JPH09171530A - Information processor and information processing method - Google Patents

Abstract

PROBLEM TO BE SOLVED: To easily reflect the fluctuation state of a ranking on a ranking table. SOLUTION: In a latest ranking storage part 41, the latest ranking table in which the best ten of the sales number of copies of books, etc., for instance, are displayed is stored. In a previous time ranking storage part 42, the ranking table of the previous time is stored. A comparison part 43 compares the latest ranking with the ranking of the previous time for the same ranking object by referring to the latest ranking storage part 41 and the previous time ranking storage part 42. In a fluctuation state determination part 44, whether the fluctuation state of the latest ranking, that is, the latest ranking rises or falls from the ranking of the previous time or the latest ranking is the same as the ranking of the previous time or not is recognized based on the comparison result of the comparison result 43. In a mark display control part 45, the arrows of the right upper direction, the right lower direction or the right direction showing the fluctuation states of the latest ranking are reflected on the latest ranking table, corresponding to the recognition result.

Description

Detailed Description of the Invention

[0001]

TECHNICAL FIELD The present invention relates to an information processing apparatus and an information processing method. In particular, an information processing apparatus and an information processing method that make it possible to easily reflect, on the ranking table, the fluctuation state of the ranking of the ranked ranking objects (whether the ranking has increased, decreased, or did not change) Regarding

[0002]

2. Description of the Related Art In the past, ranking tables such as song popularity rankings and book sales circulation rankings have often been published in newspapers and magazines, but recently they have become rapidly popular. The information retrieval system called WWW (World Wide Web) constructed on the Internet also provides a home page on which such a ranking table is posted.

[0003]

By the way, the ranking table may display (post) how the ranking of this time has changed (ranking fluctuation state) as compared with the ranking of the previous time. , In the past, when displaying such a change in ranking in the ranking table, for example, the creator of the ranking table compares the previous ranking table with the current ranking table, and ranks in this ranking table. Investigate the fluctuation state of the ranking of the ranking target (things that are targeted for ranking such as songs and books),
It was reflected in the ranking table.

Therefore, every time the ranking table is updated,
It was troublesome that the investigation of the changing condition of the ranking had to be done manually.

The present invention has been made in view of such a situation, and makes it possible to easily reflect the changing state of the ranking in the ranking table.

[0006]

According to another aspect of the present invention, there is provided an information processing apparatus for storing the latest ranking and the past ranking of a ranking target, and the same ranking target stored in the storage means. Based on the comparison result of the comparison means and the comparison means for comparing the latest rank of and the past rank,
And a determination unit that determines the variation state of the ranking of the ranking target.

In the information processing method according to the fourth aspect, the latest ranking and the past ranking of the same ranking object are compared, and the variation state of the ranking object of the ranking object is determined based on the comparison result. Is characterized by.

In the information processing apparatus according to the first aspect, the storage means stores the latest ranking and the past ranking of ranking objects, and the comparing means stores the same ranking objects stored in the storage means. The latest ranking and the past ranking are compared with each other, and the determining means determines the variation state of the ranking of the ranking target based on the comparison result of the comparing means.

According to another aspect of the information processing method of the present invention, the latest ranking and the past ranking of the same ranking object are compared with each other, and the variation state of the ranking object of the ranking object is determined based on the comparison result. Has been done.

[0010]

DESCRIPTION OF THE PREFERRED EMBODIMENTS Embodiments of the present invention will be described below, but before that, in order to clarify the correspondence between each means of the invention described in the claims and the following embodiments. The features of the present invention are described as follows by adding a corresponding embodiment (however, an example) in parentheses after each means.

That is, the information processing apparatus according to claim 1 is
An information processing apparatus for obtaining a variation state of rankings of ranked ranking targets, and a storage unit that stores the latest ranking of ranking targets and past rankings (for example, FIG. 2).
The latest ranking storage unit 41 and the previous ranking storage unit 42 shown in 6) and a comparison unit (for example, shown in FIG. 26) for comparing the latest ranking and the past ranking of the same ranking object stored in the storage unit. (A comparison unit 43, etc.) and a determination unit that determines the variation state of the rank of the ranking target based on the comparison result of the comparison unit (for example, FIG. 2).
6) and the like).

An information processing apparatus according to a second aspect of the present invention is a display control means (for example, a mark display control unit 45 shown in FIG. 26) for displaying the variation state determined by the determination means on a ranking table in which ranking objects are ranked. Etc.) is further provided.

Of course, this description does not mean that each means is limited to the above.

FIG. 1 shows the configuration of an embodiment of a network system to which the present invention is applied. The user is a personal computer (hereinafter referred to as a personal computer) 1
With a PSTN (Public Switched Telephone)
Network) and ISDN (Integrated Service Digital Ne
SP owned by the service provider (connector) via the public network 2 such as twork) or a dedicated line not shown.
(Service Provider) Connected to the server 3. SP
The server 3 is connected to the Internet 4, and the Internet 4 further includes an IP (Information Provid) provided by an information provider (information provider).
er) server 5 is also connected. In the Internet 4, TCP / IP (Transmission Control Protocol)
l / InternetProtocol), which is designed to communicate between computers according to a protocol called.

A WWW is built on the Internet 4. In this WWW, HTTP (Hyper Telecommunications) is used.
xt Transfer Protocol)
Transfers data and uses HTML (Hyper Text Markup La
By describing the screen with nguage), information search and display can be performed easily. As an application (WWW browser) of the personal computer 1 on the user side for this WWW, for example, Netscape
NetScape Navigator (TM) and NCSA's Mosaic (TM)
However, as an application (WWW server) of the IP server 5 on the information provider side, for example, Netscape Comme
The rce Server ™ is known in each case. Each user can access a WWW server using a WWW browser and receive information and services. In addition, each information provider (information provider)
Can use a WWW server to provide information and services to WWW browsers.

Although the user can directly connect to the Internet 4, the user usually makes a contract with the service provider and accesses the SP server 3 via the public network 2 as shown in FIG. By doing so, the Internet 4 is connected.

By the way, in FIG. 1, in addition to the personal computer 1, for example, a game terminal 6, a telephone 7, a mobile telephone 8, a facsimile (hereinafter appropriately referred to as FAX) 9, an AV (Au).
The dio / visual device 10 and the like can also access the SP server 3 via the public network 2, so that information and services can be provided even if these terminals are used. It is made possible.
Taking e-mail, which is a service that can be used on the Internet 4, as an example, the user can send and receive e-mail using the personal computer 1, as well as the game terminal 6 and the telephone. 7, the mobile phone 8, the FAX 9, and the AV device 10 can also send and receive electronic mail.

That is, in the game terminal 6, by operating it, in the same manner as in the personal computer 1,
It is designed so that you can exchange e-mail. The telephone 7 and the mobile telephone 8 are adapted to be capable of transmitting an electronic mail by voice and receiving the electronic mail by voice. The FAX 9 is designed so that an electronic mail can be transmitted as image data and an electronic mail can be received as image data. In the AV device 10, by operating a remote commander or the like attached to the AV device 10, it is possible to exchange electronic mail in the same manner as in the personal computer 1.

In this case, in order to send and receive e-mail between the personal computer 1, the game terminal 6, or the AV device 10 and the telephone 7 or the mobile telephone 8, the voice data is converted to the ordinary e-mail data. It is necessary to convert the data into the image data and the normal electronic mail data between the personal computer 1, the game terminal 6 or the AV device 10 and the FAX 9 in addition to the conversion into Both conversions are required. Furthermore, between the telephone 7 or the mobile telephone 8 and the FAX 9, conversion between image data and voice data is required. These conversions are performed by the SP server 3.

A method of converting data between different media is described in, for example, Japanese Patent Publication No. 7-10.
Details thereof are disclosed in Japanese Patent Publication No. 5848.

In the following, the personal computer 1 is used among the above terminals.

FIG. 2 shows an example of the configuration of the personal computer 1 shown in FIG. A ROM (Read Only Memory) 12 stores a system program, and a CPU (Central Process Memory).
r Unit) 11 is a system program stored in the ROM 12 or a RAM (Random Access Memory) 1
Various processes are executed according to the program (application program) expanded in 3. The RAM 13 is configured to appropriately store programs and data necessary for the CPU 21 to execute various processes. The interface 14 manages input / output of a hard disk (HD (Hard Disk)) 15, a magneto-optical disk 16, a communication unit 17, an input unit 18, and a display 19. In addition,
The interface 14 is connected to the CPU 11,
The ROM 12 and the RAM 13 are also connected.

The hard disk 15 is adapted to appropriately store data, programs, etc. that need to be accessed at a relatively high speed. The magneto-optical disk 16 is configured to appropriately store data, programs, and the like that can be accessed even if the access speed is slower than in the hard disk 15. The communication unit 17 is, for example, a modem for performing communication via the public network 2 or the like, and performs control necessary for communication. Input unit 18
Is configured by, for example, a keyboard and a mouse, and is operated when inputting various commands and other necessary information. The display 19 is configured by a CRT, an LCD, or the like, and displays characters, images, and the like.

FIG. 3 shows a configuration example of the SP server 3 of FIG. The SP server 3 has a CPU 21 to a display 29, and is basically configured similarly to the personal computer 1 having the CPU 11 to the display 19. However,
The SP server 3 has a larger capacity and a higher speed than the personal computer 1. Although illustration is omitted, the IP server 5 of FIG. 1 is basically configured similarly to the SP server 3.

In this embodiment, the user accesses the IP server 5 from the personal computer 1, receives information and services from the IP server 5, and if necessary, pays a charge from a credit card or a bank account by automatic debit.
On the other hand, the IP server 5 provides various kinds of information and services. Here, one of them, an electronic entertainment magazine provided using WWW, will be described.

In this electronic entertainment magazine, products can be purchased as in so-called catalog shopping, and in order to pay the fee, the user's credit card number or bank account is required. You will need your number. Therefore, in order to receive the provision of electronic entertainment magazines, such necessary information (in addition to the credit card number mentioned above, the user's name, telephone number, address, e-mail address, etc.) is provided on the information provider side. Membership procedures are required to register. This enrollment procedure can be performed by mailing a prescribed application form, but can also be performed by so-called online sign-up.

A user who wants to receive the provision of the electronic entertainment magazine first operates the personal computer 1 (WWW browser) to specify the home page of the menu screen of the service provided by the information provider. In the WWW system, a predetermined screen (file) on the Internet 4 is designated by a kind of address called URL (Uniform Resource Locator). UR
In L, the WWW server is usually designated by the domain name. For example, the URL is http: //www.sony.c
When it is o.jp/sonydrive/index.html, the domain name is www.sony.co.jp. The actual access to the server is performed by the IP address, but as a server that acquires the IP address from this domain name, DNS (Doma
in Name Server), and the WWW browser makes an inquiry there.

The URL may be directly entered in a predetermined field on the screen of the WWW browser, or a screen linked to the menu screen by HTML is displayed on the display 19 of the personal computer 1. If there is, a predetermined part of the screen (a part linked to the menu screen) can also be input by clicking the mouse of the input unit 18 or the like.

On the personal computer 1 (WWW browser),
When the URL is input, the request for the menu screen corresponding to the URL is transferred to the IP server 5 via the SP server 3. Upon receiving this request, the IP server 5 determines whether the request is from a member who has been registered through the admission procedure according to, for example, the HTTP authentication function, and is not from the member. If so, reject the request.

When the request is from the member, the IP server 5 (WWW server) transfers the menu screen to the SP server 3 via the Internet 4. The SP server 3 transfers this menu screen to the personal computer 1 via the public network 2, so that the display 19 displays an electronic entertainment magazine (here, its magazine name is, for example, as shown in FIG. 4). The home page, which is the menu screen for "Pure-Jan", is displayed.

Here, in the electronic entertainment magazine “Purejan”, in addition to the information that can be provided by digitizing the entertainment magazine as it is, ordinary magazines cannot provide the information, such as online product purchase and other later-described information. It is designed to be able to provide such services.

That is, in the electronic entertainment magazine "Purejan", indoor entertainment (I
The information about the ndoor or entertainment is about music (MUSIC), about movies and videos (VIDEO), about books (BOOK), and about magazines (MAGAZI).
NE is an outdoor entertainment (Outd)
As information regarding "or Entertainment", information regarding travel (TRAVEL), information regarding restaurants (RESTAURANT), information regarding events (EVENT), and information regarding leisure (leisure) are prepared.

As a communication spot for members to communicate with each other (communication spot), there is a place for individual sales (flea market), a place for posting (anything you want to do), a place for consultation about troubles (anything consultation room), and friends. Is a place for purchasing goods (shopping), and a place for purchasing personally imported items (importing by everyone) and a place for purchasing gifts (gift).

Furthermore, a place (HobbySquare) where things at the so-called semi-professional level gather is also prepared.

Such a home page (menu screen)
Is displayed in the WWW browser 31 (window) opened on the display 19, as shown in FIG.

When the home page shown in FIG. 4 is displayed and the cursor 32 is moved to a part linked to another home page, the URL arranged at the bottom of the WWW browser 31 shown in FIG. The URL of the linked homepage is displayed on the display unit 33. The part linked to other homepages is displayed in a specific color or in the form of a button or icon, and the cursor 32 is moved to such a part. In this case, the shape of the cursor 32 is changed so as to give an image of pressing a button, such as a fingertip, so that the user can change the portion linked to another homepage. It is designed to be easily recognizable.

That is, when the cursor 32 is moved to, for example, "BOOK" on the home page shown in FIG.
The URL of the home page corresponding to “OK” is displayed on the URL display unit 33. Then, at that position, the user
When the mouse is clicked, the URL displayed on the URL display unit 33 is accessed (access to the IP server 5).

That is, in this case, from the personal computer 1, "B
The URL of the home page corresponding to "OK" is the public network 2
Is transmitted to the SP server 3 via. SP server 3
When this URL is received, the Internet server 4 sends a “BOOK” message to the IP server 5, which is a WWW server.
Request transfer of homepage data corresponding to. I
Upon receiving this request, the P server 5 sends the data of the corresponding home page to the SP server 3 via the Internet 4. Upon receiving this data, the SP server 3 further transfers it to the personal computer 1 (WWW browser 31).

In the WWW system, the HTM
Since the screen is composed of text format data called L, the HTML text is exchanged between the WWW browser 31 (personal computer 1), the SP server 3, and the IP server 5.

In the WWW browser 31, "BOO
When the home page data corresponding to "K" is received,
For example, as shown in FIG. 6, a screen (home page) on which the service content regarding the book is displayed is displayed.

In this embodiment, three services “book of the week Best10”,
"This month's recommended books" and "Back number of books" are prepared. Then, in the upper right part of the display showing each service, there is a display showing whether or not a posting regarding the book can be made and whether or not the book can be purchased.

That is, at the bottom of "Back Number of Books" on the home page shown in FIG. 6, a mark indicating that posting is possible (mark to the left of "Posting possible")
A (square mark) 101 and a mark indicating that purchase is possible (a mark to the left of "you can shop") (square mark) 102 are displayed.
When displayed in the upper right part of the display showing the service “This week's books Best10”, “This month's recommended books”, or “Back number of books”, the user posts in each service about books, Alternatively, books can be purchased. In the embodiment of FIG. 6, the marks 101 and 102 are used for both services.
Since the same mark is displayed, it is possible to both post about the book and purchase the book.

In FIG. 6, the mark 101 indicating that posting is possible and the mark 102 indicating that purchasing is possible are distinguished by making the patterns inside the squares different. However, it is also possible to distinguish between them by making the colors inside the square different.

In the state where the home page shown in FIG. 6 is being displayed, for example, when the "Weekly book Best10" portion is clicked, this "Weekly book Best1" is displayed.
The data of the home page corresponding to “0” is transferred from the IP server 5 to the personal computer 1 (WWW browser 31) as described above, and as a result, in the display 19, for example, as shown in FIGS. 7 and 8. A home page is displayed that is a ranking table of the number of copies of books sold (or a popularity ranking table of books created by surveys by magazines and newspapers).

7 and 8 show one home page, and FIG. 8 is a part following FIG. 7. In some cases, such a home page cannot be displayed at once in the WWW browser 31 shown in FIG. 5, but in this case, a scroll bar (not shown) may be provided in a part of the WWW browser 31. No.) is displayed, and the user operates the scroll bar to scroll the display in the WWW browser 31 so that the user can see the part that was not initially displayed.

[This week's book Be is shown in FIGS. 7 and 8.
In the ranking table on the homepage corresponding to “st10”, the best ten of the number of copies sold is displayed as information about the book, for example, the title of the book, the author, the publisher, and the price. Furthermore, in this ranking table, the comments by the information provider for the book, the cover of the book, and the arrow corresponding to the change state indicating how this ranking (latest ranking) has changed from the previous ranking Is also displayed.

Next, in the state where the home page shown in FIG. 6 is displayed, for example, "Recommended books of this month"
When the part of is clicked, the data of the home page corresponding to this “Recommended book of the month” is transferred from the IP server 5 to the personal computer 1 (WWW browser 31) as described above, whereby the display 19 is displayed. Displays a home page introducing books selected by the information provider, as shown in FIG. 9, for example.

On this home page, the books are classified by genre, and a predetermined number of books (3 in the embodiment shown in FIG. 9).
It is introduced in each book). The display shown in FIG. 9 is a part of the homepage corresponding to "Recommended books of this month" (belonging to the genre of "postwar history recognition"), and the parts introducing other genres are: As described above, it is displayed by operating the scroll bar to scroll the screen. On the home page corresponding to this "Recommended book of the month", button 111
The screen is also scrolled by clicking or 112. In this case, the page of the genre arranged before or after the genre of "postwar history recognition" is, so to speak, turned over. Such scrolling is performed.

On the home page corresponding to "Recommended books of this month", for example, the title of the book, the author, the publisher, and the price as the information about the book recommended by the information provider, the comment by the information provider, and the cover of the book Is displayed together with. Furthermore, on this homepage,
By clicking the display, for example, the cover of each book, detailed information about the book can be obtained. That is, for example, when the user clicks on the cover column of the book "Seal Showa History" of the home page shown in FIG. 9, the data of the home page corresponding to the detailed information of the book "Seal Showa History" is as described above. , IP
The information is transferred from the server 5 to the personal computer 1 (WWW browser 31), and as a result, the display 19 displays detailed information regarding the book "Seal history" as shown in FIG. 10, for example.

Further, in the home page of FIG. 9, if the author's part of the display introducing each book is clicked, the details of the author as shown in FIG. 11 are displayed in the same manner as described above. The home page for information is displayed.

Furthermore, on the home page of FIG.
For example, when a user clicks on the comment section by the information provider in the display introducing each book, the home page on which more detailed comments on the book are displayed as shown in FIG. 12 in the same manner as described above. Is displayed.

On the home page shown in FIG. 12, in addition to detailed comments by the information provider on the book, the "Please give me this book!" Button and "I want to say whatever you want!"
There is a button and a column for "all you want to do". For example, when the user wants to purchase the book by looking at the detailed comment from the information provider or the column of "all you want to say", the user clicks the "please give me this book!" Button.

In this case, the IP server 5 transmits to the personal computer 1 homepage data for inputting information necessary for purchasing a book and homepage data for confirming purchase. A user orders a book by viewing such a homepage and inputting necessary information. On the other hand, on the IP server 5 side, when an order for a book is received from the user, the order form for the book is transmitted to a bookstore or the like by, for example, FAX or electronic mail. As a result, the bookstore later mails the ordered book to the user, and the money is automatically deducted from the user's bank account or the like.

A user who purchases a book through online shopping as described above, or a user who purchases a book by other means, wants to comment on the book (to make a post about the book), Click the "All you can do!" Button. In this case, IP
A home page for posting a comment on a book, as shown in FIG. 13, is transmitted from the server 5 to the personal computer 1 and displayed on the display 19.

The user enters the title of the book to be commented in the “Title” column, his / her name in the “Name” column, his / her mail address in the “Mail Address” column, and the “Content” column. The comment is input by operating the keyboard of the input unit 18. And
When posting the input content, the user clicks the "post" button. If the user wants to clear the input contents, he / she can clear it by clicking the "Clear" button. Also, a user who does not wish to post can return to the previous homepage (in this case, the homepage shown in FIG. 12) by clicking the “Return” button.

When the "post" button is clicked, the personal computer 1 sends to the IP server 5 the items entered on the home page shown in FIG. And
The content is checked by the information provider as needed, and if there is no problem, the content posted by the user is reflected in the "all you want to do" column on the home page shown in FIG.

In FIG. 12, the "all you want to say" column is provided with only two lines, but each time there is a post, a column for displaying the post is added. . In addition, "Itaitai unlimited" in Fig. 12
From the left, the column of is made up of the number given to each post, the date the post was posted, the contributor, and a part of the comment, but by clicking each column, the posts displayed in that column A home page (for example, in a format as shown in FIG. 13) displaying details of is displayed.

As described above, the user can obtain information about the book from the comment provided by the information provider and the post from the user who actually purchased the book. You can decide whether to buy, and if so, you can buy books online.

Next, when the "MUSIC" portion (or the graphic to the left of it) is clicked while the home page shown in FIG. 4 is displayed, the data of the home page corresponding to this "MUSIC" is clicked. Are transferred from the IP server 5 to the personal computer 1 (WWW browser 31) as described above, and as a result, music (here, music is recorded, for example, as shown in FIG. 14 is displayed on the display 19. CD (Compac
The screen (home page) on which the service content regarding (T Disc)) is displayed is displayed.

In this embodiment, there are four music-related services, "This Week's CD Album B".
"est10", "recommended CD of this month", "new CD of this month", and "back number of CD" are prepared. Then, in the upper right part of the display showing each service, as in the case of the service related to the book described in FIG. 6, a display showing whether or not a CD can be posted and whether or not a CD can be purchased (""," I can shop "). further,
On this homepage, a display showing whether or not a song recorded on a CD can be heard and whether or not a popularity vote can be made for the CD (“sound can be heard”, “popularity can be voted”) Has also been done.

When the homepage shown in FIG. 14 is displayed, for example, when the "Recommended CD of this month" part is clicked, the data of the homepage corresponding to this "Recommended CD of this month" is as described above. Then, from the IP server 5 to the personal computer 1 (WWW browser 3
Then, the home page introducing the CD (music CD) selected by the information provider is displayed on the display 19, for example, as shown in FIG.

Also on this home page, the CD is introduced in the same manner as in the case of the "recommended book of the month" described in FIG. Further, on this homepage, by clicking a display portion introducing each CD, detailed information about the CD can be obtained. That is, when the user clicks on, for example, the CD "WINNER IN YOU" on the home page shown in FIG. 15, the home page data corresponding to the detailed information of this CD is transferred from the IP server 5 to the personal computer 1 (WWW) as described above. It is transferred to the browser 31),
As a result, in the display 19, for example, as shown in FIG.
6 and FIG. 17, the CD "WINNER I
A home page displaying detailed information about "N YOU" is displayed. Note that FIG. 17 is a portion following FIG. 16, and these constitute one home page.

On the homepages shown in FIGS. 16 and 17, as in the case of FIG. 12, detailed comments by the information provider to the CD (here, all the songs recorded on the CD are shown below the comment). The title of the song is also displayed), "Please give me this CD!" Button (corresponding to the "Please give me this book!" Button in Figure 12), "I want all you want!" Button, and "All you want"
Is provided, so that the user can decide whether or not to purchase the CD by referring to the detailed comments by the information provider, the “all you want to say” column, and the like. Further, by operating the "I want to say anything you want!" Button, you can post to the CD as described above. In addition, by operating the "please do this CD!" Button, in the same way as in the case of online shopping for books described in FIG.
You can make a purchase.

The home pages shown in FIGS. 16 and 17 further include marks 121 and 122 in the shape of musical notes.
(Figure 16), as well as the "What is your rating on this album?" Column for voting the popularity of the CD (Figure 1
7) is provided.

When the mark 121 or 122 is clicked, the personal computer 1 requests the IP server 5 for the audio data of the song recorded on the CD, whereby the IP server 5 informs the personal computer 1 of the audio data. Data is transferred. This audio data is D / A
After conversion and other necessary processing, the data is output from a speaker (not shown). Therefore, the user can actually listen to the song recorded on the CD.

The display on the right side of the mark 121 "Aud
io AU digest version 1'0 ”(1-2-1
0) 485923 bytes ”indicates the following. In other words, “Audio AU” is the mark 12
When 1 is clicked, it means that audio data in AU format is being transmitted, and "Digest version 1 '
"0" (1-2-10) "means that the transmitted audio data is recorded as the 1st, 2nd, or 10th song of the CD for one minute by successively connecting them for the same time. (Therefore, in this case, the audio data is composed of the first, second, and tenth songs of the CD, which are joined together for 20 seconds each). Also, "485923 bytes" is
It represents the amount of audio data.

Therefore, when the mark 122 is clicked, each song recorded as the 1st, 2nd, or 10th song on the CD is spliced together for 1 minute for 20 seconds, and audio data in WAV format of 89816 bytes. Will be sent.

Next, according to this home page, the user can vote for the popularity of the CD. That is, the user who wants to vote for the popularity of the CDs introduced on this home page is shown in FIG. 17 and asked "What is your rating on this album?"
From the displays 1 to 5 in 7), click the one that corresponds to your own evaluation of the CD. Note that, here, for example, the larger the number, the higher the evaluation.

Further, the user subsequently clicks the "vote" button. Then, the number corresponding to the evaluation selected when the "vote" button is clicked is transferred from the personal computer 1 to the IP server 5.
When the IP server 5 receives a number corresponding to such an evaluation from the user, the IP server 5 totals the numbers for each CD,
The result of the aggregation will be described next in "This Week's CD Albu
This is reflected in the ranking table displayed on the home page corresponding to “m Best10” (FIG. 14).

That is, in the state where the home page shown in FIG. 14 is displayed, for example, "This week's CD Album
When the "um Best 10" portion is clicked, the data of the home page corresponding to this "CD Album Best 10 of the week" is transferred from the IP server 5 to the personal computer 1 (WWW browser 31) as described above, and On the display 19, for example, as shown in FIGS. 18 and 19, a home page including a ranking table of the CDs ranked by the above-mentioned voting is displayed. 18 and 19 show one homepage, and FIG. 19 shows the part following FIG. 18.

[This week's CD] shown in FIGS.
In the ranking table on the home page corresponding to “Album Best10”, the best ten based on the aggregate value of the numbers corresponding to the user's evaluation described in FIG. 17 is C
The information about D is displayed, for example, along with the album name of the CD, the singer, the record company, the price, and the comment by the information provider. Also in this ranking table, as in the case of the book ranking table shown in FIGS. 7 and 8, the fluctuation state of the ranking is displayed by an arrow. In addition, this ranking table includes "User Po
The aggregate value of the evaluation by the user is also displayed in the "int" column.

Here, the book ranking tables shown in FIGS. 7 and 8 are prepared based on the number of copies sold, for example, published by a publishing company or a bookstore.
The ranking table of the CD shown in is different from the cases of FIGS. 7 and 8 in that it is created based on the vote from the user.

Next, a case will be described in which, for example, the "MAGAZINE" portion (or the graphic on the left thereof) is clicked while the home page shown in FIG. 4 is being displayed. In this case, "M" is sent from the IP server 5 to the personal computer 1 (WWW browser 31).
The data of the home page corresponding to "AGAZINE"
The data is transferred as described above, and as a result, a screen (home page) for introducing a magazine is displayed on the display 19, as shown in FIGS. 20 and 21, for example. 20 and 21 show one home page, and FIG. 21 shows the part following FIG.

On the home pages shown in FIGS. 20 and 21, the magazines are classified into, for example, general / men's, women's, and entertainment-related magazines, and their titles are accompanied by the headings “Medium hanging” and “Cover”. , And "Table of Contents" are displayed. Each section of the heading "Changing", "Cover", or "Table of Contents" has a link to the homepage displaying the image of the hanging advertisement, cover, or table of contents of the magazine. You can see the hanging advertisement, display, or table of contents of the magazine simply by clicking on the heading "Changing", "Cover", or "Table of Contents" of the desired magazine.

Returning to FIG. 4 again, in the state where this home page is displayed, for example, "Hobby Squ"
A case where the "are" portion is clicked will be described. In this case, from the IP server 5 to the personal computer 1 (WWW browser 31), "Hobby Square"
The data of the home page corresponding to "e" is transferred as described above, whereby the display 19 displays a screen (home page) showing the service content as shown in FIG. 22, for example. In addition, in FIG. 22, a square "GR for amateur musicians"
There is an "OVES PRESS" and an open space "Shogi" for shogi lovers. In addition, an “vacant lot” is provided to open a new plaza at the request of the user.

In the case where the home page shown in FIG. 22 is displayed, for example, "GROVE PRESS"
When the part of is clicked, the IP server 5 sends a message to the personal computer 1 such as "GROOV" as shown in FIG.
A home page on which a screen introducing the contents of "E Press" is displayed is transmitted.

Here, as described above, "Hobby
"Square" is a place where people at the semi-professional level gather, so it is not possible to participate unless you have completed the prescribed admission procedure. Therefore,
A user who wants to join the site clicks on the "new membership" section on the home page shown in FIG.
It is necessary to enter necessary information on the home page sent from the IP server 5 and perform the membership procedure.

When the user who has completed the enrollment procedure clicks on the "Enter service (for those who have already enrolled)" IP
From the server 5 to the personal computer 1, for example, a home page on which the service content of "GROVE PRESS" is displayed as shown in FIG. 24 is transmitted. When the "Demo work broadcast station" portion is clicked while this home page is displayed, for example, the "Demo work broadcast station" is displayed from the IP server 5 to the personal computer 1 as shown in FIG. The home page displaying the service content is sent. Here, it is possible to apply for a work (song) created by the user and listen to a song for which such an application has been made. The user can display the part corresponding to the desired service. You can get such services by clicking.

Next, the variable state of the ranking displayed in the ranking table of the books shown in FIGS. 7 and 8 and the ranking table of the CD shown in FIGS. 18 and 19, which is the point of the present invention, is automatically generated. The method for doing so will be described.

Although the automatic generation process of the changing state of the rank displayed in the ranking table is performed by the IP server 5,
FIG. 26 is a block diagram when the IP server 5 that performs such processing is functionally configured.

The latest ranking storage unit 41 or the previous ranking storage unit 42 stores the information (ranking information) on the latest or previous ranking table, respectively. That is, the latest ranking storage unit 41 is
For example, the latest (current) ranking of ranking objects (for example, CDs and books) that have been ranked (ranked),
The ID for identifying the ranking target is stored in association with each other. Similarly, the previous ranking storage unit 42 also stores, for example, the previous ranking of the ranking target and the ID for identifying the ranking target in association with each other.

The comparison unit 43 is the latest ranking storage unit 41.
And referring to the contents stored in the previous ranking storage unit 42,
The latest ranking and the previous (past) ranking for the same ranking target are compared, and the comparison result is output to the variation state determination unit 44. The variation state determination unit 44 determines the variation state of the ranking target ranking based on the comparison result from the comparison unit 43, and outputs the determination result to the mark display control unit 45. The mark display control unit 45 includes a mark (for example, FIGS. 7 and 8 or FIGS. 18 and 1) corresponding to the variation state from the variation state determination unit 44.
As shown in FIG. 9, display control is performed to display an arrow pointing to the upper right, the right, or the lower right) on the ranking table.

Of the above blocks, the latest ranking storage unit 41 and the previous ranking storage unit 42 are provided in the RAM 23 (or hard disk 25 or magneto-optical disk 26) of FIG. The mark display control unit 45 corresponds to the CPU 21, respectively.

FIG. 27 shows an example of ranking information regarding the latest ranking table stored in the latest ranking storage section 41. That is, the line feed code is arranged as a dummy on the first line of the ranking information. Then, after the second line, the latest ranking n
And an ID for identifying the ranking target are arranged subsequent thereto.

Each line is separated by a line feed code, and further, an EOF (End Of File) code is arranged in the last line. As the ID for identifying the ranking target, for example, when the ranking target is a book, an ISBN code or the like can be used. However,
The ID does not have to be an existing code such as an ISBN code, and may be any ID that can distinguish each ranking target. Furthermore, the ranking information is, for example,
They are arranged in descending order of rank (ascending order). Therefore, if different ranking targets do not have the same ranking,
Since the ranking can be recognized by the number of rows from the top row of the ranking information, it is not necessary to include the ranking in the ranking information (in this case, it can be said that the ranking is stored as a sequence of IDs). However, in the present embodiment, it is assumed that the rankings of different ranking objects may be the same, and the ranking is included in the ranking information (for example, when there are two ranking objects having the first ranking). , The ranks described in the ranking information are 1, 1, 3, 4, ...).

The previous ranking storage section 42 also stores the ranking information regarding the previous ranking table in a similar format.

The ranking information is created based on the ranking table when the ranking table is provided by a publisher or a bookstore. Further, when the ranking of the ranking target is determined by the total value of votes cast by the user as described with reference to FIGS. 18 and 19, the ranking information is created based on the total value. The created ranking information is stored in the hard disk 25 or the magneto-optical disk 26, and is transferred to the RAM 23 when determining the order variation state (when the processing according to the flowchart of FIG. 28 described below is performed). To be done.

Next, the operation will be described with reference to the flowchart in FIG. When determining the fluctuation state of the ranking object whose latest (current) rank is the nth rank, the comparing unit 43 first sets the fluctuation state of the rank to "increase" in step S1. And step S
Then, the pointer is set to the position of the first line of the ranking information stored in the previous ranking storage unit 42 (that is, the line in which only the line feed code is arranged) by the comparison unit 43. Further, in the comparison unit 43, in step S3, the pointer is moved down one line from the current position, the process proceeds to step S4, and the first argument (leftmost column) of the line pointed to by the pointer is EOF. It is determined whether or not.

If it is determined in step S4 that the first argument of the line pointed to by the pointer is not EOF,
That is, when the first argument of the line pointed by the pointer is the previous rank of any ranking target, the previous rank is set in the variable m, and the process proceeds to step S5.
In step S5, the comparison unit 43 determines whether or not the variable m is larger than the rank n of this time.

Here, the fact that the rank m is larger than the rank n means that
means that m has a lower rank than n (thus,
The rank m being smaller than the rank n means that m is a rank higher than n).

When it is determined in step S5 that the variable m is not larger than the rank n this time, step S6
Then, the comparing unit 43 determines whether or not the variable m is equal to the rank n of this time.

If it is determined in step S6 that the variable m is not equal to the current rank n, the process proceeds to step S7, where the ID associated with the previous rank represented by the variable m (that is, the pointer indicates The second argument in the line
Whether the ID is equal to the ID associated with the current rank n is determined by the comparison unit 43 by referring to the latest ranking storage unit 41 and the previous ranking storage unit 42. In step S7, the ID associated with the previous rank represented by the variable m is the current rank n.
When it is determined that the ID is not equal to the ID associated with, the process returns to step S3 and the process from step S3 is repeated.

If it is determined in step S7 that the ID associated with the previous rank represented by the variable m is equal to the ID associated with the current rank n, that is, the same. When the result of comparison between the previous rank m and the rank n of the ranking target is that m is not larger than n and is not equal, that is, the rank n of this time is lower than the rank m of the previous time. If it is (if n> m), the process proceeds to step S8, and the variation state determination unit 44 determines that the variation state of the current order n is “down”, and the process ends.

On the other hand, if it is determined in step S6 that the variable m is equal to the current order n, the process proceeds to step S9, and as in step S7, it is associated with the previous order represented by the variable m. It is determined whether the existing ID is equal to the ID associated with the current rank n. In step S9, when it is determined that the ID associated with the previous rank represented by the variable m is equal to the ID associated with the current rank n, that is, the previous ranking for the same ranking target. If the result of comparison between the rank m and the rank n of this time is that m is equal to n, that is, the rank n of this time is the same as the rank m of the previous time (when n = m). , Step S10
Then, the variation state determination unit 44 determines that the variation state of the rank n this time is “invariant”, and the process ends.

If it is determined in step S9 that the ID associated with the previous rank represented by the variable m is not equal to the ID associated with the current rank n, the process proceeds to step S3. After returning, the processing from step S3 is repeated again.

If the current rank n is equal to the previous rank, the processes of steps S3 to S6 and S9 are repeated, so that the current rank n is selected from the previous ranking information in step S9. An ID equal to the ID associated with is detected, and in step S10, as described above, the change state of rank n this time is determined to be "invariant".

On the other hand, in step S5, the variable m is
When it is determined that it is higher than the rank n of this time, that is, when the ranking target of the rank m of the previous time is neither a rank higher than the rank n in this ranking nor a rank equal to the rank n, that is, If there is no ranking target whose ranking is n, between the top n ranks in the previous ranking, and therefore, if the ranking rank n of this ranking is higher than the previous ranking, the processing is performed. finish. Therefore, in this case, in the variation state determination unit 44, the variation state of the rank n this time is left as "increase" set in step S1.

On the other hand, if it is determined in step S4 that the first argument of the line pointed to by the pointer is EOF, that is, the ranking target whose current ranking is n is not in the previous ranking. Also in the case, the process is ended as it is, and thus the variation state determination unit 44 keeps the variation state of the rank n at this time as “increase” set in step S1.

In the comparing section 43 and the variation state determining section 44, the processing shown in FIG. 28 is performed for all the rankings shown in the ranking table this time, and thereby the variation states of all the rankings are determined. It That is, for example, the book ranking table shown in FIGS. 7 and 8 and FIG.
8 and the CD ranking table shown in FIG.
When the changing state of the rank is determined, the current rank n is sequentially changed to 1 to 10 and the processing shown in FIG. 28 is performed.

As described above, when the variation states of all the necessary rankings for the current ranking are determined, the mark display control unit 45 displays the marks indicating the variation states in FIGS. 7 and 8. Control is performed so that the books are displayed on the ranking table of the books shown and the ranking table of the CDs shown in FIGS. 18 and 19.

That is, the mark display control unit 45, when the rank change state is “up”, “fall”, or “invariant”, the mark, the ranking target title, and the like are displayed. In the ranking table, for example, facing to the upper right,
Place the arrow-shaped mark pointing to the lower right or the right. Thus, for example, as shown in FIG. 29, a ranking table is created in which the ranking change state (in the figure, the arrow arranged in the “movement” column) is displayed.

The ranking table for books shown in FIGS. 7 and 8 and the ranking table for CDs shown in FIGS. 18 and 19 are created in this manner. Here, as for the homepage displaying the ranking table shown in FIGS. 7 and 8 and FIGS. 18 and 19, the book or C
By clicking the portion where D is displayed, detailed information can be obtained. That is, for example, the CD "LO" ranked sixth in FIG.
When the "VE SONG" portion is clicked, a home page as shown in FIGS. 30 and 31, for example, can be obtained. 30 and 31 constitute one home page, and FIG. 31 shows a part following FIG. The home pages shown in FIGS. 30 and 31 are configured similarly to the home pages shown in FIGS. 16 and 17.

As described above, since the ranking change state is automatically generated and placed in the ranking table, it is possible to easily create a ranking table displaying the ranking change state without manual labor. Moreover, the number of steps for creating such a ranking table can be reduced.

The case where the present invention is applied to the creation of a ranking table provided electronically has been described above. However, the present invention is also applied to the creation of a ranking table published in, for example, magazines or newspapers. It is possible.

In this embodiment, the arrow is used as the mark indicating the changing state of the rank. However, other marks such as ○, ×, and Δ, red circles, white circles, and black circles may be used. Is possible. If the ranking change status is “up”, “down”, or “invariant”,
FIG. 32 shows a ranking table when ◯, ×, or Δ is used as a mark indicating that.

Further, in the present embodiment, the variation state of the rank is determined to be one of the three states of "up", "down" or "invariant". In addition, it is possible to make a decision so that the degree of change in rank can be understood.

That is, according to the degree of the fluctuation, the fluctuation state of the rank is "suddenly increased" (when the rank is greatly increased), "rising", "invariable", "descending", or "rapidly descending" (greatly increasing). It is also possible to determine any one of the five states (when the ranking is lowered) and display the mark corresponding to each variation state in the ranking table. FIG. 33 shows the ranking table when the fluctuation state “sudden rise”, “rise”, “invariant”, “fall”, or “deep fall” is represented by an upward arrow, an upper right arrow, a rightward arrow, a lower right arrow, or a downward arrow. Shown in.

Further, in the present embodiment, the rank fluctuation state is determined as described with reference to FIG. 28. However, the rank fluctuation state at this time is determined by another algorithm (the latest rank status for the same ranking target). It is also possible to compare the ranks of (1) and (4) with the past ranks, and to determine according to the comparison result, according to the variation of the rank of the ranking target).

Further, the ranking table shows the status of ranking on the telephone 7 (or mobile telephone 8) shown in FIG.
It can be provided in the form of being read aloud. In this case, the fluctuation state of the ranking is, for example, “increase”,
It is read aloud as "falling" or "unchangeable."

Further, in FIG. 1, the IP server, S
Although only one P server is shown in the figure, a plurality of IP servers and SP servers can be provided.

[0111]

According to the information processing apparatus and the information processing method described in claim 4, the latest ranking and the past ranking of the same ranking target are compared, and the comparison result is obtained. Based on this, the variation state of the ranking of the ranking target is determined. Therefore, it is possible to easily reflect the changing state of the ranking on the ranking table.

[Brief description of the drawings]

FIG. 1 is a block diagram showing the configuration of an embodiment of a network system to which the present invention is applied.

FIG. 2 is a block diagram showing a configuration example of a personal computer 1 of FIG.

FIG. 3 is a block diagram showing a configuration example of an SP server 3 (IP server 5) in FIG.

4 is a diagram showing a menu screen (home page) of a service provided by the IP server 5 of FIG.

5 is a diagram showing a display example of a display 19 of FIG.

6 is a diagram showing a home page of a service related to books provided by the IP server 5 of FIG.

FIG. 7 is a diagram showing a home page related to a book provided by the IP server 5 of FIG.

FIG. 8 is a view following FIG. 7;

9 is a diagram showing a home page related to a book provided by the IP server 5 of FIG.

10 is a diagram showing a home page related to books provided by the IP server 5 of FIG.

11 is a diagram showing a home page related to a book provided by the IP server 5 of FIG.

12 is a diagram showing a home page related to a book provided by the IP server 5 of FIG.

13 is a diagram showing a home page related to a book provided by the IP server 5 of FIG.

14 is a diagram showing a home page regarding music provided by the IP server 5 of FIG. 1. FIG.

15 is a diagram showing a home page regarding music provided by the IP server 5 of FIG. 1. FIG.

16 is a diagram showing a home page regarding music provided by the IP server 5 of FIG. 1. FIG.

FIG. 17 is a diagram following FIG. 16;

18 is a diagram showing a home page regarding music provided by the IP server 5 of FIG. 1. FIG.

FIG. 19 is a view following FIG. 18;

20 is a diagram showing a home page related to a magazine provided by the IP server 5 of FIG.

FIG. 21 is a view following FIG. 20.

22 is a diagram showing a home page regarding hobbies provided by the IP server 5 of FIG. 1. FIG.

23 is a diagram showing a home page related to hobbies provided by the IP server 5 of FIG.

FIG. 24 is a diagram showing a home page regarding hobbies provided by the IP server 5 of FIG. 1;

25 is a diagram showing a home page regarding hobbies provided by the IP server 5 of FIG. 1. FIG.

FIG. 26 is a block diagram for explaining the function of the IP server 5 in the case of performing the automatic generation process of the changing state of the rank displayed in the ranking table.

FIG. 27 is a diagram showing a format of ranking information.

28 is a flowchart for explaining the operation of the IP server 5 shown in FIG.

29 is a diagram showing a ranking table created by the IP server 5 of FIG.

FIG. 30 is a diagram showing a home page regarding music provided by the IP server 5 of FIG. 1;

FIG. 31 is a view following FIG. 30.

FIG. 32 is a diagram showing another example of a ranking table.

FIG. 33 is a diagram showing still another example of a ranking table.

[Explanation of symbols]

 1 PC 2 Public network 3 SP server 4 Internet 5 IP server 41 Latest ranking storage unit 42 Previous ranking storage unit 43 Comparison unit 44 Fluctuating state determination unit 45 Mark display control unit

Claims (4)

[Claims] 1. An information processing apparatus for obtaining a variation state of rankings of ranked ranking objects, comprising: storage means for storing the latest ranking of the ranking objects and past rankings; and storage means stored in the storage means. Comparing means for comparing the latest ranking and the past ranking of the same ranking target, and a determining means for determining the variation state of the ranking of the ranking target based on the comparison result of the comparing means. A characteristic information processing device. 2. The information processing apparatus according to claim 1, further comprising display control means for displaying the variation state determined by the determination means on a ranking table in which the ranking targets are ranked. 3. The information processing apparatus according to claim 2, wherein the display control unit displays a mark indicating the fluctuation state on the ranking table. 4. An information processing method for obtaining a variation state of the ranking of ranked ranking objects, wherein the latest ranking and the past ranking of the same ranking object are compared, and based on the comparison result, An information processing method characterized by determining a variation state of ranking of ranking targets.