Communication system, GUI apparatus, and service apparatus

• US 9,596,145 B2
• Filed: 07/02/2012
• Issued: 03/14/2017
• Est. Priority Date: 07/02/2012
• Status: Active Grant

• Current Assignee: Mitsubishi Electric Corporation
• Original Assignee: Mitsubishi Electric Corporation
• Inventors: Ujiie, Junya, Hato, Jumpei, Sasaki, Mikio
• Primary Examiner(s): Roni, Syed
• Application Number:
  US14/374,001
• Publication Number:
  US 20140351703A1
• Time in Patent Office: 1,716 Days
• US Class Current: 1/1
• CPC Class Codes: G06F 3/0481 based on specific properties of the displayed interaction object or a metaphor-based environment, e.g. interaction with desktop elements like windows or icons, or assisted by a cursor's changing behaviour or appearance
• CPC Class Codes: G06F 9/542 Event management; Broadcasting; Multicasting; Notifications
• CPC Class Codes: H04L 41/22 comprising specially adapted graphical user interfaces [GUI]

Abstract

An event list required by a graphical user interface (GUI) apparatus is notified to a service apparatus. The service apparatus assigns an ID to an event list and responds to the GUI apparatus. In a case where an event occurs in the service apparatus, the service apparatus determines based on an event list from the GUI apparatus whether to perform an event notification. When notifying an event to the service apparatus, the GUI apparatus transmits an ID in place of an event list in a case where the ID exists.

Claims

1. A communication system comprising:

a graphical user interface (GUI) apparatus that performs screen construction based on an event notification; and

a service apparatus that executes a service and generates an event, the GUI apparatus and the service apparatus being connected with each other through a network to perform mutual communication,

wherein the GUI apparatus includes;

a GUI apparatus-side event list memory that stores an event list and an ID corresponding to the event list, the event list being a list of the event; and

a GUI apparatus-side event processor that refers to the GUI apparatus-side event list memory and, in a case where the event list required for performing the screen construction exists, obtains the ID corresponding to the event list to transmit the obtained ID to the service apparatus in place of the event list.

2. The communication system according to claim 1, wherein the service apparatus includes:

a service apparatus-side event list memory that stores an event list and an ID corresponding to the event list, the event list being a list of the event; and

a service apparatus-side event processor that refers to the service apparatus-side event list memory when the ID is received from the GUI apparatus, and, when the event list corresponding to the received ID exists, transmits a response message containing the received ID to the GUI apparatus, and

wherein, when an valid ID is contained in the response message resulting from the transmission of the ID to the service apparatus, the GUI apparatus-side event processor causing the GUI apparatus-side event list memory to store, as one combination, the ID contained in the response message and the event list transmitted to the service apparatus or the event list whose ID is sent instead.

3. The communication system according to claim 1,

wherein the service apparatus includes:

a service processor that executes the service to generate the event; and

a service apparatus-side event processor that determines whether or not an event list containing an event occurred by the service of the service processor is a target to be notified to the GUI apparatus, and notifies the GUI apparatus of the event when a result of the determination indicates affirmation.

4. The communication system according to claim 1, wherein the service apparatus includes:

a service apparatus-side event list memory that stores an event list and an ID corresponding to the event list, the event list being a list of the event;

an ID manager that manages a relation between the event list and the ID; and

a service apparatus-side event processor that refers to the service apparatus-side event list memory when the event list is received from the GUI apparatus, and, in a case where the event list matching the received event list exists, obtains the ID corresponding to the existing event list and transmits a response message containing the obtained ID to the GUI apparatus, wherein, in a case where the event list matching the received event list does not exists, the service apparatus-side event processor obtains, from the ID manager, an ID unregistered with the service apparatus-side event list memory and registers with the service apparatus-side event list memory the obtained ID and the received event list as one combination, and transmits a response message containing the obtained ID to the GUI apparatus.

5. The communication system according to claim 4,

wherein the service apparatus-side event processor determines, before registering the combination of the event list received from the GUI apparatus and the ID corresponding to the event list with the service apparatus-side event list memory, as to whether a size of the combination exceeds a size of data registrable with the service apparatus-side event list memory, and in a case where the size exceeds, deletes a combination of an event list and an ID having been registered with the service apparatus-side event list memory to be within the size and registers in this state the combination of the event list received from the GUI apparatus and the ID corresponding to the event list with the service apparatus-side event list memory, and includes the ID corresponding to the deleted event list in the response message to the GUI apparatus and transmits the response message, and

wherein the GUI apparatus-side event processor, in a case where the response message resulting from the transmission of the event list or the ID to the service apparatus contains the ID deleted from the service apparatus-side event list memory, deletes the event list corresponding to the deleted ID from the GUI apparatus-side event list memory.

6. The communication system according to claim 4, wherein, in a case where the ID is contained in the response message resulting from the transmission of the event list or the ID to the service apparatus, the GUI apparatus-side event processor determines as to whether a size registrable with the GUI apparatus-side event list memory is exceeded, and in a case where the size is exceeded, the GUI apparatus-side event processor deletes a combination of an event list and an ID, the combination being registered with the GUI apparatus-side event list memory, to be within the size and registers in this state with the GUI apparatus-side event list memory the ID contained in the response message and the event list transmitted from the GUI apparatus or the event list whose ID is transmitted instead, as one combination.

7. The communication system according to claim 4,

wherein, in a case where an event list unregistered with the GUI apparatus-side event list memory is to be transmitted to the service apparatus, the GUI apparatus-side event processor generates a difference between the event list to be transmitted and the event list registered with the GUI apparatus-side event list memory, and in a case where an amount of information indicating the generated difference is smaller than an amount of information of the event list to be transmitted, the GUI apparatus-side event processor transmits to the service apparatus the generated difference and the ID corresponding to the event list registered with the GUI apparatus-side event list memory, the event list being used for creating the difference, in place of the event list to be transmitted, and

wherein, in a case where the ID and the difference are received from the GUI apparatus, the service apparatus-side event processor obtains the event list from the service apparatus-side event list memory by using the ID, generates a new event list by using the obtained event list and the difference, and processes the newly generated event list in place of the event list received from the GUI apparatus.

8. The communication system according to claim 4,

wherein the GUI apparatus-side event processor adds, to each event, information on a notification interval of the service apparatus when transmitting the event list to the service apparatus,

wherein the service apparatus further includes an event accumulator that stores an event queue corresponding to the notification interval of each of the events, and

wherein, in a case where the event to be generated based on the service of the service processor is the event notified from the GUI apparatus, the service apparatus-side event processor stores the event in the event queue corresponding to the notification interval of the event and, when a notification timing of the event queue comes, notifies the GUI apparatus of the event stored in the event queue.

9. The communication system according to claim 8, wherein, when storing the event in the event queue, in a case where the same event as one to be stored has already been stored, the service apparatus-side event processor skips storing the event to be stored, or deletes the already stored event and stores the event to be stored.

10. The communication system according to claim 9, wherein, in a case where the event has a parameter, the service apparatus-side event processor makes an identify determination as to whether the same event as one having the parameter has already been stored in the event queue.

11. A graphical user interface (gui) apparatus which is connected through a network with a service apparatus to communicate with each other, and which performs screen construction based on an event notification, the service apparatus executing a service and generating an event, the GUI apparatus comprising:

a GUI apparatus-side event list memory that stores an event list and an ID corresponding to the event list, the event list being a list of the event; and

a GUI apparatus-side event processor that transmits to the service apparatus an event list required for performing the screen construction, wherein, before transmitting the event list, the GUI apparatus-side event processor refers to the GUI apparatus-side event list memory, and, in a case where an event list matching the event list to be transmitted exists, obtains an ID corresponding to the existing event list and transmits to the service apparatus the obtained ID instead of the event list to be transmitted.

12. A service apparatus which is connected through a network with a graphical user interface (GUI) apparatus to communicate with each other, and which executes a service and generates an event, the GUI apparatus performing screen construction based on an event notification, the service apparatus comprising:

a service apparatus-side event list memory that stores an event list and an ID corresponding to the event list, the event list being a list of the event; and

an ID manager that manages a relation between the event list and the ID; and

a service apparatus-side event processor that refers to the service apparatus-side event list memory when the event list is received from the GUI apparatus, and, in a case where the event list matching the received event list exists, obtains the ID corresponding to the existing event list and transmits a response message containing the obtained ID to the GUI apparatus, wherein, in a case where the event list matching the received event list does not exists, the service apparatus-side event processor obtains, from the ID manager, an ID unregistered with the service apparatus-side event list memory and registers with the service apparatus-side event list memory the obtained ID and the received event list as one combination, and transmits a response message containing the obtained ID to the GUI apparatus, wherein, when an ID is received from the GUI apparatus, the service apparatus-side event processor refers to the service apparatus-side event list memory, and, when the event list corresponding to the received ID exists, transmits a response message containing the received ID to the GUI apparatus.