JPH08161341A - Method and device for updating instance - Google Patents

Abstract

PURPOSE: To update an instance in a data base which is displayed in a list when and where it is necessary. CONSTITUTION: The instance read in from the data base is disabled from being inputted, and displayed in a list (S1 and S2). When the instance to update is selected and update is instructed, the field of the selected instance is enabled to input (S3 and S4). After proper input, when input definition is instructed, the instance is rewritten to be the inputted contents and the input of the instance is disabled again (S5 and S6). The updated instance is reflected to the original data base (S7).

Description

Detailed Description of the Invention

[0001]

BACKGROUND OF THE INVENTION 1. Field of the Invention The present invention relates to an instance updating method, and more particularly to an instance updating method for interactively updating an instance of a database displayed in a list.

Documents stored in electronic media can be used as databases by accumulating them. As a usage form of such a data asset, there is a case where a document keyword described in a document is displayed or updated as necessary.

Similarly, in the case of a database, only the instance satisfying a specific condition in a certain field may be searched and displayed, or the displayed instance may be updated as needed.

In the digitized document, the document keyword corresponds to a database instance and the document corresponds to a database record. Therefore, unless otherwise specified below, the database instance includes the document keyword.

[0005]

2. Description of the Related Art Conventionally, when displaying and updating an instance of a database, the display is performed by a list and the update is performed by a dedicated input screen. That is,
Regarding the display, the items to be displayed are specified in advance, and the instances in one record are displayed in the form of a list corresponding to those items.
The list display can refer to a plurality of records for a specific item at a time, and a large number of records can be continuously viewed by scrolling. On the other hand, for updating, a form-type input screen as seen on the screen of the card type database is prepared, and the instance is updated through the dedicated input screen. Such an input screen is designed to display the instance of each item for one record, and can be updated by correcting the instance of the target item.

[0006] As described above, generally, the instance of the database is displayed in a list, and when the instance is changed, the input screen dedicated to each object, that is, each record is used.

As another updating method, there is a case where a method of updating the entire list can be adopted as seen in a spreadsheet.

[0008]

However, in the method of displaying in a list and updating in a dedicated input screen, when displaying instances in a list and trying to update the instance, the display screen is changed. Since it is necessary to switch to the input screen each time, there is a problem that the efficiency of the update operation is not good.

In the method of making the entire list updatable, all the instances are in the updatable state.
There is a risk of accidentally updating unintended parts.
The present invention has been made in view of the above circumstances, and an object of the present invention is to provide an instance updating method capable of updating an instance of a database displayed in a list only when needed and only when needed.

[0010]

FIG. 1 is a flow chart showing the principle of the present invention for achieving the above object. According to this flowchart, first, a required instance is read from the database (step S1). Next, the read instances are displayed in a list in a state in which the instances cannot be input (step S2). Here, it is determined whether or not there is an instruction to update the instance to be updated, and while there is no update instruction, the list of instances is continuously displayed in the input disabled state (step S
3). If the instance to be updated is selected and further update is instructed, the field of the selected instance is changed to a state in which input is possible (step S4). Here, it is determined whether or not there is an input confirmation instruction, and the input enabled state is maintained until there is an input confirmation instruction (step S5). When the instruction to confirm the input is given, the instance is rewritten with the input content, and the instance is returned to the input disabled state (step S6). And
The updated contents are written back to the database (step S7).

[0011]

According to the above means, by selecting a specific instance from the instances displayed in the form of a list and instructing the update, only the instance instructed to update can be updated.

[0012]

Embodiments First, the outline of embodiments of the present invention will be described. FIG. 1 is a flow chart showing the method of the present invention. According to this flowchart, first, an instance corresponding to a required data item is read from a data file composed of a collection of database instances (step S1). Next, the read-in instances are displayed in a list. At this time, the list of instances is displayed in a non-inputtable state (step S2). Here, it is determined whether or not there is an instruction to select and update the instance to be updated (step S3). If there is no update instruction, the instance list continues to be displayed with the input disabled. If there is an instruction to select and update an instance, the field is changed to a state in which only the selected instance can be input (step S4). Here, it is determined whether or not there is an input confirmation instruction (step S5). The input ready state is maintained until an input confirmation instruction is given. When an input confirmation instruction is given after the input of a new instance, the input contents are rewritten and a list is displayed, and the input of the instance is disabled (step S6). Then, the updated content is written back and stored in the aggregate of instances of the database (step S7).

As described above, when a specific instance is to be updated from the instances displayed in the form of a list, by selecting the instance and instructing the update, the instance for which the update is instructed is selected. Only the update is made possible. When the instance is updated in the updatable state, it returns to the non-updatable state and the updated contents are reflected in the aggregate of instances in the database.

Here, in addition to the data items of records in the database, the instance to be displayed in a list can be a document keyword in a document of electronic data created by a personal computer or a word processor. A document is, for example, a language for describing the structure and other attributes of the document, SGML (Standard
It can be a document written in Generalized Markup Language). In the SGML document, a character string having meaning such as a title and a creator in the document, that is, a document keyword is tagged. Therefore,
The reading of the instance for displaying the list is performed by searching and extracting the document keyword having a specific tagging in such an SGML document. On the other hand, the storage of the updated instance is performed by searching the corresponding document, searching for the document keyword to which the corresponding tag is attached in the document, and rewriting the document keyword.

FIG. 2 is a diagram showing an example of the instance list display screen. In this example, specific items to be displayed as a list are set in the horizontal direction, and the document keywords corresponding to these items in one document are displayed side by side. This is called horizontal list display.

When instances are read from each document and displayed in a horizontal list, the item names "title", "creator" and "date" to be displayed in a list in the item display area 4 at the top of the screen 2 are displayed. The loaded instance is displayed in the instance display area 6 below the displayed instance. In the list display of the input disabled state, the item display area 4
The instance display area 6 is located immediately below.

Here, when changing the contents of the items displayed in the list, it is started by selecting the instance to be changed. Instances are selected using the arrow keys on the keyboard or a pointing device such as a mouse. The selected instance is explicitly displayed as selected for modification. In the illustrated example, the selected instances are distinguished by underlining, but they may be framed or have a different color tone. .

Next, an update instruction is given to the selected instance. The update is instructed by a key on the keyboard or by using a command instruction device such as a pull-down menu, a pop-up menu, or a toolbar and selecting, for example, the "instance update" command listed therein.

When an instance update instruction is issued, the instance display area 6 is lowered by one line, and as shown in FIG. 2, an instance edit area 8 is provided between the item display area 4 and the instance display area 6. Appear. In the instance edit area 8, an input frame in which the selected instance can be changed is set for each item. The selected instance is displayed as it is as an initial value in the input frame of each item in the instance editing area 8.

Here, after the instance is appropriately changed, an input confirmation instruction is given. This input confirmation instruction is
For example, by selecting the "end" command in the pull-down menu. Then, the instance edit area 8 disappears, the instance display area 6 moves up by one line and returns to the original state, the screen 2 returns to the input-disabled list display again, and the selected instance is displayed in the list. Overwritten with the modified instance above.

The instance thus input and updated is then reflected in the original document. That is, the updated instance is written back to the original document, and the original document is updated. When the instance displayed in the list is changed from the list, the corresponding instance in the original document is updated, so that the list display screen allows editing of a plurality of documents as one document.

In this example, when a certain instance is selected, other instances of the document including the instance are also selected at the same time, and a plurality of instances related to the document can be changed at the same time. If you select, only that instance may be changed.

FIG. 3 is a diagram showing another example of the instance list display screen. In this example, the specific items to be displayed as a list are collectively set for each document and set in the vertical direction for display. This is called vertical list display.

When an instance is read from each document and displayed in a vertical list, the item names “title”, “creator”, and “date” and the instances corresponding to these items are displayed for each document, and separated from each other. Documents are distinguished by 10. Documents that cannot be displayed on the screen can be displayed by scrolling the screen.

Even in such a vertical list display, when an instance is to be changed, it can be changed from this list. That is, first, when an instance to be changed is selected and an update instruction is given, for example, the area displaying the instance is made ready for input. Here, when the instance is changed and an instruction to confirm the input is given, the display of the list is changed to the new instance and the input disabled state is restored again. The new instance will then be reflected in the original document.

Here, an example in which only one instance can be changed by instructing to update one instance has been shown, but when one instance is instructed, other instances of the document including that instance are also changed at the same time. An example of making it possible to change is shown below.

FIG. 4 is a diagram showing an example of an instance update screen that appears when an instance update instruction is given in the vertical list display. When an instance is instructed to be updated in the vertical list display of instances as shown in FIG. 3, for example, a window opens on the list display and the instance update screen 12 is displayed there.

The instance update screen 12 has input frames 14a, 14b, 14 so that other instances of the document including the selected instance can be changed at the same time.
c is set. These input frames 14a, 14b, 14
In c, the instance at the time of selection is displayed as it is as an initial value.

After the required instance is changed through the instance update screen 12, when an input confirmation instruction is issued, the window of the instance update screen 12 disappears and the original list display screen of the instance is returned to.

FIG. 5 is a block diagram showing the structure of the instance update device. The instance update device includes an instance input device 20 and an external storage device 3 connected to the instance input device 20.
0 and a display device 40. The instance input device 20 reads an instance reading device 21 that reads an instance from a document file 31 stored in an external storage device 30, a memory device 22 in which the read instance is expanded, and an instance expanded in this memory device 22. A list creation device 23 that creates list data to be displayed on the display device 40 in a horizontal or vertical list display format, and an event analysis device 24 that analyzes an event such as an instance update instruction.
An instance storage device 25 for writing back the updated instance in the memory device 22 to the external storage device 30.

In order to display a list of instances, first, the instance reading device 21 of the instance input device 20 opens the document file 31 stored in the external storage device 30, searches for a target document keyword, and extracts it. , In the memory device 22. List creation device 2
3 creates a list by arranging the instances expanded in the memory device 22 according to a predetermined list display format, for example, a horizontal list display format as shown in FIG. 2, and sends it to the display device 40. The display device 40 receives the list data from the list creation device 23,
Display the list.

When changing the instance, the event analysis device 24 analyzes the instruction for instance selection and update, and notifies the list creation device 23 of that. Upon receiving this notification, the list creation device 23 interrupts the instance edit area 8 below the item display area 4 and sets an input frame in which the selected instance can be changed. . The event analysis device 24 also rewrites the corresponding instance in the memory device 22 in response to the input confirmation instruction after the instance change. This rewritten instance is the list creation device 2
The updated list is immediately displayed on the display device 40 and reflected in the creation of the list in FIG. Also,
The instance storage device 25 stores the rewritten instance in the memory device 22 in the external storage device 30.
It is written back to the document file 31 inside. Therefore, the instance storage device 25 identifies the document file 31 stored in the external storage device 30 from the storage location of the rewritten instance, searches for the corresponding instance of the document file 31, and rewrites it.

In the preferred embodiment, the keyword in each document file 31 to be read by the instance reading device 21 is extracted and stored in the external storage device 30 as 1.
Keyword management file 32 stored in one file
Is stored, and when the instance reading device 21 goes to read the keyword of each document file 31,
The keyword management file 32 is read.

Normally, when the instance reading device 21 goes to read the keywords of each document file 31, the operation of opening each file for each document file, searching for the desired keyword, reading it, and closing the file is performed. Repeatedly running. In this embodiment, since the keywords of each document file 31 are collectively managed in the keyword management file 32, when the instance reading device 21 reads the keywords of each document file 31, this keyword management file is used. I try to read only 32. Therefore, there is an advantage that the operation to open the file when reading the file is only once, and the keywords of multiple document files can be read continuously, and the list display of the instance should be fast. You can

As described above, it is common practice to store a character string extracted from a document file as a keyword in a search management file in the form of a table. Therefore, the external storage device 30 stores the document file 3
A keyword management device for extracting a keyword from 1 and generating a keyword management file 32 is connected.

FIG. 6 is a diagram showing a configuration example of the keyword management device. The keyword management device includes a keyword extraction device 33 that extracts a keyword from the document file 31 of the external storage device 30, and a keyword storage device 34 that stores the extracted keyword in the keyword management file 32 of the external storage device 30. It

The keyword extracting device 33 first extracts predetermined keywords from all the document files 31, and the extracted keywords are stored in the keyword managing file 32 by the keyword storing device 34. Here, whenever one of the document files 31 is updated, a keyword is extracted from the updated document file 31 and the keyword management file 32 is also updated. Instance reading device 21
When the next instance is read by, the instance is read from the updated keyword management file 32.

The keyword management file 32 stores keywords in the form of a table. The record length of the keyword storage table defined in the keyword management file 32 is usually the maximum expected length because the number of characters of the keyword extracted from the document file 31 by the keyword extraction device 33 is arbitrary. Is preset to.

Therefore, the keyword management file 32
Character strings that exceed the record length of the keyword storage table used in are not searchable for keywords, and keywords with character strings that exceed the record length cannot be stored. However, if the record length is set too long and the extracted keywords are close to the set number of characters, a file with substantially the same content and a large size is used as the keyword management file 32. As a result, another one will be created.

For this reason, the keyword management device is configured to be able to store a character string exceeding the record length of the keyword storage table.
That is, when the keywords extracted from the document file 31 are stored in the keyword management file 32, an upper limit of the number of characters to be stored is set, and for the keywords less than this upper limit, the character string is stored in the keyword management file 32 and stored. For a keyword exceeding the upper limit of the number of characters, information indicating the appearance position in the document file in which the keyword is stored is stored in the keyword management file 32. The upper limit of the number of stored characters is usually set equal to the record length of the keyword storage table.

FIG. 7 is a flowchart showing the operation of the keyword extracting device. According to this flowchart, the keyword extracting device 33 first extracts a keyword from the document file 31 stored in the external storage device 30 (step S11). Next, it is judged whether or not the extracted keyword exceeds the preset upper limit of the number of stored characters (step S12).

If it is determined in step S12 that the extracted keyword does not exceed the upper limit of the number of stored characters, the character string of that keyword is stored in the keyword storage device 3.
4 is stored in the keyword management file 32 of the external storage device 30 (step S13). Step S1
In the judgment of 2, if the extracted keyword exceeds the upper limit of the number of stored characters, the position information in the document file in which the keyword exists is stored in the keyword management file 32 of the external storage device 30 by the keyword storage device 34. (Step S14).

FIG. 8 is a diagram showing an example of the document contents of the document file. According to the illustrated example, there are three document files 31a, 31b, 31c having document names "document 1", "document 2", and "document 3". In these documents, the character strings extracted as keywords are underlined to distinguish them from other character strings. For example, the character strings set as keywords in "Document 1" are "marking", "standard processing format", and "automatic generation". The keywords in these documents are extracted and stored in the keyword management file 32 by the keyword management device.

FIG. 9 is a diagram showing an example of the contents of the keyword management file. The keyword management file 32 is a correspondence table of two items of “document name” and “keyword”, and the upper limit of the number of characters stored in the “keyword” field is, for example, 10 in Japanese (20
Byte). Therefore, the keyword of the number of stored characters up to this upper limit is stored as it is in the field of "keyword".

Here, when the number of characters of the extracted character string exceeds the upper limit of the number of stored characters, like the second keyword of "Document 3" shown in FIG. Instead of storing the string in the keyword management file 32 as it is, information on the position where the character string appears in the document is stored in the keyword management file 32. For example, in the example shown in the figure, the second keyword of “document 3” is 1
It indicates that it exists between the 54th byte.

When the instance reading device 21 reads an instance from the external storage device 30 not from the document file 31 but from the keyword management file 32 in which the keyword and the position information are mixed and stored, Whether the information stored as is a keyword or position information is considered.

That is, the keyword management file 32
If the information read from is the position information of the keyword,
First, the document file 3 in which the keyword is stored
1c is opened, and then the character string in the document file 31c pointed to by the position information of the keyword is taken out, and the character string is used as an instance for displaying a list. When the character string has been taken out, the document file 31c is closed at an appropriate time.

The keyword management file 32 of the external storage device 30 can be used not only for keyword retrieval for instance reading, but also for simple keyword retrieval. If a keyword search is performed without using the keyword management file 32, when performing a full-text search, all document files are opened and the search target character string is collated with all character strings in the document. There must be. On the other hand, a keyword management file 32 in which keywords and position information are mixedly stored
In the case of utilizing, in addition to opening the keyword management file 32, if position information is registered, it is only necessary to open the document file related to it.

FIG. 10 is a flowchart showing the keyword search method. When the search target character string is specified to search for the corresponding keyword in the document file, first, the keyword management file 32 is opened (step S21). Then, one record in the keyword storage table is read (step S22).
Here, it is checked whether the end of the file (EOF) has been reached (step S23), and if it is determined that the end of the file has been reached, the search ends.

If it is not the end of the file, it is checked whether the read record has position information (step S24). If there is no position information, the search target character string designated in advance is compared with the keyword read from the keyword management file 32 (step S2).
5) Proceed to search for the next record. If it is determined in step S24 that there is position information, the document file in which the character string designated by the position information is described is opened, and the character string pointed to by the position information is extracted from it, and the search target character string is extracted. Is checked (step S26). And
The result of this matching is displayed by the display device.

FIG. 11 is a diagram showing an example of the hardware configuration of a computer system for implementing the present invention. In the figure, a computer system includes a processor 51,
Read only memory (ROM) 52, main memory (RAM) 53, graphic control circuit 54 and display device 55, mouse 56, keyboard 57, hard disk device (HDD) 58, floppy disk device (FDD) 59. And a printer 60, and these components are mutually connected by a bus 61.

The processor 51 centrally controls the entire computer system. The read-only memory 52 stores, for example, a program required at startup. In the main memory 53, a system program, an application program for displaying a list, and the like are expanded, and data such as the read instance is stored.

The graphic control circuit 54 has a video memory and the like, converts the list display screen of the instance group read into the main memory 53 into a display signal and sends it to the display device 55. The display device 55 displays a horizontal or vertical list display screen based on the received display signal.

The mouse 56 moves the cursor displayed on the screen of the display device 55 and clicks the button to select the instance to be updated on the list display screen or to list it in various menus. It is a pointing device that selects / instructs existing commands. The keyboard 57 is used for inputting characters when rewriting an instance.

The hard disk device 58 stores a system program, an application program for displaying an instance list, a document file, a keyword management file, and the like. The floppy disk device 59 is an external storage device capable of loading the document file stored in the floppy disk 59a into the hard disk device 58 and storing the data of the list display result in the floppy disk 59a.

The list of instances can be printed on paper by passing the display data to the printer 60.

[0057]

As described above, according to the present invention, when a read instance is displayed in a list in a state in which data cannot be input and the displayed instance is to be updated, the displayed list is updated. By instructing to update the instance to be attempted, only the instance can be input. Therefore, when you want to change the instance, you do not need to switch to the dedicated input screen and you can change only the required instance from the list, so you do not accidentally update unintended parts and you can operate efficiently. Can be improved.

Further, as a method of storing keywords extracted from a plurality of document files in a keyword management file, an upper limit of the number of stored characters is set, and a keyword that does not reach the upper limit is a character string of the keyword and a keyword that exceeds the upper limit is set. The appearance position of the keyword in the document is stored in the keyword management file. For this reason, the size of the keyword management file can be optimized, and by managing the keywords collectively in one file, while maintaining the search efficiency to some extent, the character strings of any number of characters extracted from the document file are managed as keywords. can do.

[Brief description of drawings]

FIG. 1 is a flow chart showing the method of the present invention.

FIG. 2 is a diagram showing an example of an instance list display screen.

FIG. 3 is a diagram showing another example of an instance list display screen.

FIG. 4 is a diagram showing an example of an instance update screen that appears when an instance update instruction is given in a vertical list display.

FIG. 5 is a block diagram showing a configuration of an instance update device.

FIG. 6 is a diagram showing a configuration example of a keyword management device.

FIG. 7 is a flowchart showing an operation of the keyword extracting device.

FIG. 8 is a diagram exemplifying document contents of a document file.

FIG. 9 is a diagram exemplifying the contents of a keyword management file.

FIG. 10 is a flowchart showing a keyword search method.

FIG. 11 is a diagram showing an example of a hardware configuration of a computer system that implements the present invention.

[Explanation of symbols]

 2 screen 4 item display area 6 instance display area 8 instance editing area 20 instance input device 21 instance reading device 22 memory device 23 list creation device 24 event analysis device 25 instance storage device 30 external storage device 31 document file 32 keyword management file 33 Keyword extraction device 34 Keyword storage device

 ─────────────────────────────────────────────────── ─── Continuation of the front page (72) Inventor, Kazuko Ichie 2-2-1 Yanai, Yao-cho, Neguro-gun, Toyama Prefecture Fujiyama Toyama Co., Ltd. 2-1 Incorporated company Toyama Fujitsu (72) Inventor Takahiro Hayashi 2-2-1 Honai, Yao-cho, Nisei-gun, Toyama Prefecture Incorporated company Toyama Fujitsu

Claims (15)

[Claims] 1. In an instance updating method for updating a database instance, a required instance is read from a storage medium storing a collection of instances, the read instances are displayed in a non-inputtable state, and displayed in a list. In response to the selection of the instance to be updated from the displayed instances and the instruction to update that instance, at least the fields of the selected instance are changed to the input ready state, and the input confirmation after the input of the new instance is confirmed. In response to an instruction, the field is returned to a non-enterable state, the input content is displayed as a new instance, and the updated content is written back to the storage medium. . 2. The instance updating method according to claim 1, wherein in the step of displaying in a list, the instances to be displayed in a list are arranged in a row in a horizontal direction for each object. 3. The instance updating method according to claim 2, wherein in the step of changing the inputtable state, an instance editing area for changing the selected instance appears on the screen. 4. The instance updating method according to claim 3, wherein the instance editing area also includes an area for changing another instance of the object including the selected instance. 5. The instance updating method according to claim 1, wherein in the step of displaying in a list, the instances to be displayed in a list are arranged in a vertical direction and collectively displayed for each object. 6. The instance update screen, in which the step of changing to an enterable state displays a window of an instance update screen in which another instance of the object including the selected instance can be changed. Instance update method. 7. The instance updating method according to claim 1, wherein in the writing back step, only the updated instance is written back to the storage medium. 8. The instance updating method according to claim 1, wherein in the writing back step, all the instances including the updated instance are written back to the storage medium. 9. An instance update device for updating an instance of a database, external storage means storing a document file, instance reading means for reading an instance from a document file stored in the external storage means, and read A memory means in which an instance is expanded, a list creating means for changing the expanded instance in the memory means into a predetermined list display format, and various events including an instance update instruction are analyzed to create the list. Instance input means having event analysis means for instructing the means to put the selected instance into the updatable state, and instance storage means for writing back the updated instance in the memory means to the external storage means, , By the list creation means An instance updating device comprising: a display unit that displays a list of created instances. 10. The external storage means stores a keyword management file that stores keywords extracted as an instance from each document file, and the instance reading means reads an instance from the keyword management file. The instance update device according to claim 9, wherein 11. A keyword management including keyword extraction means for extracting a keyword from a document file of the external storage means and keyword storage means for storing the extracted keyword in the keyword management file of the external storage means. The instance updating device according to claim 10, further comprising means. 12. The instance updating according to claim 11, wherein the keyword extracting unit extracts a keyword from the updated document file every time one of the document files is updated. apparatus. 13. A keyword storage method for storing a keyword extracted from a document file, wherein the keyword is extracted from the document file and it is determined whether or not the number of characters of the extracted keyword exceeds a preset upper limit of the number of stored characters. If the number of characters of the extracted keyword does not exceed the upper limit of the number of stored characters, the character string of the keyword is displayed. If the number of stored characters exceeds the upper limit of the number of stored characters, the position information in the document file in which the keyword exists is stored as the keyword. A keyword storage method characterized by comprising steps of storing in a management file. 14. A keyword retrieval method for retrieving a keyword from a keyword management file in which a keyword extracted from a document file is stored in the form of a character string of the keyword and positional information of the keyword in the document file. Read the record in the keyword storage table, determine whether the read record has position information, and if there is no position information, match the search target character string with the keyword read from the keyword management file, If there is the position information, open the document file in which the character string designated by the position information is described,
A keyword search method comprising the steps of extracting a character string pointed to by position information from there and matching it with the search target character string. 15. Instance extracting means for extracting an instance from a database; instance managing means for managing from which part of the database all the instances extracted by the instance extracting means are extracted; and the instance extracting means. While displaying a list of the extracted instances, the instance list updating means for updating a part or all of the displayed instances, and the instance updated by the instance list updating means into information managed by the instance managing means. An instance updating device comprising: a database updating unit that writes the data to the database based on the above.