JP2009093274A - Object editing method, data sharing system and electronic remote conference system - Google Patents

Abstract

<P>PROBLEM TO BE SOLVED: To materialize an object editing method which is intuitively and easily understood by an operator who performs editing of an object which requires data consistency and facilitates software to be developed, and to materialize a data sharing system and an electronic remote conference system. <P>SOLUTION: The object editing method is used in the electronic remote conference system (data sharing system) in which a plurality of base point terminals are connected to each other in a bi-directional communication-possible manner and the base point terminals share data having a plurality of objects, wherein the editing authority of the object is acquired by one base point terminal which has finally selected the object. <P>COPYRIGHT: (C)2009,JPO&INPIT

Description

  The present invention relates to an object editing method and a data sharing system for performing some editing on shared data in a case where data having a plurality of objects is shared by a plurality of base terminals connected to be capable of bidirectional communication. And an electronic teleconferencing system.

  In a system in which data having an object is shared among a plurality of base terminals connected so as to be capable of bidirectional communication, data consistency is a problem. In particular, in the case of a system in which a plurality of terminals can edit the same or the same group of objects in real time, it is necessary to ensure data consistency, and various methods have been proposed in the past (for example, see Patent Document 1). .

  For example, in the server / client system disclosed in Patent Document 1, the object on the server side is locked, the object is copied from the server to the client, and the executed process is transferred to the client side. Ensures data consistency.

  However, the above-mentioned method of temporarily restricting other clients' access to the same or the same group of objects is difficult to understand intuitively by the user who is an operator, and is intended to ensure data consistency. When processing is complicated, there is a problem that processing delay is caused.

  Here, as an example of a system composed of a plurality of base terminals connected so as to be capable of bidirectional communication, the above-described problem will be specifically examined for an electronic remote conference system. Electronic teleconferencing system is a system that connects multiple conference terminals and transmits / receives data such as video, audio, presentation materials, etc., and conducts remote conferences. Server / client type, peer-to-peer type, etc. It is known as a general configuration.

  In this electronic teleconferencing system, the interactive whiteboard function to send and receive text and images and edit them has become an essential function. Conventionally, most systems for sending and receiving data using this function are called raster systems. A method of processing as an image was adopted. The raster method treats drawing and pasted images, or a combination of them and text as a single image, so it is not possible to enlarge, reduce, or move part of the contents once drawn, etc. It was inconvenient for electronic remote conferences, such as deletion, where the display contents changed from moment to moment as the proceedings proceeded.

  That is, in the electronic teleconferencing system, it is preferable to send and receive data using the object method, but there has been a technical problem related to consistency by being able to edit objects bidirectionally as described above. As a system that applies a conventional method for resolving object consistency, when any object is selected, operations on that object are locked at locations other than the selected base (terminal), and data inconsistency is eliminated. An electronic teleconferencing system to prevent is conceivable.

  FIG. 1 is a flowchart showing an object editing operation procedure in the conventional electronic remote conference system. First, when an object is selected at any one site constituting the electronic remote conference system (step S501), the system determines whether there is an object being edited at another site among the selected objects. (Step S502). If there is no object being edited at another site, the selected object is selected (step S503). On the other hand, if there is an object being edited at another site, the selection of the object is canceled (step S504), and notification that the other site is editing the object is performed (step S505).

  FIG. 2 is a sequence diagram showing a specific object editing example in the conventional electronic remote conference system. Here, as an example of the object, handwritten drawing data of ○, ×, and Δ are used. In addition, two bases A and B are shown. First, when the site B selects the object “O” (step S601), the site A receives a notification that the object “O” is selected at the site B, and thereafter the site A receives the object “O”. "" On the screen (step S602), the object is informed that it is being edited at another base (step S603) and cannot be edited.

  On the other hand, when the object “×” is selected at the site A (step S604), similarly, the site B receives a notification that the object “×” has been selected. Cannot be edited on the screen. When the editing of the object “×” is completed at the site A, the editing content and a notification of the completion of editing are transmitted to the site B. Further, from the site B where the editing of the object “◯” is completed, the editing content and a notification of the completion of editing are transmitted to the site A. If the editing is completed at the site B, the object “◯” can be selected at the site A. If “○” is selected, the editable selection state is obtained (step S605).

  However, in this electronic teleconference system, there are problems that it is difficult for the operator to understand why the object cannot be selected at other bases, and that the operation cannot be performed at other bases when left in the selected state. . In addition, when the base is abnormally terminated in the selected state, there is a possibility that the selected state may not be canceled and may remain as it is, or when the same object is selected almost simultaneously at two or more bases, there is a possibility that both will be in the selected state. Some problems also arise.

  FIG. 3 is a sequence diagram for explaining a situation when the same object is selected at both sites almost simultaneously. First, when the object “O” is selected at the site A and enters the object selection state (step S701), the object “O” is selected at the site B and enters the object selection state (step S702). Are notified to each other, but both can be edited.

As described above, there are problems related to data consistency in the conventional object method, and it is difficult for the operator to understand complicated processes and problems that require complicated processes to solve these problems. There was a problem. In other words, when starting editing an object at an arbitrary base, it is necessary to always grasp the state of another base, resulting in complicated operations and processing delays. The same applies to a system in which when editing an object, "conference editing authority" that is not given to two or more sites at the same time is acquired, and all data in the meeting can be edited only while there is the authority. It was a problem.
Japanese Patent Laid-Open No. 11-238011 (page 3 to page 7, FIG. 5)

  The problem to be solved by the present invention is that the editing operator can easily understand intuitively when editing objects that require consistency of data, and the software related to the data sharing system can be easily developed. Realizing an object editing method, a data sharing system, and an electronic teleconferencing system are examples.

  The object editing method according to claim 1 is an object editing method of a system in which a plurality of base terminals are connected so as to be capable of bidirectional communication and share data having a plurality of objects, and the object editing authority Is acquired by the one base terminal that last selected the object.

  The data sharing system according to claim 4 is a data sharing system in which a plurality of base terminals are connected so as to be capable of two-way communication and share data having a plurality of objects. Control means for causing the selected base terminal to acquire the object is provided.

  The electronic teleconferencing system according to claim 7 is an electronic teleconferencing system in which a plurality of base terminals are connected so as to be capable of two-way communication and share data having a plurality of objects. Finally, it has a control means which makes the said one base terminal which selected the said object acquire.

  Embodiments of the present invention will be described below with reference to the drawings. In the following, an electronic remote conference system will be described as an example of a system in which a plurality of base terminals are connected so as to be capable of bidirectional communication and share data having a plurality of objects.

  FIG. 4 is a diagram showing a schematic configuration example of the electronic remote conference system in the embodiment of the present invention. In the electronic remote conference system shown in FIG. 4A, a plurality of base terminals 11 and 12 are connected via a network 20. It should be noted that the server device 30 for storing data or the like may be placed on the network, or may not be placed. As shown in FIG. 4B, the electronic teleconferencing system may be a so-called peer-to-peer system in which base terminals are directly connected to each other.

  Next, FIG. 5 is a diagram showing an internal configuration of a base terminal constituting the electronic remote conference system. The base terminal 11 (or 12) mainly includes a data conference control unit 1, a communication unit 2, a data management unit 3, a display unit 4, an input unit 5, and the like.

  The data conference control unit 1 controls the overall operation within the base terminal 11 (or 12) and also controls the operation of the entire electronic remote conference system. The communication unit 2 connects to the network 20 and transmits / receives data to / from other base terminals. The data management unit 3 manages all data necessary for the progress of the conference. In particular, regarding the editing of objects during a meeting, which will be described later, the objects are managed by the selected object ID list 6. The display unit 4 displays video and images related to the conference. The input unit 5 includes input means such as a mouse and a keyboard, and performs input of objects such as text and drawing.

  Next, an object editing operation of the electronic remote conference system will be described.

First, FIG. 6 is a flowchart showing an object selection operation procedure of the electronic remote conference system according to the embodiment of the present invention. When the operator of the base terminal selects the object via the input unit 5 (step S101), the data conference control unit 1 refers to the ID of the selected object, and sends the selected object ID list to the data management unit 3. 6 is created (step S102). This object ID is uniquely created when the object is created. The ID is distributed to each site together with the object, and the same ID is shared for the same object at each site. In order to select an object, specifically, an object displayed on the display unit 4 (such as text or drawing used in an electronic remote conference) is pointed with the mouse of the input unit 5 and edited, for example. To make it possible.
Next, the data conference control unit 1 transmits the ID as an object selection command to other bases connected via the communication unit 2 (step S103). This completes the selection operation procedure for enabling editing of the object. The object editing operation procedure will be described later.

  Next, FIG. 7 is a flowchart showing an operation procedure for receiving an object selection command. When an object is selected at any of the other base terminals to be connected, the object selection command is transmitted as described above, and the other base terminal receives this object selection command (step S201). The data conference control unit 1 of the received terminal determines whether or not an object is being selected at its own terminal (step S202), and when the object is being selected, refers to the selected object ID list 6 of the data management unit 3. Then, it is determined whether or not the received ID is among the IDs related to the object currently selected by the local terminal (step S203). If there is the same ID in the selected object ID list 6, the ID is deleted from the list (step S204). That is, the object is excluded from the objects currently selected at the local terminal. As will be described later, the same processing is executed when an object selection command is received during editing of an object.

  FIG. 8 is a flowchart showing an object editing operation procedure. When an object is selected according to the procedure shown in the flowchart of FIG. 6, the object is editable, and the operator of the base terminal starts editing the object (step S301). Specifically, the editing operation is adding, changing, erasing, enlarging / reducing, moving, etc., the text or drawing displayed on the terminal screen via the input unit 5.

  The data conference control unit 1 monitors whether or not an object selection command has been received from another base terminal after the local terminal has selected the object and started the editing operation while editing the object (step S302). If an object selection command has been received (YES in step S302), whether the received ID is among the IDs of the object currently being edited by the local terminal with reference to the selected object ID list 6 of the data management unit 3 It is determined whether or not (step S303). If there is the same ID in the selected object ID list 6, the ID is excluded from the list (step S304).

  That is, since the editing authority of the object shifts to the base terminal that transmitted the object selection command, the object is excluded from the object being edited at the local terminal and cannot be edited. On the other hand, in the other base terminal that last selected the object, the object can be edited. However, when a plurality of objects are initially selected, other objects except those that can no longer be edited can still be edited at the local terminal, and the operator can continue to edit them.

Then, it is monitored whether or not editing work is being performed (moving, enlargement processing, etc.) (step S305), and during the editing work (YES in step S305), the procedure from step S302 is repeated. When the editing operation is not being performed (NO in step S305), movement or change is performed based on the selected object ID list 6 (step S306). Then, the data conference control unit 1 transmits the edited content to each base terminal via the communication unit 2 (step S307).
Thus, for example, when moving an object, while the object is being grabbed and dragged, the information on the moving object is not transmitted to other bases, but at the moment the drag is released, the position information of the object is Sent to other locations.
Thereafter, the data conference control unit 1 determines whether or not the object editing operation is further continued (step S308). If the editing is continued, the procedure from step S302 is repeated.

  Note that the determination process at the time of receiving the object selection command from step S302 to step S304 is executed as a separate thread simultaneously with the reception of the object selection command.

  Next, how the objects on the screen change when the above-described object editing operation is executed will be specifically described. FIG. 9 is a schematic diagram showing, in time series, how an object changes as the object editing operation progresses. In the figure, two of the plurality of bases (base A and base B) are representatively shown. In addition, handwritten drawing data of “◯”, “×”, and “Δ” is used as the object.

  First, when the operator at site B selects the object “O, X, Δ”, an object selection command is transmitted to another site (base A), and the object “O, X, Δ” can be edited at site B. (FIG. 9A).

  For example, when editing is performed by moving the selected object “◯, ×, Δ” in the upward direction of the screen by dragging the mouse (FIG. 9B), the operator at the site A performs the object during the moving operation. When “×” is selected (FIG. 9C), the editing authority of the object “×” shifts to the site A that last selected “×”, so that “×” is excluded from the selected objects of the site B. . On the other hand, on the screen of the site A, editing of moving the object “x” to the bottom of the screen can be started (FIG. 9D).

  When the operator at the site B finishes dragging the mouse at an arbitrary position on the screen, that is, when the editing operation is confirmed, the editing result is reflected on the screen of the local site terminal and at the same time another site. Since the edited content is also transmitted to (base A), the same editing result is also displayed at base A. However, since the object “x” is excluded from the editing target in the middle, only the editing results of the objects “◯” and “Δ” are reflected (FIG. 9E). At this time, since the object “×” is still being edited and the editing operation has not been confirmed, the object “×” is displayed on the screen of the site B at the position before the editing is started.

  On the other hand, when the operator at the site A finishes the movement operation of the object “×”, the edited content is reflected at the sites A and B, and the object “×” is displayed at the moved position.

  As described above, the operator of the terminal can edit (move) an object simply by clicking or dragging (moving) the object by selecting (selecting) an enclosed range. For example, since there is no case where the object cannot be edited (restricted) even if it is clicked, the operator can intuitively perform the object editing operation. That is, the operator can start selecting and editing an object without being aware of whether or not other base terminals are editing the same object. Even if the editing authority of an object is transferred to another site during editing, the object may be selected again in that case. For example, in the example of FIG. 9, when the operator at the site B wants to move “X” to the top of the screen in the same way as “◯” and “△”, the screen shown in FIG. What is necessary is just to select and move an object of “x” again in the display state.

  In FIG. 9, for the sake of convenience, in order to clearly indicate that an object has been selected, a dotted-line rectangle surrounding the object is added at the time of selection. It may be something like this. In addition, a configuration that does not clearly indicate that it has been selected may be used. This is because the operator of the base terminal can recognize the object selection.

  Next, an operation when the same object is selected almost simultaneously at a plurality of bases in the electronic remote conference system according to the embodiment of the present invention will be described. FIG. 10 is a sequence diagram for explaining a situation when the same object is selected at both sites almost simultaneously. First, when the object “◯” is selected at the base A and enters the object selection state (step S401), the object “◯” is selected at the base B and enters the object selection state (step S402). The base also receives the object selection command from the partner base. Therefore, the ID related to the object “◯” is excluded from the selected object ID list, and the selection state of the object “◯” is canceled (steps S403 and S404). That is, both return to the initial state before the selection. Therefore, there is no inconsistency that the same object can be edited at both bases. When it is desired to edit the object, the operator of the base terminal may select the object again.

  As described above, in the electronic teleconferencing system according to the embodiment of the present invention, the editing authority of an object is given to the terminal terminal that last selected the object, so that the state of the other terminal is grasped when the editing of the object is started. There is no need to perform complicated processing. Therefore, the object editing rules are simplified, and the operator of the base terminal can easily understand intuitively. In other words, an object that you have selected can be edited without being edited by another site during editing, and the editing operation of the object is restricted because the other site is editing. Will not occur. In addition, even when the number of bases increases, a processing delay or the like does not occur, so that a stable system can be obtained.

  As described above in detail, in the object editing method according to the embodiment of the present invention, the editing authority of the object is simplified because the one base terminal that last selected the object acquires the object editing authority. It is possible to provide an editing method that is easy for the operator of the base terminal to understand intuitively. In addition, since it is not necessary to grasp the editing status of other sites, an object editing method that facilitates software development can be obtained.

In addition, the electronic teleconferencing system (data sharing system) according to the embodiment of the present invention has a data conference control unit 1 (control means) that causes an object editing authority to be acquired by the one terminal terminal that last selected the object. In addition, an object editing method that does not require grasping the status of other sites at the start of object editing is configured.
This simplifies the object editing rules and provides an editing method that is easy for the operator of the base terminal to understand intuitively. Further, since it is not necessary to grasp the editing status of other sites, it is possible to provide an object editing method that facilitates software development.

It is a flowchart which shows the object edit operation | movement procedure in the conventional electronic remote conference system. It is a sequence diagram which shows the example of a concrete edit of the object in the conventional electronic remote conference system. It is a sequence diagram for demonstrating the situation when the same object is selected substantially simultaneously in both bases. It is a figure showing an example of outline composition of an electronic remote conference system in an embodiment of the invention. It is a figure which shows the internal structure of the base terminal which comprises an electronic remote conference system. It is a flowchart which shows the object selection operation | movement procedure of the electronic remote conference system in embodiment of this invention. It is a flowchart which shows the reception operation | movement procedure of the object selection command of the electronic remote conference system in embodiment of this invention. It is a flowchart which shows the edit operation | movement procedure of the object of the electronic remote conference system in embodiment of this invention. It is the schematic diagram which showed a mode that the object changed according to progress of object edit operation | movement in time series. It is a sequence diagram for demonstrating the situation when the same object is selected substantially simultaneously in both bases.

Explanation of symbols

DESCRIPTION OF SYMBOLS 1 Data conference control part 2 Communication part 3 Data management part 4 Display part 5 Input part 6 Selected object ID list 11,12 Base terminal 20 Network 30 Server apparatus

Claims (9)

An object editing method for a system in which a plurality of base terminals are connected so as to be capable of bidirectional communication and share data having a plurality of objects.
The object editing method, wherein the one base terminal that last selected the object acquires the object editing authority.   The editing result of the object is reflected on the plurality of base terminals sharing the data having the object by the edit confirmation process of the object by one base terminal that has acquired the editing authority of the object. Item 2. The method for editing an object according to Item 1.   When one base terminal that last selected an object and acquired editing authority for the object selects another object after the selection and before the object edit confirmation process, the object terminal The object editing method according to claim 1, wherein the editing authority is acquired by the another base terminal. A data sharing system in which a plurality of base terminals are connected so as to be capable of bidirectional communication and share data having a plurality of objects.
A data sharing system, comprising: a control unit that causes the base terminal that last selected the object to acquire the editing authority of the object.   The control means reflects the editing result on the plurality of base terminals sharing the data having the object by the object edit confirmation process by the one base terminal that has acquired the edit authority of the object. The data sharing system according to claim 4.   The control unit selects the object by one site terminal that last selected the object and acquired the editing authority for the object, and after the selection and before the object edit confirmation process. 6. The data sharing system according to claim 4, wherein, when it is performed, the editing authority of the object is acquired by the another base terminal. An electronic teleconferencing system in which a plurality of base terminals are connected so as to be capable of bidirectional communication and share data having a plurality of objects,
An electronic teleconferencing system, comprising: a control unit that causes the base terminal that last selected the object to acquire the editing authority of the object.   The control means reflects the editing result on the plurality of base terminals sharing the data having the object by the object edit confirmation process by the one base terminal that has acquired the edit authority of the object. The electronic remote conference system according to claim 7.   The control unit selects the object by one site terminal that last selected the object and acquired the editing authority for the object, and after the selection and before the object edit confirmation process. 9. The electronic teleconferencing system according to claim 7 or 8, wherein when it is done, the editing authority of the object is acquired by the another base terminal.

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