JPH11212882A - Information receiving and delivering method and information receiving and delivering system - Google Patents

Abstract

(57) [Summary] The present invention relates to an information receiving / distributing method, and an object of the present invention is to reduce both the number and amount of data to be distributed and improve transmission efficiency. SOLUTION: A server 100 collects one or two or more pieces of shared data as a shared part into a plurality of articles as information to be delivered to a client 200 and archives the collected data. Is distributed, and a plurality of unique data, which is a part unique to each of the plurality of articles, is grouped into one or more groups according to predetermined conditions, and is archived for each group. Deliver a unique archive. Client 2
00 each receive one or more shared archives and one or more unique archives distributed from the server 100 and obtain the plurality of articles therefrom.

Description

DETAILED DESCRIPTION OF THE INVENTION

[0001]

BACKGROUND OF THE INVENTION 1. Field of the Invention The present invention relates to an information receiving / distributing method and an information receiving / distributing system, and more particularly, to an information receiving / distributing system for uniformly receiving and distributing information based on information contents. The present invention relates to an information receiving / distributing method and an information receiving / distributing system for managing update, deletion, etc. in a client from a server.

[0002]

2. Description of the Related Art With the recent development of computer networks, various types of publicly available information (contents) have been received and distributed via computer networks between users and individual walls of companies and individuals. I have.
On the other hand, for example, in a company or the like, an intra-company network (intranet) for connecting a branch, a sales office, a factory, a research laboratory, and the like in the company by a computer network is being performed.

[0003] In such an information receiving and distributing system for receiving and distributing information via such a computer network, a tree-like connection form is generally adopted for distributing information because of the large number of terminals and the like. It consists of a server and a client that receives information. Servers are configured in multiple stages, information is propagated from upper servers to lower servers,
Further, the information is propagated to the clients connected to each server.

[0004]

For example, according to a news system on the Internet, which is an example of an information receiving / distributing system, newspaper articles distributed by (a host computer of a newspaper company, that is, a server) an individual (client user). ) Can be read from the information terminal (ie, client). In this case, the client user can freely select the news that he / she wants to subscribe to in group units and subscribe only to the news group.

[0005] In such an information receiving / distributing system, information is distributed as needed from a server that distributes information to a client that is provided with the information. Therefore, the number and amount of data to be distributed becomes enormous. . Therefore, it is necessary to reduce the number of data to reduce the number of times of communication, and to compress the amount of data to shorten the communication time.

[0006] Looking at the information distributed from such a viewpoint, it is found that the data used in the distributed article A and the data used in the distributed article B are the same, that is, shared data. There is. FIG. 18 shows an example of shared data.

[0007] Content # 1 (article A) and content #
2 (article B) is composed of four data (elements), but only the text part data (document data) is different, but logo image data of another company name, image data of decorative ruled lines , And three pieces of image data of the icon of the post mark are shared data. However, regardless of whether content # 1 or content # 2 is to be distributed, it is necessary to transmit four pieces of data. Therefore,
When the content # 1 and the content # 2 are distributed, the logo data, the decorative ruled line data, and the icon data of the post mark are distributed twice, which is a factor of increasing the network load. Actually, since the data is distributed n times, the whole system is wasted.

In order to reduce such a network load, several schemes have been proposed (the details will be described in the embodiments in comparison with the present invention). First
For example, there is a method of distributing each individual element without archiving for each content (referred to as method A). According to this method A, shared data does not need to be distributed twice, and data compression can be performed for each element. However, because it has not been archived,
The number of data flowing in the network increases, and the number of connections and the number of packets cannot be reduced.

[0009] Second, there is a method of arranging necessary data for each content and archiving (compressing) them for distribution (hereinafter referred to as method B). According to the method B, since the data is archived (and compressed), the network load is reduced. However, because they are archived, individual elements are duplicated.

Third, there is a method of archiving and distributing all data (contents # 1 and # 2) at a certain timing (for example, once a day) without archiving for each content. Method C). According to this method C, since the shared data may be one for each archive, the data in the same archive does not need to be distributed twice and is archived (and compressed), so that the network load is reduced. It is reduced. However, when distributing data at the next timing (for example, the next day), it is necessary to retransmit the shared data. This is because if the content of the previous day is discarded in the client, a part of the data of the content of the next day is insufficient and an error occurs. Therefore, for shared data, the result is always a double distribution.

An object of the present invention is to provide an information receiving / distributing method in which both the number of data to be distributed and the amount of data are reduced to reduce a network load. Another object of the present invention is to provide an information receiving and delivering method with improved transmission efficiency.

It is another object of the present invention to provide an information receiving / distributing system in which both the number of data to be distributed and the data amount are reduced to reduce a network load. Another object of the present invention is to provide an information receiving / distributing system with improved transmission efficiency.

[0013]

FIG. 1 is a block diagram showing the principle of the present invention, and shows the configuration of an information receiving / distributing system for executing an information receiving / distributing method according to the present invention. This information receiving / distributing system includes a server 100 that distributes information, and a plurality of clients 200 connected to the server 100 and receiving information distributed from the server 100.

The server 100 collects one or two or more pieces of shared data as a shared part into a plurality of articles which are information to be distributed to the client 200, and archives one or two or more shared archives. To deliver. Further, the server 100 stores a plurality of unique data, which are portions unique to each of the plurality of articles, in one or two according to predetermined conditions.
One or two or more unique archives, which are collected into the above groups and archived for each group, are distributed.

On the other hand, each of the clients 200 receives one or more shared archives distributed from the server 100, and receives one or more unique archives. And each of the clients 200 is 1 or 2
The plurality of articles are obtained from the above shared archive and one or more unique archives.

The server 100 distributes one shared archive 300 in which, for example, the shared data “shared” of the articles A to D is collectively archived (and compressed) into one, and the unique data of the articles A to D is distributed. For example, two unique archives 401 and 402 in which “unique A” to “unique D” are archived (and compressed) in groups of two are distributed. The client 200 receives one shared archive 300 and two unique archives 401 and 402 and restores them to obtain articles A to D.

Therefore, according to the information receiving / distributing method of the present invention, a plurality of unique data of a plurality of articles are archived after being grouped into one or two or more groups. (The number of times and the number of packets) can be reduced (in addition, since the data can be compressed after being grouped, the data amount can also be reduced). Thereby, the network load is reduced.

On the other hand, since the shared data is archived separately from the unique data, it is not necessary to distribute the shared data every time the unique data is delivered. Further, since the shared data is also archived (and compressed), the number of data (and the amount of data) can be reduced, thereby also reducing the network load. Further, by archiving the shared data separately from the unique data, there is no need to distribute the shared data again unless the shared data itself is changed without being affected by the change of the unique data.

As a result, for shared data which has been conventionally distributed in a double (actually n-fold) and which has been a factor of increasing the network load, the redundant distribution can be suppressed to only necessary distribution. Even if the number of data (and the amount of data) distributed from the client to the client increases, the number of data (and the amount of data) can be reduced to shorten the number of times of communication and the communication time, thereby improving the transmission efficiency. .

[0020]

FIG. 2 shows the configuration of an information receiving / distributing system to which the present invention is applied. This information receiving / distributing system includes a plurality of servers 100 and a plurality of clients 200 having a multi-stage configuration. The client 200 is connected to one of the servers 100. The servers 100 and between the server 100 and the client 200 are connected via a dedicated line, a public network, or another connection line.

In the following description, when the servers 100 are to be distinguished from one another, S representing the server 100 is denoted by a symbol such as A or B, and is represented as a server SA or SB. When distinguishing each of the clients 200, C representing the client 200 is represented by
Clients C1, C2, etc. are represented by adding codes 1, 2, etc.

The server 100 creates or receives information and transmits it to another server 100 or a client 200. The server 100 to which the client 200 is connected is called a parent server 100 (of the client 200).
The client 200 is at the end of the information propagation route and only receives information.

In this specification, information is created in the server 100 and the other server 100 or the client 20
The content server 100 is called a content server 100. In addition, when viewed from a certain server 100 or a client 200, a server 100 that is on a route (information propagation path) connecting the server 100 or the client 200 and the content server 100 and is closer to the content server 100 is referred to as a higher-level server 100. Say more client 2
The server 100 on the 00 side is called a lower-level server 100.
Further, the server 100 between the content server 100 and the client 200 is referred to as an intermediate server 100. The intermediate server 100 is a server at the same time as the client 200 for the higher-level server 100.

In FIG. 2, the server SA is the content server 100. For example, server SG is server SH
, And the server SH is a lower server of the server SG. Similarly, one or more clients 200 are connected to servers other than the server SH.

Content server 100 (server SA)
Is, for example, a server located at the highest level of a computer network (intranet) within one company, or a WWW server on the Internet.
When an intranet is connected to the Internet, both the top server and the WWW server of the intranet are the content servers 100. Seen from the WWW server,
The highest server in the intranet is a lower server.

Information (distribution information) is stored in the content server 1
From 00, it is distributed to the lower server 100, further distributed to the lower server 100, and further distributed to the client 200. Thus, the information is propagated from the content server 100 to the terminal client 200.

Information is sorted and distributed in categories called "channels". A channel is a group of a plurality of articles and is a unit of information distribution control.
The channel includes, for example, a sports channel, a weather forecast channel, a news channel, and the like. Along with this information, various control information for controlling the distribution of the information and the like are similarly distributed.

FIGS. 3 and 4 show distribution of information in the information receiving / distributing system to which the present invention is applied. The information receiving / distributing system to which the present invention is applied is a system that performs pseudo push type distribution. In the pseudo push type distribution system, the lower-level server 100 or the client 200 automatically requests information distribution without input of a distribution request instruction to the higher-level server 100 by the user.
Reference numeral 00 denotes a system for distributing information to the lower-level server 100 or the client 200 when the distribution request is made.

Although the following description of FIG. 3 and FIG. 4 relates to the delivery of information between the server 100 and the client 200, the description of FIG. A similar relationship holds. That is, in this description, the client 200 may be replaced with the lower-level server 100.

Each server 100 or client 20
0 is actually executed by the control programs (or operating systems) 101 and 201 of the server 100 or the client 200. That is,
Control program 101 of server 100 and client 2
The control program 201 communicates with each other to receive and distribute information, and each executes predetermined processing.

As shown in FIG. 3A, a client C1 is connected to servers SA and SB. The servers SA and SB are parent servers of the client C1, and even if the content server 100 is the intermediate server 10
It may be 0. The server SB is another server 100 related to the server SA, and can be separated or integrated with the server SA depending on a source and / or content of information.

The server SA transmits the user list 102 and the channel list information 1 to perform distribution to the client C1.
03, an article archive 104 is provided. User list 1
02 is for registering the client 200 (and the lower order server 100) that receives information distribution from the server SA. The channel list information 103 is the server S
A is management information indicating a channel that is currently open to the public.
It should be noted that the channel list information 103 is actually a part of a management table including information about channels and other control information. The article archive 104 stores individual information on the channel that the server SA currently discloses, that is,
An article (the content of the information is referred to as an “article”), which is archived and compressed in a predetermined unit.

The channel list information 103 and the article archive 104 are both distributed to the client C1 connected to the server SA. The channel list information 103 is locally stored in the client C1 to which the channel list information 103 has been distributed, and is used as local (client C1) channel list information 203. The channel list information 203 is a management table of the client C1. On the other hand, according to the present invention, mirroring of the article archive 104 from the channel at the client C1 to which the article archive 104 has been distributed is not allowed unless there is special permission. When considering the lower server 100 instead of the client C1, the distributed article archive 104 is distributed to the lower server 100.

The information distribution between the server SA and the client C1 in the pseudo push type distribution system having such a configuration is performed according to the procedure shown in FIG. First, the client C1 requests the server SA for user registration (procedure). This user registration request is executed in accordance with server name registration (input) of the client C1 to the client user. Server S that received the user registration request
In response, A registers the client C1 as a user in the user list 102 held by the server SA. Thus, when there is a connection request from the client C1, the connection is made.

Next, the client C1 makes a connection request to the server SA (dotted line in the procedure). This connection request is issued by the control program 201 of the client C1 at a predetermined time interval or at a predetermined timing (for example, a predetermined operation input by the user at the information terminal serving as the client C1) without an instruction input by the user of the client C1. Do it automatically.

The server SA that has received the connection request responds to this request by displaying a list of channels of information currently disclosed by the server SA (channel list information 10 shown in FIG. 4A).
3) is changed to the client C1 which is the transmission source of the connection request.
(Distribution) (the solid line in the procedure). As a result, the client C1 obtains the channel list information 103 distributed from the server SA, stores it in a predetermined position of a storage device managed by itself, and stores the channel list information 203 of its own.
(Shown in FIG. 4B).

In this response, the user does not operate the client C1 as the terminal, and is not aware that the connection request has been made. The fact that the user cannot see the connection request is indicated by using a dotted line in the procedure. The same applies to the following procedures. Thus, from the user's point of view, it appears that the channel list information 103 has automatically flowed from the server SA without any apparent appearance.

FIG. 4A shows an example of the channel list information 103 distributed from the server SA. The channel list information 103 includes a channel ID, a channel name, a source, and various types of control information. In FIG. 4A, browsing attribute information is shown as an example of the control information (in the figure, “browsing”). The browsing attribute information is control information for controlling reception of information distributed by the upper server SA in the client C1 (and the lower server 100).

The channel ID is an ID for identifying a channel, and is unique in the system. The channel name is the name of the channel, and indicates a category of information included in the channel having the corresponding channel ID. The acquisition source is the name (or server I) of the server 100 that can acquire (distribute) the information of the channel.
D).

The channel list information 103 includes various kinds of control information including browsing attribute information for each channel. That is,
Various control information including browsing attribute information and the like for each channel is added (written) to the channel list information 103 by the server SA (firstly, the content server 100) that is the distribution source. After adding browsing control information and the like to the channel list information 103, the server SA distributes the channel list information 103 in that state to the client C1. As a result, the contents of the channel list information 203 of the client C1 can be set from the server SA (the first content server 100) that is the distribution source.
(Or the content server 100).

The client C1 refers to the distributed channel list information 103 and performs processing based on various kinds of control information therein to create the channel list information 203 shown in FIG. 4B.

If the server SA has set "required" or "impossible" for browsing for an existing channel, the client C1 inherits this attribute as it is.
“Indispensable” and “impossible” cannot be changed by the client C1. "Free" can be selected depending on whether or not the client C1 browses. Then, the client C1 displays the channel list information 103 in this state and allows the user to refer to it. The user who sees this display can see the channel list information 1
The various control information added to 03 is updated. This update in the client C1 is preset in a case where it is permitted by the server SA and a case where it is not permitted.

For example, the client C1 inputs "free" for the channel "XX Newspaper News" set to "free" if it is actually necessary to view the channel, and inputs "impossible" if it is not necessary. . This allows
The channel list information 203 to which the instruction input by the client user of the client C1 is added is created. An example of the channel list information 203 is shown in FIG. According to the present invention, the control information set in the channel list information 203 is inherited as it is by the lower-level server 100 or the client 200 as its attribute.

If the client C1 already has the channel list information 203, the client C1
The contents of the existing channel list information 203 are stored in the server S
Update (rewrite) based on the contents of the latest channel list information 103 distributed from A. This processing is not conscious of the user.

Next, in order to receive distribution of the “essential” and “free” articles, the client C 1 requests the server SA to list the “essential” and “free” channels based on the channel list information 203. (Dotted line in the procedure). This list request is also automatically made by the client C1 without inputting an instruction by the user of the client C1.

The server SA that has received the list request responds by sending the article data (archive) list 103 ′ of the information currently published by the server SA to the client C 1 that has transmitted the list request. Send (distribute) (solid line of procedure). This article data list 103 'is also actually a part of the channel information list (management table) 103. As a result, the client C1 obtains the article data of the information designating that the client C1 wants to browse and distributed from the server SA. In this response, the user also
No operation is performed on the client C1, which is the terminal, and the user is not aware that a list request is required.

FIG. 4 shows an example of the article data list 103 '.
It is shown in (C). The article data list 103 'includes an article ID of each article of the channel and its data name. The article ID is composed of the date and time of creation of the article (more precisely, 13 digits of year, month, day, hour and minute and other numbers). Therefore, the creation date and time of the article can be known from the article ID. The data name is obtained by adding a symbol indicating that the article is an archive to the article ID.

For example, “19980201a” has information of 19
This is an article name indicating that the article was created a-th on February 1, 1998. The data name is "19" with the symbol "arc" added to the article name to indicate that it is an archive file.
980201a.arc ".

Next, the client C1 makes an article archive acquisition request (archive acquisition request) based on the latest article data list 103 'distributed (dotted line in the procedure). This acquisition request is also automatically made by the client C1 without inputting an instruction by the user of the client C1.

The acquisition request is made for an article missing in the client C1, that is, an article newly added as an article in the server SA. For this reason, the client C1 compares the latest article data list 103 ′ shown in FIG. 4C with the article data list 203 ′ stored at that time, and finds the latest article data list 103 ′ in the article data list 103 ′. Then, an article that does not exist in the article data list 203 'is obtained. For the obtained article, an acquisition request using, for example, a data name is made.

In response to this, the server SA that has received the acquisition request sends the designated information in the article archive 104 of the information currently published by the server SA to the client C1 that has transmitted the acquisition request. Send (distribute) (solid line of procedure). As a result, the client C1 receives the distribution of the article archive 104 of the information designating that the user wants to browse and published from the server SA. This article archive 104 is displayed to the user and the user will see it.

Also in this response, the user does not operate the client C1 as the information terminal, and does not recognize that the acquisition request is necessary. Thus, from the user's point of view, it appears as if the article has automatically flowed from the server SA without doing anything. Therefore, the user can browse the article only by the initial registration request and the selection input of the article to be browsed.

The client C1 updates the article data list 203 '. That is, the client C1 deletes the list information of the old articles whose predetermined expiration dates have expired from the article data list 203 ′. Note that such old article list information is also deleted from the article data list 103 'in the server SA. Further, the client C1 adds the article data list information of the article archive 104 distributed from the server SA to the article data list 203 'as described above. As a result, the client C1 receives its latest article data list 2
Get 03 '.

FIG. 4D shows an example of the article data list 203 'held by the client C1 before the execution of the procedure. For example, if the user of client C1 is 1998
It is assumed that the information terminal has not been activated at all since February 1, 2002. At this point, the article data list 203 'of the client C1 includes, as shown in FIG. 4D, the articles "19980128" and "1998" published by the server SA before that date.
0131 ”has the article data list 203 ′, and the article“ 19 ”published by the server SA after that date.
980201a, 19980201b, and 19980202 do not have the article data list 103 '.

The client C1 adds “19980201a”, “19980201b” to the article data list 203 ′ shown in FIG.
And "19980202" are added. As a result, the article data list 203 'of the client C1 becomes as shown in FIG.

Note that this procedure is repeatedly executed for an article determined to be insufficient as described above based on the article data list 103 'shown in FIG. 4C. For example, the aforementioned missing articles "19980201a" and "19980201
b) and “19980202” are obtained, and no article is obtained for the existing “19980131”. In this case, first, a request for obtaining the article "19980201a" from the client C1 (a dotted line in the procedure) and
The corresponding article archive 10 from the server SA corresponding to this
4 (the solid line of the procedure) is performed. Next, similarly, an acquisition request (dotted line of the procedure) for obtaining the articles “19980201b” and “19980202” and the article archive 1 corresponding thereto
04 (the solid line of the procedure) is repeated.

Further, the procedures are described in the channel list information 203 shown in FIG.
Is repeatedly executed for each of the channels that need to be viewed. For example, the above-mentioned procedure is the channel “company (internal notice)” of the channel list information 203.
Is executed. In this case, the procedure is similarly executed for the next channel “XX newspaper news”. Also in this case, the procedure is repeatedly executed for the articles that are determined to be insufficient. Further, the same procedure is repeated for each channel after the "weather forecast".

As described above, the server S does nothing apparently.
Although it looks as if information was distributed from A, on the other hand, a distribution request or the like from the client 200 to the server 100 is actually made. Therefore, such an information receiving / distributing system is called a pseudo push type distribution system.

The information receiving / distributing system of the present invention may be a system for performing push-type distribution. In the push-type distribution, a higher-level server 100 receives a request for information distribution from a lower-level server 100 or a client 200.
This is a system that distributes information to a lower-level server 100 or a client 200. Therefore, the system for performing the push-type distribution is the same as the pseudo-push-type distribution system described above except for the procedure shown in FIG.
This is a system in which various requests from the client 200 to the server 100 indicated by dotted lines are omitted, and various information is distributed from the server 100 to the client 200 without this request.

In such a pseudo push type (or push type) information receiving / distributing system, the browsing attribute information is
Although not shown, as described above, it is either “essential”, “free” or “impossible”. “Required” requires the lower-level server 100 or the client 200 to receive (browse or subscribe) the information. "Free" entrusts the reception of the information to the lower-level server 100 or the client 200. "No" means that the reception of the information is
Or, the client 200 is not allowed. For each piece of information to be distributed, the server 100 adds any one of “required”, “free” or “impossible” distribution control information.

Note that the browsing attribute information is not shown,
It is distributed together with distribution change permission / prohibition information indicating whether the viewing attribute information can be rewritten. The distribution changeability information is either “changeable” or “unchangeable”. “Changeable” allows the lower-level server 100 to change the browsing attribute information. "Unchangeable" indicates that the change of the browsing attribute information is to be performed on the lower server 1
00 is not allowed. The server 100 adds distribution changeability information for each piece of browsing attribute information (accordingly, for each piece of distributed information).

Basically, the browsing attribute information and the distribution changeability information can be freely changed by each server 100. However, the browsing attribute information can be mutually changed between "essential", "free" and "impossible" only when the distribution change permission / prohibition information is "changeable". The change of the delivery change availability information,
If the information is “unchangeable”, it is not allowed, and only if the information is “changeable”, it can be changed only to “unchangeable”. Since the client 200 is located at the end, it has no meaning to approve the change, and therefore has no function of the change (not allowed).

The upper-level server 100 sets various types of control information in the channel information list 103 and passes the information to the lower-level server 100 or the client 200. Thereby, the upper server 100 controls the processing of the information distributed by the upper server 100 in the lower server 100 or the client 200 connected to the server 100 from the server 100. That is, the upper server 100 controls the control programs 101 and 201 of the lower server 100 or the client 200 with respect to the distribution process of the information distributed by the upper server 100.

The upper server 100 is the lower server 10
0 or the client 200 to distribute the viewing attribute information and the distribution changeability information. This distribution is performed by the procedure and the distribution of the channel list information 103 in which the information is written by executing the procedure, as described above.
The lower server 100 and the client 200 receive the information distributed by the upper server 100 according to the browsing attribute information. For example, the higher-level server 100 sets the browsing attribute information to “required”, thereby setting the lower-level server 10
0 or the client 200 can always receive the information having the browse attribute information.

Since this system is a pseudo-push type (or push type), actually, as described above, the distribution request from the lower-level server 100 to the higher-level server 100 always follows the procedure, that is, the browsing attribute information. By being executed, the article archive 104 as the information is distributed.

On the other hand, the intermediate server 100 between the upper server 100 and the client 200 is
0 rewrites various types of control information permitted to be changed, and distributes the information to a lower-level server 100 or client 200. Thereby, the intermediate server 1
00 is also a lower server 100 or client 20
0 various modes can be set and managed.
As described above, in the information receiving / distributing system of the present invention, since the article archive 104 is distributed to many clients 200, the number and amount of data to be distributed becomes enormous. Therefore, it is important to reduce the number of data to reduce the number of times of communication, compress the amount of data to shorten the communication time, and consequently improve the transmission efficiency.

Therefore, in the pseudo push type (or push type) distribution system described above, information (articles) to be distributed to the client 200 and distribution processing of the article list 103 'are performed according to the present invention.

FIG. 5 shows the configuration of an information receiving / distributing system to which the present invention is applied. In this system, the server 100 sends an article and its article list 10 to the client 200.
3 ′ archive distribution processing, and the client 20
0 performs a process of obtaining an article from the distributed archive.

Although the following description relates to the update processing and the deletion processing of an article between the server 100 and the client 200, almost the same relation is established between the server 100 and the lower-order server 100. I do. That is, in this description, the client 200 is referred to as the lower server 1
00 may be replaced.

As shown in FIG. 5, the server 100 includes an article registration unit 1 for registering an article in the server holding unit 3, an article distribution unit 2 for distributing an article to the client 200, and an article registration unit 1.
Server holding unit 3 for holding articles registered by the above, management information holding unit 4 for holding various control information including article list 103 ′ created by article control unit 5, article list 10
An article control unit 5 for creating various control information including 3 ′ is provided.

On the other hand, the client 200 has an information browsing unit 11 for browsing information,
0, a client holding unit 16 for holding the articles registered therein, and an article management unit 17 for performing article restoration processing and registration processing in the client 200 in accordance with the distributed article list 103 '.

The article registration unit 1 registers an article to be distributed to the client 200. The article distributor uses the input device (not shown) of the server 100 to
The article (for example, articles A and B) that the user wants to provide is input to the article registration unit 1. The article registration unit 1 registers the input article in the server holding unit 3. That is, the article registration unit 1
As shown in FIG. 4, an article ID is given, the contents of the article are archived to create an archive file, and a data name is given to this.

At this time, this archive file is created according to the present invention. That is, the article registration unit 1 divides and registers a plurality of articles A and B into a shared archive 300 and a unique archive 400. Shared archive 300
Is one (or a plurality of) archive files obtained by archiving and compressing the shared data “shared” of the articles A and B. The unique archive 400 contains the article A
And B is one (or two or more) archive files in which the unique data “unique A” and “unique B” are collectively archived and compressed into one (or two or more) groups according to predetermined conditions.

The shared archive 300 and the unique archive 400 may or may not be compressed. Data compression is desirable because data compression can further reduce the amount of data to be transmitted. It is effective to use data compression and archiving together to further reduce the data amount.

As shown in FIG. 18, the shared data "sharing" is a logo mark, a post mark icon or the like shared by both articles, and may be any of character data, image data, and audio data. The number of shared data to be archived in the shared archive 300 may be one or more. The unique data “unique A” and “unique B” are the contents of an actual article, as shown in FIG. 18, and may be any of character data, image data, and voice data, like shared data. good. The number of unique data to be archived in the unique archive 400 may be one or more.

The number of shared archives 300 is usually one for a plurality of unique archives 400. There is no limit on the number of unique archives 400 in principle, even one
More than one is acceptable. The number of shared archives 300 may be plural if necessary.

The unique archive 400 is, for example, an article archive 1 for a plurality of articles requested for distribution at the same time.
04 is one archive file. Or one
Article archive 1 for multiple articles created on the day
04 is one archive file. Accordingly, it is desirable that the condition for grouping the unique data be the date and time of creation of the article or the date and time of the distribution request.

An article list 103 'for the shared archive 300 and the unique archive 400 is created according to the present invention. That is, the registered information (articles A and B)
The article control unit 5 registers the above-mentioned predetermined items in the channel list information 103 and the article list 103 ′ of the channel to which the article belongs, creates them, and holds them in the management information holding unit 4. The article list 103 ′ includes a shared data list including management information on one shared archive 300 and an article data list including management information on one (or two or more) unique archives 400.

The article distribution unit 2 sends various articles (article A) registered in the server holding unit 3 to the client 200.
And B) and distributes the channel information list 103 and the article list 103 'held in the management information holding unit 4.

The article management unit 17 requests the server 100 to distribute the necessary shared archive 300 and unique archive 400 based on the article list 103 ′, and the shared archive 300 and unique archive distributed from the server 100. 400, and a plurality of articles (articles A and B) are obtained therefrom.

The article distribution unit 2 executes the procedures shown in FIG. 3B with the article management unit 17 of the client 200 in order to distribute information on the registered articles. The article management unit 17 executes requests to various servers 100 indicated by dotted lines in the procedures and steps illustrated in FIG. 3B in order to receive distribution of information from the server 100, and processes the information distributed from the server 100. Let the user browse. In response to the various requests, the article distribution unit 2 executes the client 2
At 00, information such as the channel information list 103, the article list 103 ', and the article archive 104 is distributed.

That is, when there is a connection request from the article management unit 17 of the client 200 registered in the user list 101 of FIG. 3A (dotted line in the procedure of FIG. 3B), the article distribution unit 2 of the server 100 Distributes the channel list information 103 to the article management unit 17 (solid line in the procedure). Further, when there is a list request from the article management unit 17 (dotted line in the procedure),
The article distribution unit 2 stores the article list 103 'in the article management unit 17
(To the solid line in the procedure). At this time, the article list 10 about the shared archive 300 and the unique archive 400
3 'is delivered. Further, when there is an acquisition request from the article management unit 17 (dotted line in the procedure), the article distribution unit 2 sends the article archive 104 (the shared archive 30) that has received the acquisition request.
0 and / or the unique archive 400) to the article management unit 17 (solid line in the procedure). At this time, the requested shared archive 300 and / or unique archive 4
00 is delivered. The article management unit 17 receives the article from the article archive 104, restores the article, and holds the article in the client holding unit 16.

The article management section 17 manages the article list 10 for the article archive 104 distributed from the server 100.
A predetermined process is performed based on 3 ′ (or the article list 203 ′). That is, the article management unit 17 stores the shared archive 300 and the unique archive 4 in the distributed article list 103 '.
00, it is known that the shared archive 300 is data shared with the unique archive 400. Therefore, the article management unit 17 combines the shared data “shared” restored from the shared archive 300 and the plurality of unique data “unique A” and “unique B” restored from the unique archive 400 to “share” and “unique”. An article A consisting of “unique A” and an article B consisting of “shared” and “unique B” are created and newly registered in the client holding unit 16. It should be noted that the distributed article list 103 ′ is held in the client 200 as an article list 203 ′ as its management information.

The information browsing unit 11 displays the information held in the client holding unit 16 in response to a browsing instruction (display instruction) input by the user.
The displayed information is the information held in the client holding unit 16. Therefore, the user of the client 200 does not have any awareness of the article distribution processing as described above. As described above, in push-type (and pseudo-push-type) distribution, the user does not need to be conscious of the registration process of a new article.

After the above distribution, the article distributor may want to update the articles (for example, articles A and B) provided by the article distributor. In this case, when the article distributor inputs an updated article (eg, article A), an archive file or the like is created as in the case described above. That is, according to the change input, the article registration unit 1 changes either the shared archive 300 or the unique archive 400 of the article A. The part to be changed is the previous article A
The article registration unit 1 makes a determination based on a comparison between the new article A and the new article A.

The article control section 5 creates a new article list 103 'in which the management information on the shared archive 300 or the unique archive 400 is changed to new management information based on this change. This new article list 103 ′ is distributed to the client 200 by the article distribution unit 2. Upon receiving this, the article management unit 17 notifies the server 100 of the changed shared archive 300 or 300 based on the result of comparing the previously held article list 203 ′ with the new article list 103 ′. A distribution request for the unique archive 400 is made.

Next, the article registration processing, update processing, and deletion processing in the client 200 will be described with reference to FIGS. First, there are article lists 103 'and 203' similar to those shown in FIGS. 4C and 4D.
An example for this explanation is shown in FIGS. 6A and 6B again. Note that the article lists 103 'and 203' are for explanation, and are different from the article lists 103 'and 203' distributed according to the present invention.

Although “19980127.arc” exists in the article list 203 ′, it does not exist in the article list 103 ′. Therefore, an article corresponding to the archive file “19980127.arc” exists in the client 200, but the archive file “19980127.arc” does not exist in the server 100. This is because the old article is deleted in the server 100 as having expired. In this case, the client 200 needs to delete the corresponding article.

On the contrary, “19980201.arc” and “1998
“0202.arc” exists in the article list 103 ′, but does not exist in the article list 203 ′. Therefore, the archive files “19980201.arc” and “19980202.arc” are stored in the server 10
0, but not in the client 200. This is because these are newly added articles. In this case, the client 200 needs to input a corresponding article from the server 100.

The distribution of the article list 103 'is performed in the processing indicated by the solid line in the above-described procedure, and the archive files "19980201.arc" and "19980202.ar"
The distribution of “c” is performed in the processing indicated by the solid line in the above-described procedure. This procedure and the processing of the solid line are performed as follows according to the present invention.

As described above, after executing the procedures up to the procedure, the article management unit 17 of the client 200
A list request for the article list of the procedure is made to the article distribution unit 2 of 00.

In response to this, the article distribution unit 2 of the server 100 sends an article consisting of a shared data list consisting of management information on one shared archive 300 and management information about one (or two or more) unique archives 400. An article list 103 'including a data list is distributed. FIG. 7A shows an example of the distributed article list 103 '.

In FIG. 7A, the shared data list of the article list 103 ′ has an archive file “19980128cmn.arc” of the shared data in the server holding unit 3 of the server 100.
Indicates that it exists. “Cmn” indicates that the file is for shared data. The unique data list of the article list 103 ′ indicates that archive files of four unique data exist in the server holding unit 3 of the server 100.

On the other hand, the client 200 holds the article list 103 previously distributed from the server 100 as an article list 203 'which is its own management table. FIG. 7B shows an example of the held article list 203 '.

In FIG. 7B, the shared data list of the article list 203 ′ indicates that the archive file “19980128cmn.arc” of the shared data exists in the client holding unit 16 of the client 200. The unique data list of the article list 203 ′ indicates that archive files of three unique data exist in the client holding unit 16 of the client 200.

The article management section 17 of the client 200
The article list 103 'is received and held, and based on the held article list 103', a request for distribution of the necessary shared archive 300 and unique archive 400 is made to the server 100.

That is, the article management unit 17 sets the article list 10
3 ′ is compared with the article list 203 ′, and based on the result of the comparison, the server 100 is requested to distribute the changed unique archive 400. Here, as can be seen from a comparison between FIG. 7A and FIG. 7B, “19980127.arc”
Was deleted from the article list 103 ', and "19980201.ar
"c" and "19980202.arc" are added in the article list 103 '. That is, it has been changed. On the other hand, other data “19980128.arc” and “19980131.arc” including the shared data archive file “19980128cmn.arc”
Shows that there is no change. Therefore, the article management unit 17
Requests the distribution of “19980201.arc” and “19980202.arc” added (that is, changed) in the article list 103 ′.

In response to this distribution request, server 100
A plurality of articles "19980201.a
rc ”and“ 19980202.arc ”unique archives 400, which are combined and archived into one group and compressed.
To deliver. Therefore, in this case, a condition for grouping the unique data into groups is that there is a simultaneous distribution request.

The article management section 17 of the client 200
The shared archive 300 or the unique archive 400 distributed from the server 100 is received, and a plurality of articles (two articles each having “19980201.arc” and “19980202.arc” as unique data) are obtained therefrom. That is, the restoration data of the archive file “19980128cmn.arc” of the shared data held by the client 200 and “19980201.arc”
And "19980202.arc" by combining each restored data,
Obtain the two articles.

As described above, the article distribution unit 1 of the server 100
Distributes to the client 200 a new article list 103 ′ in which, when any one of the unique archives 400 is changed, management information on the unique archive 400 is changed to new management information based on this change. Then, the article management unit 17 of the client 200
00, the unique archive 400 distributed is received, and a plurality of articles are obtained from the shared archive 300 and the newly distributed unique archive 400.

The above is the same even when the shared archive 300 is changed as shown in FIG. That is, when the shared archive 300 is changed, the article distribution unit 1 of the server 100 distributes a new article list 103 'in which management information on the shared archive 300 is changed to new management information based on the change. . Then, the article management unit 17 of the client 200 receives the new shared archive 300 or the unique archive 400 distributed from the server 100, and obtains the plurality of articles from the shared archive 300 and the unique archive 400.

In FIG. 8A, the shared data list of the article list 103 ′ has an archive file “19980202cmn.arc” of the shared data in the server holding unit 3 of the server 100.
Indicates that it exists. On the other hand, in FIG. 8B, in the shared data list of the article list 203 ′, the archive file “19980128cmn.arc” of the shared data is the client 2
00 in the client holding unit 16.
The other parts are the same as in FIG. Therefore, “19980128cmn.arc” is an archive file of old shared data, and has already been deleted in the server 100. For this reason, the client 200 needs to obtain a new shared data archive file “19980202cmn.arc” instead.

Therefore, the article management unit 17
To the distribution request (specific archive 40) in the case of FIG.
0 distribution request) and a distribution request for the shared archive 300.

That is, the article management unit 17 sets the article list 10
3 ′ is compared with the article list 203 ′, and based on the result of the comparison, the server 100 is requested to distribute the changed unique archive 400. Here, since the archive file “19980128cmn.arc” of the shared data has been changed, the article management unit 17 issues a distribution request.

In response to this distribution request, server 100
For the client 200, the shared archive 3 which is the shared data archive file "19980128cmn.arc"
Deliver 00. If there are a plurality of shared data, the plurality of shared data are archived together. Therefore,
In this case, the condition for grouping the shared data into groups is that there has been a distribution request at the same time.

The article management unit 17 of the client 200
As described above, the shared archive 300 distributed from the server 100 is received, and the shared archive 3 is received.
A plurality of articles are obtained from 00 and the unique archive 400.
In this case, since the unique data has also been changed, the content of the obtained article is new for both the shared data and the unique data.

[0107]

Embodiments Next, comparing the case where the same data is transmitted by various methods according to the embodiments, the effects of the information receiving / distributing system and the information receiving / distributing method according to the present invention will be described.
Prove specifically. (Explanation of Data Elements) FIGS. 9 to 11 show examples of elements constituting a document of each day used in the following explanation. 9 to 11 show examples of data used for comparing information transmission efficiencies according to the respective systems, and these figures constitute one figure.
The eight documents A to H shown in FIGS.
It is assumed that distribution is performed from 0 to the client 200. In this case, a comparison is made between the transmission efficiency according to each of the above-described schemes A to C and the transmission efficiency according to the present invention.

The eight documents A to H require and include logo data, decorative ruled line data, and icon data as shared data. These are all image data, and the data amount is large. The documents A to H each include text data which is a unique text in addition to the shared data.
For example, the text data of document A is represented as “about A”. Further, the documents F and H include photograph data as image data in addition to the shared data and the text data. Therefore, a document A or the like that does not include photo data includes four data, and a document F or the like that includes photo data includes five data. The size of each data without data compression is shown as “original”, and the size of each data when data is compressed is shown as “compression”. The unit of the data size is KB (kilobyte).

For example, document A is created on February 1, and 4
And includes 5 KB sentence data “A” that can be compressed to 3 KB, 10 KB logo data that can be compressed to 7 KB, 5 KB decorative ruled line data that can be compressed to 3 KB, and 2 KB icon data that can be compressed to 1 KB.

In the following description, it is assumed that 1 KB of archive information is added as a header by archiving. In addition, it is assumed that a 1-KB packet header is required to transmit one piece of data to the network. In calculating the transmission efficiency, since the data amount after compression when the individual elements are simply integrated is 52 KB in total, this is used. Similarly, when the individual elements are simply integrated, the original data amount is 73 KB in total.
It is. (First Comparative Example) The first comparative example is an example in which the data shown in FIGS. 9 to 11 is distributed for each element. FIG. 12 is an explanatory diagram of a first comparative example. This is the method A described above, and without archiving for each content (document),
For example, it is a method of distributing each of the above-mentioned individual elements. Therefore, according to the method A, the shared data does not need to be distributed twice, and the number of data is thirteen. Also,
Data compression can also be performed for each element, and the total data amount (the number of bytes) is 52 KB. Note that there is no archive header because it is not archived.

However, since the data is not archived, the number of data flowing through the network increases, and the number of packets cannot be reduced. That is, since packets for the number of data are required, a packet header of 13 KB is transmitted in addition to the above-described 52 KB, and the total becomes 65 KB. As a result, the transmission efficiency is 65 KB / 52 KB = 1.250 by dividing this 65 KB by the above-mentioned compressed data amount of 52 KB. In summary, the number of received packets is 13 (13 KB) The number of received bytes is 52 KB The transmission efficiency is 1.250. (Second Comparative Example) The second comparative example is an example in which the data shown in FIGS. 9 to 11 is archived for each document and distributed. FIGS. 13 to 15 are explanatory diagrams of a second comparative example, which form one figure. This is the method B described above, in which necessary data is prepared for each content, and these are archived (compressed) and distributed. According to the method B, since the data is archived (and compressed), the network load is reduced. That is, since each document is archived, the number of packets is eight (8 KB packet header is transmitted), and the data is also compressed. For documents F and H, figures, tables, photographs, and the like used in the documents are archived together with the text data.

However, since they are archived, the individual elements of the three pieces of shared data are distributed n times.
Here, since the number of data is eight, n = 8 (distributed eight times), which is extremely wasteful. As a result, the amount of data to be distributed is 1 by adding 8 archive headers.
36 KB, which is 144 KB when 8 KB of the packet header is added to this. As a result, the transmission efficiency is 144 KB.
/52KB=2.769. In summary, the number of received packets is 8 (8 KB) The number of received bytes is 136 KB The transmission efficiency is 2.769. (Third Comparative Example) The third comparative example is an example in which the data shown in FIGS. 9 to 11 is archived and distributed every day. FIG. 16 is an explanatory diagram of the third comparative example. This is the above-described method C, in which all data is collectively archived and distributed at a certain timing without archiving for each content. According to this method C, the shared data may be one for each of the archives. Therefore, the data in the same archive does not need to be distributed twice, and the network load is reduced because the archive (and compression) is performed. It is reduced. However, when distributing data at the next timing, it is necessary to retransmit the shared data. This is because if the previously transmitted content is discarded at the client, the next transmitted content results in an error. Therefore, for shared data, the result is always a double distribution.

For example, assume that documents A to E are created on February 1, and documents F to H are created on February 2. In this case, the documents A to E are collectively archived and transmitted on February 1, and the documents F to H are stored on February 2nd.
Archived and sent daily. For documents F and H, figures, tables, photographs, and the like used in the documents are archived together with the text data. Therefore, the number of packets is two, and a packet header of 2 KB is transmitted. Because shared data will be dual delivery,
The amount of data to be distributed is 65 KB, including the 2 KB archive header, and 67 KB, including the packet header, 2 KB. As a result, the transmission efficiency is 67 KB /
52 KB = 1.288. In summary, the number of received packets is 2 (2 KB) The number of received bytes is 65 KB The transmission efficiency is 1.288. (Example according to the present invention) Examples according to the present invention are shown in FIGS.
In this example, three unique archives 400 and one shared archive 300 in which the data shown in FIG. FIG. 17 is an explanatory diagram of an example according to the present invention. For comparison with the third comparative example (method C), it is assumed that documents A to E are created on February 1 and documents F to H are created on February 2. It is also assumed that the shared data has not been changed between February 1 and February 2.

In this case, the three pieces of shared data are collectively archived and transmitted on February 1 separately from the text data. Since the shared data is not changed,
It is only sent twice and not delivered on February 2.
Further, only the text data of the documents A to E are archived and transmitted collectively on February 1, and the documents F to H
Is archived and transmitted together on February 2.

As a result, the number of packets is three,
A KB packet header is transmitted. The amount of data to be distributed is 55 KB, including the 3 KB archive header, and 58 KB, including 3 KB of the packet header. As a result, the transmission efficiency is 58 KB / 52 KB = 1.
It becomes 115. In summary, the number of received packets is 3 (3 KB) The number of received bytes is 55 KB The transmission efficiency is 1.115.

Comparing the above results, in terms of the number of data, the method C (two) and the present invention (three) are significantly superior to the others, and there is no great difference between them. In terms of the amount of data, the method A (52 KB) and the present invention (55 KB) are considerably superior to the others, and there is not much difference between them. In terms of transmission efficiency, the present invention (1.115) is different from the others (method A is 1.25
0, scheme C is significantly better than 1.288).

From the above, it can be seen that the information receiving / distributing system of the present invention is excellent in any of the number of data, the amount of data, and the transmission efficiency. The present invention is illustrated in FIGS.
It is more advantageous as the number of data shown in FIG. That is,
As the number of data increases, the method C in terms of the number of data
The difference between the present invention and the present invention is so small as to be negligible compared to the total number of data. The difference between the present invention and other systems in terms of transmission efficiency is smaller or the same.

As described above, the present invention has been described as an information receiving / distributing system, but the present invention also includes a program for realizing the information receiving / distributing system, which is stored in a program storage medium. That is, the program may be described on a storage medium such as a flexible disk or a CD-ROM, or may be loaded on a storage medium such as a hard disk by download, all of which fall within the technical scope of the present invention. It should be understood.

[0119]

As described above, according to the present invention,
In an information receiving / distributing system, shared data is archived together and compressed, and multiple unique data are archived together. Since it is not necessary to distribute each time of distribution, the number and amount of data can be reduced by archiving and compression, and the number and amount of data can be reduced for unique data by archiving and compression. As a result, it is possible to improve the transmission efficiency by reducing the number and amount of data.

[Brief description of the drawings]

FIG. 1 is a principle configuration diagram of the present invention.

FIG. 2 is a configuration diagram of an information receiving / distributing system.

FIG. 3 is an explanatory diagram of an information receiving / distributing system.

FIG. 4 is an explanatory diagram of information reception / delivery.

FIG. 5 is a configuration diagram of an information receiving / distributing system.

FIG. 6 is an explanatory diagram of information reception / delivery.

FIG. 7 is an explanatory diagram of information reception / delivery.

FIG. 8 is an explanatory diagram of information reception / delivery.

FIG. 9 is an explanatory diagram of an embodiment.

FIG. 10 is an explanatory diagram of an embodiment.

FIG. 11 is an explanatory diagram of an embodiment.

FIG. 12 is an explanatory diagram of a first comparative example.

FIG. 13 is an explanatory diagram of a second comparative example.

FIG. 14 is an explanatory diagram of a second comparative example.

FIG. 15 is an explanatory diagram of a second comparative example.

FIG. 16 is an explanatory diagram of a third comparative example.

FIG. 17 is an explanatory diagram of an example according to the present invention.

FIG. 18 is an explanatory diagram of shared data.

[Explanation of symbols]

 DESCRIPTION OF SYMBOLS 1 Article registration part 2 Article distribution part 3 Server holding part 4 Registration control information 5 Registration control part 11 Information browsing part 16 Client holding part 17 Article management part 100 Server 200 Client

Claims (11)

[Claims] 1. A method for receiving and distributing information between a server that distributes information and a plurality of clients connected to the server and receiving information distributed from the server, wherein the server distributes the information to the client. One or two or more pieces of shared data that are shared parts are collected into a plurality of articles as information to be distributed, and one or more shared archives obtained by archiving the data are distributed, and a part unique to each of the plurality of articles is distributed. Are grouped into one or more groups according to predetermined conditions, and these are archived for each group.
Delivering the above unique archives, each of the clients receiving the one or more shared archives delivered from the server, receiving the one or more unique archives delivered from the server, An information receiving / distributing method, wherein the plurality of articles are obtained from the one or more shared archives and the one or more unique archives. 2. The server according to claim 1, wherein the server stores an article list including a shared data list including management information on the one or more shared archives and an article data list including management information on the one or more unique archives. Delivering, each of the clients receives and holds the article list, and makes a request for delivery of the necessary shared archive and unique archive to the server based on the held article list. The information receiving / distributing method according to claim 1, wherein 3. The server distributes a new article list in which, when any one of the unique archives is changed, management information on the unique archive is changed to new management information based on the change. Each of the clients receives the new article list, compares the previously held article list with the new article list, and based on the comparison result, 3. The information receiving / distributing method according to claim 2, wherein a request for distributing a unique archive is made. 4. When the shared archive is changed, the server distributes a new article list in which management information on the shared archive is changed to new management information based on the change, and each of the clients Receives the new article list, compares the previously held article list with the new article list, and, based on a result of the comparison, notifies the server of the changed shared archive. 3. The information receiving / distributing method according to claim 2, wherein a distribution request is made. 5. The server comprises a plurality of servers having a multi-stage configuration, wherein the client is connected to any one of the plurality of servers, and wherein the client is either directly from the upper server or the upper server. Via a lower server of the plurality of servers connected to the server, receives information distributed from an upper server of the plurality of servers, the lower server or client registered in advance,
The distribution server automatically makes the distribution request without inputting an instruction to execute the distribution request to the upper server, and the upper server transmits the distribution request to the lower server or client. When there is a distribution request,
The information receiving / distributing method according to claim 2, wherein push-type distribution for distributing information is performed. 6. The server comprises a plurality of servers having a multi-stage configuration, wherein the client is connected to any of the plurality of servers, and wherein the client is either directly from the upper server or the upper server. Receiving information distributed from a higher-level server among the plurality of servers via a lower-level server among the plurality of servers connected to the upper-level server; 2. The information receiving / distributing method according to claim 1, wherein, in response to the distribution request from a server or a client, push-type distribution for distributing information to the information is performed. 7. An information receiving / distributing system, comprising a server and a plurality of clients connected to the server, wherein the client receives information distributed from the server, wherein the server distributes the information to the client. One or two or more shared archives that collectively archive one or two or more pieces of shared data that is a shared part of a plurality of articles as information to be shared with the plurality of articles, and a part unique to each of the plurality of articles. And an article registration unit that divides the plurality of unique data into one or two or more unique archives that are collectively archived in one or more groups according to predetermined conditions and registers the same, and And an article distribution unit for distributing articles, wherein each of the clients is provided with one or more of the one or more distributed from the server. Yes Archiving and one or more receive-specific archives, information receiving and distributing system, characterized in that it comprises an article management unit to obtain a plurality of articles therefrom. 8. The server further comprising: an article including a shared data list including management information on the one or more shared archives and an article data list including management information on the one or more unique archives. An article control unit that creates a list, the article distribution unit distributes the article list to the client, and the article management unit, based on the article list, The information receiving / distributing system according to claim 7, wherein a request for distributing the shared archive and the unique archive is made. 9. The article control unit according to claim 1, wherein, when one of the unique archive and the shared archive is changed, the management information on the unique archive or the shared archive is changed to new management information based on the change. The article distribution section distributes the new article list, and the article management section compares the article list held earlier with the new article list based on a result of the comparison. And requesting the server to distribute the changed unique archive or shared archive.
Information receiving and distribution system described in. 10. The server in the information receiving / distributing system includes a plurality of servers having a multi-stage configuration, wherein the client is connected to any of the plurality of servers, and the client is directly connected to the host server. Or, via a lower-level server among the plurality of servers connected to the higher-level server, receives information distributed from a higher-level server among the plurality of servers, and receives the lower-level data registered in advance. The server or client automatically makes the distribution request without inputting an instruction to execute the distribution request to the upper server, and when there is the distribution request from the lower server or client, The information receiving / distributing system according to claim 8, wherein a higher-order server performs push-type distribution for distributing information. 11. The server in the information receiving / distributing system includes a plurality of servers having a multi-stage configuration, wherein the client is connected to any of the plurality of servers, and wherein the client is directly connected to the host server. Or, via a lower server among the plurality of servers connected to the upper server, receives information distributed from an upper server among the plurality of servers, the upper server, 8. The information receiving / distributing system according to claim 7, wherein, in response to the distribution request from a lower order server or client, push type distribution for distributing information to the lower order server or client registered in advance is performed.