows the address resolution end procedure by SIP by this execution form. FIG. 5 is a sequence diagram showing a login procedure to a document sharing server according to the present embodiment. FIG. 5 is a sequence diagram illustrating a logout procedure from a document sharing server according to the present embodiment. FIG. 5 is a sequence diagram showing a document display state update and synchronization procedure according to the embodiment. FIG. 5 is a sequence diagram showing a plurality of document display state updates and conflict resolution / synchronization procedures according to the present embodiment. The figure which shows the document display state transmission procedure by this embodiment. The sequence diagram which shows the document addition procedure by this embodiment. The figure which shows the document addition procedure by this embodiment. The sequence diagram which shows the document update procedure by this embodiment. The figure which shows the document update procedure by this embodiment. The figure which shows the document sharing client operation screen by this embodiment.

  120 to 124: client terminal, 100: SIP server, 110: document sharing server, 130: IP network, 140 and 141: shared document, 150: display state information, 151: document display state, 200: shared document, 210: document Shared client 211: Status acquisition unit 212: Status setting unit 213: Event transmission unit 214: Event reception unit 215: Mouse hook unit 216: Keyboard hook unit 217: SIP unit 218: Document transmission unit 219: Document reception unit, 220: Time stamp comparison unit, 221: Time stamp storage unit, 222: Time stamp, 223: Shared folder, 224: Status storage unit, 230: Socket unit, 300: Identifier, 301: Identifier, 310 : Document sharing server, 320: Conference management unit, 321: Event transmission unit, 322: Event reception unit, 323: Document transmission unit, 324: Document reception unit, 325: Synchronization timer unit, 1600: Document sharing client operation screen, 1601: Document addition button, 1602: Document sharing pause button, 1602: Document sharing pause button again, 1603: Document update button.

Claims (12)

An electronic conference system that connects a plurality of client terminals and a document sharing server via an IP network,
The client terminal includes a document storage unit that stores a document, a state storage unit that stores display state information of the document stored in the document storage unit, and a time stamp storage unit that stores a time stamp of the document,
The document sharing server stores a document storage unit that stores a document transmitted from the client terminal, a state storage unit that stores display state information of the document, and a document or display state in the document storage unit or the state storage unit. Including a synchronous timer unit that starts counting time from the time of storage,
When the document display state of one client terminal is changed, the one client terminal transmits the document display state information stored in the state storage unit to the document sharing server,
The document sharing server stores the display state information received from one client terminal in the state storage unit, and transfers the display state information stored in the state storage unit to another client terminal.
When the document of one client terminal is changed, the one client terminal transmits the document stored in the document storage unit to the document sharing server,
The document sharing server stores a document received from one client terminal in a document storage unit, and transfers the document stored in the document storage unit to another client terminal to another client terminal. Conference system.   The document sharing server stores the display state information received from one of the client terminals in the state storage unit, and stores it in the state storage unit when the synchronization timer counts that a predetermined time has elapsed since the storage. 2. The electronic conference system according to claim 1, wherein the display state information is transferred to another client terminal.   3. The display state information includes a scroll position and a cursor position on an application in which a display state of a document of the one client terminal is changed, and information related to display during browsing and editing. Electronic conference system.   2. A SIP server is provided on an IP network of the electronic conference system, and a client terminal participating in the electronic conference acquires the IP address and port number of the document sharing server via the SIP server. Or the electronic conference system of 2 or 3.   After the client terminal obtains the IP address and port number of the document sharing server via the SIP server, obtains the document and the display state information of the document from the document storage unit and the state storage unit of the document sharing server, 5. The electronic conference system according to claim 4, wherein the electronic conference system is stored in a document storage unit and a state storage unit of the client terminal.   The client terminal displays an operation screen icon including a document addition button, a document sharing pause button, and a document update button, an add function for adding a document, a pause function for pausing document sharing, and a document update. The electronic conference system according to claim 1, further comprising an update function for performing the update. The client terminal including a document storage unit that stores a document, a state storage unit that stores display state information of the document stored in the document storage unit, and a time stamp storage unit that stores a time stamp of the document;
A document storage unit that stores a document transmitted from the client terminal, a state storage unit that stores display state information of the document, and a time period from when the document or the display state is stored in the document storage unit or the state storage unit. A document sharing server including a synchronization timer unit that starts counting,
A document sharing method for an electronic conference system in which a plurality of client terminals and a document sharing server are connected via an IP network,
When the display state of the document of one client terminal is changed, transmitting the display state information of the document stored in the state storage unit by the one client terminal to the document sharing server;
The document sharing server stores the display state information received from one client terminal in a state storage unit, and transfers the display state information stored in the state storage unit to another client terminal to another client terminal. Run,
When the document of one client terminal is changed, transmitting the document stored in the document storage unit by the one client terminal to the document sharing server;
The document sharing server stores a document received from one client terminal in a document storage unit, and transfers the document stored in the document storage unit to another client terminal to another client terminal. Document sharing method characterized by   When the document sharing server stores the display state information received from one client terminal in the state storage unit, and the synchronization timer counts that a predetermined time has elapsed since the storage, the document sharing server sends the other client terminal 8. The document sharing method according to claim 7, wherein the display of the document of a plurality of client terminals is linked by executing the step of transferring the display state information stored in the state storage unit to another client terminal. .   9. The display state information includes information related to a scroll position and a cursor position on an application in which a display state of a document of the one client terminal is changed, and information related to display during browsing and editing. Document sharing method.   A SIP server is provided on the IP network of the electronic conference system, and a client terminal participating in the electronic conference includes a step of acquiring an IP address and a port number of the document sharing server via the SIP server. The document sharing method according to claim 7, 8 or 9.   The client terminal obtains the IP address and port number of the document sharing server via the SIP server, and obtains the document and the display state information of the document from the document storage unit and the state storage unit of the document sharing server. The document sharing method according to claim 10, further comprising: a step of storing in a document storage unit and a state storage unit of the client terminal.   The client terminal displaying a screen with an operation screen icon including a document addition button, a document sharing pause button, and a document update button; adding a document when the document addition button is operated; and 12. The method according to claim 7, further comprising the steps of: pausing document sharing when a share pause button is operated; and updating a document when the document update button is operated. Document sharing method.

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