JP2000267962A - Information processing apparatus, information processing method, and storage medium storing computer readable program - Google Patents

Abstract

PROBLEM TO BE SOLVED: To reduce the burden of setting input from a keyboard and to reduce setup operation even if devices that a unit should set increases in number by detecting internal information to be set for the operation of a device and automatically changing and setting existent internal information according to the internal information. SOLUTION: The internal information to be set for the operation of the device is detected and according to the internal information, the existent internal information is automatically changed and set. A scheme decision part 8 of this device sends data to an internal information management part 9 when the scheme of a URL specified with the ACTION attribute of a FORM element is a specific characteristic scheme. An internal information management part 9 manages internal information such as various setting information and an address book that the device holds. When a change request from the scheme decision part 8 arrives, the internal information management part 9 changes those pieces of internal information. A user is able to directly change the internal information through the GUI provided by a GUI management part 6.

Description

DETAILED DESCRIPTION OF THE INVENTION

[0001]

BACKGROUND OF THE INVENTION 1. Field of the Invention The present invention relates to an information processing apparatus and an information processing method capable of communicating with a desired server via a predetermined communication medium, and a storage medium storing a computer readable program.

[0002]

2. Description of the Related Art Conventionally, in order to create or change internal information of an information processing apparatus, for example, various setting information of an apparatus, an address book, etc., it is necessary for a user to perform an input operation using a user interface provided by the apparatus. Was.

[0003]

However, for example, when a certain organization introduces a large amount of information processing devices, even though the device settings and the address book contain much information common to the entire organization, such information is created. In order to make the change, the above input operation must be performed for all the devices one by one, and a considerable amount of work and time is required until the user sets up the information processing device so that it can be used as usual. When the information processing apparatus is initially introduced, there is a problem that the working efficiency is extremely reduced.

SUMMARY OF THE INVENTION The present invention has been made to solve the above problems, and an object of the present invention is to detect internal information to be set for the operation of an apparatus, and to determine an existing information based on the detected internal information. By automatically changing and setting the internal information, even if the number of devices to be set by the user increases, the burden of setting input operations from the keyboard is greatly reduced, and the information processing device and information processing that can significantly reduce the setup operation It is an object of the present invention to provide a method and a storage medium storing a computer readable program.

[0005]

According to a first aspect of the present invention, there is provided an information processing apparatus capable of communicating with a desired server (a web server 2 shown in FIG. 1) via a predetermined communication medium (network). Storage means for storing internal information to be set for the operation of the apparatus (internal information management unit 9 shown in FIG. 1)
Acquiring means (an HTTP processing unit 3 shown in FIG. 1) for acquiring an HTML document via the communication medium, and a character string designated by an action attribute of a form by analyzing the HTML document acquired by the acquiring means Detecting means (HTML analysis unit 4 shown in FIG. 1) for detecting a predetermined pattern, and setting means for automatically changing and setting the internal information in the storage means based on the pattern detected by the detecting means (FIG. 1). 1 and a FORM-related element processing unit 7) shown in FIG.

A second invention according to the present invention is a storage means for storing internal information to be set for the operation of the apparatus via a predetermined communication medium (network) (an internal information management unit 9 shown in FIG. 1). An information processing method in an information processing apparatus capable of communicating with a desired server based on the internal information, wherein an obtaining step (step S1 shown in FIG. 3) of obtaining an HTML document via the communication medium; A detection step (steps S3 and S4 shown in FIG. 3) for analyzing the HTML document acquired in the acquisition step and detecting a predetermined pattern in a character string specified by the action attribute of the form; A setting step (step S5 shown in FIG. 3) of automatically changing and setting the internal information in the storage means based on the set pattern.

A third invention according to the present invention has a storage means for storing internal information to be set for the operation of the apparatus via a predetermined communication medium, and communicates with a desired server based on the internal information. An acquisition step (step S1 shown in FIG. 3) for acquiring an HTML document through the communication medium, the acquisition medium being a storage medium storing a computer-readable program for controlling a possible information processing apparatus; A detection step (steps S3 and S4 shown in FIG. 3) for analyzing the acquired HTML document and detecting a predetermined pattern in a character string specified by the action attribute of the form; A setting step (step S5 shown in FIG. 3) of automatically changing and setting the internal information in the storage unit based on the setting. There is obtained by storing the readable program storage medium.

[0008]

DESCRIPTION OF THE PREFERRED EMBODIMENTS [First Embodiment] FIG. 1 is a block diagram showing an example of an information processing system to which an information processing apparatus according to a first embodiment of the present invention can be applied.

In FIG. 1, reference numeral 1 denotes an information processing device;
It is composed of a so-called personal computer, is provided with ordinary hardware resources (display device, PC main body, keyboard, pointing device, etc.), and loads an OS and application programs stored in a hard disk in the PC main body into a RAM or the like and executes them. . The browser processing program is also managed by the OS.

Reference numeral 2 denotes a web server on a network, which is configured to be able to communicate with the information processing apparatus 1 through a predetermined network using a protocol described later.

Reference numeral 3 denotes an HTTP processing unit which is connected to the web server 2 via a network, and is a communication protocol H
TTP (Hyper Text Transport)
Protocol). HTTP processing unit 3
Loads the document information sent from the web server 2 and conversely sends data from the apparatus to the web server 2.

Reference numeral 4 denotes an HTML analysis unit, and an HTTP processing unit 3
Analyzes the loaded HTML document information, extracts drawing elements such as character strings and images as a result of the analysis, and generates data to be described later for each drawing element. In addition, the drawing elements include FORM-related elements that display GUI parts such as buttons, radio buttons, check boxes, and character input (FORM, INPUT,
SELECT, OPTION, TEXTREA, etc.).

Reference numeral 5 denotes a document shaping unit which receives a data structure indicating a drawing element from the HTML analysis unit 4, determines an arrangement of the data, and shapes an object.

Reference numeral 6 denotes a GUI management unit which displays a document formatted by the document formatting unit 5 on a screen of a display device of the information processing apparatus 1 as a window or receives an input from a user.

Reference numeral 7 denotes a FORM-related element processing unit, which is an HTML-related element processing unit.
For the FORM-related elements of. HTML
When the FORM-related element is extracted by the analysis unit 4, the necessary data is set by passing the data structure to the FORM-related element processing unit 7 before generating and passing the data structure to the document shaping unit 5. 8 is a scheme discriminator, which is an ACT of a FORM element.
If the scheme of the URL specified by the ION attribute is HTTP, the data is sent to the HTTP processing unit 3. If the scheme is a unique scheme defined in the present embodiment, the data is sent to the internal information management unit 9. send.

The FORM-related element processing section 7 has a processing function of transmitting data by user input.

Reference numeral 9 denotes an internal information management unit which manages various setting information (such as the IP address of a server) held by the apparatus and internal information such as an address book. When a change request is received from the scheme determining unit 8, the internal information management unit 9 changes these internal information. Further, the user can directly change the internal information by using the GUI provided by the GUI management unit 6. Reference numeral 10 denotes a display device configured to display a setting screen and a dialog screen, which will be described later, in accordance with an instruction from the GUI management unit 6.

FIG. 2 is a diagram showing a data structure of a drawing element generated by the HTML analysis unit 4 shown in FIG.

In the figure, reference numeral 20 denotes an identifier indicating the type of a drawing element, which in the present embodiment is a character string, an image, and each element related to FORM. Reference numerals 21 and 22 denote position information of the element at the time of drawing. The position information 21 is set with X coordinate information, and the position information 22 is set with Y coordinate information. 23, 24
Is size information of a drawing element, size information 23 is set to display width information, and size information 24 is set to display height information.

Reference numeral 25 denotes drawing element-specific data (type-specific data). If the type is a character string, the font type 2
It is composed of T1, font size 2T2, and pointer 2T3 to character string data. In the case of an image, it is composed of a pointer 211 to image data. In the case of a FORM-related element, it is described in a FORM-related summary other than FORM. NA
Pointer 2Fl to character string indicating ME attribute, also VA
Pointer 2F2, INPU to character string indicating LUE attribute
T element (TYPE attribute is SUBMIT (so-called OK,
Or SUBMIT button), which is composed of a pointer 2F3 to a FORM entry to be described later.

FIG. 3 is a flowchart showing an example of a first data processing procedure in the information processing apparatus according to the present invention. The HT in the HTML analysis processing section 4 shown in FIG.
This corresponds to a process of analyzing a document including a ML FORM-related element. In addition, S1 to S7 indicate each step.

First, in step S1, the HTTP processing unit 2
A document in the web server 2 is loaded, and it is determined in step S2 whether or not there is data. If it is determined that there is no data, the process ends.

On the other hand, if it is determined in step S2 that there is data, in step S3, the HTML data is analyzed, and character strings, images, and FORM-related elements are cut out.
The drawing data structure shown in FIG. 4 is generated. At this time, the size of the element is set in the position information 23, 24 shown in FIG.

Since the FORM element (<FORM>) itself does not need to be drawn, the data structure shown in FIG. 4 is not created.

Next, at step S4, the type of the element is checked. If it is determined that the type of the element is FORM, at step S5, the FORM-related element processing unit 7 is notified that the FORM has started. In that case, the attributes of FORM, ACTION, METHOD, and ENTYPE, are passed as arguments. Here, the FORM-related element processing unit 7
Create an entry for this FORM and pass the passed AC
TION, METHOD, and ENCTYPE are held.
Also, make this entry the current entry,
It returns to step S1.

On the other hand, in step S4, F other than FORM
If it is determined that the element is an ORM-related element, step S
In step 6, the data structure generated in step S3 is passed to the FORM-related element processing unit 7. In response, the FORM-related element processing unit 7 adds this data structure to the current entry created in step S5.

If this element is a SUBMIT button, the pointer 2F3 to the current entry is set. If it is determined in step S4 that the element is another element, step S6 is skipped and the process proceeds to step S7.

Next, in step S7, the data structure generated in step S3 is passed to the document shaping section 5. After determining the layout based on the size of the element, the document shaping section 5 passes the data structure to the GUI management section 6 to draw the element, and
Return to 1.

FIG. 4 is a diagram showing the data structure of the FORM entry created in the FORM-related element processing section 7 shown in FIG. 1, and corresponds to the FORM entry created in step S5.

In the figure, reference numeral 41 denotes an identifier indicating the type of METHOD, which is "GET" or "POST" in the case of HTTP / 1.0. Reference numeral 42 denotes a pointer to a character string (URL) indicating ACTION. 43 is the type of ECTYPE (application / x-www.form)
-Urlencoded, etc.). 44
Is the number of elements contained in this FORM element (<FOR
M> and </ FORM>).

Numeral 45 is a pointer, and F is a pointer contained in FORM.
Points to an array of pointers to the ORM-related drawing data structure. 4
6 is a pointer array, F indicated by the pointer 45.
It is a pointer array to a FORM related drawing data structure included in the ORM.

FIG. 5 is a diagram showing an example of an HTML document loaded by the HTTP processing unit 3 shown in FIG.
This is an example of an HTML document that first exists in the web server 2 and is loaded by the HTTP processing unit 3.

FIG. 6 is a view showing an example of a server setting screen displayed on the display device 10 shown in FIG.

In the figure, reference numeral 61 denotes a character string input field in which a user inputs a name server or proxy server name as a character string.

A radio button 62 is used to select whether or not a proxy server is used. Thereby, G shown in FIG.
The UI management unit 6 generates a character string according to the state of each GUI component (character input field, radio button) and sets the character string in the pointer 2F2 to the VALUE of the data structure shown in FIG. 2 corresponding to each.

Reference numeral 64 denotes a cancel button. When the cancel button 64 is pressed, the character string input field 61 and the radio button 62 return to the initial state described in HTML.
An OK button 63 is pressed down by the user when the input content is determined.

Hereinafter, the processing when the OK button 63 is pressed will be described with reference to the flowchart shown in FIG.

FIG. 7 is a flowchart showing an example of the second data processing procedure in the information processing apparatus according to the present invention, and corresponds to the processing when the OK button 63 shown in FIG. 6 is pressed. Note that S71 to S78 indicate each step.

First, at step S71, an OK button 63
The GUI management unit 6 passes the pointer 2F3 to the FORM entry held by the drawing data structure corresponding to the above to the FORM-related element processing unit 7. Next, the FORM-related element processing unit 7
Obtains an entry from the pointer 2F3 passed from the GUI management unit 6. Then, in a step S73, a data area required for the following processing is not illustrated in a memory device (for example, R
(Including an internal memory such as an AM and an external memory such as a hard disk).

Next, in step S74, based on the array 46 held by the entry and its size (the number of data structures 44), the NAME,
A VALUE is obtained, encoded by the method indicated by ECTYPE 43, and written to the area secured in step S73.

Next, in step S75, the type 41 of METHOD is checked, and when it is determined that the type is GET, in step S76, the pointer (AC) shown in FIG.
A character "?" And the contents of the data area are added to the character string indicated by the TION character string 42) and passed to the scheme discriminator 8, and then the process proceeds to step S78.

On the other hand, in step S75, the type is POST
If it is determined in step S77, the value of the pointer 42 and the pointer to the data area are passed to the scheme determining unit 8 in step S77, the process proceeds to step S78, and the area secured in step S73 is released. finish.

FIG. 8 is a flowchart showing an example of a third data processing procedure in the information processing apparatus according to the present invention. The processing in the scheme discriminating unit 8 to which data has been passed in steps S76 and S77 shown in FIG. Corresponds to the procedure. In addition, S81 to S84 indicate each step.

First, in step S81, a scheme name is extracted from the character string indicated by ACTION. Next, in step S82, the extracted scheme name is checked, and when it is determined that the extracted scheme name is a scheme name unique to the present embodiment, for example, "internal", in step S83, the data is decoded again and the set of NAME and VALUE is changed. The internal information is changed, the internal information is changed, and the process is terminated.

On the other hand, if it is determined in step S82 that the data is "http", the data is set to H in step S84.
The data is transmitted to the web server 2 via the TTP processing unit 3, and the processing is terminated.

FIG. 9 is a diagram showing an example of an HTML document displayed on the display device 10 shown in FIG. 1, in which the scheme name is "internal".

This display screen is the same as the contents shown in FIG. 5, but when the OK button 63 shown in FIG. 6 is pressed, without accessing the network, the internal screen is displayed in step S83 shown in FIG. Information, in this example,
Name server address, proxy availability, Pro
The xy server name is changed.

FIG. 10 is a diagram showing another example of the HTML document displayed on the display device 10 shown in FIG. 1. A URL having a scheme name "internal" specific to the ACTION attribute of FORM is designated. Then IN
This is an example of an HTML document in which the TYPE attribute of the PUT is set to HIDDEN.

FIG. 11 is a view showing an example of a setting screen displayed on the display device 10 shown in FIG.
In the case of FIG. 10 as an ML document, all TYPE attributes of INPUT other than the OK button are HIDDE
Since it is N, the display screen is only the OK button 63.

In the figure, when the user presses the OK button 63, each INPU written in the document of FIG.
The values of NAME and VALUE of the T element are passed to the internal information management unit 9 as they are, and the internal information is changed accordingly.

According to this method, when the system administrator wants to uniformly change the internal information of all the information processing apparatuses, the user simply presses the OK button 63 without making the user make complicated selections. The goal can be achieved.

[Second Embodiment] FIG. 12 shows a second embodiment of the present invention.
FIG. 2 is a block diagram illustrating an example of an information processing system to which the information processing apparatus according to the embodiment can be applied, and the same components as those in FIG. 1 are denoted by the same reference numerals. The difference from FIG. 1 is that
The point is that there is an arrow extending from the scheme determination unit 8 to the GUI management unit 6. Hereinafter, this difference will be described.

In the first embodiment, FIGS.
When the OK button 63 is pressed, the internal information has changed according to the processing of the flowcharts shown in FIGS.

However, the user may have difficulty predicting what will happen when the OK button 63 is pressed. This means that, for example, if a malicious third party writes an HTML document that harms by changing internal information and the user accesses it,
In particular, when the display mode is only the OK button 63 as shown in FIG. 11, there is a risk that the user may inadvertently press the OK button 63.

Therefore, in the second embodiment, before the scheme determining unit 8 passes the NAME / VALUE pair to the internal information managing unit 9 in step S83 shown in FIG.
A dialog box as shown in FIG. 13 is displayed on the display device 10 through an arrow to the newly added GUI management unit 6, and a pair of data passed from the scheme determination unit 8 to the internal information management unit 9 is displayed therein. Then, the user is asked to change them, and the user is asked to confirm them in advance.

FIG. 13 is a diagram showing an example of a dialog box displayed on the display device 10 shown in FIG.
This corresponds to a dialog displayed based on data passed from the scheme determining unit 8 to the internal information managing unit 9.

In the figure, in the display state, the user
When the button 131 is pressed, NEME is stored in the internal information management unit 9.
Is passed, the internal information is changed, and if the cancel button 132 is pressed, the internal information is not changed.

According to the above embodiment, means for loading an HTML document through a network,
Means for detecting a predetermined pattern in a character string specified by the ACTION attribute of the M element, and detecting the NA of a FORM-related element in the FORM when the pattern is detected.
By providing means for changing the internal information indicated by ME and VALUE, it becomes possible to set the internal information flexibly by the HTML description on the server and by a simple operation of the user.

Incidentally, Sun Microsystems
Inc.'s Java and Microsoft's Active
It is thought that similar effects can be obtained by using technologies such as e-X.
When the browser detects a unique protocol,
It can be realized only by providing a means for changing the internal information indicated by NAME and VALUE of the FORM related element in M, and can be implemented easily and compactly as compared with the above technology.

Further, as described in the second embodiment,
By adding a means for confirming to the user before changing the internal information, the security can be enhanced.

Hereinafter, the configuration of a data processing program readable by an information processing system to which the information processing apparatus according to the present invention can be applied will be described with reference to a memory map shown in FIG.

FIG. 14 is a diagram illustrating a memory map of a storage medium storing various data processing programs that can be read by an information processing system to which the information processing apparatus according to the present invention can be applied.

Although not shown, information for managing a group of programs stored in the storage medium, for example, version information, a creator, etc. are also stored, and information dependent on the OS or the like on the program reading side, for example, a program is stored in the storage medium. An icon or the like for identification display may also be stored.

Further, data dependent on various programs is also managed in the directory. Also, a program for installing various programs on a computer, and a program for decompressing a program to be installed when the program to be installed is compressed, may be stored in some cases.

The functions shown in FIGS. 3, 7 and 8 in the present embodiment may be executed by a host computer by a program installed from the outside.
In this case, the present invention is applied even when a group of information including a program is supplied to the output device from a storage medium such as a CD-ROM, a flash memory, or an FD, or from an external storage medium via a network. Things.

As described above, the storage medium storing the program codes of the software for realizing the functions of the above-described embodiment is supplied to the system or the apparatus, and the computer (or CPU or MP) of the system or the apparatus is supplied.
It goes without saying that the object of the present invention is also achieved when U) reads and executes the program code stored in the storage medium.

In this case, the program code itself read from the storage medium realizes the novel function of the present invention, and the storage medium storing the program code constitutes the present invention.

As a storage medium for supplying the program code, for example, a floppy disk, hard disk, optical disk, magneto-optical disk, CD-ROM, C
DR, magnetic tape, nonvolatile memory card, RO
M, EEPROM and the like can be used.

When the computer executes the readout program code, not only the functions of the above-described embodiment are realized, but also the OS (Operating System) running on the computer based on the instruction of the program code. ) And the like perform part or all of the actual processing, and the processing realizes the functions of the above-described embodiments.

Further, after the program code read from the storage medium is written into a memory provided in a function expansion board inserted into the computer or a function expansion unit connected to the computer, based on the instructions of the program code, The CPU provided in the function expansion board or function expansion unit performs part or all of the actual processing,
It goes without saying that a case where the function of the above-described embodiment is realized by the processing is also included.

[0071]

As described above, according to the first aspect of the present invention, there is provided an information processing apparatus capable of communicating with a desired server via a predetermined communication medium, wherein the information processing apparatus is set for operation of the apparatus. Storage means for storing internal information to be stored; acquisition means for acquiring an HTML document via the communication medium; and a character string designated by an ACTION attribute of a FORM element by analyzing the HTML document acquired by the acquisition means And a setting unit for automatically changing and setting the internal information in the storage unit based on the pattern detected by the detection unit. The content of the internal information to be changed can be automatically changed and set, the key input operation by the user can be reduced, and the setup environment can be greatly improved.

According to the second and third aspects of the present invention, there is provided a storage means for storing internal information to be set for the operation of the apparatus via a predetermined communication medium, and an information processing apparatus capable of communicating with a desired server. An information processing method in an apparatus, or having a storage unit for storing internal information to be set to access a desired server via a predetermined communication medium, and capable of communicating with the desired server based on the internal information A computer-readable storage medium storing a computer-readable program for controlling an information processing apparatus, comprising:
An acquisition step of acquiring a document, a detection step of analyzing the HTML document acquired in the acquisition step, and detecting a predetermined pattern in a character string specified by an action attribute of a form; A setting step of automatically changing and setting the internal information in the storage means based on the pattern, whereby the content of the internal information to be set for the operation of the apparatus can be automatically changed and set, and the operation of the apparatus by the user can be performed. Therefore, the key input operation can be reduced and the setup environment can be greatly improved.

Therefore, the contents of the internal information to be set for the operation of the apparatus can be automatically changed and set, and even if the number of apparatuses to be set by the user increases, the load of the setting input operation from the keyboard is greatly increased. This has the advantage that the setup operation for operating the device can be significantly reduced.

[Brief description of the drawings]

FIG. 1 is a block diagram illustrating an example of an information processing system to which an information processing apparatus according to a first embodiment of the present invention can be applied.

FIG. 2 is a diagram showing a data structure of a drawing element generated by an HTML analysis unit shown in FIG.

FIG. 3 is a flowchart illustrating an example of a first data processing procedure in the information processing apparatus according to the present invention.

FIG. 4 is a diagram illustrating a data structure of a FORM entry created in a FORM-related element processing unit illustrated in FIG. 1;

FIG. 5 is a diagram illustrating an example of an HTML document loaded by the HTTP processing unit illustrated in FIG. 1;

FIG. 6 is a diagram illustrating an example of a server setting screen displayed on the display device illustrated in FIG. 1;

FIG. 7 is a flowchart illustrating an example of a second data processing procedure in the information processing apparatus according to the present invention.

FIG. 8 is a flowchart illustrating an example of a third data processing procedure in the information processing apparatus according to the present invention.

FIG. 9 is a diagram showing an example of an HTML document displayed on the display device shown in FIG.

FIG. 10 is an HTML displayed on the display device shown in FIG.
FIG. 4 is a diagram illustrating an example of a document.

FIG. 11 is a diagram showing an example of a setting screen displayed on the display device shown in FIG.

FIG. 12 is a block diagram illustrating an example of an information processing system to which an information processing device according to a second embodiment of the present invention can be applied.

FIG. 13 is a diagram showing an example of a dialog box displayed on the display device shown in FIG.

FIG. 14 is a diagram illustrating a memory map of a storage medium that stores various data processing programs that can be read by an information processing system to which the information processing device according to the present invention can be applied.

[Explanation of symbols]

 DESCRIPTION OF SYMBOLS 1 Information processing apparatus 2 Web server 3 HTTP processing part 4 HTML analysis part 5 Document shaping part 6 GUI management part 7 FORM related element processing part 8 Scheme discrimination part 9 Internal information management part

Claims (3)

[Claims] 1. An information processing apparatus capable of communicating with a desired server via a predetermined communication medium, comprising: storage means for storing internal information to be set for operation of the apparatus; and Acquiring means for acquiring an HTML document; detecting means for analyzing the HTML document acquired by the acquiring means to detect a predetermined pattern in a character string specified by an action attribute of a form; A setting unit for automatically changing and setting the internal information in the storage unit based on the pattern. 2. An information processing apparatus, comprising: storage means for storing internal information to be set for operation of the apparatus via a predetermined communication medium, and capable of communicating with a desired server based on the internal information. A method comprising: acquiring an HTML document via the communication medium; and analyzing the HTML document acquired by the acquiring step to detect a predetermined pattern in a character string specified by an action attribute of a form. An information processing method, comprising: a detecting step of performing the setting; and a setting step of automatically changing and setting the internal information in the storage unit based on the pattern detected by the detecting step. 3. A storage means for storing internal information to be set for operation of the apparatus via a predetermined communication medium, and controls an information processing apparatus capable of communicating with a desired server based on the internal information. A storage medium storing a computer-readable program, wherein the obtaining step obtains an HTML document via the communication medium; and the HTML document obtained in the obtaining step is analyzed to specify the HTML document by an action attribute of a form. And a setting step of automatically changing and setting the internal information in the storage unit based on the pattern detected in the detection step. A storage medium that stores a computer-readable program.