JP2012064129A - Gui integration method of multiple applications - Google Patents

Abstract

PROBLEM TO BE SOLVED: To generate an integrated GUI for eliminating a step of operating multiple applications in one business scene and realizing simple and unified user operation.SOLUTION: A GUI integration method that is a method to integrate a GUI of multiple applications comprises: a step for automatically acquiring an operation log of each of the applications; a step for executing an operation log analysis to find GUI components handling a data item shared among the applications from the acquired operation log; and a step for integrating the GUI components handling the shared data item to generate a new integrated GUI for unifying input to the applications.

Description

  The present invention relates to a GUI integration method for a plurality of applications, and more particularly to a GUI integration method for a plurality of applications that a user uses simultaneously to perform a series of business processes.

  With the spread of IT technology into society, many business services have been provided as applications on computers such as PCs. For this reason, there are an increasing number of machines that operate a plurality of applications in one business scene.

  In the Web application, in order to simplify the user operation, a technique for performing GUI integration is disclosed in Patent Document 1 and Patent Document 2. For example, in Patent Document 1, in response to a request from a WWW browser, user interfaces (pages) provided from a plurality of WWW servers are analyzed to extract necessary data, and the extracted data is used as one page. It is disclosed that an integrated interface (integrated page) with a redesigned layout is generated and the generated integrated page is transmitted to the requesting WWW browser.

  Patent Document 2 discloses a common input screen generation unit that generates a common input screen for each user to be used for input parameter input of a plurality of WWW applications selected by the user, and converts the input data into parameter information that is passed to the application. An input parameter generation unit, a WWW application execution unit that executes a WWW application using the parameter information generated by the input parameter generation unit, and an output that synthesizes the output results of the common input screen and the WWW application and sends them to the WWW browser A WWW application integrated execution apparatus including a combining unit is disclosed.

JP 2003-345697 A JP 2004-206421 A

  In order to perform a series of business processing, there are many business scenes that need to use a plurality of applications simultaneously. On the other hand, when they are provided by separate service vendors, direct cooperation between individual applications is often not expected, and it is necessary to repeat the same input values on the GUI screen. Difficulty remains in terms of convenience.

  Furthermore, when referring to the data representation means, there may be the following differences between applications. First, for the same input / output value, there are differences in expression styles such as character types such as full-width / half-width and hiragana / katakana, and the necessity / unnecessity of-(hyphen) in notation with a telephone number, for example. Also, as means for inputting and outputting the same value, one GUI part is different in the form of a text field and the other is a pull-down menu. On the other hand, it is composed of one GUI part, while the other is composed of a plurality of GUI parts. There are cases where it is said that it is composed. For the user, such a difference becomes a burden on the GUI operation, which leads to a decrease in business efficiency.

  In many applications, the style of data values and the relationship between data values and GUI parts are created at the mounting level. For this reason, it is conceivable to unify the above-mentioned problems by modifying the application. However, it is due to the cost problem associated with the modification and the provision of a third party in the first place. ,Have difficulty.

  The techniques disclosed in Patent Document 1 and Patent Document 2 described above generate a common input screen while inputting necessary information one by one, which places a heavy burden on the developer. Therefore, it is difficult to generate a common input screen among a plurality of applications for each new introduction / update of each application.

  As described above, there is a demand for a mechanism that always provides a unified GUI usability without imposing a heavy burden on a developer in a business scene that may change flexibly, such as new introduction / update of an application.

  An object of the present invention is to provide a method for generating an integrated GUI that eliminates the trouble of operating a plurality of applications in one business scene and realizes a simple and unified user operation.

  A typical configuration of the present invention is as follows. The present invention is a method for integrating GUIs of a plurality of applications executed in at least one computer apparatus, and the computer apparatus has a plurality of application GUIs respectively corresponding to the respective applications. The GUI of the application is composed of at least one GUI component, and by executing each application, the identification information of the GUI component and the data value associated with the operation of each GUI component are displayed in the operation log of each GUI component. As an integrated GUI that unifies inputs to the plurality of applications on the basis of the acquired operation log information.

  According to the present invention, when GUI integration is performed, an operation log of each GUI component of a plurality of applications is automatically acquired, and an operation log analysis result is used to analyze a relationship between GUI components between the applications. Can automate the process and reduce the burden on developers.

1 is a configuration diagram of a GUI integrated system in Embodiment 1 of the present invention. FIG. 6 is a table showing an example of an operation log of application A in the first embodiment. 10 is a table showing an example of an operation log of application B in the first embodiment. FIG. 3 is a flowchart showing operation log analysis processing in the first embodiment. FIG. 3 is a flowchart showing a GUI sharing process according to the first embodiment. 6 is a table showing an example of an integrated GUI resource in the first embodiment. FIG. 6 is a diagram illustrating an example of an integrated GUI display screen according to the first embodiment. FIG. 3 is a diagram illustrating a configuration example of a computer apparatus during integrated GUI operation in the first embodiment. FIG. 3 is a diagram illustrating a configuration example of an integrated GUI display screen in the first embodiment. The GUI integrated system block diagram in Example 2 of this invention. FIG. 10 is a diagram illustrating a configuration example of a computer apparatus during integrated GUI operation according to the second embodiment. The figure which shows an example of the integrated GUI screen in Example 3 of this invention. The figure which shows an example of the integration origin GUI screen in Example 4 of this invention. FIG. 10 is a diagram illustrating another example of the integration source GUI screen according to the fourth embodiment. The figure which shows the other example of the integration origin GUI screen in Example 5 of this invention. The flowchart which shows the operation log analysis process in Example 6 of this invention.

The present invention is a method for integrating GUIs of a plurality of applications, and obtains operation logs of a plurality of applications simultaneously used in one business scene, and analyzes the logs to thereby obtain a plurality of applications in the business scene. The similarity of input / output items on the GUI is extracted. The GUI parts that handle similar items are shared, linked, and reduced among applications, and an integrated GUI in which operations are unified and simplified is newly generated.
According to the present invention, when performing GUI integration, an operation log of each GUI component of a plurality of applications is automatically acquired, and an operation log analysis result is used for analyzing a relationship of GUI components between the applications. This automates the process of sharing GUI parts and reduces the load on the developer. In the integrated GUI, simplification of user operations is realized by sharing, cooperating, concealing, and the like of GUI components. That is, by transmitting a unified operation by the integrated GUI to each original application, the same result as that obtained by simultaneously operating a plurality of applications can be obtained with a simple operation. In addition, in the acquisition of operation logs and the propagation of input operations, GUI integration without modification of the integration source application can be realized by exchanging information via a window system or a GUI toolkit.

  The present invention is suitable for use in applications such as a product ordering system and a reservation ticketing system for travel.

  Hereinafter, embodiments of the present invention will be described in more detail with reference to the drawings.

A first embodiment of the present invention will be described with reference to FIGS. 1 to 6B. First, FIG. 1 shows a configuration example of a system that performs integrated GUI generation according to the present invention.
In the integrated GUI generation system according to the present embodiment, an application execution computer device 10 (10A to 10N) operated by each user and an integrated GUI generation computer device 20 are connected via a network 30. The computer apparatus 10 includes a CPU 105 and a storage device 106 and a software environment as the application execution environment 100. In the application execution environment 100, it is assumed that at least two related applications are executed. Here, the “related” application is a GUI in which a plurality of GUIs are used simultaneously or continuously within a predetermined time, and an input value common to the GUI screen of each application, in other words, at least one type of application. It means an application that has a relationship of repeating similar input values. In the following description, it is assumed that application A and application B are related applications.

  The computer apparatus 20 includes a CPU 135, a storage device 136, and the like, and also includes a software environment as an integrated GUI development environment 130. Depending on the application, instead of connecting the computer device 10 (10A to 10N) for executing the application and the computer device 20 for generating the integrated GUI via the network 30, information related to the integrated GUI generation of each computer device 10 may be displayed. Further, it may be transferred to the computer apparatus 20 for generating an integrated GUI via a recording medium such as a USB memory.

  The application execution environment 100 of the computer apparatus 10 is provided with a GUI tool kit 103 for managing the component configuration of the window system 102 GUI that provides a GUI window on the OS 101, and an application GUI (A-GUI) corresponding to each of the applications A and B. ) 111 and (B-GUI) 121 implement these GUIs using these APIs. The GUI of each application is composed of at least one GUI component. For a user, a user input / output device 104 such as a keyboard, a mouse, and an LCD monitor is provided. A window system 102, a GUI tool kit 103, and application GUIs 111 and 112 operating on the window system 102, a GUI tool kit 103, and the like Display / operation reception for the user.

  In the present invention, operation log acquisition units 112 and 122 are installed for each of the application GUIs 111 and 121, and operations for each GUI component in the application GUIs 111 and 121 are automatically acquired. The operation log acquisition units 112 and 122 include, for example, event handlers having an event hook function, and take the form of monitoring the application GUIs 111 and 121 via the window system 102 and the GUI tool kit 103 and acquiring logs. That is, the operation log acquisition units 112 and 122 display the operation log information of the corresponding GUI component when an event in the GUI toolkit 103, for example, an event such as a menu, a tab, a context menu, an icon, or a button occurs. The log information is automatically acquired, and the acquired log information is recorded in the GUI operation log storage device as operation logs 113 and 123, respectively. The operation logs 113 and 123 record when and what operations are performed at the same time as information on the GUI components constituting the application GUIs 111 and 121.

  Since the operation log acquisition units 112 and 122 acquire operation log information using the event hook function, it is not necessary to directly communicate with the application GUIs 111 and 121. Thereby, it is not necessary to modify the application GUIs 111 and 121 at all in order to acquire the operation log information, and the non-invasiveness that is a feature of the present invention is protected.

  Note that there is no need for a single application execution environment 100, and it is also assumed that an equivalent environment is prepared on a plurality of computer apparatuses and a plurality of users use the same combination of applications. In that case, a set of operation logs 113 and 123 can be acquired from each environment using the event hook function. The set of operation logs 113 and 123 acquired in this way is aggregated and analyzed in the integrated GUI development environment 130.

  The operation log acquisition units 112 and 122 are installed in the application execution environment 100 of the target computer apparatus 10 by the developer. On the other hand, after the necessary amount of information is obtained as a set of operation logs 113 and 123, these operation log acquisition units 112 and 122 need not always exist in the application execution environment 100 of the computer apparatus 10. For example, the period for obtaining operation log information is set according to each application and usage environment, such as the number of times each application A and application B is activated and executed 100 times, or each usage period of the application is January. When the condition is satisfied, the developer preferably deletes the program having the functions of the operation log acquisition units 112 and 122, leaving only the operation log information recorded in each GUI operation log storage device.

  The integrated GUI development environment 130 includes an operation log analysis unit 131, an integrated GUI generation unit 132, and a rearrangement execution unit 133. The operation log analysis unit 131 receives the operation logs 113 and 123 as input, and GUI components of the application GUIs 111 and 121. Each operation is compared and evaluated, and GUI parts that handle common data items on the application GUIs 111 and 121 are extracted. The integrated GUI generation unit 132 receives the result of the comparative evaluation of the operation log analysis unit 131, selects an integrated GUI component from the GUI component configuration of the application GUIs 111 and 121, and makes common. The rearrangement execution unit 133 rearranges the GUI components shared by the integrated GUI generation unit 132 and the remaining GUI components that are not to be shared as an integrated GUI. At this time, the developer is provided with an opportunity to relocate as necessary. The rearrangement execution unit 133 stores the output as the integrated GUI resource 140. The integrated GUI resource 140 holds the relationship between the GUI parts and the GUI parts of the application GUIs 111 and 121 that are the integration sources, as well as the configuration information such as the type and arrangement of the GUI parts that constitute the integrated GUI.

  As described above, operations on the application GUIs 111 and 112 are accumulated in the operation logs 113 and 123. 2A and 2B show examples of one entry of the operation log in both application GUIs. The operation log table stores, as the operation log 314, for each application GUI, the component ID, the display start / end time thereof, the class name indicating the GUI type, the label, the data value, and the like.

  2A is a table 310 representing an example of the operation log of the application A, and FIG. 2B is a table 320 representing an example of the operation log of the application B. The display start / end time and GUI type of each component ID are shown as their operation logs. Each class name, label, and data value is stored. In the example of FIG. 2A, for application A, three GUI components (A: 1, A: 2, A: 3) are operated between 6:10:25 and 6:12:40, As a second operation, the GUI component A: 1 is operated from 6:15:20 to 6:16:40. (Information on GUI parts A: 2, A: 3 in the second operation is omitted). In the example of FIG. 2B, three GUI components (B: 1, B: 2, B: 3) are operated between 6:11:02 and 6:13:10 for the application B. Further, it is shown that the GUI component B: 1 is operated between 6:16:10 and 6:17:20 as the second operation. (Information on GUI parts B: 2, B: 3 in the second operation is omitted).

  The information that can be acquired as the operation log 314 depends on the specifications of the window system 102 and the GUI tool kit 103, but it is assumed that at least the identification values of the GUI parts and their data values can be acquired.

Further, in order to use the GUI integration of the present invention, an operation log is required when GUIs related to common input values of a plurality of applications are used simultaneously or successively. For this purpose, it is assumed that an operation log is acquired only when the GUI screen to be integrated is operated by explicit designation from the beginning.
Alternatively, by using the display start / end time for each GUI component that can be acquired as an operation log, simultaneity / continuity between a plurality of applications can be acquired and set as a range of processing described later.

  Processing until the integrated GUI is generated using the operation logs 113 and 123 in the integrated GUI development environment 130 will be described with reference to the processing flows of FIGS. 3 and 4.

  FIG. 3 is a flowchart showing the operation log analysis process. First, GUI components belonging to a GUI screen of one application and their input / output values are acquired from the operation log 113 in order from the first one (step 401). For example, as in the example of FIG. 2A, for the application A, the GUI component A: 1 and its input / output values are acquired.

  Next, with respect to the input / output values of the acquired GUI parts, all of the operation logs 123 are compared / determined to determine whether there is any GUI part that has input / output the same value in another application (step 402). That is, for each of the GUI parts pairs of the applications A and B, it is determined whether or not both the “operation time zone” and “holding data” match.

  For example, in the example of FIGS. 2A and 2B, the time zone (6:10:25 to 6:12) of the first operation of the three GUI parts (A: 1, A: 2, A: 3) of the application A 40 seconds) and the first operation time zone (6:11:02 to 6:13:10) of the three GUI parts (B: 1, B: 2, B: 3) of application B overlap. These GUI parts are used simultaneously or sequentially. That is, the “operation time zone” is the same between the GUI parts. Further, in the GUI component pair of the GUI component A: 1 and the GUI component B: 1, the holding data “Taro Tokkyo” also matches. There is no coincidence of “holding data” between other GUI component pairs.

  On the other hand, the second operation (6:15:20 to 6:16:40) is performed on the GUI component A: 1 of the application A. In this case, since the time zone is different from the time zone (6:11:02 to 6:13:10) of the first operation of GUI component B of application B: between these GUI component pairs, The “operation time zone” does not match, and it is not determined that the GUI component inputs / outputs the same value.

  Next, the result of determination in step 402 is accumulated in the coincidence matrix 410 (step 403). The coincidence matrix 410 has GUI component groups belonging to the application GUIs 111 and 112 respectively in rows and columns, and accumulates coincidence / mismatch degrees.

The above processing is repeated until the check is completed for the entire range of the recorded operation log 113. (Step 404)
Note that in steps 401 to 404, a coincidence matrix 410 for one round of operations accumulated in the operation logs 113 and 123 can be generated. However, in the present invention, in order to perform GUI integration based on statistical data, logs that are repeatedly acquired a considerable number of times such as a predetermined number of repetitions n (for example, n = 100 or more) in the application execution environment 100 or an equivalent environment. This is used to store a sufficient number of coincidence / mismatch frequency data in the coincidence matrix 410.

  FIG. 4 shows a processing flow for GUI sharing using the coincidence matrix 410 described above.

First, with respect to the operation log repeated n times a predetermined number of times, the matching / mismatching frequency for each GUI component pair of the application GUIs 111 and 112 is acquired in order from the matching matrix 410 (step 501). It is determined whether the coincidence / non-coincidence frequency is completely coincident, that is, whether the non-coincidence frequency is 0 at a predetermined number of times n (step 502). If it is determined in step 502 that it is a complete match, it is added to the common list 510. (Step 503)
The above processing is performed for all data in the coincidence matrix 410 (step 504).

  Through the processing flow described above, a pair of GUI components that are expected to have the same input / output values statistically in common for the application GUIs 111 and 112 are obtained as the commonized list 510.

  The integrated GUI generation unit 132 receives the commonization list 510, shares each GUI component belonging to the application GUIs 111 and 112, and generates a GUI component. The generated GUI component is arranged on the GUI screen by the function of the rearrangement execution unit 133, and the result is stored as the integrated GUI resource 140.

  FIG. 5A shows an example of the integrated GUI resource table 600. The integrated GUI resource table 600 is an example in which the operation log examples 310 and 320 shown in FIG. 2 are output as the integrated GUI resource 140 by the processing flow of FIGS. In FIG. 2, since only one entry of the operation log is shown, this content alone is insufficient for the above processing flow. However, in this embodiment, a sufficient number of similar log information is accumulated. Then, it is determined that the GUI components 311 and 321 appearing on the log always handle the same data value by the processing from step 401 to 404, and the components are shared in steps 501 to 504.

  The integrated GUI resource 140 holds the corresponding component ID on the original application GUIs 111 and 112. In the example of the table 600 described above, the GUI component 601 corresponding to the GUI components 311 and 321 to be shared and having the “name” as a label is shared as a GUI component having two corresponding component IDs. On the other hand, other components are output as GUI components 602, 603, 604, 605 having only one corresponding component ID. FIG. 5B shows an example of the integrated GUI 201 generated based on the information of this table 600. In this way, the process of sharing GUI parts is automated.

  FIG. 6A shows a configuration example when executing the integrated GUI. An integrated GUI execution function 202 is incorporated in the integrated GUI execution environment 200 of the computer apparatus 10 ′ for application execution, and the application GUIs 111 and 121 in the application execution environment 100 can be unified by the integrated GUI 201. As components, the OS 101, the window system 102, the GUI tool kit 103, and the user input / output device 104 are provided in the same manner as the computer apparatus 10 for executing applications, and the application GUIs 111 and 121 operate via the integrated GUI execution function 202. To do. The integrated GUI 201 provided by the integrated GUI execution function 202 is a GUI implemented by reading the integrated GUI resource 140 generated as described above from the storage device and on the window system 102 or the GUI tool kit 103. The integrated GUI 201 communicates with the user via the user input / output device 104. Note that the application GUIs 111 and 121 in the integrated GUI execution environment 200 are operated only from the integrated GUI 201, and are thus hidden from the user input / output device 104, such as being invisible by an instruction to the window system 102. In other words, only the integrated GUI 201 common to a plurality of applications is presented to the user, and the application GUIs 111 and 121 are not visible to the user. A value input to a GUI component on the integrated GUI 201 is distributed to the application GUIs 111 and 121 as instructed by the integrated GUI resource 140 via the window system 102 and the GUI tool kit 103. When the integrated GUI resource 140 is read in the integrated GUI execution environment 200 and operated as the integrated GUI 201, the data value input based on the corresponding component ID information indicated in the integrated GUI resource 140 for each GUI component is used as the application GUI 111. , 112.

  That is, as shown in FIG. 6B, the integrated GUI execution function 202 performs information such as information on the corresponding component ID in the conversion table 203 (corresponding to the integrated GUI resource table 600 shown in FIG. 5A) held in the integrated GUI resource 140. Based on the above, the input value to the integrated GUI 201 is passed to the application GUIs 111 and 121. Transfer of input values from the application GUIs 111 and 121 to the integrated GUI 201 is processed in the same manner. By adopting the integrated GUI 201, duplicate input for a plurality of applications is eliminated, so that the operation is simplified for the user.

  At this time, data is transferred to the application GUIs 111 and 112 via the window system 102 and the GUI tool kit 103 as in the case of log acquisition.

  Therefore, it is not necessary to modify the application GUIs 111 and 112 in order to realize the integrated GUI execution environment 200, and the noninvasiveness is also protected here.

  According to the present embodiment, when GUI integration is performed, the operation log analysis result is used for analyzing the relationship between GUI components between applications, thereby automating the process of sharing GUI components and reducing the development load. it can. Further, in the integrated GUI, simplification of user operations is realized by sharing, cooperating, concealing, and the like of GUI components. Furthermore, in the acquisition of the operation log and the propagation of the input operation, by performing information exchange via the window system or the GUI toolkit, it is possible to realize GUI integration without modifying each integration source application.

  Next, a second embodiment of the present invention will be described with reference to FIGS. In the present embodiment, in addition to the embodiment of simple GUI component sharing with the basic configuration described in the first embodiment, the comparison matrix and the GUI component generation processing in the integrated GUI development environment 130 are provided with flexibility and the matching matrix. An example of the present invention that generates 410 and promotes commonality in the integrated GUI will be described.

  In the second embodiment, instead of the input / output value match comparison being “complete match comparison” in step 402 of FIG. 3, “substantial match comparison” allowing slight ambiguity is used. That is, depending on the contents of the application, the input / output value match comparison in step 402 of FIG. 3 does not need to be a complete match comparison, and the value expression is made ambiguous as shown below, so The efficiency of conversion can be increased. For example, when comparing input / output values, the comparison is performed by absorbing differences in character types such as full-width / half-width, hiragana / katakana / romaji, and the meaning of the input / output values is the same even if the character types are different. In some cases, it may be determined as “substantial match”. Further, for example, in the case of a telephone number, a difference that can be regarded as “equivalent” by absorbing a difference only on the notation pattern such as “0312345678” and “03-1234-5678” is expanded. Furthermore, even if it points to the same event, the terminology used for each application may be different. In some cases, interpreting the correspondence between these terms can be regarded as “substantial coincidence”.

  As described above, according to the present embodiment, when the data values are compared, the matching matrix 410 including not only a complete match but also a substantial match is generated by giving an allowance to the expression. Can be promoted. In the integrated GUI table 600 that is shared based on the matching matrix 410, either the data value representation of the original application GUI 111 or 112 may be used, or another representation means may be used. In any case, the original representation means is stored in the coincidence matrix 410 or the table 600, and when the operation in the integrated GUI 201 is propagated to the original application GUIs 111 and 112, the representation means is converted into a form suitable for each. By including the process of returning, it is possible to perform input using expression means that can accept the original application GUIs 111 and 112.

  In this case, a configuration corresponding to the integrated GUI development environment 130 of FIG. 1 is as shown in FIG. The operation log analysis unit 131 of the integrated GUI development environment 130 includes a character type conversion engine 731 that generates a character type conversion candidate and a pattern conversion so that a “substantial match comparison” can be determined in consideration of the difference in expression means as described above. The pattern conversion engine 732 that generates the candidates for the terminology and the term conversion engine 733 that generates the candidates for the term conversion can be referred to. The operation log analysis unit 131 finds the commonality between the data items by comparing the conversion candidates generated by these engines with brute force. The pattern conversion engine 732 and the term conversion engine 733 have a pattern DB 734 and a term DB 735, respectively, and a correspondence table of patterns and terms for each application to be considered in advance by the developer is accumulated and used for generating conversion candidates in each engine. It is done.

  When a match is obtained using any of the conversion candidates, the integrated GUI generation unit 132 generates a match matrix 410 in which GUI components are shared. In this embodiment, in the table 600 for recording the integrated GUI resource 140 shown in FIG. 5A, what kind of expression means should be converted when re-inputting to the corresponding original application simultaneously with the “corresponding component ID”. "Expression means change information" is added.

  At this time, the configuration corresponding to the integrated GUI execution environment 200 of FIG. 6A is as shown in FIG. That is, the operation in the integrated GUI 201 is propagated to the original application GUIs 111 and 112, and at that time, the role of changing the expression means according to the “expression means change information” instructed to the integrated GUI resource 140 recorded in the table 600. The expression means conversion unit 811 possessed is newly added to the integrated GUI execution function 202.

  Furthermore, as a way of expressing values in the GUI, there is a case where an input value expressed by one GUI component on one side extends over a plurality of GUI components. Considering such a case, the input / output value matching comparison in step 402 in FIG. 3 is not a simple comparison between the retained data values of the GUI parts, but by connecting two or more data values. By entering into an algorithm for comparing whether or not a match with the other input value can be obtained, a matching matrix 410 is generated in which the range of “substantial matching comparison” is expanded as in the case of the above-described expression means, and GUI components are shared. Can be promoted. In particular, when inputting with a configuration of a plurality of GUI parts, it can be easily imagined that this is done with a GUI part that is close due to the positional relationship on the GUI screen. In order to search for a target to be efficiently connected, arrangement information of GUI parts can be used. As in the above-described case, the integrated GUI resource 140 has such division / combination instruction information for multiple GUI components as the representation means change information, and the representation means conversion unit 811 in FIG. / The values are distributed to the application GUIs 111 and 112 after being combined.

  In addition to the case where the number of GUI parts is different for the same value as described above, even if the data value is represented by one GUI part, the text field on the one hand and the pull-down menu on the other hand There is a case where the form as a GUI is different. In such a case, in order to generate a GUI component of a common data item in the GUI generation unit 132, one of the forms of the integration source GUI part is selected. Can also be substituted. In this way, the GUI generation unit 132 has an additional role of replacing the GUI components forming the integrated GUI with GUI components that are easier to use regardless of whether or not they are shared.

  According to the present embodiment, it is possible to further promote commonality in the integrated GUI.

  Next, an embodiment in which the generation of the table 600 for recording the integrated GUI resource 140 is made flexible will be described with reference to FIG. Step 502 in FIG. 4 shows the case where the data values match completely (all the data repeated n times match), but it may not be 100% matching depending on the situation. In this embodiment, the “substantial match” determination is employed instead of the “perfect match” determination in step 502 of FIG. In this case, if a coincidence rate exceeding a certain threshold, for example, 50% is obtained, it is determined as “substantially coincident”. For example, if there is a match 51 times or more in 100 repetitions, it is determined as “substantial match”. Thereby, as shown in FIG. 9, the integrated GUI which reduces a user's input burden can be produced | generated.

  In FIG. 9, the integrated GUI generation unit 132 forms the integrated GUI 900 with the “member address” of the input GUI component 901 derived from different integration source applications and the “destination address” of 902 not being shared, Show. If the degree of coincidence of the data values in the operation logs of both input GUI parts is not 100%, it will be the same value to some extent. A GUI part 903 for inquiring is generated. If this GUI component 903 is checked by a user operation, a logic 904 that automatically copies the GUI component 901 to 902 is also generated to allow “substantially coincidence” and generate the table 600. Can be made flexible.

  Thereby, the burden of the input of the user who uses the integrated GUI 900 can be reduced.

  Next, a description will be given of an embodiment in which the processing for sharing GUI parts is widened with reference to FIGS. There are the following two ways to share GUI parts in “add common parts” in step 503 of FIG. First, when there is a statistical coincidence (“substantial coincidence”) of data values of two input GUI components between the integration source application GUIs 111 and 112, the integration GUI 201 can perform integration with one input GUI component. it can.

  In addition, when a match (“substantially match”) between the value of one output GUI component and the value of the other input GUI component is found, the value of one output GUI component is linked as the value of the other input GUI component. It can be considered that. For example, as shown in FIG. 10, a data value such as a receipt number obtained as a result of the business process on the GUI screen A of the application A is displayed on the output GUI component 1011, and on the GUI screen 1020 of the application B, It is expected that this value is input as it is in the input component 1021.

  If there is no cooperation function between the application GUIs 1010 and 1020, the operation must be performed by the user.

  In this embodiment, in such a case, an integrated GUI 1100 as shown in FIG. 11 is generated. On the integrated GUI 1100, a GUI component 1101 that outputs the data item is generated, and a logic 1102 that “links the value of the GUI component 1011 of the application A” is generated at the same time by attaching a string to the GUI component 1101. Furthermore, the logic 1103 for “copying the value of the GUI component 1011 of the application A to the GUI component 1021 of the application B” is also generated.

  When this integrated GUI 1100 is displayed, the logics 1102 and 1103 work, extract values from the output GUI component 1011 of the GUI 1010 of the application A operating in the background, and the input GUI on the GUI 1020 of the application B also operating in the background. An operation of duplicating the component 1021 and the output GUI component 1101 on the integrated GUI 1100 is automatically performed. Depending on the GUI design, there may be a case where display of this value itself is unnecessary on the integrated GUI 1100. The developer in the integrated GUI development environment 130 is given an opportunity to select such necessity / unnecessity by the relocation execution unit 133.

  As described above, cooperation between application GUIs in which user operations are omitted in the form of an integrated GUI can be achieved.

  According to the present embodiment, when the “substantially coincidence” condition is satisfied, it is possible to reduce the burden of the user who uses the integrated GUI by generating the integrated GUI having the cooperation function by copying.

  Next, an embodiment in which the viewability of the integrated GUI is improved will be described with reference to FIG. In this embodiment, by analyzing the operation logs 113 and 123 in the integrated GUI development environment 130, a tendency that data values are not input for each GUI component can also be obtained. Statistically, for GUI parts that do not have an opportunity to be input, by not generating corresponding parts on the integrated GUI, it is possible to improve the viewability of the integrated GUI. Further, it cannot be determined that the input is not made, and even if it is not deleted, it can be degenerated as shown in FIG. FIG. 12 shows that in the integrated GUI 1200, the GUI component 1202 with a low input frequency is normally generated / arranged as non-display, the user's intention is asked by the GUI component 1203 and logic 1204 separately generated by the integrated GUI generation unit 132, An output example is shown in which visible / invisible of an input component can be switched depending on whether or not the component 1203 is checked.

  According to the present embodiment, by sharing, cooperating, concealing, and the like of GUI components, user operations can be simplified in the integrated GUI.

  In each of the embodiments described above, in the integrated GUI development environment 130, GUI components are shared by matching or similar data value comparison on the operation log. In the present embodiment, the sharing of GUI components from a viewpoint different from the comparison of data values on the operation log will be described.

  In many GUI environments, direct operations such as moving / duplicating data directly between the application GUIs 111 and 112, such as copy and paste, are available. Such an operation can also be extracted as operation logs 113 and 123 by the event hook function of the operation log acquisition units 112 and 122 in the configuration of FIG. 1 shown in the first embodiment. The processing flow corresponding to the processing flow for updating the matching matrix shown in FIG. 3 for analyzing the operation log in this case is as shown in FIG.

  First, only copy / paste operations are extracted from the operation log 113 and acquired in order (step 1301). Next, the paste / copy operation corresponding to the copy operation is retrieved from the operation log 123 (step 1302). Further, the result of step 1302 is accumulated in the coincidence matrix 410 (step 1303). The above processing is repeated for all the copy / paste operations of the operation log 113 (step 1304).

  In this embodiment, based on the copy and paste operation log, the result is stored in the same match matrix 410 as in FIG. 3, and is reflected in the “match / mismatch degree” determination process shown in the above embodiments. It will be. The subsequent processing is as shown in the above embodiments. At this time, statistical values based on the original data matching degree and both copy and paste operation logs are tabulated in the matching matrix 410. It is possible to set so that the total value is weighted and the total is performed with emphasis on one of both operation logs.

  According to the present embodiment, it is possible to automate the GUI component sharing process and reduce the development load.

10 (A, N) Computer device 20 for executing application Computer device 30 for generating integrated GUI 30 Network 100 Application execution environment 101 OS
102 Window System 103 GUI Toolkit 104 User Input / Output Equipment 111, 121 Application GUI
112, 122 GUI operation log acquisition unit 113, 123 GUI operation log 115, 135 CPU
116, 136 Storage device 130 Integrated GUI development environment 131 Operation log analysis unit 132 Integrated GUI generation unit 133 Relocation execution unit 140 Integrated GUI resource 201 Integrated GUI
600 tables.

Claims (16)

A method for integrating GUIs of a plurality of applications executed on at least one computer device,
The computer apparatus has a plurality of application GUIs respectively corresponding to the applications,
The GUI of each application is composed of at least one GUI component,
By executing each application, the GUI component identification information and the data value associated with the operation of each GUI component are automatically acquired as an operation log of each GUI component and recorded in a storage device.
A GUI integration method for a plurality of applications, wherein an integrated GUI for unifying inputs to the plurality of applications is generated based on the acquired operation log information. In claim 1,
The computer apparatus has a window system and a GUI toolkit as an execution environment of the application,
A GUI integration method and system for automatically acquiring the operation logs of the plurality of applications through the window system or the GUI toolkit. In claim 1,
The computer apparatus has a GUI toolkit as an execution environment of the application,
A GUI integration method for a plurality of applications, wherein the operation log of each application is automatically acquired by an event hook function of the GUI toolkit. In claim 3,
The GUI component includes a menu, a tab, a context menu, an icon, and a button.
In the GUI toolkit, when an event of the GUI part occurs, operation log information for each GUI part corresponding to the event is acquired,
A GUI integration method for a plurality of applications, wherein the acquired log information and information of the GUI component are recorded in the storage device as operation log information related to the application GUI. In claim 1,
The operation log information includes GUI information for a plurality of applications, including data associated with the operation of each GUI component, as well as operation start and end time information representing an operation time zone of the GUI component. In claim 1,
By executing each application, the GUI component identification information, the operation time zone and the data value associated with the operation of each GUI component are automatically acquired and recorded in the storage device as the operation log of each GUI component. And
The operation time zone of each acquired operation log is compared with a data value, and the operation log when the GUI related to the input value common to the plurality of applications is used simultaneously or successively is used as a common operation log. Extract and
A GUI integration method for a plurality of applications, wherein an integrated GUI for unifying inputs to the plurality of applications is generated based on the acquired information related to the common operation log. In claim 6,
For each of the GUI parts of the plurality of applications, the operation time zone and the data value of each acquired operation log are determined to match / not match, and the operation time zone and the data value match. A GUI integration method for a plurality of applications, wherein a certain GUI component is acquired as a GUI component pair that is a target of the integrated GUI. In claim 7,
In the match / mismatch determination, a GUI integration method for multiple applications, wherein a match is determined when a match rate between the operation time zone and the data value exceeds a certain threshold value. A method for integrating GUIs of a plurality of applications executed on at least one computer device,
The computer apparatus has a plurality of application GUIs respectively corresponding to the applications,
The GUI of each application is composed of at least one GUI component,
The computer apparatus has a window system and a GUI toolkit as an execution environment of the application,
By executing each application, operation logs of the plurality of applications are automatically acquired,
Extracting GUI parts that handle common data items common to the plurality of applications from the acquired operation log,
Integrating GUI parts of the plurality of applications that handle the common data items, and generating a new integrated GUI that unifies input to the plurality of applications,
A GUI integration method for a plurality of applications, characterized in that the input of the generated integrated GUI is transmitted to each application as an integration source through the window system or GUI toolkit. In claim 9,
As the operation log of each GUI component, the identification information of the GUI component, the operation time zone and the data value associated with the operation of each GUI component are automatically acquired and recorded in the storage device,
The operation time zone of each acquired operation log is compared with a data value, and the operation log when the GUI related to the input value common to the plurality of applications is used simultaneously or successively is used as a common operation log. Extract and
A GUI integration method for a plurality of applications, wherein an integrated GUI for unifying inputs to the plurality of applications is generated based on the acquired information related to the common operation log. In claim 9,
When comparing the data of the GUI parts, a comparison judgment is made after absorbing only the difference in the notation form,
When integrating the GUI, a GUI integration method for a plurality of applications, wherein the GUI component is converted into a notation format suitable for each application of the integration source obtained by analyzing the operation log when handling the GUI component. In claim 9,
When comparing the data of the GUI part, the analysis is performed assuming that one data item is divided into a plurality of GUI parts due to the difference in the configuration of the GUI part of each application,
When integrating the GUI, a value of a data item is divided or connected according to the configuration of the GUI component for each application of the integration source obtained by analysis of the operation log and propagated. GUI integration method. In claim 9,
When comparing the data of the GUI part, when comparing the data of the GUI part, if the data substantially matches, it is determined as a match,
When generating the GUI component of the integrated GUI,
A GUI integration method for a plurality of applications, characterized in that a GUI component is generated by integrating GUI components having different types and configurations of the GUI components between the integration source applications. In claim 9,
When comparing the data of the GUI component, if it is determined that the data value of one output GUI component is given to the other input GUI component between the applications,
Generating replication logic from the output GUI component to the other input GUI component;
A GUI integration method for a plurality of applications, wherein the input GUI component is not generated on the integrated GUI. In claim 9,
When it is determined that input to the GUI component of the application GUI is not performed or the frequency is low,
A GUI integration method, wherein the input GUI component is not generated on the integrated GUI or displayed in a reduced manner. In claim 9,
A GUI integration method, wherein a duplication operation such as copy and paste across a plurality of application GUIs appearing in the operation log is reflected as cooperation between the GUI components.

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