JPH07210513A - Cooperative work starting device - Google Patents

Abstract

PURPOSE:To provide a system for a user to easily construct cooperative work by preparing a user information table and an application information table with respect to the cooperative work starting device for starting the cooperative work. CONSTITUTION:This device is provided with a user information table 14 for registering terminal names corresponding to user names, application information table 15 for registering starting systems corresponding to application names, and data managing part 13 for extracting the terminal name corresponding to the inputted user name while referring to the user information table 14 corresponding to the inputs of the user name and the application name to be started, for extracting the starting system corresponding to the inputted application name while referring to the application information table 15 and for starting the cooperative work by starting an application 16 based on these terminal name, application name and starting system.

Description

Detailed Description of the Invention

[0001]

BACKGROUND OF THE INVENTION 1. Field of the Invention The present invention relates to a cooperative work starting device for starting a cooperative work. In recent years, with the spread of computers and computer networks, research and development of computer systems for supporting collaborative work called groupware have been actively conducted.

When performing a collaborative work using a computer, it is necessary to construct a collaborative work environment on the computer. Therefore, a multi-user application such as a shared window that can be used by multiple people is absolutely necessary. At this time, it is desired to easily construct a collaborative work environment.

[0003]

2. Description of the Related Art Conventionally, when activating a multi-user application, it has been necessary to clearly specify to which terminal the multi-user application is activated. For collaborative work, it is important to know who to work with, but for this reason, when launching a multi-user application,
After confirming the user's work place (terminal used by the user), the multi-user application is started in the work place.

Further, as a method of realizing a multi-user application, a centralized method shown in FIG. 10A and a method shown in FIG.
Since there is a distributed method shown in (b) of (1), the user has grasped and specified which method to start. Figure 1 below
0 will be briefly described.

FIG. 10 shows a method of realizing a multi-user application. Here, the flow of input data is represented by a solid line, and the flow of processing results is represented by a dotted line. (A) of FIG.
Shows a centralized multi-user application. This centralized system starts a multi-user application on any one of a plurality of terminals A, B, and C, which are connected via a network, in the figure, terminal A, and all terminals A, B, and C are activated. The data input from the device is transferred to the application (multi-user application) of the terminal A to request processing, and the processing result is received and displayed.

FIG. 10B shows a distributed multi-user application. In this distributed system, an application (multi-user application) is activated on each of a plurality of terminals A, B, C connected via a network,
The data input from each of the terminals A, B, and C is passed to the application of each terminal for processing, and the processing result is transferred to its own terminal and other terminals and displayed.

[0007]

As described above, conventionally, when attempting a cooperative work, the user recognizes the terminal name to be used, the terminal name of the cooperating user, and the distinction between the centralized method and the distributed method. Therefore, it is necessary to specify these when starting the multi-user application, and even if there is a request for collaborative work, the multi-user application cannot be easily started from the terminal, which hinders the use of the multi-user application. There was a problem.

The present invention solves these problems by
The purpose is to prepare a user information table and an application information table, and to provide a mechanism by which users can easily construct cooperative work.

[0009]

FIG. 1 shows the principle of the present invention. In FIG. 1, the application management unit 1
1 is for managing activation of the application 16 and the like,
The data transmission / reception unit 12 and the data management unit 13 are included.

The data transmitting / receiving unit 12 transmits / receives data to / from other terminals via a network. The data management unit 13 refers to the user information table 14 to retrieve the terminal name corresponding to the input user name, refers to the application information table 15 to retrieve the activation method corresponding to the input application name, The application 16 is started based on the terminal name, the application name, and the starting method to start the collaborative work.

The user information table 14 is for registering a terminal name in association with a user name. The application information table 15 is for registering the activation method in association with the application name.

The application 16 is a multi-user application that performs collaborative work.

[0013]

According to the present invention, as shown in FIG. 1, the data management unit 13 responds to the input of the user name and the application name to be activated.
Refers to the user information table 14 to retrieve the terminal name corresponding to the entered user name, and refers to the application information table 15 to retrieve the activation method corresponding to the entered application name, and retrieves these terminal name, application name and The application 16 is activated based on the activation method to start the cooperative work.

At this time, when the activation method extracted from the application information table 15 corresponding to the application name is the centralized method, the data management unit 13 registers the terminal registered with the activation method from the application information table 15. The name is extracted and the application 16 is activated on the terminal having the terminal name to serve as a server. On the other hand, in the case of the distributed system, the application 1 is applied to each terminal.
I'm trying to activate 6 respectively.

If the activation method extracted from the application information table 15 corresponding to the application name is the centralized method, the terminal name registered with the activation method is extracted from the application information table 15 and When the application 16 is tried to be started on the terminal having the terminal name but cannot be started, the application 16 is started on any of the other terminals that can be started to serve as a server, and the application information table 15 serves as a server. The name of the activated terminal is registered and notified to other terminals.

Further, when the activation method fetched from the application information table 15 corresponding to the application name is the distributed method, the application 16 can be activated when it is not possible to activate the application 16 on each terminal. Also, the application 16 is transferred from another terminal and the application 16 is activated.

Therefore, it is possible to provide a mechanism in which the user information table 14 and the application information table 15 are prepared, and the user can easily start the application 16 and build a cooperative work.

[0018]

DETAILED DESCRIPTION OF THE PREFERRED EMBODIMENTS Next, the construction and operation of an embodiment of the present invention will be described in detail with reference to FIGS.

The overall operation of the principle explanatory diagram of FIG. 1 will be described with reference to FIG. In FIG. 2, S1 registers the application name and the activation method in the application information table 15. For example, as shown in FIG. 3B, this is registered as application name activation method application A concentrated (server: terminal X) application B distributed. Here, the application name “app A” and the activation method “centralized (server: terminal X)” are the application name “application A”, and the activation method at this time is the “centralized method”. Indicates that the terminal that is the server that starts the application is "terminal X". Further, the application name “App B” and the activation method “Distributed” are the application name “App B”, the activation method is “Distributed”, and the application B is distributed to each terminal.
Indicates that is started.

In step S2, the terminal name is registered in the user information table 15 in association with the user name. For example, as shown in FIG. 3A, the user name is registered as the terminal name currently used by user A terminal A.

At step S3, a request for activation is made by designating an application name and a user name for collaborative work. For example: -App name: App A-User name for collaborative work: User A specifies collaborative work with user B and user C, and requests activation.

In step S4, the user information table 14 is referenced to convert [user name → terminal name]. For example, referring to the user information table 14 of FIG. 3A for the users A, B, and C who perform the cooperative work, the user name is converted into the terminal name as follows.

User A → Terminal A User B → Terminal B User C → Terminal C S5 obtains the activation method from the application information table 15. For example, the activation method: centralized (server: terminal A) is obtained from the application information table 15 for the application A.

S6 is started from the application name and the terminal name.
This is because, for example, the application A specified in S3 and the terminal name converted from the user name in S4 have been registered as the centralized system here, so the terminal with the terminal name A has the application name A.
Launch the application of and start it as a server in a centralized manner.
Further, since the distributed method is registered here based on the application B designated in S3 and the terminal name converted from the user name in S4, the application of the application B is activated in the terminal of each terminal name.

S7 is operated. In this, the applications (multi-user applications) are operated by the centralized method or the distributed method activated in S6 to perform the cooperative work. In S8, the application ends.

In step S9, the user stops using the terminal. S
10 deletes the terminal name corresponding to the user name from the user information table 14.

As described above, the user information table 14 and the application information table 15 are registered as shown in FIG. 3, and the user only has to specify the application name used for the cooperative work and the user name for the cooperative work in S3. , Necessary information automatically from the user information table 14 and the application information table 15 (starting methods are concentrated (name of server terminal),
It is possible to get distributed and start automatically based on these (in the case of the centralized method, start the application only on the specified terminal and request processing from other terminals and In the case of the distributed system, the application is started on each terminal, the input of each terminal is passed to each application, and the processing result is transferred to all terminals).

FIG. 3 shows an example of the information table of the present invention.
FIG. 3A shows an example of the user information table. This is a registration of the terminal name currently used by the user in association with the user name, and is registered as follows.

User Name Terminal Name Currently Used User A Terminal A User B Terminal B User C Terminal C FIG. 3B shows an example of the application information table. This is to register in advance the centralized method or the distributed method in association with the application name. In the case of the centralized method, the name of the terminal that serves as the server that activates the application is further registered. For example, register as follows.

Application Name Startup Method Additional Information Application A Centralized (Server: Terminal X) Server: Terminal A Application B Distributed Application C Centralized (Server: Terminal Y) Here, the additional information is the application on the terminal specified by the startup method. When is not able to start, it registers the terminals that can be started and informs other terminals which terminal is the server.

Next, the procedure for updating the user information table 14 of FIG. 3A will be described in detail according to the order shown in the flowchart of FIG. In FIG. 4, S11
The user inputs the user name to the terminal. For example, the user inputs the user name “user A” into the terminal.

In step S12, the terminal name is registered in the user information table 14. This is to register the currently used terminal name, for example, "terminal A", in association with the user name "user A" input in S11, that is, the user name currently used terminal name user A terminal A Registration is performed as shown in the user information table 14 in (a) of FIG.

In step S13, it is determined whether the user has stopped using the terminal. If YES, the terminal name is deleted from the user information table 14 in S14. On the other hand, if NO, S13 is repeated.

As described above, when the user inputs the user name (for example, user A) from the terminal, the terminal name (for example, terminal A) currently in use is automatically associated with the user name (for example, user A). It is registered in the terminal table 14 and is automatically deleted when the use is stopped.

Next, the procedure for updating the application information table 15 of FIG. 3B will be described in detail according to the order shown in the flowchart of FIG. In FIG. 5, S21
Is requested by the user to update the application information table 15.

In step S22, the application activation method is temporarily registered. For example, the activation method of the application name “application A” in FIG. 3B is temporarily registered as “centralized (server: terminal X)”. In S23, it is determined whether the application can be started based on the temporarily registered information. This determines, for example, whether the temporarily registered application name exists and can be activated. If YES, S2
4 updates the application information table 24. On the other hand, in the case of NO, it is found that the application cannot be activated based on the temporarily registered information.
When ES is input, the process returns to S23, and when NO is input, the process ends.

As described above, the user provisionally registered the activation method of the application (centralized method or distributed method, or the terminal name of the server further in the case of the centralized method), and it was determined that the application can be activated based on the provisionally registered information. At this time, registration is performed as shown in the application information table 15 of FIG.

Next, according to the order shown in the flowchart of FIG. 6, the operation at the time of starting the application in the case of the centralized system having the configuration of FIG. 1 will be described in detail. In FIG. 6, S31 issues a request to start the application. For example: -App name: App A-User name: User A inputs a cooperative work with user B and user C to make a request to start the app.

In step S32, the participant information (user name) is converted to the terminal name from the user information table 14. In S33, it is determined whether all the participants can participate. This is to determine whether or not all the terminals of the participants (user names) are power-on or the like and can participate in S32. In the case of YES, since it has been found that all can participate, the activation method (here, since the application is the centralized method, the centralized method and the terminal name of the server) are acquired, and the process proceeds to S35. move on. on the other hand,
In the case of NO, it was found that all of them could not participate. Therefore, if some of them were able to participate, after notifying the participants of the information of non-participants in S40, it was activated from the application information table 14 in S34. The system (centralized system and server name of the server) is acquired, and the process proceeds to S35. If all are unable to participate, the process ends.

In step S35, since the centralized system is used here, it is determined whether the server terminal can start the application. If YES, the application is activated in S36. Then, the operation is started in a centralized manner. On the other hand, in the case of NO, since it has been found that the terminal serving as the server cannot start the application, the participant is notified that the terminal cannot be started in S39. In this case, a terminal that can be started as a server is searched for among the terminals that perform collaborative work, and when a terminal that can be started as a server is found, the application is started on that terminal, and as shown in FIG. Register the terminal that will be the server in the additional information field of the application information table 15, for example, application name startup method additional information application A centralized method (server: terminal X) server: terminal A, and register the application with terminal X as the server. I can't start
It is registered that the application has been started using the terminal A as a server. The other terminals look at this additional information, recognize that the server is the terminal (here, terminal A), transfer the information input at each terminal to the terminal A of the server, and the terminal A displays the application. The processing is passed and processed, and the processing result is returned to the original terminal performing the cooperative work.

As described above, the user information table 14 is automatically referred to and the user name is converted to the terminal name in response to the user's request for designating the application name and the user name of the collaborator. Referring to FIG. 15, the application start method is a centralized method, in which the terminal name of the server is extracted, and the application is started on this terminal to serve as the server. Further, when the application cannot be started on the server, the application is started on the other terminal to serve as the server, and is registered in the additional information column of the application information table 5 to notify the terminal name of the server to the other terminal, and the centralized method It becomes possible to collaborate in.

Next, the operation at the time of starting the application in the case of the distributed system having the configuration of FIG. 1 will be described in detail according to the order shown in the flowchart of FIG. In FIG. 7, in S41, an application activation request is issued. For example: -App name: App-B-User name: User A inputs cooperation request with user-B and user-C, and issues a request to start the app.

In step S42, the participant information (user name) is converted to the terminal name from the user information table 14. In S43, it is determined whether all the participants can participate. This is to determine whether or not all the terminals of the participants (user names) are able to participate by being powered on in S42. In the case of YES, since it has been found that all can participate, the activation method (here, since the application is a distributed method, the distributed method is used) is acquired, and the application is started on each terminal in S45. And then S46
Proceed to. On the other hand, in the case of NO, it is determined that all cannot participate. Therefore, if some of them can participate, after notifying the participants of the information of non-participants in S50, the application information table 14 in S44. The activation method (distributed method) is acquired, the application is activated on each terminal in S45, and the process proceeds to S46. If all are unable to participate, the process ends.

Since the distributed system is used in step S46, it is determined whether or not the application can be started in each terminal. If YES, then end. Then, the operation is started by the distributed method. On the other hand, in the case of NO, the terminal that cannot be started in S47 copies the application from the other terminal, determines in S48 whether the copied application could be started, and ends in YES,
In the case of NO, the information of the participant (user) who cannot start the application and cannot participate in S49 is notified to the other participants, and the process ends.

As described above, the user information table 14 is automatically referred to and the user name is converted to the terminal name and the application information table is responded to in response to the activation request by the user designating the application name and the user name of the collaborator. 15, the distributed method is taken out as the application start method, and the application is started in each terminal. If there is a terminal that cannot start the application, the application is copied from another terminal and started. Even if this starts the application, if there is a participant who cannot join, the participant who cannot join will be notified that other participants cannot join.

FIG. 8 shows a system configuration diagram of the present invention.
This shows a specific state example when the terminals A, B, C, and X exist. Here, terminal A: user A is in use, and as shown in the user information table 14 of FIG. 9A, the user name is the terminal name currently in use User A is registered as terminal A (See Figure 4).

Terminal B: User B is in use and, as shown in the user information table 14 in FIG. 9A, the user name is the terminal name currently in use User B Terminal B is registered. (See Figure 4).

Terminal C: not login,
Since it is not used by the user, as shown in the user information table 14 in FIG. 9A, the user name, the terminal name currently used by the user C-, and the terminal name are not registered.

Terminal X: Since the power is off and the user is not using it, nothing is registered in the user information table 14 of FIG. 9A. A procedure will be described in detail in the case where the user A activates the application A by the users A, B, and C under the state of FIG. 8 described above.

(1) The terminal name is obtained from the user information table 14 of FIG. 9A as follows. -User A-> Terminal A-User B-> Terminal B-User C-> Participation is not possible (2) User A indicates that user C cannot participate,
Notify user B.

(3) The starting method of the application A is obtained from the application information table 15 of FIG. 9B as follows. -Centralized method (server: terminal A) (4) Request activation to terminal A, which is the server.

(5) The terminal A activates the application A. (6) Then, using the terminal A on which the application A is activated as a server, the users A and B start cooperative work here. That is, the user A inputs data to the terminal A, passes it to the application A of the terminal A, receives the processing result, and displays it on the terminal A. The user B inputs data to the terminal B, transfers it to the terminal A, passes it to the application A for processing, transfers the processing result to the terminal B, and displays it on the terminal B.

Further, in the case of the user A activating the application C by the users A, B, and C under the above-mentioned state of FIG. 8, the procedure will be described in detail. (1) The terminal name is obtained from the user information table 14 of FIG. 9A as follows.

User A → Terminal A User B → Terminal B User C → Participation is not allowed (2) User A indicates that user C cannot participate,
Notify user B.

(3) The starting method of the application C is obtained from the application information table 15 of FIG. 9B as follows. Centralized method (server: terminal X) (4) Request activation to terminal X, which is a server (a in FIG. 8)
reference).

(5) Power source OF of the terminal X which is the server X
Because it is F, it cannot be started. (6) Check if the participant's terminal can be a server (see b in FIG. 8). (7) Confirm that terminal A can be the server.

(8) The terminal A which can be a server is registered in the additional information section of the application C in the application information table 15 of FIG. 9B. As a result, it is registered that the server that activates the application C is the terminal A.

(9) Start the application C on the terminal A. (10) Then, the user A and the user B start the collaborative work here using the terminal A on which the application C is activated as a server. That is, the user A inputs data to the terminal A, passes it to the application C of the terminal A, receives the processing result, and displays it on the terminal A. The user B inputs data to the terminal B, transfers it to the terminal A, passes it to the application C for processing, transfers the processing result to the terminal B, and displays it on the terminal B.

[0059]

As described above, according to the present invention,
User information table 14 and application information table 15
, The user only needs to specify the application name for the collaborative work and the user name to be the collaborative worker, and the user information table 14 is referred to retrieve the terminal name used by the collaborative worker and the application information table 15 Since the startup method (distributed method, centralized method (terminal name that serves as a server)) is extracted with reference to and the application is automatically started based on these, the application 16 (multi User application) can now be easily started. With these, the multi-user application can be started without being aware of which terminal is being used by the users participating in the collaborative work, and without being aware of the centralized method or the distributed method of starting the multi-user application. It is now possible to collaborate on a computer.

[Brief description of drawings]

FIG. 1 is a diagram illustrating the principle of the present invention.

FIG. 2 is a flowchart explaining the operation of the present invention.

FIG. 3 is an example of an information table of the present invention.

FIG. 4 is a flowchart of updating a user information table according to the present invention.

FIG. 5 is a flowchart for updating an application information table according to the present invention.

FIG. 6 is an operation flowchart (in the case of a centralized system) at the time of starting an application of the present invention.

FIG. 7 is an operation flowchart (in the case of a distributed system) at the time of starting an application of the present invention.

FIG. 8 is an example of a system configuration of the present invention.

FIG. 9 is an example of an information table of the present invention.

FIG. 10 is a method of realizing a multi-user application.

[Explanation of symbols]

 11: Application management unit 12: Data transmission / reception unit 13: Data management unit 14: User information table 15: Application information table 16: Application (multi-user application)

Claims (4)

[Claims] 1. A collaborative work activation apparatus for activating a collaborative work, wherein a user information table (14) for registering a terminal name in association with a user name and an application information table (for registering an activation method in association with an application name ( 15), and in response to the input of the user name and the application name to be activated, refer to the user information table (14) to extract the terminal name corresponding to the input user name, and to display the application information table (15). A data management unit (13) that retrieves the starting method corresponding to the input application name with reference and starts the application (16) based on the terminal name, the application name, and the starting method to start cooperative work. A collaborative work starting device characterized by being provided. 2. When the starting method is a centralized method, the terminal name registered together with the starting method is taken out from the application information table (15), and the application (16) is assigned to the terminal having the terminal name. 2. The collaborative work activation device according to claim 1, further comprising a data management unit (13) that activates the application (16) in each terminal when the application is a distributed system. 3. The centralized system according to claim 2, wherein the terminal name registered with the activation system is retrieved from the application information table (15) and the terminal with the terminal name is activated. When it did not start,
A data management unit (13) for activating one of the other terminals that can be activated to serve as a server and registering the name of the terminal activated as a server in the application information table (15) is provided. Collaborative work activation device. 4. The distributed system according to claim 2, wherein when the application (16) is attempted to be started in each terminal but cannot be started, the application (16) is started from another terminal which can be started. A collaborative work activation device, comprising: a data management unit (13) that activates the application (16) in response to the transfer of the data.