JP2017199375A - Relay device and program - Google Patents

Abstract

PROBLEM TO BE SOLVED: To provide a mechanism capable of performing processing for searching document data stored in a plurality of storage services only by designating a folder in which document data are possibly stored.SOLUTION: A relay device 10 is configured to receive a search request for searching document data stored in a plurality of storage service providing devices 20a to 20c by designating a folder identifier as a storage destination from a client device 30, and to convert the received search request into an access request format corresponding to each of the plurality of storage service providing devices, and to transmit the converted search request to the plurality of storage service providing devices, and to, when receiving a response to the search request, convert a content identifier for identifying the document data stored in the storage destination corresponding to the folder identifier included in the received response into one format interpretable by a client device, and to transmit it as the response to the search request to the client device.SELECTED DRAWING: Figure 1

Description

  The present invention relates to a relay device and a program.

  There are known services called cloud services and cloud computing. In this service, for example, a server device on a network performs various information processing such as data storage and data format conversion on behalf of a client device. In such a service, a technique for relaying an exchange between a server device and a client device has been proposed. For example, Patent Document 1 stores image data, and upon receiving a request for designating first information, a server device that returns image data corresponding to the first information to a transmission source of the request; A relay device that is connectable via a network to a communication device that acquires the image data from the server device according to first information and outputs an image formed by the image data, and acquires the first information A first receiving means for receiving a request from the communication device; a first information acquiring means for acquiring the first information from the server device when the acquisition request is received by the first receiving means; and the first information The first information acquired by the acquisition unit, the first information corresponding to image data having a data size suitable for the communication device to output an image, A first transmission means for transmitting to the transmission source of the communication apparatus of the resulting request, the relay apparatus comprising: a listed.

JP 2012-113701 A

  According to the present invention, a process for searching document data stored in a plurality of storage services can be performed by simply specifying a folder in which document data may be stored. The purpose is to provide a mechanism that can be carried out without the need for awareness.

  The invention according to claim 1 is an accepting means for accepting a search request from a terminal device for searching for document data stored in a plurality of service devices by specifying a folder identifier for identifying a folder that is a storage destination in each service device. A first conversion unit that converts the received search request into an access request format for each of the plurality of service devices, and transmits the search request converted by the first conversion unit to each of the plurality of service devices. A first transmission unit; a reception unit configured to receive a response to each search request transmitted by the transmission unit from the plurality of service devices; and the designated folder in the plurality of service devices included in the received response. A content identifier for identifying document data stored in a storage location corresponding to the identifier; Second conversion means for converting into one format interpretable by the terminal device, and second transmission means for transmitting the content identifier converted by the second conversion means to the terminal device as a response to the search request of the terminal device And providing a relay device.

  According to a second aspect of the present invention, in the relay device according to the first aspect, the second transmission unit divides the content identifier converted by the second conversion unit into the designated folder identifiers and collects them together. It transmits to a terminal device, It is characterized by the above-mentioned. According to a third aspect of the present invention, in the relay device according to the first or second aspect, the document data selected as an output instruction in the output device from the search result transmitted from the second transmission means to the terminal device is provided. The identification information is received from the terminal device, and the document data corresponding to the identification information of the document corresponding to the identification information of the selected document data is acquired from any of the plurality of service devices and stored in the own device. An acquisition means is further provided.

  According to a fourth aspect of the present invention, in the relay device according to the third aspect, when the document data acquired by the acquisition unit is not in a data format that can be output by the output device, the document can be output by the output device. A third conversion means for converting to a data format is further provided. The invention according to claim 5 is the relay apparatus according to claim 3 or 4, wherein the acquisition destination information indicating the storage destination of the document data acquired by the acquisition means is transmitted to the terminal device, and the acquisition destination information And a third transmission means for transmitting the document data stored in the storage location to the output device that accesses the storage location indicated by

  According to a sixth aspect of the present invention, a search request for searching a computer by specifying a folder identifier for identifying a folder that is a storage destination in each service device is received from a terminal device by the computer. An accepting means for accepting, a first converting means for converting the accepted search request into an access request format for each of the plurality of service devices, and a search request converted by the first converting means for each of the plurality of service devices. First transmitting means for transmitting to the receiving means, receiving means for receiving a response to each search request transmitted by the transmitting means from the plurality of service devices, and the designation in the plurality of service devices included in the received response Content that identifies document data stored in the storage location corresponding to the specified folder identifier A second conversion unit that converts the identifier into a format that can be interpreted by the terminal device; and a content identifier converted by the second conversion unit is transmitted to the terminal device as a response to the search request of the terminal device. A program for functioning as a second transmission means is provided.

According to the first aspect of the present invention, the search process for acquiring the document data identifier from the plurality of service devices is performed without making the user aware of the difference in the interface between the plurality of service devices.
According to the second aspect of the present invention, identifiers of document data retrieved from a plurality of service devices are acquired together.
According to the third aspect of the present invention, the document data selected by the terminal device by the user is acquired regardless of the interface difference between the plurality of service devices.
According to the fourth aspect of the present invention, the document data selected by the user at the terminal device is acquired without making the user aware of the difference in format that the output device can handle.
According to the invention described in claim 5, the document data selected by the user at the terminal device is output by the output device without making the user aware of the difference in the interface between the plurality of service devices.
According to the sixth aspect of the present invention, the search process for acquiring information related to the identifier of the document data from the plurality of service devices is performed without making the user aware of the interface difference between the plurality of service devices.

It is a block diagram which shows the whole structure of a communication system. It is a figure which shows the hardware constitutions of a relay apparatus. It is a figure which shows an example of the content of the management table. It is a figure which shows the hardware constitutions of a storage service provision apparatus. It is a figure which shows the hardware constitutions of a client apparatus. It is a figure which shows the hardware constitutions of an output device. It is a figure which shows the function structure of a relay apparatus and a client apparatus. It is a figure for demonstrating the acquisition operation | movement of a content list. It is a figure for demonstrating the output operation | movement of a content. It is a figure for demonstrating the acquisition operation | movement of a content list. It is a figure for demonstrating the search operation of content.

1. Embodiment 1-1. Overall Configuration FIG. 1 is a block diagram showing an overall configuration of a communication system 1 according to an embodiment of the present invention. The communication system 1 includes a relay device 10, storage service providing devices 20a, 20b, and 20c, a client device 30, an output device 40, a WAN (Wide Area Network) 50, and a LAN (Local Area Network) 60. . The storage service providing devices 20a, 20b, and 20c are devices that provide so-called storage services. The WAN 50 is a wide-area communication line that connects the relay device 10, the storage service providing devices 20a, 20b, and 20c, and the LAN 60, and mediates information exchanged between them. For example, the WAN 50 is the Internet.

  The LAN 60 is a communication line that connects to the client device 30 and the output device 40 and mediates information exchanged between them and the WAN 50. The LAN 60 is provided with a gateway server device (not shown) connected to the WAN 50. This gateway server device permits communication from a device connected to the LAN 60 (hereinafter referred to as a device on the LAN 60 side) to a device connected to the WAN 50 (hereinafter referred to as a device on the WAN 50 side). On the other hand, for the communication from the WAN 50 side device to the LAN 60 side device, the gateway server device permits only a response to the communication requested from the LAN 60 side device and blocks other communication. That is, this gateway server device functions as a so-called firewall.

  The client device 30 is connected to the LAN 60, and is a device that accepts a user operation and designates output of content indicated by the operation to the relay device 10. The client device 30 is a device such as a smartphone or a tablet personal computer.

  The relay device 10 is a device that connects to the WAN 50 and provides the requested content to the output device 40. The relay device 10 receives the designation from the client device 30, and acquires the content indicated by the designation from any of the storage service providing devices 20a, 20b, and 20c. The relay device 10 stores the acquired content in its own device, and notifies the client device 30 of a URI (Uniform Resource Identifier) indicating the storage location of the content.

  The storage service providing devices 20a, 20b, and 20c are server devices connected to the WAN 50, and store content. The storage service providing devices 20a, 20b, and 20c receive a content acquisition request from the relay device 10 and provide the requested content to the relay device 10. The storage service providing apparatuses 20a, 20b, and 20c exchange data with other apparatuses in different formats. The storage service providing devices 20a, 20b, and 20c have different data formats to be exchanged with other devices, but all have the same hardware configuration and perform the same operation. The storage service providing apparatus 20 is called unless otherwise described.

  The output device 40 acquires the URI notified from the relay device 10 to the client device 30 from the client device 30. Then, the output device 40 requests the relay device 10 for the content stored in the storage area indicated by the URI using the acquired URI. The relay device 10 that has received this request provides the content to the output device 40. The output device 40 outputs the content provided from the relay device 10. The output device 40 is, for example, an electrophotographic image forming device, and outputs content by forming an image indicated by the content on a medium such as paper.

1-2. Configuration of Relay Device FIG. 2A is a diagram illustrating a configuration of the relay device 10. In the figure, the control unit 11 includes an arithmetic device such as a CPU (Central Processing Unit) and a main storage device such as a ROM (Read Only Memory) and a RAM (Random Access Memory). The arithmetic device controls the operation of each unit of the relay device 10 by executing a program stored in the ROM or the storage unit 13 using the RAM as a work area. The communication unit 12 is an interface for communicating with other devices via the WAN 50. The storage unit 13 is a storage device such as a hard disk, and stores data and programs used by the control unit 11. The storage unit 13 has a management table storage area 14. The management table storage area 14 stores information for accessing the storage service providing apparatus 20.

  FIG. 2B is a diagram illustrating an example of the contents of the management table. As illustrated, in this table, items of “SVC identifier”, “access destination”, “identifier conversion routine”, and “conditional expression conversion routine” are stored in association with each other. Among these items, the “SVC identifier” item stores a service identifier for identifying a storage service. The item “access destination” stores access destination information indicating information for accessing the storage service providing apparatus 20 that provides the storage service. In this embodiment, a URI is stored as access destination information. In the item of “identifier conversion routine”, the content identifier for identifying the content and the format of the folder identifier for identifying the folder (an example of the designation condition) are used in the format used in the storage service providing device 20 and the client device 30. Stores an identifier conversion routine indicating rules for conversion between formats. In this embodiment, it is assumed that the format of the content identifier and folder identifier is different for each storage service. In the example illustrated in FIG. 2B, for example, the service identifier “service-A” and the identifier conversion routine “ConvertIDForA ()” are associated with each other. In the item of “Conditional Expression Conversion Routine”, a format of a specified condition indicating a condition for specifying one or more contents is converted between a format used in the storage service providing apparatus 20 and a format used in the client apparatus 30. Stores a conditional expression conversion routine indicating a rule for performing the above.

  The relay device 10 and the client device 30 exchange data in a format that does not depend on the data format defined in each storage service. The “identifier conversion routine” converts a content identifier or folder identifier described in a format used in data communication between the client device 30 and the relay device 10 into an identifier in a format corresponding to each storage service. The “conditional expression conversion routine” converts a conditional expression described in a format used in data communication between the client device 30 and the relay device 10 into a conditional expression in a format corresponding to each storage service.

1-3. Configuration of Storage Service Providing Device FIG. 3 is a diagram showing a configuration of the storage service providing device 20. In the figure, the control unit 21 includes an arithmetic device such as a CPU and a main storage device such as a ROM and a RAM. The arithmetic device controls the operation of each unit of the storage service providing device 20 by executing a program stored in the ROM or the storage unit 23 using the RAM as a work area. The communication unit 22 is an interface for communicating with other devices via the WAN 50. The storage unit 23 is a storage device such as a hard disk, for example, and stores data and programs used by the control unit 21.

  The storage unit 23 includes a content database 24 that stores content in association with information indicating the storage location of the content. The control unit 21 reads and provides the content from the content database 24 in response to a request from the relay device 10. In this embodiment, “content” is used as a term representing data representing various contents such as documents and images, such as document data representing documents and image data representing images. In addition to this, for example, it may be a computer program, and a group of data is referred to as “content”. In this embodiment, the content database 24 has a table in which a URI such as “http: //z**.com/C001” is described as information indicating the storage location of the content. Each URI is associated with a content storage area.

1-4. Configuration of Client Device FIG. 4 is a diagram illustrating a hardware configuration of the client device 30. In the figure, the control unit 31 includes an arithmetic device such as a CPU and a main storage device such as a ROM and a RAM. The ROM stores a program executed by the arithmetic device. The arithmetic device controls the operation of each unit of the client device 30 by executing a program stored in the ROM or the storage unit 35 using the RAM as a work area. The communication unit 32 is an interface for communicating with other devices via the LAN 60. The operation unit 33 includes operation elements such as various keys and touch sensors, and supplies an operation signal corresponding to a user operation to the control unit 31. The control unit 31 performs processing according to the operation signal. The display unit 34 includes a liquid crystal panel and a liquid crystal driving circuit, and displays an image under the control of the control unit 31. The storage unit 35 is a storage device such as a hard disk, and stores data and programs used by the control unit 31.

1-5. Configuration of Output Device FIG. 5 is a diagram illustrating a hardware configuration of the output device 40. In the figure, the control unit 41 includes an arithmetic device such as a CPU and a main storage device such as a ROM and a RAM. The ROM stores a program executed by the arithmetic device. The arithmetic device controls the operation of each unit of the output device 40 by executing a program stored in the ROM or the storage unit 47 using the RAM as a work area. The communication unit 42 is an interface for communicating with other devices via the LAN 60. The operation unit 43 includes operators such as various keys and touch sensors, and supplies an operation signal corresponding to a user operation to the control unit 41. The control unit 41 performs processing according to the operation signal. The display unit 44 includes a liquid crystal panel and a liquid crystal driving circuit, and displays an image under the control of the control unit 41. The image forming unit 45 forms an image by electrophotography. The image reading unit 46 optically reads an image of a document. The storage unit 47 is a storage device such as a hard disk, and stores data and programs used by the control unit 41.

  FIG. 6 is a diagram illustrating a functional configuration of the relay device 10 and the client device 30. The relay apparatus 10 includes a request data receiving unit 111, an access destination specifying unit 112, a first conversion unit 113, a request data transmitting unit 114, a content identifier receiving unit 115, a first control unit 11 or a communication unit 12 through the control unit 11. The functions of the second conversion unit 116 and the content identifier transmission unit 117 are realized.

  The request data receiving unit 111 receives request data including a service identifier and a specified condition from the client device 30. In this embodiment, a folder identifier that designates a folder and a conditional expression that designates a search condition are used as the designation condition. The access destination specifying unit 112 specifies an access destination corresponding to the service identifier included in the request data received by the request data receiving unit 111 with reference to the storage contents of the management table storage area 14.

  The first conversion unit 113 specifies an identifier conversion routine corresponding to the service identifier included in the request data received by the request data reception unit 111 with reference to the storage contents of the management table storage area 14, and specifies the specified identifier. Using the conversion routine, the specified condition included in the received request data is converted. The request data transmission unit 114 transmits the request data including the specified condition converted by the folder identifier conversion unit 113 to the storage service providing apparatus 20 that is the access destination specified by the access destination specifying unit 112.

The content identifier receiving unit 115 receives the content identifier transmitted from the storage service providing apparatus 20 as a response to the request data transmitted by the request data transmitting unit 114. The content identifier converting unit 116 stores the content identifier received by the content identifier receiving unit 115 in the management table storage area 14 in association with the service identifier of the storage service providing apparatus 20 that is the transmission source of the content identifier. Convert using an identifier conversion routine. The content identifier transmission unit 117 transmits the content identifier converted by the content identifier conversion unit 116 to the client device 30 as a response to the request data received by the request data reception unit 111.

  The client device 30 realizes the functions of the transmission unit 131 and the reception unit 132 by the control unit 31 or the control unit 31 and the communication unit 32. The transmission unit 131 transmits request data including a service identifier and a specified condition to the relay device 10. The receiving unit 132 receives the content identifier transmitted from the relay device 10 as a response to the request data transmitted by the transmitting unit 131.

1-6. Operation 1-6-1. Content List Acquisition Operation Next, an example of the operation of the embodiment will be described. First, an operation for acquiring a list of contents from a folder in the storage service designated by the user will be described with reference to FIG. In the following description, the storage service provided by the storage service providing apparatus 20a is referred to as “storage service A”, and the storage service provided by the storage service providing apparatus 20b is referred to as “storage service B”. In the example illustrated in FIG. 7, an operation for obtaining a list of documents (contents) stored in the storage service A will be described.

  The user U operates the operation unit 33 to instruct display of a list of contents stored in the folder abc of the storage service A. The control unit 31 of the client device 30 transmits acquisition request data indicating a content list acquisition request to the relay device 10 in accordance with the information output from the operation unit 33 (step S1). This acquisition request data includes a service identifier for identifying a storage service and a folder identifier for identifying a folder. Specifically, in this operation example, the acquisition request data includes “id: svc: service-A” as a service identifier and “id: fld: abc” as a folder identifier.

  When receiving the acquisition request data from the client device 30, the control unit 11 of the relay device 10 refers to the stored contents of the management table storage area 14 for an identifier conversion routine corresponding to the service identifier included in the received acquisition request data. Identify. The control unit 11 of the relay apparatus 10 converts the folder identifier included in the received acquisition request data into a folder identifier in a format compliant with each storage service using the specified identifier conversion routine (step S2). In this operation example, the folder identifier “id: fld: abc” is converted to “folder / abc” by the identifier conversion routine “ConvertIDForA ()”.

  The control unit 11 transmits the content list acquisition request data to the access destination corresponding to the service identifier included in the acquisition request data received in step S1 (step S3). In this operation example, the control unit 11 designates “http: //www.serviceA/folder/abc” as a URI and transmits an HTTP GET request.

  When the storage service providing apparatus 20a receives the acquisition request data transmitted from the relay apparatus 10, the storage service providing apparatus 20a transmits a list of content identifiers in the folder designated by the received acquisition request data to the relay apparatus 10 (step S4). ). At this time, the storage service providing apparatus 20 uses a content identifier in a format predetermined for each storage service. Specifically, in the operation example shown in FIG. 7, as content identifiers, “http: //www.serviceA/doc/ 0123”, “http: //www.serviceA/doc/4567”, “http: /// www.serviceA / doc / 8901 ”is transmitted to the relay device 10.

  When receiving the list of contents from the storage service providing apparatus 20, the control unit 11 of the relay apparatus 10 converts the received content identifier using an identifier conversion routine stored in the management table (step S5). . In the example shown in FIG. 7, the content identifier “doc / 0123” is converted to “id: doc: 0123” by the identifier conversion routine.

  The control unit 11 of the relay device 10 transmits the converted list of content identifiers to the client device 30 (step S6). The client device 30 displays a list of content identifiers received from the relay device 10 on the display unit 34.

1-6-2. Content Output Operation Next, the content output operation will be described with reference to FIG. The user U selects content from the list displayed on the display unit 34 using the operation unit 33. The client device 30 transmits an output instruction for the content selected according to the information output from the operation unit 33 to the relay device 10 (step S11). This output instruction includes one of the content identifiers displayed in the content list.

  When receiving the output instruction from the client apparatus 30, the control unit 11 of the relay apparatus 10 acquires the content corresponding to the content identifier included in the received output instruction from the storage service providing apparatus 20 and stores it in its own apparatus. Is transmitted to the client device 30 (step S12). Further, the control unit 11 performs a preparation process for acquiring the content acquired from the storage service providing apparatus 20 (step S13). Specifically, in this operation example, when the data format of the content designated by the user U is not a data format that can be output by the output device 40, the control unit 11 converts the content into a data format that can be output. In this case, the acquisition destination information transmitted in step S12 indicates the storage area of the converted content.

  When receiving the content acquisition destination information from the relay device 10, the client device 30 transmits the received acquisition destination information to the output device 40, thereby notifying the output device 40 of the content acquisition destination information (step S14). When receiving the acquisition destination information from the client device 30, the output device 40 accesses the storage destination indicated by the received acquisition destination information (step S15). The relay device 10 transmits the content stored in the accessed acquisition destination information. (Step S16). The output device 40 causes the image forming unit 45 to output an image represented by the content transmitted from the relay device 10 (step S17).

1-6-3. Operation for Acquiring Content List from Folders in Multiple Storage Services Next, an operation for acquiring a content list from folders in a plurality of storage services will be described with reference to FIG. The user U operates the operation unit 33 to instruct display of a list of contents stored in the folder abc of the storage service A and the folder xyz of the storage service B. The control unit 31 of the client device 30 transmits acquisition request data indicating a content list acquisition request to the relay device 10 in accordance with the information output from the operation unit 33 (step S21). This acquisition request data includes a service identifier for identifying a storage service and a folder identifier for identifying a folder. Specifically, in this operation example, the acquisition request data includes a pair of a service identifier of “id: svc: service-A” and a folder identifier of “id: fld: abc”, and “id: svc : Service-B "and a folder identifier pair of" id: fld: xyz "are included.

When receiving the content list acquisition request data from the client device 30, the relay device 10 uses the management table stored in the management table storage area 14 for an identifier conversion routine corresponding to the storage service included in the received acquisition request data. Using the specified identifier conversion routine, the folder identifier included in the received acquisition request is converted into a folder identifier conforming to the system defined by each storage service (step S22). In this operation example, the folder identifier “id: fld: abc” is converted to “folder / abc” by the identifier conversion routine “ConvertIDForA ()”, and the folder identifier “id: fld: abc” is the identifier. It is converted into “folder-xyz” by the conversion routine “ConvertIDForB ()”.

  The control unit 11 transmits a content list acquisition request to the access destination corresponding to the service identifier included in the acquisition request received in step S21 (step S23-A, step S23-B). In this embodiment, the control unit 11 transmits an HTTP GET request to “http: //www.serviceA/folder/abc”, and sends an HTTP GET to “http: //www.serviceB/folder-xyz”. Send a request.

  When receiving the acquisition request transmitted from the relay device 10, the storage service providing device 20 transmits a list of content identifiers in the folder designated by the received acquisition request to the relay device 10 (step S24). At this time, the storage service providing apparatus 20 uses a content identifier in a format according to a protocol predetermined by each storage service providing apparatus 20. Specifically, in the operation example illustrated in FIG. 9, the content identifiers “http: //www.serviceA/doc/0123” and “http: //www.serviceA/doc/4567” are stored as content identifiers from the storage service providing apparatus 20a. Is transmitted to the relay apparatus 10, and “http: //www.serviceB/doc-XYZ” is transmitted to the relay apparatus 10 as a content identifier from the storage service providing apparatus 20b.

  When receiving the contents list from the storage service providing apparatuses 20a and 20b, the control unit 11 of the relay apparatus 10 converts the received content identifier using an identifier conversion routine stored in the management table storage area 14 ( Step S25). The control unit 11 of the relay device 10 transmits the converted list of content identifiers to the client device 30 (step S26). The client device 30 displays a list of content identifiers received from the relay device 10 on the display unit 34.

  As described above, in the present embodiment, when specifying the folder of the storage service A and the folder of the storage service B, the user needs to perform the folder specifying operation in a batch and perform the operation individually for each storage service. Absent.

1-6-4. Content Search Operation Next, an operation for searching for content across a plurality of storage services will be described with reference to FIG. In this operation example, an operation when the user searches for content by specifying a conditional expression (Name = abc) from the storage service A and the storage service B will be described.

  The user U operates the operation unit 33 to instruct to search the content having the file name “abc” from the storage service A and the storage service B. The control unit 31 of the client device 30 transmits the search request data to the relay device 10 according to the information output from the operation unit 33 (step S31). This search request data includes a service identifier for identifying a storage service and a conditional expression indicating a search condition. Specifically, in this operation example, the search request data includes “id: svc: service-A” and “id: svc: service-B” as service identifiers, and “Name = abc ".

  When receiving the search request data from the client device 30, the control unit 11 of the relay device 10 refers to the stored contents of the management table storage area 14 for the conditional expression conversion routine corresponding to the service identifier included in the received search request data. To identify. The control unit 11 of the relay apparatus 10 converts the conditional expression included in the received search request data into a conditional expression having a format compliant with each storage service, using the specified conditional expression conversion routine (step S32). In this operation example, the conditional expression “Name = abc” is converted into “search / Name / abc” by the conditional expression conversion routine “ConvertCondForA ()” and “search? QB by the conditional expression conversion routine“ ConvertCondForB () ”. = 'Name = abc'

  The control unit 11 transmits the search request data to the storage service providing apparatus 20 using the access destination information corresponding to the service identifier included in the search request data received in step S31 (steps S33-A, S33-). B). In this operation example, the control unit 11 transmits an HTTP GET request to the storage service providing apparatus 20a by designating “http: //www.serviceA/search/Name/abc” as a URI. Further, the control unit 11 designates “http: //www.serviceB/search? Q =‘ Name = abc ’” as a URI and transmits an HTTP GET request to the storage service providing apparatus 20b.

  When the storage service providing device 20 receives the acquisition request data transmitted from the relay device 10, the storage service providing device 20 searches the content using the conditional expression specified by the received acquisition request data, and relays the searched content list. It transmits to the apparatus 10 (step S34-A, step S34-B). At this time, the storage service providing apparatus 20 uses a content identifier in a format predetermined for each storage service. Specifically, in the operation example illustrated in FIG. 10, “http: //www.serviceA/doc/3210” and “http: //www.serviceA/doc/9876” are used as content identifiers from the storage service providing apparatus 20a. Is transmitted to the relay device 10. In addition, “http: //www.serviceA/doc-ZYX” is transmitted from the storage service providing apparatus 20b to the relay apparatus 10 as a content identifier.

  When receiving the content list from the storage service providing device 20, the control unit 11 of the relay device 10 converts the received content identifier using the identifier conversion routine stored in the management table (step S35). In the example shown in FIG. 10, the content identifier “doc / 3210” is converted to “id: doc: 3210” by the identifier conversion routine. The control unit 11 transmits the converted content identifier list to the client device 30 (step S36). The client device 30 displays a list of content identifiers received from the relay device 10 on the display unit 34.

  By the way, in the conventional system, when content is distributed and stored in a plurality of storage services, the user cannot search for desired content with a single operation. On the other hand, in this embodiment, when searching for contents in the storage service A and the storage service B, the user needs to perform the operation of specifying the search condition in a batch and perform the operation individually for each storage service. There is no.

[Modification]
The above-described embodiment is an example of the present invention and may be modified as follows. The following modifications may be combined with each other.

(1) The configuration of the communication system 1 is not limited to the configuration described in the above-described embodiment. For example, the number of devices constituting the communication system 1 may be different from that in the embodiment. For example, in the above-described embodiment, the communication system 1 includes one output device 40. However, the number of the output devices 40 is not limited to one and may be plural. In the above-described embodiment, one storage service providing apparatus provides one storage service. However, the present invention is not limited to this, and one storage service may be provided by a plurality of server apparatuses.

  In the above-described embodiment, the case where three storage services are provided has been illustrated, but the number of storage services is not limited to three, and may be more or less.

(2) In the above-described embodiment, the service identifier for identifying the storage service and the access destination information indicating the information for accessing the storage service providing apparatus 20 are individually used. The service identifier and the access destination information may be integrated as one data. For example, the storage service may be identified by a URI for accessing the storage service providing apparatus 20.

(3) The output device 40 described in the above-described embodiment is an example of a client device that receives a service from the relay device 10. The client device may be another device such as a personal computer, a tablet PC (Personal Computer), or a mobile phone. Further, although the client device 30 has been described as an example connected to the network via the LAN 60, the present invention is not limited thereto, and the client device 30 may be configured to communicate with the relay device 10 or the output device 40 via a wireless or wired public line. Good.

(4) The program executed in the relay device 10, the storage service providing device 20, the client device 30, or the output device 40 may be downloaded via a communication line such as the Internet. The program is provided in a state of being recorded on a computer-readable recording medium such as a magnetic recording medium (magnetic tape, magnetic disk, etc.), an optical recording medium (optical disk, etc.), a magneto-optical recording medium, or a semiconductor memory. May be.

DESCRIPTION OF SYMBOLS 1 ... Communication system, 10 ... Relay apparatus, 11, 21 ... Control part, 12, 22 ... Communication part, 13, 23 ... Storage part, 14 ... Management table storage area, 20 ... Storage service provision apparatus, 24 ... Content database, 30 ... Client device, 40 ... Output device, 50 ... WAN, 60 ... LAN

Claims (6)

Accepting means for accepting a search request for searching for document data stored in a plurality of service devices by designating a folder identifier for identifying a folder that is a storage destination in each service device;
First conversion means for converting the accepted search request into an access request format for each of a plurality of service devices;
First transmission means for transmitting the search request converted by the first conversion means to each of the plurality of service devices;
Receiving means for receiving a response to each search request transmitted by the transmitting means from the plurality of service devices;
A content identifier for identifying document data stored in a storage destination corresponding to the designated folder identifier in the plurality of service devices included in the received response is converted into a format that can be interpreted by the terminal device. Second conversion means for
Second transmission means for transmitting the content identifier converted by the second conversion means to the terminal device as a response to the search request of the terminal device;
A relay device comprising:   2. The relay apparatus according to claim 1, wherein the second transmission unit divides the content identifiers converted by the second conversion unit into the designated folder identifiers and transmits them to the terminal device. .   The identification information of the document data selected as the output instruction in the output device from the search result transmitted to the terminal device by the second transmission means is received from the terminal device, and corresponds to the identification information of the selected document data. The relay apparatus according to claim 1, further comprising an obtaining unit that obtains document data corresponding to document identification information from any of the plurality of service apparatuses and stores the document data in the own apparatus.   4. The apparatus according to claim 3, further comprising third conversion means for converting the document into a data format that can be output by the output device when the document data acquired by the acquisition means is not in a data format that can be output by the output device. Relay device.   The acquisition unit information indicating the storage destination of the document data acquired by the acquisition unit is transmitted to the terminal device, and the document data stored in the storage destination is transmitted to the output device that accesses the storage destination indicated by the acquisition destination information. The relay device according to claim 3, further comprising third transmission means for transmitting. Computer
Accepting means for accepting a search request for searching for document data stored in a plurality of service devices by designating a folder identifier for identifying a folder that is a storage destination in each service device;
First conversion means for converting the accepted search request into an access request format for each of a plurality of service devices;
First transmission means for transmitting the search request converted by the first conversion means to each of the plurality of service devices;
Receiving means for receiving a response to each search request transmitted by the transmitting means from the plurality of service devices;
A content identifier for identifying document data stored in a storage destination corresponding to the designated folder identifier in the plurality of service devices included in the received response is converted into a format that can be interpreted by the terminal device. Second conversion means for
Second transmission means for transmitting the content identifier converted by the second conversion means to the terminal device as a response to the search request of the terminal device;
Program to function as.

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