JP3370507B2 - Client in structured information display system - Google Patents

Description

Detailed Description of the Invention

[0001]

TECHNICAL FIELD The present invention relates to Hyper Te
xt Markup Language (hereinafter, HTM
World Wide We, which is composed of one or more servers that store information described in a structured language such as L) and one or more clients that display and operate the information.
The present invention relates to a method of acquiring information and a technology for displaying the acquired information in an online hypermedia system such as b (hereinafter abbreviated as WWW), and particularly, to display a large amount of complicated information efficiently and easily. It relates to a client in a structured display system suitable for cases

[0002]

2. Description of the Related Art Conventionally, in a WWW, which is a hypermedia system consisting of a plurality of servers that store information described in a structured language such as HTML and a plurality of clients that browse and display the information, In order to browse the information in the client on the client, it is often used by the viewer that uses the software that calls the information (one HTML file) for each one and mainly scrolls and clicks the mouse to follow the transition. Has been.

[0003]

However, in the above-mentioned WWW, which is a conventional hypermedia system, those who are not familiar with computers can take out information one by one and make a transition mainly by scrolling and mouse click. There is a problem that it is difficult to use a viewer that browses information while tracing. In addition, there is a problem that the viewer mainly composed of scrolling and mouse click cannot grasp the amount of acquired information.

In order to solve the above problems, it is an object of the present invention to efficiently display a large amount of complicated information to be browsed, to reduce the difficulty of using a computer viewer, and to provide an online hypermedia system. To provide a client in a display system that improves the usability of the.

[0005]

To achieve the above object, the first invention according to the present invention is to display and operate one or more servers that store information described in a structured language and the information. a client in a structured information display system in an online hypermedia system consisting of one or more clients, the information to be obtained
Means for accepting designation of range of location and location of information
Means for accepting the specified location and the location specified above.
Means for obtaining from the previous SL server information Deployment through a network, reads the transition location to another information included in the acquired information, the transition location,
If the range of the location of the specified information is
Information of the application and within the range of the specified information
Get information until there are no matching transition locations
A repeating unit, a unit for determining a sequence of the acquired information, a unit for accumulating images of one or more kinds of books, a unit for synthesizing the information for determining the sequences and the images of the accumulated books, And a means for displaying the combined image.

According to a second aspect of the present invention, in the client in the structured information display system described above, the means for accumulating the images of the one or more kinds of books includes one or more kinds of books. A means for accumulating a thickness and an image of a book having no thickness, means for generating an original image from the information for determining the arrangement and the accumulated book image having no thickness, and the thickness of the accumulated book. Means for selecting an image having a thickness corresponding to the amount of information acquired from the image of, and means for synthesizing the information of which the arrangement has been determined and the image of the accumulated book are The original image is combined with the image of the selected book thickness.

In the client of the structured information display system according to the second aspect of the present invention, the means for selecting an image of thickness corresponding to the amount of information acquired from the accumulated images of book thickness is the original. It is preferable to count the number of original images generated by the image generating unit and select an image having a book thickness corresponding to the range to which the count number belongs, from the viewpoint of simplifying the processing. .

According to the present invention, information is prefetched based on the transition information from the server, and the information is displayed on the image of the book, so that the information is not extracted one by one, scrolling is not performed, and a large amount of information is displayed. The efficient display of complex information reduces the inconvenience of conventional computer viewers and improves the usability of online hypermedia systems. Further, in the second invention, in particular, by displaying on a book image having a thickness corresponding to the acquired information amount, a large amount of complicated information is displayed so that the information amount can be easily grasped, and the online hypermedia system Further improve ease of use.

[0009]

BEST MODE FOR CARRYING OUT THE INVENTION Embodiments of the present invention will be described in detail below with reference to the drawings.

(First Embodiment) First, the first embodiment of the present invention
1 shows an example of a first embodiment corresponding to the present invention.

FIG. 1 is a block diagram showing the configuration of the first embodiment. Reference numeral 10 is a user of the structured information display system, 11 is an information input unit through which the user 10 inputs to the structured information display system, and 12 is information (input signal) or output information (output signal) input by the information input unit 11. An input / output control unit for controlling the structured information, 13 is an image output unit of the structured information display system, 14 is an information control unit for controlling the structured information based on control information from the input / output control unit 12, and 15 is designated. An information acquisition unit that acquires structured information from one or a plurality of servers via a network, and a transition determination unit 16 that determines information to be acquired based on the transition information included in the structured information acquired by the information acquisition unit 15. Reference numeral 17 denotes an information storage unit that stores information input by the user, information acquired by the information acquisition unit 15, and the like, and 18 synthesizes the main image stored in the information storage unit 17 and the information acquired by the information acquisition unit 15. That is an image synthesis unit.

Further, 19 is an input signal from the information input unit 11 to the input / output control unit 12, 20 is control information from the input / output control unit 12 to the information control unit 14, and 21 is the information acquisition unit 15 from the server. Structured information, 22 is the image composition unit 18
From the input / output control unit 12 to a composite image, and 23 represents an output signal from the input / output control unit 12 to the image output unit 13.

2 to 7 below assume a structured information display system for acquiring information described in a structured language from a server corresponding to the first invention of the present invention. The work performed by the user using this system is to set the range to be acquired and the location of the information to be acquired, and to browse the acquired structured information.

FIG. 2 is a diagram showing an example of an input screen for setting the acquisition range displayed on the image output unit 13.

FIG. 3 is a diagram showing an example of an input screen for setting the location of the information to be acquired, which is displayed on the image output unit 13.

FIG. 4 is a flow chart showing an example of processing when the information acquired by the transition determining unit 16 is input.

FIG. 5 is a diagram showing an example of the main image stored in the storage unit 17.

FIG. 6 is a diagram showing an example of an image obtained by combining the main image and the information acquired by the image combining section 18.

As a premise for explaining the operation of the first embodiment of the present invention described below, a plurality of files described in HTML are stored in a plurality of servers, and a user needs to create one book. It is assumed that a range to be acquired is selected from transitions to other information included in a certain HTML file, and that one book is selected and a generated book is browsed. It is assumed that the image output unit 13 displays an input screen as shown in FIG. 2 so that the user can set the location range of the information to be acquired. Furthermore, the image output unit 1
In 3, it is assumed that an input screen as shown in FIG. 3 is displayed so that the user can set the location of the information to be acquired. It is assumed that the HTML file acquired by the information acquisition unit 15 includes the following transition locations, for example.

"Http://dog.ntt.jp/
new. html "" http: // dog. ntt. jp / welcom
e. html "" http: // dog. hil. ntt. jp / "" http: // zoo. ntt. jp / ”“ http: // cat. ntt. jp / index-
text-mac. html "" http: // cat. ntt. jp / info / p
ersonnel / index. html "" http: // cat. ntt. jp / info / n
ews / index. html "" http: // cat. ntt. jp / info / s
oumu / mlabs / index. html "" http: // dog. ntt. jp / news / n
ew. Further, it is assumed that the transition determining unit 16 incorporates the processing shown in the flowchart of FIG. 4 according to the input of the acquired HTML file. The information storage unit 17 has the processing shown in FIG. Book image (a) and opened book image (b)
The main image consisting of is to be stored. Further, in order for the user to view the image combined by the image combining unit 18, it is assumed that the image is displayed in the image output unit 13 in the form of a book as shown in FIG.

Now, an operation example according to the first embodiment will be described below.

The user 10 uses the input screen shown in FIG. 2 displayed on the image output section 13 to set the location range of the information to be acquired. It is assumed that the range acquired at this point is within the same machine.

Next, the user 10 uses the input screen shown in FIG.
Enter the location of the information to get from 1. The location entered at this point is "http: // do
g. ntt. jp / index. html ".

The input / output control unit 12 transmits an input signal 19 including these input information to the information control unit 14. The information control unit 14 transmits the received location information to the information acquisition unit 15. The information acquisition unit 15 acquires the HTML file existing in the received location. At this point, the acquired HTML file includes the transition location described above. Information acquisition unit 15
Sends the acquired HTML file to the transition determination unit 16 and the information storage unit 17. In the illustrated example, the information storage unit 17 is described as being transmitted via the transition determination unit 16.

The transition deciding unit 16 carries out processing in accordance with the flowchart shown in FIG. That is, the acquired HT
The ML file is read (F), the transition location included therein is read (L), and the location within the set range is discriminated and obtained from the transition location. as a result,
In this example, there are four locations (“http: //dog.n” in the same machine (dog.ntt.jp).
tt. jp / new. "html", "http: // d
og. ntt. jp / welcome. html ”,
"Http://dog.hil.ntt.jp/",
"Http://dog.ntt.jp/news/n
ew. html ") and transmits it to the information acquisition unit 15. The information acquisition unit 15 acquires the HTML file existing at the received location, and similarly transfers the acquired HTML file to the transition determination unit 16 and the information storage unit 17. The transition determining unit 16 repeats the above-described processing according to the flowchart shown in Fig. 4 until there is no transition location in the set acquisition range (within the same machine).

Next, in the information control unit 14, the information acquisition unit 1
All HTML acquired in step 5 and stored in the information storage unit 17
The file and the main image stored in the information storage unit 17 are transmitted to the image synthesis unit 18. At that time, the information control unit 14
The information sequence of the HTML file is determined and transmitted. The image combining unit 18 combines the received HTML file and the main image into a book format as shown in FIG. The images combined in a batch are temporarily stored in the image combining unit 18, the information storage unit 17, or the like, and the required combined image 22 is transmitted to the input / output control unit 12 according to the screen operation of the user 10 to output an image. It is displayed on the section 13. The information control unit 14
May send the necessary part of the HTML file and the main image to the image synthesizing unit 18 each time the image is needed.

(Second Embodiment) Next, the second embodiment of the present invention will be described.
2 shows an example of a second embodiment corresponding to the present invention. In all the drawings for explaining the present embodiment example, the same elements as those of the first embodiment example are designated by the same reference numerals, and the repeated description thereof will be omitted.

FIG. 7 is a block diagram showing the configuration of the second embodiment. The elements from 10 to 23 are the same as in FIG. Reference numeral 24 is an original image generation unit that generates an original image of a book without thickness from the information acquired by the information acquisition unit 15 and a partial image of the book without thickness (one line) accumulated in the information accumulating unit 17, and 25 is A thickness image selection unit that selects an image corresponding to the amount of images generated by the original image generation unit 24 from the thickness images of books stored in the information storage unit 17. Reference numeral 26 represents an original image sent from the original image generating unit 24 to the main image combining unit 18, and 27 represents a thickness image sent from the thickness image selecting unit 25 to the main image combining unit 18.

8 to 12 below are assumed to be a structured information display system for generating a book having a thickness corresponding to the amount of structured information acquired from the server corresponding to the second invention of the present invention. To do. The work performed by the user using this system is similar to that of the first embodiment.

FIG. 8 is a diagram showing an example of a partial image (for one line) of a book having no thickness stored in the information storage unit 17.

FIG. 9 is a diagram showing an example of the cover thickness image accumulated in the information accumulating section 17 and the corresponding numbers.

FIG. 10 is a diagram showing an example of book thickness images stored in the information storage unit 17 and the numbers corresponding thereto.

FIG. 11 is a diagram showing an example of an original image having no book thickness generated by the original image generator 24.

FIG. 12 is a flow chart showing an example of processing when the number of original images generated by the thickness image selecting section 25 is input.

Assuming that the operation of the second embodiment will be described below, the situation of the server and the operation of the user are the same as those of the first embodiment. In order to generate an original image of a book without thickness, it is assumed that the partial image (one line) of the book without thickness shown in FIG. 8 is stored in the information storage unit 17. In order to select the thickness image of the cover, it is assumed that the thickness image of the cover shown in FIG. 9 and the corresponding number are stored in the information storage unit 17. In order to select the book thickness image, it is assumed that the book thickness image shown in FIG. 10 and the corresponding number are stored in the information storage unit 17. Further, by the processing of the original image generation unit 24, FIG.
It is assumed that an original image of a book with no thickness as shown in FIG. Further, it is assumed that the thickness image selection unit 25 incorporates the processing shown in FIG. 12 according to the input of the number of generated original images of books without thickness.

Now, an operation example of the second embodiment will be described below. Acquires HTML file and stores information
Since the operation up to the storage in 7 is the same as that of the first embodiment, it is omitted here.

All HTMs stored in the information storage unit 17
The L file and the partial image of the book without the thickness shown in FIG. 8 (1
The line) is transmitted to the original image generation unit 24.

The original image generator 24 repeats the received partial image (one line) of the book without thickness for the display area of the book from the top to the bottom to generate the image of the book without thickness.
In the original image generation unit 24, the content of the HTML file is combined with the generated display area of the book image having no thickness for the area, and the original image 26 having no thickness as shown in FIG. To generate. The above operation is repeated for the contents of all HTML files and the number of generated original images is counted. At this point, the number of counted original images is set to 150, for example. Next, in the original image generating unit 24, the generated original image 26 is converted into the main image combining unit 1
8, the counted number of original images (150) is transmitted to the thickness image selection unit 25.

The thickness image selection section 25 performs a thickness number selection process according to the flowchart shown in FIG. 12 based on the received number (150). That is, assuming that the number of images generated by the original image generation unit 24 is P, P is 20
If it is 0 or more, the number 1 in FIG.
If P is less than 200 and 100 or more, number 2 is selected. If P is less than 100 and 50 or more, number 3 is selected. If P is less than 50, number 4 is selected. Select. As a result, the number of the thickness image is 2 in this example.
Further, the thickness image selecting unit 25 transmits the cover thickness image of number 2 and the thickness image 27 to the main image synthesizing unit 18 according to the correspondence table of FIGS. 9 and 10 stored in the information storage unit 17.

In the image composition section 18, the received original image 26
And the thickness image 27 are combined as shown in FIG. The combined image 22 is transmitted to the input / output control unit 12 and displayed on the image output unit 13.

The cover main image shown in FIGS. 5 (a) and 9 is closed when the information to be displayed is finished when the page of the book is designated or updated and displayed. Used when displaying the status. Although the present invention has been specifically described based on the embodiments, the present invention is not limited to the above embodiments, and it goes without saying that various modifications can be made without departing from the scope of the invention. For example, in addition to the acquisition range as shown in FIG. 2, a limitation may be set on the number and contents of HTML files to be acquired. The information is acquired by inputting the location shown in FIG. 3, but a keyword may be input to acquire the related HTML file. In the second embodiment, the thickness of the book is calculated from the number of generated original images, but the numerical value and the calculation method are arbitrary as long as the information amount and the thickness are proportional. Further, the accumulated book image is not limited to the book image as shown in FIG. 5, but may be a binder or card book image or the like, and is arbitrary. The acquired information may be arranged in the order of acquisition, or may be determined by the user. Further, the present invention has been described by taking the WWW having HTML as an example, but the present invention is not limited to this, and may be applied to information display of an online hypermedia system having another structured language.

[0042]

As described above, according to the present invention, the information specified by the user and the information related thereto are acquired, and the images of the book are combined with each other to display the information so that the pages of the book are turned over. There is no scrolling of information that was the cause of the problem, and the transition information included in the structured information prevents the information from being prefetched and accumulated, and the information is not extracted one by one. The ease of use of the computer for the users of online hypermedia system with is reduced, and the usability can be improved.

When an image in which the acquired information is combined with a book having a thickness corresponding to the amount of information is created, the book has a three-dimensional thickness although the thickness depends on the amount of the acquired information. Is displayed in the image, and the amount of information can be easily grasped by the user.

[Brief description of drawings]

FIG. 1 is a block diagram showing a configuration of a first exemplary embodiment corresponding to a first aspect of the present invention.

FIG. 2 is a diagram showing an example of a screen for inputting a range of information to be acquired in the first embodiment example.

FIG. 3 is a diagram showing an example of a screen for inputting a location of information to be initially acquired in the first embodiment example.

FIG. 4 is a flowchart showing an example of a process of determining a location within a set range from a transition location included in the acquired information in the first embodiment example.

5A and 5B are diagrams showing an example of a main image stored in the first embodiment.

FIG. 6 is a diagram showing an example in which an accumulated main image and acquired information are combined in the first embodiment.

FIG. 7 is a block diagram showing a configuration of a second exemplary embodiment corresponding to the second aspect of the present invention.

FIG. 8 is a diagram showing an example of accumulated partial images of a book (for one line) in the second embodiment.

FIG. 9 is a diagram showing an example of a cover thickness image and corresponding numbers in the second embodiment.

FIG. 10 is a diagram showing an example of accumulated book thickness images and numbers corresponding to them in the second embodiment.

FIG. 11 is a diagram showing an example of an original image without a thickness of a generated book in the second embodiment.

FIG. 12 is a flowchart showing an example of processing when the number of generated original images is input in the second embodiment.

[Explanation of symbols]

10 ... User 11 ... Information input section 12 ... Input / output control unit 13 ... Image output section 14 ... Information control unit 15 ... Information acquisition unit 16 ... Transition determination unit 17 ... Information storage unit 18 ... Image composition section 19 ... Input signal 20 ... Control information 21 ... Structured information 22 ... Composite image 23 ... Output signal 24 ... Original image generator 25 ... Thickness image selection section 26 ... Original image 27 ... Thickness image

─────────────────────────────────────────────────── ─── Continuation of the front page (51) Int.Cl. ⁷ Identification code FI G06F 12/00 G06F 12/00 546R 13/00 540 13/00 540F (56) Reference JP-A-7-44306 (JP, A) ) JP-A-9-218773 (JP, A) JP-A 9-282218 (JP, A) Uri Ueno and 3 others, browsing and searching of HTML information by book metaphor, Research Report of Information Processing Society of Japan (19-IM -24), Jan. 12, 1996, Volume 96, No. 2, pp. 37-44 (58) Fields surveyed (Int.Cl. ⁷ , DB name) G06F 17/30 G06F 12/00 G06F 13/00 JISST file (JOIS)

Claims (3)

(57) [Claims] 1. A structured information display system in an online hypermedia system comprising one or more servers storing information written in a structured language and one or more clients displaying and manipulating the information. a br /> client acquires the means for receiving designation of a range of the location of the information to be acquired, means for receiving the location specified in the information, the information of the specified location from the previous SL server over the network transition to other information contained means, the acquired information location
And the transition location is
If it is within the range of information
Transition location that is obtained and matches the specified location of information
Means for repeatedly obtaining information until there is no more information, means for determining the arrangement of the obtained information, means for accumulating images of one or more kinds of books, information for determining the arrangement and the accumulated books. A structured information display system comprising: means for synthesizing images; and means for displaying the synthesized images .
Kick the client . 2. The means for accumulating images of one or more kinds of books accumulates the thickness of one or more kinds of books and the images of books having no thickness, and the information for determining the arrangement and the information Means for generating an original image from an image of a book without accumulated thickness, and means for selecting an image with a thickness corresponding to the amount of information acquired from the image of accumulated book thickness are newly added. The means for synthesizing the information of which the arrangement has been determined and the image of the stored book is for synthesizing the generated original image and the image of the thickness of the selected book. A client in the structured information display system according to claim 1. 3. The means for selecting an image having a thickness corresponding to the amount of information acquired from the accumulated book thickness images counts the number of original images generated by the original image generating means. The client in the structured information display system according to claim 2, wherein the image of the thickness of the book corresponding to the range to which the count number belongs is selected.