1. Field of the Invention
The present invention relates to an apparatus for recording data indicative of user operations, and more particularly, to a recording method for automatically recording data on operations in use of online services which seem to be important for the user.
2. Description of the Related Art
The online services such as online shopping and online banking have become widely used with the wide spread of PCs (personal computers) and the Internet. Meanwhile, a system trouble or user's operational mistake causes an incorrect order or incorrect remittance, and a trouble occurs between a service provider (bank or shopping mall) and a user. In order to solve the trouble early, recording, as a proof, of user's action on service use is demanded.
For this purpose, a technology for recording a history of user access to a service server is proposed (e.g., Japanese Laid-open Patent Publication No. 2006-146371).
Even if the history of user access to the service server is available, it does not show the specific operations of the user. Continuous recording of data indicative of user operations is not practical because it needs enormous resources. Recording when the user determines to be important is bothersome for the user and the recording is easily forgotten. Accordingly, it is an object of the present invention to provide a recording apparatus that automatically records data indicative of user operations that seem to be important for the user.
According to one aspect of the present invention, provided is a recording apparatus for recording data indicative of user operations. The recording apparatus includes a monitor which monitors a sending process or receiving process of a communication message to acquire the message, a start determiner which determines, by analyzing acquired communication message, whether to start a recording process of data indicative of user operations executed after sending or receiving the acquired communication message, and an operation recorder which starts the recording process in accordance with a determination result in the start determiner.
The start determiner of the recording apparatus may include at least one of a first determiner, a second determiner, and a third determiner. The first determiner determines to start the recording process when the acquired communication message complies with a cipher communication protocol, and outputs a determination result indicating an instruction of starting the recording process. The second determiner determines to start the recording process when a source of an acquired receiving communication message or a destination of an acquired sending communication message is a predetermined server, and outputs a determination result indicating an instruction of starting the recording process. The third determiner determines to start the recording process on the basis of a content of the acquired communication message, and outputs a determination result indicating an instruction of starting the recording process.
The operation recorder of the recording apparatus may include at least one of a first recorder and a second recorder. The first recorder records, as the data indicative of user operations, screen data for a screen image displayed during the user operations. The second recorder records, as the data indicative of user operations, data input during the user operations.
The operation recorder of the recording apparatus may send, as the recording process, the data indicative of user operations to an apparatus connected through a communication network.
The start determiner of the recording apparatus may identify, on the basis of the acquired communication message, a session management process of a sending process or receiving process of the acquired communication message and determines whether to start the recording process for each of identified session management processes, and the operation recorder may record data indicative of user operations accepted by a window management process corresponding to each of the identified session management processes.
The recording apparatus may further include a notice issuer which issues, during the recording process, a notice to the effect that a recording process is going.
The recording apparatus may further include a prior notice issuer which issues, upon outputting a determination result indicating an instruction of starting the recording process, a prior notice to the effect that a recording process is about to start. The operation recorder starts the recording process of data indicative of user operations after the prior notice has been issued.
The operation recorder of the recording apparatus may record, along with the data indicative of user operations, data of a source of an acquired receiving communication message or a destination of an acquired sending communication message.
The recording apparatus may further include at least one of a first end determiner, a second end determiner, a third end determiner, and a fourth end determiner. The first end determiner determines to end the recording process after a predetermined time from a start of the recording process, and instructs end of the recording process. The second end determiner determines to end the recording process upon detecting an access to a server different from a server as a source of an acquired receiving communication message or a destination of an acquired sending communication message, and instructs end of the recording process. The third end determiner determines to end the recording process upon detecting a closing of a window managed by a window management process corresponding to a session management process of a sending process or receiving process of the acquired communication message on the basis thereof the recording process has been determined to start, and instructs end of the recording process. The fourth end determiner determines to end the recording process after a predetermined time of absence of user operations after a start of the recording process, and instructs end of the recording process.
Hereinafter, discussions will be given on embodiments of the present invention with reference to the drawings.
A recording apparatus according to a first embodiment of the present invention is constructed on a personal computer (PC) that communicates with a service server through the Internet.
Functions of the communicator 12, the Web browser 14, and the I/O unit 16 are similar to those provided for the existing PC. The controller 40 executes all functions, that are not explicitly discussed in the specification, of the recording apparatus 2, including functions of a normal PC.
Hereinafter, the first embodiment of the present invention will be discussed using case examples. In the first embodiment of the present invention, the recording process of data indicative of user operations starts upon sending or receiving a communication message satisfying a predetermined condition via the communicator 12. Further, the recording process ends upon satisfying another predetermined condition. In the following example, the recording process starts upon accessing a pre-registered specific URL (Uniform Resource Locator) and ends upon accessing another site.
(Operation S102) The monitor 18 monitors whether the communicator 12 is about to send a communication message for accessing the Web.
(Operation S104) When the communicator 12 is about to send the communication message for accessing the Web (Yes in Operation S102), the monitor 18 suspends the sending process of the communication message in the communicator 12.
(Operation S106) The start determiner 20 checks whether the operation recorder 26 is recording data indicative of user operations.
(Operation S108) If the operation recorder 26 is not recording data indicative of user operations (No in Operation S106), the start determiner 20 checks whether the URL of the access destination is stored in the condition storage 24. If the URL of the access destination is not stored in the condition storage 24 (No in Operation S108), the process advances to Operation S116.
(Operation S110) If the URL of the access destination is stored in the condition storage 24 (Yes in Operation S108), the prior notice issuer 30 outputs via the I/O unit 16 a prior notice to the effect that the recording process of data indicative of user operations is about to start.
(Operation S112) The start determiner 20 instructs the operation recorder 26 to start the recording process of data indicative of user operations.
(Operation S114) The notice issuer 32 starts an output, via the I/O unit 16, of a notice to the effect that the recording process of data indicative of user operations is going.
(Operation S116) The monitor 18 resumes the sending process of the communication message in the communicator 12. Thereafter, the process advances to Operation S102.
(Operation S118) If the operation recorder 26 is recording data indicative of user operations (Yes in Operation S106), the end determiner 22 checks whether the URL of the access destination is one in another site. If the URL of the access destination is not one in another site (No in Operation S118), the process advances to Operation S116.
(Operation S120) If the URL of the access destination is one in another site (Yes in Operation S118), the end determiner 22 instructs the operation recorder 26 to end the recording process of data indicative of user operations.
(Operation S122) The notice issuer 32 ends the output of the notice to the effect that the recording process of data indicative of user operations is going. Thereafter, the process advances to Operation S108.
According to the first embodiment of the present invention, captured data of a display image within a display window of the Web browser and input data from an input device such as a mouse or keyboard are recorded as the data indicative of user operations.
(Operation S202) The operation recorder 26 creates and opens a file for storing operation data and writes the URL of the access destination to the file for storing the operation data. Further, the operation recorder 26 identifies a session management process of the sending process of the communication message. Herein, the session management process manages only a single session.
(Operation S204) The operation recorder 26 sets a capture interval (e.g., 100 ms) to a timer for screen capture.
(Operation S206) The operation recorder 26 checks whether the user performs input operations for window management process corresponding to the session management process identified in Operation S202. If the user does not perform input operations (No in Operation S206), the process advances to Operation S210. Herein, a window management process corresponds to only a single session management process. That is, a plurality of sessions are not kept in parallel therewith in an operation window managed by one window management process. When a plurality of screens with tabs are displayed in one operation window and sessions varying depending on the screens with the tabs are kept, each process managing each of the screens with the tabs is assumed as the window management process.
(Operation S208) If the user performs input operations (Yes in Operation S206), the operation recorder 26 records input data.
(Operation S210) The operation recorder 26 checks whether the remaining time of the timer for screen capture is 0. If the remaining time of the timer for screen capture is not 0 (No in Operation S210), the process advances to Operation S216.
(Operation S212) If the remaining time of the timer for screen capture is 0 (Yes in Operation S210), the operation recorder 26 captures and records screen data.
(Operation S214) The operation recorder 26 sets the capture interval to the timer for screen capture.
(Operation S216) The operation recorder 26 checks whether the end determiner 22 has instructed to end the recording process. If the end determiner 22 has not instructed to end the recording process (No in Operation S216), the process advances Operation S206.
(Operation S218) If the end determiner 22 has instructed to end the recording process (Yes in Operation S216), the operation recorder 26 closes the file for storing the operation data, and stores the closed file in the operation storage 28.
According to the first embodiment of the present invention, recording process of data indicative of user operations starts when the user starts to access a specific URL registered in advance. The recording process continues while the user accesses the site. When the user starts to access another site, the recording process of data indicative of user operations ends. However, if the URL of the access destination upon accessing another site is another specific one registered in advance, the recording process of data indicative of user operations starts again.
According to the first embodiment of the present invention, the start timing of the recording process of data indicative of user operations is set to when a specific URL registered in advance is accessed. The present invention is not limited to this and an arbitrary condition may be set. For example, the start timing of the recording process may be set to when a communication message from a specific source registered in advance is received. Alternatively, the start timing of the recording process may be set to when a communication message complying with an encryption communication protocol is sent or received. Further, alternatively, the recording process may start on the basis of contents of the communication message to be sent or received. Furthermore, the recording process may start upon satisfying any of a plurality of arbitrary conditions including the above conditions. Hereinafter, a discussion will be given on an example of the recording process started when the communication message complying with an encryption communication protocol is sent.
According to the first embodiment of the present invention, the end timing of the recording process of data indicative of user operations is set to when the user starts to access another site. However, the present invention is not limited to this and an arbitrary condition may be set. As an example, the recording process may end after the passage of a predetermined time from the start of the recording process. Alternatively, the recording process may end upon closing the display window that displays the screen image of the Web access. Further, alternatively, the recording process may end when the user does not perform the input operation for a predetermined time. Furthermore, alternatively, the recording process may end upon satisfying any of arbitrary conditions including the above ones.
According to the first embodiment of the present invention, it is possible to provide a recording apparatus that automatically records user operations that seem to be important for the user by detecting, in accordance with a predetermined condition, reception or transmission of a communication message that seems to be important for the user and keeping a record of subsequent user operations.
A recording apparatus according to a second embodiment of the present invention is arranged out of a client PC for communicating data with the service server through the Internet. Further, it is assumed that the user operates the client PC from a thin client through a communication network. Input data on the thin client is transmitted to the client PC, and frame data of the screen image to be output is transmitted to the thin client from the client PC.
A flow of process for instructing the start/end of the recording process in the recording apparatus 2 according to the second embodiment of the present invention is basically the same as the flowchart shown in
Since the I/O unit 16 is on a thin client 8, the operation recorder 26 acquires and records communication data sent or received between the thin client 8 and the client PC 6 through a communication work 7. The screen data to be recorded is not captured data of a display image within a display window of the Web browser, but frame data on the entire display screen. Therefore, a flow of the recording process of data indicative of user operations in the recording apparatus according to the second embodiment of the present invention is slightly different from the flowchart shown in
(Operation S302) The operation recorder 26 creates and opens a file for storing the operation data, and writes the IP address of the client PC as the access source and the URL of the access destination to the file for storing the operation data.
(Operation S306) The operation recorder 26 checks whether there is a communication message to be sent or received between the IP address of the client PC as the access source and the IP address of the thin client thereof. If there is not such a communication message (No in Operation S306), the process advances to Operation S316.
(Operation S308) If there is such a communication message (Yes in Operation S306), the operation recorder 26 records the communication message.
(Operation S316) The operation recorder 26 checks whether the end determiner 22 has instructed to end the recording process. If the end determiner 22 has not instructed to end the recording process (No in Operation S316), the process advances to Operation S306.
(Operation S318) If the end determiner 22 has instructed to end the recording process (Yes in Operation S316), the operation recorder 26 closes the file for storing the operation data and stores the closed file to the operation storage 28.
According to the second embodiment of the present invention, since the monitoring process and recording process are performed out of the client PC, the recording apparatus does not depend on software for operating the client PC, and the influence from virus invading on the client PC can be removed.
In the second embodiment of the present invention, the operation recorder 26 may be realized as a device separated from the recording apparatus 2. In this case, the operation recorder 26 communicates with the recording apparatus 2, and performs the recording process in response to an instruction from the recording apparatus 2. The operation storage 28 may be attached to the operation recorder 26 or may be alternatively attached to another device, separately from the operation recorder 26. If the operation storage 28 is separated from the operation recorder 26, the operation recorder 26 transmits the data indicative of user operations to the recording apparatus 2 or another device through a communication network.
The apparatus according to the embodiments of the present invention can be embodied as hardware or software of a computer. For example, by creating a program for enabling the computer to execute functions of the communicator 12, Web browser 14, monitor 18, start determiner 20, end determiner 22, operation recorder 26, prior notice issuer 30, notice issuer 32, and controller 40 and by reading the program to a memory of the computer and executing the program, the recording apparatus can be realized.
As shown in
The components in the recording apparatus according to the embodiments of the present invention may be realized by arbitrary combination thereof. A plurality of components may be realized as one member, or one component may include a plurality of members.
Number | Date | Country | Kind |
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2007-299063 | Nov 2008 | JP | national |