JP3257448B2 - Service relay device and service relay method - Google Patents

Description

DETAILED DESCRIPTION OF THE INVENTION

[0001]

[0001] The present invention relates to a service relay apparatus and a service relay method. In particular, the present invention relates to a service relay device and a service relay method for providing a screen display layout changed to a format suitable for the client when providing a service by the screen display from the server to the client via a network or the like.

[0002]

2. Description of the Related Art In the Internet, WWW (World Wide)
Various types of services are provided mainly on the Web). When using WWW, the server sends HTML (Hy
Information and services are provided in the form of a document such as a text (hereinafter referred to as an HTML document) described in a per text markup language (HTML). Software called a viewer or a browser operating on the client interprets text such as an HTML document sent from the server, generates image information, and displays the image information on the screen of a computer or information terminal as the client. In the past, an image corresponding to one text was displayed in an area where a browser displays information on a display (hereinafter referred to as a display page area). However, recently, a function (referred to as a frame function) capable of dividing a display page region into a plurality of regions (hereinafter referred to as frame regions) and simultaneously displaying images generated from different texts in each frame region has been realized. .

With this frame function, display control between frames can be performed. For example, the display page area can be divided into upper and lower parts, and a title or logo can always be displayed in a frame area set at the top of the screen. In addition, the lower area is further divided into left and right frame areas, for example, screen display contents such as an index and a table of contents are displayed in the left frame area, and texts are associated with these, and the mouse is used on the screen by using a mouse or the like. When an index or the like is selected, a text corresponding to the selected index can be acquired and displayed in the right frame area. In this way, the index and the like can be constantly displayed on the left side, separately from the specific display information on the right side, which is convenient in that the operability is improved.

The frame function is defined by a frame description document that defines a plurality of frame areas in a display page area, describes a link to text to be displayed in each frame area, and a browser that can interpret the frame description document. Is achieved.

[0005]

However, this frame function is an extended function, that is, a function not supported by all browsers as a standard function. Therefore, there is a problem in that a client having a browser that does not support the frame function cannot display the text described using the frame function even if the text is provided. Conventionally, a separate description has to be made using, for example, an HTML no-frame tag or the like in correspondence with a browser that does not support the frame function, and this has been a problem that the server providing the text is troublesome. .

Further, when the frame function is used, there is a problem that a processing load on a client increases and a required memory capacity increases. Therefore, there is a disadvantage that a client that does not have sufficient resources cannot use the frame function, and cannot sufficiently display the frame function corresponding text.

[0007] Recently, PDA (Personal
Mobile terminals such as Digital Assistance have a limited display space, and the use of the terminal divided by the frame function has a more conspicuous demerit that each frame area is difficult to see than the above-described merits.

The present invention has been made to solve the above problems, and is provided between a server and a client via a network or the like, relaying the two, and providing a frame function corresponding text provided from the server. It is an object of the present invention to provide a service relay apparatus and a service relay method that allow information and a substantial service to be displayed and used by a client that does not support the frame function.

[0009]

In a service cooperation apparatus according to the present invention, a server access means includes a frame definition for dividing a display page area into a plurality of frame areas and a link to a content document to be displayed in each frame area. Is obtained from the server, the content definition is further obtained based on the link specified in the frame description document. The content integrating means edits the content document based on the frame description document obtained from the server, and integrates a plurality of content documents provided from the server to generate one content document.

According to this configuration, the client browser only needs to display one content document generated by the content integration means, and does not need a frame function. That is, the client can display the content document using the display page area as one unit.

[0011] In the service cooperation apparatus according to the present invention, the content integration means converts the content document acquired by the server access means into a component.
A part definition storage unit for storing part definition information for generating a frame corresponding part which is a part including screen display content corresponding to one frame. The frame corresponding part generating means of the content integrating means generates the frame corresponding parts from the content document acquired by the server access means based on the part definition information. Then, a page corresponding part generating means provided in the content integrating means combines the frame corresponding parts and generates a page corresponding part which is a display unit corresponding to the screen of the browser. This page corresponding part is provided to the client as the content document generated by the content integration means.

According to this configuration, the information and the substantial service described in a plurality of content documents which are conventionally displayed by dividing the display page screen need not use the frame function generated by integration. It is described in one content document.

[0013] Another content integrating means according to the service cooperation apparatus of the present invention is a page corresponding part generating means,
A link button for defining a link to the frame corresponding part corresponding to another frame area included in the display page area is added to the frame corresponding part corresponding to an arbitrary frame area included in the display page area. Then, a page corresponding part which is a display unit corresponding to the screen of the browser is generated.

According to this configuration, conventionally, information and a substantial service described in a content document corresponding to any one of a plurality of frame areas which have been displayed simultaneously by dividing a display page screen are described below. Information of the content document displayed in the display page area and corresponding to another frame area is not displayed at the same time. However, in this display page area, a link button for defining a link to a frame corresponding part corresponding to the frame area not displayed is added and displayed, and the user operates the button at any time to operate the button.
Information and services corresponding to other frame areas can be displayed. That is, according to this configuration, a page corresponding part is generated in which the frame corresponding part generated from the original one content document and the link button to the other frame corresponding part are integrated, and this provides the frame function to the client. It is provided as a single content document that does not need to be used.

[0015] In the service relay apparatus according to the present invention for generating one content document by integrating the plurality of frame-corresponding parts, the content integration means may include a combination order of the frame-corresponding parts for generating the page-corresponding parts. Is defined. Then, the page corresponding part generating means combines the frame corresponding parts based on the scenario definition information to generate the page corresponding parts. With this configuration, if a plurality of scenario definition information are prepared, they can be freely selected to realize a desired joining order of frame corresponding parts.

Further, in the service relay device according to the present invention, the content integration means stores the template information for defining a screen layout of a subpart which is a component of the screen display content included in the frame corresponding part. It has an information storage unit. The frame-corresponding part generation unit includes a sub-part generation unit configured to generate the sub-part from the content document acquired by the server access unit, and an arrangement of the sub-parts on a screen based on the template information. Frame corresponding part synthesizing means for synthesizing the frame corresponding parts.

Here, the subparts may be relatively small elements such as one button or one element of a table, which constitute the screen display content, or a plurality of buttons or one or more elements included in the screen display content. May be a relatively large element such as one of the tables. According to this configuration, the frame corresponding parts are disassembled into sub parts, and the layout on the screen is changed. Therefore, by preparing template information defining a screen layout according to the display screen of the client, the present apparatus can provide information provided from one server,
The service can be provided in a display format suitable for an individual client.

In one aspect of the service relay device according to the present invention, the frame description document is described in HTML. In HTML, description is made in a specific format called a frame tag corresponding to each frame area. This frame tag defines a link to a content document corresponding to the frame area. The server access unit detects a frame tag provided for each frame area in the frame description document, and acquires a content document specified as a link destination of the frame area.

Further, in one aspect of the service relay apparatus of the present invention in which the one frame corresponding part and the link button to another frame corresponding part are integrated, the page corresponding part generating means may include a link corresponding to the frame corresponding to the frame. The link of the link button is defined using the part identifier of the part.

Similarly, in one aspect of the service relay apparatus of the present invention in which the link button is used as a sub-part, the link button defining a link to the content document among the sub-parts is provided by the sub-part generation means. The link is defined using a part identifier of the content document which is made into a component at the link destination. In one aspect of the service relay device of the present invention according to this case, the page-corresponding part generating unit designates the frame-corresponding part generated from the content document linked to the link button on the link button. The page corresponding part is generated by using the page corresponding part as a frame corresponding part corresponding to the display destination frame.

[0021] In another service relay device according to the present invention, the content integration means has a part storage means for storing the generated frame corresponding parts.
Further, the aspect of the parts storage means can be configured to further store the page corresponding parts or the sub parts. In a service relay device according to another aspect of the present invention, the content integration unit searches for whether or not the frame corresponding part corresponding to the content document linked to the link button is stored in the part storage unit. When a search unit is provided and the frame corresponding part is stored in the part storage unit, the frame corresponding part is acquired from the part storage unit.

With such a configuration in which the parts generated once are stored, the parts can be reused when generating the page corresponding parts and the frame corresponding parts. For example, when the link button displayed in the display page area is operated, a new page corresponding part is synthesized using the content document linked to the link button. Since the frame-corresponding parts other than those called are not changed, these can be acquired from the parts accumulating means and the frame-corresponding parts can be integrated. Also, since the content document linked to the link button may already be stored in the parts storage means, the server is accessed by searching for it by the parts search means and using it if it is stored. Overhead obtained by performing the above operation can be suppressed.

In the service relay method according to the present invention, the frame description document is described in HTML. An HTM provided for each frame area in a frame description document
L frame tags are detected, and a plurality of the content documents specified as the link destinations of the corresponding frame regions in each of the frame tags are acquired. Then, the obtained content documents are edited and integrated, one content document is generated and provided to the client.

[0024]

Next, embodiments of the present invention will be described with reference to the drawings.

FIG. 1 is a schematic configuration diagram of a server client system using a service relay device according to an embodiment of the present invention. The service relay device 2 is, for example, a Web
The server 4 that provides the service and the client 6 that receives the service are relayed. Here, the service relay device 2
Can relay / connect a plurality of servers 4 and a plurality of clients 6. The client 6 does not request the service directly from the server 4 but requests the service relay apparatus 2. Specifically, the URL of the server 4
Instead of (Uniform Resource Locator), the URL of the service relay device 2 is specified. Therefore, the service relay device 2 appears to the user as one server.

The service relay device 2 has a client communication unit 10 for exchanging necessary information with the client.
And a server communication unit 12 that exchanges necessary information with the server.

The client communication unit 10 is a daemon HT which is a daemon for communicating with a client 6 such as a WWW browser by HTTP (hypertext transfer protocol).
It has a TPD service, a session management function for managing user authentication and a session with the client 6, and a CGI parameter analysis function for analyzing CGI parameters sent from the client 6.

The server communication unit 12 is a server access unit 2
0 and the content integration unit 22. The server access unit 20 interprets the URL specified by the client 6, accesses the corresponding server 4, and acquires a frame description document. The frame description document includes a description of a frame definition for dividing one display area (display page area) provided by the browser into a plurality of frame areas, and a content document describing display contents (contents) of the plurality of frame areas. The link definition description is included. Based on the acquired frame description document, the server access unit 20 also acquires a content document related thereto from the server 4.

The content integration unit 22 edits and integrates a plurality of content documents corresponding to each frame area acquired by the server access unit 20 to generate one content document.

Now, terms will be clarified in the following description. The term "frame-compatible parts" basically means parts that include screen display content corresponding to one frame, and the word "page-compatible parts" basically covers the entire display page area including a plurality of frames. In the above description, it has been used in the meaning of the component including the screen display content to be displayed. That is, the frame corresponding part and the page corresponding part are defined corresponding to the range of the display content in the display page area. On the other hand, there are classifications of frame parts and page parts determined in the design of the embodiment of the present apparatus. The two categories are almost identical, but there are exceptions. Hereinafter, for convenience of explanation,
Frame-compatible parts are referred to as frame parts, and page-compatible parts are referred to as page parts, and exception cases are commented each time. FIG. 2 is a more detailed block diagram of the content integration unit 22 that performs the main characteristic function of the present apparatus. The detailed operation of each component will be described later using a specific example, and only an outline will be described here. The frame parts generation unit 30 converts a content document corresponding to each frame area passed from the server access unit 20 into a component. The generation of the frame parts is performed based on the part definition information stored in the part definition storage unit 40 in advance.

Further, the frame part generation section 30 can be configured to include a sub-part generation section 32 and a frame part synthesis section 34 so that a frame part can be generated with a more flexible layout. The sub parts generation unit 32
A component is created for each component of the screen display content described by the acquired content document. Parts in units smaller than this content document are referred to herein as subparts. The generated sub-part is the frame part synthesis unit 3
4 is combined with the frame parts. At the time of this synthesis, the frame part synthesizing unit 34 obtains template information describing the layout of sub-parts in the synthesized frame parts from the template information storage unit 50,
The frame parts are combined so that the sub parts are displayed in a layout based on the frame parts. Which template information is used is specified, for example, in the part definition information.

The page parts generation unit 60 integrates the frame parts and adds other parts, and
A page part, which is a part having information that can be displayed as the page b, is generated. Scenario definition information storage unit 70
Stores, in advance, scenario definition information that defines the layout of the frame parts in the page parts. The page parts generation unit 60 stores the scenario definition information specified by the parts definition information, for example, in the scenario definition information storage unit 70.
, And integrates frame parts based on the scenario definition information to generate page parts described as one content document.

Various parts generated from the content document obtained from the server 4 by the frame part generation unit 30, the page part generation unit 60, and the sub-part generation unit 32 are stored in the parts storage unit 80 as needed, and are reused. Offer. Thereby, access to the server 4 can be suppressed, and the processing load can be reduced. The parts search unit 90 checks whether a desired part is stored in the parts storage unit 80,
A search process for extracting the part is performed.

The page parts generated by the content integration section 22 are sent to the requesting client 6 via the client communication section 10. Since the page parts are described as one content document as described above, the browser of the client 6 has a frame function that divides one display page area into a plurality of frame areas and simultaneously displays a plurality of content documents. You don't have to.

FIGS. 3 to 5 are schematic diagrams showing an example of text such as a content document and a screen display generated by the text. First, FIG. 3 shows an example of text and screen display when the frame function is used. The display page area 100 showing the screen display example is divided into a total of three frame areas: a frame area located at the top, and two frame areas located at the lower left side and the lower right side, respectively. The manner of this division is defined in the frame description document 102. In this example, an upper frame, a lower left frame, and a lower right frame are defined so as to display a title, a menu, and main display contents, respectively.
The content displayed in each of these areas is generated from a separate content document. That is, in the title frame area 110, the title content document 112
The menu frame area 114 contains a menu content document 116 and the main frame area 118
Displays the screen display contents described in the main content document 120, respectively. Incidentally, the components 130 to 136 of the screen display content displayed in the menu frame area 114 are link buttons. When one of these operations is performed, a content document corresponding to the link button is newly acquired from the server 4, and the display content of, for example, the main frame area 118 is updated using the content document. The form illustrated in FIG. 3 is a form of a Web service provided by the server from the server 4. The present apparatus converts this form into the form shown in FIG. 4 or FIG.

FIG. 4 is a schematic diagram showing a first example of text and screen display converted by the present apparatus so as not to use the frame function. The display page area 140 is vertically divided into three areas, and the upper area 142, the middle area 14
4, frame parts generated from the title content document 112, the menu content document 116, and the main content document 120 are displayed in the lower area 146, respectively. The text corresponding to this screen display is one page part document 1 integrating the above three frame parts.
50. Such an arrangement arranged in the vertical direction is easily realized in correspondence with processing of the text in order from the upper line. That is, in this example, the frame part of the title, the frame part of the menu, and the main frame part are described in the page part document 150 in order from the top. The order of the frame parts is determined by the scenario definition information.

The four link buttons (components 130 to 136) described in the menu content document 116 when the frame function is used are laid out vertically in a line, but in the middle area 144 shown in FIG. Laid out in two rows and two columns. This means that the components 130 to 136 of the menu content document 116 are set as subparts, and their layouts are changed based on the template information.

Next, FIG. 5 is a schematic diagram showing a second example of text and screen display converted by the present apparatus so as not to use the frame function. The display page area 160 includes a link button 16 for each of the frame part 162 of the title and the other two frame parts (menu and main).
4 and 166 are displayed as the title page document 170 in which the title page document 170 is integrated. When the menu link button 164 is operated, a menu page document 172 in which the menu frame parts and the link buttons to the other two frame parts (title and main) are integrated is displayed in the display page area. Similarly, when the main link button 166 is operated, the main page document 1 in which the main frame part and the link buttons to the other two frame parts (title and menu) are integrated, respectively.
74 is displayed in the display page area.

In the case shown in FIG. 5, three texts 17
Although 0 to 174 are generated, only one of them is displayed at a time, so the frame function is unnecessary.

Next, the conversion process from the mode shown in FIG. 3 to the mode shown in FIG. 4 will be described in detail using a specific example. FIG. 6 shows HT
FIG. 3 is a diagram illustrating an example of the content of a frame description document described in ML. At the left end of the figure, the line numbers of the text are given for convenience of explanation. The definition of the division of the display page area into frame areas is defined by the FRAMESET tags on the sixth and eighth lines. The FRAME tags on the seventh, ninth, and tenth lines define the assignment of the content document to the frame area, and the like.

In more detail, the definition by the FRAMESET tag is divided into two parts, <FRAMESET> to </ FRAMESET> on lines 6 to 12, and <FRAMESET> to </ FRAMESET> on lines 8 to 11. It has a heavy nesting structure. This outer definition defines the upper and lower divisions of the display page area by the "ROW" parameter specified in the tag on the sixth row. And 7
According to the FRAME tag on the line, the content document corresponding to the upper frame area of the upper and lower divisions is HTML
The text is “title.htm” and the frame identifier is “Tit”
leFrame ”. This defines the title frame area 110 in FIG.

In the following line, the lower frame area is defined. Here, “COL” specified in the FRAMESET tag on the 8th line
The lower region is divided into two left and right frame regions by the "S" parameter. The content document corresponding to the left frame region among the left and right divided by the FRAME tag on the ninth line is converted to the HTML text "menu. htm ”and the identifier is“ MenuFrame ”.
By the FRAME tag on the 0th line, the content document corresponding to the right frame area is “main.htm” and the identification name is “Ma.
inFrame ". The menu frame area 114 and the main frame area 118 in FIG. 3 are thereby defined.

FIGS. 7 to 9 are diagrams showing an example of the contents of a content document described in HTML corresponding to each frame area of the frame description document. FIG.
The line number of the text is added to the left end of the figure.
Specifically, FIG. 7 shows an example of the title content document 112 associated with the title frame area 110. FIG. 8 shows the menu frame area 11
4 shows an example of the menu content document 116 associated with No.4. FIG. 9 shows the main frame area 11.
8 shows an example of a main content document 120 associated with the main content document 8. Menu contents document 8-11
The anchor tag <A> described in the line and the 8th to 11th lines of the main content document defines a link to the destination specified by the HREF attribute.

FIG. 6 shows a browser compatible with the frame function.
The screen display as shown in FIG. 3 is performed based on the texts shown in FIGS.

Next, the conversion to the form shown in FIG. 4 will be described. 10 and 11 are diagrams illustrating an example of part definition information. There are two types of part definitions, a basic service part definition and an applied service part definition. The basic service parts definition mainly describes information on designation of a URL of a Web page to be used and which parts are to be registered in the parts storage unit 80. Thereby, frame parts and sub-parts are generated and stored in the parts storage unit 80. The application service part definition is for creating a coulomb of the part stored in the part storage unit 80, customizing the attribute of the coulomb to one specialized for the application service, and newly storing the coulomb in the part storage unit 80. Make a definition.
Further, page part generation is defined, and the generated page parts are stored in the parts storage unit 80. FIG. 10, 1
The contents shown in FIG. 1 together constitute one piece of part definition information. For convenience of illustration, the contents shown in FIG. 1 are divided into a basic service part definition part shown in FIG. 10 and an application service part definition part shown in FIG. ing.

In FIG. 10, the service identifier "fxcity"
Lines 6 to 14 enclosed by the BASICPAGE tag for "hp" are descriptions relating to the page having the page identifier "Entry", and the frame description document "index.htm" which is the page of the URL specified in the sixth line is obtained. The parts are specified based on the BASICPARTS tag from the acquired page,
The designated parts are registered in the parts storage unit 80. In this example, the four parts “ServiceTitle” and “TitleFra
“Me”, “MenuFrame”, and “MainFrame” are registered, where the parts “TitleFrame”, “MenuFrame”, and “MainFra” are registered.
TYPE specified in BASICPARTS tag corresponding to “me”
The fact that the attribute is “FRAME” indicates that these parts are frame parts.

The registration of this part is automatically performed by the present apparatus based on the tag in the frame description document. That is, in the example shown here, the content document specified in the FRAME tag in the frame description document “index.htm” shown in FIG. 6 is acquired, and the frame parts generation unit 30 converts this into the frame parts.

The menu content document 116 "menu.htm" is obtained from the URL specified on the 18th line. Therefore, 17 performed for this content document is performed.
The description by the BASICPAGE tag in the 27th to 27th lines is about the source HTML text of the menu frame. Here, the components of the menu content document 116 are defined as subparts using the SUBPARTS tag. The 23rd line detects the tag <Img>, and the 24th line detects the tag <A> and cuts it out as a subpart. The 22nd line is a group in which sets of the sub-parts <Img> and <A> cut out in this way are grouped and defined as one part. In the description on the 22nd line, “ID = index% d (i)” is used to automatically generate a group identification name using the number of repeats i on the 21st line. That is, the group names are index1, index2, index3,... According to i = 1, 2, 3,. Here,
If the ID attribute is not specified, the subpart generation unit 32
Cannot automatically obtain a user-specified name such as the above-mentioned index, and therefore automatically generates a group identifier completely including this part. For example, in the part where the first group definition is performed, processing such as a1, a2, a3,... Is provided, and in the part where the next group definition is performed, processing such as b1, b2, b3,. it can.

Next, the definition of the application service parts described in FIG. 11 will be described. Lines 31 to 46 define a title frame, a menu frame, and a main frame as page parts, respectively. However, the page parts referred to here are parts having display contents basically corresponding to the title frame, and thus substantially correspond to the above-described frame corresponding parts.

First, lines 31 to 37 define the title frame. In the processing here, the “fxcity.Entry.Tit” accumulated in line 11 of the basic service part definition
A frame part “leFrame” is taken out from the part storage unit 80 and used.Lines 32 and 33 define that a part “TitleFramePage” is generated from the taken out frame part.Specifically, “METHOD = anch”
By specifying "or", the HTML text describing the anchor is acquired from the frame part, and it is called "body.templ".
Parts are generated by being poured into an area “Body” according to the template information “ate.” Fig. 12 is a diagram showing the description contents of the template information “body.template.” This template information is stored in the template information storage unit 50. Stored in advance, and it is retrieved and used.

On the other hand, the 39th line is a definition related to the menu frame. Here, the template information “menuparts.template” is stored in the template information storage unit 50.
And used. FIG. 13 is a diagram showing the description contents of the template information “menuparts.template”. In this template, the sub-part in generated on lines 22 to 25 of the basic service part definition shown in FIG.
.. are laid out in a table format in which two dex1, index2,... are arranged side by side using a TABLE tag, as shown in the middle area 144 of FIG. This is to avoid a situation where other frame parts such as the lower area 146 are not displayed in the display page area 140 at the same time as the menu frame area 114 shown in FIG. .

Lines 49 to 54 in FIG. 11 correspond to “ServiceTitl” defined in the basic service part definition on line 10 above.
e "and" TitleFrame "," MenuFrame ", and" MainFram "defined in the application service part definitions on lines 31 to 46.
e "is a description that defines the layout of the four parts in the display page area. This layout is defined by the scenario definition information. The scenario definition information is stored in the scenario definition information storage unit 70 in advance. PART tag
The one specified by the TEMPLATE attribute is fetched and used. FIG. 14 shows scenario definition information “MultiScenario.te
It is a figure showing the description content of "mplate". "MultiScenario.
The “template” fetches a part having “Title” and “Scenario% d (i)” as identification names specified in the fourth and eighth lines in FIG. 14, and “Title”, “Scenario1”, and “Scenario1”.
ario2 ”, and so on. By the way,
Here, “Title” and “Scenario” are added to the above four parts in the PARAM tags on the 50th to 53rd lines in FIG.
The identification names “1”, “Scenario2”, and “Scenario3” are given, and “MultiScenario.template” integrates the four parts using these.

FIG. 15 is a diagram showing the description contents of the page part document 150 integrated using the above part definition information, template information, and scenario definition information. In the same figure, the third and fourth lines are the four of “MultiScenario.template”.
Line 8 corresponds to “Title”, and lines 8 and 9 correspond to “Scenari
o1 ”, lines 11-20 are“ Scenario2 ”, lines 22-28
The lines are descriptions corresponding to “Scenario3”, respectively. The FRAME tag is not used in the description of the page parts document 150 integrated and generated by this apparatus.
Also, the page part document 150 is stored in a separate H
1 that integrates the screen display contents of the title content document 112, the menu content document 116, and the main content document 120 provided as TML text
Text. Therefore, the page part document 15
In the client 6 provided with “0”, even if the browser does not support the frame function, the content of each content document is displayed in one display page area. Thereby, the user of the client 6 can use the service provided by the server 4.

Next, a general process when a link button is operated in a display page area for displaying a combined page part will be described. When the link button is pressed, the URL of the link destination or the ID of the part defined in the link button is stored in the parts search unit 9 of the contents integration unit 22.
Passed to 0. The parts search unit 90 searches the parts storage unit 80 and checks whether a part corresponding to the display content specified as the link destination has already been registered. If the part exists in the parts storage unit 80, the part can be used for screen composition.

On the other hand, if it is not registered in the parts storage unit 80, or if it is determined that it is better to obtain it again from the server 4 after a considerable period has elapsed even if it has been registered, The content document is obtained from the server 4. The frame parts generation unit 30 generates frame parts from the acquired content document by the method described above.

As described above, the frame part corresponding to the link destination of the link button is replaced with the part in the designated frame area, and a new page part document is synthesized. At this time, since parts other than the link destination are not different from those used for generating the previous display screen, the parts registered in the parts storage unit 80 at the time of generating the previous display screen can be used.

Incidentally, a specific example of the processing when the link button defined on the display screen shown in FIG. 4 is operated is as follows. For example, the display page area 14 shown in FIG.
The user operates a link button of “fleeting rest” in the menu displayed in the middle area 144 of the “0”. FIG.
FIG. 8 is a diagram showing a screen display example of an action result by pressing a link button. As can be seen by comparing the display page area 200 with the display page area 140 in FIG. 4, the display contents corresponding to the main frame parts in the lower area are switched. Lower area 2 in action result
The content displayed in 10 is the part “break” to which the link button “fleeting rest” described in the 17th line of FIG. 15 is linked. The part “break” is generated at the same time as the menu frame part generated when performing the screen composition in FIG. 4 and registered in the part storage unit 80. That is, when the menu frame part is generated, the description “<A HREF=" of the anchor tag <A> shown in the eleventh line of FIG.
break.htm "TARGET =" MainFrame "> Fleeting rest </A>”
Are made into parts. This is called a button part. Note that, in response to this componentization, in the generated menu frame part, the link destination of the link button is a URL.
Instead, it is defined by the identifier of the button part.

When this link button is pressed, the parts storage section 80 is searched first, as in the general method described above, and if there is no designated display content part in the corresponding button part, it is stored in the button parts. UR
The server 4 is accessed based on L, and the content is obtained. The content specified for the button part is
If the TARGET attribute is specified for the button part, it is replaced with the corresponding frame part.
In this example, since “MainFrame” is specified in the TARGET attribute, “Sc” in lines 22 to 28 corresponding to the main frame in the description of the page parts document 150 shown in FIG.
The description of "enario3" is replaced with the content of the part generated from "break.htm", and as a result, the display result of Fig. 16 is realized.Fig. 17 is generated as the action result of pressing the link button. FIG. 6 is a diagram showing the description contents of a page part document.

FIG. 18 is a flowchart showing an outline of the screen synthesizing process in the present apparatus described above. First, since the administrator of the service relay apparatus lays out without using the frame function, for each frame, parts definition information, template information, scenario definition information, and method definition information when other procedural processing is required. Various definitions are made and registered in the part definition storage unit 40, the template information storage unit 50, the scenario definition information storage unit 70, and the like (S300). When the apparatus reads the HTML specified by the client 6 from the server 4, the frame parts generation unit 30 generates frame parts based on the FRAME tag (S310). At this time, if a link button is included in the frame part, instead of the URL of the link destination, an identifier (ID) of a subpart in which a description designating the URL is made into a component is used as a link destination name. Then, a definition of the link button is created (S320).
Further, necessary parts generated and stored in the parts storage unit 80 are taken out (S330). If the TARGET attribute is specified, the acquired part is used as a part to be embedded in the corresponding frame. Embedding is performed based on template information. The synthesized HTML text is transferred to the client 6 as a service of the server 4 (S340). The client 6 can make a response to the passed HTML-based service, such as making an entry in an entry field or pressing a link button. The apparatus receives the response and sends the response to the server 4 or the client. 6 is performed (S350). In a normal Web service, as a result of a user pressing a link button or a submit button, HTML text is obtained from a server.
It is mainly in such a case that the display is performed in the frame specified using the TARGET attribute.

FIG. 19 is a flowchart showing an outline of the screen synthesizing process when the user operates the link button. When the user clicks the link button (S400), the argument of the HREF attribute of the anchor of the link button is interpreted, and it is recognized which part has been called (S41).
0). Here, if the TARGET attribute is specified as the attribute of the part, the page is reconfigured by embedding the part in the frame indicated by the TARGET attribute (S420). In this reconfiguration, if there is no part necessary for composing the page (S430), the content is acquired from the URL of the basic service to generate the specified part (S44).
0). When the parts are completed, frame parts corresponding to a plurality of frames are combined according to the scenario definition information to generate one HTML text (S450). This HT
The ML text is passed to the client 6 (S46
0).

[0061]

As described above, the service relay apparatus of the present invention receives a server service by a frame function for simultaneously displaying a plurality of content documents by dividing one display page area, and a plurality of content documents constituting the same. Is edited and integrated and relayed to the client as a single content document, so that even if the client does not support the frame function, it is possible to use the substantial service provided by the server. Also in the server, it is not necessary to separately prepare and provide a content document in consideration of a client that does not support the frame function, so that the man-hour required for creating the content can be reduced.

Further, by not using the frame function, the processing load on the client can be reduced, and the required memory capacity can be suppressed. As a result, even if the client has insufficient resources, the contents of the frame function corresponding text can be displayed and displayed. The service can be enjoyed, the response time can be reduced, and the limitation on the application used in terms of memory capacity can be eased.

Further, in a portable information terminal such as a PDA with a limited display space, the screen does not have to be divided in frame units, so that the display can be easily viewed.

[Brief description of the drawings]

FIG. 1 is a schematic configuration diagram of a server client system using a service relay device according to an embodiment of the present invention.

FIG. 2 is a more detailed block diagram of a content integration unit.

FIG. 3 is a schematic diagram showing an example of text and screen display when a frame function is used.

FIG. 4 is a schematic diagram showing a first example of text and screen display converted by the present apparatus so as not to use the frame function.

FIG. 5 is a schematic diagram showing a second example of text and screen display converted by the present device so as not to use the frame function.

FIG. 6 is a diagram illustrating an example of the content of a frame description document described in HTML.

FIG. 7 is a diagram illustrating an example of description in HTML of a title content document associated with a title frame area.

FIG. 8 is a diagram showing an example of a description in HTML of a menu content document associated with a menu frame area.

FIG. 9 is a diagram illustrating an example of a description in HTML of a main content document associated with a main frame area.

FIG. 10 is a diagram illustrating description contents of a first half of an example of part definition information.

FIG. 11 is a diagram illustrating description contents of a latter half of an example of part definition information.

FIG. 12 is a diagram showing description contents of template information “body.template”.

FIG. 13: Template information “menuparts.template”
It is a figure which shows the description content of.

FIG. 14 is a diagram illustrating description contents of an example of scenario definition information.

FIG. 15 is a diagram illustrating description contents of a page part document generated by integration.

FIG. 16 is a diagram illustrating a screen display example of an action result obtained by pressing a link button.

FIG. 17 is a diagram illustrating description contents of a page part document generated as an action result of pressing a link button.

FIG. 18 is a flowchart showing an outline of a screen synthesizing process in the present apparatus.

FIG. 19 is a flowchart showing an outline of a screen synthesizing process when a user operates a link button.

[Explanation of symbols]

2 service relay device, 4 server, 6 client, 20 server access unit, 22 content integration unit, 30 frame parts generation unit, 32 sub parts generation unit, 34 frame parts synthesis unit, 40 parts definition storage unit, 50 template information storage unit , 60 page parts generation unit, 70 scenario definition information storage unit, 80
Parts storage unit, 90 parts search unit, 102 frame description document, 100, 140, 160, 200 display page area, 110 title frame area, 112 title content document, 114 menu frame area,
116 menu content document, 118 main frame area, 120 main content document, 150 page parts document, 162 frame parts, 164, 16
6 link button, 170 title page document, 17
2 Menu page document, 174 Main page document.

Claims (13)

(57) [Claims] 1. A content document describing a screen display content, a frame definition for dividing a display page area into a plurality of frame areas, and a link to the content document to be displayed in each frame area are specified for each frame area. A service relay device that relays at least one server that provides a frame description document that describes a link definition to be performed, and a client that has a browser that displays the screen display content on a screen, wherein the server describes the frame description document. Server access means for acquiring the content documents based on the link specified in the frame description document; and content for editing and integrating the acquired content documents to generate one content document Generating means by the content integrating means. A service relay device for providing the content document to the client. 2. The part integration unit includes: a part definition storage unit that stores part definition information for converting the content document acquired by the server access unit into parts to generate a frame corresponding part; A frame corresponding part generating means for generating the frame corresponding part from the content document obtained by the server access means, based on the content document; and a page corresponding part as a display unit corresponding to the browser screen by combining the frame corresponding parts. 2. The service relay apparatus according to claim 1, further comprising: a page corresponding part generating unit configured to generate the page corresponding part to the client as the content document generated by the content integrating unit. 3. A part definition storage unit that stores part definition information for converting the content document acquired by the server access unit into parts to generate frame-compatible parts, A frame corresponding part generating means for generating the frame corresponding part from the content document acquired by the server access means, based on the frame corresponding part corresponding to any one of the frame areas included in the display page area; A page correspondence that adds a link button that defines a link to the frame corresponding part corresponding to the other frame area included in the display page area and generates a page corresponding part which is a display unit corresponding to the screen of the browser. Part generating means, and Service relaying apparatus according to claim 1, wherein the providing to the client a tool as the content document generated by the content integration means. 4. The content integration means has a scenario definition storage unit for defining a joining order of the frame corresponding parts for generating the page corresponding parts, and the page corresponding part generating means includes the scenario definition information. 3. The service relay device according to claim 2, wherein the page corresponding parts are generated by combining the frame corresponding parts based on the following. 5. The content integration means includes: a template information storage unit that stores template information that defines a screen layout of a subpart that is a component of the screen display content included in the frame corresponding part; The corresponding part generation unit includes: a subpart generation unit configured to generate the subpart from the content document obtained by the server access unit; and an arrangement of the subparts on a screen is described based on the template information. The service relay device according to any one of claims 2 to 4, further comprising: a frame corresponding part combining unit that combines the frame corresponding parts. 6. The service relay device according to claim 2, wherein said server access means handles said frame description document described in HTML. A service relay device, which detects a frame tag provided for each area and acquires a content document specified in the frame tag as a link destination of the frame area. 7. The service relay device according to claim 3, wherein the page corresponding part generation means defines a link of the link button using a part identifier of the frame corresponding part of a link destination. 8. The sub-part generating means, for a link button that defines a link to the content document among the sub-parts, generates the link using a part identifier of the content document, which is a linked destination component. 7. The service relay device according to claim 5, wherein the service relay device is defined. 9. The frame corresponding part generated from the content document linked to the link button as the frame corresponding part corresponding to the display destination frame designated by the link button. 9. The service relay device according to claim 8, wherein the page corresponding part is generated by using the service relay device. 10. The service relay device according to claim 2, wherein the content integration unit includes a part storage unit that stores the generated frame corresponding parts. 11. The service relay device according to claim 10, wherein said parts storage means further stores said page corresponding parts or said sub parts. 12. The contents integration means, further comprising: parts search means for searching whether or not the frame corresponding parts corresponding to the contents document linked to the link button are stored in the parts storage means. 11. The service relay device according to claim 10, wherein when a frame corresponding part is stored in the parts storage unit, the frame corresponding part is obtained from the parts storage unit. 13. A content document describing a screen display content, a frame definition for dividing a display page area into a plurality of frame areas, and a link to the content document to be displayed in each frame area are designated for each frame area. At least one server for providing a frame description document that describes a link definition to be performed by HTML,
A service relay method for relaying between a client having a browser that displays the screen display content on a screen, wherein a frame tag provided for each of the frame areas is detected in the frame description document, and in each of the frame tags, Obtaining a plurality of the content documents designated as the link destinations of the corresponding frame regions, editing and integrating the obtained content documents, generating one content document, and obtaining the integrated content. A service relay method for providing a document to the client.