JP6011692B2 - File exchange system, file exchange method, mobile device and program - Google Patents

Description

The present invention relates to a file exchange system and file exchange method for exchanging files managed by a server on a network between mobile devices, and a mobile device and program used in the system.

  Computerized documents and images (hereinafter referred to as “files”) obtained by information devices such as PCs (Personal Computers), digital cameras, and mobile phones due to the spread of networks. The use of online storage services managed by servers on the network is spreading. With this service, a server can be accessed via a network by a user's operation of an information device, and a file can be stored in an online storage area assigned to each user on a storage device inside or outside the server.

  A system for exchanging files between portable information devices (mobile devices) is also known. For example, in Patent Document 1, a file existing in a mobile device is transmitted to another mobile device by short-range wireless communication such as Bluetooth (registered trademark) or IrDA (Infrared Data Association), and exists in the mobile device. It is disclosed that a file is transmitted from a mobile device to another mobile device by uploading the file to a storage device in a server on a network and then the other mobile device downloads the file. Further, although not described in the literature, it is realized that a file managed by a server on a network is downloaded by a mobile device and transferred to another mobile device by short-range wireless communication.

  However, in the conventional system, when the file to be exchanged is in the mobile device, the user may perform an operation of directly transmitting to another mobile device, whereas when the file to be exchanged is on the online storage, Since an operation for downloading to a mobile device must be executed once, and then an operation for transmission (transfer) to another mobile device must be executed, an operation different from that in the mobile device is necessary, and the operation There is a problem that the number will increase.

  The present invention has been made to solve such a problem, and its purpose is related to the storage location of a file to be exchanged when a file managed by a server on a network is exchanged between mobile devices. It is to be able to exchange with the same operation.

The mobile device of the present invention is a mobile device that receives the user's file from a server that stores the user's file via a network, and is stored in the file stored in the storage unit of the device or the server. A file information display means for displaying a screen on which a file can be selected by designating information that can identify any of the user's files, and a selection reception for accepting file selection on the screen capable of selecting the file Means for receiving an instruction for transmitting the selected file to another mobile device, and the selected file is stored in the device according to the instruction received by the transmission instruction receiving unit. If the file is stored in the storage device, the file is acquired from the storage device of the own device. When the selected file is transmitted to the other mobile device, and the selected file is a user file stored in the server instead of the storage device of the own device, the server transmits the file via the network. Transmitting the selected file and transmitting the acquired file to the other mobile device, and the other mobile device executed after the file is selected by the selection receiving unit The user operation for transmission to the mobile device is a common operation regardless of whether the location where the selected file is stored is the storage unit of the own device or the server Equipment.
Also, file exchange system of the present invention is a file exchange system for a mobile device of the present invention, said other mobile devices Toka Ranaru characterized.

[Action]
The mobile device of the present invention acquires and displays file information indicating a file managed by the server from a server on the network, and a file specified by the file information specified by the user from the file information being displayed. It is determined whether it is stored in the device. If it is determined that the file is stored, the file is transmitted to another mobile device. If the file is not stored, the file is downloaded from the server and transmitted to the other mobile device.

  According to the present invention, when a file managed by a server on a network is exchanged between mobile devices, the user can exchange the file by the same operation regardless of the storage location of the exchange target file. As a result, the user can exchange files without knowing the storage location of the file to be exchanged.

It is a figure which shows the file exchange system of embodiment of this invention. It is a block diagram of the file management server of the embodiment of the present invention. 1 is a block diagram of a mobile device according to an embodiment of the present invention. It is a figure which shows the folder information table memorize | stored in the file management server of embodiment of this invention. It is a figure which shows the file information table memorize | stored in the file management server of embodiment of this invention. It is a figure which shows the file management table memorize | stored in the mobile device of embodiment of this invention. It is a flowchart which shows operation | movement of the file exchange system of embodiment of this invention. It is a figure which shows the file information display screen in the mobile device of embodiment of this invention. It is a front view of an example of the appearance of a mobile device of an embodiment of the present invention. It is an enlarged view of the display panel in the front view of an example of the appearance of the mobile device of the embodiment of the present invention. It is a rear view of an example of the appearance of a mobile device of an embodiment of the present invention. It is a left view of an example of the external appearance of the mobile device of embodiment of this invention. It is a right view of an example of the external appearance of the mobile device of embodiment of this invention. It is a top view of an example of the appearance of a mobile device of an embodiment of the present invention. It is a bottom view of an example of the appearance of a mobile device according to an embodiment of the present invention.

Embodiments of the present invention will be described below with reference to the drawings.
<System configuration and general operation>
As shown in FIG. 1, a file exchange system according to an embodiment of the present invention includes a file management server 2 connected to a network 1 such as the Internet, and mobile devices 3-1 and 3-2 connected to the network 1. Become.

  The mobile devices 3-1 and 3-2 can be connected to the network 1 and can communicate with the file management server 2 via the network 1 as indicated by arrows A 1 and A 2, respectively. In addition, the mobile devices 3-1 and 3-2 can communicate with each other via the network 1 and, as indicated by an arrow A 3, directly by short-range wireless communication such as Bluetooth (registered trademark) or IrDA. They can communicate with each other.

  The file management server 2 has a function of providing an online storage service using a built-in hard disk, and a storage area in which files such as image files uploaded from the mobile devices 3-1 and 3-2 are allocated for each user. Save to manage. Further, in response to a download request from the mobile devices 3-1 and 3-2, the requested file is transmitted to the requesting mobile device. Other functions will be described later.

  The mobile devices 3-1 and 3-2 are camera-equipped mobile terminal devices having a shooting function, a network communication function, a short-range wireless communication function, and the like, such as a mobile phone, a PDA, a game machine, etc. The uploaded image or the like can be uploaded to the file management server 2. The mobile devices 3-1 and 3-2 can download a desired file from the file management server 2. Furthermore, the mobile devices 3-1 and 3-2 can transmit a file stored in the internal storage unit or a file downloaded from the file management server 2 to the other mobile device, that is, perform file exchange.

<File management server configuration>
As shown in FIG. 2, the file management server 2 includes an operation unit 22 composed of input devices such as a mouse and a keyboard, a display unit 23 composed of a display device such as a liquid crystal display, and a storage device such as a hard disk. A configured storage unit 24, a network communication unit 25 that communicates with the mobile devices 3-1, 3-2 through the network 1, a CPU (Central Processing Unit), a ROM (Read Only Memory), and a RAM (Random Access Memory) ) And a control unit 26 for controlling the respective units, and a bus 21 for connecting these units.

  Various programs and various data are stored in the ROM and the storage unit 24 in the control unit 26. The CPU loads the programs stored in the ROM and the storage unit 24 into the RAM and executes them to control the entire file management server 2 and to provide various functional units as means for executing the flowchart of FIG. Realize.

  In addition, the storage unit 24 stores the files transmitted from the users (mobile devices 3-1 and 3-2) in an online storage area assigned for each user, and also stores management information thereof. The file management information for managing files includes file information indicating the managed file and folder information indicating a folder storing the file information. FIG. 4 is a folder information table storing folder information, and FIG. 5 is a file information table storing file information other than file thumbnails.

  As shown in FIG. 4, the folder information includes a folder ID of each folder, a folder name of the folder specified by the folder ID, a folder URL (Uniform Resource Locator), and the number of files in the folder. The folder URL indicates the position on the online storage area of the folder specified by the folder ID. That is, the file information shown in FIG. 5 is stored in the folder, and the file information of FIG. 5 exists for each folder. The folder URL is a link to file information that is information of a file stored in the folder.

  As shown in FIG. 5, the file information includes a file ID of each file, a file name of the file specified by the file ID, a thumbnail URL, a file URL, and a file update date. The file URL and thumbnail URL indicate the position of the file and thumbnail specified by the file ID on the online storage area.

<Configuration of mobile device>
The mobile devices 3-1 and 3-2 have the same configuration, and a block diagram thereof is shown in FIG. As illustrated, the mobile devices 3-1 and 3-2 include an operation unit 32 configured with various buttons, a display unit 33 configured with a display device such as a liquid crystal display, and a storage device such as a flash memory. Network 34 that communicates with the file management server 2 or other mobile devices through the network 1, a storage unit 34 that is configured, a photographing unit 35 that includes an imaging device such as a charge coupled device (CCD) or a metal oxide semiconductor (MOS), and the like. The communication unit 36 has an inter-device communication unit 37 that directly communicates with other mobile devices by short-range wireless communication such as Bluetooth (registered trademark) or IrDA, a CPU, a ROM, and a RAM, and controls each unit. The control part 38 and the bus | bath 31 which connects these each part are provided.

  Various programs and various data are stored in the ROM in the control unit 38 and the storage unit 34. The CPU loads the various programs stored in the ROM and the storage unit 34 into the RAM and executes them to control the mobile devices 3-1 and 3-2 as a means for executing the flow of FIG. 7 to be described later. The various functional parts are realized.

  In addition, the storage unit 34 includes a storage area dedicated to using the online storage service (hereinafter referred to as a dedicated storage area) and a storage area shared by various applications (hereinafter referred to as a shared storage area). The file uploaded to the file management server 2 and the file downloaded from the file management server 2 are stored in the dedicated storage area, but can be moved or copied to the shared storage area in accordance with a user instruction from the operation unit 32. . When stored in the shared storage area, it can be processed by an application other than the online storage service, for example, an image editing application.

  FIG. 6 is a file management table stored in the dedicated storage area. This table includes the file ID of each file, the file name of the file specified by the file ID, the thumbnail address, the file address, and the download date and time. Here, the thumbnail address and the file address are storage addresses in the dedicated storage area for the thumbnail and the file, respectively. A blank (the third and subsequent lines) indicates that no information is written. That is, in the case of this figure, the files downloaded so far are only the file 1_1 and the file 1_2.

<Operation of file exchange system>
With reference to FIG. 7, an operation when a file is transmitted from one of the mobile devices 3-1, 3-2 in FIG. 1 to the other will be described. In FIG. 7, the file transmitting side is the transmitting side mobile device, and the receiving side is the receiving side mobile device. Needless to say, the mobile devices 3-1 and 3-2 have the same configuration, and both can be a transmission-side mobile device and a reception-side mobile device. As a premise of this operation, it is assumed that an application for receiving an online storage service is installed at least on the mobile device on the transmission side, and a storage area is allocated to the online storage area of the file management server 2. .

  First, when the user starts an application for receiving an online storage service from the operation unit 32 of the transmission side mobile device, the transmission side mobile device transmits a connection request signal to the file management server 2 (step S1). Here, when the application is activated, a login screen is displayed on the display unit 33, and a connection request signal is transmitted in response to the user inputting an ID and a password.

  The file management server 2 starts the flow in response to the reception of the connection request signal, and from the folder information table (FIG. 4) stored in the online storage area of the user of the transmission-side mobile device, the folder ID, The folder name and folder URL are read out and transmitted to the transmitting mobile device (step S21). When the number of folders is large, the file information table (FIG. 5) is referred to based on the folder URL, and for example, the files are transmitted in order from the folder storing the new file update date and time.

  The transmitting-side mobile device receives the folder information, holds it in the RAM in the control unit 38, and displays the folder name on the display unit 33 (step S2). If there are multiple folders, it is displayed as a list of folder names. When the user designates (selects) a desired folder name from one or more folder names displayed on the display unit 33 using the operation unit 32 (step S3), the transmitting-side mobile device A file information request signal for requesting file information of a file in the folder specified by the designated folder name is transmitted to the management server 2 (step S4). This file information request signal includes the folder URL of the folder specified by the designated folder name.

  The file management server 2 receives the file information request signal (step S22), and based on the folder URL included in the signal, the file information stored in the file information management table (FIG. 5) on the online storage. Is transmitted to the transmitting-side mobile device (step S23).

  The transmission-side mobile device receives the file information and saves it in the dedicated storage area of the storage unit 34, and displays the file name and the update date / time as bibliographic items on the display unit 33 (step S5). Next, it is determined whether or not the thumbnail of each file is stored in the dedicated storage area of the storage unit 34 (step S6), and when stored (S6: YES), the thumbnail is displayed on the display unit 33 (step S6: YES). Step S9). At this time, the display unit 33 displays text indicating bibliographic items of each file and thumbnails of each file side by side.

  On the other hand, if it is not stored (S6: NO), a thumbnail request signal is transmitted to the file management server 2 (step S7). This thumbnail request signal includes a thumbnail URL. The file management server 2 receives the thumbnail request signal (step S24), reads out the thumbnail on the online storage based on the thumbnail URL included in the signal, and transmits it to the transmitting-side mobile device (step S25). The transmission-side mobile device receives the thumbnail transmitted from the file management server 2, stores it in the dedicated storage area of the storage unit 34 (step S8), and displays it on the display unit 33 (step S9).

  Here, the determination in S6, that is, whether or not the thumbnail of the file is stored in the storage unit 34 is performed as follows. When the thumbnail and the file have been downloaded from the online storage in the past, the control unit 38 stores necessary information in the file management table shown in FIG. 6, and therefore makes a determination by referring to the management table.

  An example of the screen displayed on the display unit 33 in step S9 is shown in FIG. As shown in the figure, in the image display area 102 in the screen 101, thumbnails of three files and texts 104 of bibliographic items of the respective files are displayed side by side. That is, a list of thumbnails and a list of bibliographic items of files are displayed. Below the image display area 102, a “view” button 105 and an “exchange” button 106 are displayed. Although not shown, a cursor movement button for designating (selecting) a file is also displayed by moving the cursor to the thumbnail 103 and the bibliographic text 104.

  Next, when the user designates (selects) a file by moving the cursor to a desired thumbnail using the operation unit 32 and presses the “view” button 105 or the “exchange” button 106 (step S10), the control unit 38 refers to the file management table (FIG. 6) to determine whether or not the designated file is stored in the dedicated storage area of the storage unit 34 (step S11). If it is stored as a result of the determination (S11: YES), the file is displayed on the display unit 33 (step S14).

  On the other hand, if it is not stored as a result of the determination (S11: NO), a file request signal is transmitted to the file management server 2 (step S12). This file request signal includes a file URL. The file management server 2 receives the file request signal (step S26), reads the file on the online storage based on the file URL included in the signal, and transmits it to the transmitting-side mobile device (step S27). The transmission-side mobile device receives the file transmitted from the file management server 2, stores it in the dedicated storage area of the storage unit 34 (step S13), and displays it on the display unit 33 (step S14).

  If the instruction in step S10 is “view”, the process ends here. On the other hand, when it is “exchange”, after establishing communication with the receiving-side mobile device (step S15), the file is transmitted to the receiving-side mobile device (step S16).

  After establishing communication with the transmission-side mobile device (Step S31), the reception-side mobile device receives the file transmitted from the transmission-side mobile device, stores it in the dedicated storage area of the storage unit 34, and displays the display unit. (Step S32).

  As described above, according to the file exchange system of the present embodiment, the thumbnails and bibliographic items specified by the user from the list of file thumbnails and bibliographic items displayed on the display unit 33 of the transmission-side mobile device. It is determined whether or not the file is stored in the dedicated storage area of the storage unit 34 in the device, and when stored, the file is read from the storage unit 34 and transmitted to the receiving-side mobile device, but not stored. Is downloaded from the file management server 2 and transmitted to the receiving mobile device, so that the transmitting mobile device user needs to know whether the file to be transmitted is in the transmitting mobile device or on the file management server 2 The file can be transmitted by a common operation regardless of the location of the file.

In addition, the following modifications (1) to (8) are possible with respect to the embodiment of the present invention.
(1) In S10, the order of file designation and “view” or “exchange” instruction is reversed.
(2) When “view” is instructed in S10, “exchange” is instructed to replace the file displayed on the display unit 33 in S14.
(3) When establishing communication in S15, a mobile device that exists in a communicable range is searched, and communication is established with the found mobile device.
(4) When establishing communication in S15, the address book stored in advance in the storage unit 34 is displayed on the display unit 33, and communication establishment is performed for the mobile device having the address selected by the user from the address book. .
(5) The transmission-side mobile device executes communication establishment with the reception-side mobile device at an arbitrary timing from after S1 to before S14.
(6) The receiving-side mobile device uploads the received file to the file management server 2 after S32. A thumbnail of the received file may be created and stored in the storage unit 34. The file management server 2 creates a thumbnail of the file uploaded by the receiving mobile device, stores it in the storage unit 24, and transmits it to the receiving mobile device. When the mobile device on the receiving side creates a thumbnail of the file received from the mobile device on the transmitting side and stores it in the storage unit 34, the mobile device on the receiving side rewrites it with a more precise thumbnail received from the file management server 2.
(7) The determination result of S6 or S11 is displayed on the display unit 33.
(8) An online storage is provided outside the file management server 2, for example, on the network 1.

<Appearance of mobile device>
Next, an example of the external appearance of the mobile devices 3-1 and 3-2 will be described with reference to FIGS. 9 to 15. 9 is a front view, FIG. 10 is an enlarged view of the display panel in the front view, FIG. 11 is a rear view, FIG. 12 is a left side view, FIG. 13 is a right side view, FIG. It is a bottom view. In these figures, the display panel and the icons and characters displayed on the display panel are indicated by solid lines, the image display area in the display panel is indicated by a one-dot chain line, and the others (such as the outline of the housing) are broken lines. Is shown.

  As shown in FIG. 9, a display panel 301 is disposed on the front side of the casing of the mobile device, and an image display area 302 is disposed in the center of the inside thereof. Here, for the sake of convenience, the image display area 302 is left blank.

  As shown in FIG. 10, a “place” icon, a “replacement” icon, a “camera” icon, a “voice memo” icon, and a “setting” icon are displayed in the leftmost area 303 of the display panel 301 from the top. . In the area 304 on the right side of the display panel 301, a “view” icon, a “exchange” icon, a “comment” icon, and a “file transmission” icon are displayed in order from the top. These icons are configured as buttons on the touch panel, and the mobile device can perform a predetermined operation by pressing the icon or a character on the left side thereof. The right end of the image display area 302 overlaps with the icon characters arranged in the area 304, but the icon characters can be visually recognized even when the image is displayed in the image display area 302.

  A “return” icon is displayed above the area 305 arranged on the right side of the area 304, and an icon for saving the image file displayed in the image display area 302 as a photo album in the storage unit 34 at the bottom. Is displayed. Between these icons, a character string indicating the attribute information of the image displayed in the image display area 302 is displayed.

  DESCRIPTION OF SYMBOLS 1 ... Network, 2 ... File management server, 3-1, 3-2 ... Mobile device, 22, 32 ... Operation part, 23, 33 ... Display part, 24, 34 ... Memory | storage part, 25, 36 ... Network communication part, 26, 38 ... control unit, 37 ... inter-device communication unit.

JP 2010-86174 A

Claims (11)

A mobile device that receives a user file from a server that stores the user file via a network,
File information display for displaying a screen on which the file can be selected on the display unit by designating information that can identify either the file stored in the storage unit of the own device or the user's file stored in the server Means,
Selection accepting means for accepting selection of a file on a screen capable of selecting the file;
A transmission instruction receiving means for receiving an instruction for transmitting the selected file to another mobile device;
If the selected file is a file stored in the storage unit of the own device according to the instruction received by the transmission instruction receiving unit, the selected file acquired from the storage unit of the own device To the other mobile device, and if the selected file is a user file stored in the server instead of the storage means of the own device, the selected file is transmitted from the server via the network. Transmitting means for acquiring a file and transmitting the acquired file to the other mobile device;
Have
The user operation for transmission to the other mobile device executed after the file is selected by the selection accepting unit is that the location where the selected file is stored is the storage unit of the own device or the server A mobile device characterized in that it is a common operation regardless of whether it is . The mobile device according to claim 1,
The mobile device , wherein the screen on which the file displayed by the file information display unit can be selected is a screen for receiving an instruction from the transmission instruction receiving unit . The mobile device according to claim 2,
The mobile device further includes a display instruction accepting unit that accepts an instruction to display the selected file on the display unit, and the screen from which the file can be selected can accept an instruction from the transmission instruction accepting unit a is, and the mobile device, wherein receivable der Rukoto the instruction by the display instruction accepting means. The mobile device according to any one of claims 1 to 3,
The transmission instruction accepting means accepts an instruction by selecting a button displayed on a screen from which the file can be selected,
In accordance with an instruction received by selection of the button, the selected file is displayed on the display unit, and the selected file is transmitted to the other mobile device. In the mobile device according to any one of claims 1 to 4,
And further comprising communication establishment means for establishing communication with the other mobile device,
The mobile device, wherein the transmission unit transmits the selected file to the other mobile device that has established communication by the communication establishment unit . The mobile device according to claim 5, wherein
At least an application program for realizing the transmission unit has been installed, and the communication establishment unit executes establishment of communication with the other mobile device in response to activation of the application program. Mobile device . The mobile device according to claim 6, wherein
It said communication establishing means for sending the file to the other mobile device, the same application program as the installed application program is characterized that you establish communication with installed mobile device to the mobile device Mobile device . The mobile device according to any one of claims 1 to 7,
The mobile device characterized in that the information that can identify the file includes at least one of bibliographic information of the file and a thumbnail of an image corresponding to the file . A mobile device that receives a user file from a server that stores the user file via a network,
File information display for displaying a screen on which the file can be selected on the display unit by designating information that can identify either the file stored in the storage unit of the own device or the user's file stored in the server Means,
Selection accepting means for accepting selection of a file on a screen capable of selecting the file;
A transmission instruction receiving means for receiving an instruction for transmitting the selected file to another mobile device;
If the selected file is a file stored in the storage unit of the own device according to the instruction received by the transmission instruction receiving unit, the selected file acquired from the storage unit of the own device To the other mobile device, and if the selected file is a user file stored in the server instead of the storage means of the own device, the selected file is transmitted from the server via the network. Transmitting means for acquiring a file and transmitting the acquired file to the other mobile device;
Have
The user operation for transmission to the other mobile device executed after the file is selected by the selection accepting unit is that the location where the selected file is stored is the storage unit of the own device or the server The mobile device, which is a common operation regardless of whether
With the other mobile device;
A file exchange system comprising: A program for causing a computer to function as each unit of the mobile device according to claim 1 . A file exchange method executed by a mobile device that receives a user file from a server that stores the user file via a network,
File information display for displaying a screen on which the file can be selected on the display unit by designating information that can identify either the file stored in the storage unit of the own device or the user's file stored in the server Steps,
A selection accepting step for accepting selection of a file on a screen from which the file can be selected;
A transmission instruction reception step for receiving an instruction to transmit the selected file to another mobile device;
If the selected file is a file stored in the storage unit of the own device according to the instruction received by the transmission instruction receiving step, the selected file acquired from the storage unit of the own device To the other mobile device, and if the selected file is a user file stored in the server instead of the storage means of the own device, the selected file is transmitted from the server via the network. Acquiring a file and transmitting the acquired file to the other mobile device;
Have
The user operation for transmission to the other mobile device that is executed after the file is selected by the selection receiving step is such that the location where the selected file is stored is the storage unit of the own device or the server Regardless of whether it is a common operation
File exchange method characterized by .

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