JPH04270464A - Interactive dynamic document preparing system - Google Patents

Abstract

PURPOSE:To easily fetch required information into a document and to prepare the document desirable for a user by dynamically linking even the once prepared document to the other document or a data, base(DB). CONSTITUTION:By adding a correspondent DB name 123, display item 124, retrieval condition 125 and frame depending relation 126 to the conventional electronic document as management information, the user can retrieve the required part of the document from the data base and display it again based on the data interactively inputted to the document even after the document is distributed. Thus, a DB operation environment can be easily constructed to utilize a precise information present system such as an electronic direct mail, etc., having various contents for each customer or the DB prepared by the specialist by the user as the document.

Description

[Detailed description of the invention]

0001

BACKGROUND OF THE INVENTION 1. Field of the Invention The present invention relates to an electronic document implemented in a computer, and more particularly to an interactive dynamic document creation method in which a user can interactively change the contents of an electronic document.

0002

[Prior Art] Conventionally, there is a concept called hypertext as a means of defining relationships between documents and databases in a frame defined within a document (Reference, CACM 19).
(March 1990 issue, pages 296-310). These electronic documents define a frame within the document, define an association between that frame and another document or database, and when a document user refers to the frame in some way, the contents of the related document or database are displayed. is what is brought out. For example, when a user is reading a document on Japanese history and becomes interested in a character and selects the character's name with a mouse, information about the character is retrieved from the character database.
It is now possible to display things like this.

[0003] For this reason, structural information regarding frames within a document has been of the type having the following information as its main content.

(1) Frame arrangement information (size, position) (2
) Size of the entire document (3) Information regarding the name of the related database or document and the position, size, and length of the portion to be extracted.

[0005] Depending on the method of realizing hypertext,
Normally, a frame is the basic unit of layout within a document, so there is information other than the above, such as the following, but it is not relevant here and will not be discussed.

(4) Restriction information regarding frame placement within the document (
For example, one frame and another frame must be on the same page).

[0007] Here, the conventional method of describing relationships will be considered. The document creator is the one who arranges the frame in the document and decides its size, but it is also the document creator who also describes the relationship in (3). From the concept of hypertext, what can be described as a relationship corresponds to the name of a document or database to be called up, its location, or search conditions. The conditions are described as follows, using the previous Japanese history as an example.

(1) Examples of contents of Japanese historical documents.

[0009]. ．． ．． ．． In 1600, at the Battle of Sekigahara, Ishida Mitsunari... ．． ．． Assume that a frame is now defined in the underlined portion. Then, the relevant definition for this part is as follows.

(2) Examples of related definitions.

[0011] Encyclopedia of historical figures. Item "Mitsunari Ishida" By doing this, when a user is reading a document and wants to know what kind of person Mitsunari Ishida was, he or she can press the item with the mouse. Then, the corresponding item is retrieved from the historical person encyclopedia and can be viewed by the user.

0012

[Problem to be Solved by the Invention] In the above-mentioned prior art, the related definitions are fixed. That is, this relevant definition is
It is applicable only to the relevant place in the above document and is not at the discretion of the user. In other words, there is no part that depends on the user's will. Therefore, for example, when the user wants to retrieve items that match the contents specified by the user, the conventional technology is not useful. Such examples are not so-called publications such as the above-mentioned Japanese historical documents, but are often found in notices, advertising documents, and e-mails whose contents can be changed for each individual recipient, such as those listed below. In other words, the following document usage formats cannot be realized if this continues.

[0013] As an example, consider a situation in which a real estate property introduction is created as an electronic document and distributed by e-mail. The documents distributed include property information (name, price,
The document was originally created to introduce floor plans, etc., but there were multiple candidates, or the user's preferences had changed (for example, the conditions regarding the floor plan had changed due to an increase in the number of family members). There is a change in the situation. It is difficult to predict it in advance. Moreover, since the information is held by the sender, it is impossible for the user to replace the document with the content requested by the user after the document is distributed. In other words, the user informs the sender of changes in his/her preferences and floor plan, has the sender create a new document, and then receives the document. In this case,
It is a waste of time and a waste for both the user and the sender. Therefore, it is necessary to define an area within a document in which input can be made according to the user's instructions, and to also be able to automatically reflect changes in content in accordance with the user's instructions to the document. Moreover, it is desirable that the changes can be controlled according to the user's will.

[0014] The conventional concept of hypertext cannot be applied to the above-mentioned applications, no matter how many connections are made with databases, as long as the relationships are fixed. Therefore, by expanding the concept of hypertext and expressing the related description above as a set function, we will introduce room for user discretion.

[0015] In the above conventional technology, when a document user wants to change a part of a document received by e-mail or the like or refer to other data, a new request is made to the sender (document creator). It needed to be fixed. Therefore, it is not only troublesome and time-consuming for both document creators and document users, but it also has the disadvantage that necessary information cannot be obtained immediately.

An object of the present invention is to provide an interactive dynamic document creation device that allows a user (referrer) to change a part of a document and immediately refer to other data even after the document is distributed. It's about doing. Moreover, if the document creator defines it before distributing the document, other data can be automatically referred to immediately.

[0017]

[Means for solving the problem] In order to achieve the above purpose, the document creator pre-provides a frame in which the user can input information interactively and a frame that changes depending on the content of the frame. I'll keep it. Furthermore, a database containing the data to be displayed in the change frame is defined. When a user enters the key word of the data he or she wants in the input field, the document automatically extracts the data corresponding to the key word from the database and displays it in the corresponding change frame of the document, thereby making it easier for the user to use. Allows documents to be updated dynamically.

Specifically, two logical types of frames are provided for the document, the first type of frame is a frame that allows input by the user, and the second type of frame is a frame in the frame information table. Define a database information extraction formula related to A means for the user to input data interactively, a means for displaying specified data in the second type of frame, and a means for displaying specified data in the second type of frame when input is received in the first type of frame. This is achieved by providing a means for replacing included variables with input values, and a means for supplying and executing a conditional expression of the replacement result to a database.

[0019]

[Operation] After displaying an electronic document with a frame structure, the system waits for input from the user regarding inputtable frames. This is performed by a document management program that manages the above-mentioned means in an integrated manner. The document management program executes the frame input means for each frame designated as input-enabled in the frame information table. When the user starts inputting, the frame input means acquires the content (the input content is placed in a specific file or memory) and reports it to the document management program by an interrupt method or the like. Next, the document management program checks from the frame information table which frame's contents should be changed, that is, the search results from the database should be redisplayed when the frame is changed. The search expression replacement program replaces the replacement symbol in the search expression corresponding to the frame with the input contents of the corresponding frame (stored in a file or memory). The replaced result is also given as a search expression to the database specified in the frame information table. More precisely, the search results are obtained by giving the database name and search formula to the database management program. This database management program does not need to be on the same computer as the document. They may exist on separate computers connected via LAN. All that is required is for the database management program to be accessible remotely.

The results (character strings, images) thus obtained are immediately reflected on the document by the frame display means.

[0021]

Embodiment An embodiment of the present invention will be explained with reference to FIGS. 1 and 2. FIG. 1 is a conceptual diagram of the present invention, in which a document 101 includes a plurality of document groups 14 corresponding to relationship definition frames 11. Furthermore, there is a database group 123 corresponding to two other relationship definition frames 4 and 5. Also, this correspondence relationship is input frame 1,
2 and 3 to determine which database it corresponds to. From FIG. 2 onwards, a method of processing correspondence to this database, particularly an example of updating a document based on information input by a user, will be specifically explained. FIG. 2 shows a frame management table 102 that stores display examples of the electronic document 101 and information regarding frames arranged within the electronic document. In this example, the content of the document is resort information, and the user can input the desired area and price. The frame information includes the position within the document (X,
In addition to basic information such as Y coordinate), size (width, height), input/output attributes 121 (input, output) used in the present invention, initial display content 122 (the content itself is stored in a file,
Only the file name is shown here), supported database name 1
23, display item name 124, search condition description 125, and dependency relationship 126 are described for each frame. However, in FIG. 2, the position and size are omitted. In this embodiment, the number of frames is five, and each piece of information is as described. Explain the contents. The initial display content originally includes the file name, but FIG. 2 shows the content itself. Since frames 1, 2, and 3 are input frames, that is, input items, only the initial display and dependency relationships are entered. The dependency relationship indicates which frame's contents will be changed when an input is made to that frame. In the example, changing the contents of frames 1, 2, and 3 means changing the display of frames 4 and 5. Since frames 4 and 5 are related definition frames, that is, output items, the items of the corresponding database name, display item name, and search condition description are entered. The corresponding database name and display item name are specified when the content to be displayed in the frame is the content of one item in the database. Here, the resort database items “name” and
It is specified that the "Summary" is displayed. In such a case, the search condition description indicates which search conditions should be displayed. Specifically, the format is as shown in Equation 1. Since the format of the expression is originally accepted by the database 103, it cannot be determined unless the database is determined, but in this example, the SQL format is used. A brief explanation of the SQL format will be provided. The SQL language is one of the representative database access languages, and generally has the following syntax. The database format has a plurality of entries lined up as shown in the table shown in FIG. The syntax for extracting the necessary entries from this format is as follows.

[0022] SELECT item name FROM
Database Name WHERE Conditional Clause The conditional clause means that entries with elements that meet this condition are extracted from the database name, and only item names from among those entries are desired as a result. Equation 1 shows a specific example of a conditional clause.

Budget >= Frame 2 AND Budget <= Frame 3 AND Region == Frame 1
．． ．． ．． ．． Formula 1 Formula 1 means that among the resorts in the area specified by the user in frame 1, only those resorts whose budget item value is between the values specified in frame 2 and frame 3 should be displayed. be.

Next, the structure 201 of the resort database 103 is shown in FIG. In the database, there is an item "Name"
, ``Summary'' (omitted), ``Region'', and ``Budget'' are filled in. In the example, only two entries are displayed.

To summarize the above, in this document, when the user inputs either the region or the price range, the name and outline of the property matching the conditions are extracted from the resort database and displayed.

Next, FIG. 4 shows the structure of the software that interprets the main frame information. The document management program 301 controls the entire electronic document. The operation of these software will be explained along the flowchart of FIG.

Step 701: The document management program 301 displays the electronic document on the screen, and activates the frame input program 302 for frames in which input is possible, frames 1, 2, and 3 in this example.

Step 702 When the user writes in a specific frame, the frame input program 302 writes the content to the content file 306 corresponding to the written frame. This content file 306 is the same as the file used for the initial display content. Here, it is assumed that the user inputs "Boso" into frame 1.

Step 703: When the content file 306 is updated, that is, when the character string "Boso" is entered in the content file 306, the document management program 301 monitors the status of the content file 306, and now The search condition descriptions (formula 1 above) of frames 4 and 5 that are in a dependent relationship with the updated frame 1 are extracted from the frame information and passed to the condition generation program 303. At this time,
Memorize the frame number. If there are multiple dependent frames as in the example, repeat extraction, subsequent conversion, and display as many times as necessary.

Step 704 The condition generation program 303 converts the passed condition description into a search command for the database. This conversion process will be explained using (Equation 1) as an example.

Extract the contents of the frame from the contents file. Here, it is as follows. Here, frame 1 is ``Boso'', frame 2 is ``3000'', frame 3 is ``4000'', frame 4 is ``ABC Corporation'', and frame 5 is ``Location...''.

Next, the part written in the box n in the formula is replaced with the above value as a character string. The replacement result is Budget ＞= 3000 AND
Budget <= 4000 AND Region ==
Boso. ．． ．． ．． Equation 2 is obtained.

Finally, the database name and the item name to be searched are entered and converted into the format of the database access language required by the database management program 305. For example, in SQL, it would be as follows.

0034 SELECT Name FROM Resort WHERE
Budget ＞= 3000 AND Budget ＜= 400
0 AND region == Boso. ．． ．． ．． Equation 3 After conversion, the condition generation program 303 passes the result to the document management program 301.

Step 705 The document management program 301 sends the conditional expression (expression 3) to the database management program 305 and receives the search result. In this example, the search results are as follows.

"Alpha Mansion" Step 706 Next, the frame display program 304 is instructed to display the search results for the previously stored frame number (4). Then, the content of frame 4 (114) changes to "Alpha Mansion". Similarly, search and display processing is performed for frame 5 (115). As a result, for frame 5, SELECT Summary FROM Resort WHERE
Budget ＞= 3000 AND Budget ＜= 400
0 AND region == Boso. ．． ．． ．． Expression 4 is sent to the database access program, and the search result is ``Location: Chiba Prefecture...''. Display these results anew. A new document with changed contents in frames 4 and 5 is displayed. The new document is shown in Figure 7. Finally, wait for the display to finish, and then again.
Return to frame input.

In the manner described above, necessary data can be extracted from the database based on data input interactively by the user and reflected in the document.

Next, instead of the user inputting information into the input box, the second information is automatically retrieved from the database.
An example of this will be explained. FIG. 10 shows an example of the definition of the input box and an example of the contents of the database. A flowchart is shown in FIG. This assumes that the input frame 1 of the first embodiment is replaced with this definition. In the first embodiment, the user inputs the region, but in this embodiment, the region is input from a database. Since "Boso", "Izu", "Shinshu", "Koshu", etc. are entered in the corresponding item of the database, these information are processed in the same way as if they were input by the user. In other words, in the first embodiment, when the user enters "Boso" in the area, the database search formulas defined in frames 4 and 5 are evaluated accordingly, and after execution, the results are displayed in frames 4 and 5. explained that it will be reflected in the display. In the second embodiment, this part of the processing is completely the same. In other words, assume that the content of frame 1 has the value "Boso" as a result of a database search. Then, the names and outlines of properties in the Boso area are displayed in frames 4 and 5. This allows for automatic creation of property introduction documents for each area. This is a type of mail merge. The important point is that with traditional mail merge, although it is possible to insert the region name, other information,
The point is that it was not possible to automatically change the property name, price, etc. If you want to do the same thing with mail merge printing, you will need to prepare data for all the items that need to be changed. Moreover, without making any mistakes in the combination. Next, the flow of processing in this embodiment will be explained with reference to FIG. however,
Only the parts that differ from the first embodiment will be described.

Step 1101: The document management program 301 displays the electronic document on the screen, and activates the frame input program 302 for frames in which input is possible, frames 1, 2, and 3 in this example.

Step 1102 The frame input program 302 examines the information of the input frame, and when it is found that the input frame 1 is designated by the database, retrieves the first content from the database. For now, it will be called "Boso." Then, the value is written to the content file 306 corresponding to frame 1. This content file 30
6 is the same file used for the initial display content.

Steps 1103 to 1104 are steps 703 to 704 in FIG. 7 of the first embodiment.
The processing contents are the same.

Step 1105 When using the insertion function, steps 1101 to 1104 are repeated until the contents of the database specified in the input box are completed.

[0043] As described above, the content of the document is updated based on the data automatically and sequentially retrieved from the database, and as in the first embodiment, necessary data is extracted from the database and reflected in the document. You can create an extended merge of multiple documents.

Next, as a third embodiment, consider posting this document on a remote distribution system such as e-mail.

[0045] When distributing the electronic document according to the present invention by e-mail, the following is assumed.

(1) Document management program 301 and FIG. 4
Each software that appears in the software must exist on each terminal (computer).

(2) Database management program 305
be network-enabled.

A document distribution method will be considered based on the above two premises. In actual document distribution, it is necessary to distribute not only the document but also its frame information table. Moreover, even after distribution, the correspondence between the document and the frame information table must not be lost, so it cannot be sent as a simple email. Therefore,
As shown in FIG. 5, a dedicated document assembly program 401
and a document disassembly program 405 are required. This means that the document 101 and the frame information table 102 are made into one file, and conversely, the document 101 and frame information table 102 are made into one file.
1' and the frame information table 102' are restored. Specifically, as shown in FIG. 5, the document 101 and the frame information table 102 are combined to create a type of file called a document archive 404. Document archive 4
04 has a part called a header. In the header,
Stores the information name and length included in the document archive 404. In this example, the document 101 called “Resort Information” is 1
This means that the frame information table 102 includes 512 bytes. This makes it possible to return to the original state after receiving the document. Continuing from the header, the document 101 and the frame information 102 are combined into one file to create one document archive 404 that can be handled by the standard electronic mail 406. Once created, it is sent using a standard email program 406. The receiving side operates as follows. The document disassembly program 405 first reads the header from the document archive 404. As explained earlier, the information name and length are written in the header, so based on that, 1024 bytes of the document 101' called "resort information" are extracted from the part following the header, and then the frame information is extracted. Extract 512 bytes from table 102'. In this way, the document 101' having the same frame information table 102' as that on the sending side is reproduced on the receiving side. lastly,
The document management program 301 is now notified that the extracted document 101' has a frame information table 102'. The document management program 301 executes input processing and generation of search expressions for documents within its own terminal within its own terminal (receiving side). Regarding actual database access, the request is made on the premise that the database management program 305 is network compatible. Of course, the results will be displayed on your own terminal.

[0049] Currently, most databases are network compatible, and there seems to be no problem with the feasibility of this part. If the database is not network compatible, this can be achieved by incorporating a network operation program into the document management program 301.

[0050] As a result, the user can:
By modifying a part of a document distributed by e-mail to your liking, you can obtain new information through the network.

[0051]

[Effects of the Invention] According to the present invention, after a document has been created (distributed by e-mail), it is possible to easily handle cases where a user (document viewer) wants to change the document interactively. For example, when creating direct mail by e-mail, conventionally it was either created for each individual or compromised by sending standard direct mail, but with the present invention, when creating a document, the referrer By defining a frame that can be changed and a frame that changes accordingly, it is possible to create direct mail that corresponds to the preferences of the viewer.

[0052]

[Brief explanation of the drawing]

FIG. 1 is a conceptual diagram of the present invention.

FIG. 2 is a display example of an electronic document screen and an example of the structure and contents of a frame management table in the first embodiment.

FIG. 3 is an example of the structure of a database used in the first embodiment.

FIG. 4 is a software structure for implementing the invention.

FIG. 5 is a third embodiment, which is an example of realizing distribution by e-mail.

FIG. 6 is an example of a device configuration for realizing the present invention.

FIG. 7 is an example of document display after user input in the first embodiment.

FIG. 8 is a flowchart of the first embodiment.

FIG. 9 is an example of correction by e-mail in the second embodiment.

FIG. 10 shows an input box and the contents of a database corresponding to the input box in the second embodiment.

FIG. 11 is a flowchart of a second embodiment.

[Explanation of symbols]

101 is a document display example, 102 is a frame information table, 20
1 is a database structure and content example, 301 is a document management program, 302 is a frame input program, 303 is a condition generation program, 304 is a frame display program, 305 is a database access program, 306 is a content file 401 is a document assembly program, 404 is a document archive, 405 is a document disassembly program, 406 is a standard e-mail, 501 is a CPU, 502 is a memory, 503 is a display device, 504 is an input device, 505 is a hard disk, 5
06 is a LAN control device.

Claims (6)

[Claims] Claim 1: In an electronic document, an input frame that has an identification name and allows a user to enter information and can be placed within the document, and data or a group of documents that satisfy desired conditions and the frame, including the identification name of the input frame as a variable. A document that corresponds to the information input by the user, and has a relationship definition frame that defines the correspondence with the input frame, and an execution means that evaluates the above relationship according to the value of the input frame and determines the data or document group related to the frame. or an interactive dynamic document creation method characterized by displaying data contents. 2. In claim 1, the desired condition is a database access language consisting of a database name, a related item name, and a search condition expression, and the execution means includes means for interpreting and evaluating the database access language and performing a search. An interactive dynamic document creation method characterized by: [Claim 3] In Claim 1, the desired condition is a language for document content extraction consisting of a name of a document containing a keyword and a page, line number, or keyword for specifying the position in the document, and An interactive dynamic document creation method characterized in that the means is an execution means that evaluates a document content extraction language, determines a document name, and determines an extraction position. Claim 4: According to claim 1, the input frame has a function of automatically sequentially extracting contents from a specified database and its items, and has the same effect as automatically and repeatedly inputting information into the input frame. An interactive dynamic document creation method characterized by: [Claim 5] The document content of the interactive dynamic document in Claim 1, the arrangement information of the input frame, and the desired conditions defined in the relationship definition frame are transmitted from the computer 1 to the computer between a plurality of computers connected via a network. By providing a means for delivering the interactive dynamic document to computer 2 by e-mail and a means for accessing data or documents existing in computer 1 corresponding to the interactive dynamic document from computer 2, even after distribution by e-mail, the use of the interactive dynamic document can be maintained. An interactive dynamic document creation method characterized by being able to display documents or data contents corresponding to information input by a person. 6. The means for delivering the document by e-mail according to claim 5 includes means for composing the document content, the arrangement information of the input frame, and the desired conditions defined in the relationship definition frame into one file; An interactive dynamic document creation method comprising content and input frame arrangement information and a means for extracting desired conditions defined in relationship definition frames, and is characterized in that it can be distributed using a normal e-mail program. .