JPH09212349A - Contents generation support system - Google Patents

Abstract

PROBLEM TO BE SOLVED: To visually define and update links of materials in contents including external applications by providing a structure editing device which visually edits the structure of the contents and a link generating device which links the material. SOLUTION: The structure editing device 51 generates and edits contents 11. As for externally obtained data, history data 62 are stored by a history managing device 61 and its history information can be retrieved at any time. Respective materials 94-97 are read in the structure editing device 51 and the contents 111 are edited by recording the presence positions of the respective materials and linking the respective materials with one another. The structure editing device 51 edits the structure of the contents and generates the structure and image of the contents while allocating the materials. Various external applications are linked by the link generating device 53. The generated contents 111 are displayed by a screen display device 92.

Description

Detailed Description of the Invention

[0001]

BACKGROUND OF THE INVENTION 1. Field of the Invention The present invention relates to a content creation support system for visually editing the structure of content by using a plurality of application programs (hereinafter, also referred to as applications) that provide various services to users. It is a thing. In particular, interactively and visually create structural information between the information on the application program, and link the information of the application program to easily create content that searches for and displays the necessary function or information from certain information. System. In general, the content means the content, and refers to a material such as a moving image, a still image, a text, and a voice used when creating an application using multimedia such as a moving image, a still image, a text, and a voice. In this specification, content means
It does not mean simply a material, but shall be used as an application or service using multimedia. That is, in this specification, the content means a multimedia application in which multimedia information such as still images, moving images, texts, and audios are linked to each other so that related information can be referred to. Further, in this specification, a material means information such as a moving image, a still image, a text, and a sound created by various application programs (applications). Each material corresponds to an application for displaying the material. Therefore, hereinafter, the term “linking between materials” used in this specification is synonymous with “linking of applications”.

[0002]

2. Description of the Related Art FIG. 26 is a block diagram of Authorware Professional (registered trademark, hereinafter referred to as Authorware) which is a presentation tool of Macromedia. Author
ware defines the flow of content in the structure editing device 91 while operating the flow chart of content (flow chart of icons). With Authorware, it is possible to create a semantic link by specifying the area (anchor) that is the source of the link rather than just embedding it. With such a hypermedia mechanism, a link is created in an external application. To do so, it is necessary to create a script in the script editing device 93. The created content is displayed on the screen display device 92. Materials that can be used at this time are moving image data 94, still image data 95, text data 96, audio data 97, and the like. Each data is read and embedded in the structure editing device 91.

FIG. 27 is a block diagram of Director (registered trademark) which is a presentation tool of Macromedia. The director creates content in the editing device 98. Here, structure editing using a flow diagram like Authorware is not possible. Regarding the external application, it is necessary to create a script in the script editing device 93 as in the case of Authorware. The created content is displayed on the screen display device 92. Materials that can be used at this time are moving image data 94, still image data 95, text data 96, audio data 97, and the like. Each data is read and embedded in the editing device 98.

FIG. 28 shows, for example, "Communication of The
"IR, ACM, January 1992 Vol.35, No.1"
This is an information management / retrieval device using a conventional hypermedia technology called "IS". In the figure, application program 1
Is for providing various services to users, such as a document / image data display / editing program,
Alternatively, it is a search program for accumulated data.
The application program 1 includes an application program body 2 that is a part that controls the original function of the application that is not related to linking, and information that is the source of the link, and a link destination information setting part of the link destination. A link registration unit 4 to be called and a link destination information setting unit 6 which is called at the time of link setting from another (or own) application program and specifies link destination information, and another (or own) application program at the time of link search. A link search execution unit 8 that is called from or is called from is included. Further, the link information storage unit 10 stores the link information set by the link registration unit 4 and the link destination information setting unit 6. As the function related to the link, the link registration unit 4, the link destination information setting unit 6, and the link search execution unit 8 are used according to the use.
In addition, there are examples of link information adding means for adding link information and link information deleting means for deleting link information, etc., but the functions for adding and deleting link information are different. However, the procedure is the same as that of the means such as the link registration unit, and the detailed description is omitted here. The means for these links may be provided as a single module or may be provided as a module separate from the application program.

FIG. 29 is a diagram showing an example of another system configuration in which a data management part is constructed using an independent database. In this system, the link information management unit 1
2 manages the link information of the information between the application programs set by the link destination information setting unit 6. In such an example, the link registration unit 4, the link search execution unit 8 and the like access the link information storage unit 10 through the link information management unit 12.

Further, in FIG. 30, the link destination information setting unit 6 for each application program 11 is provided in the same application program other than the application program 11 so that the link destination information can be set without calling the other party. It is a figure showing an example of other system composition.

In the conventional information management / retrieval apparatus, a link is set between information handled by an application program and information handled by another application program, and at the time of retrieval, the link allows setting information from a certain application program within the system. It was possible to call the information of other application programs provided by.

The operation of registering the link information in the conventional example will be described below with reference to FIG.

Each application program is software that is loaded into a memory in a general-purpose computer and executed by application program executing means such as a CPU. Therefore, although the processing described below should be explained as the operation of the application program executing means for executing the application program, it is described as the operation of the application program for the sake of easy understanding.

First, the user can display and use various information by using the application program 1. Here, consider linking information to information. Create or extract identifiable information that is the source of the link in application program 1 (the area that is the source of this link is called "anchor", and this information is called "anchor information"), and register the link. I will try. Application program 1 (hereinafter referred to as link source application program) is another application program 1 to be linked.
The link registration unit 4 for (hereinafter referred to as the link destination application program) is called to set the anchor information. In the anchor information, information (appropriate ID, etc.) that can be identified in the link source application program is usually set. When the link information of the link source is determined by the link registration unit 4,
The link registration unit 4 calls the link destination application program or the link destination information setting unit 6 corresponding to the link destination application program in order to set the information of the link destination.

The link destination information setting unit 6 in the link destination application program specifies the link destination information. The link destination information setting unit 6 specifies available information in the link destination application program and sets it as link destination information. When the information is set, the link destination information is returned to the link destination information setting unit 6 of the link source application program by the link destination information setting unit 6, and the link destination information setting unit 6 stores the anchor information and the link destination information. Are paired and stored in the link information storage unit 10.

FIG. 31 shows an example of setting link information. In FIG. 31A, the anchor 14 is created in the link source application program (program A),
The link destination application program (program B) includes the application program information 1 specified by the link destination information setting unit 6.
6 is set. The anchor 14 and the application program information 16 are linked with other application programs or information managed by the user, and the link information is registered in the link information storage unit 10 of the link source application program. FIG. 31B shows an example of the contents of the link information storage unit 10. In this way, the link information is registered.

Next, the operation at the time of retrieval will be described with reference to FIG. Information as shown in FIG. 31 is assumed to be registered in the link information storage unit 10. Program A uses the anchor information (Da
The link search execution unit 8 is searched using ta1) as a key, and the application program information of the other party is extracted as a result. In this example, the result that Data2 of the program B is the application program information is obtained. Based on the obtained result, the link search execution unit 8 calls the application program B of the link destination to display Data2. The search is performed in this way.

[0014]

Since the conventional presentation tool, Authorware, is constructed as described above, the contents are created by connecting the icons. It is possible to create various contents, but for external applications, the link must be defined by script. In addition, since Director cannot display structural information, it is not possible to create visual contents in consideration of the entire structural information. Also, like Authorware,
For external applications, the script must define the link. In addition, Authorware also Dire
ctor also does not maintain a search history of data and has no information on the original data, so it is difficult to trace the related information and update to new data.

Further, since the information management / retrieval apparatus using the conventional hypermedia technology is configured as described above, the link setting means (link registration) corresponding to the type of the application program of the link source or the type of anchor information is used. Section, link destination information setting section, etc.) and the link setting means must be called separately. Further, in order for each link setting means to independently register and call an application program, as shown in FIG. 32, a link destination information setting unit included in each existing application program in addition to the new addition of a new application program, Since the link search execution part and the like had to be changed, this work required a great deal of time and effort.

Further, when a new application program is incorporated, it is necessary for each existing application program to individually manage the link information, and the format of information handled by the existing application program and the new application program has been handled until then. If the information format is different from the information format, the data formation of the link information had to be modified so that the new information format could be handled.

The present invention has been made to solve the above problems, and an object of the present invention is to obtain a content creation support device capable of visually defining and updating a material link in a content including an external application. And Another object of the present invention is to obtain a content creation support device that can easily update the material and retrieve the latest related information by holding the search history information of the original data of the material of the content.

[0018]

A content creation support system according to the present invention is characterized by having the following elements. (A) a screen display device that displays information on a screen, (b) a structure editing device that visually edits the structure of the content by setting a plurality of materials that make up the content and linking the materials, ( c) A link creating device that, when the linking by the structure editing device is designated between materials by different applications, links the materials by different applications.

The structure editing device creates a template for editing the structure information of the content and displays it on the screen display device, and at least the first and second parts constituting the content in the template. A part display section for creating and displaying the first part, a first material by the first application is assigned to the first part displayed in the template, and a first material is assigned to the second part displayed in the template. A second material different from the second application, for allocating the second material by the second application, a link specifying portion for specifying a link from the first part displayed in the template to the second part, and the first part. If the first material handled by the first application assigned to the part is A link activation area setting section for setting a link activation area for activating the link designated by the section, and based on the information set by the link designation section and the link activation area setting section, , And a linking request unit that outputs a linking request between materials by different applications.

The structure editing apparatus further includes an information collection management unit that searches for a material by an application external to the content creation support system and provides the searched material for editing the content of the structure editing apparatus. Is characterized by.

The content creation support system further uses a history management device that stores the search history information of the material by the external application searched by the information collection management unit, and the search history information stored by the history management device. An automatic updating device for searching for a material and automatically updating the material used for editing the content by the structure editing device is provided.

The history management device stores the existence position of the material by the searched external application and the editing date and time when the material is searched as history data, and the automatic updating device stores the existence position stored in the history data. The material edited by the external application is searched based on the result, the edited date and time stored in the history data is compared with the latest edited date and time of the material searched by the external application, and it is used for editing the content based on the comparison result. It is characterized by determining whether or not the material should be updated.

The link creating device is provided for each information application transmitting / receiving unit for inputting a linking request from the linking requesting unit of the structure editing device, and link information for starting the link destination application. Based on a linking request input by the information transmission / reception unit, a plurality of link destination information setting units that set each application, link information storage unit that stores the link information set by the link destination information setting unit, A link information management unit that activates the link destination information setting unit and stores the link information set by the link destination information setting unit in the link information storage unit.

The link creation device further includes a program registration information storage unit that stores information about the application including correspondence information between the application and the link destination information setting unit, and the link information management unit includes the program registration information storage unit. With reference to, the link destination information setting unit corresponding to the link destination application for which linking is requested is activated.

The content creation support device further uses the link creation device to link the old material to the new material when a new material is assigned to a part by the assigning unit. It is characterized by being equipped with an automatic link creation device that automatically changes the attachment.

The content creation support system according to the present invention is characterized by having the following elements. (A) A structure editing device that inserts a material into a part and edits the structural information of the content by setting a link between the parts, and (b) a state in which there is a part in which the material is not inserted by the structure editing device. And a content provisional execution device that executes content.

The temporary content execution device is characterized by inserting a virtual material capable of recognizing that a material is not inserted into a part into which the material has not been inserted and executing the virtual material.

The content creation support system according to the present invention is characterized by having the following elements. (A) Content having a predetermined structure defined by link information between materials, (b) Link structure conversion device for inputting inter-material link information of the content and converting it to content structure information, (c) Link A screen display device for displaying the structure information of contents converted by a structure conversion device on a screen.

The link structure conversion device is characterized in that, when the link information between the materials of the content is updated, the structure information of the content is updated and displayed on the screen display device in real time.

[0030]

Preferred embodiments of the present invention will be described below with reference to the drawings. FIG. 1 shows a system configuration diagram of the present invention. First, the outline of the present embodiment will be described. The structure editing device 51 creates and edits the content 111. For data obtained from the outside such as on the network, the history management device 61 accumulates the history data 62, and the history information of the data obtained from the outside can be searched at any time. The created content is displayed on the screen display device 92. The materials that can be used at that time are moving image data 94, still image data 95, and text data 9
6. Voice data Hyper Text Markup Language (HTML) 99 and the like. Specific examples of the HTML 99 include various homepages provided via the Internet. In this system, each material is not read by the structure editing device 51 and embedded as the content. In this system, the contents are edited by recording the existence positions of the materials and linking the materials.

The structure editing device 51 edits the structure of the content and creates the structure and image of the content while allocating materials. Various external applications perform linking in the link creating device 53. The created content is displayed on the screen display device 92.

The details will be described below. FIG. 2 is a diagram showing an internal configuration of the structure editing device 51. 71 collects the existence position of the material and the date when the material is created or updated,
An information collection management unit that manages. The location of the material can be specified by a combination of a drive name, a path name, and a file name, for example. Further, the location of the material by the external application can be specified by, for example, the network address. Reference numeral 72 denotes a structure editing main unit that edits the structure of the content. Reference numeral 81 denotes a template display unit that creates a template for editing the structural information of the content and displays it on the screen display device 92. 82 is the screen display device 9
2 is a parts display unit that displays parts that are the constituent elements of the content in the template displayed in 2. Reference numeral 83 is an allocation unit that allocates the materials collected by the information collection management unit 71 to parts. The assigning unit 83 does not embed the material, but only assigns the existing position of the material managed by the information collection management unit 71 to the part. Therefore, the material itself is not embedded in the part. That is, the content 111 created by the structure editing device 51 does not actually have the information of the material itself, but stores the existing position of the material. When the content is actually executed, the place where the material actually exists is identified from the existing position of the material stored in the content, and the material is displayed. Reference numeral 84 is a link designating unit that designates a link between parts. The link designating section 84 only designates a part to be a link source and a part to be a link destination, and actual setting of link information is performed by the link creating device 53 described later.
Reference numeral 85 denotes a link activation area setting unit that sets a link activation area (hereinafter, referred to as an anchor) for activating the link destination application for the link source material designated by the link designation unit 84. The link activation area setting unit 85 simply specifies the anchor for the material and generates anchor information, and the setting of the link information based on this anchor information is performed by the link creation device 5 described later.
3 is performed. Reference numeral 86 is a linking request for linking between the materials of the application for which linking is specified to the link creating device 53, which will be described later, based on the information set by the link specifying section 84 and the link activation area setting section 85. It is a request section. Reference numeral 20 is a communication interface for transmitting a linking request to the link creating device 53.

3 to 5 are diagrams showing the basic operation of the content creating system. In the figures, 111 is a hyperlink type multimedia content, 102 is a template which is content structure information, 103 is a link,
104 is an anchor that is a link activation area, 105 is an information collection management unit, 106 is a part in which a material is inserted, 10
7 is a part with no material inserted, 108 is a still image
It is a material for content such as moving images and HTML. The user can freely arrange the parts 107 of the template, insert the material 108 of the content therein, connect the parts with the link 103, and specify the anchor 104 as the material of the link source. The hyperlink multimedia contents 111 are generated and can be created.

The operation of the structure editing main unit 72 of the structure editing apparatus 51 will be described with reference to FIGS. The template display unit 81 displays the template 10 as shown in FIG.
2 is displayed on the screen display device 92. Parts display section 82
Generates and displays the part 107 for the template 102. At this point, the parts are simply displayed as boxes because no material has been inserted into the parts yet. The allocation unit 83 allocates the content material 108 registered in the information collection management unit 105 to the part 107. FIG. 4 shows the part 106 in which the material is inserted. The link designating unit 84 designates the link 103 between the parts 106. On the screen display device 92, a connecting line connecting the parts 106 is displayed as a link 103. The link activation area setting unit 85 sets the anchor 104 as shown in FIG. The anchor 104 shown in FIG. 5 shows a case where the elliptical anchor 104 is set. The anchor 104 is the anchor 10.
This means that when the mouse is clicked in the area of 4, the link is activated and the material by another application is activated. When the link designation unit 84 and the link activation area setting unit 85 make settings, the linking request unit 86 requests the link creation device 53 via the communication interface 20 to set necessary link information. Link creation device 53
Links the material based on the linking request, and stores it as the content of the content 111.

FIG. 6 is a diagram showing the link creation device 53 and the content execution device 201 of this embodiment. The link creation device 53 and the content execution device 201 have interfaces with the application program 101, the structure editing device 51, and the content 111, respectively. The link creating device 53 links the programs A and B, that is, the application programs 101. The content execution device 201 launches and executes an application based on the linking. The link creation device 53 and the structure editing device 51 have an interface, and link between the program A and the program B, that is, the application program 101 according to a request from the structure editing device 51. You can Also,
The content execution device 201 and the content 111 have an interface, and when the content 111 is executed, the content execution device 201 is activated and the content is executed.

First, the operation of linking application programs and the operation of search execution will be described. The application program 101 is an application program main unit 202
And a communication interface 20 forming part of the communication means.
And is incorporated. The information transmission destination determination unit 22 determines the delivery destination of information from the application program 101 or the like.
Between the information transmission destination determination unit 22 and the application program 101, an information transmission / reception unit 24 forming a part of communication means is provided together with the communication interface 20. The information transmission / reception unit 24 has a function of converting the content of information in order to allow the information transmission destination determination unit 22 and the application program 101 to communicate with each other. Link information management unit 112
Manages the link information stored in the link information storage unit 10, and also manages the link destination information setting unit 6 and the link search execution unit 8 in each application program that is a means for handling each link information. Further, the apparatus has a program activation unit 26 that activates a necessary application program in response to a request from the information transmission destination determination unit 22 and the link information management unit 112. Further, the apparatus is a program registration information storage unit 28 referred to by the information transmission destination determination unit 22, the link destination information management unit 112, and the program activation unit 26, and is a program registration unit that stores registration information about a plurality of application programs. It has an information storage unit 28.

Each application program 101 is software that is loaded into a memory in a general-purpose computer and executed by application program executing means such as a CPU. Therefore, the process described below should be described as the operation of the application program executing unit that executes each application program, but for the sake of clarity, the operation is described as the operation of the application program 101.
Further, in the present embodiment, the link destination information setting unit 6, the link search executing unit 8, the information transmitting / receiving unit 24, the link destination information managing unit 112, the information destination determining unit 22, and the program starting unit 26 are also the application programs 101. Similarly, in a general-purpose computer, it is realized by software loaded on a memory and executed by a CPU. Further, in the present embodiment, each application program 101 does not constantly exist in the memory,
It is activated when needed. Further, each application program 101 is connected to the information transmitting / receiving unit 24 using the communication interface 20, and has a relationship of being callable to each other.

The application program main body 202 in the application program 101 gives information as shown in FIG. 7 to the communication interface 20 in order to request other means to perform processing such as link search. "Program name" is the program name of the other party who requests processing, and "Process name" is
"Information name" is a name that represents the content of the process to be executed.
Is an information name such as an ID of information to be processed (hereinafter, such a group of information is defined as a “message”). The example in the figure is a message for requesting the application program “program A” to perform the process “display” for the information “map of Japan”.

The communication interface 20 adds information about the application program that is the transmission source to the message from the application program body 202 and translates it into a format suitable for communication with the information transmitting / receiving unit 24. Further, the communication interface 20 translates the information sent from the information transmitting / receiving unit 24 into a format that can be read by the application program main unit 202 as shown in FIG. 7. Further, the communication interface 20 has the built-in application program 101.
Functions to open a communication path with the information transmitting / receiving unit 24 when is started and executed. When the application program ends,
The communication interface 20 closes the communication path with the information transmitting / receiving unit 24.

The message from the application program main unit 202 is translated in the communication interface 20 and sent to the information transmitting / receiving unit 24. In this way, the application program 1
The actual communication means in 01 is the application program main unit 20.
2 is provided separately, and the communication interface 20
Are hidden in the application program 101. As a specific communication procedure between the communication interface 20 and the information transmitting / receiving unit 24, any procedure may be used as long as necessary information can be transmitted and received. For example, Uni
x (Unix is a registered trademark) A method such as socket communication implemented in an operating system can be used.

Next, each operation in this embodiment will be described step by step. First, registration of link information between application programs by the link creating device will be described.

First, request information indicating that a link is created from the application program 101 (link source application program) to another application program (link destination application program) is transmitted from the link source application program to the link source application program. It is sent as message information to the information transmitting / receiving unit 24 through the interface 20. Information transmission / reception unit 24, information transmission destination determination unit 22, and link information management unit 1
The format of the message information handled by 12 is predetermined according to its content. FIG. 8 shows an example of a standard command used for message information and a format of message information.

If the link source application program wants to create a link as in this example, "Link (link destination application program name): REGIST: anchor information"
The necessary information is set and sent in this format. For example,
It becomes like "Link (Program B): REGIST: 001". This is a message that the program A wants to register a link to the program B from an anchor having a unique ID of 001. Such a message is sent from the application program body 202 of the link source application program to the communication interface 20. The link interface application program information is added to the message by the communication interface 20, and the message is sent to the information transmitting / receiving unit 24. The information transmission / reception unit 24 receives this message and sends it to the information transmission destination determination unit 22. The information transmission destination determination unit 22 checks whether the content included in the message is the standard command shown in FIG. 8 and determines to which means if the standard command is the information. When the content is “registration of link information” as in this example, that is, the first character string (“Link” in this example) is the link information management unit 1.
If the command is a standard command defined to be processed by 12, the information transmission destination determination unit 22 determines that this command is processed by the link information management unit 112. Then, the information transmission destination determination unit 22 uses the link information management unit 11
2 sends the message information.

In the case of registering the link information, the anchor information contained in the message sent from the link source application program is the information about the link source area of the link source application program, that is, the anchor name, number, etc. Must be uniquely identifiable information. “ID = 001” in the above example corresponds to this information. As described above, this information is sent to the link information management unit 112 via the information transmission / reception unit 24 and the information transmission destination determination unit 22. Then, the link information management unit 112
Determines the linked application program. The link destination application program is determined from the information on the link destination application program (in this example, "program name" of "Link (program name)"). In the above example, the link destination application program is “program B”. When the link destination application program is determined, the link information management unit 112 refers to the program registration information storage unit 28 and activates the link destination information setting unit 6 provided for each application program. Information about which link destination information setting unit 6 is activated is registered and stored in the program registration information storage unit 28. An example thereof is shown in FIG. The link information management unit 112 refers to the information in the program registration information storage unit 28 and calls the link destination information setting unit 6. In this example, the link information management unit 112 determines that the link destination information setting unit 6 of the program B is the program indicated by “/ usr / prob / prob-link” from the information shown in FIG. Start the program.

As an example of the screen displayed when the link destination information setting section 6 is activated and displayed, a program for designating a part of certain document data as shown in FIG. 10 can be considered. The link destination information setting unit 6 is a link destination information setting unit for the program B designated as the link destination application program, and as the information of the link destination application program, for example,
“Specification A item B” is set by the user. When the link destination application program is a program that handles moving images or a voice, the link destination information setting unit has a function of setting a specific moving image or specific voice as information of the link destination application program. The link destination information setting unit 6 thus has different information setting functions depending on the application program. When the link destination information setting unit 10 specifies the information of the link destination application program, the result is returned to the link information management unit 112. The link information management unit 112 stores, in the link information storage unit 10, link information generated by combining the anchor information of the link source application program and the information of the link destination application program.

FIG. 11 shows an example of the link information storage unit 10. For example, the link information composed of the anchor information “ID = 001” and the information “specification A item B” of the link destination application program is, as shown in the first line of FIG. 11, the link source application program name and the link. Information of the prior application program name is added and stored.

The link destination information setting section 6 corresponding to each application program does not need to be a special means separate from the application program 101.
01 may internally have the function of the link destination information setting unit 6 and may be set so as to call the application program itself instead of the link destination information setting unit 6.

Next, the operation of the content execution device 201 when searching between application programs will be described. The application program 101 identifies the anchor that is the source of the link, and sends the anchor information and the link search request to the information transmitting / receiving unit 24 through the communication interface 20. In the concrete example of the standard command shown in FIG.
information such as “nk: RETRIEVE: ID = 001”. The information transmission / reception unit 24 sends this information to the information transmission destination determination unit 22. The information transmission destination determination unit 22 determines from the content of the message that the process is a link search execution,
This information is sent to the link information management unit 112.

Since the content of the information is a link search execution, the link information management unit 112 searches the link information storage unit 10 using the anchor (link source) information of ID = 001 as a search key, and obtains the information of ID = 001. Acquire information on the corresponding linked application program.

When the information shown in FIG. 11 is already stored in the link information storage unit 10, the link information management unit 1
As a search result of the link information storage unit 10 by 12,
A process name “display” and an information name “specification A item B” for “program B” are obtained. Link information management unit 112
Can use this link information as "Program B: Display: Specification A"
It is sent to the information transmission destination determination unit 22 in the form of the message “item B”. Upon receiving the message information from the link information management unit 112, the information transmission destination determination unit 22 sends the message information to the program activation unit 26. Upon receiving the message information, the program activation unit 26 reads the link destination application program name in the message and activates the program B, which is the target link destination application program. At that time, the program activation unit 26 refers to the activation method “calling method” stored in the program registration information storage unit 28 shown in FIG. Information destination determination unit 22
After confirming that the program activation unit 26 has activated the target application program (program B), the message content received from the link information management unit 112 is targeted through the information transmission / reception unit 24 as its processing content. Notify the communication interface 20 of the application program (program B). The program B receives the information and executes processing according to the content.

In this way, the search is performed.
As a result of the search of the link information storage unit 10 by the link information management unit 112, when a plurality of link destination application programs are found, each link for the application program is specified in order to specify which information is to be executed. Call the search execution unit 8. The link search execution unit 8 further specifies information in the corresponding application program, and returns a substantial link search destination to the link information management unit 112. Based on the information specified as this one, the link information management unit 112 uses the program starting unit 26 to start the application program.
The procedure for starting the program starting unit 26 is the same as that described above.

Next, the procedure for adding a new application program will be described. The new application program incorporates the communication interface 20 like the existing application program. First, information about a new application program is registered in the program registration information storage unit 28 shown in FIG. At the same time, the program registration information storage unit stores information for using the link destination information setting unit 6 and the link search execution unit 8 which are means for setting the link information for the application program from the link information management unit 112. Register at 28. As a result, it becomes possible to call another application program or call the new application program from another application program by using the program starting unit 26 and the link information management unit 112. When a link creation request for the application program is issued, the link destination information setting unit 6 is called by the link information management unit 112 and the link information is set. This allows
The new application program can be used as the linked application program.

Further, when registering a new application program, it is not necessary to change the existing application program, the link destination information setting section 6 for the existing application program, the link search execution section 8 and the like.

As described above, according to this embodiment, it is possible to easily incorporate a new application program.

Further, in the present embodiment, the information exchanged between the communication interface 20 and the information transmitting / receiving unit 24 is represented by characters and the format as shown in FIG. 8 is used. If the information is mutually understandable by the unit 24, its format and expression method are not particularly limited.

The above-described example has been described with reference to the case where the link information is set and the search is executed between the application programs 101. When setting the link information based on the request of the structure editing device 51, the same procedure can be used. The structure editing device 51 uses the communication interface 2
0 is provided. The communication interface 20 performs the same function as the communication interface 20 of the application program, and transmits the information from the structure editing device 51 to the information transmitting / receiving unit 24 of the link creating device 53. The linking request output from the linking requesting unit 86 of the structure editing device 51 transmits / receives information based on the command format as shown in FIG.
4 Subsequent processing is the same as the procedure described above. When the content 111 is executed, the same procedure as that of activating and executing the program B from the program A is performed. As described above, the procedure for setting the link information used between the application programs can be used in response to the linking request from the structure editing device 51. In addition, the startup procedure between application programs is as follows:
Is similarly used when executing.

In this embodiment, the communication interface 20 and the information transmitting / receiving unit 24 mediate the transmission of information with a new application program, so that the connection is facilitated. Further, the program registration information storage unit 28 and the program activation unit 26 can unify the program calling method. The information transmission destination determination unit 22 determines the delivery destination of the message information by referring to the content of the transmitted message. Also, the link information management unit 112
Manages the link search execution unit 8 of all application programs handled by this apparatus or the means for registering / searching the link information of the link destination information setting unit 6, so that even when adding a new application program Can be incorporated into the device with minimal changes.

Further, in this embodiment, the structure editing apparatus 51 previously defines the structure information of the content 111 by using the template 102, and visually recognizes the entire structure of the content 111, and Can be linked. Further, in this embodiment, even if the types of application programs are different, it may be the case that the material of the same application program is linked by adopting the configuration as described above, but different types of application programs are used. It may be the case that the link is made to the material of the program, but the link can be made by the same procedure. In the conventional content creation tool, the material created by the same application program could be created visually using the flow chart. However, when the material created by another application program is incorporated into the content. Has to make a special description such as a script, and cannot link to other external application programs without using a special interface. On the other hand, in this embodiment,
Even if the program A and the program B are different kinds of application programs handling different media, the structure editing device 51 visually constructs the structure information and links the structure information as shown in FIG. It is possible to do.

Next, the case of utilizing the content structure information will be described. In FIG. 1, reference numeral 60 denotes an automatic link creation device that automatically changes the linking to the old material to the linking to the new material when the material assigned to a certain part is changed. A specific example thereof will be described with reference to FIGS. 12 to 14. In FIG. 12, consider replacing the material 108a of the part 106 of the template 102. The new material 108b is the part 10 of the template to be updated from the information collection management unit 105.
6, the new material 108b is linked based on the link information before the insertion, only the material is updated, and the structure information of the content is not changed, as shown in FIG. The linked multimedia content 111 can be created. Conventionally, when changing a material, the user also has to change the link information associated with the material. For example, referring to FIG. 12, when the material is conventionally changed, the link 103 is used.
It was necessary to delete a and the link 103b once and set a new link again for a new material. On the other hand, in the present embodiment, since the automatic link creating device 60 exists, only the process of changing the material from the old material 108a to the new material 108b is performed. A new link is automatically established for the new material 108b using the link information attached in advance. The automatic link creation device 60
A new linking request is generated for the new material 108b from the link information of the old material 108a, and the link creation device 5
Request a new linking to No. 3. Further, the automatic link creation device 60 outputs a request to delete the link information for the old material 108a to the link creation device 53.
The linking request is made by the command "Link (program name) REGIST" on the first line shown in FIG. The request for deleting the link information is issued by the command "Link DELETE" on the fourth line shown in FIG. The link creation device 53 receives the linking request command and the link information deletion command and performs a process prepared in advance to register new link information and delete old link information. FIG. 14 shows the contents of the content when the linking is automatically changed by the automatic link creating device 60 as described above.

Next, the case where the content can be designed regardless of the presence or absence of the material will be described. Reference numeral 63 in FIG. 1 denotes a temporary content execution device capable of designing and executing content even when the material is not actually prepared. In FIGS. 15 and 16, reference numeral 106 is a part into which a material is inserted. Reference numeral 107 is a part in which no material is inserted. A virtual material is assigned in advance to the part 107 in which the material is not inserted. As the virtual material, a character indicating what the material is, for example, if the material indicates the title of the content, the character “title” is input. Alternatively, if the material is a material that introduces multiple temples, enter the word "Temple tour". Usually, the template part 107 is arranged, the multimedia content material 108 is inserted, and the template 102 is created. However, it is possible to execute the hyperlink-type multimedia content 111 that is being created without inserting the material into all the parts 107 of the template. When executing a part in which no material is inserted, as shown in FIG. 16, a virtual material in which characters such as "title" and "temple tour" are written in a frame displaying a white bitmap is displayed. .
Alternatively, if characters such as “title” and “temple tour” have not been entered in advance, when the material is prepared, the file name scheduled for the material or the file of the material exists. The location (existing address) or the like may be displayed. Alternatively, the display in the frame may simply be blinked.

Next, the automatic data updating method will be described. Reference numeral 61 in FIG. 1 is a history management device that manages history information indicating from where the material constituting the content was acquired. Reference numeral 62 is history data in which the location of the material and the creation date (or update date) of the material are recorded.
Reference numeral 64 denotes an automatic updating device that searches for a material using the existing position of the material stored in the history data 62 and updates the material. As the history data 62, for example, the location (address) of the HTML 99 and its creation date are stored. HTML99 is a material obtained from, for example, a website provided via the Internet. The information collection management unit 71 in the structure editing device 51 accesses the HTML 99 via the Internet. HTM
L99 holds the updated date. When the information collection management unit 71 accesses the HTML 99 and acquires the material, the information collection management unit 71 passes the address and the update date of the material to the history management device 61. The history management device 61 stores the existing position and the update date as history data 62. The information collection management unit 71 downloads the accessed HTML and provides the downloaded HTML as one material to the structure editing device. After that, HTML
Is updated at an arbitrary time, but the HTML downloaded by the structure editing device 51 is used as the material of the content 111 without changing the old version. In such a state, consider the case of executing "update" on the menu bar of the template in FIG. As shown in FIG. 18, for the material 108 of the multimedia content, the history management device 61 manages the history information of where the material is acquired. When the material 108 of the multimedia content is data acquired from the outside, when “update” is executed, the history data 62 held by the history management device 61 is referred to. The updated date of the stored material is acquired there. In addition, if the update date of the material that accessed the material by acquiring the existing position of the material stored in the history data 62 is newer than the update date stored in the history data 62, that is, the material If is updated, the material is newly acquired and the material is automatically updated. Also, with the acquisition of new materials,
The existing position of the material and the update date are registered as the history data 62. The newly acquired material is the content 11
Used when executing 1.

In this embodiment, the material created by the external application can be changed to the latest material by selecting the work "update" in the template. In order to access a material, the access history to that material is stored, so it is judged whether the material has been updated, and if the material has been updated, a new material should be acquired. Thus, the content 111 is always composed of the latest information.

Next, an apparatus for displaying a hyperlink type multimedia content structure will be described. Reference numeral 58 in FIG. 1 is a link structure conversion device that analyzes the structure of the content and displays the structure of the content on the screen display device. As described in the conventional example, or as described in the linking between the application programs in FIG. 6, there is a tool for creating content without visually expressing the structural information of the content in a flow diagram. There is. The link structure conversion device 58 of the present embodiment analyzes the information of the content and expresses it visually in a flow chart when the content is thus created between the application programs. The hyperlink multimedia content 111 in FIG. 19 is a content created by sequentially generating link information between application programs without creating structure information. The link structure conversion device 58 is shown in FIG.
Information of the link 103 of the content 111 shown in FIG. 9 is read, the link information is converted into content structure information, and the content structure and the multimedia content material 108 are read.
Visually display the image of. 20
This is structure information of the content automatically created by the link structure conversion device 58.

Next, FIGS. 21 to 25 show a case where the hyperlink type multimedia content 111 is edited such as creating and deleting the link 103 for the linked application. FIG. 21 shows the content 111 linked between applications. Content 111 is material 108a, 108b,
When the link to the material 108c is deleted when the material 108c is composed of three materials, as shown in FIG.
As shown in, link 103b to part 106c
Will be deleted. A link 103b indicated by a dotted line means a delete operation. In this way, the structure information of the content shown in FIG. 22 is automatically changed to the structure information as shown in FIG. In the state shown in FIG.
The material 108d shown in is a link 10 between applications.
In the case of being created by 3c, as shown in FIG. 24, the link 103c is added to the structure information of the content, and the part 106d is added, and the part 10 is added.
The material 108d is allocated to 6d and displayed. In this way, when the link 103 is edited such as created or deleted on the linked application, the content structure is automatically updated in real time.

As described above, according to this embodiment,
You can freely create and edit hyperlink multimedia contents by describing the structure of contents with a simple visual interface. In addition, linking between applications can be done without the need for conventional programs and scripts.

Further, when it is desired to change only the material, the material can be inserted and updated without touching the structure of the entire content without manually performing a series of operations such as link deletion and link creation as in the conventional case. You can do it.

Further, it is possible to solve the conventional problem that the content cannot be created unless the material mainly exists, that is, the material does not exist, and the content being created can be actually executed.

Further, in the past, since the history information of the material was not stored, the work for updating the contents, for example,
It was difficult to search the place where the material to be updated was acquired, check the date of the material, and acquire the material. However, by having the history information, this series of operations can be automatically performed, and the amount of work and time for updating the content can be dramatically reduced.

Further, although the structure information of the hyperlink type multimedia contents that has already existed so far cannot be displayed, it is possible to understand the structure and image of the entire contents by displaying this. Further, since the link information is reflected in real time, it is possible to deal with editing work such as link creation / deletion on the linked application.

[Brief description of drawings]

FIG. 1 is a system configuration diagram of the present invention.

FIG. 2 is a block diagram of a structure editing apparatus of the present invention.

FIG. 3 is a diagram showing a template and parts of the present invention.

FIG. 4 is a diagram showing material allocation and links for parts of the present invention.

FIG. 5 is a diagram showing setting of a link activation area of the present invention.

FIG. 6 is a configuration diagram of a link creation device and a content execution device of the present invention.

FIG. 7 is a diagram showing an example of information exchanged between the communication interface of the present invention and the application program main body.

FIG. 8 is a diagram showing an example of a service provided by an information transmission / reception unit, an information transmission destination determination unit, and a link information management unit of the present invention, and an information format for the service.

FIG. 9 is a diagram showing an example of information registered / stored in a program registration information storage unit of the present invention.

FIG. 10 is a diagram showing an example of specifying link information according to the present invention.

FIG. 11 is a diagram showing an example of information stored in a link information storage unit of the present invention.

FIG. 12 is a diagram showing an operation of the automatic link creation device of the invention.

FIG. 13 is a diagram showing an operation of the automatic link creation device of the invention.

FIG. 14 is a diagram showing an operation of the automatic link creation device of the invention.

FIG. 15 is a diagram for explaining the operation of the content provisional execution device of the present invention.

FIG. 16 is a diagram illustrating an operation of the content provisional execution device of the present invention.

FIG. 17 is a diagram showing operations of the history management device and the automatic updating device of the present invention.

FIG. 18 is a diagram showing operations of the history management device and the automatic updating device of the present invention.

FIG. 19 is a diagram for explaining the operation of the link structure conversion device of the present invention.

FIG. 20 is a diagram for explaining the operation of the link structure conversion device of the present invention.

FIG. 21 is a diagram for explaining the operation of the link structure conversion device of the present invention.

FIG. 22 is a diagram for explaining the operation of the link structure conversion device of the present invention.

FIG. 23 is a diagram for explaining the operation of the link structure conversion device of the present invention.

FIG. 24 is a diagram for explaining the operation of the link structure conversion device of the present invention.

FIG. 25 is a diagram for explaining the operation of the link structure conversion device of the present invention.

FIG. 26 is a block diagram of a conventional content creation tool.

FIG. 27 is a block diagram of a conventional content creation tool.

FIG. 28 is a block diagram showing an information management / retrieval device using conventional hypermedia technology.

FIG. 29 is a block diagram showing an information management / retrieval device using conventional hypermedia technology.

FIG. 30 is a configuration diagram showing an information management / retrieval device using a conventional hypermedia technique.

FIG. 31 is a diagram showing an example of setting link information,
FIG. 9A is a diagram showing association between pieces of information, and FIG. 7B is a diagram showing an example of link information stored in the link information storage unit.

FIG. 32 is a diagram showing a changed part when a new application program is added to the information management / retrieval device using the conventional hypermedia technology.

[Explanation of symbols]

6 link destination information setting part, 8 link search execution part, 10
Link information storage unit, 20 Communication interface, 22
Information transmission destination determination unit, 24 information transmission / reception unit, 26 program activation unit, 28 program registration information storage unit, 51
Structure editing device, 53 link creation device, 58 link structure conversion device, 60 automatic link creation device, 61 history management device, 62 history data, 63 content temporary execution device, 64 automatic update device, 71 information collection management unit, 7
2 structure editing main unit, 81 template display unit, 82
Parts display section, 83 allocation section, 84 link designation section, 85 link activation area setting section, 86 linking request section, 94 moving image data, 95 still image data, 96
Text data, 97 voice data, 99 HTM
L, 101 application program, 102 template,
103 links, 104 anchors, 105 information collection management unit, 106 template parts, 107 template parts, 108 multimedia content material, 111 hyperlink multimedia content (content), 112 link information management unit, 201
Content execution device, 202 Application program main unit.

Claims (12)

[Claims] 1. A content creation support system having the following elements: (a) a screen display device for displaying information on a screen; and (b) setting of a plurality of materials constituting the content and linking of the materials. A structure editing device for visually editing the structure of content, (c) a link for linking materials by different applications when linking by the structure editing device is specified between materials by different applications Creation device. 2. The structure editing device creates a template for editing structure information of content and displays the template on the screen display device; and a first and a second component that composes at least content in the template. The parts display part that creates and displays the parts of the above, and the first part displayed on the template above the first part.
And an allocation unit that allocates the first material by the application and allocates the second material by the second application different from the first application to the second part displayed in the template. A link designating section that designates a link from the first part to the second part, and a first material handled by the first application assigned to the first part, designated by the link designating section. A link activation area setting unit for setting a link activation area for activating a link, and a material created by a different application for the link creation device based on the information set in the link designation unit and the link activation area setting unit. And a linking request section that outputs a linking request between Content creation support system of claim 1 wherein. 3. The structure editing apparatus further comprises an information collection management unit that searches for a material by an application external to the content creation support system and provides the searched material for editing the content of the structure editing apparatus. The content creation support system according to claim 2, wherein 4. The content creation support system further includes a history management device that stores search history information of material by an external application searched by the information collection management unit, and search history information stored by the history management device. The content creation support system according to claim 3, further comprising: an automatic updating device that searches for a material by using the material and automatically updates the material used for editing the content by the structure editing device. 5. The history management device stores, as history data, the location of the material by the searched external application and the edit date and time when the material is searched, and the automatic updating device stores the history data in the history data. The material is searched by an external application based on the existing position, the editing date and time stored in the history data is compared with the latest editing date and time of the material searched by the external application, and the content is edited based on the comparison result. The content creation support system according to claim 4, wherein it is determined whether or not the used material should be updated. 6. The link creating device is provided for each information application transmitting / receiving unit for inputting a linking request from the linking requesting unit of the structure editing device, and for each link destination application, and is for activating the link destination application. A plurality of link destination information setting units that set the link information for each application, a link information storage unit that stores the link information set by the link destination information setting unit, and a linking request input by the information transmitting / receiving unit. 3. The content according to claim 2, further comprising: a link information management unit that activates the link destination information setting unit on the basis of the link destination information setting unit and stores the link information set by the link destination information setting unit in the link information storage unit. Creation support system. 7. The link creation device further includes a program registration information storage unit that stores information about the application including correspondence information between the application and the link destination information setting unit, and the link information management unit includes the program registration information. 7. The content creation support system according to claim 6, wherein a link destination information setting unit corresponding to the link destination application for which linking is requested is started by referring to the storage unit. 8. The content creation support device further comprises:
When a new material is assigned to a part by the above assigning unit, an automatic link creating device that automatically changes the linking to the old material to the linking to the new material using the link creating device is provided. The content creation support system according to claim 2, further comprising: 9. A content creation support system having the following elements: (a) a structure editing device for editing structure information of a content by inserting a material into a part and setting a link between the parts; and (b) the above structure. A content provisional execution device that executes content in a state where there is a part in which material has not been inserted by the editing device. 10. The temporary content execution device inserts a virtual material capable of recognizing that a material is not inserted into a part in which the material is not inserted and executes the virtual material. 9. The content creation support system described in 9. 11. The content creation support system comprises:
The content creation support system according to claim 1, further comprising the following elements: (a) content having a predetermined structure defined by link information between materials, (b) link information between materials of the content. (C) A screen display device for displaying the structure information of the content converted by the link structure conversion device on the screen. 12. The link structure conversion device, when the link information between the materials of the content is updated, updates the structure information of the content and displays it on the screen display device in real time. Item 11. A content creation support system according to item 11.