Patent Application
20080222543
This application is based upon and claims the benefit of priority from the prior Japanese Patent Application No. 2007-61002, filed on Mar. 9, 2007 and Japanese Patent Application No. 2007-131064, filed on May 16, 2007 the entire contents of which are incorporated herein by reference.
This invention relates to an information processing method, display method, control method and database of information transferred between information terminals in multiple languages.
When managing personal information, a database for personal information such as an address list or phone book is used. In many cases, the owner of the database is required to exchange the database information with others, since it also includes a set of information about the means (contact information) used to contact others. Verbal communication such as face-to-face communication or telephonic communication, paper media exchange like business cards or exchanging information through E-mail, etc. are examples of exchanging contact information.
When exchanging contact information through the internet, some kind of standard data format should be used instead of using free formats such as E-mail, since the receiver converts the received information to a database before use. Therefore, standard formats, such as vCard standardized by the IMC (Internet Mail Consortium) is widely used. In vCard, the data format is standardized for exchanging not only basic personal information such as names, addresses, various phone numbers, e-mail addresses, Internet URL's (Universal Resource Locator), but also photos, logos, voice data and public keys. Such standard data formats have been used widely as an infrastructure for exchanging contact information through various e-mail clients, computer telephony address lists or groupware of schedule management, etc. For example, Outlook (registered trademark) of Microsoft and Lotus (registered trademark) Organizer of IBM are typical application software for exchanging personal information in vCard format.
For example, according to the vCard specifications described in Electronic Business Card Version 2.1, Versit Consortium Specification, September 18, (1996), there are 13 property parameters of phone numbers which have been defined that can be exchanged in vCard format namely; Preference number (PREF), Company (WORK), Home (HOME), Voice (VOICE), Fax (FAX), Message service (MSG), Cell number (CELL), Pager (PAGER), Bulletin board (BBS), Modem (MODEM), Car phone (CAR), ISDN (ISDN) and Videophone (VIDEO). By using this, if “TEL; PREF; WORK; CELL: 03-3456-7890” is described according to the vCard specifications, the application software on a communication partner's computer automatically identifies that the phone number is the company's cell number and it is a number used more preferentially compared to other numbers.
However, in vCard, there are 2 problems as mentioned below, when exchanging personal information in the standard data format.
The first problem is that the property parameters which are not defined in the standard data format for exchanging personal information cannot be exchanged. For example, when exchanging a phone number using vCard, since only the above-mentioned 13 property parameters are defined in vCard version 2.1, even though the Skype (registered trademark) name is sent, which is the contact destination of Skype (registered trademark) that is widely used at present as free internet telephony, the application software that receives the contact information cannot identify the property parameter of that telephone number. Similarly, the attributes of Furigana, which are widely used in Japanese language for writing names and addresses, are not defined in vCard version 2.1; therefore, Furigana cannot be exchanged through vCard. Therefore, it is not easy to formulate derived specifications of vCard according to area-wise linguistic notations, or implement standard data formats for uniform processing of various notations across the world and are not currently available.
The second problem is; even in the case where personal information of property parameters, or in more general terms, attributes, which are defined in a standard data format for exchanging personal information, is exchanged, in application software that uses the data obtained in the standard data format for exchanging personal information, there is no method for displaying the data on a Graphical User Interface (GUI) in a concise and user-friendly format. An example of a display method in the present application software is shown in
According to one aspect of the present invention an information terminal comprises a receiver, said receiver receiving an identification tag, said identification tag having a plurality of sets of information including first information and attribute information which is correlated with said first information, a storage device, said storage device storing said identification tag and said plurality of information sets and a display, said display displaying said first information, said first information being correlated with said attribute information based on said attribute information which is selected by a user from said plurality of sets of information.
According to one aspect of the present invention a server comprises a microprocessor, said microprocessor creating a plurality of sets of information including first information and attribute information, said attribute information is used to control displaying said first information, said microprocessor assembling said plurality of sets of information and creating an identification tag which includes assembled said plurality of sets of information, said identification tag and said plurality of sets of information being sent to an information terminal.
According to one aspect of the present invention, an information processing method comprises creating a plurality of sets of information including first information and attribute information by a microprocessor, said attribute information is used to control displaying said first information, assembling said plurality of sets of information and creating an identification tag which includes assembled said plurality of sets of information by said microprocessor, said identification tag and said plurality of sets of information being sent to an information terminal, receiving said identification tag by an information terminal, said identification tag having said plurality of sets of information including said first information and said attribute information which is correlated with said first information, storing said identification tag and said plurality of information sets in said information terminal; and displaying said first information on said information terminal, said first information being correlated with said attribute information based on said attribute information which is selected by a user from said plurality of sets of information.
To implement the present invention, a description of the best configuration currently possible is given below. The scope of the present invention is defined clearly by that of the accompanying claims. This description should not be interpreted in a limited sense; its aim is to simply exemplify the general principle of the invention.
This invention can be used for exchanging personal information between various information terminals which are connected to a network. Any device such as personal computers, portable information terminals, fixed-line telephones, cellular phones, televisions, video recorders, cameras, video cameras, portable music players, etc. can be used as information terminals. Further, the type of information terminal of the disclosing party of the personal information and the type of information terminal of the recipient of the disclosed personal information do not have to be the same. For example, according to the method of this invention, the information disclosed through a cell phone can be received on a personal computer and it can be displayed on the display unit. Moreover, the method of this invention can be used to transfer personal information between a server and an information terminal. By using the method mentioned in this invention, in addition to personal information, information such as documents, still images, video clips, URLs (Universal Resource Locater), secret keys and public keys can also be transferred. For ease of understanding, the exchange of personal information between information terminals is explained in the example below; however, the scope of application of this invention is not restricted only to the exchange of personal information.
If “Ichiro Suzuki” and
is currently stored in memory unit 23 of information terminal 21 of User A. Moreover, the entire name information is stored by correlating it with a display attribute as in the case of vCard. For example, display attributes such as “KOREA” 26 indicating the country name and the Hangul script
are linked with the Hangul notation 25 shown below.
In this invention, the information to be disclosed such as 5 types of names given in the example in
The above-mentioned situations are considered in this invention. For exchanging personal information between information terminals, this invention provides a method for user-friendly display and control of the attribute information, which is not defined in the standard data format used for exchanging the personal information, or area/country-specific notations, so that the screen display will not be complicated. In this method, the screen display is flexible and can be easily managed.
The constituent elements of information terminal 22 of User B shown in
In the second step, a microprocessor 102 executes the processes according to instructions from application software 112 that manages the personal information such as an address list used in this invention. This application software 112 operates on an operating system 111, which is installed in the main memory unit (storage device) 104. As a result, a Graphical User Interface (henceforth referred to as GUI) 121 displays the information through a display controller on a display unit 107. According to the methods of this invention, a window 122 used to display or enter a name and a window 123 used for display attribute selection are provided on this GUI. There may be one or more windows on the GUI. User B uses input devices such as a keyboard 105 or a mouse 106 to operate the window 123 for display attribute selection. From the list of display attributes registered in the external memory unit 24 in the first step, User B can select the notation attributes with which the name information disclosed by other users including A, is to be displayed in window 122 (Step S402). In the example shown in
which indicates Korean characters in window 123b, in order to display the name information disclosed to User B by others, including User A, so that the information is displayed in window 122 used to display or enter the name in Korean notations.
Once again, “Ichiro Suzuki” and
that are sent from the terminal of User A, are tagged with respective display attributes. Further, all are tagged with the unique identification tag of A and then stored in the memory unit 24 of User B's terminal. Here, for general description, User A has taken country name, notation system etc. as an example of attribute information correlated with the information of each name. However, any information can be taken as an example of an attribute of these names. For example, User A is the person sending name information and the preference order to be displayed can be considered as attribute information. “Default attribute” showing the name information to be displayed on information terminal UGI 121 of User B when the attribute information correlated with the name information sent by User A in the third step to the information terminal of User B is not available in the attribute information selected by User B in the second step mentioned above, can also be the attribute information.
In the fourth step, if by using Mouse 106 etc. User B instructs the application software 112, which manages personal information such as an address list mentioned previously, to display the name of User A (S405), this application software 112 searches whether there exists any display attribute that is already selected in the second step through the operations of window for display attributes selection, in the display attributes of names, which are sent from User A in the third step and which are tagged with the identification tag of A registered in the external memory unit 24 (Step S406). If it exists, it displays the name information having attribute that is selected in second step, in window 122 used to display or enter the name (Step S410). If it does not exist, the application software 112 does not display the information in window 122 (Step S408). However, when the translation program 109 exists in the main memory of the information terminal of B, by using this program the name of A is translated (Step S409) into the information of notation that is already selected in the second step, and then this translated name is displayed in window 122 (Step S410). In the example shown in
indicating Hangul (Korean character) is selected in window 123b for display attribute selection, the Hangul notation of i.e.
is displayed in window 122 used to display or enter the name.
In the fifth step, according to the attribute already selected in window 123 by B in the second step, the name display of A displayed in window 122 used to display or enter the name in the fourth step is changed to display attributes other than that of the name correlated with A's identification tag stored in the external memory unit in the third step, by operating window 123 with the help of mouse 106 etc. (Step S412). The notation desired by User B from the display attributes disclosed by other users including User A, can be displayed in window 122. For example, in the second step as shown in
when “KOREA” indicating Korean language is selected in window 123a, 1) Click the button 51 for alternative display (shown in
stored in the external memory unit 24 in the third step will be displayed in window 122 shown in
As a result of this embodiment 1, in the application software of an address list or phone book which uses this invention, the recipient of disclosed information can select the display attribute in advance from the various methods of displaying the names disclosed by the disclosing party. As a result, the recipient of disclosed information can easily access or use the name of a disclosing party by using a simple and intuitive GUI. Generally, the disclosed notations need not be always displayed on the GUI for the recipient of disclosed information. For example, when a British person discloses private information to a Korean person, English and Hangul notation need not be always included in the Name field on the GUI of the Korean person's address list or phone book. In such a case, as a user of the application software of an address list, phone book etc. which uses this invention, the Korean recipient of disclosed information can specify the Hangul notation in advance in the second step of embodiment 1. Thus the address list or phone book can be made more user-friendly by using the simple and intuitive GUI.
In this embodiment, the name of a discloser has been used as an example of the information which the discloser sent to and displayed on a recipient's terminal but any information can be such information.
In this embodiment 1, attributes of the information set sent from user A's terminal to user B's terminal do not include the attribute which was selected by user B in step S402 in advance. In this case, similar to Step S408, window 122 used to display or enter the name on GUI 121 can remain empty, however, any name from the names of User A, which are correlated with each attribute information and which are stored in the memory unit of the information terminal of User B in Step S404, can also be displayed in window 122. In the information terminal of User B, there are 3 methods mentioned below to select the name to be displayed in window 122 from the names of User A stored in Step S404.
Moreover, in the example in
Moreover, in embodiment 1, User B selects the display attribute in advance in the second step (Step S402), and the name correlated with that display attribute among the names disclosed to User B from other users including User A, is displayed on GUI (Step S411). It is also possible to control the display attribute in the component on the GUI that displays or controls the display attribute as shown in window 123 for display attribute selection in the example in
Moreover, in the third step of embodiment 1, the information terminal 22 of User B obtains the information when User A, who is the disclosing party, sends the name information correlated with attribute information, from its information terminal 21 to the information terminal 22 of User B. However, the name information correlated with the attribute information can be stored in a third server and user B can request this third server for the name information correlated with the attribute information of User A. When the information terminal 22 of User B receives this information from terminal 21 directly or through a third server it is stored in the memory unit of the information terminal 22 of User B by tagging with the identification tag of User A.
In embodiment 2, with the help of application software in the present invention, User B, who is the recipient of disclosed information, can use a flexible and simple GUI by selecting the display attribute of information of disclosing party A, to be displayed, before the disclosure by A. However, under present circumstances, it is not always necessary for the disclosing party A to disclose in the notations according to the language and attributes desired by recipient B. For example, as shown in
cannot be displayed in window 122 used to display the name. Moreover, in another example, when an American, who is the user of the application software of an address list or phone book of this invention, is the disclosing party, and when they have the notation of Indian Gujarati language stored in memory unit 23 on their own information terminal, there is little possibility of disclosing the information to other users. However, an Indian person who knows this American may desire the notations in Gujarati language in the application software of their address list or phone book. Embodiment 2 is a method for resolving this problem. Further, the description of embodiment 2 given below is shown in the form of a flowchart in
In first step of Embodiment 2, a display attribute list with the names to be disclosed in future by other users is registered in the external memory unit 24 exactly the same as in the first step of embodiment 1 mentioned above (S601). For example, the application software 112 that manages personal information such as an address list which uses this invention, registers all country names that are likely to be used and the names of various notation systems in these countries etc. in the external memory unit 24.
In this invention, GUI121 consists of window 122 used to display or enter the name and window 123 for the precedence setting of display attribute. In the second step, similar to the second step in embodiment 1 mentioned above, User B uses input devices such as keyboard 105 or mouse 106 to operate the window for precedence setting of a display attribute. From the attribute display list registered in external memory unit 24 in the first step, User B can select the language and notation attributes with which the name information disclosed by other users including A, is to be displayed in window 122 (S602). This precedence can also be directly input in window 123 for precedence setting of a display attribute and in another window for precedence settings of a display attribute created by application software 112. In the example shown in
In the third step, similar to the third step in embodiment 1, User A discloses the information to User B by sending it from A's terminal 21 to the information terminal 22 of User B through the internet or a network (S603). In the example in “Ichiro Suzuki” and
are stored after correlating with the display attribute of respective character information.
In the fourth step, when User B instructs the application software 112, which manages personal information such as an address list etc. mentioned previously, to display the name of User A (S605), this application software searches whether there exists any information of attributes, which are sent from User A in the third step of embodiment 2 and which are already set through the operations of precedence setting window 123 of attributes in the second step of this embodiment 2, in the display attributes of the name tagged with the identification tag of A registered in external memory unit 24 (S606). If there is only one attribute, the name correlated with that display attribute; and if there are more than two attributes, the name correlated with the display attribute having the highest precedence that is input in the second step of this embodiment, is displayed in window 122 used to display or enter the name (S610). For example, in the example shown in
Moreover, in the state where the name is displayed in window 122 by using the method in this embodiment 2, it is possible to change the precedence order (S612) from window 123 used for precedence display and input in the display attribute of a name tagged with the identification tag of A. The precedence can be changed either by using precedence setting window 123 of direct attributes, or by using a separate precedence order input window that is created by application software 112. Moreover, in the state where the name is displayed by using the method given in embodiment 2, the attribute to be displayed can be selected directly similar to the method mentioned in the second step of embodiment 1, irrespective of the precedence order.
In embodiment 1, there is the problem where no name is displayed on name window 122 when no name with an attribute which was previously selected by user B through window 123 is disclosed by user A. However, this problem is resolved in embodiment 2.
Moreover, as an example of this embodiment 2, the name is used as information, which is disclosed by the disclosing party, and is displayed on the GUI by the recipient of the disclosed information, however, any other information can also be used instead.
In the example in this embodiment 2 mentioned above, among the display attributes of the names of A that is sent from the information terminal of A to B, it is not necessary to include the display attribute, which displays the name that is selected by User B in advance in the second step (Step S602) and that is disclosed to User B from other users including User A on a GUI, in the fourth step mentioned above. In the case of no precedence order being set in step 602, similar to Step S608, window 122 used to display or enter the name on GUI 121 can remain empty, however, any name from the names of User A, which are correlated with each attribute information and which are stored in the memory unit of the information terminal of User B in Step S604, can also be displayed in window 122. To do so, in the information terminal of User B, there are 3 methods mentioned below to select the name to be displayed in window 122 from the names of User A stored in Step S604.
Moreover, in the example in
Moreover, in embodiment 2, User B selects the display attribute in advance in the second step (Step S602), and the name correlated with that display attribute among the names disclosed to User B from other users including User A, is displayed on the GUI (Step S611). It is also possible to control the display attribute in the component on the GUI that displays or controls the display attribute as shown in window 123 for display attribute selection in the example in
Moreover, in the third step of embodiment 2, the information terminal 22 of User B obtains the information when User A, who is the disclosing party, sends the name information correlated with attribute information, from its information terminal 21 to the information terminal 22 of User B. The name information associated with the attribute information can be stored in a third server correlated with the attribute information of User A. User B makes a request to this third server for the name information correlated with the attribute information of User A through information terminal 22, and this server sends this information to the information terminal of User B. Thus, when the information terminal 22 of User B receives this information, it is stored in the memory unit of the information terminal 22 of User B by tagging with the identification tag of User A.
In embodiment 1 and 2 mentioned above, the display attributes, which can display the name information disclosed by other users, are already registered in external memory unit 24 of the information terminal of B, who is the recipient of the disclosed information before disclosure. However, sometimes the disclosing party may actually send the attributes information which has not been registered in this step. In the case of information such as Name, which is explained with an example in embodiment 1 and 2, if all languages across the world and the notations used in each language are registered, this type of problem is not likely to occur. However, in the third step of embodiment 1 or 2, when User A adds information regarding a URL as to what type of information that URL relates to, as attribute information in the particular URL of the internet, and when the name information is disclosed to User B, then there is little possibility of the attribute information, required by the recipient of disclosed information from the disclosing party, being registered in the external memory unit 24 of its information terminal. Therefore, the information desired by the recipient of disclosed information may not be displayed in the window for information display. This problem can be resolved by using the method mentioned in embodiment 3. The flowchart for embodiment 3 is given in
In the first step of this embodiment 3, similar to the third step in embodiment 1 and 2 mentioned above, User A discloses the information to User B by sending it from its terminal 21 to the information terminal 22 of User B through an inter-network or network (S801). In the example in “Ichiro Suzuki” and
sent from the terminal of User A are stored in the memory unit 24 of the terminal of User B, by tagging with the identification tag for User A along with respective display attributes.
In the second step, B instructs the application software 112, which manages personal information such as an address list etc., to display the name of A (S803), and this application software reads from the main memory unit 104, the list of display attributes of the name tagged with the identification tag of A from the information which is sent from terminal 21 of User A and which is stored in the external memory unit in the first step of embodiment 3 mentioned above. According to the methods of this invention, this GUI consists of window 122 used for display or input of a name and window 123 for display attribute selection. There can be one or more windows. Moreover, B displays the list of display attributes of a name tagged with the identification tag of A on GUI 121, which is read from the main memory unit in this step by operating the window 123 for display attributes selection (S804). In the example in
are displayed as a list of display attributes of the name tagged with the identification tag of User A as mentioned in the first step above. User B can specify the display attribute of the name to be displayed on window 112 for displaying a name in
indicating Korean characters is selected in the notation selection window, then Korean notation
indicating Ichiro Suzuki is displayed on window 122 used to display or enter the name.
As a result of embodiment 3, it is possible to control the language and notation of the name information, which have not been registered by the recipient of disclosed information before disclosure and which is displayed on a GUI of the recipient of disclosed information, on the basis of information of language or notation attributes correlated with the information disclosed by the disclosing party to the recipient of the disclosed information. Moreover, this embodiment 3 can be used in combination with embodiment 1 or 2 mentioned above.
In embodiment 1, 2 and 3 mentioned above, in the state where language or notation attributes are correlated, A, who is the disclosing party, discloses various notations of their own name to B, who is the recipient of the disclosed information. B, who is the recipient of the disclosed information, controls the names of A displayed on the GUI of the information terminal of B, on the basis of the language or attributes information correlated by A. However generally, the recipient of disclosed information needs to manage the information by assigning the names to it regardless of the information disclosed by the disclosing party. For example, B, who is the recipient of the disclosed information, may call A, who is the disclosing party, by a nickname. However, A, the same disclosing party, may not be called by the same nickname by other users. In such a case, since the nickname given to A by B is only identifying A by B themselves, B should be able to overwrite the name of A or attributes information correlated with this name, regardless of the name notations disclosed by A in order to identify A in the application software of address list of this information terminal. This problem can be solved by the methods in this embodiment 4. A flow chart for embodiment 4 is given in
By using the methods given in this embodiment 4, the fourth step in embodiment 1 and embodiment 2 mentioned above, or the second step in embodiment 3 are completed, and the subsequent processes are started in the state where the name of A is displayed in window 122 (S413 in
Referring to
Moreover, in the second step, User B uses the mouse to select window 123 for attribute selection and can enter any character string in window 123. Similarly, B uses the keyboard to enter attribute information related to a nickname that is entered in the first step mentioned above (S1002). Here, for example; various information such as language, notation system or personally defined nickname etc. is entered.
Further, in the third step, information such as the nickname of A etc. entered by B in the first and second steps mentioned above is stored in the external memory unit tagged with A's identification tag (S1003). Here, in the third step of embodiment 1 (S404), the third step of embodiment 2 (S604) or the second step of embodiment 3 (S802); the information such as nickname and its correlated display attributes stored in the third step of embodiment 4 is added to the database containing multiple names of A and respective display attributes stored in the external memory unit tagged with A's identification tag and is stored in an external memory unit.
Further in the fourth step, again by referring to
Further, when B's information terminal is instructed to display A's name (S1005), a name that includes a nickname, which is entered in this embodiment and which is correlated with that display attribute, is displayed in window 122 used to display or enter the name (S1006).
| Number | Date | Country | Kind |
|---|---|---|---|
| P2007-061002 | Mar 2007 | JP | national |
| P2007-131064 | May 2007 | JP | national |
