JP3998501B2 - Electronic bulletin board system - Google Patents

Description

[0001]
BACKGROUND OF THE INVENTION
The present invention relates to an electronic bulletin board system in which a plurality of users can post a document via a terminal device connected via a network, and the document posted by the user can be viewed.
[0002]
[Prior art]
In recent years, with the development of IT (information technology), software called groupware for the purpose of cooperating with a plurality of people on a network has become widespread. Among them, an electronic bulletin board system, which is a message exchange system using a computer, is widely used because it can be constructed using an in-house LAN (local area network) or the like.
By using this electronic bulletin board system, a user can post a document to the electronic bulletin board via a terminal device connected to a network, so that discussions can be made among a plurality of terminal device users.
[0003]
More specifically, the terminal device user can post a reply document to an electronic bulletin board in response to a certain posted document (hereinafter referred to as a document) using the reply function of the electronic bulletin board system. . This forms a tree of discussions called threads. Normally, this tree is displayed in a hierarchy, so that the hierarchy becomes deeper as the discussion proceeds.
However, when someone submits a “summary” or “conclusion” document of the discussion up to that point, these documents are important documents that are key to the discussion, but after the discussion has progressed If it is a posted document, it will be placed deep in the hierarchy of the electronic bulletin board. That is, the most important document in the discussion is displayed on the electronic bulletin board at a position that is extremely difficult to find. When referring to a series of post content after discussion, the content of the discussion becomes very difficult to understand.
[0004]
This will be described with reference to the document list display shown in FIG.
One document in this example includes a document number, a title, a date, and a contributor. First, Mr. A asks a question about how to use the XX function. It is displayed in italic font to indicate that this document is the original document at the beginning of the discussion. Here, A's question is a person who can view and write on this electronic bulletin board.
Next, Mr. B and Mr. C have posted a response document (document numbers 2 and 3) in response to this question. However, since these documents are insufficient as an answer to A's question (document number 1), A has posted a re-question document (document number 4). Then, Mr. B posts a response document (document number 5) to this document, whereby an answer to the first A's question document (document number 1) is obtained.
This example is a pattern often used in discussions on electronic bulletin boards. However, since the final answer document (document number 5) is displayed at the deepest position in the hierarchy, it is difficult to find the final answer when referring to this discussion later. End up.
[0005]
Conventionally, various techniques for facilitating grasping the content of discussions for improving such problems have been proposed.
For example, Japanese Patent Application Laid-Open No. 7-56826 discloses a method of facilitating grasping the content of a conference by creating a conference digest summarizing the content of the conference in an electronic conference system using a network.
Japanese Patent Laid-Open No. 9-231040 discloses a process of discussion by giving a priority document indicating a viewpoint of discussion for classifying the process of discussion on the electronic bulletin board according to the path to the posted document. A technique to accurately grasp this is shown.
Furthermore, in Japanese Patent Application Laid-Open No. 11-25099, an important part of all the statements in a conference is deleted by deleting a portion where discussion contents overlap and associating discussion contents in an electronic conference system using a network. A technique for extracting only the above has been proposed.
[0006]
[Problems to be solved by the invention]
As described above, in the above-described conventional technology, it is necessary to create special information such as a conference digest and keywords summarizing the content of the conference by using the information creation function and assign it to the document.
However, by giving these special information, the burden on the chairman who summarizes the contents of the meeting could be reduced, but the burden on the user who makes a comment or submits a document by increasing this information creation processing work Was getting heavier.
Therefore, the object of the present invention is to make it easy to find the “summary” and “conclusion” documents of discussions performed on an electronic bulletin board so that the content of the entire discussion can be grasped optimally without burdening the user. It is to provide an electronic bulletin board system that can be performed.
[0007]
[Means for Solving the Problems]
According to the first aspect of the present invention, an original document acquisition unit that acquires an original document that triggers discussion, and a child document that is arranged in a lower hierarchy with respect to the original document acquired by the original document acquisition unit is acquired. and child document acquisition means, a parent document acquisition unit that acquires as a parent document documents conclusions exchange of views for the original document acquired by the original document acquisition unit in association with the original document, acquired by the parent document acquisition means by parent document has and a parent-child relationship forming means for changing to be placed at a higher level than the child document acquired by the acquired original document or the child document acquisition unit by the original document acquisition means, wherein Achieve the goal.
[0008]
In the invention described in claim 2, in the invention described in claim 1 , a document database that stores the original document acquired by the original document acquisition unit and the child document acquired by the child document acquisition unit together with a mutual hierarchy; And the parent-child relationship forming unit changes the parent document acquired by the parent document acquisition unit so that the parent document is arranged in a higher hierarchy than the child document stored in the document database. Achieve.
In the invention described in claim 3, in the invention described in claim 1 or claim 2, the parent document acquisition unit acquires the child document acquired by the child document acquisition unit by designating it as a parent document, and The parent-child relationship forming unit achieves the object by changing the parent document acquired by the designation so that the parent document is arranged in a higher hierarchy than the child document acquired by the child document acquiring unit .
In the invention described in claim 4, in the invention described in any one of claims 1 to 3, the original document acquired by the original document acquisition unit, the child document acquired by the child document acquisition unit, and the The object is achieved by further comprising display means for displaying the parent document acquired by the parent document acquisition means on the electronic bulletin board in different display forms .
[0010]
DETAILED DESCRIPTION OF THE INVENTION
Hereinafter, a preferred embodiment of the electronic bulletin board system of the present invention will be described in detail with reference to FIGS.
FIG. 1 is a diagram showing a configuration of an electronic bulletin board system according to the present embodiment.
In the electronic bulletin board system, a control unit 11, a display device 12, terminal devices 13 to 15, and a document database 16 are connected via a LAN (local area network) 17.
The control unit 11 includes a CPU (Central Processing Unit) 111, a ROM (Read Only Memory) 112, a RAM (Random Access Memory) 113, and a program storage unit 114 for controlling the entire electronic bulletin board system. ing.
The display device 12 displays the contents of the discussion performed on the electronic bulletin board system. The content displayed on the display device 12 can be browsed on the display of each terminal device 13-15.
The terminal devices 13 to 15 are terminal devices for the user to use the electronic bulletin board system. The user inputs a document using a keyboard (not shown) provided in the terminal devices 13 to 15 and posts it to the electronic bulletin board system. Moreover, a user browses the information on an electronic bulletin board using the display with which the terminal devices 13-15 are equipped.
The document database 16 stores documents posted from the terminal devices 13 to 15 to the electronic bulletin board.
[0011]
Next, the operation of the electronic bulletin board system configured as described above will be described.
First, a user of the terminal devices 13 to 15 (hereinafter referred to as a system user) activates an electronic bulletin board system program in the terminal devices 13 to 15 to be used. As a result, the system user can post documents to the electronic bulletin board and browse the electronic bulletin board.
Next, a method for posting a document on an electronic bulletin board from a system user will be described.
The system user determines the type of document to be posted, selects the corresponding document posting function, and posts the document using this function. The selection of the document posting function is performed from the document posting function selection screen displayed when the system user starts the electronic bulletin board system program.
For example, when the document to be posted is a document that is a starting point of discussion, the original document posting function is selected as the document posting function and the document is posted.
If the document to be posted is a response to a document, the child document posting function is selected as the document posting function and the document is posted.
In this child document posting function, a document to be answered is designated as a parent document and posted on the electronic bulletin board. Then, a document posted by selecting the child document posting function is posted on the electronic bulletin board as a child document of the designated parent document.
Here, the relationship between the parent document and the child document indicates the hierarchical relationship of the electronic bulletin board, and the upper document in the hierarchy is the parent document and the lower document is the child document.
[0012]
The document posting method by the system user will be described with reference to a specific example shown in FIG.
FIG. 2 is a diagram showing the contents of the document database 16 for storing documents posted by the system user and a document display example displayed on the display device 12.
The document database 16 stores document number, title, date, creator, parent document number, child document number, document submission function, and document text information. Document numbers are assigned in the order of submission.
FIG. 2A shows document number: 1, title: XX function usage, date: 2001/4/21, creator: A, parent document number: none, child document number: none, document submission means: Original document posting function, document body: indicates that a document having omitted information has been posted. Since this document is an original document, there is no parent document. Based on the information stored in the document database 16, a display as shown in the document display example is displayed on the display device 12.
Note that the document display processing displayed in a tree (hierarchical) manner will be described in detail later. Further, since either the parent document number or the child document number can be constructed from the other document number, only one of the two may be held.
Hereinafter, each posted document will be described using a document number. For example, the above document is expressed as document number 1.
[0013]
FIG. 2B shows that document number 2 that is a response document to the document number 1 is stored in the document database 16. The document with document number 2 is a document posted by designating document number 1 as a parent document and selecting a child document posting function. When this document number 2 is stored in the document database 16, the documents of document number 1 and document number 2 have a parent-child relationship. Therefore, document number 2 is stored in the child document information storage column of document number 1.
Thus, the information update of the document database 16 is performed every time a new posted document is stored. The update process of the document database 16 is performed by the CPU 111 in the control unit 11 starting a document database update program from the program storage unit 114. Then, similarly to FIG. 2A, the document is displayed based on the information stored in the document database 16. Document number 2 is arranged in a hierarchy one level lower than the document number 1 which is the parent document.
[0014]
2C to 2E show that document numbers 3 to 5 are stored in the document database 16 and displayed on the electronic bulletin board based on the information. The explanation at the time of posting the child document is the same as that in FIG.
Now, document number 5 posted in FIG. 2 (e) is a document indicating a final conclusion on document number 1 which is the original document posted first. This document is placed at the deepest level in the hierarchy, despite being the most important document in the discussion.
[0015]
Next, an electronic bulletin board system in which a parent document posting function is added as an option to the document posting function (original document posting function / child document posting function) will be described.
By selecting this parent document posting function and posting a document, it is possible to specify and post a child document of the document to be posted. Here, the parent-child relationship between the document designated as the child document and the document has the highest priority. That is, even when the parent document exists in the designated document, this parent-child relationship is forcibly removed, and a parent-child relationship between the designated document and the document is newly formed.
[0016]
A document posting method in which the above parent document posting function is added as an option will be described with reference to a specific example shown in FIG.
3 (a) to 3 (d) are the same as FIGS. 2 (a) to 2 (d), and a description thereof will be omitted. In this range, the parent document posting function is not used.
FIG. 3E shows that document number 5 has been posted using the parent document posting function. The document of document number 5 is posted by the creator B specifying document number 1 as a child document of the document (document number 5). Therefore, document number 5 becomes the parent document of document number 1, and is arranged in a hierarchy one level higher than document number 1. Since document number 1 designated as the child document is an original document, there is no parent document of its own. Therefore, the document number 5 that becomes the parent document of the original document is arranged in the highest hierarchy.
Comparing the document display examples in FIG. 2E and FIG. 3E, it can be seen that the hierarchy in which the document number 5 is displayed is greatly different. In FIG. 2E, the document number 5 arranged in the lowest hierarchy is arranged in the highest hierarchy in FIG.
By using the parent document posting function in this way, the most important document (document number 5) in the discussion can be placed in a prominent position. This makes it easier to find the points of discussion when browsing the electronic bulletin board after discussion.
[0017]
Next, another usage example of the parent document posting function will be described with reference to specific examples shown in FIGS.
FIG. 4 shows an example of posting on the electronic bulletin board when the parent document posting function is not used. In this example, B and C each post a reply document (document numbers 2 and 3) to A's post document (document number 1) that has a topic on the weekend. It is exciting with the topic. C has posted a document (document number 7) that gives a general comment on the movie ZZZ, but this document is buried in an individual comment document (document numbers 4 to 6) and displayed in a deep hierarchy. The document number 7 is a document that should be regarded as important because it is a document of the conclusion of the discussion about the movie that was discussed here. For this reason, it is desirable to arrange in the upper layer in the hierarchical display.
[0018]
FIG. 5 shows an example of posting on the electronic bulletin board when the parent document posting function is used.
FIGS. 5A to 5F are the same as FIGS. 4A to 4F and do not use the parent document posting function. In FIG. 5G, the document number 7 is set as the parent document posting. Post using the feature. Since the document number 7 is a document of the conclusion of the discussion about the movie that has become a topic in the discussion, it is more convenient to arrange the document number 7 in a hierarchy below the document number 2 that is a document with contents that provide a topic about the movie. good.
Therefore, the document number 7 is designated as a child document of the document by using the parent document posting function. As a result, the parent-child relationship between the document number 2 and the document number 4 formed up to FIG. 5F is removed, and a new relationship between the document number 2 and the document number 7, and the document number 7 and the document number 4 is formed. Will be. Then, the document number 7 is inserted into the hierarchy between the document number 2 and the document number 4 formed up to FIG. 5 (f), and the document number 7 is arranged in the hierarchy below the document number 2. .
[0019]
Next, an operation for displaying a list of documents from information stored in the document database 16 will be described.
FIG. 10 is a flowchart showing the procedure of the thread (hierarchical tree) display process of the posted document. Description will be made with reference to an example of displaying a list of documents based on information stored in the document database 16 shown in FIG.
First, the CPU 111 searches for documents in which the parent document number is not registered from the documents stored in the document database 16 and stores them in the array T (step 11). The array shown here is a storage area existing in the RAM 113.
In the example, since there is no parent document registration for only document number 5, T = (5).
Next, the CPU 111 takes out the documents in the array T (step 12), and forms a thread display starting from each document on the electronic bulletin board.
The following conditions are set for the documents in the array T, and thread display is performed based on the following conditions.
Indent amount I = 0
The origin document D = the document indent amount I in the array T is a condition used for changing the display start position, and indicates indentation.
In the example, the document number 5 is taken out and a thread display starting from this is formed.
[0020]
Next, the CPU 111 outputs a blank for the set indent amount I (step 13) and performs document display processing (step 14). This document display processing method will be described in detail later.
In the example, since the indent amount I = 0, no blank is output. In other words, the document is displayed from the beginning of the line without leaving a space.
Subsequently, the CPU 111 determines whether or not a child document of the document exists with reference to the child document registration column of the corresponding document in the document database 16 (step 15).
If there is no child document of the document (step 15; N), the process is terminated as it is.
When there is a child document of the document (step 15; Y), the CPU 111 stores the document corresponding to the child document in the array C (step 16).
In the example, since document number 1 is registered as a child document of document number 5, this document number 1 is stored in array C, and C = (1).
[0021]
Next, the CPU 111 sets the following conditions for the documents in the array C (step 17).
Indent amount I = Indent amount I + 1 of the parent document of the document
Therefore, the indent amount I of the child document is one more than the indent amount I of the parent document, and the indent amount I increases as the hierarchy becomes deeper.
And the process of step 13 is repeated again.
[0022]
FIG. 11 is a flowchart showing the operation procedure of the document display process performed in step 14 of FIG.
First, the CPU 111 determines whether or not the document (the document that is being displayed) is a document posted using the original document posting function with reference to the database 16 (step 21).
If the document is not a document posted using the original document posting function (step 21; N), the database 16 is referred to whether or not this document is a document posted using the parent document posting function. (Step 22).
If the document is a document posted using the parent document posting function (step 22; Y), the document is displayed on the electronic bulletin board using a bold font (step 24).
On the other hand, if the document is not a document posted using the original document posting function (step 21; Y), the document is displayed on the electronic bulletin board using an italic font (step 23).
If the document is not a document posted using the parent document posting function (step 22; N), the document is displayed on the electronic bulletin board using the normal font (step 25).
[0023]
Subsequently, the CPU 111 determines whether or not the parent document of the document is a document posted using the parent document posting function with reference to the database 16 (step 26).
When the parent document of the document is a document posted using the parent document posting function (step 26; Y), “← (left arrow)” is output at the beginning of the document display (step 27).
If the parent document of the document is not a document posted using the parent document posting function (step 26; N), “→ (right arrow)” is output at the beginning of the document display (step 28).
Then, the CPU 111 displays on the electronic bulletin board in the order of the document number, title, date, and creator (step 29), and finally performs a line feed (step 30), thus ending the processing.
In the present embodiment, a document is displayed using a different font for each document posting function. However, other methods may be used as long as they can be distinguished, for example, for each document posting function. The display color may be changed, or an underline or a wavy line may be used.
[0024]
The electronic bulletin board system according to the present embodiment includes various programs for devising a document display format.
The document display example shown in FIG. 3 (e) can be shown in FIG. 6, and the document display example shown in FIG. 5 (g) can also be shown in FIG. In this way, by selecting the parent document posting function and not displaying the documents that are descended from the posted document, the system user is important in the discussion when browsing the electronic bulletin board later. Can be easily found.
Further, as shown in FIG. 8 and FIG. 9 showing examples of document display, by displaying only the document posted by selecting the parent document posting function, the system user can view the electronic bulletin board later. Only documents that show the conclusion of the discussion can be read.
By configuring the electronic bulletin board system described above, the system users can easily find the “summary” and “conclusion” documents of discussions that were conducted on the electronic bulletin board when browsing later. Can be accurately grasped, and discussions on electronic bulletin boards that tend to be distributed can be improved. In addition, convenience is improved when the discussion on the electronic bulletin board is reused as knowledge after the discussion ends.
[0025]
【The invention's effect】
According to claim 1, the invention described in claim 3, and more that you can post later parent document, so important documents are properly positioned.
According to the fourth aspect of the present invention, it is easy to distinguish on the electronic bulletin board by changing the display method for each document posting means.
[Brief description of the drawings]
FIG. 1 is a diagram showing a configuration of an electronic bulletin board system according to an embodiment.
FIG. 2 is a diagram showing an example of a document posted by a system user.
FIG. 3 is a diagram showing an example of a document posted by a system user.
FIG. 4 is a diagram showing an example of a document posted by a system user.
FIG. 5 is a diagram showing an example of a document posted by a system user.
FIG. 6 is a diagram showing an example of a document list display.
FIG. 7 is a diagram showing an example of a document list display.
FIG. 8 is a diagram showing an example of a document list display.
FIG. 9 is a diagram showing an example of a document list display.
FIG. 10 is a flowchart showing an operation procedure of document thread display processing;
FIG. 11 is a flowchart showing an operation procedure of document display processing.
FIG. 12 is a diagram illustrating a display example of a posted document.
[Explanation of symbols]
DESCRIPTION OF SYMBOLS 11 Control part 12 Display apparatus 13-15 Terminal apparatus 16 Document database 17 LAN

Claims (4)

An original document acquisition means for acquiring an original document that triggers a discussion;
A child document acquisition unit for acquiring a child document arranged in a lower hierarchy with respect to the original document acquired by the original document acquisition unit;
A parent document obtaining unit that obtains a document as a parent document by associating a document of a conclusion of opinion exchange with the original document obtained by the original document obtaining unit;
A parent-child relationship forming unit that changes the parent document acquired by the parent document acquisition unit so that the parent document is arranged in a higher hierarchy than the original document acquired by the original document acquisition unit or the child document acquired by the child document acquisition unit; electronic bulletin board system comprising the. A document database that stores the original document acquired by the original document acquisition unit and the child document acquired by the child document acquisition unit together with a mutual hierarchy;
2. The electronic device according to claim 1, wherein the parent-child relationship forming unit changes the parent document acquired by the parent document acquisition unit so that the parent document is arranged in a hierarchy higher than the child document stored in the document database. Bulletin board system. The parent document acquisition unit acquires the child document acquired by the child document acquisition unit by designating it as a parent document,
The parent-child relationship forming unit changes the parent document acquired by the designation so that the parent document is arranged in a higher hierarchy than the child document acquired by the child document acquisition unit. 2. The electronic bulletin board system according to 2.   Display means for displaying the original document acquired by the original document acquisition means, the child document acquired by the child document acquisition means, and the parent document acquired by the parent document acquisition means on the electronic bulletin board in different display forms; The electronic bulletin board system according to claim 1, further comprising:

Images