JP2019074901A - Information processing device and information processing system - Google Patents

Abstract

To discover software having high relevance among pieces of software installed in an information processing device, and to improve convenience about use of the software.SOLUTION: Use information acquisition means acquires information about use of software, and a relevance determination part specifies second software related to first software on the basis of the acquired information. A software execution part 21 and a support execution part 24 start the second software on condition that a specific operation about the first software is performed.SELECTED DRAWING: Figure 5

Description

  The present invention relates to an information processing apparatus and an information processing system.

  In an information processing apparatus such as a personal computer, a plurality of software are usually installed and used. Among the installed software, highly relevant software may be required to be more convenient to use.

  In Patent Document 1, a storage unit stores order information indicating an order in which a plurality of software including the software 2a and 2b are used, an execution state of the software 2a in the information processing apparatus 2, and an order stored in the storage unit. A plurality of software comprising: prediction means for predicting software 2b requested next from the information processing apparatus 3 based on the information; and installation means for installing the software 2b predicted by the prediction means in the information processing apparatus 2; There is disclosed an apparatus for enabling efficient operation of an information processing system that executes software according to a request from among the above. Further, in Patent Document 2, each computer 7 acquires the information of the nonconforming application from the nonconforming application DB 23 provided in the computer system management apparatus 1 and stores the information in the nonconforming application DB 73 of the own computer 7 and installed in the own computer 7 Means to detect installed nonconforming application by checking installed application DB 74 which stored the information of stored application and nonconforming application DB at startup or periodically, it is detected that nonconforming application is installed And a computer system management device that causes a computer to function as means for displaying the information on the screen of the input / output unit, and is connectable to a plurality of computers and the plurality of computers via communication means. Beam is disclosed.

JP 2012-88901 A JP, 2015-72704, A

  It is not easy to identify software having high relevance among the plurality of software installed in the information processing apparatus, except in the case where the setting of association between the software is performed in advance.

  An object of the present invention is to find highly relevant software among software installed in an information processing apparatus, and to improve the convenience regarding the use of such software.

The present invention according to claim 1 is
Usage information acquisition means for acquiring information on software usage;
Related software specifying means for specifying second software related to the first software based on the information acquired by the use information acquiring means;
Related software starting means for starting the second software on condition that a specific operation is performed on the first software;
An information processing apparatus comprising:
The present invention according to claim 2 is
The information processing apparatus according to claim 1, wherein the related software activation unit activates the second software on condition that the first software is activated.
The present invention according to claim 3 is
The related software starting means outputs a message for confirming to the user whether or not to start the second software, receives an instruction from the user, and starts the second software. 1 is the information processing apparatus described in 1;
The present invention according to claim 4 is
The related software specifying means sets the other software as the second software when the time when the first software and the other software are redundantly executed satisfies a predetermined condition. The information processing apparatus according to claim 1, characterized in that
The present invention according to claim 5 is
The related software specifying means sets the other software as the second software, when the frequency at which the first software and the other software are redundantly executed satisfies a predetermined condition. The information processing apparatus according to claim 1, characterized in that
The present invention according to claim 6 is
A first information processing apparatus capable of using a plurality of software;
And a second information processing apparatus capable of using at least a part of the plurality of pieces of software and connected to the first information processing apparatus via a network;
The first information processing apparatus is
Identify the relevance of the plurality of software based on the information on the use of the software in the own device,
The second information processing apparatus is
A first information related to the first software, on condition that a specific operation is performed on the first software usable by the own apparatus based on the information on the relevance specified in the first information processing apparatus; It is an information processing system characterized by performing control concerning software of 2.
The present invention according to claim 7 is
The information processing system according to claim 6, wherein the second information processing apparatus performs control related to the second software on condition that the first software is activated.
The present invention according to claim 8 is
The information processing system according to claim 6, wherein the second information processing apparatus activates the second software as control related to the second software.
The present invention according to claim 9 is
The second information processing apparatus outputs a message for confirming to the user whether or not to start the second software as control related to the second software, receives an instruction from the user, and receives the second software The information processing system according to claim 6, wherein the information processing system is activated.
The present invention according to claim 10 is
Whether the second information processing apparatus installs the second software when the second software is not installed in the second information processing apparatus as control related to the second software The information processing system according to claim 6, characterized in that a message confirming the user is output.
The present invention according to claim 11 is
The first information processing apparatus is characterized in that, when the first software and the other software are redundantly executed in a specific mode, the other software is the second software. The information processing system according to claim 6.
The present invention according to claim 12 is
The first information processing apparatus, when the time in which the first software and the other software are redundantly executed, satisfies a predetermined condition, the other software is combined with the second software. The information processing system according to claim 6, characterized in that:
The present invention according to claim 13 is
When the frequency at which the first software and the other software are redundantly executed satisfies a predetermined condition, the first information processing apparatus may execute the other software with the second software. The information processing system according to claim 6, characterized in that:
The present invention according to claim 14 is
An information acquisition unit that acquires information on the association between one software and another software based on the use of software in another information processing apparatus connected to the own apparatus via a specific network;
A control unit that performs control on the other software related to the one piece of software based on the information of the relationship on condition that a specific operation is performed on the one piece of software in the own apparatus;
An information processing apparatus comprising:
The present invention according to claim 15 is
15. The information processing apparatus according to claim 14, wherein the control means performs control related to the other software on condition that the one piece of software is activated.
The present invention according to claim 16 is
Usage information acquisition means for acquiring information on software use in the own device;
Related software specifying means for specifying second software related to the first software based on the information acquired by the use information acquiring means;
A notification unit that notifies information related to the second software to another information processing apparatus capable of using the first software connected via a specific network;
An information processing apparatus comprising:
The present invention according to claim 17 is
The related software specifying means is characterized in that, when the first software and the other software are redundantly executed in a specific manner, the other software is the second software. It is an information processing device according to Item 16.

According to the first aspect of the present invention, the convenience regarding the use of the second software can be improved as compared with the configuration in which the operation performed by the one software is not the start condition of the other software.
According to the second aspect of the present invention, the operation performed by one software is compared with the configuration in which the activation condition of the other software is not set, and the second software is activated upon the activation of the first software. By doing this, the convenience regarding the use of the second software can be improved.
According to the third aspect of the invention, it is possible to urge the user to use the second software as compared with the configuration in which the operation performed by one software is not set as the start condition of the other software. The convenience regarding the use of the second software can be improved.
According to the fourth aspect of the present invention, the time in which the time to be executed overlapping with the first software is determined in advance is compared with the configuration in which the operation performed by the one software is not the start condition of the other software. The convenience regarding the use of software can be improved.
According to the fifth aspect of the present invention, a condition in which the frequency of being executed in duplicate with the first software is predetermined, as compared with the configuration in which the operation performed by one software is not the start condition of the other software. The convenience regarding the use of software can be improved.
According to the invention of claim 6, the operation performed by one piece of software is compared with the configuration in which the activation condition of the other software is not, based on the relationship between the software obtained by the first information processing apparatus, The convenience regarding the use of the second software can be improved.
According to the invention of claim 7, the second software is controlled in response to the first software being started, compared with the configuration in which the operation performed by the one software is not used as the start condition of the other software. By doing this, the convenience regarding the use of the second software can be improved.
According to the invention of claim 8, the operation performed by one software is compared with the configuration in which the activation condition of the other software is not, the second software is activated in response to the activation of the first software. By doing this, the convenience regarding the use of the second software can be improved.
According to the invention of claim 9, it is possible to urge the user to use the second software by comparing the operation performed by the one software with the configuration in which the start condition of the other software is not set. The convenience regarding the use of the second software can be improved.
According to the invention of claim 10, compared with a configuration in which an operation performed by one software is not set as a start condition of the other software, the user is urged to install the software not installed in the second information processing apparatus. Since it can, the convenience regarding the use of 2nd software can be improved.
According to the invention of claim 11, as compared with a configuration in which an operation performed by one software is not set as a start condition of the other software, convenience relating to the use of the software that is executed overlapping with the first software is obtained. It can be improved.
According to the invention of claim 12, compared with the configuration in which the operation performed by one software is not set as the start condition of the other software, the condition in which the time to be executed overlapping with the first software is predetermined. The convenience regarding the use of software can be improved.
According to the invention of claim 13, in comparison with the configuration in which the operation performed by one piece of software is not the start condition of the other software, the condition in which the frequency of being repeatedly executed with the first software is predetermined. The convenience regarding the use of software can be improved.
According to the invention of claim 14, it is possible to improve the convenience regarding the use of the software related to the one software, as compared with the configuration in which the operation performed by the one software is not the start condition of the other software. .
According to the invention of claim 15, the operation performed by the one software is compared with the configuration which does not use the start condition of the other software, and the other software associated with the activation of the one software is started. By doing this, the convenience regarding the use of software can be improved.
According to the invention of claim 16, the information processing apparatus capable of using the one piece of software is related to the one piece of software by comparing the operation performed by the one piece of software with the configuration in which the start condition of the other software is not set. Convenience regarding the use of software can be improved.
According to the invention of claim 17, as compared with a configuration in which an operation performed by one software is not set as a start condition of the other software, convenience relating to the use of the software which is redundantly executed with the first software can be obtained. It can be improved.

It is a figure showing the whole information processing system composition of this embodiment. It is a figure which shows the hardware structural example of the computer used as a verification computer and a utilization side computer. It is a figure which shows the function structure of the computer for verification. It is a figure which shows an example of the information hold | maintained at a process information holding part. It is a figure which shows the function structure of the utilization side computer. It is a figure which shows an example of the execution condition of software. It is a figure which shows another example of the execution condition of software. It is a flowchart which shows an example of operation | movement which acquires highly relevant software information in a verification computer. It is a flowchart which shows an example of operation | movement which determines the relevance of software in a verification computer. It is a flow chart which shows an example of operation of support about use of software in user side computer. It is a figure showing an example of composition of an information processing system by the 1st modification. It is a figure which shows the structural example of the information processing system by a 2nd modification. It is a figure which shows the structural example of the information processing system by a 3rd modification.

Hereinafter, embodiments of the present invention will be described in detail with reference to the attached drawings.
<Overall configuration of information processing system>
FIG. 1 is a diagram showing an entire configuration of an information processing system to which the present embodiment is applied. An information processing system 100 according to the present embodiment includes a verification computer (first information processing apparatus) 10 and a use side computer (second information processing apparatus) 20. The verification computer 10 and the user computer 20 are connected via the network 30.

  The verification computer 10 is a computer used to verify the association between software. The verification computer 10 is realized by, for example, a personal computer. A plurality of software is installed on the verification computer 10. The verification computer 10 determines the relationship between the executed software and the other software based on the state of the other software when each installed software is executed. Details of the determination of relevance by the verification computer 10 will be described later.

  The using computer 20 is a computer for which support for software use is provided based on the relationship between the software verified by the verification computer 10. The use side computer 20 is realized by, for example, a personal computer or the like. A plurality of software is installed on the user side computer 20. The using computer 20 acquires information on the relationship between software from the verification computer 10. Then, when the installed software is executed, the user-side computer 20 supports the use of software highly relevant to the executed software based on the acquired relevance information. Details of the support related to the use of the software on the use side computer 20 will be described later.

  The verification computer 10 and the use side computer 20 indicate the roles in the information processing system 100 of the present embodiment. That is, individual computers constituting the information processing system 100 do not operate only as the verification computer 10 or the user-side computer 20. Each computer is used for verification of relevance as a verification computer 10 with respect to software of a plurality of installed software, and is supported as a user-side computer 20 with respect to other software.

  Also, depending on the content of the support, one computer may correspond to both the verification computer 10 and the user-side computer 20. For example, after the relevance of one software to another software related to a certain software is determined, when the software is started, the assistance regarding the use of software highly related to the started software may be performed. good. In this case, the computer is the verification computer 10 in the phase of accumulating the information of relevance, and the user side computer 20 in the phase of providing support regarding the use of software highly relevant to the started software.

  Further, although one verification computer 10 and one utilization computer 20 are shown in FIG. 1, a plurality of verification computers 10 may be provided in an actual system. That is, in order to verify the association between a certain software and another software, a plurality of computers (verification computers 10) on which the software is installed may be used. In addition, support for use of software based on information on relevance between software is often provided to a plurality of computers (user-side computer 20).

  The information processing system 100 manages each computer (verification computer 10 and use side computer 20) that configure the system. The management of the computer may be performed by a higher-level server (not shown), or one or more of the computers constituting the system may be provided with a management function. The information processing system 100 may manage software installed on each computer constituting the system, a user of each computer, a license assigned to each computer or user, and the like. Also, verification of relevance regarding the use of software may be performed individually for each logged-in user at each computer.

  The network 30 is a communication network used for data communication between devices constituting the information processing system 100. The network 30 is, for example, a LAN (Local Area Network). In addition, as long as a computer used as the verification computer 10 and the user-side computer 20 and a configuration in which the user is managed, a network such as the Internet may be used.

<Hardware configuration of computer>
FIG. 2 is a diagram showing an example of a hardware configuration of a computer used as the verification computer 10 and the use side computer 20. As shown in FIG. The computer 200 shown in FIG. 2 includes a central processing unit (CPU) 201 which is a calculation unit, and a main storage unit (main memory) 202 which is a storage unit and an external storage unit 203. The CPU 201 loads a program stored in the external storage device 203 into the main storage device 202 and executes the program. As the main storage device 202, for example, a random access memory (RAM) is used. As the external storage device 203, for example, a magnetic disk drive, a solid state drive (SSD), or the like is used. Further, the computer 200 includes a display mechanism 204 for performing display output on the display device (display) 210, and an input device 205 on which an input operation by the operator of the computer 200 is performed. As the input device 205, for example, a keyboard, a mouse or the like is used. The computer 200 also comprises a network interface 206 for connecting to the network 30. The configuration of the computer 200 shown in FIG. 2 is merely an example, and the computer used in the present embodiment is not limited to the configuration example of FIG. For example, a non-volatile memory such as a flash memory or a ROM (Read Only Memory) may be provided as a storage device.

<Functional Configuration of Verification Computer 10>
FIG. 3 is a diagram showing a functional configuration of the verification computer 10. As shown in FIG. The verification computer 10 includes a software execution unit 11, a software monitoring unit 12, a processing information holding unit 13, a relevance determination unit 14, a relevance information holding unit 15, and a transmission / reception control unit 16. The functions of the software execution unit 11, the software monitoring unit 12, the relevance determination unit 14, and the transmission / reception control unit 16 are realized, for example, by the CPU 201 executing a program in the computer 200 shown in FIG. The processing information holding unit 13 and the relevance information holding unit 15 are realized by, for example, storage means such as the main storage device 202 and the external storage device 203 in the computer 200 shown in FIG.

  The software execution unit 11 is a control unit that activates and executes software installed in the verification computer 10. The software execution unit 11 can simultaneously execute a plurality of software among the software installed in the verification computer 10.

  The software monitoring unit 12 is processing means for monitoring the execution status of each software installed in the verification computer 10. The software monitoring unit 12 acquires identification information of the software being executed and information of the execution content regarding the software being executed by the software execution unit 11. The contents of execution are information related to the use of software, such as start and end of a process of software. That is, the software monitoring unit 12 is an example of the usage information acquisition unit. The software monitoring unit 12 may also acquire information of other software being executed simultaneously when one piece of software is executed. These pieces of information may be acquired at the time of an event occurrence in the execution of software or may be acquired periodically, depending on the contents of execution.

  The processing information holding unit 13 is a holding unit that holds information (history information) related to the execution of the software acquired by the software monitoring unit 12. In the process information holding unit 13, for example, identification information of software being executed, information of execution content, etc. are recorded using the time when the information is recorded as a key. At the time of execution of the software to be recorded, if there is other software being executed simultaneously, the information of the other software may be associated and recorded in the processing information holding unit 13. When software verification is performed by a plurality of verification computers 10, identification information of the verification computer 10 on which the software is executed may be recorded in the processing information holding unit 13. When acquiring information for each user who uses software, identification information of the user (login user) who has logged in when the software is executed may be recorded in the processing information holding unit 13.

  FIG. 4 is a diagram showing an example of information held in the processing information holding unit 13. In the example shown in FIG. 4, the processing information holding unit 13 uses various information recording times (year: YYYY, month: MM, day: DD, hour: HH, minute mm, second: ss.sss) as keys. Information is retained. Among the held information, identification information of the verification computer 10 on which the software has been executed is recorded in the “device information”. In the "software information", identification information of the software to be recorded is recorded. As identification information, for example, a name of software or an identifier (such as an extension) capable of identifying software may be used. In the "software status", information indicating the execution content of the software to be recorded is recorded. In the illustrated example, “start” indicating that the software startup process has been performed and “end” indicating that the software termination process has been performed are recorded. These processes are essential record contents. Also, other processes may be recorded depending on the type and setting of software. Other processes may be, for example, printing, transmission and reception, activation of other software, and the like. The “login user” records the identification information of the user who has logged in when the software to be recorded is executed. In the "simultaneous execution software", identification information of software being executed simultaneously is recorded when the software to be recorded is executed. As identification information, for example, a name of software or an identifier (such as an extension) capable of identifying software may be used.

  The relevance determining unit 14 is a processing unit that determines the relevance between a plurality of software installed in the verification computer 10. Among the plurality of software installed in the verification computer 10, the relevance determining unit 14 detects a plurality of software having a relationship defined based on the use mode of the software, and determines the relevance of the software. . The relevance determination unit 14 detects a plurality of pieces of software having a predetermined relationship based on the information stored in the processing information storage unit 13. The relevance determination unit 14 determines the relevance of software based on the type of software stored in the processing information storage unit 13 and the determination conditions set in accordance with the specifications and operation of the information processing system 100. That is, the relevance determination unit 14 is an example of a relevant software identification unit.

  A specific example will be described regarding the determination of the relevance between software by the relevance determining unit 14. For example, when there is a set of software that is often executed simultaneously, the relevance determining unit 14 determines that the software is highly relevant. On the other hand, when there is a set of software that is less likely to be executed simultaneously, they are determined to be less relevant. There are several ways of thinking about situations that are determined to be performed simultaneously. For example, it can be considered to determine by the frequency or the rate at which one software and another software are simultaneously executed. Specifically, when one of the two pieces of software is executed, it may be considered that when the other is also executed with a probability equal to or greater than a predetermined threshold value, it is likely to be executed simultaneously. In addition, it is conceivable to judge by the length of time in which one software and another software are simultaneously executed. Specifically, the time during which one of the two software is being executed and the time during which both are being executed are measured and accumulated, and the percentage of the concurrently executing time is equal to or greater than a predetermined threshold If it is, it may be considered that it is often executed at the same time.

  The execution condition of the software may be defined more specifically as the determination condition. For example, the determination condition may be that there is software that has been started within a predetermined time since one piece of software was started. In addition, the determination condition may be that there is software that is activated within a predetermined time after a specific process (process) is performed by one piece of software. Furthermore, the judgment condition may be that a plurality of pieces of software are activated in a fixed order within a predetermined time. In addition, software that has not been activated for a certain period of time after activation may be excluded from the determination of relevance with respect to other software that is activated when not activated. In addition, the conditions for determining the relevancy can be set variously according to the type of software to be determined, the specification and operation of the information processing system 100, and the like.

  The relevance information holding unit 15 is a holding unit that holds information on the relevance between softwares determined by the relevance determining unit 14 (hereinafter, relevance information). The relevance information held in the relevance information holding unit 15 is sent to the using computer 20, and is used by the using computer 20 to support the use of software.

  The transmission / reception control unit 16 is a communication unit for communicating with the use side computer 20. The transmission / reception control unit 16 controls, for example, the network interface 206 illustrated in FIG. 2 and transmits / receives commands and data to / from the user-side computer 20 via the network 30. The transmission / reception control unit 16 is an example of a notification unit.

<Functional Configuration of User-side Computer 20>
FIG. 5 is a diagram showing the functional configuration of the user-side computer 20. As shown in FIG. The use side computer 20 includes a software execution unit 21, a relevance information acquisition unit 22, a relevance information holding unit 23, a support execution unit 24, and a transmission / reception control unit 25. The functions of the software execution unit 21, the relevance information acquisition unit 22, the support execution unit 24, and the transmission / reception control unit 25 are realized, for example, by the CPU 201 executing a program in the computer 200 shown in FIG. Further, the relevance information holding unit 23 is realized, for example, by storage means such as the main storage device 202 and the external storage device 203 in the computer 200 shown in FIG.

  The software execution unit 21 is a control unit that starts up and executes software installed in the user-side computer 20. The software execution unit 21 can simultaneously execute a plurality of software among the software installed in the user-side computer 20. Also, the software execution unit 21 activates the software based on the support processing by the support execution unit 24. That is, the software execution unit 21 is an example of the related software activation unit.

  The relevance information acquisition unit 22 is processing means for obtaining relevance information from the verification computer 10. The relevance information acquisition unit 22 accesses the verification computer 10 via the network 30, and obtains relevance information held in the relevance information holding unit 15 of the verification computer 10. That is, the relevance information acquisition unit 22 is an example of an information acquisition unit.

  The relevance information holding unit 23 is a holding unit that holds relevance information acquired by the relevance information acquiring unit 22. The relationship information held in the relationship information holding unit 23 is used by the use side computer 20 to support the use of software.

  The support execution unit 24 is processing means for executing processing (support processing) performed as support for use of software in the user-side computer 20. When the support execution unit 24 detects that the support processing execution conditions defined in advance for the software installed in the user-side computer 20 are satisfied, the support execution unit 24 executes support processing for other software highly relevant to the software. . Hereinafter, software that is a target of determination of the execution condition of the support process is referred to as prior software (first software). Also, software targeted for support processing (software highly related to the preceding software) is called support target software (second software). The specification of the support target software is performed by referring to the relevance information holding unit 23 based on the type of the prior software and the satisfied execution condition.

  The execution conditions are determined based on the execution status of the prior software. Specific execution conditions may be set according to the type of software, the specifications and operation of the information processing system 100, and the like. Specific execution conditions include, for example, that the prior software has been started, that a certain time has elapsed since the start, that a specific operation has been performed while the prior software is being executed, and that a specific operation is performed. Setting that a certain time has passed since the start of the preceding software, that a plurality of specific operations have been performed in a specific order during execution of the preceding software, that the preceding software has ended, and that a certain time has elapsed since the termination can do.

  As the support processing, various types of processing can be executed according to the type of software, the specification and operation of the information processing system 100, and the like. As specific support processing, for example, a message for prompting the user to start the support target software, and a message for confirming whether to start the support target software are output. The message may be output, for example, by controlling the display mechanism 204 of the computer 200 shown in FIG. 2 to cause the display device 210 to display the message, or outputting as a voice message using a voice output unit (not shown). good. Also, as other specific support processing, support target software may be activated, or a specific process may be executed in the activated support target software. Examples of execution of a specific process include, for example, having the support target software execute a printing process by an image forming apparatus, and execute transmission and reception of data with an external apparatus. Therefore, the support execution unit 24 is an example of a control unit.

  The transmission / reception control unit 25 is a communication unit for communicating with the verification computer 10. The transmission / reception control unit 25 controls, for example, the network interface 206 illustrated in FIG. 2 and transmits / receives commands and data to / from the verification computer 10 via the network 30.

<Example of determining relevance>
The determination of the relevance of software will be further described. As described above, the relevance determining unit 14 of the verification computer 10 determines the relevance between the software based on the usage pattern of the software.

  FIG. 6 is a diagram showing an example of the execution status of software. In the example shown in FIG. 6, when the software SW1 is activated, the software SW2 is already activated and executed. That is, the software SW1 and the software SW2 are used at the same time. In this case, while the two software SW1 and SW2 are being executed, the software SW2 is recorded as simultaneous execution software for the software SW1 in the information stored in the processing information holding unit 13, and the software as the simultaneous execution software for the software SW2 An entry in which SW1 is recorded is accumulated. On the other hand, the software SW3 is not executed when the software SW1 or the software SW2 is executed. Therefore, the software SW1 and the software SW3, and the software SW2 and the software SW3 are not mutually recorded in the processing information holding unit 13 as simultaneous execution software.

  Further, in FIG. 6, a time Ta has elapsed from when the software SW2 starts up to when the software SW1 starts up. Here, the threshold Ts of the time from the start of one software to the start of the other software is set, and if the time Ta is equal to or less than the time Ts, the software SW1 and the software SW2 are highly relevant. It may be determined that In this case, when the time Ta is longer than the time Ts, the software SW1 is activated regardless of the software SW2, and it is determined that the relevance is not high. In the example illustrated in FIG. 6, the case where the software SW2 is started after the time Ta has elapsed after the start of the software SW2 has been described. On the other hand, on the condition that a specific event (such as a specific operation has been performed) other than activation has occurred in software SW2, the elapsed time from the occurrence of the event to activation of software SW1 is also defined as time Ta. good.

  FIG. 7 is a diagram showing another example of the execution status of software. In the example shown in FIG. 7, when the software SW1 is activated, the software SW2 and the software SW3 are already activated and executed. More specifically, the software SW2 is activated before the software SW1 is activated and ended before the software SW1 is ended. The software SW3 is activated before the software SW1 is activated and ended after the software SW1 is ended. Here, it is assumed that the software SW3 continues to be activated for a long time, but it is intermittently activated that the user's operation is accepted, and the time actually used is short. Such software includes mailers and the like.

  In the execution status as shown in FIG. 7, since the software SW2 ends before the software SW1, the time being executed simultaneously with the software SW1 is longer in the software SW3 than in the software SW2. However, the software SW3 is merely in the background execution state, and can not be said to be operating in conjunction with the software SW1. Therefore, it is assumed that the software of this type is simultaneously executed in the active state, and determined not simultaneously executed in the inactive state, and the frequency and time of the simultaneous execution are determined. In the example shown in FIG. 7, in the time zone in which the software SW1 is executed, the time during which the software SW3 is in the active state is shorter than the time during which the software SW1 and the software SW2 are simultaneously executed. Therefore, software SW2 is more relevant to software SW1 than software SW3. In practice, relevance is determined for each software depending on whether the frequency and time of simultaneous execution of each software is equal to or higher than a threshold.

  In the above description, when there is other software that has already been started when one piece of software is started, the relevance is simply determined with respect to the combination of these software. That is, no consideration is given to the activation order of a plurality of software that is simultaneously executed. For example, regarding the software SW1 and the software SW2 illustrated in FIG. 6, it is determined that the software SW1 and SW2 are highly relevant regardless of which is activated first. In this case, when executing support processing in the user-side computer 20 based on the relevance information, support processing for the other software is performed regardless of which of the software SW1 and SW2 satisfies the execution condition as the preceding software. .

  On the other hand, the relevancy may be determined in consideration of the order in which the software is activated. For example, regarding the software SW1 and the software SW2 illustrated in FIG. 6, when the software SW1 is activated, an event in which the software SW2 is activated frequently appears earlier than that, and the software SW1 and SW2 are activated in the reverse order. The frequency of occurrence of events shall be small. In this case, in the order in which the software SW2 starts first and then the software SW1 starts, the relationship between the software SW1 and SW2 is high, and conversely, the order in which the software SW1 starts first and then the software SW2 starts Then, it is determined that the software SW1 and SW2 are not relevant. Therefore, when the support process is executed in the user side computer 20 based on the relevance information, the support process for the software SW1 is performed when the execution condition is satisfied by the software SW2, but the execution condition is satisfied by the software SW1. However, the support process for the software SW2 is not performed.

<Operation of Verification Computer 10>
FIG. 8 is a flowchart showing an example of an operation of acquiring information of highly relevant software in the verification computer 10. Here, the case of acquiring information of software being executed simultaneously will be described as an example. In the verification computer 10, when the software execution unit 11 starts one piece of software (hereinafter, recording target software) (S801), the software monitoring unit 12 acquires information on the process of the recording target software (S802). After this, acquisition of process information is performed periodically until the recording target software ends. If the acquired process is neither activation nor termination of the recording target software (No in S803), the software monitoring unit 12 records the acquired information of the process in the processing information storage unit 13 (S806). On the other hand, when the acquired process is either activation or termination of the recording target software (Yes in S803), the software monitoring unit 12 records that the recording target software has been activated or terminated in the processing information holding unit 13 ( S804). Then, the software monitoring unit 12 records the information of the software being executed (simultaneous execution software) and the information of the acquired process in the processing information holding unit 13 (S805, S806), and ends the processing.

  FIG. 9 is a flowchart showing an example of the operation of determining the relevance of software in the verification computer 10. The relevance determination unit 14 performs the following operation, for example, at the time of activation of the verification computer 10, or periodically at fixed time of day or the like. In the verification computer 10, the relevance determining unit 14 acquires information of one user among the information related to the execution of the software stored in the processing information storage unit 13 (S901). The information of one user is the information of the recording target software used by the same user. Here, when one user occupies one verification computer 10, the information of one user is acquired using "device information" as a key. In this case, all of the information held in the processing information holding unit 13 of one verification computer 10 is the information of one user. Further, when the verification computer 10 is shared by a plurality of users, information is acquired using the “login user” as a key.

  Next, the relevance determining unit 14 extracts an entry of activation and termination of one recording target software from the acquired information (S902, S903), and information of “simultaneous execution software” recorded in this entry Are extracted (S904). Then, the relevance determining unit 14 specifies software (support target software) highly relevant to the recording target software based on the extracted information on “simultaneous execution software”, and the relevance information holding unit 15 is determined as the relevance information. (S905). After performing the processing of S904 and S905 for all the recording target software corresponding to one user (No in S903), the relevance determining unit 14 performs the same processing for another user (S906). As described above, when the verification computer 10 is shared by a plurality of users, similar processing is performed for each user who has logged in to the verification computer 10. If extraction of information and recording in the relevance information holding unit 15 have been performed for all login users (No in S906), the process is ended.

  In the above-described operation of acquiring highly relevant software information and the operation of determining software relevance, the procedures shown in FIGS. 8 and 9 are merely illustrative. Each operation is performed to identify software highly relevant to one piece of software and record the software in the relevance information holding unit 15 as relevance information, and the embodiment described with reference to FIGS. 8 and 9. Procedure is not limited to this. For example, in the example shown in FIG. 8, the process information is acquired at the timing when the recording target software is activated (see S801 and S802). On the other hand, process information may be acquired after a predetermined time has elapsed since the recording target software was activated, or process information may be acquired on the condition that a specific event other than activation has occurred.

<Operation of User-side Computer 20>
FIG. 10 is a flowchart showing an example of the operation of support for use of software in the user-side computer 20. Here, the case of outputting a message confirming whether to use highly relevant software will be described as an example as support for the use of software. Further, as a premise, it is assumed that the relevance information acquisition unit 22 of the use side computer 20 acquires relevance information from the verification computer 10, and the acquired relevance information is held in the relevance information holding unit 23. .

  In the use side computer 20, when the software execution unit 21 executes one software (S1001), the support execution unit 24 acquires information of the process of the software being executed (information on the execution status) (S1002), and the support processing It is judged whether or not the execution condition of (1) is satisfied (S1003). If the execution condition is satisfied, the support execution unit 24 specifies support target software with reference to the relevance information stored in the relevance information storage unit 23 (S1004). Then, if there is software targeted for support (installed in the user-side computer 20) (Yes in S1005), the support execution unit 24 executes support processing for the specified support target software (S1006), and starts the software. Output a confirmation message. On the other hand, if there is no support target software (is not installed in the user-side computer 20) (No in S1005), the support execution unit 24 ends the processing.

  Note that the procedure shown in FIG. 10 is merely an example in the operation of support for use of software described above. Each operation is performed to support the use of support target software when the support processing execution condition is satisfied for one software, and is limited to the specific procedure described with reference to FIG. It is not a thing. For example, when there is no support target software, a message may be output to prompt installation of the support target software. Further, depending on the type of software and the setting of the user-side computer 20, when there is support target software, the specified support target software may be activated instead of outputting a message and confirming it with the user. .

<Modification>
Next, several modifications will be described. In the present embodiment, in the verification computer 10, software highly relevant to one piece of software is identified, and relevance information is generated. And this embodiment supports use of support object software specified based on relevance information, when execution conditions of support processing about one software are satisfied in user side computer 20. FIG. Here, the present embodiment can be applied to an information processing system different from the information processing system 100 shown in FIG.

  FIG. 11 is a diagram showing a configuration example of an information processing system according to a first modification. The information processing system 110 shown in FIG. 11 is provided with a user management server 40 in addition to the verification computer 10 and the user side computer 20. The user management server 40 is connected to the verification computer 10 and the user computer 20 via the network 30.

  The user management server 40 is a server that manages users of the computers connected to the information processing system 110. The user management server 40 is realized by, for example, a computer 200 as shown in FIG. The user management server 40 may be configured by a single computer 200 or may be configured to be realized by distributed processing by a plurality of computers 200. The user management server 40 holds attribute information of the user of each computer connected to the information processing system 110. The attribute information includes, for example, information such as a user's belonging organization (company, department, etc.), business, authority, and the like.

  In the information processing system 110 shown in FIG. 11, the verification computer 10 accesses the user management server 40 when recording information related to the execution of software in the processing information holding unit 13, and the user of the own device (verification computer 10). If the user is used by multiple users, get the attribute information of the login user). Then, the acquired user attribute information is recorded in the processing information storage unit 13. In addition, regarding the set of software determined to be highly relevant in the relevance information, the relevance determining unit 14 acquires attribute information of the user who executed those software, and associates the attribute information with the relevance information of the software. Record. Then, relevance information including the attribute information of the user is sent to the using computer 20.

  The user computer 20 satisfies the conditions for executing the support process, and accesses the user management server 40 when the support execution unit 24 identifies the software targeted for support, and the user of the own apparatus (the user computer 20 is a plurality of users) If used, get the attribute information of the login user). Then, when the acquired attribute information matches the attribute information of the relationship information corresponding to the combination of the prior software and the support target software, the support execution unit 24 executes the support processing.

  In this way, it is possible to perform detailed control as to whether or not to provide assistance regarding the use of software according to the user's attributes. Specifically, for example, when the execution condition of the support processing is satisfied with respect to certain preceding software, the support processing is executed if the user (or login user) of the using computer 20 belongs to a specific department, If the user belongs to another department, control can be performed such that support processing is not performed.

  In the above example, the verification computer 10 acquires the user's attribute information when recording the information regarding the execution of the software in the processing information storage unit 13. In addition, the use-side computer 20 acquires user attribute information when specifying support target software while satisfying the support processing execution conditions. On the other hand, when each computer 10, 20 is activated or when a user logs in, each computer 10, 20 accesses the user management server 40 to acquire user attribute information and hold it. Also good.

  FIG. 12 is a diagram showing an exemplary configuration of an information processing system according to a second modification. The information processing system 120 shown in FIG. 12 is provided with a software management server 50 in addition to the verification computer 10 and the user side computer 20. The software management server 50 is connected to the user side computer 20 via the network 30.

  The software management server 50 is a server that holds and manages software that can be downloaded and installed by the user-side computer 20. The software management server 50 is realized by, for example, a computer 200 as shown in FIG. The software management server 50 may be configured by a single computer 200 or may be configured to be realized by distributed processing by a plurality of computers 200.

  In the information processing system 120 shown in FIG. 12, the support execution unit 24 of the user-side computer 20 satisfies the support processing execution condition for certain preceding software, and the support target software corresponding to the preceding software is installed in the user-side computer 20. If not, the software management server 50 is accessed to download and install support target software. In addition, when the software for support is not installed on the user-side computer 20, instead of installing the software for support from the software management server 50 immediately, a message for prompting the installation or a message for confirming with the user whether to install or not The output may be performed, the instruction from the user may be received, and the download and installation of the support target software may be executed.

  FIG. 13 is a diagram showing an exemplary configuration of an information processing system according to a third modification. The information processing system 130 shown in FIG. 13 is provided with a service provider 60 in addition to the verification computer 10 and the user side computer 20. The service provider 60 is connected to the verification computer 10 and the using computer 20 via the network 30.

  The service provider 60 is a server that provides services (web services and cloud services) via a network. The service provider 60 is realized by, for example, a computer 200 as shown in FIG. Further, the service provider 60 may be configured by a single computer 200 or may be configured to be realized by distributed processing by a plurality of computers 200. The service provided by the service provider 60 is realized, for example, by processing using an application program (Web application) used via the network 30 and an application program placed in the back end. The services provided by the service provider 60 also include provision of hardware resources such as storage and processors.

  In the information processing system 130 shown in FIG. 13, in addition to the execution of the software, the verification computer 10 acquires history information regarding the use of the service provided by the service provider 60 and records it in the processing information storage unit 13. . Then, based on the software installed in the verification computer 10 and the usage status of the service provided by the service provider 60, the relevance determining unit 14 identifies a highly relevant set and generates relevance information. .

  In the use side computer 20, in addition to the condition based on the execution condition of the software, the condition based on the use condition of the service (preceding service) provided by the service provider 60 is set as the execution condition of the support process. For example, access to the service provider 60 to start using the prior service, that a certain time has passed since the start of using the prior service, and that a specific operation was performed while using the prior service, The fact that a certain period of time has passed since a specific operation was performed, that a plurality of specific operations were performed in a specific order while using the preceding service, that the use of the preceding service was ended, and that the preceding service be used It is possible to set that a predetermined time has elapsed since the end.

  Further, in the user-side computer 20, the target of the support processing includes the service provided by the service provider 60 (support target service). Specific contents of the support process for the support target service include outputting a message prompting the use of the support target service and a message confirming whether to use the support target service. Also, the service provider 60 may be accessed to actually start using the service.

  As mentioned above, although the embodiment of the present invention was described, the technical scope of the present invention is not limited to the above-mentioned embodiment. Various alternatives and modifications without departing from the scope of the technical idea of the present invention are included in the present invention. For example, in the above-described embodiment, the software monitoring unit 12 of the verification computer 10 acquires information on simultaneous execution software when one piece of software is activated or terminated, as described with reference to FIG. It was recorded in the processing information holding unit 13. On the other hand, when each software is executed, only the operation history is acquired and recorded in the processing information holding unit 13. Separately, the operation history is analyzed by batch processing to detect a set of software being executed simultaneously, It may be recorded in the processing information holding unit 13.

  Further, in the above embodiment, the verification computer 10 determines the relevance between the software based on the usage of the software in the own device. On the other hand, the configuration may be such that the relationship between the software is determined in the external server (verification server) using the information of the operation history of the software acquired in the verification computer 10. With such a configuration, when a plurality of verification computers 10 are provided, the verification server collects the operation history of the software acquired by each of the verification computers 10 and collectively relates the software. It can be determined.

  Further, in the above embodiment, when there is a set of software that is simultaneously executed, the relevance between the software is determined based on the frequency, time, etc., which are simultaneously executed. In addition to this, when there is a plurality of software used in a specific order, the relevancy between the software may be determined based on the frequency etc. used in that order. Further, in the case where there is a plurality of pieces of software that handle the same file, the relevance between the software may be determined based on the frequency of handling the same file or the like. Furthermore, in the case where there is a plurality of software handling files having a file name including a specific character string, the relevancy between the software may be determined based on the occurrence frequency of such an event or the like.

  In the above embodiment, the support process for the software to be supported is performed with respect to a set of highly relevant software. Here, when the support target software is not installed on the user-side computer 20, it has been described that the support processing is prompting for installation or execution of the installation. On the other hand, a process of detecting a pair of software having low relevance in the verifying computer 10 and prompting uninstallation of one of the software when multiple pieces of software having low relevance are installed on the using computer 20. You may In this case, software targeted for uninstallation may be software or the like that is not used in the user-side computer 20. In addition, when software that is used by multiple users and has a limited number of licenses is applicable, uninstalling this software generates an idle license and grants licenses to other users who want to use the software. can do.

10: verification computer, 11: software execution unit, 12: software monitoring unit, 13: processing information storage unit, 14: relevance determination unit, 15: relevance information storage unit, 16: transmission / reception control unit, 20: usage side Computer 21 software execution unit 22 relevance information acquisition unit 23 relevance information storage unit 24 assistance execution unit 25 transmission / reception control unit 30 network

Claims (17)

Usage information acquisition means for acquiring information on software usage;
Related software specifying means for specifying second software related to the first software based on the information acquired by the use information acquiring means;
Related software starting means for starting the second software on condition that a specific operation is performed on the first software;
An information processing apparatus comprising:   The information processing apparatus according to claim 1, wherein the related software activation means activates the second software on condition that the first software is activated.   The related software starting means outputs a message for confirming to the user whether or not to start the second software, receives an instruction from the user, and starts the second software. The information processing apparatus according to 1.   The related software specifying means sets the other software as the second software when the time when the first software and the other software are redundantly executed satisfies a predetermined condition. The information processing apparatus according to claim 1, characterized in that   The related software specifying means sets the other software as the second software, when the frequency at which the first software and the other software are redundantly executed satisfies a predetermined condition. The information processing apparatus according to claim 1, characterized in that A first information processing apparatus capable of using a plurality of software;
And a second information processing apparatus capable of using at least a part of the plurality of pieces of software and connected to the first information processing apparatus via a network;
The first information processing apparatus is
Identify the relevance of the plurality of software based on the information on the use of the software in the own device,
The second information processing apparatus is
A first information related to the first software, on condition that a specific operation is performed on the first software usable by the own apparatus based on the information on the relevance specified in the first information processing apparatus; An information processing system characterized by performing control relating to (2) software.   The information processing system according to claim 6, wherein the second information processing apparatus performs control related to the second software on condition that the first software is activated.   The information processing system according to claim 6, wherein the second information processing apparatus activates the second software as control related to the second software.   The second information processing apparatus outputs a message for confirming to the user whether or not to start the second software as control related to the second software, receives an instruction from the user, and receives the second software The information processing system according to claim 6, wherein the information processing system is activated.   Whether the second information processing apparatus installs the second software when the second software is not installed in the second information processing apparatus as control related to the second software The information processing system according to claim 6, characterized in that a message confirming the user is output.   The first information processing apparatus is characterized in that, when the first software and the other software are redundantly executed in a specific mode, the other software is the second software. The information processing system according to claim 6.   The first information processing apparatus, when the time in which the first software and the other software are redundantly executed, satisfies a predetermined condition, the other software is combined with the second software. The information processing system according to claim 6, characterized in that:   When the frequency at which the first software and the other software are redundantly executed satisfies a predetermined condition, the first information processing apparatus may execute the other software with the second software. The information processing system according to claim 6, characterized in that: An information acquisition unit that acquires information on the association between one software and another software based on the use of software in another information processing apparatus connected to the own apparatus via a specific network;
A control unit that performs control on the other software related to the one piece of software based on the information of the relationship on condition that a specific operation is performed on the one piece of software in the own apparatus;
An information processing apparatus comprising:   The information processing apparatus according to claim 14, wherein the control unit performs control related to the other software on condition that the one piece of software is activated. Usage information acquisition means for acquiring information on software use in the own device;
Related software specifying means for specifying second software related to the first software based on the information acquired by the use information acquiring means;
A notification unit that notifies information related to the second software to another information processing apparatus capable of using the first software connected via a specific network;
An information processing apparatus comprising:   The related software specifying means is characterized in that, when the first software and the other software are redundantly executed in a specific manner, the other software is the second software. An information processing apparatus according to Item 16.

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