JP2002024105A - Group managing method and storage medium - Google Patents

Abstract

PROBLEM TO BE SOLVED: To easily perform the novel preparation of a group in small scale and to arbitrarily set or change the replacement or deletion of a member on the side of a member to take part in a group. SOLUTION: A server device (12) receives a group participation request added with a group name and a password from any one of a plurality of terminal equipments (14, 14,...) (step S01) and when there is no group having the relevant group name, a group is newly prepared (steps S04-S06) but when there is the group having the relevant group name, after matching of the password is confirmed (step S07), the participation in the group is permitted (steps S08 and S09).

Description

DETAILED DESCRIPTION OF THE INVENTION

[0001]

BACKGROUND OF THE INVENTION 1. Field of the Invention The present invention relates to a group management method and a storage medium suitable for dynamically constructing a network group of specific members (terminals, devices) in a network such as the Internet or an intranet.

[0002]

2. Description of the Related Art Conventionally, a plurality of specific users are grouped on a server connected to a network, and messages are exchanged among members of the group, file directories are shared, and terminals and devices (printers, scanners, etc.) are used. Some services provide management services such as usage restrictions.

[0003]

In this type of group management service, the creation and deletion of groups, the selection of participating members, etc. are all performed collectively on the server device (group management terminal) side. The members who have been unable to change them.

[0004] Therefore, it is possible for an individual member to form the same group as an unintended partner, or to be unable to act in a smaller group, and to be connected to a network. There was a problem that the members had a low degree of freedom, such as restrictions on the use of terminals or devices.

[0005] The present invention has been made in view of the above-mentioned circumstances, and its purpose is to easily create a new small group by the members participating in the group.
An object of the present invention is to provide a group management method and a storage medium capable of arbitrarily changing settings such as change and deletion of members.

[0006]

According to the first aspect of the present invention,
Used in a data communication system having a first communication device and a plurality of second communication devices mutually connectable via a network, the first communication device manages a group of communication devices connected to the network. A group management method to be performed, wherein a group participation request to which a group name and a password are added is transmitted from any one of the plurality of second communication device groups, and the first communication device receives the group participation request. Then, based on the received group participation request, if there is no group with the group name, create a new group, and if there is a group with the group name, confirm that the passwords match, and allow the group to join. It is characterized by.

[0007] According to this method, the group can be created and the participation in the created group can be set from the second communication device operated by the member. If the correct password is not used, the group can be set. Since it is not possible to participate in the group, only the member to whom the password has been distributed in advance can participate, and it is possible to surely prevent unintended members from participating in the group.

According to a second aspect of the present invention, in the first aspect of the present invention, the first communication device deletes a group attached with a password from one of the second communication devices participating in the group. Upon receiving the request, the group is deleted after confirming that the password matches.

According to this method, in addition to the effect of the invention described in claim 1, if a member who knows the correct password participating in the group, the group is terminated and deleted. Is also possible.

According to a third aspect of the present invention, in the first aspect of the present invention, the first communication device deletes the group when all the second communication devices participating in the group log out. It is characterized by doing.

According to such a method, in addition to the effect of the invention described in claim 1, the group can be automatically deleted when there are no more participating members.

According to a fourth aspect of the present invention, in the first aspect of the present invention, the second communication device holds a group name and a password of a group that has participated so far at the time of logout, and performs the next login. It is characterized in that a participation request is made using the group name and the password which are sometimes held.

According to this method, in addition to the operation of the first aspect of the present invention, the group name and the password of the group that has participated at the time of logout are retained, so that the same group can be stored. The input operation at the time of reconstruction can be simplified.

According to a fifth aspect of the present invention, there is provided a storage medium used in a group management communication device for group-managing a plurality of communication devices connected to a network, wherein the storage medium is provided from another communication device connected to the network. Based on the group join request to which the group name and password are sent, if there is no group with the group name, a new group is created, and if there is a group with the group name, the group is checked after matching the password. A control program including an instruction for causing a computer in the group management communication device to execute a group management step of permitting participation in the group management communication device.

With such storage contents, it is possible to create a group and set participation in the created group from the side of the second communication device operated by the member.
In addition, since it is impossible to participate in the group unless a correct password is used, only the members who have delivered the password in advance can participate, and it is possible to surely prevent unintended members from participating in the group.

[0016]

DETAILED DESCRIPTION OF THE PREFERRED EMBODIMENTS An embodiment in which a group management service on a network according to the present invention is applied to the Internet and an intranet system will be described below with reference to the drawings.

FIG. 1 shows a schematic configuration of the system. Reference numeral 11 denotes a network including the Internet, an intranet, and a public line network. For this network 11, a server device 12 as a first communication device for managing a network connection service which is data communication between groups, and a plurality of terminal devices 14 as a second communication device participating in the network connection service , 14, ‥
‥ is connected.

The network connection service is a service for dynamically or fixedly connecting the terminal devices 14, 14,... Connected to the network 11, and automatically switches the terminal to a server depending on whether or not the connection to the network 11 is possible. Registration / deletion to the device 12 or the server device 12
By registering the terminal in the terminal device 14, 14, 14,
... is a service for connecting to the network 11.

The server device 12 has a database (DB)
As shown in FIG. 2, the database 13 has user information (at least user I) of the terminal devices 14, 14,.
D, terminal identification number, attribute) and a group including group information (at least a group identification number, a password, a participating terminal identification number, an attribute) in which a group management service (described later) is registered as shown in FIG. The management table is stored.

In this user management table, user information or terminal information may be registered in advance, or may be dynamically registered or deleted.

Each of the terminal devices 14, 14,... Can execute a chat service, a file sharing service, and the like using a network connection service or a group management service on a network.
For example, a personal computer or a PDA (Personal Digital) having a character input unit and a display unit
Assistants), various information devices such as mobile phones.

The group management service includes a state transition of temporary or partial creation of a group on the network, login to the group, logout from the group, and deletion of the group. In the present embodiment, the group is deleted when there is no longer any participant in the group deletion request or net group from the terminal.
Once the group is registered in the group management service, the group information may be held unless the group is deleted.

Next, the operation of the above embodiment will be described.

FIG. 4 shows that the server 12 is the terminal 1
This indicates the contents of the group management service process to be executed in response to a request from the terminal device 4, 14, ‥‥, and initially receives a request to join a chat group from any of the terminal devices 14, 14, ‥‥. (Step S0
1) Whether or not a request to delete the participating group has been received (step S02), and whether or not a request to log out of the participating group has been received (step S0).
3), and waits for reception of these by repeatedly determining.

FIG. 5 shows a screen 1 in which any one of the terminal devices 14, 14,.
4a. In this example, after selecting to participate in the net group represented by the item name “enter”,
This shows a state where a group name and a password are input and set.

In the server device 12, the above step S01 is performed.
When it is determined that a request to join a net group has been received, the group specified by the group name is first registered using the group information that should have been added to the join request, that is, information on the group name and password. It is determined by comparing with the group management table of the database 13 whether or not there is (step S04).

If it is determined that the group having the designated group name is not registered, the terminal device 14 which has transmitted the participation request is assumed to be the first participant in the group, and the server device 12 A new registration is made in the group management table using the group name and the password (step S05).

At this time, the server device 12 copies the user information including the terminal identification number of the terminal device 14 that has requested the participation into the newly registered group information, registers the user information in the group management table (step S06), and then re-enters. The process returns to the process from step S01.

Although the user information is copied here, the user information may be moved to the group management table (deleted from the user management table). This makes it possible to keep the fact that another user outside the group is connected to the network secret.

If it is determined in step S04 that the net group having the group name specified has been registered, the password sent together with the group name is set in the group management table of the database 13. The two are compared with each other to determine whether or not they match (step S07).

If the passwords match, it is determined that the terminal device 14 that has transmitted the participation request is a valid member, and the user information is copied from the user management table to the group information registered in the group management table. Then, a message to permit participation is returned to the terminal device 14 (step S08), and a message to the effect that the participating member has been added is transmitted to other members in the group (step S09). The process returns to step S01.

If it is determined in step S07 that the two passwords do not match, it is determined that the terminal device 14 that has transmitted the participation request is not a valid member and cannot participate in the terminal device 14. The message is returned (step S10), and the process returns to step S01.

FIG. 6 illustrates a display screen 14b of a message indicating that participation is impossible displayed on the terminal device 14 in such a case. Here, it is assumed that the password corresponding to the group name is incorrect, and the message content prompts the user to input the password again.

As described above, in response to the participation request from the terminal devices 14, 14,... Operated by the member who wants to participate in the group, the server device 12 refers to the group management table of the database 13 and If a group with the same group name has not been set, a new group is created. If a group with the same name has already been created, participation in that group is permitted with a password match.

Therefore, it is possible to arbitrarily set the creation of the group and the participation in the created group from the terminal devices 14, 14, and #, and to join the group unless a correct password is used. I can't.

Therefore, if the password is previously distributed only between the desired members using other means, such as e-mail, together with the group name, other unintended members will join the net group. Such a situation can be reliably prevented, and a small-scale net group consisting only of desired members can be realized.

In step S02, the terminal device 1
If it is determined that a request to delete the participating group has been received from any of 4, 14, and
Then, using the group information that should have been added to the deletion request, that is, information on the group name and the password, first, it is determined whether or not the net group specified by the group name is registered in the group management table of the database 13. (Step S1)
1).

If it is determined that the net group having the designated group name has been registered, the password sent together with the group name is stored in the database 1 next.
3 is compared with the one set in the user management table, and it is determined whether or not both match (step S1).
2).

If the passwords match, it is determined that the terminal device 14 that has transmitted the deletion request is a valid member who can designate deletion of the group, and that the terminal device 14 in the user management table of the database 13 And the specified group is deleted (step S13), and the process returns to the process from step S01.

In step S11, when it is determined that the chat in the net group of the designated group name is not performed at that time, or in step S12, the designated password is stored in the database 1
When it is determined that the deletion request does not match that of the group set in the user management table of No. 3, the deletion request is regarded as invalid, and the processing in step S13 is performed again without performing the processing in step S13. Return to the processing from.

As described above, at that time, the user has participated in the chat in the group, or
If the terminal device 14 is operated by a member who knows the correct password, the chat in the group can be arbitrarily terminated and deleted.

Further, if it is determined in step S03 that a request to log out from the participating group has been received from any of the terminal devices 14, 14,.
The group information including the group name and the password of the group performed at that time is held and set in the terminal device 14 that has transmitted the logout request (1).
4) The connection with the terminal device 14 is cut off, and a logout process for excluding the terminal device from members of the group is executed (step S15).

FIG. 7 exemplifies the contents displayed on the screen 14c of the terminal device 14 of the member logged out at this time, and shows to the user that the group name and the password as the group information are automatically saved in the own device. ing.

Here, the server device 12 determines whether or not there is still a participating member in the group whose participating members have decreased by one by the logout process (step S16), and has determined that there is no remaining member. In other words, only when the logged-out member is the last member, the group including the data in the user management table of the database 13 is deleted (step S17), and then the step S0 is performed again.
It returns to the processing from 1.

As described above, the group can be automatically deleted when there are no more members participating in the group, so that the input operation on the terminal device 14 required for deleting the group can be simplified. it can.

Also, at the time of logout, the group name and password of the group that has been participating up to that time are entered into the terminal device 14.
, The input operation required when the terminal device 14 rejoins the same group after logout or reconstructs a deleted group can be simplified.

In the above embodiment, the creation, participation, and deletion of a group are simply designated by using a password. Depending on each member in advance, it can be divided into two types: one that distributes only the password required when requesting participation, and the other that distributes both the password when requesting participation and the password when requesting deletion. Different rights of involvement could be considered.

Although the above embodiment has been described from the creation to the disappearance of a group in the network, the content handled between the created groups is not limited to text data such as messages, but may be audio, static, or the like. It may be an image, a moving image, graphic data, or the like,
The data communication in real time is not limited to chat, but may be a conference, a fighting game, or the like.

Further, in the above-described embodiment, the communication system is described as being configured by connecting a server and a terminal device via a network. However, even if there is no dedicated server device, one of the terminal devices can By installing the function as a control program, it can be similarly easily implemented.

In addition, the present invention is not limited to the above-described embodiment, but can be variously modified and implemented without departing from the gist thereof.

Further, the above embodiments include inventions at various stages, and various inventions can be extracted by appropriately combining a plurality of disclosed constituent elements. For example, even if some components are deleted from all the components shown in the embodiments, at least one of the problems described in the column of the problem to be solved by the invention can be solved and the effects described in the column of the effect of the invention can be solved. In a case where at least one of the effects described above is obtained, a configuration in which this component is deleted can be extracted as an invention.

[0052]

According to the first aspect of the present invention, it is possible to create a group and set participation in the created group from the second communication device operated by the member, and to set a correct password. If you do not use it, you cannot join the group, so that only the members who have delivered the password in advance can join, and it is possible to surely prevent unintended members from joining the group.

According to the second aspect of the invention, in addition to the effects of the first aspect of the invention, if a member who knows the correct password participating in a group, the group is terminated and deleted. It is also possible to do.

According to the third aspect of the present invention, in addition to the effect of the first aspect of the present invention, the group can be automatically deleted when there are no more participating members.

According to the fourth aspect of the invention, in addition to the effect of the first aspect of the invention, the group name and the password of the group that has been participating up to that time at the time of logout are retained, so that the same The input operation when reconstructing the group can be simplified.

According to the fifth aspect of the invention, it is possible to create a group and set participation in the created group from the second communication device operated by the member,
In addition, since it is impossible to participate in the group unless a correct password is used, only the members who have delivered the password in advance can participate, and it is possible to surely prevent unintended members from participating in the group.

[Brief description of the drawings]

FIG. 1 is a diagram showing a schematic configuration of a system according to an embodiment of the present invention.

FIG. 2 is a diagram exemplifying storage contents of a user management table provided in the database of FIG. 1;

FIG. 3 is a view exemplifying storage contents of a group management table provided in the database of FIG. 1;

FIG. 4 is an exemplary flowchart showing processing contents regarding group management of the server device according to the embodiment;

FIG. 5 is a view exemplifying a display screen on a terminal device according to the embodiment;

FIG. 6 is a view exemplifying a display screen on a terminal device according to the embodiment;

FIG. 7 is a view exemplifying a display screen on a terminal device according to the embodiment;

[Explanation of symbols]

 DESCRIPTION OF SYMBOLS 11 ... Network 12 ... Server device 13 ... Database (DB) 14 ... Terminal device 14a-14c ... Screen

Claims (5)

[Claims] 1. A communication system for use in a data communication system having a first communication device and a plurality of second communication devices which can be connected to each other via a network, wherein the first communication device is connected to a network. What is claimed is: 1. A group management method for performing device group management, comprising: transmitting a group participation request to which a group name and a password are added from any one of the plurality of second communication device groups; Upon receiving the group participation request, based on the received group participation request, if there is no group with the group name, a new group is created,
If there is a group with the group name, a group management method characterized by confirming the agreement of passwords and permitting participation in the group. 2. The first communication device, upon receiving a group deletion request with a password from one of the second communication devices participating in the group, confirming that the password matches, and 2. The group management method according to claim 1, wherein the group is deleted. 3. The group management method according to claim 1, wherein the first communication device deletes the group when all the second communication devices participating in the group log out. 4. The second communication device holds a group name and a password of a group that has been participating at the time of logout, and requests to join using the group name and the password held at the next login. 2. The group management method according to claim 1, further comprising: 5. A storage medium used in a group management communication device for group-managing a plurality of communication devices connected to a network, the storage medium being sent from another communication device connected to the network. Based on the group join request with the name and password added, if there is no group with the group name, create a new group, and if there is a group with the group name, confirm the password matches and allow the group to join A computer-readable storage medium storing a control program including an instruction for causing a computer in the group management communication device to execute the group management process.