JP4608633B2 - Electronic document related information acquisition system, electronic document processing device - Google Patents

Description

  The present invention relates to a system that uses an electronic document such as an electronic quotation or purchase order, and more particularly to an electronic document related information acquisition system and electronic document processing for acquiring information related to an electronic document via a communication network. Relates to the device.

  In recent years, various documents used in business such as quotations and purchase orders are often used not only in paper media as in the past, but also in the form of electronic documents obtained by digitizing them. By using these documents in the form of electronic documents, editing, printing, storage, etc. are much easier than in the case of paper media, and information can be easily and quickly transmitted to the other party using e-mail. Became.

  Browsing and editing electronic documents can be done using a dedicated terminal for the electronic document, or from a general terminal such as a personal computer, a mobile phone, or a mobile information terminal, and commercially available spreadsheet software, word processing software, etc. This can be done by using dedicated display / editing software for electronic documents.

  As a conventional technology of a system using such an electronic document, for example, there are conventional technologies disclosed in Japanese Patent Laid-Open No. 2005-258814 and Japanese Patent Laid-Open No. 2005-222204.

  Here, when using an electronic document such as an estimate or purchase order, the user refers to the detailed information of various products (goods and services) indicated in the electronic document, and then the contents. There are many cases where it is necessary to carefully consider.

  Usually, in electronic documents such as quotations and purchase orders, the information of each product itself contains only the product name and product number. To refer to detailed information on the product, It is necessary to check the catalog based on the written product name and product number, or to search for information published on the Internet by manufacturers and trading companies related to the product.

Similarly, if the producer of an electronic document such as an estimate or purchase order wants to know the detailed information about the product in the electronic document to the other party viewing the electronic document, It was necessary to prepare a separate document and deliver it to the other party along with this electronic document.
JP 2005-258814 A JP 2005-222204 A

  As described above, the conventional system using electronic text has the following problems.

  First, conventionally, a reader of an electronic document such as a quotation or an order form wants to know detailed information on various products (goods and services) indicated in the electronic document. It was troublesome.

  Furthermore, in these electronic documents, there is often no description of the name of the manufacturer of each product, and only the product name and product number are described. If there is not enough product knowledge, any company's product catalog Sometimes I couldn't find out if I didn't know if I should check the website.

  Second, in the past, the producer of an electronic document such as a quote or purchase order would like to tell the other person browsing the electronic document so that detailed information about the product in the electronic document can be understood. It was troublesome.

  Also, in this estimate and order form, there is usually not enough space to enter detailed information for each product. For example, see the URL of the Internet that provides detailed information about the product to the other party. Even if you wanted to do this, it became necessary to convey the URL separately.

  An object of the present invention is to solve the above-mentioned disadvantages of the prior art and easily obtain information related to the electronic document by a viewer of the electronic document without requiring any special effort when creating the electronic document. It is an object to provide an electronic document related information acquisition system and an electronic document processing apparatus that can perform such processing.

  In order to achieve the above object, an electronic document related information acquisition system of the present invention is an electronic document related information acquisition system for a user terminal to acquire information related to an electronic document via a communication network. A management server that manages information of settings necessary for acquiring information and performs communication necessary for the user terminal to acquire the related information with the user terminal via the communication network; The management server provides each of the target data, which is the target data for acquiring the relevant information in the data in the electronic document, and the predetermined communication network for providing the information related to the target data Means for managing correspondence address information, which is information indicating correspondence with the above address, and the user terminal is connected via the communication network. Communication means for performing communication, display means for displaying the electronic document, data selection means for accepting a selection operation by a user of the target data contained in the electronic document, and the use accepted by the data selection means By connecting to the address on the communication network whose correspondence is indicated in the corresponding address information of the target data selected by the person, information related to the target data provided from the address is acquired. An information acquisition means; and a terminal-side storage means for storing all or part of the corresponding address information in the user terminal, wherein the corresponding address information of the management server includes the target data for each of the target data. An identifier to identify and the predetermined communication network providing information related to the target data The information acquisition means of the user terminal in the corresponding address information of the identifier for identifying the target data selected by the user accepted by the data selection means. By connecting to an address on the communication network for which correspondence is indicated, information related to the target data provided from the address is acquired, and the information acquisition unit of the user terminal includes the data selection unit Means for acquiring an address on the communication network corresponding to the corresponding address information stored in the terminal-side storage means of the target data selected by the user received by the user, and the acquired communication network Means for connecting to the address above and the user accepted by the data selection means; When the address on the communication network corresponding to the selected target data is not obtained from the corresponding address information stored in the terminal-side storage unit, the communication with the management server is performed and the management server side The means for connecting to the address on the communication network corresponding in the corresponding address information and the target data selected by the user received by the data selection means are stored in the terminal-side storage means. The address on the communication network corresponding to the management server and the corresponding address information on the management server side when the acquisition of information from the corresponding address on the communication network in the corresponding address information fails. The target provided from that address by connecting to Data associated with the target data selected by the user received by the data selection means and connected to an address on the communication network corresponding to the target data, The information processing apparatus is characterized by comprising means for adding and updating information corresponding to an address on the communication network to the corresponding address information stored in the terminal-side storage means.

  3. The electronic document related information acquisition system according to claim 2, wherein the management server provides a plurality of addresses on the communication network for providing information related to the target data, and a type of information provided in advance. It is characterized by comprising means for managing information corresponding to the target data for each as the corresponding address information.

  According to a third aspect of the present invention, there is provided the electronic document related information acquiring system, wherein the user terminal includes a type specifying unit that accepts an operation for a user to specify a type of information to be acquired, and the information acquiring unit of the user terminal includes: By connecting to the address on the communication network, the correspondence of which is indicated in the corresponding address information as the address that provides the type of information received by the type designation unit of the target data received by the data selection unit And means for acquiring information of a type specified by the user related to the target data provided from the address.

  5. The electronic document related information acquisition system according to claim 4, wherein the management server includes, for each of all the target data, a type correspondence list indicating presence / absence of the corresponding address for each type of provided information. Is provided to the user terminal, and the user terminal includes a means for acquiring the type correspondence list by communicating with the management server, and a type correspondence list storage unit for storing the acquired type correspondence list. The data selection means of the user terminal stores in the type correspondence list storage means that there is an address that provides information of the type accepted by the type designation means of the target data accepted by the data selection means. Only when it is shown in the type correspondence list, the process of acquiring the type of information specified by the user related to the target data is performed. Comprising means for rows, characterized in that.

  The electronic document related information acquisition system according to claim 5 of the present invention is an electronic document including tabular form data constituted by cells arranged vertically and horizontally, wherein the electronic document is a part of the form data. The target data is associated with each of the vertical rows, and information on the designated attribute related to the target data of each row is shown for each horizontal column.

  7. The electronic document related information acquisition system according to claim 6, wherein the data selection means of the user terminal allows the user to point to the cell in the form data in the electronic document displayed by the user terminal. And selecting the target data indicated by the row including the cell as selected by the user.

  The electronic document related information acquisition system according to claim 7, wherein the electronic document includes a column that displays an identifier for identifying the target data in each row in one of the horizontal columns in the form data portion. It is characterized by including.

  According to an eighth aspect of the present invention, there is provided the electronic document related information acquisition system according to the present invention, wherein a predetermined type of product is used as the target data, and information related to each product is used as an information acquisition target.

  As described above, according to the electronic document related information acquisition system and electronic document processing apparatus of the present invention, the following effects can be obtained.

  The first effect of the present invention is that a viewer of an electronic document can check detailed information about the product with a simple operation without knowledge of the product in the electronic document. It is possible to display a website that provides information related to a product in a browser by simply selecting a product column in the electronic document displayed by the electronic document processing apparatus of the present invention with a pointing device such as a mouse. Because you can.

  The second effect of the present invention is that the creator of the electronic document does not need to perform a special operation or work such as embedding special information in the electronic document in order to use the electronic document related information acquisition system. Information relating to the product in the electronic document created as it is can be easily acquired. The information on the correspondence between each product (or product code) and the address of the website that provides the information on the product can be obtained from the operation side of the electronic document related information acquisition system or the website that provides information on the product. This is because there is no need to describe special information for obtaining information on individual products in the electronic document because of the method managed on the management side.

  Since the third effect of the present invention is a method of acquiring information on a product by displaying a website that provides information on the product, easy-to-understand information can be obtained instantaneously. Moreover, since there is almost no cost other than communication charges for acquiring information, it can be used at low cost.

  The fourth effect of the present invention is that the operator of this electronic document related information acquisition system only needs to set correspondence between individual products and addresses of websites that provide information on the products in the management server. Then, since the processing for acquiring information by the user's electronic document processing apparatus is automatically performed, management without hassle is realized. In addition, if the cooperation of the administrator of the website that provides the information is obtained and the information on the correspondence between the product on the website and the address of the website that provides the information on the product can be taught, the response It takes almost no time to set the information.

  In the electronic document related information acquisition system of the present invention, a user terminal that is an electronic document processing apparatus that processes an electronic document acquires information related to the electronic document via a communication network.

  Next, embodiments of the present invention will be described in detail with reference to the drawings. FIG. 1 is a block diagram illustrating a network configuration of an electronic document related information acquisition system according to a first embodiment of the present invention. FIG. 2 is a block diagram illustrating a configuration of a management server 200 according to the first embodiment of the present invention. FIG. 3 is a block diagram showing the configuration of the user terminal 100 according to the first embodiment of the present invention.

  Referring to FIG. 1, in the electronic document related information acquisition system of this embodiment, a plurality of user terminals 100-1,..., 100-n that process an electronic document via the communication network 400, and the electronic document Is connected to a management server 200 that manages setting information necessary for acquiring information related to the information, and a plurality of information providing sites 300-1, ..., 300-n that provide information related to the electronic document. ing.

  The communication network 400 is a network for performing information communication. For example, the Internet, personal computer communication, an in-house LAN, data communication using a telephone line, or a unique network using a dedicated line can be used.

  The user terminals 100-1,..., 100-n are electronic document processing apparatuses that perform processing such as display / editing on electronic documents, and have a communication function via the communication network 400. As the user terminals 100-1,..., 100-n, for example, a personal computer, a mobile phone, a mobile terminal, a word processor with a communication function, or the like can be used.

  The management server 200 manages setting information necessary for acquiring information related to the user terminals 100-1,..., 100-n, and communicates with these user terminals 100 via the communication network 400. Thus, communication necessary for the user terminal 100 to acquire related information is performed. The management server 200 can use a commercially available server device or a computer having other server functions.

  The information providing sites 300-1,..., 300-n are sites that provide information via the communication network 400. For example, a web server, an FTP server, a streaming server that distributes information, or the like can be used. .

  In addition, the operator of the electronic document related information acquisition system of the present invention manages the management server 200, but also operates the information providing sites 300-1, ..., 300-n. There is no need for management, and it may be operated and managed by a completely different organization or individual.

  Referring to FIG. 2, the management server 200 according to the present embodiment controls a communication unit 210 that performs communication via the communication network 400 and a response to a request received by the management server 200 via the communication network 400 by the communication unit 210. And a corresponding address information storage unit 230 that stores setting information necessary for acquiring information related to each user terminal 100.

  Here, the setting information necessary for the user terminal 100 to acquire related information includes each of target data that is target data for acquiring related information in the data in the electronic document, and target data , 300-n is information indicating correspondence with predetermined addresses on the communication network 400 that provides information related to the information, and this is referred to as correspondence address information. To do.

  Referring to FIG. 3, the user terminal 100 according to this embodiment includes a communication unit 110 that performs communication via a communication network 400, a display unit 120 that displays an electronic document, and a user of target data included in the electronic document. A data selection unit 130 that accepts a selection operation and an information acquisition unit 140 that performs control for acquiring information related to the selected target data, and obtains information by displaying an address on the communication network 400 A browser 180 which is a web browser for performing the above is provided.

  For the display unit 120, for example, the display device of the user terminal 100 can be used. FIG. 4 shows an example of a luminaire estimate as an example of the electronic document 121 displayed on the display unit 120 of the user terminal 100 according to the first embodiment of the present invention, and FIG. 5 is according to the first embodiment of the present invention. It is a figure which shows an example of the corresponding address information 231 which the corresponding address information storage part 230 of the management server 200 memorize | stores.

  The electronic document in the example of FIG. 4 forms an electronic document including tabular form data composed of cells arranged vertically and horizontally, and each product has an individual product “lighting with sensor function made by company A” “B”. In the example of FIG. 4, these are used as target data for acquiring related information.

  In each horizontal column, various information (attributes) related to the purchase of the product in each row is shown, and “product name” “product code” “number of items to be purchased” “unit price including tax” “total amount to be purchased” There is a column for displaying each information of “Remarks”. Here, the “product code” is an identifier indicating the product.

  In the corresponding address information 231 in the example of FIG. 5, the product that is the target data for acquiring the related information is shown at the left end using a “product code” that identifies the product. The URL of the product, which is an address for providing information related to the product, separated by a single-byte comma on the right side of the “product code” in each row, and the product image of the product are displayed. It consists of table format data that records the URL of the Internet to be displayed.

  In FIG. 5, only the first four items of data are displayed, but the specifications and products corresponding to the “product code” of the products of each company such as Company B and Company C in the same format thereafter. Assume that each URL of an image is recorded.

  As in the example of FIG. 5, in the corresponding address information 231, it is convenient that an identifier that can successfully identify individual target data can be used. For example, if “product name” is designated to indicate a product, different products in the first and second lines cannot be distinguished by corresponding address information in the example of FIG.

  In addition, when a “product code” is used to indicate a product, it is usually possible to uniquely identify the product in each company, and even if the same product code is attached to different companies, it is rare. Therefore, it is possible to distinguish the individual products that are the target data well. Of course, it is preferable if the target data can be uniquely identified by the identifier. However, when the target data cannot be uniquely identified by the identifier, it is preferable to perform processing such as receiving a selection of information to be acquired by displaying a duplicate list for the user when acquiring information. (For example, a list of companies using the same “product code” as the product selected by the user is displayed and the selection is accepted.)

  In addition, when the information providing site 300-1,..., 300-n side that provides information has a function of searching in the site, the identifier should be searched using the identifier of the target data. Thus, it is preferable that an identifier that can obtain information related to the target data requested by the user can be adopted.

  The data selection unit 130 receives a selection operation by a user of target data included in the electronic document. As a selection operation by the user of the target data, when a selection operation such as double-clicking any cell in the row where the product is described with a pointing device such as a mouse, the product in that row is used as the target data. The method of accepting as what the user selected is conceivable.

  In this case, in the subsequent processing of the information acquisition unit 140, information is acquired using the “product code” displayed in the column of the code display area 121-1 of the product row.

  The information acquisition unit 140 connects to the address on the communication network 400 indicated by the corresponding address information of the target data selected by the user received by the data selection unit 130, that is, the address (that is, , 300-n), information related to the target data provided from the information providing site 300-1,.

  Here, as a method of connecting the information acquisition unit 140 to the address indicated in the corresponding address information of the target data, the method shown in the flowcharts of FIGS. 6 and 7 can be used.

  In the flowcharts of FIGS. 6 and 7, the communication network 400 is the Internet and is based on the examples of FIGS.

  FIG. 6 is a flowchart for explaining an example of the related information acquisition process of the user terminal 100 according to the first embodiment of the present invention.

  In the example of FIG. 6, the related information acquisition process of the user terminal 100 according to the present embodiment is performed when the user terminal 100 displays an electronic document on the display unit 120 and is displayed as illustrated in the example of FIG. 4. First, the user selects a product for which related information is acquired, and the data selection unit 130 accepts the selection (step 1001). This selection operation can be executed by the method described in the data selection unit 130.

  Next, the information acquisition unit 140 inquires of the management server 200 about the product specification and the product image URL set in the corresponding address information 231 corresponding to the product code (step 1002).

  When the management server 200 receives an inquiry about the URL from the user terminal 100, the response processing unit 220 stores the specification corresponding to the product code specified in the inquiry and the URL of the product image in the corresponding address information storage. The response is acquired from the corresponding address information 231 stored in the unit 230 and notified to the user terminal 100.

  Then, the user terminal 100 receives the URL of the specification and the URL of the product image from the management server 200 (step 1003), and the information acquisition unit 140 activates two browsers 180 at the same time to obtain the two URLs. Each is displayed (step 1004).

  The browser 180 is, for example, a commercially available web browser or a web browser attached to the OS, and processing for starting the browser 180 and displaying the designated URL here is known to those skilled in the art.

  For example, when the top product in FIG. 4 is selected, the user terminal 100 inquires the management server 200 about the URL corresponding to the product code “A001” (step 1001). The management server 200 has a corresponding specification URL “http://Company-A.co.jp/A001.html” and a product image URL “http://Company-A.co.jp/A001.jpg”. "Is acquired from the corresponding address information 231 and this is returned to the user terminal 100. These URLs are received by the user terminal 100 (step 1003), and these two URLs are displayed by the browser (step 1004).

  In this way, the user can acquire the specification and product image of the product, which is information related to the product, by freely selecting the product displayed on the user terminal 100.

  Next, another method for connecting the information acquisition unit 140 according to the present embodiment to the address indicated in the corresponding address information of the target data will be described. FIG. 7 is a flowchart for explaining another example of the related information acquisition process of the user terminal 100 according to the first embodiment of the present invention.

  A simpler process can be realized by using an instruction script that switches the URL displayed in the source of the web page to another specified URL. Most browsers in use are compatible.

  In this method, the management server 200 includes a website and accepts connection by the browser from the user terminal 100.

  Here, when the user terminal 100 is connected by designating a product code, a script of an instruction for switching the displayed URL to a URL corresponding to the product code is incorporated into the browser by the CGI function of the website. By displaying the web page, a target URL corresponding to the product code can be displayed on the browser.

  In the example of FIG. 7, the related information acquisition processing of the user terminal 100 according to the present embodiment is performed until the data selection unit 130 first accepts the user's selection operation (Step 1101) until Step 1001 of FIG. 6. Same as processing.

  Next, the information acquisition unit 140 specifies the product code and connects the web browser of the user terminal 100 to the website opened in the management server 200 (step 1102). As a method of specifying the product code and connecting to the website, the URL of the CGI of the website established in the management server 200 is “http://search.co.jp/search” and “http: // By accelerating to a URL including the product code “A000” as in search.co.jp/search?Data=A000, the product code can be recognized by the CGI of the web server.

  Then, the response processing unit 220 obtains the URL of the specification and product image corresponding to the product code recognized by the CGI from the corresponding address information 231 stored in the corresponding address information storage unit 230, and displays it in the corresponding URL. The web page source incorporating the script of the command for switching the server is automatically generated, and in response to a request for connection to the website of the management server 200 from the browser 180 of the user terminal 100 in step 1102 It is displayed on the browser 180.

  The browser 180 of the user terminal 100 displays the specifications and the URL of the product image according to the command of the script incorporated by displaying the web page (step 1104).

  In the example of FIG. 6, the information acquisition unit 140 sequentially executes a series of processes such as inquiring and receiving the URL from the management server 200 and opening the URL. However, in the method of FIG. By using this script, it is possible to leave the processing to the browser 180 side only after executing the processing for displaying the URL once. Thereby, the URL of the related information can be displayed on the user terminal 100 side by a process simpler than the method of FIG.

  As described above, according to the electronic document related information acquisition system and the electronic document processing apparatus 100 of the present embodiment, first, even if the viewer of the electronic document has no knowledge about the product in the electronic document, Detailed information can be checked with a simple operation. This is because a website that provides information related to a product can be displayed on the browser by a simple operation of simply clicking on the product column in the electronic document displayed by the electronic document processing apparatus of the present invention.

  Secondly, the creator of the electronic document does not need to perform any special operation or work such as embedding special information in the electronic document in order to use the electronic document related information acquisition system, and the electronic document created as it is. It is possible to easily acquire information related to the product inside. The correspondence between an individual product (and its product code) and the address of the website that provides the information on the product is based on the operation side of the electronic document related information acquisition system and the website that provides the information on the product. This is because there is no need to describe special information for obtaining information on individual products in the electronic document because of the method managed on the management side.

  Thirdly, since the product information is obtained by displaying a website that provides product information, easy-to-understand information can be obtained instantaneously. Moreover, since there is almost no cost other than communication charges for acquiring information, it can be used at low cost.

  Fourth, the operator of this electronic document related information acquisition system should set the correspondence between each product and the address of the website that provides information about the product in the management server, and then use it. All processes for acquiring information by the person's electronic document processing apparatus are automatically performed, so that management without hassle is realized. In addition, if the management of the website that provides the information is able to obtain the information about the correspondence between the product on the website and the address of the website that provides the information on the product, There is almost no need to set the corresponding information.

  Next, a second embodiment of the present invention will be described in detail with reference to the drawings. FIG. 8 is a block diagram illustrating a configuration of the user terminal 100a according to the second embodiment of the present invention. FIG. 9 illustrates an example of the electronic document 121a displayed on the display unit 120 of the user terminal 100a according to the second embodiment of the present invention. FIG. 10 is a flowchart illustrating related information acquisition processing of the user terminal 100a according to the second embodiment of the present invention.

  In the process of the example of FIG. 6 and FIG. 7 of the above-described first embodiment, information is acquired by simultaneously displaying two URLs corresponding to one product. However, when a plurality of URLs correspond to each other as described above, it is not always necessary to display all of them simultaneously, and the type of information displayed by the user may be freely selected.

  For this reason, the user terminal 100a of this embodiment of FIG. 8 is newly provided with a type designation unit 131 for designating the type of information to be acquired, and accepts an operation for specifying the type of information to be acquired by the user.

  For the operation of designating the type of information to be acquired, in the example of the electronic document 121a in FIG. 9, a specification button 121-2 for instructing display of the specification is further displayed on the screen of the electronic document 121 in FIG. A product image button 121-3 for instructing display of a product image is provided.

  The type designation unit 131 accepts a user's designation operation such as a mouse click of the specification button 121-2 and the product image button 121-3, and causes the information acquisition unit 140a to acquire the specified information.

  Referring to FIG. 10, in the related information acquisition process of the user terminal 100a of the present embodiment, the user first selects a product (step 1201) in the same manner as in the first embodiment, and corresponds to the product code of this product. The management server 200 is inquired about the URL (step 1202), the management server 200 checks the URL corresponding to the product code, responds to the user terminal 100a, and the user terminal 100a receives the two corresponding URLs (step 1203). ) Is the same as steps 1001 to 1003 in FIG.

  Subsequently, the information acquisition unit 140a of the user terminal 100a accepts an operation from the user that specifies the type of information to be displayed (step 1204), and the type that the user did in the URL received in step 1203. The URL for publishing the information is displayed (steps 1205 to 1207).

  The operation of designating the type of information to be displayed in step 1204 is performed by, for example, pressing the specification button 121-2 and the product image button 121-3 on the upper right side of FIG. When the URL of the image is displayed (steps 1206, 1207), or when the item in the electronic document 121a is double-clicked (in the row), two URLs are displayed simultaneously as in the first embodiment ( It can be specified by step 1205) or the like.

  Then, until the display of the product information is finished, the process of displaying these designated URLs is continued in response to pressing of the specification button 121-2 and the product image button 121-3 in FIG. 4 (step 1206). ).

  As described above, according to the electronic document related information acquisition system and the electronic document processing apparatus 100a of the present embodiment, in addition to the effects of the first embodiment, the user can easily specify the type of information to be displayed. Can be displayed.

  Next, Embodiment 3 of the present invention will be described in detail with reference to the drawings. FIG. 11 is a block diagram illustrating a configuration of the user terminal 100b according to the third embodiment of the present invention.

  Referring to FIG. 11, the user terminal 100b according to the present embodiment newly includes a terminal-side storage unit 150 that stores corresponding address information in addition to the configuration of the user terminal 100 according to the first embodiment illustrated in FIG.

  Then, the information acquisition unit 140b acquires and stores the corresponding address information (all or a part thereof) from the management server 200 in the terminal-side storage unit 150, and refers to the corresponding address information stored in the device. Acquire related information.

  Since the related information can be acquired by referring to the corresponding address information stored in the apparatus, it is not necessary to communicate with the management server 200 every time the related information is acquired, and the related information can be acquired at a higher speed. The communication load can be reduced.

  FIG. 12 is a flowchart illustrating related information acquisition processing of the user terminal 100b according to the second embodiment of the present invention.

  In the example of FIG. 12, the related information acquisition process of the user terminal 100 b of the present embodiment is as follows. First, the user selects a product in the same manner as Step 1001 of FIG. 6 of Embodiment 1 (Step 2001). The information acquisition unit 140b checks whether the address corresponding to the selected product code is stored in the terminal-side storage unit 150 in the user terminal 100b (step 2002).

  Here, when the address corresponding to the selected product code is not stored in the terminal-side storage unit 150, the management server 200 is inquired for the address corresponding to the product code in the same manner as in the first embodiment (Step S1). 2004).

  In addition, when the connection to the corresponding address stored in the terminal-side storage unit 150 is attempted (step 2003) and fails, it is considered that this is because the address stored in the terminal-side storage unit 150 is old. The management server 200 is inquired about the address corresponding to the product code in the same manner as in the first embodiment (step 2004).

  If the connection to the corresponding address stored in the terminal-side storage unit 150 is successful (step 2003), the information related to the product code has been successfully acquired, and the process ends successfully.

  Further, the management server 200 is inquired for an address corresponding to the management server 200 (step 2004), and the connection is attempted again with the acquired address (step 2005). If the connection fails here, predetermined error processing is performed (step 2006), On the other hand, if the connection is successful, a new valid address corresponding to the product code has been acquired, so if the address corresponding to the same product code is stored in the terminal-side storage unit 150, this is deleted. Above, this new valid address is added (step 2007).

  Further, in the error processing at the time of connection failure using the corresponding address acquired from the management server 200 in step 2006, for example, the information providing site 300 on the predetermined communication network 400 that provides information related to the product code. -1,..., 300-n are subjected to processing such as requesting and obtaining information on search results of site search using product codes.

  As described above, according to the electronic document related information acquisition system and the electronic document processing apparatus 100b of the present embodiment, in addition to the effects of the first embodiment, the corresponding address information stored in the terminal-side storage unit 150 in the apparatus is stored. Since related information can be acquired by referring to it, it is not necessary to communicate with the management server 200 every time related information is acquired, and related information can be acquired at a higher speed, and the communication load is reduced. can do.

  Also, the corresponding address information stored in the terminal-side storage unit 150 communicates with the management server 200 again to acquire the latest corresponding address information when the address on the information providing site 300 side is changed and cannot be connected. By updating the terminal-side storage unit 150, it is possible to always obtain related information using the latest corresponding address information.

  Next, a fourth embodiment of the present invention will be described in detail with reference to the drawings. FIG. 13 is a block diagram illustrating a configuration of a user terminal 100c according to the fourth embodiment of the present invention.

  Referring to FIG. 13, the user terminal 100 c of this embodiment stores a type correspondence list indicating the presence or absence of a corresponding address for each type of information provided, as compared to the user terminal 100 a of the second embodiment of FIG. 3. A type correspondence list storage unit 160 is newly provided.

  In the third embodiment, by providing a function of storing the corresponding address information on the user terminal 100b side, it is not necessary to communicate with the management server 200 each time the related information is acquired, and the related information can be acquired at a higher speed. However, the corresponding address information has a large amount of data, and there is a disadvantage in storing much of it in the user terminal. For example, in order to implement the present invention in a terminal such as a mobile phone having a small storage capacity, it is preferable that the amount of data stored in the terminal is small.

  For this reason, in this embodiment, a method of storing and using a type correspondence list indicating the presence / absence of a corresponding address for each type of information to be provided is used for each of all target data in the user terminal 100c.

  FIG. 14 is a diagram illustrating an example of the corresponding address information 231c stored in the corresponding address information storage unit 230 of the management server 200 according to the third embodiment of the present invention, and FIG. 15 is a diagram illustrating a user terminal 100c according to the third embodiment of the present invention. It is a figure which shows an example of the classification corresponding | compatible list 161 which the type | mold corresponding | compatible list memory | storage part 160 memorize | stores.

  As shown in the examples of FIGS. 14 and 15, in the type correspondence list 161, it is not necessary to record long URL data unlike the correspondence address information 231c, so the data amount is much larger than the correspondence address information 231c. Very few.

  Further, as shown in the examples of FIGS. 14 and 15, in this embodiment, there are some products for which the specification URL and the image display URL are not necessarily registered. I want to make it easier for users to handle the acquisition of.

  FIG. 16 is a flowchart illustrating related information acquisition processing of the user terminal 100c according to the third embodiment of the present invention.

  In the example of FIG. 16, the related information acquisition process of the user terminal 100 c of the present embodiment is as follows. First, the user selects a product in the same manner as in Step 1001 of FIG. 6 of Embodiment 1 (Step 3001). The information acquisition unit 140c checks whether or not the product code is valid by checking whether the selected product code is included in the type correspondence list 161 of the type correspondence list storage unit 160 (step 2002).

  If the product code is not included in the type correspondence list 161, the address corresponding to this product code is not registered, so the related information cannot be acquired and the process is terminated. If the product code is included in the type correspondence list 161, the type of information indicated as being obtainable in the type correspondence list 161 is further examined (step 3003).

  Accordingly, when a product for which related information cannot be acquired is selected, it is possible to prevent unnecessary communication with the management server 200.

  In the type correspondence list 161, both the specification URL and the product image URL can be acquired for the products with the product codes “A001” and “A003”, but the product with the product code “A002” has no specification URL, The product with the code “A004” has no product image URL. The display screen of the electronic document 121a according to the second embodiment in FIG. 9 includes a specification button 121-2 and a product image button 121-3, which are buttons for displaying the specification and the URL of the product image. If the corresponding URL can be displayed, these buttons can be clicked, and if not, control is performed so that the click is not possible. Thus, it is convenient for the user to know information that can be acquired for this product.

  Subsequently, the specification of information to be acquired by the user is accepted (step 3004). When the specification button 121-2 or the product image button 121-3 is clickable, the corresponding specification is clicked. And a product image are displayed (steps 3006 and 3007). Further, when a product row in the display screen is double-clicked, all the URLs that can be displayed for the product may be displayed simultaneously (step 3005).

  Then, until the display of the product information is completed, all of the URLs that can be displayed, the URL of the specification, and the product image are displayed in response to double-clicking or pressing the specification button 121-2 or the product image button 121-3. The process for displaying the URL is continued (step 3008).

  As described above, according to the electronic document related information acquisition system and the electronic document processing apparatus 100c of the present embodiment, in addition to the effects of the first embodiment and the second embodiment, the present invention can be applied to a terminal such as a mobile phone with a small storage capacity. In the case of implementing the above, by storing a part of the corresponding address information in the terminal and using it, unnecessary communication with the management server 200 can be prevented and the communication fee can be saved.

  In addition, if there are items that do not necessarily have the URL of the specification document or the URL of the image display registered, the type of information that can be acquired is displayed on the screen (by switching whether or not the button can be operated, etc.). It is possible to receive an operation for displaying the user information and instructing the acquisition of the user information, and the user can easily operate.

  Further, in order to obtain the effect of the present embodiment in which unnecessary communication with the management server 200 is prevented only by storing less information in the terminal, for each type of individual information in the type correspondence list 161 of the present embodiment. Information on the presence / absence of the corresponding address is not necessary.

  For example, an identifier list (that is, a full list of product codes here) that is data indicating all lists of valid identifiers having corresponding addresses in the corresponding address information is acquired by communicating with the management server, and the user terminal Consider an embodiment in which an identifier list is stored in an identifier list recording unit.

  Also in this case, like the type correspondence list 161, the amount of data stored in the user terminal is much smaller than the case of storing all corresponding address information because the identifier list does not include long URL data. It becomes quantity.

  If only the identifier list is used and the product code of the product selected by the user is not included in the identifier list in the same manner as in steps 3001 and 3002 of FIG. 14 of the type correspondence list 161, Therefore, it is possible to execute a process of ending the process of acquiring related information for the product, and unnecessary communication with the management server 200 can be prevented.

  The user terminals 100, 100-1,..., 100-n, 100a, 100b, and 100c of the embodiments and embodiments described above are the functions of the information acquisition units 140, 140a, 140b, and 140c. In addition to realizing other functions in hardware, the electronic document processing programs 190, 190a, 190b, and 190c, which are computer programs having the respective functions, are loaded into the memory of the computer processing apparatus. be able to. The electronic document processing programs 190, 190a, 190b, and 190c are stored in a magnetic disk, a semiconductor memory, or other recording media. Each function described above is realized by being loaded from the recording medium into the computer processing apparatus and controlling the operation of the computer processing apparatus.

  Similarly, the management server 200 of the present invention in each of the above-described embodiments and embodiments implements the functions of the communication unit 210 and the response processing unit 220 and other functions in hardware, as well as the functions. The management program 290, which is a computer program including the above, can be realized by being loaded into the memory of the computer processing apparatus. This management program 290 is stored in a magnetic disk, semiconductor memory, or other recording medium. Each function described above is realized by being loaded from the recording medium into the computer processing apparatus and controlling the operation of the computer processing apparatus.

  Although the present invention has been described with reference to the preferred embodiments and examples, the present invention is not necessarily limited to the above-described embodiments and examples, and various modifications can be made within the scope of the technical idea. Can be implemented.

  As described above, according to the electronic document related information acquisition system / electronic document processing apparatus of the present invention, the electronic document can be transferred to the electronic document via the communication network without requiring any special effort when the electronic document is created. Since it becomes possible to instantly acquire the necessary necessary information with a very simple operation, it is possible to realize unprecedented high convenience for using the electronic document.

It is a block diagram which shows the structure of the electronic document related information acquisition system by Example 1 of this invention. It is a block diagram which shows the structure of the management server by Example 1 of this invention. It is a block diagram which shows the structure of the user terminal by Example 1 of this invention. It is a figure which shows an example of the electronic document which the display part of the user terminal by Example 1 of this invention displays. It is a figure which shows an example of the corresponding address information which the corresponding address information storage part of the management server by Example 1 of this invention memorize | stores. It is a flowchart explaining the acquisition process of the relevant information of the user terminal by Example 1 of this invention. It is a flowchart explaining the other example of the acquisition process of the relevant information of the user terminal by Example 1 of this invention. It is a block diagram which shows the structure of the user terminal by Example 2 of this invention. It is a figure which shows an example of the electronic document which the display part of the user terminal by Example 2 of this invention displays. It is a flowchart explaining the acquisition process of the relevant information of the user terminal by Example 2 of this invention. It is a block diagram which shows the structure of the user terminal by Example 3 of this invention. It is a flowchart explaining the acquisition process of the relevant information of the user terminal by Example 3 of this invention. It is a block diagram which shows the structure of the user terminal by Example 4 of this invention. It is a figure which shows an example of the corresponding address information which the corresponding address information storage part of the management server by Example 4 of this invention memorize | stores. It is a figure which shows an example of the classification corresponding list which the classification corresponding list memory | storage part of the user terminal by Example 4 of this invention memorize | stores. It is a flowchart explaining the acquisition process of the relevant information of the user terminal by Example 4 of this invention.

Explanation of symbols

100, 100a, 100b, 100c, 100-1,..., 100-n User terminal 110 Communication unit 120 Display unit 121, 121a Electronic document 121-1 Product code display area 121-2 Specification button 121-3 Product image Button 130 Data selection unit 131 Type designation unit 140, 140a, 140b, 140c Information acquisition unit 150 Terminal side storage unit 160 Type correspondence list storage unit 161 Type correspondence list 180 Browser 190, 190a, 190b, 190c Electronic document processing program 200 Management server 210 Communication Unit 220 Response Processing Unit 230 Corresponding Address Information Storage Unit 231, 231c Corresponding Address Information 290 Management Program 300, 300-1,..., 300-n Information Providing Site 400 Communication Network

Claims (8)

An electronic document related information acquisition system for a user terminal to acquire information related to an electronic document via a communication network,
Information on settings necessary for acquiring the related information is managed, and communication necessary for the user terminal to acquire the related information is performed with the user terminal via the communication network. With a management server,
The management server
Correspondence between each of the target data, which is target data for acquiring related information in the data in the electronic document, and a predetermined address on the communication network that provides information related to the target data Means for managing corresponding address information, which is information indicating
The user terminal is
Communication means for communicating via the communication network;
Display means for displaying the electronic document;
Data selection means for accepting a selection operation by a user of the target data included in the electronic document;
The target data selected by the user received by the data selection means is provided from the address by connecting to the address on the communication network whose correspondence is indicated in the corresponding address information. Information acquisition means for acquiring information related to the target data;
Terminal side storage means for storing all or part of the corresponding address information in the user terminal,
The corresponding address information of the management server is
For each of the target data, a correspondence between an identifier for identifying the target data and a predetermined address on the communication network that provides information related to the target data;
The information acquisition means of the user terminal is
By connecting to the address on the communication network whose correspondence is indicated in the corresponding address information of the identifier for identifying the target data selected by the user received by the data selection means, the address Obtaining information related to the target data provided from
The information acquisition means of the user terminal is
Means for acquiring an address on the communication network corresponding to the corresponding address information stored in the terminal storage means of the target data selected by the user received by the data selection means;
Means for connecting to the acquired address on the communication network;
When the address on the communication network corresponding to the target data selected by the user received by the data selection means cannot be obtained from the corresponding address information stored in the terminal-side storage means, Means for communicating with a management server and connecting to an address on the communication network corresponding in the corresponding address information on the management server side;
For acquisition of information from the address on the communication network corresponding to the corresponding address information stored in the terminal-side storage unit for the target data selected by the user received by the data selection unit. In case of failure, it communicates with the management server and relates to the target data provided from the address by connecting to the corresponding address on the communication network in the corresponding address information on the management server side. Means for obtaining information;
When connecting to an address on the communication network corresponding to the target data selected by the user received by the data selection means, information on correspondence between the target data and an address on the communication network is displayed. An electronic document related information acquisition system comprising: means for adding to and updating the corresponding address information stored in the terminal-side storage means. The management server
Information associating a plurality of addresses on the communication network that provides information related to the target data with the target data for each type of information provided in advance is managed as the corresponding address information The electronic document related information acquisition system according to claim 1, further comprising: means. The user terminal is
Provided with a type designation means for accepting an operation for the user to designate the type of information to be acquired,
The information acquisition means of the user terminal is
By connecting to the address on the communication network, the correspondence of which is indicated in the corresponding address information as the address that provides the type of information received by the type designation unit of the target data received by the data selection unit 3. The electronic document related information acquisition system according to claim 2, further comprising means for acquiring information of a type specified by the user related to the target data provided from the address. The management server
A means for notifying the user terminal of a type correspondence list indicating the presence / absence of the corresponding address for each type of information provided for each of the target data,
The user terminal is
Means for communicating with the management server to obtain the type correspondence list;
A type correspondence list storage unit for storing the acquired type correspondence list;
The data selection means of the user terminal is
When the type correspondence list stored in the type correspondence list storage means indicates that there is an address that provides information of the type accepted by the type designation means of the target data received by the data selection means As long as it has means for executing processing to acquire the type of information specified by the user related to the target data,
The electronic document related information acquisition system according to claim 2 or claim 3, wherein The electronic document is
An electronic document including tabular form data composed of cells arranged vertically and horizontally, and in the form data portion, the target data is associated with each of the vertical rows, and each horizontal column The electronic document related information acquisition system according to any one of claims 1 to 4, wherein information on a specified attribute related to the target data of each row is indicated. The data selection means of the user terminal is
When the user selects the cell in the form data in the electronic document displayed by the user terminal with a pointing device, the target data indicated by the row including the cell is accepted as selected by the user. The electronic document related information acquisition system according to claim 5, further comprising: means. The electronic document is
7. The electronic document related information according to claim 5, wherein the form data includes a column displaying an identifier for identifying the target data of each row in one of the horizontal columns. Acquisition system.   8. The electronic document related as claimed in claim 1, wherein a predetermined type of product is set as the target data, and information related to each product is set as an information acquisition target. Information acquisition system.

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