KR0156830B1 - Information managing/retrieving device - Google Patents

Abstract

The present invention relates to an information management retrieval apparatus that retrieves and displays necessary functions and information from arbitrary information. The information management and retrieval process is easily performed, and new applications are added to the device. In order to provide the information management retrieval apparatus with the added function, the application program executed by the application program execution means has an communication interface integrated with the application main body, and the information transmission judging unit which executes the determination of the information transmission destination. Link information management unit which manages link information setting unit and link search execution unit, in addition to the management of the link information stored in the information transmission judgment unit having a function of changing the contents, the information transmission unit which executes communication between application programs, and the link information storage unit. Program starter, application program that starts an application Program for storing registration information about the RAM and registered information includes a storage unit.

By using such a device, it is possible for the convenience of the user and to reduce the consumption of computer resources.

Description

Information management retrieval device using hypermedia technology

1 is a diagram showing an information management retrieval apparatus according to a first embodiment of the present invention.

FIG. 2 is a diagram showing an example of information exchanged between the communication interface and the application main body in the first embodiment.

FIG. 3 is a diagram showing various examples of various services provided by the information transmitting and receiving unit, the information transmitting judgment unit, and the link information management unit in the first embodiment, and the information format for each service.

FIG. 4 is a diagram showing an example of information stored in the program registration information storage section in the first embodiment.

5 is a diagram showing an example of designation of link information in the first embodiment.

Fig. 6 is a diagram showing an example of information stored in the link information storage section in the first embodiment.

7 shows an information management retrieval apparatus according to a second embodiment of the present invention.

FIG. 8 is a diagram showing an example of information about an application program grouped and stored in the group setting memory section in the second embodiment;

9 shows an information management retrieval apparatus according to a third embodiment of the present invention.

FIG. 10 is a diagram showing an example of information about an application program stored in the execution program storage unit in the third embodiment; FIG.

11 is a diagram showing an information management retrieval apparatus according to a fourth embodiment of the present invention.

12 is a diagram showing an example of an anchor having attribute values in the fourth embodiment.

FIG. 13 shows an example of link information stored in the link information storage section in the fourth embodiment.

14 is a diagram showing an information management retrieval apparatus according to a fifth embodiment of the present invention.

FIG. 15 is a diagram showing an information management retrieval apparatus according to a sixth embodiment of the present invention. FIG.

FIG. 16 is a diagram showing an example of a program start condition stored in a program start condition storage unit in the sixth embodiment;

Fig. 17 is a diagram showing an information management retrieval apparatus having a conventional hypermedia technology.

18 is a diagram showing another information management retrieval apparatus having a conventional hypermedia technology.

Fig. 19 shows another information management retrieval apparatus with conventional hypermedia technology.

FIG. 20A shows a correlation between original information and relative information.

FIG. 20B shows an example of link information stored in the link information storage section.

Fig. 21 is a diagram showing a modified part to which a new application program is added as an information management retrieval apparatus having a conventional hyper media technology.

Fig. 22 is a diagram showing an example in which link information is created for continuous values by an information management retrieval apparatus using a conventional hypermedia technology.

The present invention uses a plurality of applications that provide various services to a user, correlates each part of the information on these applications, and links each part of the information to each other to provide the functions and information necessary for any information. An information management retrieval apparatus for searching for and displaying.

FIG. 17 is a diagram showing an information management retrieval apparatus using a conventional hypermedia technology called IRIS disclosed, for example, in ACM Communications, Jan. 1992, VOL.35, NO.1. In FIG. 17, the application program 1 is a program that provides various services to a user, for example, displays and edits documents and image data, or a program for searching accumulated data. The application program 1 is an application program main body 2 in charge of its original function irrespective of the link and the application program, and a link registration unit 4 for setting the link source information and calling the link destination information determining unit of the destination to be linked. , The linkage information setting unit 6 specifying linkage information when the linkage information setting unit 6 is called from another (or its own) application at the time of link setting, and the other (or its own) at link search. A link search execution section 8 to be called or called from the application program. The link point information storage unit 10 stores link information set by the link registration unit 4 and the link point information setting unit 6. The function related to the link is executed by the link information adding means or the link information deleting means in addition to the link registration section 4, the link point information setting section 6, and the link search execution section 8 depending on the purpose. The link information adding means or the link information deleting means differs in function, but functions in the same order as the means such as a link register, and thus its detailed description is omitted. The means for these links may be provided in a single module, or the application may be provided as another module.

18 is a diagram showing another system that configures the data management unit using an independent database. In this system, the link information for various items of information between application programs set by the link point information setting unit 6 is managed by the link information management unit 12. In addition, access to the link information storage section 10 from the link registration section 4 and the link search execution section 8 is executed via the link information management section 12. FIG.

19 shows another system capable of providing linkage information setting unit 6 for each application program in a common application program other than the application program 11 and setting linkage information without calling the other party. Figure is shown.

In the conventional information management retrieval apparatus, the link is established between the information processed by one application program and the information processed by another application program, so that any information can be called for other application information to be provided in the system. Can be.

A method of registering link information in the prior art will be described below using FIG. 17. FIG.

Each application program is software loaded in a memory in a general-purpose computer and executed by application program execution means such as a CPU. Therefore, the operation of the application program executing means will be described as the operation of the application program.

First, the user uses the application program 1 to display various kinds of information. Assume that a link from any information to other information has been performed. Link registration is performed by creating or extracting information (hereinafter referred to as anchor) that can be identified as a link source in the application program 1. The application program 1 (hereinafter referred to as a link source application program) calls the link registration section 4 for another application program 1 (hereinafter referred to as a linkage application program) as a link target and sets an anchor. In general, anchors establish information that is identifiable in a link source application (such as an appropriate ID). When the anchor as the link source is set in the link registration unit 4, the link site information setting unit 6 corresponding to the link site application program or the link site application program is called to set the link site information.

The linkage information setting unit 6 in the linkage application program specifies the linkage information and sets available information. When the information is set, the information is returned to the linkage information setting unit 6 of the link source application, and the linkage information setting unit 6 links the anchorage and linkage information in pairs to the linkage information storage unit 10. Remember to.

20A and 20B show an example of link information setting. In FIG. 20A, the anchor 14 is created in the link source application program A, and the application program information 16 is executed by the link information setting unit 6 in the link application application program B. In FIG. ) Is specified. The anchor 14 and the application program information 16 are linked with other application programs or self-managed information, and the items of these link information are registered in the link information storage unit 10. FIG. 20B is a diagram showing an example of the contents of the link information storage section 10. As shown in FIG.

Next, with reference to FIG. 17, the operation of the apparatus at the time of searching will be described.

In the link information storage unit 10, information as shown in FIG. 20 (a) and FIG. 20 (b) is registered. The application program A searches the link search execution section 8 with the anchor (data 1) as a key of the link search, and retrieves the application program information on the other side as a result. In the prior art, the result that data 2 of program B is application program information is obtained. From the result obtained, the link search execution section 8 designates the data 2 and calls the application program B. FIG.

However, by such information management retrieval apparatus using the conventional hypermedia technology, the link source application program and the information (anchor) are called respectively, and the link setting means (link registration section or link sheet information setting section) according to the type of the program or information. In order to register and call their own application program, the user adds a new application program as shown in FIG. 21, and changes the linkage information setting section and the link search execution section which the existing application programs respectively have. This task is very labor intensive and time consuming.

When adding these new applications, link information management must be executed by existing applications. If the current format of information handled by existing and new applications is different from the previous information format, the data must be reformatted to handle the new information format.

Since each application calls each linkage application program, it is difficult to call or terminate several applications simultaneously.

In order to register an existing application as a target of a new link, it is necessary to add link information management and calling means.

Information about anchors in link source applications must be specified. Therefore, when a link is created for link source information having a continuous value such as the value v in FIG. 22, the section in which the information exists from the value should be calculated and the link information for the section should be set. Therefore, the narrower each section, the larger the total number of sections. It is very difficult to realize this because a large amount of link information must be specified because anchors must be set by the increment.

Setting link information for link source application information requires a lot of effort and time since the user must designate linkage information items one by one for a continuous application program (one to one).

In order to use the information processed by the link source application as a condition of the link search, the information is converted by the link source application or the link search execution unit and then transmitted so that it can be easily understood by the link source application. Whenever such a setting is required, the application and link search execution unit must be modified, which requires a lot of effort and time.

Since there is no way to know the currently running application from the link source application, it is difficult to control the conditions under which the application should be started.

An object of the present invention has been made to solve the above problems, it is possible to easily perform information management and retrieval processing, and can be easily assembled even if a new application is added, and provides an information management retrieval device with a new function added It is.

According to a first aspect of the present invention for achieving the above object, in the information management retrieval apparatus for managing and retrieving information by associating several application programs providing various services to a user, each application program is executed. Means for specifying link information between application programs, means for executing information retrieval according to the link information, means for storing link information, means for determining information transmission destinations, means for executing application programs and information transmission destination determination means. Means for executing communication, means for starting an application program, means for storing registration information about the application program, and means for managing link information.

According to a second aspect of the present invention, the information management retrieval apparatus further includes means for grouping information about the application program and storing the grouped information.

According to a third aspect of the present invention, the information management retrieval apparatus further includes means for storing information about the running application program.

According to the fourth aspect of the present invention, the information management retrieval apparatus uses attribute information as a condition for specifying link information.

According to a fifth aspect of the present invention, the information management retrieval apparatus further includes means for rewriting information relating the application programs to each other.

According to a sixth aspect of the present invention, the information management retrieval apparatus further includes means for storing the starting condition of the application program.

According to the information management retrieval apparatus of the present invention, the communication execution means facilitates the link between the information and the new application program by information transfer, and can unify the program call method by the program registration information storing means and the program starting means. . The information transmission destination determining means determines the destination of the message information by referring to the contents of the received message. The link information management means collectively manages the means for registering and searching the link information, such as the link search execution means or the link point information setting means, for all the application programs processed by the apparatus, thereby minimizing the change of the new application program. Can be assembled to the device.

Further, by referring to the group setting storage means, the information transmission destination determining means, the link information management means, and the program starting means can process the grouped application programs as one application program to transmit information and start up the application program. .

By referring to the information on the running application stored in the execution program storage means, if the new application to be started is the same as the running application, it is possible to avoid the redundant starting of the already executed application and to prevent unnecessary use of the computer. can do.

Since attribute information is used as a condition for specifying link information, it is possible to specify an application program to be a link paper according to the attribute information.

Since the information rewriting means rewrites information used when specifying the linkage application, the application programs can be related to each other under various specific conditions.

Further, the program starting means refers to the starting condition of the application program registered in the program starting condition storing means, compares the starting condition with the information registered in the executing program storing means, and determines whether to start the application program. Therefore, each application program can be started as needed.

Example 1

1 is a diagram showing an information management retrieval apparatus according to the first embodiment of the present invention. The application program 101 has a built-in communication interface 20 constituting part of the communication unit main body 102 and the communication means. The information transmission determining unit 22 determines, for example, whether to transmit the information from the application program 101. An information transmitter 24 constituting a part of the communication means together with the communication interface 20 is located between the information transmission decision unit 22 and the application program 101, and converts the contents of the information for communication with the information transmitter. Has the function to The link information management unit 112 manages link information stored in the link information storage unit 10, and executes linkage information setting unit 6 and link search in each application program that processes each item of link information. Manage the part (8). The apparatus is connected to a plurality of application programs for reference of the program starting section 26 and the program starting section 26 for starting a necessary application program in response to a request from the link information management section 112 and the information transmission determining unit 22. And a program registration information storage section 28 for storing registration information.

Each application program 101 is software loaded into a memory in a general-purpose computer and executed by application program execution means such as a CPU. Therefore, the operation of the application program executing means is described below as the operation of the application program 101. In this embodiment, the link information setting unit 6, the link search execution unit 8, the information transmitter 24, the link information management unit 112, the information transmission destination determination unit 22, and the program start unit 26 In the same way as the application 101, a general purpose computer is loaded on each memory and executed by software executed by a CPU. In addition, each application program 101 does not normally exist in memory, but is started when necessary. In addition, since each application program 101 is connected to the information transmitting / receiving unit 24 using the communication interface 20, both of them can call each other.

The application program main unit 102 in the application program 101 adds the information as shown in FIG. 2 to the communication interface in order to request processing such as link search to other means. The program name is a partner program name for requesting processing, the processing name is a name indicating the content of the processing to be executed, and the information name indicates an information name such as an ID for the information to be processed (hereinafter, such information is called a message). The example in the figure is a message requesting the application program A to execute a process called display with respect to information called a Japanese map.

The communication interface 20 adds information about the link source application program to the message from the application program main unit 102, and translates the message into a format suitable for communication with the information transmitting and receiving unit 24. In addition, the communication interface 20 translates the information from the information transmitting and receiving unit 24 into a format that can be read by the application program main unit 102 as shown in FIG. In addition, when the embedded application program 101 is started and executed, the communication interface 20 operates to open a communication path with the information transmitter 24, and closes the communication path when the application program ends.

The message from the application body unit 102 is translated in the communication interface 20 and sent to the information transmitting and receiving unit 24. The actual communication means in the application program 101 is provided separately from the application main body 102, and the communication interface 20 is concealed in the application program 101. The specific communication order between the communication interface 20 and the information transmitter 24 may be any order as long as possible transmission and reception of necessary information may be used. For example, a socket mounted in a Unix (trade name) operating system may be used.

Various operations of the apparatus of this embodiment will be described in sequence. First, registration of link information will be described.

The request information requesting the generation of a link with another application program (linkage application) is sent from the application program 101 (link source application) to the linkage application as message information. The format of the message information handled in the basic service provided by the information transmitting and receiving unit 24 and the information transmitting and determining unit 22 is determined in advance according to the contents thereof. 3 is a diagram illustrating various types of basic services and their types.

In this embodiment, the link source application sends only the necessary information in the form of Link (link application name): REGIST: anchor in the case of a basic service for creating a link. For example, Link application B: REGIST: 001. This is a message that program A registers a link to program B at an anchor with an ID of 001. This message is sent from the application main body 102 of the link source application to the communication interface 20. In the communication interface 20, the link application information is added to the message, and the message is transmitted to the information transmitter 24. Is sent to. The information transmitting and receiving unit 24 receives this message and sends it to the information transmitting and determining unit 22. The information transmission judgment unit 22 checks whether the content of the message is a standard command, and if so, determines which means to transmit the information. If the message content is the registration of link information, i.e., the first character string is a standard command that is defined information to be processed by the link information management unit 112, the information transmission judgment unit 22 is the message information to be processed by the link information management unit 112. And the message information is sent to the link information management unit 112.

The communication interface 24 may be used to exchange information between the application program 101 and the information transmitter 24.

In the registration of the link information, the information included in the message from the link source application must be information about the link source application, that is, information in which the anchor is specified by one meaning such as name or number. In the above example, ID = 001 is such information. This information is sent to the link information management unit 112 via the information transmitting and receiving unit 24 and the information transmitting and determining unit 22, where the link paper application program is determined. If the information on the linkage application program is not specified at all by the message information, the application programs stored in the program registration information storage unit 28 are displayed for the user to make a determination and selection. According to the selection of the link paper application program, the link information management unit 112 activates the link paper information setting unit 6 for each application program to be managed. Information relating to which link information setting unit 6 and link search execution unit 8 to activate link information setting means is stored in the program registration information storage unit 28. This example is shown in FIG. With reference to this information, the link information management unit 112 calls up the link information setting means.

As the screen displayed by the linkage information setting section 6, a program for designating a part of arbitrary document data as shown in FIG. 5 is considered. The linkage information setting section 6 is for the program B designated as the linkage application program, and for example, specification A item B is set as the information of the linkage application program. The link information setting section 6 and the link search execution section 8 are thus different in function depending on the application program. When specifying the linkage application program information, the linkage information setting unit 6 sends the result back to the link information management unit 112. The link information management unit 112 stores the link information generated by combining the anchor of the link source application and the information of the link paper application program in the link information storage unit 10.

6 is a diagram showing an example of the link information storage unit 10. As shown in FIG. As shown at the beginning of Fig. 6, the link information in the above example is stored by combining the information of the link source application program and the link destination application program.

The linkage information setting section 6 or the link search execution section 8 corresponding to each application need not be a special means separated from the application program 101, and the application program 101 has its function, and the link Instead of the designated information setting section 6 or the link search execution section 8, the application program itself may be called.

The operation of the device at the time of search will be described.

The application program 101 specifies the anchor to be the link source, and sends the information and the link search request to the information transmitting / receiving unit 24 through the communication interface 20. In the specific example of the standard command shown in FIG. 3, the information is Link: RETRIEVE: ID = 001. The information transmitting and receiving unit 24 sends this information to the information transmitting and judging unit 22. The information transmission decision unit 22 determines that the link search is executed in the content of the message, and sends this information to the link information management unit 112.

The link information management unit 112 searches for the link information storage unit 10 by using the anchor (link source) information of ID = 001 as the content of the information, and executes the link search, and the link paper application program corresponding to the information ID = 001. Get the information.

If the information in FIG. 6 is already stored in the link information storage section 10, the processing name display for the program B and the information name specification A item B are obtained. The link information management unit 112 transmits the link information to the information transmission judgment unit 22 in the message format of Program B: Display: Specification A Item B. When the information transmission determination unit 22 receives the message information from the link information management unit 112, it sends the message information to the program start unit 26, and the program start unit 26 leads the name of the link paper application program in the message. The program B, which is the target linkage application program, is started. At this time, the starting method stored in the program registration information storage unit 28 is referred to. After confirming that the program driver 26 has started the target application program (Program B), the information transmission judgment unit checks the contents of the message through the information transmission / reception unit 24 in the link information management unit 112 ( Transmit to the communication interface of program B). Program B receives the information and executes the process according to the contents.

As a result of the search of the link information storage unit 10 by the link information management unit 112, when there are several link destination applications, each link search execution unit for the corresponding application program to specify which information to execute ( Call 8). The link search execution section 8 further specifies the information in the corresponding application program, and returns the actual link search sheet to the link information management section 112. FIG. In accordance with the original information specified as one unit, the link information management unit 112 uses the program starting unit 26 to start the corresponding application program. The starting procedure of the program starting section 26 is as described above.

Next, the procedure for adding a new application program to the information management retrieval apparatus of this embodiment is explained.

The new application program has the same structure as the existing application program and has a built-in communication interface 20. First, information about a new application program is stored in the program registration information storage unit 28. It is possible to call another application program or to call a new application program from another application program by using the program starting section 26 and the link information management section 112. At the same time, the program information storage unit 28 stores information for using the link information information determination unit 6, the link search execution unit 8, and the like, which are means for setting the link information for the application in the link information management unit 112. Remember to. When a link creation request for an application program occurs, these linkage information determination units 6 are called by the link information management unit 112 to specify link information and use a new application program as the linkage application program.

When registering a new application, it is not necessary to change the existing application, the linkage information setting unit 6 for the existing application, the link search execution unit 8, and the like.

According to this embodiment, a new application program can be easily embedded.

In this embodiment, the information to be exchanged between the communication interface 20 and the information transmitting / receiving unit 24 is represented by text using a format as shown in FIG. If the communication interface 20 and the information transmitter / receiver 24 are information that can be understood by each other, the format and the expression method are by no means limited to the above examples.

Example 2

7 is a diagram showing an information management retrieval apparatus according to the second embodiment of the present invention. In the present embodiment and the following embodiments, the same parts or elements as those in the first embodiment are denoted by the same reference numerals, and detailed description thereof will be omitted. In addition to the function of the part or element corresponding to the first embodiment, the part or element having a new function is indicated by adding the numbers of 100, 200, 300, 400, 500, 600 to the number.

A feature of this embodiment is that a group setting memory section 30 is provided for grouping and storing information about several application programs. In this embodiment, program information unique to each application program is used as information on the application programs, and these are grouped. A group name is attached to each group of information and stored in the group setting storage section 30. 8 is a diagram showing an example of such a registration, where program A (application A), program B (application B) and program C (application C) are registered under a group name of group 1. FIG. Therefore, it is possible to start several application programs collectively by specifying a group name at startup. In other words, the program starting unit 226 in this embodiment can collectively start the grouped application programs with reference to the group setting storage unit 30.

Next, the operation of the apparatus of this embodiment will be described.

First, as shown in FIG. 8, one group name is attached to a plurality of application programs, and the group of this application program is registered in advance in the group setting storage section 30. FIG.

At the time of registration of the link information, the link information management unit 212 designates the link paper application program. The link information management unit 212 displays a list of application programs registered in the program registration information storage unit 28 for the user to select. Or if the linked application program name is specified by the linked application program, the application program name is used. In this embodiment, a group name can be specified when specifying the linkage application program name.

At the time of link information retrieval, the program starting unit 226 searches the group setting storage unit 12 when executing the linkage application program, and checks whether the name designated as the message information from the information transmission determining unit 22 is the group name. If the name exists in the group setting storage section 12, the information transmission judging section 22 determines the group name, and the program starting section 226 activates all application programs grouped by the group name. If the name does not exist in the group setting storage unit 12, the information transmission determining unit 22 determines only one linkage application program name, and the program starting unit 226 activates only the application program. Other operations are the same as those in the first embodiment, and description thereof will be omitted.

According to this embodiment, several grouped application programs can be collectively started up.

Example 3

9 is a diagram showing an information management retrieval apparatus according to the third embodiment of the present invention. The same parts or elements as those in the first and second embodiments are denoted by the same reference numerals, and description thereof is omitted.

The characteristic of this embodiment is that an execution program storage section 32 is provided for storing information about an application program being executed. This can prevent duplicate startup of an already executed application program. As shown in FIG. 10, in the information about the running application program of this embodiment, the running application program name, the processing name executed by the application program, and the processed information name are related to each other, and these names are executed. It is stored in the program memory 32.

Next, the operation of the apparatus of this embodiment will be described.

In retrieving the link information, the program starting section 326 relates to the same application program as the information about the linkage application program specified and executed by the message information from the information transmission determining unit 22 when executing the application program. It is checked whether or not the information is registered in the execution program memory unit 32. If the same application is running, prevent the application from restarting. Here, the term identical means not only that the program name being executed is the same but also that the same processing is executed for the same information in the program. Therefore, if the same program name is used and other processes are executed, it means that the same application program is not executed.

As described above, the program starting unit 326 of this embodiment can prevent duplicate starting of an already executed application program by limiting the application program being executed by referring to the execution program storage unit 32, thus consuming computer resources. Can be reduced.

Example 4

11 shows an information management retrieval apparatus according to a fourth embodiment of the present invention. Parts or elements that are substantially the same as in the previous embodiment are given the same reference numbers, and description thereof is omitted here.

The characteristic of this embodiment is that when the application 401 requests the information transmission determining unit 422 and the link information management unit 412 to process the registration, deletion, addition, etc. of the link, the application program 401 is configured to be anchored. In addition to the ID, attribute information is sent to the information transmission determining unit 422 and the link information management unit 412 as a specific condition of the anchor.

In most cases, the information handled by the application program 401 has unique information in each application program. Therefore, attribute information is added to the anchor to configure the information of the link source application program. 12 is a diagram showing an example of an anchor having an attribute value as such attribute information. Anchor ID = 002 has an attribute value of length. Depending on its value, the linkage application may be different. FIG. 13 shows an example of link information stored in the link information storage unit 410 in this embodiment.

Next, the operation of the apparatus in this embodiment will be described.

The anchor included in the message information from the application program 401 and its attribute value are determined by the information transmission determining unit 422 and transmitted to the link information management unit 412. As shown in FIG. 13, it is assumed that an application program to be a link paper having a different attribute value range is registered for the anchor having the same anchor ID of the link source application program in the link information storage unit 410. FIG. The link information management unit 412 specifies information about the linkage application program using the anchor ID and the attribute value as the anchor identification condition. The processing after this information is specified is the same as that described in the first embodiment.

As described above, according to this embodiment, since the attribute information can be processed, the linkage application program according to the attribute information can be specified.

Example 5

14 is a diagram showing an information management retrieval apparatus according to the fifth embodiment of the present invention. The same parts or elements as those in the preceding embodiment are given the same numbers, and the description thereof is omitted here.

The characteristic of this embodiment is that a link information converting section 34 capable of being connected to the link information managing section 412 and rewriting information to be processed by the link information managing section 412 is provided. The link information conversion unit 34 can correlate application programs with each other under various specific conditions.

Next, the operation of the apparatus of this embodiment will be described.

An example of information conversion will be described using FIG. First, the type of anchor line is registered in the link information storage unit 410. In this example, information about the link source application is specified as an attribute value. This example shows a line with attribute value scales. This Line is defined by the following conversion of attribute value a.

The application program main body 402 of the application program 401 adds the anchor type and its attribute value to the message indicating the link registration request, and sends the message to the communication interface 20. This format is determined in advance as described in the first embodiment.

The message information is sent to the information transmission determination unit 22 via the communication interface 20 and the information transmission and reception unit 24. The information transmission determining unit 22 determines the message information about the link, and sends the message information to the link information management unit 412. In the link information management unit 412, the type of anchor as the link registration source is Line, so that the message information is transmitted to the link information conversion unit 34. The value x after conversion is calculated according to the attribute information added by the above-described formula recorded in the link information conversion section 34.

By such conversion processing, the link registration condition for each anchor type can be specified.

The link information converting unit 34 sends the converted value to the link information managing unit 412 to search the link information storing unit 410, specifies the link information by the anchor ID and the value x, and provides information on the linkage application program. Get The subsequent processing is as described in the fourth embodiment.

In addition, the link information conversion unit 34 in this embodiment can arbitrarily rewrite the contents of the specified link information. By sending the link information obtained when the link information management unit 412 searches the link information storage unit 410 to the link information conversion unit 34, it is possible to rewrite the content and convert it to the desired content. After this conversion, the link information is sent to the program start unit 26 via the information transmission determining unit 22.

As described above, according to this embodiment, since link information or message information, which is original information, is related to each other among application programs, the link destination application program can be specified under various specific conditions.

Example 6

15 is a diagram showing an information management retrieval apparatus according to the sixth embodiment of the present invention. Parts or elements that are substantially the same as in the preceding embodiment are given the same reference numerals, and description thereof is omitted here.

The feature of this embodiment is that a program start condition storage section 36 is provided which stores an application program start section. The program start condition storage unit 36 can start each application program as necessary.

FIG. 16 is a diagram showing various program starting conditions stored in the program starting condition storage unit 36. As shown in FIG. The maximum value represents the maximum value of the number of applications started simultaneously. The running decision condition is a condition for determining whether the same application program has already been started. The process name and information name are conditions for whether or not the running application program stored in the execution program storage unit 32 matches or does not match the execution environment. The user is a condition for restricting the user of the application program. The start condition can be edited by an editor's editing program, for example.

Next, the operation of the apparatus of this embodiment will be described.

Upon receiving the message information from the information transmission determining unit 22, the program starting unit 626 activates the read of the link paper application program in the message information. At this time, the program start unit 626 refers to the execution program storage unit 32 and the program start condition storage unit 36, and the application program designated only when the start condition registered in the program start condition storage unit 36 is satisfied. Start up.

It is assumed that an application program whose program name is indicated by the program A, the processing name is displayed, and whose information name is the map of Japan is running and registered in the execution program storage unit 32. In the case where an application program start request for which the program name is Program A, the process name is displayed, and the information names are all Kanto areas is added to the program start unit 626, the application program is executed if at least the process name matches the execution program storage unit 32; And the condition that the application program should not be started is recorded as shown in FIG. If both the processing name and the information name do not coincide with the execution program memory 32, it is determined that the application program has already been started, and the condition that the application program should not be restarted is recorded as shown in FIG. In FIG. 16, in the case of the program A, if the processing name matches the execution program memory 32, it is a determination condition that the application program has already been started. Therefore, the program starting unit 626 does not restart the program A, but sends a message to the information transmitting decision unit 22 to send the new information that the information name is all Kanto region to the already started program A.

Regarding the program B, according to FIG. 16, if both the processing name and the information name do not match the execution program memory 32, it is determined that the application program has already been started. Therefore, if the information name does not match with the execution program memory 32, the program starting unit 626 restarts the program B. That is, program B is restarted for other information names to execute respective processes. Of course, you can't launch more than the maximum number of applications.

On the other hand, the user name information is added to the information sent from the application program 101 via the information transmitting and receiving unit 24 and the information stored in the execution program storage unit 32, and the program starting as shown in FIG. By adding a user condition to the condition storage section 36, it is possible to limit the total number of applications to be launched so that only limited users can execute it.

As described above, by providing the program start condition storage unit 36, various start conditions can be specified for the application program to be executed. Therefore, each application program can be started as needed, so that the convenience of the user and the consumption of computer resources can be reduced.

In the preceding embodiments, the features of each component have been described in detail independently. However, the components may be combined with each other.

With this arrangement, the link information registration execution means, the link information search execution means, and the like are collectively managed by the link information management means together with the communication means and the information transmission destination determining means, and the program registration information is added when adding a new application program. Since it is only necessary to register a new application program in the storage unit and call the link information registration execution means and the link information search execution means from the link information management means, the assembling of the new application program can be performed easily with little effort.

In addition, since the management modules such as the information transmission determining means and the link information management means are separated from the application program, in particular, the link information registration execution means and the link information search execution means are collectively managed by the link information management means. It can improve the manageability of the.

Since information about several application programs is grouped by the group setting storage means and stored in a group, several application programs can be collectively called and started.

By storing the information on the application program that is executed in advance in the execution program storage means, it is possible to prevent the overlapping of the application program that is the same as the information about the application program that is already running, thereby reducing unnecessary consumption of computer resources. have.

Since attribute information is used as a condition for specifying link information, it is possible to easily specify a linkage application program according to the attribute information.

In addition, since information for correlating application programs can be rewritten by information conversion means, the linkage application program can be specified under various specific conditions. It is also possible to easily correlate application programs with each other and to reduce resources for storing link information.

In addition, since program start condition storage means is added, various start conditions can be specified for the application program to be executed. In addition, since each application program can be started according to each condition, user convenience can be achieved, and the consumption of computer resources can be reduced.

Claims (14)

An information management retrieval apparatus for managing and retrieving information by associating several application programs providing various services to a user, the method comprising: (a) means for executing each application program, and (b) specifying link information between the application programs. Means for performing information retrieval according to the link information, (d) means for storing the link information, (e) means for determining an information transmission destination, (f) means for executing the application and the information Means for executing communication between the source determining means, (g) means for starting the application program, (h) means for storing registration information about the application program, and (i) means for managing the link information. Information management search apparatus, characterized in that. The information management retrieval apparatus according to claim 1, wherein said communication execution means includes an information transmission and reception unit for converting information content between said information transmission determination unit and said application program. The information management retrieval apparatus according to claim 1, wherein if the link information between the application programs is not specified by message information, the link information management means displays a list of application programs stored in the registration information storage means. An information management retrieval apparatus according to claim 1, wherein said registration information storing means stores starting information of said link information specifying means. The information management retrieval apparatus according to claim 1, wherein, when a new application program is added, information about the new application program and information using the link information specifying means are registered in the registration information storing means. The information management retrieval apparatus according to claim 1, further comprising means for grouping information about the application program and storing the grouped information. The information management retrieval apparatus according to claim 6, wherein the information about each application program is an application program name. The information management retrieval apparatus according to claim 6, further comprising means for rewriting information for associating the application programs with each other, and means for storing a startup condition of the application program. 2. An information management retrieval apparatus according to claim 1, further comprising means for storing information relating to a running application program. 10. The information management retrieval apparatus according to claim 9, wherein the information about the running application program is an application name being executed, a processing name being executed by the application program, and a processing information name. The information management retrieval apparatus according to claim 1, wherein attribute information is used as a condition for specifying the link information. The information management retrieval apparatus according to claim 1, further comprising means for rewriting information for associating the application programs with each other. 10. The information management retrieval apparatus according to claim 9, further comprising means for storing a startup condition of the application program. The information management retrieval apparatus according to claim 13, wherein said program starting means starts a designated application program only when an application program starting condition registered in said program starting condition storing means is satisfied.