JP2004334428A - Content controller, and system for browsing content controlled by same - Google Patents

Abstract

<P>PROBLEM TO BE SOLVED: To provide a technique for enhancing real time performance in the distribution of a content, and a content control technique of a high updating frequency. <P>SOLUTION: An IM server 20 provides an instant message service to a content controller 100 and a client 14. The content controller 100 provides the content to the client 14. When the content is updated when a user browses the content, the content controller 100 notifies the updating to the client 14 using an instant message. The client 14 receives the notification to acquire the updated content from content controller 100. The content controller 100 provides thereby the content to the user (client) at real time. <P>COPYRIGHT: (C)2005,JPO&NCIPI

Description

[0001]
TECHNICAL FIELD OF THE INVENTION
The present invention relates to a content management technology, and more particularly to a technology for notifying a user when a content to be managed is updated.
[0002]
[Prior art]
With the development of network technology, information devices such as computers, printers, and fax machines have been connected to networks. Networking is not limited to a limited area local area network (hereinafter simply referred to as “LAN”), for example, in a company or in a building, but is a global-wide network, a so-called wide area network (hereinafter simply referred to as “WAN”). Has expanded to As the development of such an infrastructure has progressed, e-mail, FTP (File Transfer Protocol), web pages, and the like have been widely used in the business scene, for example.
[0003]
These network technologies can be used to acquire content on the network, but for acquisition, it is necessary for the user to request the server to provide the content. For example, the presence or absence of a new mail needs to be confirmed by connecting to the mail server from the user side. In addition, it is necessary for the user to connect to the website and check whether the web page has been updated. There is a server in which a server notifies a user of a communication device of an incoming e-mail or an update of a desired web page by calling the communication device of the user, and the communication device obtains an e-mail or a web page in response to the call (Japanese Patent Application Laid-Open No. H10-163873). ).
[0004]
[Patent Document 1]
JP-A-2002-305552
[Problems to be solved by the invention]
As network technology is used in business, the actual business system is gradually changing. One of them is the introduction of a workflow system. This system improves the efficiency of business by electronically transmitting the conventional business of circulating paper-based circulation documents, such as slips, reports, and approval documents, to the computer of each person in charge. It is intended. Such a workflow system also uses a web service to provide circulation documents, and a user acquires necessary circulation documents in a pull type. Therefore, even if the circulation document is updated while the user is viewing the circulation document, the user does not notice the update and refers to the circulation document before the update. In addition to such a workflow system, a user utilizes digital data via various devices such as a website and a file server, and the digital data is updated daily.
[0006]
The present invention has been made in view of the above problems, and an object of the present invention is to provide a technique for improving real-time property in content distribution and a technique for managing frequently updated content.
[0007]
[Means for Solving the Problems]
One embodiment of the present invention relates to an apparatus for managing content. The apparatus includes a unit that uses an instant message, a unit that detects an update of a predetermined content, a unit that determines a user who is browsing the content when the content is updated, and a case that the update of the content is detected. Means for notifying a user who is browsing the content using an instant message that the content is acquired again. Thus, the fact that the content has been updated can be notified to the user who is browsing the content at the time of the update, so that the real-time property is improved. The “content” is a file handled by the device, such as a circulation document, and is, for example, digital data such as a character string, an image, and a sound. In an actual system, this digital data is transmitted to a computer of a circulation target person or a viewer (hereinafter, simply referred to as a “client”), analyzed on the client side, and output as a display or audio.
[0008]
The apparatus further includes means for selecting a user who should view the updated content, and means for notifying the selected user of a message prompting the user to view the document using an instant message. Thus, for example, in a workflow system, a user who has already viewed the content can be notified of the update of the content.
[0009]
Another embodiment of the present invention relates to an apparatus for browsing content. This device obtains predetermined content via a network, obtains an instant message, and obtains the content again when the received instant message includes information indicating an update of the content. Means for instructing the acquisition means to do so. Thereby, this device can grasp in real time that the content has been updated, and can acquire the content again when the content is updated.
[0010]
It is to be noted that any combination of the above-described components and any conversion of the expression of the present invention between a method, an apparatus, a system, a recording medium, a computer program, and the like are also effective as embodiments of the present invention.
[0011]
BEST MODE FOR CARRYING OUT THE INVENTION
FIG. 1 is a configuration diagram of a content management system 10 according to the embodiment. The instant message server 20 (hereinafter simply referred to as “IM server 20”) is a server for providing an instant message service (hereinafter simply referred to as “IM service”). The IM service includes, for example, a service (hereinafter, simply referred to as “presence service”) that provides information on whether or not a user of the IM service (hereinafter, simply referred to as “IM user”) can transmit and receive a message. , And a service for transmitting messages between IM users (hereinafter simply referred to as “message service”). “Instant message” may be a generic term for the presence service and the message service, or may indicate one of the presence service and the message service. In short, the instant message is information transmitted and received in the IM service. The instant message is hereinafter simply referred to as “message”. An IM user can use an IM service by using an instant message client (hereinafter, simply referred to as an “IM client”). Hereinafter, a state in which the IM user is logged in to the IM server 20, that is, a state in which messages can be transmitted and received, is referred to as an “active state”.
[0012]
In the IM service, messages are transmitted and received when the IM user is in an active state. Therefore, the IM server 20 explicitly expresses the message as a mail server used in Simple Mail Transfer Protocol (SMTP) or Post Office Protocol (POP). There is no mechanism to temporarily store messages temporarily. For this reason, the message is immediately notified to the IM client of the IM user who is the transmission destination, and push-type notification is possible. The IM server 20 may be a server that provides an existing IM service, or may be newly provided. In this figure, the IM server 20 is connected to a local area network 16 (hereinafter simply referred to as “LAN 16”), but in another example, it is connected to a wide area network 12 (hereinafter simply referred to as “WAN 12”). You may. Further, a content management device 100 described later may include the IM server 20.
[0013]
The content management device 100 provides content to a plurality of terminals (hereinafter, simply referred to as “clients 14”) such as a first client 14a and a second client 14b connected via the LAN 16. The client 14 is a device for browsing the provided content, and displays the content so that the user can browse the content. In the present embodiment, the content management apparatus 100 is, for example, an apparatus having a FAX function, a scanner function, a printer function, a printer server function, a FAX server function, a copy function, or the like, or an MFP (Multi Function Peripheral) having a plurality of functions. Or a single device. The content management device 100 obtains the content via, for example, the WAN 12 or the LAN 16 using these functions, or directly obtains the content using the scanner function. The content management device 100 may acquire the content using some function.
[0014]
FIG. 2 is an internal configuration diagram of the content management device 100. The components of the content management apparatus 100 are centered on a CPU of an arbitrary computer, a memory, a program for realizing the components of the drawing loaded in the memory, a storage unit such as a hard disk for storing the program, and a network connection interface. It is understood by those skilled in the art that the present invention is realized by an arbitrary combination of hardware and software, but there are various modifications in the method and apparatus for realizing the same. Each drawing described below shows a block of a functional unit, not a configuration of a hardware unit.
[0015]
The login unit 422 connects to the IM server 20 to perform a login process of the IM service, and activates the content management apparatus 100. For this login process, the login unit 422 holds, for example, identification information (hereinafter simply referred to as “login ID”) for using the IM service and a password. Such information required for login is hereinafter referred to as “login information”. The login unit 422 may hold login information in advance, or may receive settings from an administrator of the content management device 100 or the like. In the case where a plurality of IM services are supported, the login unit 422 holds login information for each IM service.
[0016]
The user information database 418 holds information on the user of the content management apparatus 100 and information indicating whether the user has logged in to the IM server 20, that is, whether or not the user is in an active state. After the login unit 422 completes the login, the detection unit 420 inquires the IM server 20 about whether or not the user held in the user information database 418 is in the active state.
[0017]
FIG. 3 is a diagram showing an example of a data structure in the user information database 418 of FIG. The user ID column 460 holds information for identifying a user (hereinafter, simply referred to as “user ID”). The user ID may be, for example, information for specifying a user of the content management device 100. The login ID column 462 holds information (hereinafter, simply referred to as “IM identification information”) that can identify a user in the IM service, such as the login ID of the user. That is, the user information database 418 stores, for each user, the user ID in the content management apparatus 100 and the IM identification information in the IM service in association with each other.
[0018]
The detection unit 420 in FIG. 2 uses the presence service to detect whether or not the user specified by the IM identification information is in the login state, that is, in the active state. The status column 464 holds the login status detected by the detection unit 420 for each user. In this figure, “1” indicates an active state, and “0” indicates that the state is not active. The IM address column 466 holds information (hereinafter, simply referred to as “IM address”) for specifying a destination of a message in the IM service. For example, when the IM address and the IM identification information match, the IM address information 466 may hold the IM identification information.
[0019]
Returning to FIG. 2, the storage processing unit 102 receives the content by using any of a facsimile function, a scanner function, an e-mail receiving function, a file server function, and the like. Then, the storage processing unit 102 stores the received content in the content storage unit 110 in association with the identification information (hereinafter, simply referred to as “content ID”). The providing unit 404 receives a content providing request from the client 14, reads the content from the content storage unit 110, and provides the content to the client 14.
[0020]
The specifying unit 406 detects that the providing unit 404 has provided the content, and specifies the content. Then, the specifying unit 406 associates information specifying the content, such as a content ID, a file name, and a URL (Universal Resource Locator), with the user ID of the user who is browsing the content, and associates the browsing file with the information. It is stored in the database 408. In the present embodiment, the specifying unit 406 stores the content ID and the user ID in the browse file database 408 in association with each other. For example, the providing unit 404 may receive the user ID before providing the content, and the specifying unit 406 may store the user ID and the content ID in the browse file database 408 in association with each other.
[0021]
FIG. 4 is a diagram showing an example of a data structure in the browse file database 408 of FIG. The user ID column 450 holds a user ID. The content ID column 452 holds a content ID. In this drawing, it can be seen that the user with the user ID “yamada” is browsing the content specified by the content ID “3612”.
[0022]
Referring back to FIG. 2, the monitoring unit 412 monitors whether the content has been updated. Then, when the content is updated, the monitoring unit 412 outputs the content ID of the content to the determination unit 410. The monitoring unit 412 may detect, for example, that the storage processing unit 102 has written to the content storage unit 110, and may detect a content whose date and time is set as the storage date and time as the updated content. When the storage processing unit 102 updates the content, that is, when the content is overwritten, a flag indicating that fact is written in the content storage unit 110 in association with the content, and the monitoring unit 412 periodically determines whether the flag exists. The updated content may be found by performing a dynamic detection. When the updated content is detected, the monitoring unit 412 removes the flag.
[0023]
The determination unit 410 determines whether or not there is a user browsing the content of the content ID by referring to the browse file database 408. When there is a user who is browsing, the determination unit 410 instructs the message generation unit 426 to notify the user that the content being viewed has been updated (hereinafter, simply referred to as “update notification”).
[0024]
The message generation unit 426 adds information indicating that the notification is an update notification (hereinafter, simply referred to as an “update command”) to the body of the instant message. For example, in the update command, the content ID of the content to be updated may be set as an argument. Message generating section 426 outputs the generated instant message to address setting section 416.
[0025]
The address setting unit 416 refers to the user information database 418, specifies the IM address of the user who is browsing the content using the user ID as a search key, and sets the IM address as the destination of the instant message. Then, the instant message to which the destination is set is supplied to the IM transmission unit 424. IM transmitting section 424 transmits the instant message to the designated destination. As described above, since the instant message has immediacy, when the content is updated, a user who is browsing the content can be notified that the content has been updated.
[0026]
In addition, determination section 410 associates the content ID of the updated content with the user ID of the user who has issued the update notification and outputs the result to selection section 414. The selection unit 414 selects a user who should view the content specified by the content ID from the user information database 418, and selects a user who has not yet issued an update notification. For example, the user information database 418 stores content and a user who should browse the content in association with each other, and the selection unit 414 may select a user by referring to the correspondence. Then, the selection unit 414 instructs the message generation unit 426 to notify the selected user of the update. This allows all users who should view the content to be notified that the content has been updated.
[0027]
Further, in another example, the user information database 418 holds the content ID of the content browsed in the past in association with the user ID, and the selection unit 414 selects a user who has browsed the updated content in the past. You may. This allows a user who has already viewed the content to know that the content has been updated. In addition, the selection unit 414 may select a user to be notified of the update according to the attribute of the content. The “attribute” is, for example, content to be viewed by a plurality of users in a predetermined order, content to be viewed by a user at an arbitrary timing, and the like. That is, in the case of the former attribute, the selection unit 414 selects a user who has already viewed the content, and in the case of the latter attribute, the selection unit 414 selects all users to be viewed.
[0028]
FIG. 5 is an internal configuration diagram of the client 14 of FIG. The login unit 916 connects to the IM server 20 to perform an IM service login process, and activates the client 14. For this login process, the login unit 916 holds login information. The login unit 916 may hold login information in advance, or may receive settings from the user of the client 14 or the like.
[0029]
The device information storage unit 912 holds a login ID when the content management device 100 logs in to the IM server 20. The login ID may be held in the device information storage unit 912 in advance, or may be set later by the user. After the login by the login unit 916 is completed, the detection unit 914 inquires of the IM server 20 whether or not the content management device 100 specified by the login ID held in the device information storage unit 912 is in an active state.
[0030]
The acquisition unit 900 acquires content from the content management device 100. The content data storage unit 902 is, for example, a buffer and temporarily stores the acquired content. The display processing unit 904 performs display processing based on the content held in the content data storage unit 902. The editing unit 906 performs editing and the like of the content held in the content data storage unit 902 according to a user's instruction. In another example, the editing unit 906 may not be provided.
[0031]
The instant message receiving unit 910 (hereinafter simply referred to as “IM receiving unit 910”) receives an update notification from the content management device 100 by an instant message. Then, IM receiving section 910 outputs the update notification to instruction section 908. The instruction unit 908 extracts the update command from the update notification, and instructs the acquisition unit 900 to acquire the content specified by the content ID set as the argument of the command again. Thus, every time the IM receiving unit 910 receives the update notification, the acquiring unit 900 can acquire the content. Then, the latest content can always be displayed on the display processing unit 904.
[0032]
FIG. 6 is a diagram showing an example of a processing sequence between the content management device 100, the first client 14a, and the second client 14b in FIG. 1 when updating the content. First, the first client 14a requests content from the content management device 100 (S10). The content management device 100 transmits the specified content to the first client 14a (S12). Further, the content management device 100 specifies the content transmitted to the first client 14a, and stores the content ID in association with the destination user (S14).
[0033]
When the content management device 100 detects the update of the content (S16), the content management device 100 determines whether or not there is a user viewing the updated content (S18). When there is a user who is browsing (Y in S18), the content management device 100 sends an update notification to the first client 14a (S20). Then, the first client 14a requests transmission of the content again in response to the update notification (S26). The content management device 100 transmits the content in response to the request (S28). Thus, when the content is updated, the browsing user is notified in real time of the update. Then, the first client 14a acquires and displays the content again. Therefore, the user can always browse the latest content.
[0034]
If no user is browsing in S18 (N in S18), the content management device 100 determines whether there is a user who should browse the content (S22). When there is a user to be viewed (Y in S22), the content management device 100 notifies the second client 14b of the update (S24). The second client 14b requests the content in response to the update notification (S30). Then, the content management device 100 transmits the content in response to the request (S32).
[0035]
The present invention has been described based on the embodiments. It should be understood by those skilled in the art that the embodiments are exemplifications, and that various modifications can be made to the combination of each component and each processing process, and that such modifications are also within the scope of the present invention. . As a modification example, for example, the content management apparatus 100 may be incorporated in a content management apparatus such as a workflow system, a file server, a document management apparatus, an email server, or a web server. Thus, for example, on a website that provides information that changes in real time, such as a stock price, the screen on the client side can be updated when the stock price changes. Also, the content management device 100 can be used when content is created by a plurality of users.
[0036]
As another modification, the message generation unit 426 of FIG. 2 generates an instant message further including the update location of the content and update information on the update content, and the instruction unit 908 of FIG. 5 generates the update message included in the received instant message. Detects how the content has been updated based on the information, automatically acquires the updated content according to the updated content, acquires the updated content when instructed by the user, does not acquire the updated content, etc. A determination may be made. Thereby, for example, when the update is not related to essential contents such as correction of a typographical error, it is possible to avoid a situation in which the user browses the updated content, thereby improving convenience. Furthermore, the creator of the content may set the update information to forcibly acquire the updated content as the update information. In this case, the creator can force the viewer to browse the updated content.
[0037]
As yet another modification, there is a form in which the user of the content management device 100 is not registered in advance. For example, when the content management apparatus 100 is used as a website, it is preferable to temporarily manage users in consideration of the fact that the number of user information to be managed becomes enormous and that handling personal information creates a risk. It is also possible. Therefore, the user who is browsing the content may be managed using the session ID. In this case, the providing unit 404 generates a session ID for each session for providing the content and receives the IM address of the user. Then, the specifying unit 406 stores the session ID and the content ID in the browse file database 408 in association with each other, and stores the session ID and the received IM address in the user information database 418. The IM address stored in the user information database 418 is deleted when the session ID is discarded. Thereby, it is possible to receive a notification at the time of updating the content without user registration in advance, and to prevent leakage of personal information.
[0038]
【The invention's effect】
ADVANTAGE OF THE INVENTION According to this invention, when content is updated, it can notify the user who should browse the content to that effect.
[Brief description of the drawings]
FIG. 1 is a configuration diagram of a content management system according to an embodiment.
FIG. 2 is an internal configuration diagram of the content management device of FIG. 1;
FIG. 3 is a diagram showing an example of a data structure in the user information database of FIG. 2;
FIG. 4 is a diagram showing an example of a data structure in a browse file database of FIG. 2;
FIG. 5 is an internal configuration diagram of the client in FIG. 1;
6 is a diagram showing an example of a sequence of processing between the content management device, the first client, and the second client in FIG. 1 when updating content.
[Explanation of symbols]
Reference Signs List 10 content management system, 20 IM server, 100 content management device, 102 storage processing unit, 110 content storage unit, 404 providing unit, 406 specifying unit, 408 browse file database, 410 determining unit, 412 monitoring unit, 414 selecting unit, 416 Address setting unit, 418 user information database, 420 detection unit, 422 login unit, 424 IM transmission unit, 426 message generation unit, 900 acquisition unit, 902 content data storage unit, 904 display processing unit, 906 editing unit, 908 instruction unit , 910 IM receiving unit, 912 device information storage unit, 914 detection unit, 916 login unit.

Claims (3)

Means for using instant messaging;
Means for detecting an update of the predetermined content;
Means for determining a user who is browsing the content when updating the content,
Means for notifying a user who is browsing the content using the instant message that the content is acquired again when the update of the content is detected,
A content management device comprising: Means for selecting a user to view the updated content,
Means for using the instant message to notify a message prompting the selected user to view the document,
The content management apparatus according to claim 1, further comprising: Acquisition means for acquiring predetermined content via a network;
Means for receiving an instant message;
Means for instructing the acquisition means to acquire the content again, when the received instant message includes information indicating the update of the content,
A content browsing device comprising:

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