JPH07261994A - Method for customizing software using interactive method and device therefor - Google Patents

Abstract

PURPOSE:To provide a software preparation method and a device therefor for supporting an end user to easily customize a software provided with a control structure. CONSTITUTION:All the phenomenons possible to occur in a specified object are presented by referring to a phenomenon type data base, an action taken corresponding to the selected one of the presented phenomenons is analyzed by referring to an action type data base and a phenomenon/action rule for relating the selected phenomenon and the analyzed action is generated and stored in a phenomenon/action rule data base. The set A1 of the actions firable in an environment E<i> at a prescribed point of time is detected from the phenomenon/action rule data base, the action (a) is taken out from the set A1 and executed when the action (a) is included in the set A1 and the action (a) is removed from the set A1. The set A2 of the actions firable in the environment E<i+1> is detected from the phenomenon/action rule data base and the sets A1 and A2 are merged.

Description

Detailed Description of the Invention

[0001]

BACKGROUND OF THE INVENTION 1. Field of the Invention The present invention relates to a method and apparatus for customizing software using an interactive method,
In particular, the present invention relates to a method and apparatus for supporting customization of application software by an end user.

[0002]

2. Description of the Related Art Software customization performed by an end user includes addition or modification of functions and attributes. Of these, what is difficult for the end user is changing or adding a function. Hereinafter, customization means changing or adding a function.

When the end user customizes, it is required to meet the following requirements. (1) Use an interactive method of directly operating the screen display. (2) It is not necessary to be aware of the internal representation of software. (3) It is easy for the end user to understand the operation procedure at the time of execution from the work when customizing.

Conventionally, the following customization methods have been available to satisfy such requirements. 1. Method using operation macro This method records the history of operations performed by the end user on the software and adds it as a new function.

However, simply registering the history of operations by the end user merely executes a series of operations collectively. This method cannot specify control structures such as conditional branches and loops, which are indispensable for describing complex functions.

On the other hand, in order to be able to specify the control structure, the operation macro must be described according to the grammar, which is extremely difficult for the end user. 2. Customization method by demonstration It is a method of creating software including control structure by using inductive inference from concrete operation history, but there is a possibility of inferring incorrect specifications. Further, in order to create software with the correct specifications by inductive reasoning, the end user has to exemplify many operations, which increases the load.

As a specific example, FIG. 7 shows a customization method of adding the function of transcribing the contents of a line having a portion matching a keyword in a search result to a search result display field to existing software for searching a document. It demonstrates using. (1) Press the search button 12. As a result, the document file is displayed in the file display field 13. Here, it is assumed that the document file represents information of one document with one line. (2) If there is a character string 14 matching the keyword in the file display field 13, it is highlighted. This keyword search is performed until the end of the document file.
The line containing the character string 14 is copied to the search result display field 15. (3) Press the search button 12.

If the end user repeatedly performs the demonstrations of the above steps (1) to (3) until the computer correctly recognizes by inductive inference that the user's intention is "transcribe a line containing a keyword", customization is performed. Will be realized. However, it is a heavy burden for end users. Further, even if such a demonstration is repeated a plurality of times, it may happen that the user does not recognize what he or she intends.

[0009]

As described above, conventionally, it was difficult for an end user to customize software and add a function having a control structure such as conditional branching and looping.

The present invention has been made in view of the above circumstances, and an object thereof is to provide a method and apparatus for assisting an end user in customizing software to add a function having a control structure. .

[0011]

The method of customizing software using the interactive method of the present invention causes the designated object to be designated, and all the phenomena that can occur in this designated object are The categorized behaviors are stored, and the categorized behaviors are stored. Generating a phenomenon / behavior rule that associates the selected phenomenon with the analyzed behavior by analyzing the behavior by referring to the behavior type database;
Storing in the action rule database, detecting a set A1 of actions that can be fired under the environment E ⁱ from the phenomenon / action rule database at a predetermined time point, and the action a is included in the set A1. The action a is extracted from the set A1 and executed, and the action a is removed from the set A1 to change the environment from the environment E ⁱ to the environment E ^{i + 1} . Detecting a set A2 of actions that can be fired under the environment E ^{i + 1} from the phenomenon / action rule database; and merging the sets A1 and A2 and returning to the executing step. It has a feature.

Further, in such a method of customizing software of the present invention, a phenomenon type database for categorizing and accumulating phenomena, an action type database for categorizing and accumulating actions, and an object for designating a phenomenon are designated. When performed, the teaching control unit that presents all the phenomena that can occur in the designated object by referring to the phenomenon type database and selects any one of the phenomena, and the action taken corresponding to the selected phenomenon And a behavior analysis unit that analyzes what kind of behavior is referred to by referring to the behavior type database, generates a phenomenon / action rule that associates the selected phenomenon with the analyzed behavior, and generates the phenomenon / action rule. a phenomenon / behavior rule generation unit for storing the database, at a given time point, said set A1 of possible fire behaviors under environmental E ⁱ phenomenon / Detected from the dynamic rules database,
When the set A1 includes an action a, the action a is extracted from the set A1, the action a is removed from the set A1, and the environment E changed from the environment E ^i.
A set A2 of actions that can be fired under ^{i + 1} is detected from the phenomenon / action rule database, and the set A1 and A
This can be realized by using the software customizing device of the present invention, which is provided with an execution control unit that merges 2 and an action execution unit that executes the action a extracted by the execution control unit.

[0013]

When the user specifies an object for specifying a phenomenon, all the phenomena that can occur in this object are presented and selected by referring to the phenomenon type database, and the user selects the phenomenon corresponding to the selected phenomenon. Teaching is performed by analyzing the selected action with reference to the action type database, generating a phenomenon / action rule that associates the selected phenomenon with the analyzed action, and storing it in the phenomenon / action rule database. After this teaching, the mode is changed to the execution mode, and the set A1 of actions that can be fired under the environment E ⁱ is detected from the phenomenon / action rule database at a predetermined time point, and the action a is included in the set A1. This action a is set A1
When the environment is changed to E ^{i + 1} by removing the action a from the set A1, the set A2 of actions that can be fired under this environment E ^{i + 1} is detected from the phenomenon / action rule database, Merge sets A1 and A2 and return to the execution step. In this way, when the user demonstrates the action to be taken with respect to the phenomenon, the relation between the phenomenon and the action is ruled and stored in the phenomenon / action rule database, and the automatic operation is performed without the user's operation thereafter. Therefore, they will be able to take actions according to this rule.

[0014]

DETAILED DESCRIPTION OF THE PREFERRED EMBODIMENTS A software customizing method and apparatus according to an embodiment of the present invention will be described below with reference to the drawings.

The present embodiment corresponds to a conventional technique in which the concept of "phenomenon" is incorporated into the above-mentioned demonstration customization method. The operation of the existing application software is customized by the end user while confirming the "phenomenon" that appears on the screen display without paying attention to the internal expression of the software. In this way, end users do not need to have specialized knowledge of software to create software with complex functions having a control structure.

First, the concept of the phenomenon / behavior model will be described with reference to FIG. 2 by taking a method of customizing software for receiving electronic mail as an example.

As the internal operation of the software, the spool file exists due to the reception of the electronic mail. When the software reaches such an internal state, a “phenomenon” occurs in which a predetermined icon on the screen lights up. The user is aware of this phenomenon as if the mail was received.

Next, the user takes the "action" of pressing the read button on the screen to read this mail. This "action" causes the software to perform an internal operation of activating a corresponding predetermined method.

As described above, the contents of "the electronic mail is received and read" that the user is aware of are "the phenomenon" that occurred on the screen that "the icon was lit" and "the button was pressed." The “action” taken by the user can be associated in a pair.

The screen display output by the software corresponds to a "phenomenon", and the user input to the software corresponds to an "action". The part that manages key input and execution between the user and the software corresponds to the “device”.

Then, a rule using a phenomenon as a conditional clause is introduced. Under the phenomenon that "the icon lights up",
A rule such as "to push the lead button" is stored in the "device".

The phenomena, actions, rules, reactions, and environment will be defined below. (1) Phenomena α, β, γ, ... A state in which a user can observe an object such as an icon based on a GUI (Graphical User Interface). (2) Actions a, b, c, ... Of the user's input actions to the above objects, those that cause actions in the software. (3) Rule α → a, β → bc, ... The user's intention to take the action a under the phenomenon α or the action sequence bc under the phenomenon β. (4) Reaction a →→ β, ... A new phenomenon β is caused by a certain action a taken by the user. Action a according to the environment described later
If the phenomenon β occurs due to (becomes “TRUE”), the reaction is a →→ β, and if it does not occur (is “FAULSE”), a →→ notβ. (5) Environment E ⁱ : {α, β, γ, ...} → {True, False} A map that determines whether or not a predetermined phenomenon occurs at a certain time i. When it is happening, it is "true", and when it is not happening, it is "false". For example, in the case of defining a phenomenon α that “a character exists in a predetermined field”, it is “true” when there is a character at a certain time i, and “false” when there is no character.

When a phenomenon α occurs at a predetermined time i (E ⁱ (α) → true), the user wants to perform the action a. By the user demonstrating according to the processing at the time of teaching,
The rule α → a is stored in the phenomenon / action rule database. When such a teaching is given, the device automatically executes the action a when the phenomenon α occurs thereafter.

Further, when the phenomenon β occurs as a result of the action a (reaction a →→ β) and the rule β → b exists, the action b is automatically executed. In this way, the rules are also applied to the phenomenon caused by the reaction. Whether or not the predetermined phenomenon α occurs at a certain time i is
Follow environment E ⁱ . Similarly, whether or not the phenomenon β occurs as a result of the action a taken by the user is also determined by the environment.

For example, if the rule α → a exists, the environment E ⁱ
If there is a reaction of a →→ α depending on, the customization system executes a until a →→ not α. That is, a control structure called a loop is realized.

As described above, the "side effect" that the software used to keep emitting to the user in the past is always observed on the device side, and when the corresponding rule exists, the software automatically waits for the user's action. Specifically work on the software. As a result, a function including a control structure such as a loop or a conditional branch is realized based on the demonstration of the user.

FIG. 1 is a block diagram showing the relationship among the device 11, software 12 and user 13 in this embodiment, and the flow chart of FIG. 3 shows the procedure of processing at the time of teaching. The procedure of processing at the time of execution after being stored in (hereinafter abbreviated as DB) is shown in the flowchart of FIG.

First, the procedure of processing at the time of teaching is shown in FIGS.
Will be described using.

At step 101, the user 13 declares the teaching start to the teaching control section 16 of the apparatus 11.

In step 102, the user 13 selects from the software 12 an object to specify a phenomenon, that is, a GUI object, to the teaching control unit 16 and specifies it.

At step 103, the teaching control section 16 refers to the phenomenon type DB 15 and displays on the screen a menu of all the phenomena that may occur in the object. Phenomena are categorized for each application software and registered in the phenomenon category DB 15 in advance.

Here, the relationship between the operating state inside the software 12 and the phenomenon displayed on the screen is maintained in accordance with the protocol specified for each software. That is, for example, the display on the screen performed when a predetermined internal state of receiving an e-mail is reached is performed according to a certain protocol. By using this protocol, the operating state inside the software 12 and the phenomenon displayed on the screen can be associated.

At step 104, the phenomenon the user 13 is paying attention to is selected and designated from the menu to the teaching control section 16.

In step 105, the behavior analysis unit 21 of the apparatus 11 receives the behavior of the user 13 with respect to the software 12. The behavior analysis unit 21 determines in step 106.
Then, the behavior type DB 20 is referenced to analyze what kind of behavior is performed.

At step 107, the teaching end is declared to the teaching control section 16 by the user 13.

A rule associating the phenomenon designated in step 104 with the behavior analyzed in step 106 is generated as a phenomenon / action rule by the phenomenon / action rule generation unit 22.

At step 110, a rule sequence "α → a, β → b, γ → c, ..." for realizing the teaching content is generated, stored in the phenomenon / action rule DB 17, and the process ends.

Next, the procedure at the time of execution based on the phenomenon / action rule accumulated by the above teaching will be described with reference to FIGS. 1 and 4.

In step 121, the phenomenon analysis unit 14 constantly analyzes the output of the software 12 by referring to the phenomenon type DB 15 to see what kind of phenomenon is occurring.
The execution control unit 18 uses the analysis result of the phenomenon analysis unit 14 to automatically collect a set A of all actions at which the device 11 can operate (hereinafter, referred to as firing) at the time i without waiting for the operation of the user 13. Is detected from the phenomenon / action rule DB 17. Here, the action that can be fired at a certain time i means that the value of the phenomenon determined by the environment E ⁱ (α) is “true” and α →
Action a when there is a rule a, that is, rule α → a
The action a when the phenomenon α occurs in the presence of.

In step 122, it is determined whether the set A is empty, and if it is empty, the process ends. If the set A is not empty, the process moves to the next step 123.

In step 123, the execution controller 18
Takes out the action a included in the set A from the set A and gives it to the action executing section 19. The action execution unit 19 is an action type DB
20, the action a is analyzed and converted into data necessary for execution, and then the action a is executed.

At step 124, action a from set A
Get rid of. Then, at step 125, the time is i
Becomes +1, the environment is changed to E ^{i + 1} from E ^i. Along with this, the phenomenon analysis unit 14 analyzes the phenomenon by referring to the phenomenon type DB 15. The result of this analysis is given to the execution control unit 18.

In step 126, this environment E ^{i + 1}
The execution control unit 18 detects, from the phenomenon / action rule DB 17, a set A ′ of actions that can be fired in the phenomenon.

The set A and the set A'are merged (A + A
′), A set of ignitable phenomena in the environment E ^{i + 1} is obtained by this new set (A + A ′). Then, the process returns to step 122.

As another specific example, a case where the present embodiment is applied to software for searching documents for customization will be described.

Conventionally, as described with reference to FIG. 7,
"Press search button 12, file display field 13
The line containing the highlighted character string 14 therein is copied to the search result display field 15, and the search button 12 is pressed. The computer performs the inductive inference. However, there was a problem that the demonstration had to be repeated a plurality of times until the computer correctly recognized the user's intention, and correct function addition might not be realized by the function inference. For example, in the file display field 13, the highlighted character string 14
When there are multiple character strings, the user demonstrated that only one character string 14 was searched for, "transcribed into search result display field 15". In some cases, the search was not performed automatically.

In the present embodiment, the user only needs to demonstrate one character string 14 once, and thereafter, a function of automatically searching all the other character strings 14 is added. (1) Press the search button 12. If the character string 14 matching the keyword is in the file display field 13,
Highlighted. (2) Select and specify the phenomenon of interest. That is, "the highlighted character string 14 exists" from the menu.
Select. (3) Copy the line containing the highlighted character string 14 into the search result field 15. (4) Press the search button 12.

This completes the teaching. That is, when the phenomenon "the highlighted character string 14 exists" occurs, it is defined as a rule by teaching the action "press the search button" only once, and thereafter this control function is accurately realized.

Next, a case where the present embodiment is applied to the customization of software for inputting a keyword and a search request destination will be described with reference to FIG.

In the keyword input field 71, enter a keyword such as "electrical equipment". Similarly,
A search request destination name is entered in the search request destination field 72.
After that, when the search button 73 is pressed, the search result display field 74 displays search results such as "Hitachi, Matsushita, Son".
A character string such as “y, ...” Is displayed. The characters displayed in the search result display field 74 can be freely copied as a character string of any length to another field, such as the document creation field 75.

Software for performing such a search exists, and the user customizes according to the present embodiment.

First, as a preparation, a search result display field 74, a document creation field 75, and a search button 73.
The phenomena that can occur with respect to the above and the actions that the user can take in response thereto are categorized and stored in the phenomenon type rule DB 17 and the action type DB 20, respectively.

Regarding the search result display field 74,
A phenomenon such as "there is a character string" or "the display content has changed" may occur. Furthermore, when this phenomenon occurs, the user may take actions such as "erasing a character string", "writing a new character string", and "moving a character string of an arbitrary length to another field". .

For example, the function of "if there is a search result, move all the search results to the document creation field" is added according to the following procedure. (1) Declare the start of teaching. (2) Designate the phenomenon "when there is a character in the search result display field 74". Specifically, this phenomenon is specified by the following procedure.

(I) The search result display field 74 is designated.

(Ii) Candidates for phenomena such as "character string exists" and "content is changing" are displayed in a menu.

(Iii) Select and specify the phenomenon that "a character string exists". (3) Perform the action of "all the results are transcribed in the document creation field 75". (4) Declare the end of teaching.

When the user gives such a teaching,
The phenomenon "when there is a search result" and the behavior "transcribe all search results in the document creation field" are stored as a rule in the phenomenon / behavior rule DB 17.

When the teaching is completed, the device 11 thereafter automatically shifts to the execution mode. Search result display field 74
If the character string exists in the, a function having a conditional branch is added such that the character string is automatically transferred to the document creation field 75 without waiting for the user's operation.

Further, it is possible to perform customization by adding a loop function of "performing a keyword search on all the lines of the document creation field 75 by using those lines as a search request destination". The procedure in this case is also similar to the case of adding a function having the condition described with reference to FIG. 5, and will be described with reference to FIG. (1) Declare the start of teaching. (2) Designate the phenomenon "when there is a character string in the document creation field 75". (3) The action of "transfer a character string for one line, for example, the character string" Hitachi wais.hitachi.co.jp "75a to the search request destination field 72" is performed. (4) Take the action of "keyword input". (5) Perform the action of “press the search button”. (6) Declare the end of teaching.

As a result, the phenomenon "when a character string is present in the document creation field 75" and the actions "moving one line to the search request destination field 72, inputting a keyword, and pressing the search button" are ruled. It is stored in the phenomenon / action rule DB 17.

After that, the execution mode is entered. As long as there is a character string in the document creation field 75, the contents are transcribed line by line until the character string no longer exists, and a search is performed. In this way, the addition of the loop function is realized.

Alternatively, various other functions can be added by applying this embodiment. For example, when the phenomenon "when the time displayed in the time display field 76 is" 10:00 "" occurs, the action of "searching" is performed, and then "the result display field 75 is changed." When the phenomenon "when there is" occurs,
Take the action "move to document creation field 75",
Suppose that you taught. In this case, 10 daily
A function is added in which a search is periodically performed at a certain time, and when a new result is added, it is moved to the document creation field 75.

As described above, according to the present embodiment, the user does not need to have any specialized knowledge about the internal operation of the computer or the software, but simply demonstrates the operation.
Customization is possible by adding complex control structures to existing application software. Moreover,
The user need only teach once, and the function intended by the user can be accurately realized without using inductive reasoning or the like.

The above-described embodiments are merely examples and do not limit the present invention. In the embodiment, the case where the present invention is applied to software for receiving an electronic mail or searching for a document or a keyword has been described as an example, but the software is not limited to such software. When there is software that allows the user to take action with respect to the display on the screen, the present invention can be widely applied for customization.

[0066]

As described above, according to the present invention, by demonstrating the action that the user should take with respect to the phenomenon, the phenomenon / action rule indicating the relationship between the phenomenon and the action is generated and accumulated. When there is a corresponding rule, it automatically acts when a predetermined phenomenon occurs, and it is possible to easily add a function having a control structure such as conditional branching to software.

[Brief description of drawings]

FIG. 1 is a block diagram showing a configuration of an apparatus that implements a software creation method according to an embodiment of the present invention.

FIG. 2 is an explanatory diagram for explaining a concept of a phenomenon / behavior model introduced in the method of creating the software.

FIG. 3 is a flowchart showing a procedure of processing at the time of teaching in the software creating method.

FIG. 4 is a flowchart showing a procedure of processing at the time of execution in the software creating method.

FIG. 5 is an explanatory diagram showing a screen display when customizing existing search software using the software creation method.

FIG. 6 is an explanatory diagram showing a screen display when customizing existing search software using the method for creating the software.

FIG. 7 is an explanatory diagram showing a screen display in software for performing document search.

[Explanation of symbols]

 11 Device 12 Software 13 User 14 Phenomenon Analysis Unit 15 Phenomenon Type DB 16 Teaching Control Unit 17 Phenomenon / Behavior Rule DB 18 Execution Control Unit 19 Action Execution Unit 20 Behavior Type DB 21 Behavior Analysis Unit 22 Phenomenon / Behavior Rule Generation Unit

 ─────────────────────────────────────────────────── ─── Continuation of front page (72) Inventor Rei Otsuka 2-16-1, Hoshikawa, Hodogaya-ku, Yokohama-shi, Kanagawa Stage 605 Hoshikawa (72) Inventor Nori Kusunoki 1-8, Sasashita, Konan-ku, Yokohama-shi, Kanagawa 12- 301 (72) Inventor Ryusuke Seino 122-1, Iwai-cho, Hodogaya-ku, Yokohama-shi, Kanagawa Prefecture 803 Queen Heights Hodogaya 803 (72) Inventor Ken Shinohara 3-6-6 Miwa Midoriyama, Machida-shi, Tokyo

Claims (2)

[Claims] 1. A method for customizing software using an interactive method, in which a target for designating a phenomenon is designated, and all phenomena that can occur in the designated target are stored as a phenotype of the phenomenon. Refer to the behavior type database that stores the categorized behaviors of the steps that are presented and selected by referring to the phenomenon type database that is stored, and the actions taken corresponding to the specified phenomenon. A step of analyzing what kind of action it is, a step of generating a phenomenon / action rule that associates the selected phenomenon with the analyzed action, and storing the phenomenon / action rule in a phenomenon / action rule database; Detecting a set A1 of actions that can be fired under E ⁱ from the phenomenon / action rule database; If the action a is included, the action a is extracted from the set A1 and executed, and the action a is removed from the set A1, and the environment changes from the environment E ⁱ to the environment E ^{i + 1} . The steps of: detecting a set A2 of actions that can be fired under the environment E ^{i + 1} from the phenomenon / action rule database; merging the sets A1 and A2; and returning to the execution step. A software customization method using an interactive method characterized by including. 2. An apparatus for customizing software using an interactive method, wherein a phenomenon type database that categorizes and accumulates phenomena, an action type database that categorizes and accumulates actions, and an object to specify a phenomenon are specified. When performed, the teaching control unit that presents all the phenomena that can occur in the designated object by referring to the phenomenon type database and selects any one of the phenomena, and the action taken corresponding to the selected phenomenon A behavior analysis unit that analyzes what kind of behavior is referred to by referring to the behavior type database, generates a phenomenon / action rule that associates the selected phenomenon with the analyzed behavior, and generates the phenomenon / action rule. a phenomenon / behavior rule generation unit for storing the database, at a given time point, said set A1 of possible fire behaviors under environmental E ⁱ current / Behavioral rules is detected from the database, if action a is included in the set A1 retrieves this action a from the set A1, removing the action a from the set A1, the environment E which is changed from the environment E ⁱ An execution control unit that detects a set A2 of actions that can be fired under ^{i + 1} from the phenomenon / action rule database and merges the sets A1 and A2, and the action a extracted by the execution control unit An apparatus for customizing software using an interactive method, which comprises an action executing unit for executing.