Apparatus for controlling execution of software, method for controlling thereof, and computer-readable recording medium having computer program for controlling thereof

• US 9,614,790 B2
• Filed: 07/17/2013
• Issued: 04/04/2017
• Est. Priority Date: 07/25/2012
• Status: Active Grant

• Current Assignee: Casio Computer Company Limited
• Original Assignee: Casio Computer Company Limited
• Inventors: Takahashi, Hiroshi, Sonoyama, Yuji, Nishitani, Koji
• Primary Examiner(s): Divecha, Kamal
• Assistant Examiner(s): HOUSTON, CLIFTON L
• Application Number:
  US13/944,517
• Publication Number:
  US 20140032685A1
• Time in Patent Office: 1,357 Days
• CPC Class Codes: G06Q 10/06 Resources, workflows, human or project management; Enterprise or organisation planning; Enterprise or organisation modelling
• CPC Class Codes: G06Q 10/10 Office automation; Time management
• CPC Class Codes: G06Q 50/12 Hotels or restaurants
• CPC Class Codes: H04L 51/00 User-to-user messaging in packet-switching networks, transmitted according to store-and-forward or real-time protocols, e.g. e-mail

Abstract

A software execution control apparatus includes a reference information management unit for collecting and renewing reference information to be referred to for execution of a plurality of applications, a user message preprocessing unit for receiving a user message, extracting one or more components from the user message, and analyzing the user message based on the extracted components, a message processing unit for specifying one or more actions required by the user based on the analysis result of the user message, and an APP execution unit for selecting and executing one or more applications based on reference information managed by the reference information management unit.

Claims

1. A software execution control apparatus for controlling execution of a plurality of applications based on a user message received from a user, the apparatus comprising:

a memory and a processor or circuit which is configured to;

access a stereotyped message database in which information on structures of one or more stereotyped messages and an action flow for specifying a first plurality of actions corresponding to said stereotyped messages and execution timing of said first plurality of actions are recorded in correspondence with said one or more stereotyped messages, and an action-APP database in which identification information of a plurality of actions is recorded in correspondence with identification information of a plurality of applications required to perform the plurality of actions;

receive a user message input by or transmitted from the user by a predetermined method;

extract one or more components from said received user message, wherein said one or more components include a command which is text specifying an action to be taken; and

determine whether said user message is a stereotyped message by comparing the command extracted from said received user message with a command which is included among one or more components of stereotyped messages recorded in said stereotyped message database;

wherein, in a first case in which said user message is determined to be a stereotyped message, said processor or circuit is configured to;

select, from said stereotyped message database, a stereotyped message having a command which corresponds to the command extracted from said user message, and read out said action flow recorded in correspondence with the stereotyped message selected from said stereotyped message database; and

select a first plurality of applications to be executed to perform each of the first plurality of actions specified by said read out action flow by referring to said action-APP database, and execute the selected first plurality of applications;

wherein, in a second case in which said user message is not determined to be a stereotyped message, said processor or circuit is configured to;

access an action request synonym database in which one or more synonyms are recorded in correspondence with a plurality of action requests of a task whose execution is requested by said user message in accordance with the extracted command;

access a corresponding job database in which one or more corresponding jobs to be executed to satisfy each of said plurality of action requests are recorded in correspondence with each of said plurality of action requests;

access a corresponding job-action database in which a second plurality of actions required to perform each of said corresponding jobs are recorded in correspondence with each of said corresponding jobs;

specify said second plurality of actions corresponding to components including the command extracted from said user message by referring to one or more pieces of information from said action request synonym database, said corresponding job database, and said corresponding job-action database, and designate execution timing of said specified second plurality of actions; and

select, by referring to said action-APP database, a second plurality of applications to be executed to perform each of said second plurality of actions specified by referring to said one or more pieces of information from said action request synonym database, said corresponding job database, and said corresponding job-action database, and execute the selected second plurality of applications; and

wherein, in the first case, said processor or circuit is configured to generate a control signal for controlling execution of the selected first plurality of applications based on information on a procedure of the selected first plurality of applications to be executed, and in the second case, said processor or circuit is configured to generate a control signal for controlling execution of the selected second plurality of applications based on information on a procedure of the selected second plurality of applications to be executed.

2. The software execution control apparatus of claim 1, wherein said processor or circuit is further configured to change a type or format of data to be input to said first plurality of applications or said second plurality of applications based on information on a type and format of input data of said first plurality of applications or said second plurality of applications to be executed.

3. The software execution control apparatus of claim 1, wherein said processor or circuit is further configured to provide output data of a plurality of finally executed applications to said user or a recipient determined based on said user message.

4. The software execution control apparatus of claim 1, wherein said processor or circuit is further configured to:

access a characteristic information database in which one or more characteristics of each of users are recorded in correspondence with information selected from a group including weight and priority of a plurality of choices of each of said characteristics, and

select the second plurality of actions corresponding to components including the command extracted from said user message by referring to said characteristic information database.

5. The software execution control apparatus of claim 1, wherein said processor or circuit is further configured to:

access a characteristic information database in which one or more characteristics of each of a plurality of users are recorded in correspondence with information selected from a group including weight and priority of a plurality of choices of each of said characteristics, and

select the second plurality of applications by referring to said characteristic information database.

6. The software execution control apparatus of claim 1, wherein said processor or circuit is further configured to generate combinations of said second plurality of actions corresponding to said action requests and select one or more combinations among said combinations in a case in which there exists a plurality of actions corresponding to one of said action requests.

7. The software execution control apparatus of claim 6, wherein said processor or circuit is further configured to:

access a characteristic information database in which characteristic of each user are recorded in correspondence with weight information of a plurality of choices of each of said characteristics, and

select said one or more combinations based on values selected from operation results selected from a group including sum and product of weights of actions of each of said combinations by referring to said characteristic information database.

8. The software execution control apparatus of claim 1, wherein the one or more components of the user message include an entity and the command which is the text specifying the action to be taken with respect to the entity.

9. A software execution control method for a software execution control apparatus for controlling execution of a plurality of applications based on a user message received from a user, wherein the software execution control apparatus comprises a memory and a processor or circuit for performing the method comprising:

accessing, by the processor or circuit, a stereotyped message database in which information on structures of one or more stereotyped messages and an action flow for specifying a first plurality of actions corresponding to said stereotyped messages and execution timing of said first plurality of actions are recorded in correspondence with said one or more stereotyped messages, and an action-APP database in which identification information of a plurality of actions is recorded in correspondence with identification information of a plurality of applications required to perform the plurality of actions;

receiving, by the processor or circuit, a user message input by or transmitted from the user by a predetermined method;

extracting, by the processor or circuit, one or more components from said received user message, wherein said one or more components include a command which is text specifying an action to be taken; and

determining, by the processor or circuit, whether said user message is a stereotyped message by comparing said command extracted from said received user message with a command which is included among one or more components of stereotyped messages recorded in said stereotyped message database;

wherein, in a first case in which said user message is determined to be a stereotyped message, said method further comprises;

selecting, by the processor or circuit, a stereotyped message from said stereotyped message database having a command which corresponds to the command extracted from said user message, and reading out, by the processor or circuit, said action flow recorded in correspondence with the stereotyped message selected from said stereotyped message database; and

selecting, by the processor or circuit, a first plurality of applications to be executed to perform each of the first plurality of actions specified by said read out action flow by referring to said action-APP database, and executing, by the processor or circuit, the selected first plurality of applications;

wherein, in a second case in which said user message is not determined to be a stereotyped message, said method further comprises;

accessing, by the processor or circuit, an action request synonym database in which one or more synonyms are recorded in correspondence with a plurality of action requests of a task whose execution is requested by said user message in accordance with the extracted command;

accessing, by the processor or circuit, a corresponding job database in which one or more corresponding jobs to be executed to satisfy each of said plurality of action requests are recorded in correspondence with each of said plurality of action requests;

accessing, by the processor or circuit, a corresponding job-action database in which a second plurality of actions required to perform each of said corresponding jobs are recorded in correspondence with each of said corresponding jobs;

specifying, by the processor or circuit, said second plurality of actions corresponding to components including the command extracted from said user message by referring to one or more pieces of information from said action request synonym database, said corresponding job database, and said corresponding job-action database, and designating, by the processor or circuit, execution timing of said specified second plurality of actions; and

selecting, by the processor or circuit, a second plurality of applications to be executed by referring to said action-APP database to perform each of said second plurality of actions specified by referring to said one or more pieces of information from said action request synonym database, said corresponding job database, and said corresponding job-action database, and executing, by the processor or circuit, said selected second plurality of applications; and

wherein, in the first case, said method further comprises generating, by the processor or circuit, a control signal for controlling execution of the selected first plurality of applications based on information on a procedure of the selected first plurality of applications to be executed, and in the second case, said method further comprises generating, by the processor or circuit, a control signal for controlling execution of the selected second plurality of applications based on information on a procedure of the selected second plurality of applications to be executed.

10. A non-transitory computer-readable storage medium having stored thereon a program that is executable by a computer of a software execution control apparatus for controlling execution of a plurality of applications based on a user message received from a user, the program being executable by the computer to cause the computer to perform functions comprising:

accessing a stereotyped message database in which information on structures of one or more stereotyped messages and an action flow for specifying a first plurality of actions corresponding to said stereotyped messages and execution timing of said first plurality of actions are recorded in correspondence with said one or more stereotyped messages, and an action-APP database in which identification information of a plurality of actions is recorded in correspondence with identification information of a plurality of applications required to perform the plurality of actions;

receiving a user message input by or transmitted from the user by a predetermined method;

extracting one or more components from said received user message, wherein said one or more components include a command which is text specifying an action to be taken; and

determining whether or not said user message is a stereotyped message by comparing said command extracted from said received user message with a command which is included among one or more components of stereotyped messages recorded in said stereotyped message database;

wherein, in a first case in which said user message is determined to be a stereotyped message, said program causes said computer to perform further functions comprising;

selecting, from said stereotyped message database, a stereotyped message having a command which corresponds to the command extracted from said user message, and reading out said action flow recorded in correspondence with the stereotyped message selected from said stereotyped message database; and

selecting a first plurality of applications to be executed to perform each of the first plurality of actions specified by said read out action flow by referring to said action-APP database, and executing the selected first plurality of applications,

wherein, in a second case in which said user message is not determined to be a stereotyped message, said program causes said computer to perform further functions comprising;

accessing an action request synonym database in which one or more synonyms are recorded in correspondence with a plurality of action requests of a task whose execution is requested by said user message in accordance with the extracted command;

accessing a corresponding job database in which one or more corresponding jobs to be executed to satisfy each of said plurality of action requests are recorded in correspondence with each of said plurality of action requests;

accessing a corresponding job-action database in which a second plurality of actions required to perform each of said corresponding jobs are recorded in correspondence with each of said corresponding jobs;

specifying said second plurality of actions corresponding to components including the command extracted from said user message by referring to one or more pieces of information from said action request synonym database, said corresponding job database, and said corresponding job-action database, and designating execution timing of said specified second plurality of actions; and

selecting, by referring to said action-APP database, a second plurality of applications to be executed to perform each of said second plurality of actions specified by referring to said one or more pieces of information from said action request synonym database, said corresponding job database, and said corresponding job-action database, and executing said selected second plurality of applications; and

wherein, in the first case, said program causes said computer to perform further functions comprising generating a control signal for controlling execution of the selected first plurality of applications based on information on a procedure of the selected first plurality of applications to be executed, and in the second case, said program causes said computer to perform further functions comprising generating a control signal for controlling execution of the selected second plurality of applications based on information on a procedure of the selected second plurality of applications to be executed.

11. The non-transitory computer-readable storage medium of claim 10, wherein said program further causes said computer to perform a function comprising:

changing a type or format of data to be input to said first plurality of applications or said second plurality of applications based on information on a type and format of input data of said first plurality of applications or said second plurality of applications to be executed.

12. The non-transitory computer-readable storage medium of claim 10, wherein said program further causes said computer to perform a function comprising:

providing output data of a plurality of finally executed applications to said user or a recipient determined based on said user message.

13. The non-transitory computer-readable storage medium of claim 10, wherein said program causes the computer to access:

a characteristic information database in which one or more characteristics of each of users are recorded in correspondence with information selected from a group including weight and priority of a plurality of choices of each of said characteristics, and

said specifying said second plurality of actions comprises selecting the second plurality of actions corresponding to components including the command extracted from said user message by referring to said characteristic information database.

14. The non-transitory computer-readable storage medium of claim 10, wherein said program causes the computer to access:

a characteristic information database in which one or more characteristics of each of a plurality of users are recorded in correspondence with information selected from a group including weight and priority of a plurality of choices of each of said characteristics, and

said selecting the second plurality of applications comprises selecting the second plurality of applications by referring to said characteristic information database.

15. The non-transitory computer-readable storage medium of claim 10, wherein said program further causes said computer to perform a function comprising:

generating combinations of said second plurality of actions corresponding to said action requests and selecting one or more combinations among said combinations in a case in which there exists a plurality of actions corresponding to one of said action requests.

16. The non-transitory computer-readable storage medium of claim 15, wherein said program causes the computer to access:

a characteristic information database in which characteristic of each user are recorded in correspondence with weight information of a plurality of choices of each of said characteristics,

and wherein said selecting one or more combinations comprises performing said selection based on values selected from operation results selected from a group including sum and product of weights of actions of each of said combinations by referring to said characteristic information database.