WO2001073561A1

WO2001073561A1 - Contents server device

Info

Publication number: WO2001073561A1
Application number: PCT/JP2001/002726
Authority: WO
Inventors: Hiroshi Tokumaru; Kouichi Ozawa
Original assignee: Kyocera Communication Systems, Co., Ltd.
Priority date: 2000-03-31
Filing date: 2001-03-30
Publication date: 2001-10-04
Also published as: AU4465201A; KR20020041330A; CN1365465A

Abstract

A language conversion system capable of facilitating the preparation and modification of contents. A contents server (30) records therein contents described in a reference language data that can be converted easily, and judges a type of an accessing terminal. A language conversion means (35) converts contents read from a contents recording means (37) into a language compatible with a terminal device. A data configuration correcting/sending means (41) divides the language-converted contents so as to be in agreement with the display restriction of a terminal device and transmits the contents.

Description

Specification

Content Sano device Display related applications

The entire disclosure, including the specification, claims, drawings, and abstract of Japanese Patent Application No. 2000, 1998, No. 106 (filed on March 31, 2012), is included in this application. Merged. TECHNICAL FIELD OF THE INVENTION

The present invention relates to a content server device for providing content to a terminal device. Background of the Invention

Figure 1 shows a conventional content providing system. The various terminals 2, 4, 6, 8, 10 can access various servers 14, 16, 16, 18, 20, 22 via the Internet 12.

However, the personal computer 2 accessed using a browser is a PC Web server 14, the i-mode (trademark) terminal 4 is an i-mode server 16, and the WAP (trademark) terminal 6 is a WAP server. 18, the PHS terminal 8 had to access the PHS server 20, and the personal computer communication terminal 10 had to access the personal computer communication server 22. If you access a server that does not match the terminal device, there is a risk that the display may not be obtained or the correct display may not be obtained even if it is displayed because the display restrictions at each terminal are different. is there.

Therefore, users must change the server to access even if they access the same content, depending on the type of equipment they use. In addition, if the desired content is provided only for a different terminal, there is a problem that the browsing of the content is hindered.

On the other hand, the content provider must prepare the content for each type of terminal device and install a server so that many users can view it. Therefore, creating, maintaining, and changing content is complicated. There was a problem.

An object of the present invention is to provide a content server that can provide content suitable for each terminal without providing a server for each type of terminal in view of the above-described problems. Summary of the Invention

(1) A content server device according to the present invention is a content server device that receives access from terminal devices of different types, and a content recording unit that records content, and a terminal that determines display restrictions of the terminal device that has accessed the content server device. In accordance with the determination means and the terminal device display restriction determined by the terminal determination means, the data format of the content read from the content recording means is corrected to match the display restriction of the terminal device and transmitted to the terminal device. Data format correction sending means. Therefore, appropriate display can be performed in each terminal device only by preparing and recording in the content server device a common content that does not depend on the display restriction of each terminal device.

(4) In the content server device according to the present invention, the display restriction of the terminal is a size of the content that can be temporarily stored for display in the terminal device, It is characterized by dividing the content.

Therefore, irrespective of the display restriction of the terminal device, appropriate display can be performed in each terminal device only by preparing common content.

(5) The content server device of the present invention is characterized in that the data form correction sending means generates, at the time of division, related information between the divided contents and transmits the information to the terminal device.

Therefore, the divided content can be browsed efficiently on the terminal device side.

(6) The content server device of the present invention is characterized in that the terminal determining means determines the type of the terminal device to determine the display restriction in the terminal device of the type. Therefore, the display restriction can be determined only by acquiring the type of the terminal device.

(7) The content server device of the present invention is characterized in that the terminal determining means determines the type of the terminal device based on the HTTP header transmitted from the terminal device.

Since the HTTP header indicates the protocol used by the terminal device, the type of the terminal device can be accurately grasped.

(8) The content server device of the present invention is characterized in that the terminal determining device determines the type of the terminal device based on the IP address sent from the terminal device.

Since the assignment of IP addresses differs for each communication carrier that determines the type of terminal device, the type of terminal device can be accurately grasped.

(12) The data format correction device of the present invention receives a content to be transmitted to a terminal device, receives a display restriction of the terminal device to which the content is transmitted, and reads out the content from the content recording means in accordance with the display restriction. The data format of the content is modified to conform to the display restrictions of the terminal device.

Therefore, appropriate display can be performed in each terminal device only by preparing and recording in the content server device a common content that does not depend on the display restriction of each terminal device.

(15) In the data recovery device of the present invention, the display restriction is a size of the content that can be temporarily stored for display in the terminal device, and the display is divided by dividing the content based on the content size. The feature is that it is modified to meet the restrictions.

(16) The data form correction device of the present invention is characterized in that, at the time of division, related information between the divided contents is generated.

Therefore, the divided content can be browsed efficiently on the terminal device side. (17) In the content providing method of the present invention, the content is recorded, the display restriction of the accessing terminal device is determined, and the determination is performed when performing the process of providing the recorded content to the terminal device. According to the output restriction of the terminal device, the data format of the content is corrected so as to conform to the output restriction of the terminal device, and then provided to the terminal device.

Therefore, appropriate output can be performed in each terminal device only by preparing and recording a common content that does not depend on the output limitation of each terminal device in the content server device.

In the present invention, "modification of the data format of content" refers to mainly correcting the format of data of content, and is a concept including division of content, change of the number of characters in one line of content, and the like.

"Terminal determination means" refers to a means for acquiring information related to output restrictions in a terminal device, such as a device that obtains output restrictions indirectly by acquiring the model of the terminal device, or a device that is sent from the terminal device. This is a concept that includes the one that receives the information of the coming output restriction.

The term “output restriction” refers to a restriction on content output in a terminal device, and is a concept including restrictions on display, audio output, printing, data writing, and the like.

“Type of terminal device” refers to a type of processing method for content such as a display language, and is a concept including not only a case where hardware is different but also a case where software is different. In addition, there are different types of terminals that have different temporary storage capacities for display due to differences in software and hardware versions, etc., even for terminals that operate with the same protocol from the same manufacturer.

The features, other objects, applications, effects, and the like of the present invention will be apparent by referring to the embodiment and the drawings. BRIEF DESCRIPTION OF THE FIGURES

FIG. 1 is a diagram showing a conventional content distribution system.

FIG. 2A is a diagram showing a content distribution system using a content server device according to an embodiment of the present invention. - FIG. 2B is a block diagram showing the content server device according to the embodiment of the present invention.

Figure 3 is a diagram showing the overall structure of the reference language data.

Figure 4 is a diagram showing the structure of the reference language.

FIG. 5 is a diagram showing the structure of the tag of the reference language data.

FIG. 6 is a diagram showing an example of the main part of the reference language data.

FIG. 7 is a diagram showing an example of a style sheet of the reference language data.

FIG. 8 is a diagram showing an example of the main part of the reference language data.

FIG. 9 is a diagram showing a processing flowchart of the content server.

FIG. 10 is a diagram showing a flowchart of a program for determining the type of terminal.

FIG. 11a is a diagram showing a flowchart of a session control program for performing session information generation and transition control.

FIG. 1 lb is a diagram showing a flowchart of a session control program for performing session information generation and transition control.

FIG. 11c shows a flowchart of the content division processing.

Figure lid is a table showing the limit size LIMIT.

FIG. 12 is a diagram showing a method of acquiring a session ID.

FIG. 13 is a diagram showing the format-converted content.

FIG. 14 is a diagram showing an example of session information.

FIG. 15 is a diagram showing a display example on the PHS terminal device.

FIG. 16 is a diagram showing the contents subjected to format conversion.

FIG. 17 is a diagram showing an example of session information.

FIG. 18 is a diagram illustrating a display example on the PHS terminal device.

Figure 19 is a diagram showing the contents based on the reference language.

FIG. 20 is a diagram showing the converted content.

FIG. 21 shows session information.

FIG. 22 is a diagram showing the changed contents of the session information.

FIG. 23 is a diagram showing session information generated by content division. FIG. 24 is a diagram showing the divided content.

FIG. 25 is a diagram showing a flowchart of the conversion program.

Figure 26 is a diagram showing the structure of the reference language.

FIG. 27 is a diagram showing a grid structure.

Figure 28 shows the tree structure.

Figure 29 is a diagram showing a tree-structured image.

FIG. 30 shows tree-structured data.

FIG. 31 is a diagram showing a flowchart of a conversion program from the reference language to HTML.

Figure 32 is a diagram showing the HTML obtained by the conversion.

FIG. 33 is a diagram showing a state displayed by the HTML of FIG. 26.

FIG. 34 is a diagram showing a flowchart of a conversion program from the reference language to HDML.

FIG. 35 is a diagram showing HDML obtained by the conversion.

FIG. 36 is a diagram showing a state displayed by the HDML in FIG. 29.

FIG. 37 is a diagram showing a flowchart of the content division processing.

FIG. 38 shows the converted content.

FIG. 39 shows the divided contents.

FIG. 40 is a diagram showing the divided content.

FIG. 41 is a diagram showing a system according to another embodiment.

FIG. 42 is a diagram showing a system according to another embodiment. BEST MODE FOR CARRYING OUT THE INVENTION

1. Content providing system

FIG. 2A shows a content providing system using a content server according to an embodiment of the present invention. A content server 30 is connected to the Internet 12. Also, different types of terminal devices 2, 4, 6, 8, and 10 can be connected to the Internet 12.

The personal computer 1 uses the email format (that is, the SMTP / POP3 protocol). ), The content server 30 can be accessed via the protocol converter 40. The personal computer 2 can access the content server 30 via a browser (that is, using the http protocol). The mobile phones 4, 6, and 8 can access the content server 30 via the protocol converters 42, 44 in the i-mode format, the wap format, and the mail format, respectively. The personal computer 10 can access the content server 30 via the protocol converter 46.

The content server 30 includes a terminal discriminating means 33, a language converting means 35, a content recording means 35, and a data form correction sending means 41. The content recording means 37 stores the content in the reference language. The terminal discriminating means 33 discriminates the type of the terminal device that has accessed. The language conversion unit 35 converts the content in the reference language into a display language used in the terminal device of the type according to the determined type of the terminal device. The data form correction sending means 41, in accordance with the type of the determined terminal device, converts the content read from the content recording means 37 and converted in real time so as to match the display restriction of the terminal device. To fix. Alternatively, for content that does not require language conversion (such as a file containing only text data), the content read from the content recording unit 37 is corrected in real time. Further, the data form correction transmission means 35 transmits the corrected content to the terminal device.

In this embodiment, the content described in a reference language independent of the model of the terminal device is recorded and converted at the time of transmission. Therefore, content in one language can be browsed on different types of terminal devices.

In addition, the content is modified at the time of transmission according to the display restrictions of the terminal device. Therefore, there is no need to consider display restrictions on the terminal device when creating content.

FIG. 2 shows a system configuration in which the hardware configuration of the content server 30 is shown in a block diagram. The content server 30 includes a communication adapter 32, a CPU 34, a memory 36, and a hard disk 38 for connecting to the Internet network 12. The hard disk 38 contains an operating system (such as UNIX), It stores a terminal type determination program, conversion program, data format modification program, and so on. Furthermore, the content described by the reference language data is recorded. The terminal type determination program performs a process of determining the type of terminal that has accessed in cooperation with the operating system. The conversion program cooperates with the operating system to convert the reference language data into a display language for each terminal device. The data format modification program performs a process of modifying the content so as to conform to the display restrictions for each terminal device in cooperation with the operating system.

2. Structure of reference language data

(1) Overall configuration

In this embodiment, the content recorded on the hard disk 38 is described by reference language data. Figure 3 shows the data structure of this reference language data. The reference language data is provided with a style sheet (display format description data) indicating the display format, and a main body (display content description data) indicating the display content. The style sheet describes the display color, character size, display format, and so on. The body is the part that describes the display content text. However, the style sheet does not need to be described. If there is no style sheet, it means standard display.

The use of such a reference language facilitates generation of management information. Further, the process of converting the display language into the display language for each type of the terminal device is also facilitated. However, the display language may be recorded in the content recording means 37, and the management information may be generated based on this.

In this embodiment, the main body is common regardless of the display language of the conversion destination, but the style sheet is unique to the display language of the conversion destination. Therefore, in both cases of HTML and HDML, if it is desired to use a display format other than the standard, it is necessary to describe a style sheet for each of HTMLML and HDML.

Therefore, if an HTML-only style sheet is provided, For HDML, a standard display format is adopted.

In other embodiments, the style sheet may be common regardless of the display language of the conversion destination.

(2) Body

Figure 4 shows the description structure of the main part. The body consists of tags (parts surrounded by "<" and ">") and text (parts other than tags). As shown in Fig. 5, the tag starts with "", followed by the tag name (alphabetic string: required), an attribute, and ends with ">". An attribute consists of an attribute name (alphanumeric string) and "= attribute value (arbitrary character string). The attribute does not have to be provided.

In addition, the A tag (the tag starting with A) and the P tag (the tag starting with <P) are accompanied by the following text, and are each <NoHachi> <No? Enclosed in>. Conversely, in the reference language data, text appears only immediately after the A tag or P tag.

Figure 6 shows an example of the main part of the reference language. In this example, three text fields are included: "Choose Menu", "Mail", and "Bulletin Board". In the third line, the file name of the image data to be displayed is described under "SRC =". In the fourth and fifth lines, the link destination is described under "HREF =". For example, the fourth line has a link to MAIL.KSP as shown in Figure 8.

(3) Style sheet

Figure 7 shows an example of an HTML style sheet corresponding to the body in Figure 6. "Kl. NAME" in the portion between "$" and "$" on the second line indicates which line in Fig. 6 the description of this line represents. K1 indicates the tag name. Therefore, the first line in FIG. 6 corresponds. The interpretation of the description in the style sheet will be described later.

3. Processing of content server 30

(1) Overall processing FIG. 9 shows an overall flowchart of the processing of the content server 30. First, when there is an access from the terminal device (step S1), the type of the terminal is determined (step S2). Further, based on the terminal type thus determined, it is determined whether or not the terminal can perform transition control (step S3).

If the terminal device is not a transition controllable terminal device, the reference language data of the requested content is converted into a language that can be displayed on the terminal, and based on the content, session information is generated to perform transition control (step S 4). At this time, if the content exceeds the size of the content based on the display restrictions of the terminal, the session information is generated while dividing the content into an appropriate size. However, if the content does not exceed the size of the content based on the display restrictions of the terminal, the division process is not performed.

If the terminal device can perform transition control, the reference language data of the requested content is converted into display language data used in the terminal (step S6). Further, if the content exceeds the size of the content based on the display restrictions of the terminal, the content is divided into appropriate sizes and transmitted to the terminal device (step S7). However, if the content does not exceed the size of the content based on the display restrictions of the terminal, the content is transmitted to the terminal without performing the division process.

As described above, the content server 30 prepares the content described in the reference language and prepares the content appropriately for terminals that can control transition and terminals that cannot. Can be provided. Further, the content recorded in the content server 30 can be shared irrespective of the limitation on the display size of each terminal device.

(2) Terminal type judgment program (Fig. 9, step S2)

FIG. 10 shows a flowchart of a program for determining the type of terminal. When there is access from the terminal, the HT TP header is sent from the terminal. If "X-JPHONEMSNAME" is described in the HTTP header, the terminal device determines that the terminal is a terminal using the MML language (step S11). "X UP SUBN02 If is described, the terminal device determines that the terminal uses the WAP language (step S12). If the description of "USER-AGENT" starts with "DoCoMo", the terminal device determines that the terminal is a terminal using the C-HTML language (step S13). If the description of "USER-AGENT" starts with "PDXGW", the terminal device determines that the terminal is a terminal using the PmailDX (trademark) language (step S14).

If none of the above applies, it is determined that the computer is a personal computer (step S15). Further, based on the description of "USER-AGENT", it is determined whether the communication is PC communication, email, or HTML. The result determined as described above is stored in the memory 36 (see Fig. 2b).

Further, as a result of the above determination, it can be determined that the terminal device using the MML language, the WAP language, the C-HTML language, and the HTML language can perform transition control on the terminal side. In contrast, terminal devices that use the PmailDX language, personal computer communication, and email can determine that transition control is not possible on the terminal side.

(3) Session information generation and transition control program (Figure 9, step S4)

Next, the processing of session information generation and transition control is shown in Fig. 11a. For example, when an access is made from the PHS terminal device 8, this process is executed assuming that the terminal cannot perform transition control. Here, description will be made assuming that MENU.KSP shown in FIG. 8 is requested from the terminal device.

First, in step S'51, a session ID is obtained. The session ID is an identifier virtually assigned to the terminal device being accessed. In this embodiment, the session ID is acquired as shown in FIG. Next, session information specified by the session ID is obtained from the memory 36 (step S52). However, in the case of a new connection, the session information corresponding to the session ID cannot be found. Therefore, when the session state is not found, it is determined that the session is a new session (step S53), and the process proceeds to step S57.

In step S57, it is determined whether or not the request from the terminal includes a page designation. Here, a specific page, MENU.KSP, is requested Therefore, the file name of the specified page is positioned on the current page (step S58). If no page is specified, the current page is positioned at a predetermined first page (INDEX.KSP, etc.) (step S59).

Next, the contents of the positioned page are read from the hard disk 38 and converted into a format suitable for the terminal device (step S60). For example, the conversion result for Figure 6 is shown in Figure 13.

The meaning of the message in Figure 13 is that when the number "1" is entered on the terminal device in response to the input request "Please select a menu", the number 2 is entered on the "Mail" screen. In this case, the screen changes to the “bulletin board” screen.

Next, if the size of the converted content exceeds the display size limit of the terminal device, the content is divided (step S61). FIG. 11c shows a flowchart of the content division processing.

First, the number of bytes BC of the converted text is counted (step S101). The number of bytes BC is compared with the limit size LIMIT on the display of the terminal device (step S102). The limit size LIMIT can be determined based on the type of the terminal device determined in step S2 in FIG. 9, as shown in FIG.

In this case, since the target is a PHS terminal device, the limit size LIMIT is 1 000 bytes. On the other hand, since the converted text does not exceed 1,000 bytes, the processing in FIG. 11c is terminated without dividing the content.

Next, the determined content is transmitted to the terminal device (step S62). Subsequently, session information necessary for performing transition control on the server device side is generated and stored in the memory 36 (step S63). FIG. 14 shows the session information generated based on the content of FIG. “Session ID” is assigned according to Figure 12. “Session end time” is the time at which the session is forcibly terminated, and is provided in case of a network disconnection without termination processing. The session end time is set as a value obtained by adding a predetermined time (for example, 30 minutes) to the current time for each access. “Type of input value” indicates the type of data that can be input on the currently transmitted page (the page displayed on the current terminal). In Figure 14, there are three.

The session information stores character strings, status, and responses to each input from the terminal device. For example, the character string of input 1 is "1", in which case the status is "normal" and the response is "transition to MAIL.KSP". The character string of input 3 is "*". This is a wildcard for "other strings", which corresponds to strings other than the input 1 and 2 strings ("1", "2"). In this case, the status is “error”, and it is indicated that “transition to MENU.KSP” is displayed with the error display.

As a result, the PHS terminal device 8 displays a screen as shown in FIG.

Next, a case where “1” is input in the PHS terminal device 8 in the state of this screen will be described. In this case as well, the process again proceeds to S51 in FIG. 11a through steps S1, S2, and S3 in FIG. Here, since there is session information (FIG. 14) to which the session ID acquired in step S51 is attached, the process proceeds to step S54. In step S54, the character "1" input from the terminal device is extracted.

Next, based on the user input "1", the content to be displayed next is determined with reference to the session information in FIG. 14 (step S55). Here, transition is made to "response to input 1" MAILKSP corresponding to "character string of input 1" "1". That is, MAIL.KSP (see Fig. 8) is read from the hard disk 38 as the current page.

Next, the readout MAIL.KSP is subjected to a farm transformation (step S60). Figure 16 shows the conversion results. Also here, since the size of the content does not exceed the control size LIMIT, the content is not divided and transmitted to the terminal (steps S61 and S62).

Subsequently, new session information is generated as shown in FIG. 17 and stored in the memory 36 (step S63). Old session information is discarded. As described above, a screen as shown in FIG. 18 is displayed on the terminal device.

In the above description, a case where it is not necessary to perform content division has been described as an example. Next, a case where content division is necessary will be described. In this case, the overall The simple flowchart is the same as that in FIG. FIG. 11b is a flowchart showing the details of FIG. 11a.

Here, a case will be described where the PHS terminal device 8 requests a content (file name DINING.KSP) as shown in FIG. In this case, the PHS terminal device 8 makes a request of @ KCCS / DINING.KSP to the content server 30. In other words, the server address is KCCS and the content file name is requested as DINING.KSP.

Steps S1, S2, and S3 in FIG. 9 are the same as those described above. In step S3, since it is determined that the terminal device cannot perform transition control, the process proceeds to step S4. Details of step S4 are shown in FIG. First, the process proceeds to steps S83 through S81 and S82.

In step S83, it is determined that the session is a new session, and the process proceeds to step S92 via steps S89 and S90. In step S92, format conversion is performed for the PHS terminal device 8. Figure 20 shows the converted content. Next, the content dividing process in step S93 is performed. The details of this process are shown in FIG. 11c. First, in step S101, the number of bytes BC of the converted text is counted. In the example shown in FIG. 20, the number of bytes BC is 1,875 bytes. Also, the limit size LIMIT is 100 bytes from FIG. 11d. In step S102, the number of bytes BC is compared with the limit size LIMIT. Here, since the number of bytes BC exceeds the limit size LIMIT, it is determined that content division is necessary, and the process proceeds to step S103.

Considering the readability of the text, it is preferable to divide the text into paragraphs. Therefore, the maximum paragraph position PDIV that does not exceed LIMIT is found while searching for a paragraph break, that is, a line feed code (step S103). Here, 986 bytes up to the seventh paragraph ("The philosopher first starts eating ..."), the eighth paragraph ("This algorithm is easy ... This is a typical example of "deadlock." Therefore, PDIV = 998.

In exceptional cases, the converted text contains long paragraphs. In some cases, PD IV = 0. In this case, the segmentation position where the PD IV is 1 or more is determined by sequentially reducing the search unit not to the paragraph unit but to the sentence unit (up to the period) and the character unit. -Subsequently, up to the PD IV byte of the converted text are stored in the buffer for transmission to the terminal device (step S104). Subsequently, the prompt “①Next” for selecting the subsequent divided page is stored in the buffer (step S105). As a result, the contents as shown in FIG. 24 are stored in the buffer.

Next, the session information is updated with the text division. Figure 21 shows the session information generated based on the content in Figure 19. Next, of this session information, the items after “input value type” are backed up (step S106). Next, the type of input value, input value 1, and each value corresponding to the input value are changed as shown in FIG. 22 (steps S107, S108, S109). Next, the “subsequent text” column is inserted into the session information, and the portion of the converted text after PDIV is stored (step S110). This prepares for a display request for the subsequent page after the division. ·

Here, as a result of the above, session information as shown in FIG. 23 is generated.

Then, returning to step S94 in FIG. 11b, the content stored in the buffer is returned.

(Fig. 24) to the terminal device. As a result, in the PHS terminal device 8, a display equivalent to that in FIG. 24 is performed.

Next, an operation in a case where “1” is input from the PHS terminal device 8 in this state (that is, a case where a request is made to display the subsequent divided text) will be described. After step S1, S2, and S3 in FIG. 9, the process proceeds to step S4. In FIG. 11b showing the details of step S4, the process proceeds to step S83 via steps S81 and S82.

In step S83, since the session is not a new session, the process proceeds to step S84. In step S84, a user input is obtained. Here, "1" is extracted. Subsequently, the display page is determined based on the session information in FIG. 23 and the input “1” (step S85). Here, after Figure 23 The contents of the continuation text are displayed.

Next, it is determined whether or not the display target in the above is a divided subsequent page (step S86). Here, since it is the display of the divided subsequent page, the process proceeds to step S87. In step S87, the session information previously backed up in step S106 of FIG. 11c is restored (step S87). As a result, the session information is restored as shown in FIG.

Subsequently, content division processing shown in FIG. 11c is performed on the contents of the subsequent text as a display target (step S88). Here, the subsequent text does not exceed L I M IT, so the break is inevitable. Thereafter, the display target text is determined (step S89). Here, in the PHS terminal device 8, a display equivalent to the contents of the subsequent text in FIG. 23 is made.

As described above, it is possible to respond in real time so that appropriate display can be performed according to the content size due to the display restriction of the terminal device. Therefore, unified content can be recorded in the content server 30 regardless of the display restrictions of the terminal device.

(4) Conversion program (Figure 9, Step S5)

Next, a case where the terminal device can perform transition control will be described. In this case, the process proceeds from step S3 in FIG. 9 to step S5. In step S5, a conversion program as shown in FIG. 25 is executed. That is, a process of converting the content in the reference language into the terminal display language is performed.

First, in step S41, the reference language data of the content is converted into tree-structured data. Next, based on the tree structured data, it is converted into desired display language data (step S42).

First, a case will be described in which the personal computer 2 using a browser makes a browsing request for content in the reference language composed of the style sheet shown in FIG. 7 and the main body shown in FIG. In this case, the display language of the terminal device can be determined to be HTML (see Fig. 10). Therefore, it is necessary to convert to HTML language. First, a process (step S41) for converting the reference language data into a series of structured data will be described. The tags in each line of the body shown in Fig. 6 are analyzed into the data structure shown in Fig. 26. The following tag numbers and child tag numbers are described below.

The main body in FIG. 6 can be expressed as a lip structure as shown in FIG. In the figure, numbers in 0 indicate tag numbers. This figure shows that the entire KSP is composed of a P tag, an IMG tag, an A tag, and an A tag.

The relationship shown in Fig. 27 can be expressed as shown in Fig. 28. In other words, it can be expressed using a link that points to the child as seen from the parent and a link that points to the next child (brother) of the same parent as seen from the child. In this embodiment, the relationship is shown by the method shown in FIG. Therefore, the main body in FIG. 6 is converted into a structured data as shown in FIGS. 29 and 30.

After the tree-structured data is generated as described above, it is converted into display language data using the tree-structured data (FIG. 25, step S42). FIGS. 31 and 34 show flowcharts of this conversion processing. Figure 31 shows the processing when there is a style sheet for the destination display language, and Figure 34 shows the processing when there is no style sheet for the destination display language. .

What is assumed here is conversion to HTML language. Since HTML has a style sheet, conversion according to the display format shown in the style sheet is performed. . Accordingly, a conversion processing program for converting the reference language data into HTML data, as shown in FIG. 31, is executed.

First, the characters of the style sheet in FIG. 7 are sequentially read, and the contents up to the character "$" are copied to an output file (HTML) (step S21). In the case of Fig. 7, up to “HTM” (line feed) and “HEAD><Tm_E>” are copied to the output file. Next, it is determined whether or not it is the end of the style sheet (EOF) (step S22). If it is ₀ EOF, the process is terminated.

If not EOF, an identifier following $ in the style sheet (alphanumeric string) Is read. Since this is a key name attached to the tag of the reference language data, it is stored in the memory 36 as a variable KEY (step S24).

Next, a tag having a key indicated by the variable KEY is searched from the tree structure data shown in FIGS. 29 and 30, and the tag number is stored in the variable TAG (step S24). Here, TAG = 1 because tag number 1 has the key name K1.

Next, it checks whether the next character on the style sheet is a period (step S25). If it is a period, it skips the period and reads the subsequent identifier (alphanumeric string) and assigns it to the variable ATTR Yes (Step S26). Thereafter, the value of the attribute having the attribute name ATTR from the tag indicated by the tag number TAG is copied to the output file (step S27). Here, since the identifier following the period is NAME, ATTR = NAME, and the value of the attribute NAME of tag 1, that is, "KSP sample" is output to the file.

In step S25, if the next character is not a period, the text 檷 is copied from the tag indicated by TAG to the output file (step S30).

Next, it is checked whether the next character on the style sheet is "$" (step S28), and if it is "$", it is skipped (step S29) and the process returns to step S21. If not "$", exit with an error.

Figure 32 shows the HTML data converted as described above. FIG. 33 shows a screen when the HTML data is transmitted to the sonar computer 2 and displayed. Wallpaper 50 is displayed by the tag on the third line. The menu is displayed by the fourth, sixth and seventh lines. Corresponding to lines 6 and 7, "mail" and "bulletin board" are indicated by underlines on the screen to indicate that a link is attached. Image 52 is displayed by the fifth line.

As described above, pure HTML data can be obtained by using a style sheet. Also, decorations such as table creation, centering, right aligning, and blinking (blinking), banner ads, and icons can be displayed.

In the above, the conversion from the reference language data to HTML data is shown. However, a program for conversion to other display languages is also recorded on the server, and the necessary conversion is performed according to the type of terminal device. The conversion program is automatically selected and used You.

Next, a case where a content browsing request is made from a WAP terminal (mobile phone) 6 will be described. Also in this case, the process shown in FIG. 10 is performed to determine the type of the terminal. By this processing, it can be seen that the data should be converted to HDML data overnight.

Note that the process is the same as that described above up to the point where the reference language data is converted to the structured data data. However, since the style sheet for HDML does not exist in the reference language data shown in FIGS. 6 and 7, the program shown in FIG. 34 is executed. First, the tag number of the head tag of the structured data in Figs. 29 and 30 is obtained and assigned to the variable TOP (step El). Here, since the first element is the tag number 1, T〇P = 1. Next, the tag type indicated by TOP is extracted and assigned to the variable KIND (step E2). Here, it is K I ND- "KSP".

Next, the process branches depending on the contents of the KIND (step E3). Where K

1 Because ND = "KSP", go to step E4.

In step E4, “HDML VERSION = 3.0> <Line feed> DISPLY>” is output to the file as HDML header information. Next, the process of FIG. 34 is called recursively, with the tag number of the child with tag number 1 as the top of the tree (step E5). Here, TOP = 2 in step E1, and KIND = "P" in step Ε2.

Therefore, from step E3, the process proceeds to steps E24 and E25. Step E

At 25, the contents of the text field of the tag with tag number = T〇P are output as they are. Here, "Please select a menu" is output to a file. Next, “KUBR>” is output for a line feed (step E26).

Next, the process proceeds to step E27, where the value of the "next tag number" column of TOP is substituted for TOP. Here, TOP = 3. Subsequently, it is determined whether or not T〇P = 0 (step # 28). Here, since it is not 0, the process returns to step Ε2.

Next, in step # 3, the tag type indicated by TOP is determined. In this case, since KI ND = "IMG", the process proceeds from step E 7 to E 8. In step E8, an HDML tag '' ku IMG SRC = "indicating an image is output (step E8). Next, the image file name is obtained using the SRC attribute of the tag indicated by TOP. And assign it to the variable FI LE (step E 9). Here, FI LE = "I CON. J PG". Next, the extension of the file name pointed to by the variable FI LE is checked, and if it is not "BMP", steps El 1 and below are executed (step E 10). If it is a BMP, go to step E13. Here, the extension is “J PG” indicating a J PEG image and not “BMP”, and therefore, the steps from El 1 and below are executed.

In step E11, the I CON. J PG image is converted into a monochrome BMP format image. Next, the extension of the variable F I LE is converted from “JPG” to “BMP” (step E12). Therefore, F I LE- "I CON. BMP" is obtained. Next, the character string pointed to by the variable F I LE is output (step E13). Subsequently, the end tag of the image tag and the line feed tag "> K / BR>" are output (step E14).

Next, the TOP value is updated (step E27). Here, TOP = 4. After step E28, KIND = A at E2. Therefore, after steps E3, E7 and E15, the process proceeds to step E16.

In step E 16, “HD TASK = A TASK = GO DEST =” meaning a hyperlink is output to a file (step E 16). Next, the HRF profile of the tag indicated by TOP is checked, and the attribute value is output (step E17). Here, it is "MAILKSP".

Next, after "ACCESSKEY =" is output (step E18), the value of the variable AK is incremented by 1 (step E20). Here, the ACCESSKEY is used for quick operation using the numeric keys of a mobile phone, and it is customary to use one or more serial numbers.

Then, the A tag is terminated by outputting the character string ">" (step E21), and the text の of the tag pointed to by the variable TOP is output (step E22). It is. After that, the A tag is closed with the character string ”</A> <BR>” (step E23).

As described above, an HDML file as a conversion result is obtained as an output file. As described above, when the style sheet of the display language is not included in the reference language data, conversion is performed as a standard display form. HDML data —Evening is shown in Figure 35. FIG. 36 shows an example of displaying the HDML data on the WAP terminal 6.

In the above, the conversion from the reference language data to the HDML data is shown. However, a program for conversion to other display languages is also recorded on the server, and it is necessary to match the type of terminal device. A suitable conversion program is automatically selected and used.

The basic conversion method for programs for conversion to other display languages is the same as described above. However, in the case of the email protocol and personal computer communication, the terminal does not have a function to request a link destination. Therefore, it is necessary for the content server 30 to manage the current state of the terminal and the next link (transition destination) after the selection. Therefore, when the link destination is described in the reference language data, not only the display language data is generated, but also the server side manages the state of the terminal side and the data for determining the next jump destination. Must be generated and stored in server-side memory.

In this embodiment, the conversion process is performed in real time whenever there is a request from the terminal. Therefore, even if the content is changed, this is immediately reflected in the display on the terminal device.

In this embodiment, content data described in reference language data is recorded, and this is converted into display language data that matches the type of the terminal device. Therefore, if the content in the reference language is prepared, the content can be browsed by various terminal devices.

In the above description, the case where the content does not need to be divided has been described. Next, a case will be described in which content is divided due to display restrictions on the terminal device. '

Here, the description proceeds assuming that the content shown in FIG. 19 has been requested from the terminal device. Steps S l ′, S 2, S 3, and S 6 in FIG. 9 are as described above. Note that, here, the description is made on the assumption that the terminal device uses the HTML language and the capacity limit LIMIT is 100 bytes. Note that the capacity limit LIMIT is determined by the type of terminal device. In step S6, the content is converted to HTML data as shown in FIG. In step S7, the converted content is divided. Figure 37 shows the details of this division process.

First, in step S201, the number of bytes BC of the text is counted. Next, the number of bytes BC is compared with the limit LIMIT (step S202). Here, since the number of bytes BC is larger, the process proceeds to step S203.

In step S203, the data is divided into a set of paragraphs having a size not exceeding the limit LIMIT. If a single paragraph exceeds the limit of LIMIT, it is broken down by sentence or character.

Next, a temporary URL is given to each of the divided paragraphs and stored in the memory 36 (step S204). The content thus divided is shown in FIGS.

As the last link information in Fig. 39, the temporary URL (DINING_2.HTML) of the subsequent content is described. In this way, a link between the divided contents is formed.

After the division as described above, in step S205, the content of FIG. 39 is transmitted to the terminal device.

As described above, the content prepared in the content server 30 can be made common regardless of the display size limitation of each terminal device.

In FIGS. 39 and 40, the content is divided and link information «A HREF =" DINING_2.HTML "> ...) between the divided contents is formed. However, even if the link information generated by the division is not formed and the session information is generated as in FIG. 23 and the transition between the divided contents is controlled on the server device 30 side, Good.

4. Other embodiments

(1) In the above embodiment, the content server 30 performs the conversion process. However, as shown in Fig. 41, there is a content server 120 that records the content in the reference language, and a conversion that records the conversion program and performs the conversion process. The server 110 may be provided separately.

By separating, only two conversion servers 110 need to be provided to achieve load distribution (or to perform duplication), and it is not necessary to provide two identical contents. This makes maintenance of the content easier.

(2) In the above embodiment, the conversion processing is performed in real time. However, the conversion processing may be provided in advance by using a conversion program. Alternatively, the data may be recorded in a server after being converted into tree-structured data as shown in FIGS. 14 and 15, and the conversion processing may be performed in real time based on the data.

(3) In the above embodiment, the type of the terminal device (hardware and software) is determined based on the HTTP header. However, the type of the terminal device may be determined based on the IP address.

(4) In the above embodiment, the reference language is recorded, and is converted into a display language. However, as shown in FIG. 42, various display languages are converted to a reference language by a first conversion device 140 that stores a first conversion program, and a second conversion program that stores a second conversion program is stored. This reference language may be converted into a desired display language by the conversion device 130 of this embodiment. By doing so, it becomes possible to browse contents generated in an arbitrary display language on various terminal devices.

In addition, any of the conversion devices 130 and 140 may perform conversion in real time or may perform conversion in advance and store the converted data.

(5) In the above embodiment, the case where the display is performed as the output form is described, but the same can be applied to the output such as the audio output. For example, when the content size is limited due to the restriction on the audio output of the terminal device side, the content division can be performed in the same manner as in the above embodiment.

(6) In the above embodiment, the content is recorded in the reference language, and after the content is converted into a language, the content is divided. However, the language matching each terminal device may be recorded, and this may be divided according to the size limit of each terminal device. In the above, the present invention has been described as a preferred embodiment. Changes can be made within the scope of the claims.

Claims

The scope of the claims

1. A content server device that is accessed from different types of terminal devices,

Content recording means for recording content,

Terminal determining means for determining the display restriction of the terminal device that has accessed,

According to the display restriction of the terminal device determined by the terminal determining device, the data format of the content read from the content recording device is corrected so as to match the display restriction of the terminal device, and the data transmitted to the terminal device is modified. A content server device comprising:

2. A computer-implemented program for implementing a content server device that is accessed from different types of terminal devices,

Content recording means for recording content,

According to the display restriction of the terminal device determined by the terminal determining device, the data format of the content read from the content recording device is corrected so as to match the display restriction of the terminal device, and the data transmitted to the terminal device is modified. And a program for causing a computer to realize the following.

3. A recording medium on which the program according to claim 2 is recorded.

4. The device, the program, or the recording medium according to any one of claims 1 to 3, wherein the display restriction is a size of content that can be temporarily stored for display on a terminal device;

The data form correction sending unit may divide the content based on the content size.

What is characterized by.

5. In the device, program or recording medium of claim 4,

The data type correction sending means generates related information between the divided contents at the time of division and transmits the information to a terminal device.

6. The device, the program, or the recording medium according to any one of claims 1 to 5, wherein the terminal determining unit determines a type of the terminal device to determine a display restriction in the terminal device of the type. What to do.

7. The apparatus, program or recording medium according to claim 6, wherein

The terminal determining means determines the type of the terminal device based on the HTTP header sent from the terminal device.

8. The apparatus, program or recording medium according to claim 6, wherein

The terminal determining means determines the type of the terminal device based on an IP address sent from the terminal device.

9. A content server device that is accessed from different types of terminal devices,

A content recording unit for recording content,

A control unit for receiving and accessing content from the terminal device and controlling readout and transmission of content.

The control unit includes:

Determine the display restriction of the terminal device that accessed,

In accordance with the determined display restriction of the terminal device, modify the data readout form read from the content recording unit so that it conforms to the display restriction of the terminal device, and transmit it to the terminal device.

Content server device characterized by the above-mentioned.

10. Content servers that are accessed from different types of terminals A program to be realized by a computer,

A content recording unit for recording content,

A control unit for controlling readout and transmission of content in response to access from the terminal device is realized by a convenience store,

The control unit includes:

Determine the display restriction of the terminal device that accessed,

According to the determined display restriction of the terminal device, correct the data format of the content read from the content recording unit so that it conforms to the display restriction of the terminal device, and transmit it to the terminal device.

A program that makes a computer realize.

11. A recording medium on which the program according to claim 10 is recorded.

1 2. A data form correction device for correcting the data form of content, which receives content to be transmitted to a terminal device,

In accordance with the display restriction of the terminal device to which the content is transmitted, the data format of the content read from the content recording means is modified according to the display restriction so as to match the display restriction of the terminal device. Evening shape correction device.

1 3. A program for realizing, by a computer, a data format modification device for modifying the data format of content,

Receiving the content to be sent to the terminal device,

In response to the display restriction of the terminal device to which the content is transmitted, the computer is operated so as to correct the data format of the content read from the content recording means so as to match the display restriction of the terminal device according to the display restriction. program.

14. A recording medium on which the program according to claim 13 is recorded.

15. The device, the program or the recording medium according to any one of claims 12 to 14,

The display limit is a size of content that can be temporarily stored for display in the terminal device, and is modified so as to match the display limit by dividing the content based on the content size. What to do.

16. The data format device of claim 15, wherein

In the above-mentioned division, related information between the divided contents is generated.

1 7. A method for providing content to different types of terminal devices, wherein the content is recorded and

In addition to determining the output limit of the terminal device that has accessed,

When performing the process of providing the recorded content to the terminal device, after correcting the data format of the content according to the determined output limit of the terminal device to match the output limit of the terminal device, A method for providing content, which is provided to an apparatus.