Service processing apparatus and service execution control method

• US 6,957,429 B1
• Filed: 07/14/2000
• Issued: 10/18/2005
• Est. Priority Date: 09/03/1999
• Status: Expired due to Fees

• Current Assignee: Fuji Xerox Company Limited (Xerox Holdings Corp.)
• Original Assignee: Fuji Xerox Company Limited (Xerox Holdings Corp.)
• Inventors: Hayata, Hiroshi, Sekijima, Akifumi, Yasumatsu, Kazuki
• Primary Examiner(s): An, Meng-Al T.
• Assistant Examiner(s): Ali, Syed J
• Application Number:
  US09/617,436
• Time in Patent Office: 1,922 Days
• Field of Search: 718/100, 718102-104, 718/220, 718/201, 718/20, 718/223, 718/226, 706/11, 345/700, 345762-763, 345/769, 345/771, 345/780, 345810- 11, 345/825, 709200-201, 709223-226, 705/500
• US Class Current: 718/100
• CPC Class Codes: G06F 2209/5015 Service provider selection
• CPC Class Codes: G06F 9/5055 considering software capabilities, i.e. software resources associated or available to the machine
• CPC Class Codes: G06Q 99/00 Subject matter not provided for in other groups of this subclass

Abstract

The present invention presents a list of applicable services dynamically updated and enables users to specify selective combinations of the services. A client includes an input unit, a display unit, a user authentication unit, a service display and selection unit, a document set display and display unit, and the like. The service display and selection unit creates a list of currently active, applicable services and performs processing for user'"'"'s service selection. The document set display and selection unit creates a list of documents included in a document set specified by a user and performs processing for user'"'"'s document selection. In the servers, a service management unit, a selected service execution unit, service providing units, a document information management unit, a document storage unit, and a user information management unit operate respectively.

Claims

1. A service processing apparatus, comprising:

a plurality of service providing units that provides a corresponding service to perform predetermined information processing;

a service display and selection unit that presents a user with an itemized list of applicable services and receiving specification of a selected service for a service attribute category from the user, the service display and selection unit fetching service attribute information for the selected service and combining services that match the service attribute category as a combined service item, and adding to the itemized list;

a selected service execution unit that applies the user-selected service to specified data or a set thereof;

a document management unit that manages a document and a document set; and

a document set display and selection unit that presents the user with a list of predetermined document sets managed by the document management unit or documents included in the document sets and receiving specification of selected document sets or documents from the user, to enable the user to specify a selective combination of document sets or documents to be subjected to the service,

wherein the service display and selection unit updates the itemized list of applicable services at a user-specified point and enables the user to specify a selective combination of the services, and the selected service execution unit directs the service providing units to provide the service based on the specified combination of services.

2. The service processing apparatus according to claim 1, further comprising:

a service management unit that manages information about a set of services in operation and the service provided by each service providing unit in a service management table, wherein the service display and selection unit presents the user with the list of the applicable services obtained by querying the service management unit and updates the list of the applicable services in response to receiving event information from the service management unit indicating that the service management table is updated.

3. The service processing apparatus according to claim 2, wherein each of the service providing units operates on corresponding one of a plurality of servers and the service management unit holds, as service information, information about the one server that executes the corresponding service.

4. The service processing apparatus according to claim 1, wherein information about the service provided by the service providing units includes a summary of the processing contents of the service, and the service display and selection unit displays the summary of the service processing contents in association with an item representing the service when displaying the list of applicable services.

5. The service processing apparatus according to claim 1, wherein information about the service provided by the service providing units includes information about the total number of transactions having been heretofore processed by the service and the number of transactions currently being processed, and the service display and selection unit, when displaying the list of applicable services, displays the information about the total number of transactions having been processed and the number of transactions currently being processed, in association with an item representing the service, and/or changes a display form of the item according to the total number of transactions having been processed and the number of transactions currently being processed.

6. The service processing apparatus according to claim 1, wherein information about the service provided by the service providing units includes information about a load status of a server to execute the service, and the service display and selection unit, when displaying the list of applicable services, displays the server load status in association with an item representing the service, and/or changes a display form of the item according to the server load status.

7. The service processing apparatus according to claim 1, wherein information about the service provided by the service providing units includes information about data inputted as a processing object of the service and data outputted as a processing result, and the service display and selection unit, when displaying the list of applicable services, places an item representing the service according to the input data information and the output data information and/or displays the input data information and the output data information in association with the item.

8. The service processing apparatus according to claim 1, wherein information about the service provided by the service providing units includes information about an input parameter of the service, and the service display and selection unit, when displaying the list of applicable services, if the service requires the input parameter, places a field for inputting the parameter in association with an item representing the service.

9. The service processing apparatus according to claim 1, wherein information about the service provided by the service providing units includes information about a service priority, and the service display and selection unit, when displaying the list of applicable services, displays the priority information in association with an item representing the service, changes a display form of the item according to the priority, and places the item based on the priority.

10. The service processing apparatus according to claim 1, further comprising:

a user management unit that manages information about a user and a user group, wherein information about the service provided by the service providing units includes information about a user or user group which can use the service, whereby the service display and selection unit, when displaying the list of applicable services, displays an item representing the service usable only for a specified user or a group to which the user belongs, and/or discriminately displays the item representing the usable service and an item representing the service which is not usable.

11. The service processing apparatus according to claim 1, wherein, for displaying the list of services, the service display and selection unit presents a set of icons representing the respective applicable services, and the user selects and places a desired icon from the icon set, whereby the selected service execution unit decides a service execution order according to the position in which the icon representing the service is placed.

12. The service processing apparatus according to claim 11, wherein, when displaying the list of services, the service display and selection unit changes a display form of the icon representing the service according to information about the service provided by the service providing units, and displays a graphic element decided based on the information about the services in association with the icon representing the corresponding service.

13. A service processing apparatus, comprising:

a plurality of service providing units that provides a corresponding service to perform predetermined information processing;

a service display and selection unit that presents a user with an itemized list of applicable services and receiving specification of a selected service for a service attribute category from the user, the service display and selection unit fetching service attribute information for the selected service and combining services that match the service attribute category as a combined service item, and adding to the itemized list;

a selected service execution unit that applies the user-selected service to specified data or a set thereof,

wherein the service display and selection unit updates the itemized list of applicable services at a user-specified point and enables the user to specify a selective combination of the services, the selected service execution unit directs the service providing units to provide the service based on the specified combination of services, information about the service provided by the service providing units includes a service activation time or an elapsed time from the activation of the service, and the service display and selection unit, when displaying the list of applicable services, displays the activation time or elapsed time in association with an item representing the service, and/or changes a display form of the item according to the activation time or elapsed time.

14. A service processing apparatus, comprising:

a plurality of service providing units that provides a corresponding service to perform predetermined information processing;

a service display and selection unit that presents a user with an itemized list of applicable services and receiving specification of a selected service for a service attribute category from the user, the service display and selection unit fetching service attribute information for the selected service and combining services that match the service attribute category as a combined service item, and adding to the itemized list;

a selected service execution unit that applies the user-selected service to specified data or a set thereof,

wherein, the service display and selection unit updates the itemized list of applicable services at a user-specified point and enables the user to specify a selective combination of the services, the selected service execution unit directs the service providing units to provide the service based on the specified combination of services, by setting predetermined categories into which services are classified according to the content of the services, information about the service provided by the service providing units includes information about the category of the service, and the service display and selection unit, when displaying the list of applicable services, displays the information about the category in association with an item representing the service, changes a display form of the item according to the category, and/or places the item grouped into each category.

15. The service processing apparatus according to claim 14, wherein the information about the category of the service includes information indicating whether plural services belonging to the category can be selected at the same time, and the service display and selection unit, when receiving specification of the selected service from the user, allows the user to select only one service belonging to the category that does not allow simultaneous selection of the plurality of services.

16. A service processing apparatus, comprising:

a plurality of service providing units that provides a corresponding service to perform predetermined information processing;

a service display and selection unit that presents a user with an itemized list of applicable services and receiving specification of a selected service for a service attribute category from the user, the service display and selection unit fetching service attribute information for the selected service and combining services that match the service attribute category as a combined service item, and adding to the itemized list;

a selected service execution unit that applies the user-selected service to specified data or a set thereof,

wherein, the service display and selection unit updates the itemized list of applicable services at a user-specified point and enables the user to specify a selective combination of the services, the selected service execution unit directs the service providing units to provide the service based on the specified combination of services, information about the service provided by the service providing units includes information about data inputted as a processing object of the service and data outputted as a processing result, the service display and selection unit, when displaying the list of applicable services, places an item representing the service according to the input data information and the output data information and/or displays the input data information and the output data information in association with the item, and when the service display and selection unit receives specification of the selected services from the user, or when the selected service execution unit receives a combination of the services selected in the service display and selection unit, in such a combination that an output result of a specified service is used as a processing object of another service, it is judged whether the output data information of the former service matches the input data information of the latter, and the services are executed only if they match.

17. A service execution control method for controlling the execution of services in a network environment in which servers and clients are networked and the servers provide the services, the method comprising:

updating and displaying a list of usable services for a service category at a user-specified point;

fetching service attribute information for the selected service and combining services that match the category as a combined service item;

selecting and combining the displayed services, including comparing whether the displayed services match the service category, and if so creating a combined service item for the list of usable services;

directing a corresponding server to execute services based on the combination of the services;

managing a document and a document set;

presenting the user with a list of predetermined document sets or documents included in the document sets; and

receiving specification of selected document sets or documents from the user, to enable the user to specify a selective combination of document sets or documents to be subjected to the service.

18. A computer-readable recording medium storing a program to be executed on a computer in a network environment in which servers and clients are networked and the servers provide the services, the program comprising:

updating and displaying a list of usable services for a service category at a user-specified point;

fetching service attribute information for the selected service and combining services that match the category as a combined service item;

selecting and combining the displayed services, including comparing whether the displayed services match the service category, and if so creating a combined service item for the list of usable services;

directing a corresponding server to execute services based on the combination of the services;

managing a document and a document set;

presenting the user with a list of predetermined document sets or documents included in the document sets; and

receiving specification of selected document sets or documents from the user, to enable the user to specify a selective combination of document sets or documents to be subjected to the service.

19. A service processing apparatus, comprising:

a plurality of service providing units that provides a corresponding service to perform predetermined information processing;

a service display and selection unit that presents a user with an itemized list of applicable services and receiving specification of a selected service from the user, the service display and selection unit combining services that match a category as a combined service item, and adding to the itemized list;

a selected service execution unit that applies the user-selected service to specified data or a set thereof;

a document management unit that manages a document and a document set; and

a document set display and selection unit that presents the user with a list of predetermined document sets managed by the document management unit or documents included in the document sets and receiving specification of selected document sets or documents from the user, to enable the user to specify a selective combination of document sets or documents to be subjected to the service, wherein

the service display and selection unit updates the itemized list of applicable services at a user-specified point and enables the user to specify a selective combination of the services, and the selected service execution unit directs the service providing units to provide the service based on the specified combination of services,

information about the service provided by the service providing units includes information about a load status of a server to execute the services, a total number of transactions having been heretofore processed by the service and a number of transactions currently being processed, and

the service display and selection unit, when displaying the list of applicable services, displays the information about the server load status, the total number of transactions having been processed and the number of transactions currently being processed, in association with an item representing the service, and/or changes a display form of the item according to the server load status, the total number of transactions having been processed and the number of transactions currently being processed.

20. A service processing apparatus, comprising:

a plurality of service providing units that provide a corresponding service to perform predetermined information processing;

a service display and selection unit that presents a user with an itemized list of applicable services and receiving specification of a selected service from the user, the service display and selection unit combining services that match a category as a combined service item, and adding to the itemized list;

a selected service execution unit that applies the user-selected service to specified data or a set thereof;

a document management unit that manages a document and a document set; and

a document set display and selection unit that presents the user with a list of predetermined document sets managed by the document management unit or documents included in the document sets and receiving specification of selected document sets or documents from the user, to enable the user to specify a selective combination of document sets or documents to be subjected to the service, wherein

the service display and selection unit updates the itemized list of applicable services at a user-specified point and enables the user to specify a selective combination of the services, and the selected service execution unit directs the service providing units to provide the service based on the specified combination of services,

information about the service provided by the service providing units includes information about a load status of a server to execute the service, and

the service display and selection unit, when displaying the list of applicable services, displays the server load status in association with an item representing the service, and/or changes a display form of the item according to the server load status.

21. A service processing apparatus, comprising:

a plurality of service providing units that provides a corresponding service to perform predetermined information processing;

a service display and selection unit that presents a user with an itemized list of applicable services and receiving specification of a selected service from the user, the service display and selection unit combining services that match a category as a combined service item, and adding to the itemized list;

a selected service execution unit that applies the user-selected service to specified data or a set thereof;

a document management unit that manages a document and a document set;

a document set display and selection unit that presents the user with a list of predetermined document sets managed by the document management unit or documents included in the document sets and receiving specification of selected document sets or documents from the user, to enable the user to specify a selective combination of document sets or documents to be subjected to the service, and

a user management unit that manages information about a user and a user group, wherein information about the service provided by the service providing units includes information about a user or user group which can use the service, whereby the service display and selection unit, when displaying the list of applicable services, displays an item representing the service usable only for a specified user or a group to which the user belongs, and/or discriminately displays the item representing the usable service and an item representing the service which is not usable, wherein

the service display and selection unit updates the itemized list of applicable services at a user-specified point and enables the user to specify a selective combination of the services, and the selected service execution unit directs the service providing units to provide the service based on the specified combination of services,

information about the service provided by the service providing units includes information about a service priority, and

the service display and selection unit, when displaying the list of applicable services, displays the priority information in association with an item representing the service, changes a display form of the item according to the priority, and places the item based on the priority.