JP4073635B2 - Relay device, server device, terminal device, and translation server system using the same - Google Patents

Description

[0001]
BACKGROUND OF THE INVENTION
The present invention relates to a translation server system.
[0002]
[Prior art]
In recent years, with the widespread use of Internet technologies such as the World Wide Web (hereinafter referred to as WWW) and e-mail, it has become possible to obtain various types of information without regard to borders. Furthermore, a technique for reducing language barriers in information exchange by combining such an Internet and an automatic translation program has been proposed.
[0003]
For example, Japanese Patent Application Laid-Open No. 9-81549 proposes a system for easily translating information obtained in a foreign language by a combination of a client system that accesses the WWW and an automatic translation program.
[0004]
Japanese Patent Laid-Open No. 10-149359 proposes a system in which a mail service and an automatic translation system are combined to set a language in which an e-mail is to be translated in accordance with the address of the other party. In this system, when an electronic mail is received, the mail text is automatically translated based on the transmission address of the other party.
[0005]
However, in a system such as that described in JP-A-9-81549, information obtained from the WWW is translated at the client terminal. This translation processing has a high CPU load and takes some time for translation. For this reason, in such a system, it is necessary to prepare a high-performance computer in the client terminal. Since many client terminals are used, it has been difficult to actually introduce such a system.
[0006]
In addition, today, mobile terminals have become widespread as client terminals. However, the use of an automatic translation system in a portable terminal having a low processing capability has not been realistic.
[0007]
Furthermore, when translation is performed at the client terminal, when a plurality of people access the same information, it is necessary for each person to perform translation, resulting in redundant processing being performed as a whole system.
[0008]
On the other hand, the system described in Japanese Patent Laid-Open No. 10-149359 is intended to automatically translate the mail text based on the transmission / reception address of the other party. Today, however, domain names that make up email addresses are not necessarily classified by country. Therefore, in today's Internet environment where the number of communication partners is increasing, it has been difficult to operate this system consistently.
[0009]
[Problems to be solved by the invention]
The present invention has been made in view of such problems of the conventional technology, and an object of the present invention is to provide a function for translating a document without stress regardless of the performance of a user's terminal device.
[0010]
It is another object of the present invention to provide a technique for automatically determining whether or not to translate document data communicated via a network and translating it.
[0011]
In addition, the present invention reduces language barriers in document exchange via a network by using such a technique.
[0012]
[Means for Solving the Problems]
In order to solve the above problems, the present invention employs the following means.
[0013]
That is, the present invention is a relay device that relays request data from the terminal device to the server device and response data from the server device to the terminal device for the request data,
A translation unit for translating sentence information included in the response data is provided, the sentence information included in the response data received from the server apparatus is translated, and the translation result is transmitted to the terminal apparatus as response data.
[0014]
Further, the present invention is a relay device that relays request data from the terminal device to the server device and response data from the server device to the terminal device for the request data,
A control unit that communicates with a translation server that translates sentence information included in the response data is provided, the sentence information included in the response data received from the server apparatus is translated by the translation server, and the translation result is transmitted to the terminal apparatus as response data. You may do it.
[0015]
In addition, it further includes a cache unit that holds the translation result of the response data,
When the translation result of the response data for the request data from the terminal device is held in the cache unit, the control unit transmits the held translation result to the terminal device as the response data for the request data. Also good.
[0016]
That is, when the control unit receives the request data from the terminal device, the control unit searches for whether or not the translated response data for the request data is held in the cache unit. When the translated response data is held in the cache unit, the control unit responds to the terminal device with the translated response data.
[0017]
On the other hand, when the response data that has been translated is not held in the cache unit, the control unit causes the server device to transmit the response data, and causes the translation server to translate the sentence information that the response data has, Respond to the terminal device.
[0018]
Further, the present invention is connected to a network via a first relay device that translates and relays relay data and a second relay device that relays relay data without translation,
An information acquisition unit for acquiring information from the network;
A translation designation recognition unit for recognizing the presence or absence of translation designation of the information;
A path switching unit that switches a relay device when accessing the network;
When recognizing the translation designation, access the network from the first relay device to obtain the translated information,
When the translation designation is not recognized, a terminal device that accesses the network from the second relay device and obtains untranslated information may be used.
[0019]
Further, the present invention is a relay device that relays data between an internal network in which a main language for describing sentence information is defined and an external network in which the type of language for describing sentence information is not limited,
A description language determination unit that determines a description language of sentence information included in relayed data;
A translation unit that translates sentence information;
When data from an external network is relayed to the internal network, the description language of sentence information included in the data may be translated into the main language of the internal network.
[0020]
The present invention is also a server device that provides a data transmission / reception service between a serviced terminal in which a main language for describing sentence information is defined and an external communication device in which the type of language for describing sentence information is not limited. ,
A description language determination unit that determines a description language of sentence information included in received data;
A translation unit that translates sentence information;
When data from an external communication device is received, the description language of the sentence information may be translated into the main language of the serviced terminal.
[0021]
Further, the present invention is a server device that provides a data transmission / reception service between a serviced terminal and an external communication device,
A user of the serviced terminal, a translation language for translating sentence information included in the data, and a user information storage unit for designating the language to be translated;
It may be provided with a translation unit for translating sentence information.
[0022]
Further, the present invention is a terminal device connected via a network to a server device that translates sentence information into a specified language,
A document editing section for editing document data having sentence information and display control information of the sentence information;
A transmission / reception unit that transmits / receives sentence information to / from the server device,
The server device may translate part of the document data being edited or all of the document data being edited into a specified language.
[0023]
The present invention may be a program that causes a computer to function as the above device. Further, the present invention may be a program in which such a program is recorded on a computer-readable recording medium.
[0024]
DETAILED DESCRIPTION OF THE INVENTION
Preferred embodiments of the present invention will be described below with reference to the drawings.
(First embodiment)
Hereinafter, a first embodiment of the present invention will be described with reference to FIGS. 1 to 8.
[0025]
1 is a configuration diagram of a homepage translation system according to the present embodiment, FIG. 2 is a hardware configuration diagram of the translated text cache server 2 and the client device 5 of FIG. 1, and FIG. 3 is a client device of FIG. 5 is a diagram showing a display screen of a homepage browsing program (hereinafter referred to as browser 6) executed in FIG. 5, FIG. 4 is a diagram showing an environment setting window 20 of this browser 6, and FIG. FIG. 6 and FIG. 7 are flowcharts showing the processing of the control program executed by the client device 5, and FIG. 8 shows the processing of the control program executed by the translated text cache server 2. It is a flowchart.
<Configuration>
FIG. 1 shows a configuration diagram of this homepage translation system. The homepage translation system includes a client device 5 (corresponding to a terminal device) that accesses the Internet (corresponding to an external network), a proxy server 9 that relays access to the Internet, such as the client device 5, and the client device 5. And a server system 1 connected via a network.
[0026]
The server system 1 includes a translation cache server 2 (corresponding to a relay device) and a translation server 3. The server system 1 (translated sentence cache server 2) and the proxy server 9 of the present invention transmit the request data from the client device 5 to a world wide web server (hereinafter referred to as WWW server 7) on the Internet, and the WWW server. 7 is provided with a function of transmitting response data from the client device 5 to the client device 5.
[0027]
The client device 5 can access the WWW server 7 via the proxy server 9 or the translated text cache server 2.
[0028]
FIG. 2 shows a hardware configuration diagram of the translated text cache server 2 and the client device 5.
[0029]
The translated text cache server 2 executes communication by accessing the network, the CPU 51 for executing the control program and application program, the control program executed by the CPU 51, the memory 52 for storing data processed by the CPU 51, and the network. A communication interface 53 and a hard disk 54 for recording data processed by the CPU 51 are provided.
[0030]
The CPU 51 executes a control program stored in the memory 52 and provides a function as the translated sentence cache server 2.
[0031]
The memory 52 stores a control program executed by the CPU 51 and data processed by the CPU 51.
[0032]
The communication interface 53 sends communication data to the network according to a command from the CPU 51. The communication interface 53 receives communication data from the network.
[0033]
The hard disk 54 records data processed by the CPU 51 and data that has been processed.
[0034]
The client device 5 also includes a CPU 61, a memory 62, a communication interface 63, and a hard disk 64 that have the same functions as the translated text cache server 2. In addition to these, the client device 5 further includes a CRT 65 (corresponding to a display unit) for displaying data to the user, a keyboard 66 for inputting data by the user, and a mouse 67 for operating menus and icons on the CRT 65 by the user. I have.
[0035]
The client device 5 shown in FIG. 1 executes a browser 6 (corresponding to an information acquisition unit) and displays a home page provided from the WWW server 7 on the CRT 65. That is, the client device 5 establishes a connection with the WWW server 7 by the hypertext transfer protocol (hereinafter referred to as http). With this connection established, the client device 5 transmits a request 101 and obtains a response 102 from the WWW server 7.
[0036]
This response 102 includes data, images, sounds, and the like described in hypertext markup language (hereinafter referred to as HTML). The client device 5 displays these data on the CRT 65.
[0037]
The characteristic function of the client device 5 is to display the translation result of the home page on the CRT 65 when the user performs a predetermined operation. The client device 5 normally accesses the WWW server 7 via the proxy server 9 (corresponding to the second relay device).
[0038]
When translating the home page, the client device 5 (the CPU 51 executing the browser 6) transmits the request 103 to the translated text cache server 2 (corresponding to the first relay device) instead of transmitting the request 101 to the proxy server 9. (The CPU 61 of the client device 5 that executes the browser 6 corresponds to a path switching unit).
[0039]
The translation cache server 2 checks whether or not the translation result of the home page requested by the request 103 exists in its own hard disk 54.
[0040]
If the information exists in the hard disk 54, the translated text cache server 2 returns the translation result in the response 105 (the hard disk 54 corresponds to a cache unit. The hard disk 54 is simply referred to as a cache hereinafter).
[0041]
If the information does not exist in the hard disk 54, the translated text cache server 2 sends a request to the WWW server 7 and receives HTML data describing the home page as a response 104. Further, the translation cache server 2 excludes the HTML data tag (corresponding to the display control information) and reads the text information (corresponding to the sentence information). The translation cache server 2 transmits this text information to the translation server 3 on the network. The translation server 3 translates the received text information and returns the result to the translated sentence cache server 2.
[0042]
The translated text cache server 2 embeds the received translation result in the text information in the HTML data and stores the result in the hard disk 54. The translated text cache server 2 returns a response 105 including HTML data in which the translation result is embedded to the client device 5.
[0043]
The client device 5 receives the response 105 and displays it on the screen 6 b of the browser 6. As a result, the home page information provided from the WWW server 7 is translated and displayed on the client device 5.
[0044]
As described above, when the translated text cache server 2 issues a request 103 to the translated text cache server 2 with the translated website information held in the translated text cache server 2, the translated text cache server 2 accesses the WWW server 7. Instead, the response 105 including the information on the held home page is returned to the client apparatus 5 that issued the request.
<Browser screen configuration>
FIG. 3 shows a screen 6b displayed by the browser 6.
[0045]
The browser 6 displays a display menu 11, a marking menu, an environment setting menu, a help menu, and a home page display area 14 on the screen 6b.
[0046]
The display menu 11 includes selection items of source display designation, font designation, and translation 12. The user can display source data in HTML format that describes the homepage by displaying the source. The user can set the font of the character data to be displayed by selecting the font. Further, the user can translate a sentence to be displayed on the homepage by selecting the translation 12 (corresponding to the individual translation instruction unit).
[0047]
The marking menu on the screen provides a function of storing the address (universal resource locator, hereinafter referred to as URL) of a frequently accessed homepage.
[0048]
The environment setting menu provides a function for setting conditions for the browser 6 to access a homepage on the network and conditions to be displayed on the screen 6b. When the environment setting menu is selected, the environment setting window 20 shown in FIG. 4 is displayed, and the current setting values are displayed. The user can make the browser 6 perform a desired operation by changing and saving the setting.
[0049]
The translation button 13 (corresponding to the individual translation instruction section) provides a translation instruction function, similar to the translation 12 of the display menu 11. That is, when the user presses the translation button 13, the text information of the displayed home page is translated.
[0050]
Now, English and Japanese sentences are displayed in the bilingual mode in the home page display area 14. As shown in FIG. 3, the bilingual mode refers to a mode in which an English sentence and a Japanese sentence that is a translated sentence are alternately displayed.
[0051]
The user can alternately switch between the English screen and the translation screen (in the case of FIG. 3, the bilingual mode screen) by selecting the translation 12 on the display menu 11 or pressing the translation button 13.
<Preferences window>
FIG. 4 shows the configuration of the environment setting window 20. As described above, the environment setting window 20 is displayed when selection of the environment setting menu is detected.
[0052]
As shown in FIG. 4, the environment setting window 20 has a homepage translation policy designation field 21, a translation display mode designation field 22, a proxy server designation field 23, a translation cache server designation field 24, and a port number designation field 25 in order from the top of the window. , An OK button 26 and a cancel button 27 are provided.
[0053]
The homepage translation policy designation field 21 designates whether homepage translation is to be executed automatically or manually. For this reason, the homepage translation policy designation field 21 is provided with an automatic translation button 21a (corresponding to an automatic translation instruction section) and a manual translation button 21b which are set exclusively.
[0054]
When the homepage translation policy designation field 21 is set to automatic (when the automatic translation button 21a is on), the homepage is automatically translated. In this setting, the request 103 is always sent to the translated text cache server 2 instead of sending the request 101 to the proxy server server 9 by an operation on the user's screen. That is, the homepage information is always obtained via the translated text cache server 2.
[0055]
On the other hand, when the homepage translation policy designation field 21 is set to manual (when the manual translation button 21b is on), the browser 6 sends the request 101 to the WWW server 7 via the proxy server 9. For this reason, the browser 6 normally displays the original homepage information included in the response 102. When the client device 5 detects selection of the translation 12 in the display menu 11 or pressing of the translation button 13 by the user during such display, a request including the URL (corresponding to an identifier) of the displayed home page is displayed. 103 is sent to the translated text cache server 2. As a result, as described above, the response 105 including the homepage information translated from the translated text cache server 2 is returned and displayed in the homepage display area 14.
[0056]
The translated text display mode designation field 22 provides a function for changing the way of displaying the translation of the home page. Three types of translation display modes are provided: full-text translation mode, parallel translation display mode, and two-screen display mode.
[0057]
The full text translation mode is a mode in which the full text on the English homepage is translated into Japanese. That is, the homepage is displayed by replacing the original text information included in the original homepage with the translated text.
[0058]
The bilingual display mode is a mode in which the text information is divided into phrases and both the original text and the translated text are displayed on the home page. The display of the homepage display area 14 shown in FIG. 3 is an example of a bilingual display.
[0059]
The two-screen display mode is a mode for displaying two screens, a home page displayed in the original text and a home page displayed in the translated text.
<Cash method>
FIG. 5 shows an overview of the cache method of the homepage translation system. As shown in FIG. 5, in this homepage translation system, the proxy server 2a functions as the translated text cache server 2. That is, when the proxy server 2a receives the requests 103a and 103b from the client devices 5a and 5b and relays the requests 103a and the like, the translation result of the home page that should respond to the request 103a and the like is held in the cache. Search whether or not.
[0060]
If the translation result corresponding to the request 103a or the like is already held, the proxy server 1a does not relay to the WWW server 7 or request a translation to the translation server 3, and holds the translated homepage. It responds to the client apparatus 5a etc. with the information of.
[0061]
In this process, a cache based on the URL is appropriate. That is, the translated homepage information is stored at the address in the hard disk 54 based on the URL specified by the request 103a or the like. Then, when there is a request 103 for the home page next time, the hard disk 54 (cache) may be searched based on the URL. In this process, the URL is called a cache key.
[0062]
However, as described above, in this embodiment, three types of translation display modes (corresponding to translation specifications) are provided: full-text translation mode, parallel translation display mode, and two-screen display mode. For this reason, if the cache is simply accessed using the URL of the requested home page, the three display modes cannot be distinguished.
[0063]
Therefore, for example, it is assumed that the request 103a is issued from the client device 5a set to the full text translation mode to the home page indicated by the URL http://abcd.com, and the contents of the home page are held in the cache in the full text translation mode. To do. Next, it is assumed that the request 103b is issued from the client apparatus 5b set to the bilingual display mode to the same home page.
[0064]
In this case, the proxy server 1a cannot distinguish from the URL whether the home page is displayed in the full-text translation mode or the parallel translation display mode. For this reason, in response to the request 103b from the client device 5b set to the parallel translation display mode, the homepage information displayed in the full text translation mode is hit on the cache. As a result, the home page in the full text translation mode is displayed on the client device 5b set in the parallel translation display mode.
[0065]
In order to avoid such inconvenience, in this homepage translation system, information specifying the translated text display mode is added to the end of the URL. For example, a URL of http://abcd.com/AsAWhole is specified in the request 103a from the client device 5a set to the full text translation mode.
[0066]
Based on this URL, the proxy server 1a searches whether the home page specified by http://abcd.com is cached in the full-text translation mode. If this search hits in the cache, the home page information is returned.
[0067]
If the cache does not hit, the proxy server 1a generates a request 103c that specifies http://abcd.com as a URL, excluding the last character string “AsAWhole”, and sends the request 103c to the WWW server 7. Next, the proxy server 1a causes the translation server 3 to translate the text information included in the HTML data obtained as a response. Next, the proxy server 1a corrects the HTML data in the full-text translation mode using the translation result, and holds it in the cache using the URL http://abcd.com/AsAWhole as a key. Finally, the proxy server 1a returns the corrected HTML data to the client device 5a.
[0068]
On the other hand, the URL http://abcd.com/SideBySide is specified in the request 103b from the client device 5b set in the bilingual display mode. Based on this URL, the proxy server 1a searches whether the home page specified by http://abcd.com is cached in the parallel translation mode. If this search hits in the cache, the home page information is returned. If the search does not hit, the request 103c to the WWW server 7, the request to the translation server, the modification of the received HTML data, and storage in the cache (in this case, http://abcd.com/SideBySide And the response 103b is returned.
<Action and effect>
6 and 7 are flowcharts showing the processing of the client device 5. FIG. 8 is a flowchart showing the processing of the translated text cache server 2. The client device 5 and the translated text cache server 2 execute these processes and provide the function of the homepage translation system.
[0069]
As shown in FIG. 6, the client device 5 executes the browser 6 in the CPU 51 and waits for a URL input from the user (S1). Note that immediately after the browser 6 is executed, the client device 5 displays the initial home page.
[0070]
When the URL input from the user is detected in the process of S1, the client device 5 determines whether or not the automatic translation button 21a is on (S2).
[0071]
When the automatic translation button 21a is on, the client device 5 executes a translation acquisition process (S3). On the other hand, if the automatic translation button 21a is not on (the manual translation button 21b is on), the client device 5 acquires HTML data in the original text (S4).
[0072]
Next, the client device 5 displays the home page in the translated text or the original text (S5).
[0073]
FIG. 7 is a flowchart showing the translation acquisition process. In this process, the client device 5 acquires a translation of HTML data describing the home page.
[0074]
First, the client device 5 switches the proxy server from the normal one to the translated text cache server 2 (S30).
[0075]
Next, the client device 5 determines whether or not the translated text display mode is a bilingual mode (full text translated mode) (S31). When the translated text display mode is the full text translated mode, the client device 5 adds designation of the full text translated mode (AsAWhole) to the URL designated by the user (S32).
[0076]
On the other hand, when the translated text display mode is the parallel translation mode, the client device 5 adds the designation of the parallel translation mode (SideBySide) to the URL designated by the user (S33).
[0077]
Next, the client device 5 transmits a request to the translated text cache server 2 by designating the URL (S34). In this state, the client device 5 waits for a response from the translated text cache server 2 (S35).
[0078]
If there is no response (NO in S36), it is confirmed whether or not a cancel button (not shown) has been pressed (S37). When it is detected that a cancel button (not shown) has been pressed (YES in S37), the client device 5 ends the process. When it is not possible to detect that a cancel button (not shown) is pressed (NO in S37), the client device 5 returns to waiting for a response (S35) again.
[0079]
If there is a response, the client device 5 determines whether the translated text display mode is the two-screen mode (S38). In the case of the two-screen mode, the client device 5 activates the translated text display browser 6b (S39) and ends the translated text acquisition process.
[0080]
When the translation display mode is not the two-screen mode, the client device 5 ends the translation acquisition process as it is.
[0081]
FIG. 8 is a flowchart showing the processing of the translated text cache server 2.
[0082]
First, the translated text cache server 2 receives a request (S11). Next, the translation cache server 2 determines whether or not HTML data corresponding to the URL specified in the request exists in the cache (S12). If the HTML data exists in the cache, the translation result is acquired from the cache (S20), and a response is returned (S21).
[0083]
On the other hand, if the HTML data corresponding to the URL does not exist in the cache, the translation display mode designation (AsAWhole or SideBySide) is excluded from the URL, and an HTML file is acquired from the WWW server 7 (S13).
[0084]
Next, the translated text cache server 2 determines whether the translated text display mode is parallel translation (full text translation) (S14). When the translation display mode is parallel translation, the translation cache server 2 notifies the translation server 3 of the translation (S15).
[0085]
On the other hand, when the translated text display mode is not parallel translation (for full text translation), the translated text cache server 2 notifies the translation server 3 of full text translation (S16).
[0086]
Next, the translated text cache server 2 requests the translation server 3 for translation (S17). Next, the translated text cache server 2 acquires a translation result from the translation server 3 (S18).
[0087]
Next, the translated text cache server 2 stores the translation result in the cache (S19). At this time, a URL with a translation display mode designation (AsAWhole or SideBySide) is used as a key for searching the cache.
[0088]
Next, the translated text cache server 2 returns a response according to the translation result (S21), and ends the process.
[0089]
As described above, in the homepage translation system according to the present embodiment, the translation result is held in the translation cache server 2, so that when the same homepage is accessed multiple times, the display of the translated homepage is accelerated. Is done. Further, even when the same home page is accessed from a plurality of client devices 5 or the like, the home page translation is not repeated.
[0090]
Moreover, in this embodiment, the translation server 3 on a network performs translation. Therefore, the translation can be executed regardless of the resources of the client device 5 (capacity of the memory 62, CPU 61 performance, etc.). In other words, even if the client device 5 is a portable terminal or a cellular phone having a low capability, translation is executed at high speed.
In the present embodiment, the client device 5 is provided with a bilingual display mode, a full-text translation mode, and the like as translation display modes. This character string designating the translated text display mode is added to the end of the URL, transmitted to the translated text cache server 2, and used as a cache search key. As a result, even if the full-text translation mode and the bilingual mode specification are transmitted to the same translated cache server 2, it is possible to translate the homepage that distinguishes these modes, to store in the cache, and to read from the cache.
[0091]
In this way, by caching the translation result according to the mode, the response result to the client device is generated faster than the translation result in the other mode is cached and processed into the content according to the designated mode. It becomes possible.
[0092]
In the present embodiment, whether to translate the homepage is selected by switching the proxy server that transmits the request from the client device 5. For this reason, by adding the translation cache server 2, a translation system on the network can be constructed without affecting the conventional network.
[0093]
In addition, it is possible to reduce unnecessary translation processing by performing translation processing according to the designation by the user (manual translation) instead of always translating data acquired from the WWW server 7. It also contributes to reducing the processing load for translation.
<Modification of homepage description language>
In the above embodiment, the home page is described in HTML. However, the implementation of the present invention is not limited by the type of homepage description language. For example, the present invention can be implemented even when a home page is described in XML that is an extension of HTML. Further, the present invention can be implemented even when a home page is described in a subset of HTML.
<Change server>
In the above embodiment, the translation cache server 2 and the translation server 3 are realized using different proxy servers. However, the implementation of the present invention is not limited to such a configuration. For example, the translation cache server 2 and the translation server 3 may be realized using the same proxy server.
[0094]
The present invention is preferably implemented by a proxy server as described in the above embodiment, but is not necessarily limited thereto. That is, by executing the processing of the translated text cache server 2 shown in FIG. 8 in a relay device (device having a communication function) such as a router, bridge, or hub on the network connecting the client device 5 and the WWW server 7, Implementation of the present invention is possible.
[0095]
Further, it is not necessary to newly provide the translation server 3, and an existing translation service can be used. In this existing translation service, when an original text is transmitted to a predetermined address by e-mail, the translation server executes a translation process and returns the translated text to the transmission source. For example, the translated text cache server 2 may extract the text information of the HTML data, send it by e-mail to the address specified by the translation service, receive the returned translated text, and use it for the processing of the present invention.
<Variation of cache>
In the above embodiment, the translated text cache server 2 uses the hard disk 54 as a cache. However, the implementation of the present invention is not limited to such a configuration. For example, a semiconductor memory such as DRAM (Dynamic Random Access Memory) or SRAM (Static Random Access Memory) may be used as the cache.
[0096]
Of course, the cache key is not limited to the character string (AsAWhole or SideBySide).
<Automatic determination of description language>
In the above embodiment, when an automatic or manual translation instruction is given by the user, a request is transmitted to the translated text cache server 2. The translation cache server 2 obtains HTML data from the WWW server 7 and causes the translation server 3 to translate it.
[0097]
You may make it determine automatically whether it is necessary to translate the HTML data which this translation cache server 2 acquired.
[0098]
In the present embodiment, the translated text cache server 2 is realized by a proxy server. Therefore, the translated text cache server 2 has a predetermined internal network (referred to as a domain) provided with an access proxy service to the Internet. In the client device 5 or the like in this domain, it can be considered that there is almost one language used for describing text information. Such a language is called a main language.
[0099]
The translation cache server 2 may check the description language of the HTML data relayed into the domain, and if the description language is different from the main language, the translation server may be made to translate it.
[0100]
As a method for determining the description language of text information, for example, if a certain number or more of 2-byte hiragana or katakana can be detected in text information, the text information may be determined to be in Japanese. Further, if “the” can be detected by a certain number or more as a 1-byte character string in the text information, the text information may be determined to be in English.
[0101]
If these are mixed, the number of 2-byte hiragana or katakana in the text information and the number of 1-byte English characters in the text information may be counted and determined according to the number of the characters. .
[0102]
Different languages (1 byte representation / 2 byte representation) in different languages (English and French for 1 byte system, Japanese and Korean for 2 byte system, etc.) Therefore, if the presence / absence of a word used only in the main language and the presence / absence of a character code are used as determination conditions, the accuracy can be improved.
[0103]
The number of characters and the number of character strings may be determined from the entire HTML data received from the WWW server 7 by the translated text cache server 2. Moreover, you may determine from such predetermined | prescribed part of HTML data.
[0104]
Moreover, you may comprise so that a description language may be determined using the character code set information described in the header part of the HTML data received from the WWW server 7. FIG.
[0105]
Such automatic determination of the description language is not limited to the case where the main language is Japanese and the data described in English is translated. That is, it goes without saying that the present invention can be applied regardless of the language type of the language to be translated (original text) and the main language (translated text).
<Computer-readable recording medium>
The program described in this embodiment can be recorded on a computer-readable recording medium. Then, by causing the computer to read and execute the control program for the recording medium, the computer can function as the translated text cache server 2 or the client device 5 described in the present embodiment.
[0106]
Here, the computer-readable recording medium refers to a recording medium in which information such as data and programs is accumulated by electrical, magnetic, optical, mechanical, or chemical action and can be read from a computer. Examples of such recording media that can be removed from the computer include a floppy disk, a magneto-optical disk, a CD-ROM, a CD-R / W, a DVD, a DAT, an 8 mm tape, and a memory card.
[0107]
Further, there are a hard disk, a ROM (read only memory), and the like as a recording medium fixed to the computer.
<Data communication signal embodied in carrier wave>
The control program can be stored in a hard disk or memory of a computer and distributed to other computers through a communication medium. In this case, the program is transmitted through a communication medium as a data communication signal embodied by a carrier wave. And the computer which received the distribution can be functioned as the translated text cache server 2 and the client apparatus 5 of this embodiment.
[0108]
Here, the communication medium may be any of a wired communication medium (metal cables including a coaxial cable and a twisted pair cable, or an optical communication cable) and a wireless communication medium (satellite communication, terrestrial wireless communication, etc.).
[0109]
The carrier wave is an electromagnetic wave or light for modulating the data communication signal. However, the carrier wave may be a DC signal (in this case, the data communication signal has a baseband waveform without a carrier wave). Therefore, the data communication signal embodied in the carrier wave may be either a modulated broadband signal or an unmodulated baseband signal (corresponding to a case where a DC signal having a voltage of 0 is used as a carrier wave).
(Second Embodiment)
A second embodiment of the present invention will be described with reference to FIGS. 9 to 13. FIG. 9 is a configuration diagram of the mail translation system according to the present embodiment, and FIGS. 10 to 13 are flowcharts showing processing of a control program executed by the CPU 51 of the translated mail server 32 shown in FIG.
[0110]
In the first embodiment, the system for translating the home page has been described. In this embodiment, a system for translating mail instead of a home page will be described. Since the configuration and operation other than the part related to the mail are the same as those in the first embodiment, the same components are denoted by the same reference numerals and description thereof is omitted. Further, the drawings in FIGS. 1 to 8 are referred to as necessary.
<Configuration>
FIG. 9 shows a configuration diagram of this mail translation system. This mail translation system includes a mail server 31 (corresponding to a server device) that manages a mail box 55, a client device 5 (corresponding to a serviced terminal) that receives mail service from the mail server 31, and mails in the mail box 55. And a server system 1 for translating. The server system 1 includes a translation mail server 32 and a translation server 33 connected on a network.
[0111]
The mail server 31 receives mail 111 from abroad and holds it in the mail box 55. Further, the client device 5 accesses the mail server 31 and confirms whether the mail has arrived. The client device 5 downloads mail that has not been received (115). Further, the mail server 31 sends the mail 116 created by the client device 5 to the external network in accordance with the request from the client device 5 (117).
[0112]
The client device 5 provides a user interface. In other words, the client device 5 displays a received mail on a screen (not shown) and provides a tool for editing a mail sent by the user.
[0113]
The hardware configuration of the translated mail server 32 is the same as that of the translated text cache server 2 of the first embodiment (see FIG. 2). The translated mail server 32 monitors the mail box 55. When the translated mail server 32 finds a new mail in the mail box 55, the translated mail server 32 locks the mail and prohibits access from other devices. Further, the translated mail server 32 reads the newly arrived mail and determines the mail description language. If the description language is English, the translation mail server 32 transfers the new mail to the translation server 33 and requests translation.
[0114]
When the translation mail server 32 receives the translation result from the translation server 33, the translation mail server 32 replaces the text of the new mail that is locked in the mailbox with the translation result. Furthermore, the translated mail server 32 unlocks the new mail and allows the client device 5 to receive the translated mail.
<Action and effect>
10 to 13 show flowcharts of a control program executed by the translated mail server 32. FIG.
[0115]
The translated mail server 32 normally monitors the mailbox (S100). If there is no new mail (NO in S100), the translated mail server 32 returns control to monitoring new mail.
[0116]
If there is a new mail (YES in S100), the translated mail server 32 locks the new mail (S101). This is to prevent the client device 5 from reading the new mail before or during the translation of the new mail.
[0117]
Next, the translated mail server 32 executes a description language determination process for the mail text (S102). In the present embodiment, the mail is composed of a control unit indicating a destination and a transmission source, a mail body that is text information, and an attached document that is sent along with the mail body.
[0118]
If the mail text is English (YES in S103), the translated mail server 32 requests the translation server 33 to translate the mail text (S104). When the result translated by the translation server 33 is returned to the translated mail server 32, the mail server 32 replaces the locked mail text in the mailbox with the translated result. Next, the translated mail server 32 advances the control to the determination in S105.
[0119]
If the mail text is Japanese (NO in S103), the translated mail server 32 advances control to the determination in S105.
[0120]
In S105, the translated mail server 32 determines whether an attached document exists (S105). If there is no attached document (NO in S105), the translated mail server 32 advances control to the process in S109. On the other hand, if there is an attached document (YES at S105), the translated mail server 32 executes a description language determination process for the attached document (S106) (the processes at S102 and S106, ie, the description language determination process). The CPU 51 of the translated mail server 32 to be executed corresponds to a description language determination unit).
[0121]
The mail control unit (header information) describes the presence / absence of an attached document, the file name of the attached document, and the encoding method of the attached document performed on the transmission side. Also, separate information indicating the data portion of the attached document is described in the mail body. Therefore, the presence of the attached document can be determined from the mail control unit (header information). Therefore, when there is an attached document, the attached document file can be restored from the encoded data in the mail body specified by the separate information by decoding processing according to the encoding method on the transmission side.
[0122]
As a result of the description language determination, if the attached document is not English (Japanese), the translated mail server 32 advances the control to the processing of S109.
[0123]
On the other hand, if the attached document is in English, the translated mail server 32 translates the attached document (S108). In that case, the translated mail server 32 reads the text information from the attached document. Note that it is possible to determine in which application the document is used from the extension given to the file name of the attached document, and the text information is read by performing analysis according to the document format.
[0124]
Next, the translation mail server 32 requests the translation server 33 to translate the read text information. When the translation server 33 returns the translation result to the translation mail server 32, the translation mail server 32 replaces the text information of the attached document with the translation result. As a result, a translated attached document is created. Further, the translated mail server 32 replaces the attached document in the mailbox with the translated attached document. Thereafter, the post-translation mail server 32 advances the control to the process of S109.
[0125]
In the process of S109, the new mail is unlocked and the process returns to the monitoring of new mail (S100) again.
[0126]
Naturally, the monitoring process and the translation process of newly arrived mail in the process of FIG. 10 may be executed in parallel, and the processes may be executed in parallel for a plurality of newly arrived mails.
[0127]
FIG. 11 is a flowchart showing the description language determination process of the mail text. In this process, the translated mail server 32 first reads the mail text (S1021). Next, the translated mail server 32 executes a description language determination process (S1022). Thereafter, the translated mail server 32 ends the description language determination process for the mail text.
[0128]
FIG. 12 is a flowchart showing a description language determination process for an attached document. In this process, the translated mail server 32 first excludes the control information from the attached document (S1061). The attached document may be pure text information or binary information created by a word processor, a spreadsheet program, or a presentation document creation tool. Here, text information is extracted from the attached document.
[0129]
Next, the translated mail server 32 executes a description language determination process on the extracted text information (S1062). Thereafter, the translated mail server 32 ends the description language determination process for the attached document.
[0130]
FIG. 13 is a flowchart showing the description language determination process. In this process, the description language of the text information is determined.
[0131]
First, the translated mail server 32 counts the number of character strings “the” included in the text information (S110). In this process, the translated mail server 32 regards the text information as a 1-byte ASCII character string, and counts the number of 3-byte sequences corresponding to “the” from the text information. The reason for using the presence or absence of the character string "the" as a criterion for the description language is that "the" is frequently used in English, and it does not exist in other languages such as French or German. is there.
[0132]
Next, the translated mail server 32 counts the number of 2-byte hiragana or katakana characters included in the text information (S111). In this process, the translated mail server 32 regards the text information as a combination of 1-byte and 2-byte characters, and counts the number of byte sequences corresponding to Hiragana or Katakana.
[0133]
Next, the translated mail server 32 determines whether one or more character strings “the” are present in the text information (S112).
[0134]
If one or more character strings “the” do not exist in the text information, the translated mail server 32 determines whether hiragana or katakana exists in the text information (S113).
[0135]
If it is determined in S113 that hiragana or katakana does not exist, the translated mail server 32 estimates that language determination is impossible (S114), and ends the description language determination process.
[0136]
If it is determined in S113 that hiragana or katakana exists, the translated mail server 32 estimates the description language as Japanese (S115) and ends the description language determination process.
[0137]
On the other hand, if it is determined in S112 that one or more character strings “the” exist, the translated mail server 32 further determines whether hiragana or katakana exists in the text information (S116). This takes into account the mixture of English and Japanese.
[0138]
If it is determined in S116 that hiragana or katakana does not exist, the translated mail server 32 estimates the description language as English (S117), and ends the description language determination process.
[0139]
If it is further determined in S116 that hiragana or katakana exists, the translated mail server 32 compares the number of alphabetic characters with the number of kana characters (S118). If the number of alphabetic characters is greater than the number of kana characters (YES in S119), the translated mail server 32 estimates the description language as English (S120) and ends the description language determination process.
[0140]
If the number of kana characters is greater than or equal to the number of alphabetic characters (NO in S119), the translated mail server 32 estimates the description language as Japanese (S121) and ends the description language determination process.
[0141]
As described above, in the mail translation system of the present embodiment, the description language of the newly arrived mail body or the mail attachment document is automatically determined, and this is automatically performed when the description language is English (different from Japanese). To translate. Therefore, the user who receives the mail does not need to manually activate the translation system. For this reason, this automatic mail translation system is particularly effective in an environment where a large number of mails are received from overseas.
[0142]
The translation mail server 32 reads and executes new mail that arrives in the mailbox. Therefore, the translation can be executed regardless of the resources of the client device 5 (the capacity of the memory 62 and the performance of the CPU 61).
[0143]
Further, the translated mail server 32 according to the present embodiment determines English / Japanese sentences from the text information based on the number of character strings “the”, 2-byte hiragana and katakana characters. Since such a simple character string is used for the determination, the translated mail server 32 does not need to hold a special dictionary. For this reason, the storage capacity of the translated mail server 32 (the capacity of the memory 62 and the hard disk 64) can be reduced.
<Modification>
In the mail translation system of the above embodiment, English mail received from overseas is translated into Japanese. However, the implementation of the present invention is not limited to such a configuration. For example, in a region where English is the official language, such as in the United States or the United Kingdom, it is determined whether the incoming mail is in Japanese or not in a company that uses English as the internal official language in Japan. You may translate. The description language (main language) of the document used in the serviced terminal such as the client device 5 is held in the memory 52 or the hard disk 54 of the mail translation server 32, and the mail translation server 32 sets the description language as the description language. What is necessary is just to instruct the translation server 33 to translate. The translation server 33 may hold the main language.
[0144]
In the above embodiment, the mail is automatically translated by determining whether the mail description language is English or Japanese. However, the implementation of the present invention is not limited to English and Japanese mail. For example, instead of “the”, the number of French definite articles “la” or “le” may be counted to determine whether or not it is French, and new French mail may be automatically translated. In addition, the number of umlaut characters peculiar to German, the definite article "die", and the like may be counted to determine whether or not it is German, and new German mail may be automatically translated.
[0145]
In this case, even if the same code system (1-byte expression / 2-byte expression) is used in the determination method of whether or not it is the main language, different languages (English and French for 1-byte system and Japanese and Korean for 2-byte system) Therefore, the accuracy can be improved if the presence / absence of a word used only in the main language and the presence / absence of a character code are used as determination conditions.
[0146]
Further, instead of counting the number of characters in hiragana or katakana, the number of Korean characters may be counted to determine whether or not the language is Korean, and new Korean mail may be automatically translated. Thus, the implementation of the present invention is not limited to the mail description language.
The description language of the mail was determined from the total count result of the text information included in the mail. Instead, the description language may be determined based on the counting result of text information of a specific part of the mail (for example, the first 20 bytes of the mail body).
[0147]
Further, it is not necessary to newly provide the translation server 33, and it is possible to use an existing translation service. In this existing translation service, when an original text is transmitted to a predetermined address by e-mail, the translation server executes a translation process and returns the translated text to the transmission source. For example, the translated mail server 32 may extract the text information of the e-mail, send it again by e-mail to the address specified by the translation service, receive the returned translation, and use it for the processing of the present invention. .
(Third embodiment)
A mail translation system according to the third embodiment of the present invention will be described with reference to FIGS. FIG. 14 is a block diagram of this mail translation system, FIG. 15 is a data structure diagram of the user table 34 referred to by the translated mail server 32 shown in FIG. 14, and FIG. It is a flowchart which shows the process of the control program performed.
[0148]
In the second embodiment, a mail translation system has been described in which new mails in a mailbox are monitored and automatically translated into Japanese when the description language is English.
[0149]
In this embodiment, instead of determining the description language, a mail translation system that executes mail translation according to a user table 34 (corresponding to a user information storage unit) in which a set of a sender and a receiver is registered. explain. About another structure and an effect | action, it is the same as that of 2nd Embodiment, About the same structure, the same code | symbol is attached | subjected and the description is abbreviate | omitted. Further, the drawings in FIGS. 1 to 13 are referred to as necessary.
<Configuration>
FIG. 14 shows a configuration diagram of this mail translation system. This mail translation system is the same as that of the second embodiment except that the user table 34 is provided in the translated mail server 32. This mail translation system is different from the system of the second embodiment in that it automatically translates both incoming mail and outgoing mail.
[0150]
FIG. 15 is a data structure diagram of the user table 34. In this table, the direction of translation is defined for the combination of the sender and receiver of the mail.
[0151]
As shown in FIG. , And is composed of records consisting of elements of sender, receiver and translation direction.
[0152]
Registration No. Is the serial number of the registered record.
[0153]
The address of the mail sender is designated as the sender. On the other hand, the address of the mail recipient is described in the recipient.
[0154]
The translation direction specifies whether the translation is performed in Japanese or English or English-Japanese. For example, Japanese-English is a designation for translating mail from Japanese to English.
[0155]
By registering a large number of records as described above in this table, the necessity of translation of mail (outgoing mail and received mail) existing in the mailbox and its translation direction are designated.
[0156]
For example, the registration number of FIG. In the record of 1, the translation direction is designated English-Japanese for the combination of the sender ALL and the recipient skasai@aaa.co.jp. In this case, all mail addressed to the recipient skasai@aaa.co.jp is translated from English to Japanese.
[0157]
Registration No. In record 2, the translation from Japanese to English is specified for the combination of the sender skasai@aaa.co.jp and the receiver jack@bbb.com.
[0158]
As described above, the mail translation system according to the present embodiment automatically performs the translation in accordance with the user table 34 regardless of the outgoing mail or the received mail.
<Action and effect>
FIG. 16 shows a flowchart of the translation processing according to this embodiment. The mail server 31, the translation mail server 32, and the translation server 33 shown in FIG. 14 execute each control program to realize the process of FIG.
[0159]
First, in this mail translation system, the translated mail server 32 monitors the mail box and detects that mail has arrived at the mail server 31 (S200).
[0160]
Next, the translated mail server 32 extracts the sender and receiver of the mail from the mail control information (S201).
[0161]
Next, the translated mail server 32 searches the user table 34 (S202), and determines whether the combination of the sender and the recipient exists in the user table 34 (S203).
[0162]
When the combination of the sender and the recipient does not exist in the user table 34, the translated mail server 32 does not execute anything, and executes the process of S210 of the mail server.
[0163]
When the combination of the sender and the recipient exists in the user table 34, the translated mail server 32 acquires the translation direction from the user table 34 (S204).
[0164]
Next, the translated mail server 32 checks the description language of the mail text (S205). Since this process is the same as that shown in FIGS. 11 and 13, the description thereof is omitted.
[0165]
Next, the translated mail server 32 determines whether it is a mail to be translated from the description language of the mail text and the translation direction of the user table 34 (S206). For example, when the description language of the mail text is English and the translation direction is English-Japanese, it is determined that the mail is to be translated. If the mail is not a translation target (NO in S206), the translated mail server 32 does not execute anything and causes the process of S210 of the mail server to be executed.
[0166]
On the other hand, when it is determined that the mail is to be translated (YES in S206), the translated mail server 32 requests the translation server 33 to translate the mail text (S207).
[0167]
Next, the translation mail server 32 creates a translated mail by replacing the mail text with the translation result based on the translation result, and registers the translated mail in the mailbox (S208). Thereafter, the translated mail server 32 ends the processing of this mail.
[0168]
After processing by the translated mail server 32, the mail server 31 transmits a translated mail to the recipient (S209).
[0169]
Next, the mail server 31 transmits the original text mail to the recipient (S210). As described above, the automatic mail translation and transmission processing are executed.
[0170]
As described above, in the mail translation system according to the present embodiment, whether or not to be translated is determined according to the definition of the user table 34 and the mail description language, and the translation direction is determined. You can build no email translation system.
<Modification>
In the above embodiment, an e-mail translation system that performs Japanese-English or English-Japanese translation has been described. However, the implementation of the present invention is not limited to the translation direction, that is, the mail description language. For example, Japan-Korea, Korea-Japan, Germany-Japan, Germany-Japan, France-Japan, France-Japan, etc. can be designated as the translation direction. Therefore, any language supported by the translation server can be a translation target of the mail translation system.
[0171]
Further, it is not necessary to newly provide the translation server 33, and it is possible to use an existing translation service. In this existing translation service, when an original text is transmitted to a predetermined address by e-mail, the translation server executes a translation process and returns the translated text to the transmission source. For example, the translated mail server 32 may extract the text information of the e-mail, send it again by e-mail to the address specified by the translation service, receive the returned translation, and use it for the processing of the present invention. .
(Fourth embodiment)
A mail translation system according to the third embodiment of the present invention will be described with reference to the drawing of FIG. FIG. 17 is a block diagram of this mail translation system.
[0172]
In the second embodiment and the third embodiment, the mail translation system that monitors newly arrived mails in the mailbox and translates the description language has been described.
[0173]
In the present embodiment, a mail translation system that translates an attached document written in English attached to a mail transmitted from the client device 5 and returns it to the transmission source will be described.
[0174]
About another structure and an effect | action, it is the same as that of 2nd Embodiment, About the same structure, the same code | symbol is attached | subjected and the description is abbreviate | omitted. Further, the drawings in FIGS. 1 to 16 are referred to as necessary.
<Configuration>
FIG. 17 shows a configuration diagram of this mail translation system. As in the second embodiment, this mail translation system includes a client device 5, a mail server 31, a translated mail server 32, and a translation server 33.
[0175]
The client device 5 is used as a user interface for creating a document and requesting document translation. When there is a document that the client device 5 wants to translate into English during document creation, the user attaches the document to a mail and transmits it to the translated mail server 32 at a predetermined address (Japanese-English translation address).
[0176]
This mail is transmitted to the translated mail server 32 by the mail server 31.
[0177]
The translated mail server 32 reads the attached document from the mail received by receiving the address for Japanese-English translation. Further, the translated mail server 32 sends the text information to the translation server 33 and requests translation. When the translated result is returned, the translated mail server 32 rewrites the attached document according to the translated result and creates a translated attached document.
[0178]
Next, the translated mail server 32 replies with an email attached with the translated attached document. The mail server stores this reply mail in the mailbox.
[0179]
The client device 5 reads the reply mail in the mailbox and displays the translated attached mail. As a result, the user can translate the attached document.
[0180]
Similarly, an English attached document can be translated into Japanese by sending an English attached document to an address for English-Japanese translation.
<Modification>
In the mail translation system of the fourth embodiment, the translation direction (Japanese-English, English-Japanese) is designated by the address received by the translated mail server 32. However, the implementation of the present invention is not limited to such a configuration. For example, the user may specify the translation direction at the time of mail transmission, and the designation may be held in the mail box 55. The mail server 31 transfers the mail with the translation designation to the translated mail server 32. Then, after the translation result is returned, the mail may be returned to the sender.
[0181]
Moreover, you may perform such translation with transmission of an email. That is, the mail server 31 confirms whether or not there is a translation designation in the mail requested to be transmitted in the mailbox. The mail server 31 transmits a mail without a translation designation as it is. On the other hand, the mail server 31 transfers the mail with the translation designation to the translated mail server 32 before sending it to the original destination. Then, after the translation result is returned, the mail server 31 may replace the body of the mail with the translation result and transmit it to the original destination.
<Fifth Embodiment>
A fifth embodiment of the present invention will be described with reference to FIGS. 18 is a configuration diagram of the translation system according to the present embodiment, FIG. 19 is a display screen of the document editing application program 40 executed by the client device 5, and FIGS. 20 to 21 are shown in FIG. 6 is a flowchart showing processing of a document editing application program program 40 executed by a CPU 51 of the client device 5.
[0182]
In the first to fourth embodiments, the homepage or mail translation system has been described. In this embodiment, a translation system that cooperates with a document editing application program will be described. This translation system includes a client device 5 that executes a document editing application program and a server device 8 that executes translation. Other configurations and operations are the same as those in the first to fourth embodiments, and the same components are denoted by the same reference numerals and description thereof is omitted.
[0183]
FIG. 18 shows a configuration diagram of this translation system. This translation system includes a client device 5 (corresponding to a terminal device) that executes a document editing application program 40 and a server device 8 that receives a translation request from the client device 5 and executes translation.
[0184]
The client device 5 executes the document editing application program 40 in the CPU 61 and provides a function as a document creation device (the CPU 61 of the client device 5 that executes the document editing application program 40 corresponds to a document editing unit). The document that the client device 5 edits with the document editing application program 40 includes display control information for displaying the size, position, shape, ruled line, and the like of text in addition to text information (corresponding to sentence information).
[0185]
The client device 5 executes a control program having the translation data transmission / reception unit 41 and communicates with the server device 8 (the CPU 61 of the client device 5 that executes the translation data transmission / reception unit 41 corresponds to the transmission / reception unit). Communication with the server device 8 is realized by a distributed component object model (DCOM) provided as a function of Windows 98 or the like by Microsoft Corporation. Through this communication, the document creation application program 40 of the client device 5 can cause the server device 8 to translate the document being edited. With this function, the user can also specify and translate a part of the document being created. In addition, the entire created document can be translated.
[0186]
FIG. 19 shows a display screen 460 displayed on the CRT 65 when the CPU 61 of the client device 5 executes the document editing application program 40. The display screen 460 includes a menu bar including a file menu, an editing menu-461, an environment setting menu, and a help menu, a drawing area 462 for displaying and editing text information, a full-text translation button 463, a partial A translation button 464 is provided.
[0187]
In the edit menu 461, items of copy, delete, full-text translation 465, and partial translation 466 are prepared.
[0188]
The full text translation 465 of the edit menu 461 is a designation for translating all text information of the document being edited. When detecting that the full-text translation 465 has been selected, the CPU 61 of the client device 5 transmits all text information currently being edited to the server device 8 to execute translation. The same function is executed by the full-text translation button 63.
[0189]
A partial translation 466 of the edit menu 461 is a designation for translating a portion selected by a drag operation of the mouse 67 (corresponding to a selection unit). “Drag” refers to an operation of pressing a desired position (selection start position) of a document displayed on a screen with a pointing device such as a mouse or a touch panel, moving it to a predetermined position, and designating a desired range. .
[0190]
In FIG. 19, an underline 467 indicates a selected part. In such a state, when the partial translation 466 is selected, the CPU 61 of the client device 5 transmits the text information of the underlined 467 portion to the server device 8 to execute the translation. The same function is also executed by the partial translation button 464. The full text translation 465, the partial translation 466, the full text translation button 463, or the partial translation button 464 of the edit menu 461 corresponds to the instruction unit.
[0191]
The server device 8 is connected to the client device 5 via a network. The server device 8 includes a data reception unit 42 (the CPU 51 of the server device 8 that executes the data reception unit 42 corresponds to a transmission / reception unit), and a translation processing unit 43 (the CPU 51 that executes the translation processing unit 43 corresponds to a translation unit). A translation program is provided by executing a control program consisting of The hardware configuration of the server device 8 is the same as that of the translated text cache server 2 shown in FIG.
[0192]
The data receiving unit 42 communicates with the translation data transmitting / receiving unit 41 of the control program executed by the client device 5 by DCOM, and receives the translation data and the translation instruction. Then, the data receiving unit 42 delivers this translation data to the translation processing unit 43 and requests translation. Further, the data reception unit 42 returns the translation result to the translation data transmission unit 41 of the client device 5 by DCOM.
[0193]
The translation processing unit 43 translates the data requested from the data receiving unit 42.
<Action and effect>
20 to 22 show the processing of the document editing application program 40 executed by the client device 5. The client device 5 provides a document editing function by executing the application program 40.
[0194]
As shown in FIG. 20, the client device 5 is in a normal event waiting state (S300). An event refers to an external factor that changes the state of the client device 5. When an event occurs, the client device 5 determines the type of the event.
[0195]
First, the client device 5 determines whether or not the event is a partial translation instruction (S301). If the event is an instruction for partial translation, the client device 5 executes partial translation processing (S302). Thereafter, the client device 5 returns to waiting for an event (S300).
[0196]
On the other hand, if the event is not a partial translation instruction, the client device 5 determines whether the event is a full-text translation instruction (S303). If the event specifies full-text translation, full-text translation processing is executed (S304). Thereafter, the client device 5 returns to waiting for an event (S300).
[0197]
If the event is neither a partial translation instruction nor a full-text translation instruction, the client device 5 executes another document editing function (S305). Thereafter, the client device 5 returns to the event waiting (S300).
[0198]
FIG. 21 shows the partial translation process. The partial translation process is a process for translating a part of a document being edited. In this process, the user selects a part of the document being edited by dragging. The user performs partial translation in this state. Partial translation is executed by selecting a partial translation 466 in the edit menu 461 or pressing a partial translation button 464. By these operations, a partial translation instruction event occurs.
[0199]
When a partial translation instruction event occurs, the client device 5 first reads out text information in the selected range (S3021). Next, the read text information is held in a shared memory (not shown) of the client device 5.
[0200]
Next, the client device 5 sends a translation request to the translation server via the translation data transmission / reception unit (S3022). The translation data transmission / reception unit sends a sentence placed in a shared memory (not shown) and a translation command to the data reception unit 42 of the server device 8 by DCOM.
[0201]
Thereafter, the client device 5 waits for translation completion (S3023). At this time, in the server device 8, the sentence is delivered from the data receiving unit 42 to the translation processing unit 43, and translation is executed. The translation result is returned from the data receiving unit 42 to the client device 5 by DCOM.
[0202]
When the translation result is returned, the client device 5 reflects the translation result on the document (S3024).
[0203]
FIG. 22 shows the full text translation process. The full-text translation process is a process for translating the entire document being edited. Full-text translation is executed by selecting the full-text translation 465 in the edit menu 461 or pressing the full-text translation button 463. By these operations, an event of a full text translation instruction occurs.
[0204]
When a full-text translation instruction event occurs, the client device 5 first reads text information from the document being edited (S3041). Next, the read text information is held in a shared memory (not shown) of the client device 5.
[0205]
Next, the client device 5 sends a translation request to the translation server via the translation data transmission / reception unit (S3042). The translation data transmission / reception unit sends a sentence placed in a shared memory (not shown) and a translation command to the data reception unit 42 of the server device 8 by DCOM.
[0206]
Thereafter, the client device 5 waits for translation completion (S3043). At this time, in the server device 8, the sentence is delivered from the data receiving unit 42 to the translation processing unit 43, and translation is executed. The translation result is returned from the data receiving unit 42 to the client device 5 by DCOM.
[0207]
When the translation result is returned, the client device 5 reflects the translation result on the document (S3044).
[0208]
As described above, in the translation system of the present embodiment, since the translation is executed by the server device 8, the client device 5 does not need resources for translation processing (the performance of the CPU 61 and the capacity of the memory 62). . Therefore, even the client device 5 with few resources, such as a portable terminal, can execute translation with a light load.
<Modification>
In the above embodiment, DCOM is used for communication between the client device 5 and the server 8. However, the implementation of the present invention is not limited to such a configuration. For example, a remote procedure call prepared in the unix operating system may be used for communication between the client device 5 and the server 8.
[0209]
In the above embodiment, the translation function in the document editing application program 40 executed by the client device 5 has been described. However, the embodiment of the present invention is not limited to the type of the document editing application program 40. That is, the document editing application program 40 may be of any type, such as a word processor, a spreadsheet program (spread sheet), a presentation material creation program, and a text editor.
[0210]
In the above embodiment, the client device 5 includes the mouse 67, and the user designates text information to be partially translated by dragging the mouse 6. However, the implementation of the present invention is not limited to such a configuration. For example, a touch panel may be used instead of a mouse. Further, a pointing device such as a flat space may be used. Further, for example, instead of dragging, the text information may be selected from a rectangular area where two positions are continuously pressed and a straight line connecting the two points is a rectangular diagonal line. Alternatively, a character string sandwiched between the two points may be a translation target.
[0211]
Further, it is not necessary to newly provide the translation server 3, and an existing translation service can be used. In this existing translation service, when an original text is transmitted to a predetermined address by e-mail, the translation server executes a translation process and returns the translated text to the transmission source. For example, the server device 8 may extract the text information of the HTML data, send it by e-mail to the address specified by the translation service, receive the returned translation, and use it for the processing of the present invention.
[0212]
【The invention's effect】
As described above, according to the present invention, the sentence information is translated by the relay device or the server device, so that the document can be translated without stress regardless of the performance of the terminal.
[0213]
Further, in the present invention, since the translation function is provided in the relay device arranged between the plurality of client devices and the server device, it is not necessary to provide the translation function in each client device, and the resource consumption of the client device can be reduced. .
[0214]
Further, in the present invention, data translated by a request from another client device is held and used as response data for another request from another client device, etc., so that it is possible to reduce duplicate translation processing and data for the server device. Contributes to reducing network load by reducing the number of requests.
[0215]
In the present invention, the server device includes a description language determination unit that determines the description language of the sentence information included in the data. Therefore, the server device automatically determines whether the received document data from the external network should be translated. Can be translated.
[0216]
Thus, according to the present invention, language barriers in document exchange via a network can be reduced.
[Brief description of the drawings]
FIG. 1 is a configuration diagram of a homepage translation system according to a first embodiment of the present invention.
FIG. 2 is a hardware configuration diagram of a translation cache server and a client device.
FIG. 3 is a diagram showing a display screen of a browser
FIG. 4 shows a browser environment setting window.
FIG. 5 is a diagram showing a cache method of the homepage translation system
FIG. 6 is a flowchart (1) showing processing of the client device.
FIG. 7 is a flowchart (2) showing processing of the client device.
FIG. 8 is a flowchart showing the processing of the translated text cache server.
FIG. 9 is a block diagram of a mail translation system according to the second embodiment of the present invention.
FIG. 10 is a flowchart showing a process of a translated mail server according to the second embodiment of the present invention.
FIG. 11 is a flowchart showing a description language determination process for a mail text.
FIG. 12 is a flowchart showing a description language determination process for an attached document;
FIG. 13 is a flowchart showing description language determination processing;
FIG. 14 is a mail translation system according to the third embodiment of the present invention.
FIG. 15 is a data structure diagram of a user table.
FIG. 16 is a translation processing flow according to the third embodiment of the present invention.
FIG. 17 is a block diagram of a translation system according to the fourth embodiment of the present invention.
FIG. 18 is a block diagram of a translation system according to the fifth embodiment.
FIG. 19 is a diagram showing a display screen of a document editing application program
FIG. 20 is a flowchart showing document editing processing;
FIG. 21 is a flowchart showing partial translation processing;
FIG. 22 is a flowchart showing full-text translation processing.
[Explanation of symbols]
2 Translation cache server
3 Translation server
5 Client device
6 Browser
9 Proxy server
13 Translation button
20 Environment setting window
32 Translation mail server
34 User table
40 Document editing application program
41 Translation data transmitter / receiver
42 Data reception part
43 Translation Processing Department
51 CPU5
52 memory
54 hard disk
55 mailbox
65 CRT
67 mice
463 Full-text translation button
464 Partial translation button

Claims (4)

An information acquisition unit that is connected to a network via a first relay device that translates and relays relay data and a second relay device that relays relay data without translation, and acquires information from the network;
A translation designation recognition unit for recognizing the presence or absence of translation designation of the information;
A path switching unit that switches a relay device when accessing the network;
When the translation designation is recognized, the first relay device accesses the network to obtain translated information. When the translation designation is not recognized, the second relay device accesses the network and is not translated. A terminal device that obtains information.   The said information acquisition part has an individual translation designation | designated part which designates the translation of the information acquired from a network for every information, and an automatic translation designation | designated part which designates the translation of the information acquired from a network uniformly. Terminal device.   The terminal device according to claim 1, further comprising a display unit that displays information, and displays the pre-translation information and the translated information in a bilingual format in which each predetermined part is arranged.   The terminal device according to any one of claims 1 to 3, further comprising a display unit having a plurality of screen areas for displaying information, wherein the information before translation and the translated information are displayed in different screen areas.

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