Information providing apparatus, information providing method, information providing program, and recording medium

• US 20050222991A1
• Filed: 02/01/2005
• Published: 10/06/2005
• Est. Priority Date: 02/04/2004
• Status: Active Grant

• Current Assignee: Ricoh Company Limited
• Original Assignee: Ricoh Company Limited
• Inventors: Ikenoya, Kazuyuki
• Granted Patent: US 7,756,944 B2
• Time in Patent Office: Days
• US Class Current: 1/1
• CPC Class Codes: G06F 21/31 User authentication

Abstract

An information providing apparatus is disclosed that integrally provides information that may be shared by plural applications and information that is dedicated to a particular application. The information providing apparatus includes a merge unit that merges a first information providing unit and a second information providing unit. The merge unit includes an information acquisition unit that acquires information pertaining to a user in response to a request from a predetermined application of plural applications, the information acquisition unit acquiring information shared by the applications from the first information providing unit and information dedicated to the predetermined application from the second information providing unit. The merge unit also includes an information integrating unit that integrates the information acquired from the first information providing unit and the information acquired from the second information providing unit. The merge unit then provides the information integrated by the information integrating unit to the predetermined application.

Claims

1. An information providing apparatus, comprising:

a merge unit that merges a first information providing unit and a second information providing unit;

wherein the merge unit includes

an information acquisition unit that acquires information pertaining to a user in response to a request from a predetermined application of a plurality of applications, the information acquisition unit acquiring information shared by the applications from the first information providing unit and information dedicated to the predetermined application from the second information providing unit; and

an information integrating unit that integrates the information acquired from the first information providing unit and the information acquired from the second information providing unit;

the merge unit providing the information integrated by the information integrating unit to the predetermined application.

2. The information providing apparatus as claimed in claim 1 further comprising:

the first information providing unit and the second information providing unit.

3. The information providing apparatus as claimed in claim 1, wherein the information dedicated to the predetermined application includes authority information indicating an authority of the user with respect to a function of the predetermined application.

4. The information providing apparatus as claimed in claim 1, wherein the information acquired from the first information providing unit includes group information pertaining to a group to which the user belongs within a predetermined system.

5. The information providing apparatus as claimed in claim 1, further comprising:

information providing unit identification information including information for identifying the first information providing unit and the second information providing unit from a plurality of information providing units;

wherein the information acquisition unit identifies the first information providing unit and the second information providing unit based on the information providing unit identification information.

6. The information providing apparatus as claimed in claim 1, further comprising:

usage determination information for determining with respect to an attribute included in the information pertaining to the user whether to use the information acquired from the first information providing unit and the information acquired from the second information providing unit;

wherein the information integrating unit integrates the information acquired from the first information providing unit and the information acquired from the second information providing unit based on the usage determination information.

7. The information providing apparatus as claimed in claim 1, wherein

the request from the predetermined application corresponds to a user authentication request;

and

the information acquisition unit sends a request to the first information providing unit to authenticate the user, and acquires information pertaining to the user from the first information providing unit.

8. The information providing apparatus as claimed in claim 7, wherein

the information acquisition unit sends a request to the first information providing unit to authenticate the user, and acquires from the first information providing unit verification information including the information pertaining to the user and information verifying that the user has been authenticated;

and

the information integrating unit integrates the verification information from the first information providing unit and the information from the second information providing unit as integrated verification information.

9. An information providing method used in an information providing apparatus that merges a first information providing unit and a second information providing unit, the method comprising:

a first information acquiring step of acquiring information pertaining to a user from the first information providing unit in response to a request from a predetermined application of a plurality of applications, the information from the first providing unit being configured to be shared by the applications;

a second information acquiring step of acquiring information pertaining to the user from the second information providing unit, the information from the second providing unit being dedicated to the predetermined application;

an information integrating step of integrating the information acquired from the first information providing unit and the information acquired from the second information providing unit; and

an information providing step of providing the information integrated in the information integrating step to the predetermined application.

10. The information providing method as claimed in claim 9, wherein the information dedicated to the predetermined application includes authority information indicating an authority of the user with respect to a function of the predetermined application.

11. The information providing method as claimed in claim 9, wherein the information acquired in the first information acquiring step includes group information pertaining to a group to which the user belongs within a predetermined system.

12. The information providing method as claimed in claim 9, wherein the first information acquiring step and the second acquiring step further include identifying the first information providing unit and the second information providing unit based on information providing unit identification information including information for identifying the first information providing unit and the second information providing unit, respectively, from a plurality of information providing units.

13. The information providing method as claimed in claim 9, wherein the information integrating step includes integrating the information acquired from the first information providing unit and the information acquired from the second information providing unit based on usage determination information for determining with respect to an attribute included in the information pertaining to the user whether to use the information acquired from the first information providing unit and the information acquired from the second information providing unit.

14. The information providing method as claimed in claim 9, wherein

the request from the predetermined application corresponds to a user authentication request;

and

the information acquiring step includes sending a request to the first information providing unit to authenticate the user, and acquiring information pertaining to the user from the first information providing unit.

15. The information providing method as claimed in claim 14, wherein

the information acquiring step includes sending a request to the first information providing unit to authenticate the user, and acquiring from the first information providing unit verification information including the information pertaining to the user and information verifying that the user has been authenticated;

and

the information integrating step includes integrating the verification information from the first information providing unit and the information from the second information providing unit as integrated verification information.

16. An information providing program that is run on a computer to realize one or more functions of an information providing apparatus that merges a first information providing unit and a second information providing unit, the program being executed by the computer to perform:

a first information acquiring step of acquiring information pertaining to a user from the first information providing unit in response to a request from a predetermined application of a plurality of applications, the information from the first providing unit being configured to be shared by the applications;

a second information acquiring step of acquiring information pertaining to the user from the second information providing unit, the information from the second providing unit being dedicated to the predetermined application;

an information integrating step of integrating the information acquired from the first information providing unit and the information acquired from the second information providing unit; and

an information providing step of providing the information integrated in the information integrating step to the predetermined application.

17. A computer readable recording medium storing an information providing program that is run on a computer to realize one or more functions of an information providing apparatus that merges a first information providing unit and a second information providing unit, the program being executed by the computer to perform:

a first information acquiring step of acquiring information pertaining to a user from the first information providing unit in response to a request from a predetermined application of a plurality of applications, the information from the first providing unit being configured to be shared by the applications;

a second information acquiring step of acquiring information pertaining to the user from the second information providing unit, the information from the second providing unit being dedicated to the predetermined application;

an information integrating step of integrating the information acquired from the first information providing unit and the information acquired from the second information providing unit; and

an information providing step of providing the information integrated in the information integrating step to the predetermined application.