Method and system for providing service to remote users by inter-computer communications

• US 20010037192A1
• Filed: 03/30/2001
• Published: 11/01/2001
• Est. Priority Date: 04/03/2000
• Status: Active Grant

• Current Assignee: Komatsu Ltd.
• Original Assignee: Komatsu Ltd.
• Inventors: Kaneko, Hiroshi, Shimamoto, Nobuyuki
• Granted Patent: US 6,883,142 B2
• Time in Patent Office: Days
• US Class Current: 704/8
• CPC Class Codes: G06Q 30/06 Buying, selling or leasing transactions

Abstract

The present invention provides a system which can automatically select a language of a GUI and transaction conditions according to each user. Through the Internet 20, a sales server 10 provides services such as merchandise sales and merchandise auctions to web clients 30, 40 of many users. The web server 10 stores the language codes indicating preferred languages of all users and notations according to various languages for the items constituting various Web pages. Furthermore, the sales server 10 classifies the users into a plurality of groups and stores transaction conditions customized for each group. When a user logs in, the sales server 10 confirms the user'"'"'s language code and the transaction conditions for that user'"'"'s group and, dynamically generates a web page with contents matching the transaction conditions for the user'"'"'s group, using the item notation with the language of that language code, and sends that web page to the web client of the user to be displayed thereon.

Claims

1. A method for providing a GUI screen to a remote user from a server system through inter-computer communications between said server system and a client system of said remote user, comprising the steps of:

selecting said user'"'"'s preferred language from among a prescribed plurality of languages on the basis of the attributes of said user, without causing said user to perform an operation to designate the language, when said user accesses said server system;

preparing a GUI screen described in said selected preferred language; and

sending the GUI screen described in said preferred language to the client system of said user, whereby causing said client system to display the GUI screen described in said preferred language.

2. The method according to

claim 1

further comprising a step for storing item notation data wherein a plurality of items constituting said GUI screen is described in said prescribed plurality of languages;

wherein, in the step for preparing said GUI screen, item notation data described in said preferred language are selected from among item notation data described in said prescribed plurality of languages, and the GUI screen described in said preferred language is dynamically generated using the item notation data described in said selected preferred language.

3. A server system for providing a GUI screen to a remote user through inter-computer communications between said server system and a client system of said remote user, comprising:

means for selecting the preferred language of said user from among a prescribed plurality of languages on the basis of the attributes of said user, without causing said user to perform an operation to designate the language, when said user accesses said server system;

means for preparing a GUI screen described in said selected preferred language; and

means for sending the GUI screen described in said preferred language to the client system of said user and thereby causing said client system to display the GUI screen described in said preferred language.

4. A method for providing service using a GUI screen to a remote user from a server system through inter-computer communications between said server system and a client system of said remote user, comprising the steps of:

storing conditions for providing services established for each of a plurality of groups;

selecting a group to which said user belongs from among said plurality of groups when said user accesses said server system;

selecting conditions for providing services for said user'"'"'s belonging group from among the conditions for providing services established for said plurality of groups, and preparing a GUI screen matching the selected conditions for providing services for said user'"'"'s belonging group; and

sending said prepared GUI screen to the client system of said user, whereby causing said client system to display said GUI screen.

5. A server system for providing services using a GUI screen to a remote user through inter-computer communications between said server system and a client system of said remote user, comprising:

means for storing conditions for providing services established for a plurality of groups;

means for selecting a group to which said user belongs from among said plurality of groups when said user accesses said server system;

means for selecting conditions for providing services for said user'"'"'s belonging group from among the conditions for providing services established for said plurality of groups, and preparing a GUI screen matching the selected conditions for providing services for said user'"'"'s belonging group; and

means for sending said prepared GUI screen to the client system of said user, and thereby causing said client system to display said GUI screen.

6. A method for providing service to a remote user from a server system through inter-computer communications between said server system and the client system of said remote user, comprising:

a step in which said server system sends a current time according to the clock of said server system and a GUI screen with which the user issues and service requests, to said client system; and

a step in which said client system displays said GUI screen received from said server system and sends service requests input by the user on this GUI screen to said service server system;

wherein said GUI screen, when displayed on said client system, updates said current time received from said server system according to a time count and sends said service requests to said server system only when the updated current time is within the service provision period specified by said server system.

7. A method for providing service to a remote user from a server system through inter-computer communications between said server system and the client system of said remote user, comprising:

a step in which said server system sends a current time according to the clock of said server system and a GUI screen with which the user issues and service requests, to said client system; and

a step in which said client system displays said GUI screen received from said server system and sends service requests input by the user on this GUI screen to said service server system;

wherein said GUI screen, when displayed on said client system, updates said current time received from said server system according to a time count, attaches the updated current time to said service request when said service request is input by the user, and sends said service request to said server system; and

said method further comprising a step in which said server system determines whether said service request was issued within the prescribed service provision period on the basis of said current time appended to said service request received from said client system.

8. A server system for providing services to a remote user through inter-computer communications between said server system and the client system of said remote user, comprising:

means for sending a current time according to the clock of said server system and a GUI screen with which the user issues and service requests, to said client system;

wherein said GUI screen, when displayed on said client system, updates said current time received from said server system according to a time count and sends said service requests to said server system only when the updated current time is within the service provision period specified by said server system.

9. A server system for providing services to a remote user through inter-computer communications between said server system and the client system of said remote user, comprising:

means for sending a current time according to the clock of said server system and a GUI screen with which the user issues and service requests, to said client system;

wherein said GUI screen, when displayed on said client system, updates said current time received from said server system according to a time count, attaches the updated current time to said service request when said service request is input by the user, and sends said service request to said server system; and

said system further comprising means for determining whether said service request was issued within the prescribed service provision period on the basis of said current time appended to said service request received from said client system.

10. A method for registering new users to a server system through inter-computer communications between said server system and client systems of remote users, comprising the steps of:

storing authority information showing whether a registered user has member registration authority;

when a new user registration request is received from a registered user, determining whether said registered user has member registration authority on the basis of said authority information;

registering said new user to said server system according to said new user registration request from said registered user only when said registered user has member registration authority; and

determining whether member registration authority is given to said new user and adding the results of that determination to said authority information, when registering said new user to said server system.

11. A server system for registering new users to a server system through inter-computer communications between said server system and client systems of remote users, comprising:

means for storing authority information showing whether a registered user has member registration authority;

means for determining, when a new user registration request is received from a registered user, whether said registered user has member registration authority on the basis of said authority information;

means for registering said new user to said server system according to said new user registration request from said user only when said registered user has member registration authority; and

means for determining whether member registration authority is given to said new user and adding the results of that determination to said authority information when registering said new user to said server system.

12. A method for providing service to a remote user from a server system through inter-computer communications between said server system and the client system of said remote user, comprising the steps of:

storing addresses for a plurality of GUI screens corresponding respectively to a plurality of controlling organizations for distributed control of users; and

upon receiving a service request from a client system of a user, selecting an address corresponding to the controlling organization which controls said user from among said plurality of addresses, and sending a GUI screen for this selected address to the client system of said user in order to provide service to said user from the GUI screen of the controlling organization controlling said user.

13. A server system for providing service to a remote user through inter-computer communications between said server system and a client system of said remote user, comprising:

means for storing addresses for a plurality of GUI screens corresponding respectively to a plurality of controlling organizations for distributed control of users; and

means for selecting, upon receiving a service request from a client system of a user, an address corresponding to the controlling organization which controls said user from among said plurality of addresses, and sending the GUI screen with this selected address to the client system of said user for providing service to said user from the GUI screen of the controlling organization controlling said user.