This application is based upon and claims priority from Japanese Patent Application 8-077939 filed Mar. 29, 1996, the contents of which are incorporated herein by reference herein.
1. Field of the Invention
The present invention generally relates to two-way communication systems which transfer information, such as search conditions and search results, between a client and a server in response to requests from the client. Namely, the present invention relates to, for example, a local-file-transfer method and a local-file-transfer system used in a WWW (world wide web) client-server system. The present invention particularly relates to a local-file-transfer method and a local-file-transfer system used in the WWW client-server system which allows large quantities of data to be transferred from a WWW client to a WWW server connected through the Internet.
2. Description of the Related Art
Keeping pace with recent developments of the Internet, WWW client-server systems have been increasing in the number of business application fields in which they can be used. Various execution and search requests issued from a WWW client to a WWW server involve sending large quantities of data, especially in the case where a search request composed by the client and to be sent to the server requires a significant amount of data for its definition. What is needed is a local-file-transfer method and a local-file-transfer system which allow such massive data transfer from the WWW client to the WWW server.
Special types of search request information, such as genetic information, provided by a server device requires a long search-condition clause to be entered at a client device. Such a long data sequence, is generally not suitable for keyboard data entry. What""s needed is the ability of storing information in a file in the client device in advance, and transferring the information to the server device at the time of the search, so that the server device can carry out the search for requested information based on the transferred file.
Typically, data transfer from a client device to a WWW server connected through the Internet requires data entry into the client device, and such data entry is typically carried out using the following methods.
A first method of data entry is keyboard entry of the data by an operator working at the WWW client device. The data is entered into an input field on the display which typically displays an HTML (HyperText Markup Language) menu transferred from the WWW server, and, then, the entered data is sent to the WWW server through the Internet.
A second method of data entry is to copy (cut and paste) data to an input field from a window on the same display. In this case, the window shows a list of candidate data for transfer to the WWW server.
The first method of keyboard data entry into the input field is prone to key-touch errors during lengthy data entry, and is also time consuming.
The second method of copying (cutting and pasting) data into the input field from a window on the same display is time consuming in terms of copy-range selection, and, also, is susceptible to possible erroneous character transformation during the copying process.
Accordingly, there is also a need in WWW client-server systems for a local-file-transfer method and a local-file-transfer system which allow massive data transfer from a client to a server without imposing an onerous work load on an operator.
Also, there is a need in the WWW client-server system for a local-file-transfer method and a local-file-transfer system which allow data to be transferred from a client to a server by identifying data on a client display, extracting a relevant file from a client memory device, and sending the relevant file to the server, to request the server to register the file, to execute the file, or to search registered files.
Further, there is a need in the WWW client-server system for a local-file-transfer method and a local-file-transfer system which allow an execution-request transfer from a client to a server to be made by entering the execution request on the client display and sending the request to the server, or by identifying the execution request on the client display, extracting file-stored execution requests from a client memory device, and sending the file to the server.
Moreover, there is a need in the WWW client-server system for a local-file-transfer method and a local-file-transfer system which allow search-condition transfer from a client to a server to be made by entering the search conditions on the client display and sending the search conditions to the server, or by identifying search conditions on the client display, extracting file-stored search conditions from a client memory device, and sending the file to the server.
Also, there is a need in the WWW client-server system for a local-file-transfer method and a local-file-transfer system which can issue a completion message after completion of a data transfer from a client to a server so as to inform the server of the end of the transfer.
Further, there is a need in the WWW client-server system for a local-file-transfer method and a local-file-transfer system which allow a server to store client-sent information, to carry out client-issued requests based on client-registered information provided on a file-unit basis, and to allow the server to notify the client of the execution results.
Moreover, there is a need in the WWW client-server system for a local-file-transfer method and a local-file-transfer system which allow a server to generate search parameters based on client-sent search conditions to search for client-registered information provided on a file-unit basis.
Also, there is a need in the WWW client-server system for a local-file-transfer method and a local-file-transfer system which can request the server to eliminate transferred information when execution results notified by the server are satisfiable.
Accordingly, it is a general objective of the present invention to provide a local-file-transfer method and a local-file-transfer system which can satisfy the needs described above.
It is another and more specific objective of the present invention to provide a local-file-transfer method and a local-file-transfer system which allow data transfer from a client to a server by identifying data on a client display, extracting a relevant file from a client memory device, and sending the relevant file to the server, in order to request the server to register the file, to execute the file, or to search registered files.
It is a further objective of the present invention to provide a means for preparing lengthy data in advance at the client display and then transferring such data from the client to the server in a way that significantly reduces the user""s work load.
In order to achieve the above objects, the present invention provides a method and system of transferring information from a client to a server in a client-server system which achieves significant reduction in operator work load in comparison with conventional keyboard entry. According to the present invention, the data to be transferred to the server is prestored in a file in the memory media of the client. A display is transferred to the client from the server, the display providing fields for entering data. The file in the client""s memory media is subsequently entered on the display provided from the server. The file is transferred to the server at the time of search. The server device carries out the search for requested information based on the transferred file data. A search query can be constructed at the client based on combined search conditions made up from search-condition file names and search condition data previously transferred to the server.
Another aspect of the present invention is that a file name of a file is indicated on a display which is created based on menu information provided from the server. After indicating that file-unit-based information is to be registered; and reading the file corresponding to the file name from the memory media, the file is then transferred to the server. The above two steps are carried out when a file extracted from the memory media is transferred from the client to the server.
As another aspect of the present invention, an execution request is identified at the client on the display which is provided from the server, the execution request being made to the server. The execution request can be directly transferred to the server. But when the execution request is longer than a predetermined data length, the execution request is first read from the memory media and then transferred to the server.
As another aspect of the present invention, a search-condition identifier is entered at the client on the display provided from the server. A file is read from the memory media, and transferred to the server. This file stores the search conditions to be transferred to the server and corresponds to the search-condition identifier that was indicated.
As a further aspect of the present invention, a file-transfer-completion message is issued from the client when file transfer to the server is finished.
As a further aspect of the present invention, the server allocates file space for storing the file transferred from the client. The file-unit-based information transferred from the client is stored in the server""s file space. A receipt-completion message to the client is issued from the server when all files transferred from the client are received. The server carries out the execution request or search conditions request obtained from the client. Upon completion, the server then sends the execution results or search results to the client.
As a further aspect of the present invention search conditions are entered on the display of the client. This display was previously created based on menu information provided from the server. The search conditions to be used by the server are transferred from the client to the server. Search parameters are generated at the server based on the search conditions obtained from the client. Searching is accomplished at the server based on the generated search parameters for file-unit-based information transferred from the client in advance. The search results are transferred to the client.
As a further aspect of the present invention, an elimination request is sent from the client to the server based on one of the execution results and search results which had been previously sent from the server to the client. A file transferred from the client is then expunged at the server based on the elimination request sent from the client.
In order to achieve the above objectives, the present invention provides a system for transferring information between a client and a server which includes: a local-memory for pre-storing information, the information having a file structure for transfer to the server and a search-condition transfer unit for reading at least one file from the local-memory unit and for transferring this file to the server. The server has a search unit which executes a search based on search conditions contained in this file transferred from the client and transfers the results back to the client.
As a further aspect of the present invention, the search unit of the server has a search-condition storage unit for storing at least one file transferred from the client; and a search-execution unit for transferring search results to the client. The search results are obtained from a search based on combined search conditions made up from at least some of the files stored in the search-condition storage unit.
As a further aspect of the present invention, the search-execution unit includes a search-result transferring unit for transferring search results to the client. The search results are obtained from a search based on combined search conditions made up from at least some of the files and search-condition data transferred from the client.
As a further aspect of the present invention, the system further includes a file-transfer instructing unit, a file indicating unit and a file-transfer unit. The file-transfer instructing unit accepts an entry of data indicating that file-unit-based information is to be transferred. The entry of the data is made on a display which is created based on menu information provided from the server. The file indicating unit accepts at least one file name. The file-transfer unit reads at least one file indicated by the file indicating unit from the local-memory unit and transfers this file to the server.
As a further aspect of the present invention, the client of the system further includes an execution-request instructing unit which accepts an entry of an execution request on the menu information provided from the server. The client also further includes an execution-request-transfer unit which transfers the execution request indicated by the execution-request instructing unit to the server. Alternately, the execution-request-transfer unit reads the execution request indicated by the execution-request instructing unit directly from the local-memory and then transfers the execution request to the server.
As a further aspect of the present invention, the client of the system further includes a search-condition indicating unit which accepts an entry of a search-condition identifier on a display created based on menu information provided from the server. A search-condition-file-transfer unit of the client reads the files from the local-memory unit based on the search-condition identifier indicated by the search-condition indicating unit and transfers the files to the server. A search-condition-transfer unit transfers the search-condition identifier indicated by the search-condition indicating unit to the server.
As a further aspect of the present invention, the client of the system further includes a transfer-completion-message issuing unit for sending a file-transfer-completion message to the server when either the file-transfer unit, the execution-request transfer unit, or the search-condition-file-transfer unit finishes transfer of all files to the server.
As a further aspect of the present invention, the server of the system further includes: an execution-request-storage unit for storing files of execution requests sent from the client and an execution unit for transferring execution results to the client. The execution results are obtained from an execution based on combined execution conditions made up from a plurality of the files of the execution requests stored in the execution-request-storage unit.
As a further aspect of the present invention, the execution unit of the system further includes an execution-results-transfer unit for transferring execution results to the client, the execution results being obtained from an execution based on combined execution conditions made up from the files of the execution requests and execution-request data transferred from the client.
As a further aspect of the present invention, the server of the system further includes a completion-message issuing unit for issuing a receipt-completion message when the server receives all files transferred from the client.
As a further aspect of the present invention, the server of the system further includes a parameter generating unit for generating parameters based on the search conditions obtained from the client. The parameters are used for searching in an information-storage unit of the server. The server includes a search unit for searching in the information-storage unit based on the search parameters generated by the parameter generating unit.
As a further aspect of the present invention, the client of the system further includes an elimination-request issuing unit for sending an elimination request to the server based on one of the execution results and search results which are sent from the server to the client; and an elimination unit for eliminating the files stored in the information-storage unit of the server based on the elimination request sent from the client.
According to the present invention, transfer of lengthy data from the client to the server does not require the operator to make keyboard entry of the data. File-unit-based information corresponding to either data registration, an execution request, or a search request is extracted from the memory unit of the client to be sent to the server. Thus, only key information needs to be entered in order to read desired data from the memory unit. Also, the server device stores the search request sent from the client in the memory unit so as to carry out the search request made by the client at a later stage.
Key information for reading file-unit-based information to be transferred to the server from the client memory unit is entered in a menu display provided by the server using predetermined protocols. Since the file-unit-based information is transferred to the server, keyboard entry of lengthy data is unnecessary.
The execution request itself is entered at the client and subsequently transferred to the server. Alternately, the long-data-length request stored in the local memory unit is read according to the execution request and transferred to the server. In the case of a short data length which imposes no load on the operator, the execution request itself entered on the display can be transferred to the server. Alternately, with a long data length imposing the load on the operator if working manually on the data entry, the file-unit-based information extracted from the local memory unit according to the input execution request (local-memory-means-search key) can be transferred to the server. Namely, a request having a short data length can be transferred to the server without resorting to the extraction of the file-unit-based information from the local memory unit, whereas a request having a long data length can be extracted from the local memory unit to be transferred to the server.
Search conditions entered on the display provided by the server are transferred to the server as long as the search request has a short data length. Alternately, long search conditions stored in the local memory unit are extracted according to the input search conditions and transferred to the server if the search conditions have a long data length. Either one of these two operations can be selected for transfer to the server. Accordingly, simple search conditions are directly transferred to the server, and long and complex search conditions are extracted from the local memory unit to be transferred to the server since the keyboard data entry would impose a heavy load on the operator.
The client sends a file-transfer message to the server when the data transfer from the local memory unit of the client to the server is completed. In response to the file-transfer message, the server executes various requests indicated by the client.
The server stores the files sent from the client, and sends a receipt-completion message to the client after receiving all the files from the client. Then, the server carries out a request from the client, and sends execution results to the client. Based on the execution results from the server, the client can make a decision as to whether to issue a further request, to terminate a request process, or some other operation.
The server generates parameters indicating storage positions of files sent from the client, so that the server can access to the starting positions of the stored files.
When the execution results are sent from the server to the client, the client makes a decision based on the execution results, and sends an elimination request for purging files when there is no further request or when files stored in the server are no longer necessary. In response, the server can eliminate the files indicated by the elimination request, so that the server can avoid a waste of the file storage.
The client reads a file from the local memory unit, and sends it to the server. The server carries out a search based on the search conditions contained in the file, and sends the search results to the client.
Search is conducted based on combined search conditions made up from the search conditions of a plurality of files stored in the search-condition storage means.
The server carries out a search based on combined search conditions made up from both the search conditions of a plurality of stored files and the search-condition data sent from the client.
The client indicates a file transfer operation and a relevant file name so as to transfer a file to the server.
The client transfers to the server an execution request which is entered manually. Alternately, the client reads an indicated execution request from the local memory unit to transfer it to the server. The client transfers to the server search conditions which are entered manually. Alternately, the client reads indicated search conditions from the local memory unit to transfer them to the server.
The client sends a file-transfer-completion message to the server when the file-transfer unit, the execution-request-transfer unit, or the search-condition-file-transfer unit finishes transfer of all the files. In response, the server can start executing a process such as a search process.
The server can carry out execution of a plurality of execution files sent from the client by combining them together.
The server can carry out an execution based on a combined execution request made up from the execution-request data sent from the client and the execution-request files.
The server sends a receipt-completion message to the client when the server has finished receiving all the files transferred from the client.
The server searches for stored files based on parameters generated for the search.
The client makes a decision based on the execution results sent from the server, and sends an elimination request for purging files when there is no further request or when files stored in the server are no longer necessary. In response, the server can eliminate the files indicated by the elimination request, so that the server can avoid a waste of the file storage. A summary of the improved results of the invention are as follows.
A large amount of data transfer from the client to the server is achieved in the WWW client-server system. Search for files sent from the client is conducted based on combined search conditions made up from a plurality of search-condition files.
Search for files sent from the client is conducted based on combined search conditions made up from both the plurality of search-condition files and the search-condition data. Information to be transferred to the server is indicated on a display, and a file extracted from the client memory means according to the indication is transferred to the server.
The execution request such as programs to be executed by the server is entered on the client display, and is transferred to the server. Alternately, the indicated execution request is extracted from the client memory unit, and is transferred to the server.
Search conditions to be used by the server are entered on the display, and are transferred to the server. Alternately, the indicated search conditions are extracted from the client memory unit, and are transferred to the server.
The client sends a completion message to the server when all the transfer from the client to the server is completed, so that the server can know the end of the transfer.
The server can carry out an execution based on combined execution conditions which are made up from a plurality of stored execution files such as those containing programs.
The server can carry out an execution based on combined execution conditions which are made up from both the plurality of stored execution files and the execution-request data.
The server stores information sent from the client and carries out a request from the client based on the stored information and then sends execution results to the client. The server receives search conditions from the client, and generates parameters to be used for a search of the client-sent information based on the search conditions.
When the execution results sent from the server to the client are satisfactory or when files transferred to the server are no longer necessary, the client can make a request to the server to purge the transferred files.
As described above, according to the present invention, the local files indicated at the client device are sent to the server. This way, data registration to the server database through a network such as the Internet or a data-base search at the server device can be readily achieved although registered data or search keywords are lengthy.
Especially, when a search is made through a network for gene arrangements stored in a gene-arrangement data bank, the present invention can achieve significant reductions in the operator""s work load and work time compared to conventional keyboard entry of gene-arrangement data up to several kilo bytes.
Other objects and further features of the present invention will be apparent from the following detailed description when read in conjunction with the accompanying drawings.