JPH07281970A - Electronic news server - Google Patents

Abstract

PURPOSE:To provide an electronic news server which can reduce the traffic, the computational complexity on the client side, the server retrieving frequency and other load and therefore can shorten the response time of the server. CONSTITUTION:A server 3 offers the electronic news to a client 2 and is provided with a news distribution part 5 which distributes the news in response to the request of the client 2, an article storage part 4 which stores the articles of the electronic news in each news group, and a news group list storage part 6 which stores a list of news groups stored in the part 4 as a news group list. The news group list stored in the part 6 consists of plural news group lists (H, I, J) which are previously sorted.

Description

Detailed Description of the Invention

[0001]

BACKGROUND OF THE INVENTION 1. Field of the Invention The present invention relates to an electronic news server that provides electronic news to clients connected to a network.

In recent years, a local area network (LAN) or a wide area network (W
With the development of (AN), the reading of electronic news articles via networks has become widespread.

In such a system, electronic news articles are classified into items called news groups and managed in the server. When subscribing to electronic news articles, the newsreader of the client had acquired the list of newsgroups held by the server and all the articles in each newsgroup.

[0006] Then, the client requests the subscription to the server by comparing what is acquired from the server with the subscription record (already subscribed information) and determining how many unsubscribed articles exist.

However, in such a method, when the amount of electronic news information increases, the amount of work of the server increases and the amount of communication increases, which causes a noticeable delay in response time. . Therefore, there has been a demand for realizing efficient server processing.

[0006]

2. Description of the Related Art FIGS. 8 and 9 are diagrams showing a conventional example. In FIGS. 8 and 9, 2 is a client, 3 is a server, and 4 is a server.
Is an article storage unit, 5 is a news delivery unit, and 6 is a news group list storage unit.

§1: Description of electronic news system and server--see FIG. 8 FIG. 8 is a block diagram of the server. Hereinafter, the configurations of the electronic news system and the server will be described with reference to FIG.

The electronic news system has a server 3 connected to a network such as a LAN and a plurality of clients 2. The server 3 is provided with a news delivery section 5, an article storage section 4, a news group list storage section 6 and the like.

The news delivery section 5 includes a client 2
By communicating with, the various controls at the time of news delivery are performed. The article storage unit 4 stores electronic news articles by classifying them into news groups (items) and stores them.
Is a list of newsgroups stored in the article storage unit. The article storage unit 4 and the newsgroup list storage unit 6 are
It is provided in the file device.

In the electronic news system having the above-mentioned configuration, when reading electronic news, the client 2
However, by obtaining the list of news groups held by the server 3 and the amount of articles in each news group and comparing them with the reading record (record of read articles), how many articles are unread Determine whether.

In this case, the client 2 acquires the group name and the amount of news for all news groups when acquiring the news group. Therefore,
As the number of news groups increases, it takes time to determine the transfer time of the news group list and unread articles.

§2: Description of processing at the time of reading electronic news according to a specific example ... See FIG. 9. FIG. 9 is an explanatory view of processing procedures at the time of reading an article. Below, FIG.
Based on the above, processing at the time of article reading in the electronic news system will be described.

The example described below is an example of a client-server type news system (UNIX Internet system). In this system, a server (news server) and a plurality of clients (news clients) exist on the network.

The news article is a character string or multimedia data converted into a character string. Then, the article has a string attribute (for example, rec.games.programmer) called the newsgroup name of the content so that the article can be posted and subscribed by classifying the content type. There is.

The news group name is a sequence of words separated by a field separator (usually ".").
From the beginning to the large classification and the middle classification, the classification becomes deeper as the word increases. In this case, the news group is classified into a tree structure using the news group name.

The tree structure of the classification is managed by a newsgroup manager. The poster selects a newsgroup suitable for the content of the article and posts it as an attribute of the article. The reader can obtain a list of article names posted in the newsgroup by specifying the category to be read, and can specify and read the article name.

The procedure will be described below according to the procedure shown in the figure. In addition,
S1 to S9 indicate processing steps. In addition, the command (RF) sent from the client to the server is shown in <> in the figure.
Network News Transfering Protocol defined by C 977
s) is illustrated.

S1: First, the server (computer and software) creates a news port and waits for a posting request from the client. S2: The client (computer and software) is
Connect to the server via network. At this time, the server establishes a connection.

S3: The client requests the server for an active list (a list in the newsgroup list storage unit). S4: The server returns the internally stored active list to the client. The client receiving this active list compares the records of read articles with the active list, and calculates how many unread articles there are in each newsgroup.

Then, the user is presented with the news group name and the number of articles each has, and the user is asked to decide which news group he / she wants to read. S5: The client specifies the group name.

S6: The client specifies the article number and requests the attributes of the article from the server. S7: The server returns the attribute of the designated article. And
The client repeats the processes of S6 and S7 for all articles in the news group. In addition, the titles of all articles in the newsgroup are presented to the user, and the article to be viewed is selected.

S8: The client requests the text by designating the article number. S9: The server returns the text.

[0023]

SUMMARY OF THE INVENTION The above-mentioned conventional device has the following problems. The newsgroups that users want to read are only a small part of the whole, but in the conventional electronic news system, the client had to obtain a list including all the newsgroup names.

As a result, the amount of communication between the client and the server increases and the communication cost increases. Further, the client has a large amount of processing (computation amount, etc.) for selecting a necessary one from the list, and the cost is also high in this respect.

The present invention solves such a conventional problem, and when a news reader obtains a list, a condition for extracting a necessary news group is given, and a server searches for a news group which meets the condition. By generating a list and responding, the communication cost and the calculation cost on the client side are reduced.

Further, according to the present invention, as a list extraction condition, a classified list is created in the server in advance for frequently used patterns, so that the search amount on the server side and the list reproduction can be achieved. The purpose is to reduce the cost of configuration and the response time of the server.

[0027]

FIG. 1 is a diagram for explaining the principle of the present invention. In FIG. 1, the same parts as those in FIG. 8 are designated by the same reference numerals. The present invention is configured as follows to achieve the above object.

That is, a server (electronic news server) 3 for providing electronic news to a client 2 connected via a network performs news delivery control when delivering electronic news in response to a request from the client 2. A news group having a news delivery section 5, an article storage section 4 that stores electronic news articles separately for each news group, and a list of news groups stored in the article storage section 4 as a news group list. The list storage unit 6 is provided.

The news group list stored in the news group list storage unit 6 is composed of a collection of a plurality of news group lists (H, I, J) which have been classified in advance. Further, the news delivery section 5 is provided with a news group list generation section for generating a news group list based on a request from the client 2.

[0030]

The operation of the present invention based on the above construction will be described with reference to FIG. When a news group list request and a news group pattern are sent from the client 2 to the server 3, the news delivery unit 5 of the server 3 receives the request and analyzes the content.

As a result, the requested pattern is predicted in advance, and the divided news group list (lists H, I, J) is stored in the news group list storage unit 6.
If stored in, the table (sorted list)
The content of is returned to the client 2 as it is. That is, only the relevant table (classified list) is returned from the server to the client.

If the pattern is not predicted, the news delivery section 5 creates a whole news group list, performs matching again, and returns it to the client 2. In this way, the corresponding newsgroup list is returned to the client.

The electronic news is provided as described above, but in the server, the news group list generation unit provided in the news delivery unit 5 processes the news group list based on the request from the news reader, The classified news group list is generated and stored in the news group list storage unit 6.

As described above, it is possible to reduce the data amount of the news group list returned from the server to the client, and to reduce the communication cost and the calculation cost on the client side. In addition, for frequently used patterns, a list (classified list) is stored in the server in advance.
By creating the above, it is possible to reduce the amount of search on the server side, the cost of generating the list, and the response time of the server.

[0035]

Embodiments of the present invention will be described below with reference to the drawings. 2 to 7 are views showing an embodiment of the present invention. In FIGS. 2 to 7, the same parts as those in FIGS. 1 and 8 are designated by the same reference numerals. Further, 7 is a file device, 10 is a client control unit, 11 is a list command generation unit, 12 is a prefix registration file, 13 is a read article list, and 14 is a news group list generation unit.

§1: Description of basic configuration of electronic news system--see FIGS. 2 and 3 FIG. 2 is a configuration diagram of an electronic news system, and FIG. 3 is a configuration diagram of a server. The basic configuration of the electronic news system will be described below with reference to FIGS. 2 and 3.

As shown in FIG. 2, the electronic news system is constructed on a LAN (local area network), and has a plurality of clients (client computers) 2 connected to the LAN network and a server. (Server computer) 3.

The server 3 is provided with a news delivery section 5 for delivering electronic news and a file device 7 for storing electronic news. Further, as shown in FIG. 3, the file device 7 in the server 3 is provided with an article storage unit 4 and a news group list storage unit 6.

The article storage unit 4 stores electronic news articles by dividing them into news groups, and the news group list storage unit 6 lists news groups stored in the article storage unit 4. As a news group list.

In this case, the news delivery unit 5 anticipates a pattern that is often used in advance for a news group name, and performs pattern matching for (N, O, P) in the list of the news group list. The news groups are sorted as desired and stored in the news group list storage unit 6.

When the news delivery section 5 receives a request from the client 2, the news delivery section 5 analyzes the request and returns the news group list classified according to the request from the client to the client.

§2: Description of basic processing--see FIGS. 2 and 3 Hereinafter, processing of the electronic news system shown in FIGS. 2 and 3 will be described. When a news group list request and a news group pattern are sent from the news reader (news reader program) on the client 2 side to the server 3, the news delivery unit 5 of the server 3 receives the request and Analyze the content.

As a result, when the requested pattern is predicted in advance and there is a list of classified news groups (N, O, P in FIG. 3), the news delivery section 5 of the server 3 The contents of the list are sent back to the client 2 as they are.

If the pattern is more similar to the expected one (if there is a similar list), a plurality of lists are selected and returned to the client 2. Further, when the pattern is not expected, the news delivery unit 5 creates an entire news group list and performs matching again, and the client 2
Return to. Specifically, it is as follows.

For example, in the server 3, the news group list stored in the news group list storage unit 6 is hierarchically arranged by field separators (".") Of "alpha", "beta", and "gamma". Suppose that you are operating a newsgroup group that has a tree structure.

In this case, the news group list is classified according to whether the first hierarchy is "alpha", "beta", or "gamma", and stored in the lists N, O, P in advance. Then, when the news reader of the client 2 sends a news group list request and the required news group pattern that the first layer is "alpha", the news delivery unit 5 causes the news delivery unit 5 to send an "alpha".
It is determined that "" has been classified in advance, and the list N is returned to the client 2 as it is.

Further, as a news group list request from the news reader of the client 2 and a required news group pattern, up to the second layer is "alpha sy".
When the condition of "stem" is sent, the news delivery unit 5 determines that only the list N needs to be analyzed in order to obtain "alpha system".

Then, from the list of the list N, a news group whose second layer is "alpha system" is extracted and returned to the client 2. Furthermore, when the news reader of the client 2 sends a news group list request and the condition of all news groups held by the server 3 as a news group pattern, the news delivery unit 5 performs the unexpected condition. Therefore, all the lists N, O, and P are linked and returned to the client 2. Hereinafter, a more specific example will be described.

§3: Description of specific example of electronic news system--see FIGS. 4 and 5 FIG. 4 is an explanatory diagram of a client and FIG. 5 is an explanatory diagram of a server. Hereinafter, a specific example of the electronic news system will be described with reference to FIGS. 4 and 5. This example is an example of the client-server type news system described in the conventional example.

As shown in FIG. 4, the client 2 includes a client control unit 10 and a prefix registration file 1.
2, a read article list 13 and the like are provided, and the client control unit 10 is provided with a list command generation unit 11.

The prefix registration file 12 is for registering a prefix of a news group that the user wants to read.
The already-read article list 13 stores articles of electronic news that have already been read.

The list command generator 11 reads the prefix of the newsgroup registered in the prefix registration file 12 and generates a list command for requesting the server. The client control unit 10 performs various controls of the client.

The server 3 is provided with a file device 7 and a news delivery section 5, and the news delivery section 5 is provided with a news group list generation section 14. The file device 7 is provided with an article storage directory and a newsgroup management list storage directory.

The article storage directory corresponds to the article storage unit 4 shown in FIG. 3, and the newsgroup management list storage directory corresponds to the newsgroup list storage unit 6 shown in FIG. Is.

The news delivery section 5 performs various controls during news delivery in the server, and the news group list generation section 14 uses the news group management list based on information such as requests from the news reader of the client. The list is created by classifying the newsgroup list managed by the storage directory.

The list managed by the newsgroup management list storage directory is, for example,
active-net, active-rec, active-comp (active-comp
Has a categorized list, such as a list of newsgroups with comp as a prefix).

Further, in the article storage directory, as shown in the figure, articles for each news group classified into a tree structure are stored. §4: Description of outline of operation of electronic news system ... See FIGS. 4 and 5. In the client-server type news system, electronic news of a server is subscribed as follows. First, the news delivery unit 5 of the server 3 creates a news port and waits for a posting request from a client.

Next, the client control unit 10 of the client 2 connects the line to the server 3, and the server 3 establishes the line connection. Then, the client 2 requests the server 3 for the active list. In response to this request, the server 3 returns the internally stored active list to the client 2.

The client control unit 10 of the client 2 that has received this active list compares the read articles recorded in the read article list 13 with the active list, and determines how many unread articles are in each news group. calculate. Then, the user is presented with the newsgroup name and the number of articles each has, and the user is made to decide which newsgroup he / she wants to read.

When the above processing is completed, the client 2
Specifies the group name of the newsgroup you want to read. Then, the client 2 specifies the article number and requests the attributes of the article from the server 3.

The server 3 receiving the request returns the attribute of the designated article. Then, the above processing is repeated for all articles in the news group. In addition, the titles of all articles in the newsgroup are presented to the user, and the article to be viewed is selected.

After that, the client requests the body of the server 3 by designating the article number. In response to this request, the server 3 returns the text to the client 2. §5: Description of active list example and read article list example ... See FIGS. 6 and 7. FIG. 6 is an active list example and FIG. 7 is a read article list example. Hereinafter, the active list example and the read article list example will be described with reference to FIGS. 6 and 7.

FIG. 6 shows an example of the active list stored in the newsgroup management list storage directory of the server 3. The active list is arranged in the order of newsgroup name, article number of the latest article, article number of the oldest article, and whether to post to the newsgroup.

For example, in list number 15, comp.bbs.m
isc is the newsgroup name, 0000007667 is the article number of the latest article, 07459 is the article number of the oldest article, and y is postable to the newsgroup.

In the list number 16, comp.bbs.waf
fle is the newsgroup name, 0000016933 is the article number of the latest article, 16302 is the article number of the oldest article, and y indicates that posting to the newsgroup is possible.

The client 2 has the read article list 13 as shown in FIG. 4, and compares the record of the read articles of the read article list 13 with the active list, and for each news group. , Calculate how many unread articles you have. An example of this read article list is shown in FIG.

In the read article list, each information is recorded in the order of news group name, read article range 1, read article range 2, read article range 3 ...
For example, in list number 9, comp.arch.bus.vmebus indicates the newsgroup name, and 1-171 indicates the range 1 of the articles read. Also, in list number 11, comp.archives.ad
min indicates the newsgroup name, 1-1222 indicates the range 1 of articles read, and 1237 indicates the range 2 of articles read.

As described above, when the user on the client side obtains the list, the conditions for extracting the necessary newsgroups are given at the same time, and the server searches the newsgroups that meet the conditions and formats them in the list. By replying, the communication cost and the calculation cost on the client side are reduced.

Further, in the server, the extracted list is created in advance for the pattern frequently used as the extraction condition, so that the cost of the server side search until the response and the list regeneration are reduced.

§6: Description of processing at the time of electronic news acquisition by a specific example Hereinafter, a specific example of processing at the time of electronic news acquisition in the electronic news system will be described.

In a newsgroup, it is common that words representing a fine classification are lined up from the beginning to the end, so that the newsgroup prefix is frequently specified.

Then, the user inputs into the client 2 the prefix of the news group to read. At this time, the client control unit 10 of the client 2 registers the prefix in the prefix registration file 12 (for example, co
mp.bbs).

Client control unit 10 of client 2
Gives the registered prefix as a condition when requesting a newsgroup list to the server. in this case,
For example, LIST comp.bbs. * Will list newsgroups with the prefix comp.bbs (note that the * mark is a regular expression that matches all character strings).

On the other hand, the server 3 uses, for example, com
p.bbs.misc 0000007667 07459 y, comp.bbs.waffle 00
00016933 16302 Return a news group that matches the conditions as a list, such as y.

In this case, on the server 3 side, the list is divided in advance up to the first Nth field and stored, so that the calculation cost on the server side up to the reply can be reduced. In the following, the case of division in the first field is shown as an example.

For example, the active list (see FIG. 6) stored in the file active is collected by dividing the active list having the same first field, and is classified. The list after splitting is the active prefix, such as active-comp.
Store in the file with the file name added after-.

LIST comp. Which is a request from the client.
For *, the condition is the same as the prepared split, so the contents of the file active-comp are returned to the client 2 as they are. At this time, if the list is not divided,
You need to do a search in the file active to generate a list. In this case, the search is completely unnecessary.

Also, the request from client 2 LIST com
For p.bbs. *, it is a constraint that tightens the prepared split comp, so it searches from active-comp and returns a list. The search target can be narrowed down more than when the list is not divided.

[0079]

As described above, the present invention has the following effects. (1): By categorizing the newsgroup list according to the patterns that are often used in advance, when the client requests, only the relevant list needs to be retrieved, so the newsgroup list search is performed. Processing is easy. Also, the amount of communication between the client and the server can be reduced.

(2): As for the news group list returned from the server to the client, only the relevant ones need to be returned, so that the communication amount can be reduced, and as a result, the communication cost can be reduced. Further, since the client receiving the newsgroup list receives only the necessary list, the calculation process is simplified and the cost can be reduced.

(3): For frequently used patterns,
By creating a classified list in the server in advance,
It is possible to simplify the search process on the server side and reduce the cost of list generation. Also, the response time of the server can be shortened.

[Brief description of drawings]

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

FIG. 2 is a configuration diagram of an electronic news system according to an embodiment.

FIG. 3 is a configuration diagram of a server in the embodiment.

FIG. 4 is an explanatory diagram of a client according to an embodiment.

FIG. 5 is an explanatory diagram of a server according to the embodiment.

FIG. 6 is an example of an active list in the embodiment.

FIG. 7 is an example of an already-read article list in the embodiment.

FIG. 8 is a block diagram of a conventional server.

FIG. 9 is an explanatory diagram of a processing procedure when reading a conventional article.

[Explanation of symbols]

 2 client 3 server 4 article storage 5 news delivery 6 news group list storage

Claims (4)

[Claims] 1. A news group list storage unit having an article storage unit (4) for storing articles of electronic news and a list of news groups stored in the article storage unit (4) as a news group list. In an electronic news server that includes (6) and provides electronic news to a client (2) connected via a network, the news group list is searched from the characteristics of the news group name specified by the client (2). Then, extract the newsgroup list that matches the characteristics,
An electronic news server having a news delivery section (5) for returning to a client. 2. An article storage unit (4) for storing articles of electronic news separately for each news group and a list of news groups stored in the article storage unit (4) as a news group list. In an electronic news server that has a news group list storage unit (6) and has electronic news for clients (2) connected via a network, the news group list of the news group list storage unit (6) An electronic news server, characterized in that the table is composed of a collection of a plurality of news group lists (H, I, J) that have been classified in advance. 3. A news group list generation section (14) for processing a news group list based on a request from a news reader on the client (2) side and generating the classified news group list. The electronic news server according to claim 2, wherein 4. The news group list classified in advance is searched from the characteristics of the news group name specified by the client (2), and a news group list matching the characteristics is extracted,
4. The electronic news server according to claim 2, further comprising a news delivery unit (5) for returning to the client.