JP3728879B2 - Data processing apparatus with communication function and program recording medium thereof - Google Patents

Description

[0001]
BACKGROUND OF THE INVENTION
The present invention relates to a data processing apparatus with a communication function and a program recording medium thereof for reducing communication costs by controlling connection of communication lines.
[0002]
[Prior art]
Conventionally, in a data processing apparatus such as a personal computer connected to the Internet, as a line control method for saving a fee for dial-up connection and a dial line charge, a method of disconnecting a line when all transmission / reception is completed In addition, there is known a method of monitoring an idling time when no transmission / reception is performed and disconnecting a line when the idling time reaches a predetermined time.
By the way, when using an information search system WWW (World Wide Web) used on the Internet, when an input form having a data input area (for example, a questionnaire or CGI mail) is received, this input form is displayed. The data is output and various data are keyed in the data input area of the input form. However, if the amount of data input is large or the input is troublesome, it takes time to input.
[0003]
[Problems to be solved by the invention]
However, even if it takes time to input data to the input form, the line remains connected until the idling time reaches the specified time. Therefore, until the communication line is manually disconnected, the Internet connection Money and dial line charges are wasted.
The subject of the first invention is that the communication line is disconnected and the data input is in an offline state when there is a large amount of data that needs to be input into the data input area depending on the format of the input form transmitted via the communication line. By doing so, it is possible to greatly save communication costs.
The subject of the second invention is to disconnect the communication line and perform the data input in an offline state when the operation for inputting data into the data input area of the input form transmitted via the communication line is slow. Thus, the communication cost can be greatly reduced.
[0004]
[Means for Solving the Problems]
Means of the present invention are as follows.
According to the first aspect of the present invention, when an input form having a data input area is transmitted via a communication line, receiving means for receiving the input form and maximum data that can be input to the data input area of the input form A data amount discriminating means for discriminating whether or not the amount exceeds a prescribed amount, a communication control means for disconnecting the communication line when the data amount discriminating means discriminates that the prescribed amount is exceeded, and the communication control means And transmitting means for transmitting the data input to the data input area of the input form when the communication line is disconnected by reconnecting the communication line.
An input form analysis means for analyzing the data input area of the input form and calculating the maximum amount of data that can be input to the data input area is provided, and the data amount is based on the data amount calculated by the input form analysis means. The determining means may determine whether or not the data amount exceeds a specified amount.
When the data amount determining means determines that the specified amount is exceeded, an output means is provided for outputting a message to that effect, and the communication control means disconnects the communication line in response to a predetermined input operation. You may do it.
Further, the data amount determining means determines whether or not the maximum data amount that can be input to the data input area exceeds a specified amount when an input operation for inputting data to the data input area of the input form is started. You may do it.
In the first aspect of the invention, when an input form having a data input area is transmitted via a communication line, whether or not the maximum amount of data that can be input to the data input area of the input form exceeds a specified amount. If the specified amount is exceeded, the communication line is disconnected even before data input. Then, data input to the data input area of the input form with the line disconnected is transmitted by reconnecting the communication line.
Therefore, if there is a large amount of data that needs to be entered in the data input area depending on the format of the input form sent via the communication line, the communication cost can be reduced by disconnecting the communication line and performing data input offline. Significant savings can be made.
[0005]
According to the fifth aspect of the present invention, when an input form having a data input area is transmitted via a communication line, receiving means for receiving the input form and data input to the data input area of the input form Input start determining means for determining whether or not the input operation to be started, time measuring means for measuring an elapsed time after the input start is determined by the input start determining means, and obtained by the time measuring means A time discriminating means for discriminating whether or not the elapsed time exceeds a specified time; a communication control means for disconnecting the communication line when it is determined by the time discriminating means that the specified time has been exceeded; and Transmission means for transmitting the data input to the data input area of the input form when the communication line is disconnected by the means by reconnection of the communication line. It is.
According to the fifth aspect of the present invention, when an input form having a data input area is transmitted via a communication line, an input operation for inputting data to the input area is started. The elapsed time is measured, and it is determined whether or not this elapsed time exceeds a specified time. If the specified time is exceeded, the communication line is disconnected even during data input. Data input to the data input area of the input form with the line disconnected is transmitted by reconnecting the communication line.
Therefore, if the operation to input data into the data input area of the input form sent via the communication line is slow, the communication line is disconnected and the data input is performed offline, greatly increasing the communication cost. Can save you money.
[0006]
DETAILED DESCRIPTION OF THE INVENTION
Hereinafter, an embodiment of the present invention will be described with reference to FIGS.
FIG. 1A is a block diagram showing the overall configuration of a data processing apparatus with a communication function. This data processing apparatus can be connected to the Internet.
The CPU 1 is a central processing unit that controls the overall operation of the data processing device with a communication function according to various programs loaded in the RAM 2. The storage device 3 has a storage medium 4 in which an operating system, various application programs, data files, character font data, and the like are stored in advance, and a drive system thereof. This storage medium 4 is fixedly provided or detachably mountable, and is composed of a magnetic / optical storage medium such as a floppy disk, a hard disk, an optical disk, and a RAM card, and a semiconductor memory. Further, programs and data in the storage medium 4 are loaded into the RAM 2 under the control of the CPU 1 as necessary. Further, the CPU 1 receives a program and data transmitted from another device via a communication line or the like and stores them in the storage medium 4 or stored in a storage medium provided on the other device. Existing programs and data can be used via a communication line or the like.
An input device 5, a display device 6, and a printing device 7 as input / output peripheral devices are connected to the CPU 1 via a bus line, and the CPU 1 controls their operations according to the input / output program.
The input device 5 has a pointing device such as a mouse in addition to a keyboard for inputting character string data or inputting various commands. The display device 6 is a liquid crystal display device that performs multicolor display, a CRT display device, a plasma display device, or the like, and the printing device 7 is a full-color printer device, which is a non-impact printer or impact printer such as thermal transfer or ink jet.
[0007]
FIG. 1B shows the main configuration of the RAM 2, and various memory areas are allocated to the RAM 2. The system work memory 2-1 is loaded from the storage device 3 with a browser that is activated when the Internet is connected by dial-up. The reception data memory 2-2 stores and holds data such as texts and images transmitted via a communication line by Internet connection, and the contents are displayed and output on a display screen. The idling timer 2-3 is a timer for measuring an idling time during which no transmission / reception is performed. When the idling time exceeds a specified time, the communication line is automatically disconnected. The input character counter 2-4 can input data into an input form (questionnaire, CGI mail, etc.) having a data input area in an HTML document for creating a WWW page. It counts the maximum number of characters and automatically disconnects the communication line when the count exceeds a specified value. The input time monitoring timer 2-5 measures the elapsed time from the start of the input operation for inputting data to the data input area of the input form. When this elapsed time exceeds the specified time, the communication is performed. The line is automatically disconnected. The specified value memory 2-6 stores specified values for determining whether to automatically disconnect the line according to the values of the idling timer 2-3, the input character number counter 2-4, and the input time monitoring timer 2-5. To do. When the line is automatically disconnected, the reconnection memory 2-7 stores and holds the current dial number and the like, and the contents are called for reconnection and the communication line is reconnected.
[0008]
Next, the operation of the data processing apparatus with a communication function will be described with reference to the flowcharts shown in FIGS. Here, a program for realizing each function described in these flowcharts is stored in the storage medium 4 in the form of a program code readable by the CPU 1, and the contents thereof are loaded into the RAM 2. .
FIG. 2 is a flowchart showing an operation when the WWW is used for Internet connection.
First, the user designates activation of the browser (step A1), performs dial-up connection (step A2), and designates access to an arbitrary web page (step A3). Here, the CPU 1 executes processing in accordance with the browser, displays the designated web page, and starts the timing operation of the idling timer 2-3 (step A4). And the process which analyzes the HTML document of a designated web page is performed (step A5).
[0009]
FIG. 3 is a flowchart showing the de-HTML document analysis process.
First, the CPU 1 resets the contents of the input character number counter 2-4 (step B1). Then, the tags in the HTML document are sequentially analyzed to check whether tags relating to data input, that is, input tags and text area tags are included (steps B2, B3). Here, if there is an input tag or a text area tag, it is determined as an HTML document including an input form, and it is checked whether the size of the data input area indicated by the tag is defined in the HTML document (step B4) If it is defined, the size (maximum number of input characters of half-size size) is read (step B5). If not defined, the size of the data input area is calculated (step B6). In this case, the maximum number of characters that can be input in the data input area with a single-byte character size is obtained. Then, processing for accumulating the size of the data input area obtained in steps B5 and B6 in the input character number counter 2-4 is performed (step B7). Then, the next tag is designated (step B8), it is checked whether all tags existing in the HTML document on the web page have been designated (step B9), and the process returns to step B2 until the end of the tag is detected. Repeat the process of analyzing the input form in the document. As a result, for example, when an input form as shown in FIG. 5 is included in an HTML document, the size of each data input area corresponding to “name”, “mail address”, and “comment” is large. Is accumulated in the input character counter 2-4 as the number of half-size characters, so the value of the input character counter 2-4 is the sum of the sizes of the data input areas, that is, can be input to the entire input form. Maximum number of input characters.
[0010]
When such HTML document analysis processing is completed, it is checked whether an input form exists in the document based on the contents of the input character counter 2-4 (step A6 in FIG. 2). Here, if the value of the input character counter 2-4 is “0”, it is determined that there is no input form, but if it is not “0”, it is determined that an input form such as a questionnaire mail is included. If a web page that does not include an input form is displayed, it is checked whether the access is designated to switch to another web page (step A8). Here, if another web page is not designated, the measured time (idling time) of the idling timer 2-3 is compared with the specified time for idling monitoring set in the specified value memory 2-6. In step A9, it is checked whether the idling state in which transmission / reception is not performed continues for that time. If the specified time has not passed, the process returns to step A8, and the idling timer 2-3 is monitored until access to another web page is designated. A message is displayed as to whether to disconnect the line in order to notify the user (step A10). In this case, the user confirms the message, and in order to keep the line connected, the user performs a predetermined input operation to declare the fact (step A11). Then, the process proceeds to step A12. After the idling timer 2-3 is reset and started again, the process returns to step A8, where the line connection state is maintained. If the above input operation is not performed, the dial-up connection is established. Processing for automatic disconnection is performed (step A13). In this way, in the state where the line is disconnected according to the idling time, it is checked whether access to another web page is designated (step A14) or termination of the browser is designated (step A15). It will be in a standby state until it is done. If another web page is designated, the process proceeds to step A16, dial-up reconnection processing is performed, and the process returns to step A4.
Assuming that access to another web page is designated in step A8 or A14 (step A8), the web page is displayed and output, and the idling timer 2-3 is reset and started (step A4). Then, a process of analyzing the HTML document of the web page is performed (step A5). As a result, when it is detected that the input form is included in the document (step A6), the process proceeds to the document input process. (Step A7).
[0011]
FIG. 4 is a flowchart showing the document input process.
First, it is checked whether an input operation for inputting data into the input form is started (step C1). If the data input is not started, the idling time is checked (step C2). In step A10, a message indicating whether to disconnect the line is displayed. If the idling is within the specified time, it is checked whether access to the web page is designated (step C3). If designated, the process proceeds to step A4 in FIG. 2-3 is started, but if another web page is not designated, the process returns to step C1.
Assuming that the input operation is started to input data into any data input area of the input form as shown in FIG. 5, the input start is detected in step C1, and the process proceeds to step C4. The contents of the character number counter 2-4 are read out, and the number of input characters is compared with a specified value set in the specified value memory 2-6 to check whether the number of input characters exceeds the specified number of characters. If the input form includes a relatively large input area such as the “comment” input area, the value of the input character counter 2-4 exceeds the specified value, but such a large input is required. If no area is included and the amount of data to be input to the entire input form is relatively small, it is detected in step C4 that it is within the specified value, so the process proceeds to step C5 and the input time monitoring timer 2-5 Start reset.
[0012]
Then, when data input to the input form is possible, and character data is input, character input processing is performed to capture the character data and write it in the input form of the input form (step C6). Then, it is checked whether or not characters have been input to the entire input form (step C7), and if the end of character input is not instructed, the process proceeds to step C8 and obtained by the idling timer 2-3 and the input time monitoring timer 2-5. The measurement time is compared with the corresponding specified time in the specified value memory 2-6, and it is checked whether the specified time has passed due to the slow data input and the idling has exceeded the specified time. Here, if any specified time has not passed, the process returns to step C6, and data can be input with the line connected, but if any specified time has passed, a message to disconnect the line. Display is performed (step C9). If a predetermined input operation is performed to maintain the dial-up connection (step C10), the idling timer 2-3 is reset and started again (step C11), and the input time monitoring timer 2-5 is reset and started ( In step C5), data can be continuously input while the line is connected (step C6), but when the above input operation is not performed, the dial-up connection is automatically disconnected (step C12). Thus, when the line is disconnected during character input, the dial number and the current web page name are stored in the reconnection memory 2-7.
[0013]
On the other hand, when it is detected in step C4 that the maximum number of input characters that can be input to the input form exceeds the specified number when data input to the input form is started, the process proceeds to step C9. A guidance display is displayed as to whether to disconnect the line. Here, when the input operation for holding the connection is not performed, the dial-up connection is automatically disconnected (step C12).
Thus, even if the line is disconnected and the offline state is entered, the browser is not terminated, and data input to the input form can be continued (step C13). Here, it is checked whether or not the end of character input has been instructed (step C14), and character input is continued until all necessary items are input in each data input area of the input form. When “SEND” is instructed by the send button of the input form, the contents of the reconnection memory 2-7 are read and dial reconnection processing is performed (step C15), and the web in the reconnection memory 2-7 is also executed. A transmission process for transmitting the input data together with the input form corresponding to the page is performed (step C16).
Then, the process proceeds to step A8 in FIG. 2, and if access to another web page is designated, the process returns to step A4, and the above-described operation is repeated until the browser ends.
[0014]
As described above, in this data processing apparatus with a communication function, in dial-up Internet connection, when a browser is started and an input form is included in an HTML document, input is performed by analyzing the format of the input form. If the maximum possible number of input characters is accumulated and exceeds the specified number of characters, the dial-up connection is canceled on the condition, and the data input is performed offline, so that the communication cost can be saved. In this case, input data can be transmitted by dial-up reconnection after the data input is completed. In addition, if the size is defined in the HTML document corresponding to each data input area of the input form, the values can be simply accumulated, but the size of the data input area is not defined. However, since the size can be calculated, the maximum number of input characters of the entire input form can be accurately obtained. At this time, if there is even one data input area that is not limited in size, it is determined that the specified number of characters is exceeded. Further, when the line is disconnected, a message to that effect is displayed, so that the user can confirm it and perform a predetermined input operation to keep the line connected. In addition, when the input operation to input data to the input form is started, the above-mentioned conditions are judged and the line is disconnected, so that the connection state is maintained until the input to the input form is started. can do.
In addition, when an input form is included in the HTML document, the elapsed time from the start of the operation of inputting data to the input form is monitored, and the input is performed even if the elapsed time exceeds the specified time. The communication cost can be saved by canceling the dial-up connection when the connection cannot be completed and performing subsequent data input offline. In this case, input data can be transmitted by dial-up reconnection after the data input is completed.
[0015]
In the embodiment described above, the maximum number of characters that can be entered in the input form is accumulated to obtain the size of the data input area of the entire input form. However, the size of the data input area is obtained in dot size. You may do it.
In addition, the Internet connection is taken as an example, but a network system such as a LAN may be used.
[0016]
【The invention's effect】
According to the present invention, when there is a large amount of data that needs to be input in the data input area depending on the format of the input form transmitted via the communication line, the communication line is disconnected and the data input is performed offline. As a result, communication costs can be greatly reduced.
According to another invention, when the operation for inputting data into the data input area of the input form transmitted via the communication line is slow, the communication line is disconnected and the data input is performed offline. As a result, communication costs can be greatly saved.
[Brief description of the drawings]
1A is a block diagram showing the overall configuration of a data processing apparatus with a communication function connected to the Internet, and FIG. 1B is a diagram showing the main configuration of a RAM 2;
FIG. 2 is a flowchart showing an operation when using the WWW for Internet connection.
FIG. 3 is a flowchart showing step A5 (HTML document analysis processing) in FIG. 2;
FIG. 4 is a flowchart showing step A7 (document input processing) in FIG. 2;
FIG. 5 is a diagram illustrating an input form.
[Explanation of symbols]
1 CPU
2 RAM
2-1 System Work Memory 2-2 Received Data Memory 2-3 Idling Timer 2-4 Input Character Number Counter 2-5 Input Time Monitoring Timer 2-6 Specified Value Memory 2-7 Reconnection Memory 3 Storage Device 4 Storage Medium 5 Input Device 6 Display device

Claims (7)

Receiving means for receiving an input form when an input form having a data input area is transmitted via a communication line;
A data amount discriminating means for discriminating whether or not the maximum data amount that can be entered in the data input area of the input form exceeds a prescribed amount;
A communication control means for disconnecting the communication line when it is determined by the data amount determination means that the specified amount is exceeded;
With a communication function, comprising: a transmission means for transmitting data inputted in the data input area of the input form by reconnection of the communication line in a state where the communication line is disconnected by the communication control means Data processing device. Analyzing the data input area of the input form, providing an input form analysis means to calculate the maximum amount of data that can be entered in the data input area,
2. The communication function according to claim 1, wherein the data amount determining means determines whether or not the data amount exceeds a prescribed amount based on the data amount calculated by the input form analyzing means. Data processor. When it is determined by the data amount determining means that the specified amount is exceeded, an output means for outputting a message to that effect is provided,
2. A data processing apparatus with a communication function according to claim 1, wherein said communication control means disconnects the communication line in response to a predetermined input operation. The data amount discriminating unit discriminates whether or not the maximum data amount that can be input to the data input area exceeds a specified amount when an input operation for inputting data to the data input area of the input form is started. The data processing apparatus with a communication function according to claim 1. Receiving means for receiving an input form when an input form having a data input area is transmitted via a communication line;
An input start determining means for determining whether or not an input operation for inputting data to the data input area of the input form is started;
A time measuring means for measuring an elapsed time after the input start is determined by the input start determining means;
Time discriminating means for discriminating whether or not the elapsed time obtained by the time measuring means exceeds a specified time;
A communication control means for disconnecting the communication line when it is determined by the time determination means that the specified time has been exceeded;
With a communication function, comprising: a transmission means for transmitting data inputted in the data input area of the input form by reconnection of the communication line in a state where the communication line is disconnected by the communication control means Data processing device. Against the computer,
A function for receiving an input form when an input form having a data input area is transmitted via a communication line;
A function to determine whether or not the maximum amount of data that can be entered in the data entry area of the input form exceeds the specified amount;
A function to disconnect the communication line when it is determined that the specified amount is exceeded;
A recording medium recording a program for realizing a function of transmitting data input to a data input area of an input form by reconnection of a communication line in a state where the connection of the communication line is disconnected. Against the computer,
A function for receiving an input form when an input form having a data input area is transmitted via a communication line;
A function for determining whether or not an input operation for inputting data is started in the data input area of the input form;
A function to measure the elapsed time since the start of input was determined;
A function to determine whether the measured elapsed time has exceeded a specified time;
A function to disconnect the communication line when it is determined that the specified time has been exceeded;
A recording medium recording a program for realizing a function of transmitting data input to a data input area of an input form by reconnection of a communication line in a state where the connection of the communication line is disconnected.

Images