History display apparatus

• US 6,018,344 A
• Filed: 11/29/1996
• Issued: 01/25/2000
• Est. Priority Date: 11/30/1995
• Status: Expired due to Fees

• Current Assignee: Matsushita Electric Industrial Company Limited (Panasonic Holdings Corporation)
• Original Assignee: Matsushita Electric Industrial Company Limited (Panasonic Holdings Corporation)
• Inventors: Araki, Osamu, Tomioka, Yutaka, Kato, Fumiyuki, Harada, Kazumi
• Primary Examiner(s): Bayerl, Raymond J.
• Assistant Examiner(s): Jackson, Chadwick A.
• Application Number:
  US08/758,534
• Time in Patent Office: 1,152 Days
• Field of Search: 345/440, 345/326, 345/357, 707/101, 707/104, 707/501, 395/200.48, 395/200.54, 395/200.75
• US Class Current: 715/818
• CPC Class Codes: G06F 16/94 Hypermedia Hyperlinking G06F40/134
• CPC Class Codes: G06F 16/954 Navigation, e.g. using categorised browsing

Abstract

In a history display method, positional information and type information are extracted from nodes to be displayed on respective metaphors, thereby allowing a user to intuitively comprehend the nodes in a sense of a map of routes followed among information sources. The history holding section 101 reads a history indicating the routes followed by user from the memory unit 105 and holds the history. The history geographical analyzing section 102 analyzes geographical information contained in the history. The history managing section 103 controls the result of the analysis of the history. The history display section 104 displays the history analysis result by use of metaphor display along with a node connection relationship. The novel constitution provides the user with a new clue namely geographical information for accessing desired nodes and displays the history on a map metaphor, thereby allowing the user to intuitively comprehend the nodes in a sense of a map of routes followed among information sources.

Claims

1. A history display apparatus as used in a system having a hypermedia structure in which a user moves from one information source to another by following links provided between nodes of the structure, said history display apparatus comprising:

a history storing section for storing a history of the links followed by the user;

a history geographical information analyzing section for analyzing geographical information associated with the history stored by the history storing section;

a history managing section for managing results obtained by analyzing the history stored by the history storing section; and

a history display section using a two-dimensional metaphor display specifying a source node to destination node connection, said history display section displaying the analysis results.

3. The history display apparatus according to claim 1 comprising:

an access frequency information acquiring section for acquiring frequency of access by the user to each of the nodes; and

a history display control section for changing display states of each of the nodes according the access frequency thereof;

wherein said history display apparatus also displays the access frequency information.

4. The history display apparatus according to claim 1 comprising:

an area-classified frequency information collecting section for collecting information about access frequency by area; and

a history display control section for changing display states of a region to be mapped according to access frequency, thereby varying a portion to be mapped;

wherein said history display apparatus also displays information about access frequency by region or type.

5. The history display apparatus according to claim 1 comprising a history structure analyzing section for analyzing parentage of the nodes, wherein said history display section displays not the history of all of the nodes but the history in units of a parent node having a child node.

7. The history display apparatus according to claim 1 comprising a system status acquiring section for acquiring system status, wherein said history display section displays the system status.

2. A history display apparatus as used in a system having a hypermedia structure in which a user moves from one information source to another by following links provided between nodes of the structure, said history display apparatus comprising:

a history storing section for storing a history of the links followed by the user;

a history type analyzing section;

a history managing section for managing results obtained by analysis of the history by said history type analyzing section; and

a history display section using a two-dimensional metaphor display specifying a source node to destination node connection, said history display section displaying the analysis results by said history type analyzing section;

wherein said history type analyzing section contains a node list identifying nodes by type, said history type analyzing section analyzing said history by referring to said node list to determine a type of each of the nodes in the history of the links followed by the user.

8. The history display apparatus according to claim 2 comprising:

a type input section for the user to enter type of the nodes; and

a type data holding section for holding the nodes and type entered from said type input section in a list.

6. A history display apparatus as used in a system having a hypermedia structure in which a user moves from one information source to another by following links provided between nodes of the structure, said history display apparatus comprising:

a history storing section for storing a history of the links followed by the user;

an operation history acquiring section for acquiring a history of operations performed by the user in following the links;

a history managing section for managing results obtained by analyzing the history; and

a history display section using a metaphor display, said history display section displaying the history of operations along with a node connection information;

wherein said history display section further displays, by use of metaphor display, a time axis and parentage of nodes in the structure stored in the history storing section.

9. A history display apparatus in a system having a hypermedia structure in which a user moves among information sources by following links provided between nodes, wherein geographical information is analyzed based on a history of the following of the links by the user and a result of the analysis along with a connection relationship of the nodes is displayed by use of a two-dimensional metaphor display specifying a source node to destination node connection, thereby allowing the user to have a new clue namely the geographical information and intuitively comprehend the nodes as a map of routes followed by the user among the information sources by displaying the geographical information on the map.

10. A history display apparatus, in a system having a hypermedia structure in which a user moves among information sources by following links provided between nodes, wherein a type of a history of the following of the links by the user is analyzed by referencing a node list containing a list of nodes by type and a result of the analysis along with a connection relationship of the nodes is displayed by use of a two-dimensional metaphor display specifying a source node to destination node connection, thereby allowing the user to have type information and intuitively comprehend the nodes as a map of routes followed by the user among the information sources based on the type information.

11. A history display apparatus in a system having a hypermedia structure in which a user moves among information sources by following links provided between nodes, wherein information about frequency of access to each of the nodes is analyzed based on a history of the follow-up by the user and the access frequency information is expressed on a two-dimensional map as a display specifying a source node to destination node connection by a difference between node display states, thereby allowing the user also to intuitively grasp the access frequency information about each of the nodes.

12. A history display apparatus in a system having a hypermedia structure in which a user moves among information sources by following links provided between nodes, wherein access frequency information by area is collected and analyzed, a display state of a region to be mapped is varied, and a type/region frequently accessed and a type/region seldom accessed are expressed by a difference between display states of a display specifying a source node to destination node connection, thereby expressing a trend of user preferences visually.

13. A history display apparatus in a system having a hypermedia structure in which a user moves among information sources by following links provided between nodes, wherein node parentage is analyzed and not all the nodes are displayed but, as for a group of nodes having parentage, only a parent node is displayed, thereby expressing a relationship between the nodes and the links on map around a main page with more ease of understanding and simplicity.

14. A history display apparatus in a system having a hypermedia structure in which a user moves among information sources by following links provided between nodes, wherein parentage of the nodes is analyzed and the time axis and node parentage necessary for identifying not all link information in a history but a desired node in a structure held in the history are displayed by use of metaphor display, thereby allowing the user who is novice or not well familiar with computers to understand the system easily.

15. A history display apparatus in a system having a hypermedia structure in which a user moves among information sources by following links provided between nodes, wherein a system status is analyzed and a result of the analysis is displayed along with a history by use of a two-dimensional metaphor specifying a source node to destination node connection, thereby increasing the number of clues to allow the user to identify a desired node more easily.

16. A history display apparatus in a system having a hypermedia structure in which a user moves among information sources by following links provided between nodes, wherein the user enters a desired type and holds a result of the entry in the form of a list, by which a type list matching a conceptual system of the user for the type and a clue namely type information better matching the consciousness of the user is provided on a display specifying a source node to destination node connection, thereby allowing the user to intuitively comprehend the nodes as a map of routes followed by the user among the information sources based on the type information.